None of the above - Any cyclists?

Discussion in 'Cars, Motorcycles, Boats, Airplanes Talk' started by yotacowboy, Jan 2, 2017.

  1. jpoyarzun

    jpoyarzun Acquaintance

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    When I'm out of the bike and want to start riding back I found out some lessons:
    • Even after a 6-month hiatus, you need to check your bike fit (saddle height at least), there's plenty of online info on that topic.
    • I found the rubber brooks cambium saddle the most comfortable saddle for long rides (even with an untrained ass).
    • Riding just 10 to 15 minutes daily for a week (and nothing more) works miracles on your rear resilience with your saddle.
    • My endurance up on the bike wasn't determined by my cardio (if you start to feel tired, you can just ride slower) but for my back and arms (postural pain)... So... some pushups back exercises and ab exercises during the "adjustment" time improved my endurance a lot.
    A friend of mine who is a pro, told me once: "you don't ride a bike to get fit, you get fit to enjoy riding a bike". Totally true.
     
  2. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    Not even sure why I wrote that earlier. Anyway, nut squishing will be commencing soon.
     
  3. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    If that's what going on, you need to ... uhhh ... rearrange your wedding tackle
     
  4. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    It's been 4 years since I threw a leg over this thing. I've never competed and have no desire to, at all. Really just a recreational rider. Makes me happy. Something about the feeling of being on two wheels is very pleasurable to me. Love motorcycles too. The feeling of being self-powered adds something ineffable; like a self-sufficiency, almost indestructibility, a sense of can't-be-stoppedness that I have a hard time describing (obviously). Life intruded on my cycling (or at least provided an excuse to be lazy, although commuting on a bike wearing a suit does present some quandries, as does picking up a 4 year-old from daycare). Bought this bike about 5 years ago and gradually worked up to about 20-25 mile rides 2-3 times a week.

    Numerous personal problems about 4 years ago caused my world to come crashing down around my shoulders resulting in a cross-country move and providing another excuse to be lazy. Four years later, and a car repair appt next week got me thinking about throwing my bike in the back and riding home (5 miles). Pumped up the tires, which held air amazingly, and started thinking of my first stationary moment combined with unclipping, then my absolutely sedentary life since moving, and thought ok, let's test out the old saw "it's like riding a bicycle." Turns out it's true, for the first mile or two. I can tell you, the Ozarks are much hillier than Denver, at least until you get about 25 miles west of Denver metro. Did 3-4 miles (no battery in my computer) and uh... i'm feeling it. Still pretty motivated though. I am 57, so I intend to make this a gradual ramp up. Don't want to hurt myself, nor do I want to flop around by the side of the road with an HA.

    The bike is a Kona phd hybrid, about 2012 model year I believe. Set up for light touring/commuting/fun. Al frame, carbon fiber forks, Ultegra rear/105 front, FSA crank and steering head assy, avid 5 brakes, mavic aksium race wheels. I'm not as serious as most of you, so as with my audio gear, it's good enough. My biggest concern is basically the combination of lots of old people and literally NO shoulders. Wish me luck. It would appear that my "file is too large," so sorry for the link.

    http://imgur.com/gallery/42CzJWx
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2018
  5. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    Well put.

    You'll get it back, the body responds to training in a predictable way. Age limits the peak performance you might be able to achieve, but that's not really your goal, I think. You will build endurance steadily if you put some time in, then you're back to your self-sufficient, indestructible, can't-be-stopped self.

    I've ridden nothing but drop-bar bikes on the road for 45+ years now, except for a couple of periods when my boys were young and I bought a 2nd-hand commuter kinda like yours because I liked riding more upright with a rear seat. If I still had it, I'd put a front basket on it, throw in une baguette, un morceau du fromage et une demi-bouteille de vin for an occasional easy ride. Go ahead, pass me on your Pinarello. When I get to the park at the top of the hill, you're not gonna be so satisfied with your PowerBar, now are you?
     
  6. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    Exactly right, and another way in which it resembles my experience in audio. I'm having a bunch o' fun. What makes me happy is all I care about, and all I am willing to pay for. Huzzah.
     
  7. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    Nah, that's just a figure of speech.

    Just recovered my Garmin and Strava accounts and they say my last serious ride was more than 5 years ago. Yikes.
     
  8. Kernel Kurtz

    Kernel Kurtz Friend

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    Looks like most of the folks here are road bike riders. We have those here as well, but our roads are so awful I don't know how they keep from breaking things all the time. Anyway, I finally decided on the Trek MTB and I'm super happy with it. Coming from a hardtail I now know what I have been missing all these years. It was one of those moments like when I discovered planar speakers recently. Why didn't I do this long ago?

    Anyway, new vehicle for exercise and entertainment.

    [​IMG]

    I was impressed with some of the road bikes my local Trek deal had on display. Super aerodynamic, brakes all faired into the frame and stuff. I'll bet they would be a lot of fun to ride. This one was deeply discounted on sale too. Maybe one day i will give it a try.....

    [​IMG]
     
  9. ohmaigulay

    ohmaigulay Friend

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    Finally got around to getting a new bike. Replaced my hybrid commuter with a road bike. I was initially looking at a 105 Canyon Endurace but thanks to advice received on this forum as well as test rides I decided to stick to steel.

    Found a new old stock 2016 Jamis Quest with Shimano 105 and Ritchey components at a quarter of the price for a new entry level carbon bike.
    8E15F3D7-5EA3-4EE6-933E-FDFAED821088.jpeg 04984FE9-6805-4B88-A25C-D9234EB8B36C.jpeg
     
  10. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    Solid choice. Jamis frame and Shimano 105 are good, reliable stuff.

    Things to do before 1st ride - remove wheel, seatpost and handlebar reflectors. Add front & rear LED blinky lights.
    Tip the saddle up to level. Tip the handlebars down so hoods are closer to level. Ride some before you deviate too much from that for comfort.

    I assume you're gonna use the same saddle height and set back from bottom bracket as your existing bike. You might find that the reach of these handlebars isn't ideal - too close or too far puts unwanted extra pressure on hands and shoulders. It's a really easy fix, though. A new stem. longer or shorter, shouldn't cost more than $20 - $25. They install very easily, generally just requires 4mm & 5mm hex wrenches. Maybe a 6mm for the top cap. While you're at it, you can also adjust the height of the bars above the frame. There's a bunch of spacers under the stem, you can move some of them above the stem to lower the bars. As it stands in the photo, the bars are very high compared to the saddle, but you probably haven't set your saddle height yet.

    Probably came with cheap-ish tires? What size? I'm pretty sure Shimano 105 brakes will fit 28mm tires, would be well worth it to go to that size, especially if stock are 23mm, which is pretty common. Continental Ultra Sport come in 28mm, and I have found them $20 - $25 apiece. Really good puncture resistance for me, but still reasonably compliant. Comfort will be much better. They are not for commutes where's there's a ton of debris; if that's the case, you might need something with a tougher breaker belt.

    Use Berto calculation for air pressure. 2nd Law of Thermodynamics applies.
     
  11. ohmaigulay

    ohmaigulay Friend

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    I work the night shift and my commute to work is at night, commute home early morning. I replaced my generic amazon LED lights on my previous bike with a Lezyne Laser drive tail light and a Lezyne Strip drive front and rear set.

    AB2F71B1-88D1-46BD-B994-1E45CCB25CBA.jpeg 791BC630-89B2-42BF-82AB-F5E66B26241A.jpeg

    I’m going to visit my LBS to try on some SPD shoes. I bought SPD pedals with platform on one side (for commuting) and SPD on the other. It’s my first time using clipless pedals. I’ll have the bike adjusted to wearing clipless.

    4DD1B58B-6AFB-4914-901D-13E948634A90.jpeg

    The bike came with 25mm Vittoria Zaffiro Pro tires. They feel pretty good so far compared to the 32mm Vittoria Randonneur on my hybrid. The tires that felt the best when I test rode bikes prior to my purchase were 28mm Continental GP 4000S II fitted on the Canyon Endurace. There’s much debris on the roads I ride. It’s mostly just the debris cars will push off to the side onto the bike lane.
     
  12. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    This is a little too late since I've already bought them, but I have a few cyclist friends who can't afford lights for their bikes. So for Christmas I went and got a few each of these:
    https://www.amazon.ca/Universal-Cycling-Flashlight-Handlebar-Diameter/dp/B076D84CQQ
    https://www.amazon.ca/Rechargeable-Flashlight-Customized-Included-Magnetic/dp/B01M0629H8/

    Did I make a decent choice? I've only recently taken an interest in flashlights. My friends ride a fair bit (including winter) but mostly within the city centre; no highways or such. The S2R beam profile seems to me in between a flood and throw light. It doesn't have a central hotspot, but rather spreads the light out evenly within the spill area. In my head, I was thinking this was better rather than having a super bright spot that could annoy drivers, but maybe the hot spot with better range would be safer? I'm not sure. I guess any light is better than none; just trying to keep my friends safe(r).
     
  13. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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  14. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    Lezyne is generally good stuff, I have one of their lights and a floor pump
    Clipless is awesome. Once you're used to them, you'll start throwing your work shoes in a backpack so you can do clipless on your commute
    Zaffiro are pretty stiff (although you might as well get use out of them), and the Randonneur are worse. Vittoria Rubino Pro come in 28mm and they're a good choice, a bit more money than the Continental UltraSport. GP 4000S II are really good, Vittoria Corsa even better, but getting up there in price. Both available in 28mm.
     
  15. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    I have a similar rig on a bike, handlebar mount that holds a rechargeable 18650 flashlight. I prefer it to the one that @spwath uses because there are no wires. Nice gift. Hope they already have bright blinky rear lights? That's most important of all.
     
  16. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I'm not sure actually... I think they've just got el'cheapo front lights, so maybe they can swap those over to the rear now.
     
  17. WhiteNoise

    WhiteNoise Facebook Friend

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    I enjoy mtn biking. I don't ride as much as I used to but I want to get back into it. I have a 09 gary fisher piranha
     
  18. monacelli

    monacelli Friend

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    New bike day. Not a super sexy kilobuck bike, but she's mine. My first real bike after having not ridden since I was a teenager. This is the Giant Escape 2 disc in metallic blue. Pretty stoked!

    [​IMG]
     
  19. Prydz

    Prydz Friend

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    Since I am kinda hipster, I bought a old road bike - A Koga Miyata Full Pro from 1980s. It's mostly stock Dura Ace 7200 parts, except the rear derailleur and krank. Once I went on a 50km trip just for fun, and I got hooked. Since then ive done 1366km and really love cycling!

    [​IMG]
     
  20. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    Nice! That's a really good frame, high-end Tange tubing. I bet it rides as well as anything out there.
     

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