I have an older 22" chromoly Rockhopper frame and about 15-20 bikes under a tarp in my backyard. I can probably throw something together that would work well for you once the snow melts. I'm 6'4" and know how hard it can be finding bikes that fit right. I have $20 in the frame, and maybe another $60 for tires and cables. Just an option. Omar
Easy 40 miles with the PMCB this morning. The patch on my femoral artery and on the tube in my front tire both held up well. Assuming the doctor "releases" on the 8th, the first century of the year will be next Sunday. And then: Saturday, February 2, 2013 Saguaro National Park 300 km/190 miles Saturday, February 16, 2013 Gila River Valley 200 km/125 miles Saturday, March 2, 2013 Around the Bend 400 km/257 miles >> Friday, March 22, 2013 Fleche 360 km. (Not sure about this one...) >> Saturday, April 13, 2013 Tombstone, Tucson start 600 km/374 miles. (Not sure about this one either...too close to the 1200 for my comfort.) Wed - Sat, May 1 -4, Texas Stampede 1200/750 miles So, for the most part, with a lot of luck, I'll accomplish my goals by May 4th and can ride simply for the joy of riding for the rest of the year.
I have had a few very close calls on the road so I am trying to avoid the road as much as possible, and I have found a lot of bicycle single track in the area so I am thinking that I need something that will take a beating but I am also going to see how much I ride it, before i start putting money into it
that would be an excellent way to dip your feet in. those older rockhoppers were nearly indestructable frames, and a reasonably well sorted 'bitsa-bike' (bitsa this, bitsa that) like it sounds like he'll be putting together will be just fine. its a hardtail (no rear suspension), and probably has a older suspension fork which is at least as good a fork as anything you'll get on a $500 newer bike. if you're really getting into it and find the hard tail is too much of a limitation, start saving up those nickels so you can get a nice full suspension disk brake bike down the road. I have a Stumpjumper FSR Disc here I'm not riding anymore, but its a M and is a little too small for me, and I'm 6' tall.
Get the rockhoppa! Also don't be afraid to order a nice new frame that's sized for you and then build it up with used parts. Back in the saddle today myself. Got my first race picked out in March, the St. Patrick's Day Du. 3 mi run/18 mi bike/3 mi run. Round about February it'll be time to start throwing bricks.
Getting used to this whole winter riding thing. Thinking about studded tires on a old wheel set to swap out when it gets nasty. Staying surprisingly warm on my commute
First time pedaling in 3 weeks. Ugh. I am out of shape. The valley below these photos is getting logged. Seen trail systems come, seen em go. No turning back now.
I'm trying to identify a 1980s touring/road 63.5cm CTT frame. I was told it was made from 531 tubing. Its been repainted many times and has no stickers on its current coat. I wonder if anyone here knows a definitive way of determining what tubes were used in its construction?
I didn't realize it got that cold, out there. Nokian W240 is a great, studded tire. More studded tire info, here. That looks to be a Casseroll you've got, there. If you do decide to get studs, be careful of the tire sizing. A lot of the winter tires are lugged and, then, have the studs sticking out from the lugs.
Not without testing the tubes themselves. Pictures of the frame, especially the bottom of the bottom bracket (serial #?)may help identify it.
The serial number may be on the headtube or the bb. Most likely the bb though. Take a good pic of the dropouts too. They can help identify the frame.
Apologies if I did not make this point clear: I'm really interested in identifying the tubes not the frame Thanks but I assume that your strategy is based on the assumption that the manufacturer is known, keeps records of frames . The manufacturer is unknown so serial number is useless AFAIK. I'm hoping there is a more direct accurate method such as markings on tubes. How might photos discriminate between many choices (BRANDS: Reynolds, Columbus, to name a few and then many choices of their respective tube types) of tubes? Surely, they cannot
Columbus often has a symbol on the fork steerer tube, and if Columbus SLX you'll see riflings in the seat and downtubes where they come into the BB. Tange steerers have 6 internal riflings, Columbus have 5 IIRC. I useta work with framebuilders who could ID fork blades (Columbus are rounder) and seat and chainstays (by diameter and taper) but I lack that eye/memory.
No, you were clear. My answer is the first one. To tell if a specific tubeset is 531, cut it apart and destructively test the tubes..... You can figure out if it is columbus by show it to an old school builder. As stated above. The pictures were to help if it was a production frame, we could figure it out.
Thanks. I'm very curious how one might tell from a few photos what type of tubing is used. Are there any links to this process? Here's one. Has anyone here actually seen bare 531DB main tubes??
OK, I can't tell if you are being a smart ass or not..... I will clarify. If it is a true production touring frame (cantilevers, rack mounts, loooong chainstays) from the eighties, there are not that many manufactures, they are quite distinctive. With a few (if they are the right ones) pictures you can figure out who built it by looking at the dropouts, BB, serial number, etc. If you have a blank frame with no stickers, generic dropouts, hand stamped serial numbers, there is nothing (or very little). And with that. I am done.
If I had a running DS bike, I'd be PMing Shogs for the other set of bags. Looks like with minor work, they'd make great softbags for DS bikes. Alas, the Husky doesn't look to be in running order any time soon, so whomever can use those bags should grab em M