[Fujiwara]

The only issue at work after a couple good days of cycling (today was a good day at ~40 miles) is I catch myself staring out the window thinking about how I want to be out cycling.

[The_CEO]

Thanks BasilR.
Yeah, L.A.

I am back n' forth with older road vs. cyclo.

I tried out an older road bike today that was nice but a bit small. I've been watching craigslist fruitlessly for what I want but may just spend more and get something new.

[BagelConsultant]

To add a couple more things -

I'm fortunate enough to live in NYC so I use the CitiBikes for commuting almost every day. The Cervelo tri bike and my older Redline road bike are for going long distance and training. Some of the attributes I'd look for in a commuter bike that I got a chance to sample on the CitiBikes:

- Upright, comfy riding position with wide saddle
- FULL FENDERS! This means you can ride in light rain and otherwise damp conditions without getting water shot up your ass from the tires
- Basket or rack for holding stuff
- Internally geared drivetrain. On a dedicated commuter I'd consider this because of the dramatically reduced amount of maintenance and simplicity vs. a more standard front and rear derailleur group. If you're looking for this, get at least an 8 speed because you'll probably find a 3 speed frustratingly slow after a very short time riding. Shimano Nexus 8 and Alfine 11 would be names to look for on the bike component list.

As an aside, if you're going with a derailleur bike, get the best components you can afford because they'll perform better for longer, including holding adjustment between services.

My older bike has Shimano Sora and my Cervelo has Shimano Ultegra components (Higher end). The difference in shift quality is one thing, but the really annoying thing about the cheaper Sora components is how quickly they fall out of adjustment after servicing. I wish someone would've told me this beforehand.

Here's a quick overview of the Shimano road group hierarchy from Tiagra on up. The important bits to get from a given group are the derailleurs. It's OK if they go with lower end cranks for example to bring down the price of the bike.

http://www.chainreactionhub.com/road/980...o-dura-ace

[Basil Ransom]

"Some of the attributes I'd look for in a commuter bike that I got a chance to sample on the CitiBikes:"

Those city bike features are great for shorter commutes, but as your bike commute gets longer, say, 5+ miles, the city bike loses its appeal. A slow city bike would make longer commutes more difficult. The dirty secret of places like Copenhagen is that it's not that big to begin with, they're not doing American sized commutes; but people always miss that part...

The internally geared hub setup sounds interesting though. I know some bikes use belts instead of chains now, which have similar benefits.

[The_CEO]

The rentable city-bikes are also ok for flat terrain.
I'd not want a bike like that for hills or variable terrain.

I'm going back toward a cyclocross (vs. road) for the thicker tires.

I'm wary of getting a thin road bike tire stuck in a rut + a cyclo can go up on grass if needed and handle poorly maintain streets.

[General Mayhem]

(03-17-2015 11:16 AM)The_CEO Wrote:  

The rentable city-bikes are also ok for flat terrain.
I'd not want a bike like that for hills or variable terrain.

I'm going back toward a cyclocross (vs. road) for the thicker tires.

I'm wary of getting a thin road bike tire stuck in a rut + a cyclo can go up on grass if needed and handle poorly maintain streets.

Get the cyclocross man.

Road bikes are great for the open road but aren't if you are trying to be more adventurous. I blew out my front tire in a large crack in the road last fall and popped several tubes on curbs.

I ride too rough for a road bike. I am thinking about upgrading to some meaty tires.

[The_CEO]

Is it true that a black colored frame is harder to see (i.e. cars not seeing you)?

The one I'm looking at comes in Matte Black.

[Basil Ransom]

In the grand scheme of things, I don't think the frame color matters for visibility - your body has much more visible surface area than the frame. Some high visibility gear will make much more impact than a colorful frame. Gloves, shirt, shorts, vest, helmet, lights, pedals, ankle straps... Lots of opportunities for wearing high viz gear if you so choose. And your riding habits are even more important.

Evidence is mixed on the effectiveness of high viz gear ( http://www.theguardian.com/environment/b...luorescent ), but it can't hurt.

Have to say, Roosh's writing and this forum have given me the ability to laugh off haters in traffic. Unless they're actively violent, I just laugh them off and pity the angry fools stuck in cars in traffic.

[The_CEO]

Basil -
That has been one of the big motivating reasons for wanting a bike - when traffic is at a standstill, I could be riding right by.
And sometimes when there is an event like a marathon it create a huge mess with traffic.

[Basil Ransom]

Biking, even with traffic, is just so much more pleasant so the fact that a trip might take longer than by car just doesn't matter anymore.

But yeah, if your trips aren't too long and traffic is bad, biking could easily be faster.

Just be careful about lane splitting - avoid passing cars between the curb and the rightmost lane. Also, i wouldn't lane split at a red light AND take a whole lane when it turns green. It's a dick move to get to the head of the line of cars, and then block them by being slower when it turns green. If I take a whole lane, I act just like a car. I do this often on my route, but only for a short stretch where the alternative route is shitty.

Phoenix, they blared on their horn.

[pheonix500000]

(03-19-2015 08:29 PM)Basil Ransom Wrote:  

In the grand scheme of things, I don't think the frame color matters for visibility - your body has much more visible surface area than the frame. Some high visibility gear will make much more impact than a colorful frame. Gloves, shirt, shorts, vest, helmet, lights, pedals, ankle straps... Lots of opportunities for wearing high viz gear if you so choose. And your riding habits are even more important.

Evidence is mixed on the effectiveness of high viz gear ( http://www.theguardian.com/environment/b...luorescent ), but it can't hurt.

Have to say, Roosh's writing and this forum have given me the ability to laugh off haters in traffic. Unless they're actively violent, I just laugh them off and pity the angry fools stuck in cars in traffic.

How so? i mean what exactly did they say?

[Cattle Rustler]

Which one of you guys owns a fat bike?

Walmart was selling some dolos for 220 two days ago.

That moment when you go for a long trip and forget your biking shorts....ouch.

[The_CEO]

thoughts on the Diamondback Haanjo?

http://www.diamondback.com/bikes-pavemen...oad-haanjo

a flatbar cyclocross.

[iknowexactly]

(03-19-2015 08:29 PM)Basil Ransom Wrote:  

In the grand scheme of things, I don't think the frame color matters for visibility - your body has much more visible surface area than the frame. Some high visibility gear will make much more impact than a colorful frame. Gloves, shirt, shorts, vest, helmet, lights, pedals, ankle straps... Lots of opportunities for wearing high viz gear if you so choose. And your riding habits are even more important.

Evidence is mixed on the effectiveness of high viz gear ( http://www.theguardian.com/environment/b...luorescent ), but it can't hurt.

Have to say, Roosh's writing and this forum have given me the ability to laugh off haters in traffic. Unless they're actively violent, I just laugh them off and pity the angry fools stuck in cars in traffic.

There are some massively bright lights out now, and cops don't enforce the possible ban on blinking ones. MY understanding is a few years ago there was a leap in LED light tech and now you can really light yourself up enough that people will see you who are pretty oblivious.

[Cattle Rustler]

This goes out to all the bronies looking for discounts, a cheap blowfish camelbak for 40 bucks, add a water bottle for 5 bucks and you get free shipping. I went for the Blowfish instead of the classic (out of stock).

Edit: +1 to basil, IKE, BG & others for their bike knowledge, learned a lot from this thread.

http://slickdeals.net/f/7731653-camelbak...omers-only

Also, use a hitch bike rack instead of a trunk mounted one. The trunk mounted ones will fuck up your car's paint big time, as I'm learning the hard way. A thule hitch doesn't look bad compared to a Saris Bones rack with chipped paint. I don't get the point of roof racks, wouldn't they make it difficult to get the bike off in higher cars?

I'm thinking of getting a van or station wagon as a bike hauler for weekend trips.....then again, my present car is good enough.

Found this on CL:

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/cto/4834008877.html

[iknowexactly]

I've had more joy from bicycles and music than from anything else in life. It is so cheap once you get your bike straightened out,
healthy, like flying, and you SEE, you really see in a way you can't any other way but hiking. Our lives are so claustrophobic.

I've thought of office jobs, and the fact that one wouldn't confine his dog to an enclosure the way an office worker is confined to the fluorescent cubes. Think of how to get out, as soon as possible, so you can breathe and live.

MatrixFacewhoreSkynet can never take back the moments I had with the sheep .

Here's some photos from just a couple days riding in Northern California, a wonderful place for biking.

I've also done 900 mile tours of Italy and of NY State and Vermont, each about three weeks. Such a sense of freedom, and not seeing everything through a fucking computer screen!

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe

Baby Porcupines, staring at me unafraid, on a bike path in the Iron Range,
Sheep grazing in an apple orchard near Sacramento,
Snow in July on the Death Ride in the Sierras....

All these things..

[The_CEO]

Basil-
Turns out I test-rode a cyclocross bike today. It seems to be too small so I'm gonna pass but I noticed, and did not like what you described - the steering indeed felt twitchy and it didn't feel stable. For a reference - the last bike I owned was years ago and a traditional geometry road bike.

I haven't been impressed with the new bike offerings I've seen at the stores so I also test-rode a CL used 80's era road bike. Frame fit my body perfectly. Steering wasn't twitchy and felt more stable. What I will probably do is get this and the wait on a cyclocross until they have my size in stock.
As you said you can off load these bikes on CL pretty easily

[Basil Ransom]

Yeah, if you buy carefully off Craigslist, it's easy to sell what you bought back on for the same price, so you don't lose any money on it. When you have a better idea of what you want, it'll be much easier to find it by buying new (vintage cycles aside) than waiting for it to show up on Craigslist. And since you're not planning to flip it, but keep it for the long haul, the depreciation loss isn't a big deal.

As for modern road bikes, it seems like manufacturers just stopped making versatile, every-day road bikes (try to find a non-touring, non-cyclocross road bike that can fit 32mm tires with fenders); that niche is now filled by hybrids, but putting mountain bike parts in a bike for use on a road just isn't as efficient when you're only riding the bike on pavement.

[The_CEO]

Great points, Basil.
I like the concept of a cyclocross for urban and variable conditions riding but the only one that felt good was a high end carbon model that was way over my budget.

And it comes down to what you said, what I really want is a daily use road bike but none of the modern ones fit the bill. And there are way too many variations put out by the manufacturers: racing, endurance, hybrid, tri, cyclocross...
Some of the key selling points of a cyclo aren't needed for me (off road capability, disc brakes, higher b.b., cyclo geometry). The last one is what sealed the deal on the classic road bike - the traditional geometry felt good.

Having said that, I'd be open to a cyclo if I can find the right model/fit - eventually. On the other hand, I could see myself going down the path of wanting to upgrade to another 'classic' but higher end road bike.

[General Mayhem]

I agree on the traditional geometry bit. I think the I will just custom build my next bike on classic frame.

A single speed with decent brakes and good tires is all I really need.

I really want one of these:

[Ringo]

[Basil Ransom]

(03-23-2015 07:29 PM)Ringo Wrote:  

He's prepping for a ride on LA's pavement.

Quote:

And there are way too many variations put out by the manufacturers: racing, endurance, hybrid, tri, cyclocross...

Endurance is probably closest to ideal. Trouble is, the tire clearances on those aren't very generous. If you don't care about that, they might be best.

Quote:

I agree on the traditional geometry bit. I think the I will just custom build my next bike on classic frame.

A single speed with decent brakes and good tires is all I really need.

I was thinking of going that route - both the vintage frame and the single speed. But I don't know enough about bikes to build one from scratch. As for the single speed, pedaling on too high a gear can be bad for your knees. I'm sure there are ways around it, but as a novice, the less I have to worry about, the better.

Fixed gears may actually prevent this knee issue ( http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-knees.html ), but not all single speeds are fixed gear. And fixed gear can be pretty dangerous.

[Clint Barton]

Handsome bike.

My mother got me a green 8-speed Bianchi Milano a few years ago and I use that if I want a more comfy ride with gears, or just let the date ride it while I ride the fixed-gear.

My bikes are pretty beat up but still ride well. Its hard to baby your ride in NYC.

(03-23-2015 05:57 PM)General Mayhem Wrote:  

I agree on the traditional geometry bit. I think the I will just custom build my next bike on classic frame.

A single speed with decent brakes and good tires is all I really need.

I really want one of these:

[General Mayhem]

(03-23-2015 10:08 PM)Clint Barton Wrote:  

My mother got me a green 8-speed Bianchi Milano a few years ago and I use that if I want a more comfy ride with gears, or just let the date ride it while I ride the fixed-gear.

I'm surprised that we haven't talked about going on rides with dates or using bikes to game yet.

My girl has been begging me to fix her bike so we can ride together.

[Basil Ransom]

(03-23-2015 10:20 PM)General Mayhem Wrote:  

(03-23-2015 10:08 PM)Clint Barton Wrote:  

My mother got me a green 8-speed Bianchi Milano a few years ago and I use that if I want a more comfy ride with gears, or just let the date ride it while I ride the fixed-gear.

I'm surprised that we haven't talked about going on rides with dates or using bikes to game yet.

My girl has been begging me to fix her bike so we can ride together.

That like was for your avatar lol.

Real talk, the inner ghetto Romeo in me almost comes out when I pass white girls with big asses on my bike. For some reason it seems like an even better idea to scream out "nice ass!" when biking by, instead of just walking.