Bicycle thread

[Askel]

Originally Posted by Chisenhallw

One of the best seats in the house, though.

The best seat in the house is on a bike, in the race.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by Askel

The best seat in the house is on a bike, in the race.

indeed. I rode photo-moto at a triathlon once, was a great experience. I could see doing a lot more of that if I didn't have a full time job.

[Aurelius]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Aurelius: faster does not equal better rider.

No, but it does mean having more fun.

All this means is you've paid more for the bike than someone else.

Which makes it a chick magnet, right?

Break out that HT again and get fast on that, THEN go bashing over stuff with no regard to lines, smoothness, and finesse. Learn the right way before you take short-cuts.

Too late! I traded in the HT for the FS.

Yeah, I'm a retro-grouch that learned to ride off-road when there was no such thing as suspension.

Makes me glad I wasn't around in the 19th century. I just put clipless pedals on mine. $50 bought me more power, and now I can bunny hop (sort of) by pulling up on the pedals. Not to mention the street cred I'll get just for having them.

[yater]

Originally Posted by Askel

Isn't a 105 caadx like $1500, list?

Are those silver, or unpainted? I'm a sucker for a raw aluminum finish....

It's raw, and the group is actually rival, but we have so many take off groups at the shop that I'll just switch it out. I think list is $2300.

[yater]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Cross is probably the hardest thing I've ever done on two wheels. Most fun too!

Aurelius: faster does not equal better rider. All this means is you've paid more for the bike than someone else. Break out that HT again and get fast on that, THEN go bashing over stuff with no regard to lines, smoothness, and finesse. Learn the right way before you take short-cuts.

Yeah, I'm a retro-grouch that learned to ride off-road when there was no such thing as suspension.

M

I was also riding rigid back in the day when anodized purple bits were cool and xt was the hottest setup available. Suspension allows me to ride with more finesse. I can load the front or rear and clear those roots and logs...not plow over them. I have to change some seals and bushings every few years, but otherwise, no trouble. A team scalple is my next bike.

[yater]

Er...scalpel

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by Aurelius

Just had a test ride on a Specialized Stumpjumper with a carbon fiber frame. Very nice bike, and not at all twitchy like the other 26" bikes I've test ridden. The suspension felt very strange though. The rear felt undersprung while the front felt too hard, yet both were set up for a 180lb rider. I also noticed that despite it's lighter wheels, I couldn't bunny hop or wheelie it any easier than my 29" Superfly.

Be sure to research what you rode, on the Specialized site. If you rode the FSR Expert Carbon Evo, then there's a reason it feels the way it did. It's not a ~general purpose, MTB like the XC bikes you've had. The Stumpy is laid back, which puts more weight over the rear, hence the undersprung/too hard feeling you note. Your inexperience is partly to blame for the inability to bunnyhop. You're not going to be very good at it, when you're on a squishy, long-travel bike. They absorb the energy you're trying to put into the suspension. This bike is designed to go blasting over terrain; not perform BMX tricks.

[Askel]

Less than two hours until the Ragnarok goes off. I'm trying to find local weather on the TV to see if I'm gonna get hailed on.

All I can find are infomercials.

I'm watching one for spinning right now.

The irony is just too much.

[Aurelius]

Originally Posted by ducnut

Be sure to research what you rode, on the Specialized site. If you rode the FSR Expert Carbon Evo, then there's a reason it feels the way it did. It's not a ~general purpose, MTB like the XC bikes you've had. The Stumpy is laid back, which puts more weight over the rear, hence the undersprung/too hard feeling you note.

Yep, that's the model I rode. Unfortunately the sales guy I talked to previously, who owns a Stumpjumper himself, was busy with another customer, and handed me off to some girl who didn't seem to know much. I'm sure he would have told me what you did, and probably recommended a different bike.

Your inexperience is partly to blame for the inability to bunnyhop. You're not going to be very good at it, when you're on a squishy, long-travel bike. They absorb the energy you're trying to put into the suspension. This bike is designed to go blasting over terrain; not perform BMX tricks.

I talked to a different sales guy who was honest enough to tell me that the Trek Superfly 100 was more than capable of handling even the toughest trails at Santos, and that I should probably stick with that until I get more experience under my belt. I spent part of the afternoon practicing the bunny hop, and reached the point where I could get the front wheel pretty high off the ground. The crankbrothers clipless pedals I fitted to the bike allowed me to pull up the rear wheel with my legs, but not as much as I'd hoped. I might try putting more air in the rear shock and see if that helps. I'll be attending a mountain bike class at the end of the month, so I at least want to get the basics down before then.

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by Aurelius

I talked to a different sales guy who was honest enough to tell me that the Trek Superfly 100 was more than capable of handling even the toughest trails at Santos, and that I should probably stick with that until I get more experience under my belt.

I would agree with that.

I think when you look at the ratio of extreme versus less-technical terrain, of where you ride, you'll enjoy that Superfly much more than something like the Stumpy or Enduro. I feel like the guys that are breaking stuff, down there, are just overriding, if not abusing, what they have.

Stick with it.

[Aurelius]

Originally Posted by ducnut

I would agree with that.

I think when you look at the ratio of extreme versus less-technical terrain, of where you ride, you'll enjoy that Superfly much more than something like the Stumpy or Enduro. I feel like the guys that are breaking stuff, down there, are just overriding, if not abusing, what they have.

Stick with it.

I'm continually amazed to see how honest the salesmen in bicycle shops have been. I'm accustomed to dealing with car and motorcycle salesmen who will tell their customers anything in order to make a sale, but the ones at the various Trek and Specialized dealerships have actually talked me out of spending money that I was fully prepared to spend. How rare is that sort of thing today?

[TheNedster]

41 mi. on the mountain bike today and I'm totally effing fried. Why is it that MTB miles seem so much more strenuous than road miles?

[mud]

Originally Posted by Aurelius

I'm continually amazed to see how honest the salesmen in bicycle shops have been. I'm accustomed to dealing with car and motorcycle salesmen who will tell their customers anything in order to make a sale, but the ones at the various Trek and Specialized dealerships have actually talked me out of spending money that I was fully prepared to spend. How rare is that sort of thing today?

This seems to be the case around here as well. Some shops are better than others, but as a whole they are very good in this regard.

[2whl-hoop]

So Friday I went to REI and picked up a Yepp mini child seat that mounts on the stem, REI had a 20% off coupon that was going to expire today. Yesterday I went to the LBS and bought a Trek 700, the cheapest hybrid bike they sell. Right now, Trek Fest is going on and a lot of their bikes are on sale...I couldn't help but notice though that they raised the prices, and I paid more for the bike "on sale" then I would've a few weeks ago when I first started looking. . It was still one of the cheapest I've found that had what I wanted.

I only had time to take the boy for a quick spin before I had to go to work. I need to figure out some kind of pad for the seat to raise him up a bit. The back of the seat hits his helmet and pushes it forward.

[k7]

Well, between the 40+ mile an hour gusts, the flat tires (2), the rain, the sleet, the ice and the occasional snow flakes, we failed to make it to the second control point before the time cutoff at the 89 mile point yesterday. The weather was simply relentless.

It was to the point where I couldn't see - my glasses were wet on both sides and trying to maintain control was tough in the wind. I watch my buddy get blown sideways by three feet!

I've ridden in mountains in bad weather in northern GA, the Smokies and even in Montana in Sept. I've never been so miserable as I was yesterday.

I think there were two riders who didn't start, one abandoned at the 25 mile point, one abandoned at the 50 mile point and as of the last report, six were left and still on the course. I wish them well!

I think we'll set our sites for a 600k in Utah next. What....you expected me to quit and take up golf?