bikes

[cosmicgypsies]

current pedaller, ain't had a bike since i was a kid. 2014 trek 3500, picked it up off my friend for 20 quid just so he could clear some space in his shed. most of it's just the stock bontrager/shimano stuff, havent really changed much yet; new pedals (dmr v6), new grips (some odyssey ones), new seat (selle italia q-bik) and some other misc stuff like changing out bolts etc. still needs some work on it, need to get the wheels trued as theyre swinging more than a dutchies jaw at the thunderdome in 97, replace the headset as i think the bearings are shot and id rather just replace the whole thing, probably a new stem too as i cracked the current one being the grade A dickhead i am plus taking the forks apart to clean them up. aside from that it's in fairly good standing and is holding up well for work commute, going to the park and a few miles here and there.

[Willie]

Expand Quote

My bike chain just snapped when I was going up a very mellow hill. I was struggling way more than I should, which is, none at all, and then BAM, the chain snapped and fell on the asphalt. Luckily, I wasn't too far from home... what could have happened?

[close]

Actual breakage is rare. Most of the time a link detaches from the pin. Get a high quality chain or a cheap one with a mushroomed pin like the KMC "X" series.

The one time that happened to me I was using a "crossover gear", i.e. far left front sprocket and far right rear or vice versa. The bike mechanic told me that puts a ton of stress on the chain and you should avoid those combinations. Haven't used those ever since.

[Grind King Rims]

I got talked into getting one of these, even though I didn't really want to get another hybrid, but it's been pretty great to be honest. The brakes are great on it.


I'm playing with the idea of fixing up my last bike to try and sell it, but I don't know if it's worth the trouble. Have to have a look at doing up the brakes first.

[KoRnholio8]

looks like the perfect commuter

[beatifk]

Riding in spring is almost as good as skating in spring (sometimes it's even better on a quiet country/farm road)

[beatifk]

No, it's lugged. 



From a small Italian builder called Rivola.

[planman]

Riding in spring is almost as good as skating in spring (sometimes it's even better on a quiet country/farm road)

Looks like it could use some gumwalls. And I'm assuming full campy? She's beautiful.

[givecigstosurfgroms]

  What are peoples reasons for running drop bars?, like if your not racing around and your just commuting or cycling for pleasure.   (edit I can't get my bars wide enough or high enough.  I got riser everything and mini bmx bars on my mtb. 

[planman]

  What are peoples reasons for running drop bars?, like if your not racing around and your just commuting or cycling for pleasure.   (edit I can't get my bars wide enough or high enough.  I got riser everything and mini bmx bars on my mtb. 

They're fun and offer the most hand positions which enables you to adjust your comfort while riding. I kinda miss riding my track drops on the street.

[beatifk]

Looks like it could use some gumwalls. And I'm assuming full campy? She's beautiful.

I have this strange aversion to gumwalls, I've been on blackwalls since I put these big cyclocross knobbies on my touring bike a few years back and it looked like a sick monstertruck. And, yeah, it's mostly campy. The wheels are gipiemme/fir and I put tektro levers because I have an irrational fear of falling over the bars and strangling myself with the brake cables when riding with non-aero levers.

Thanks!

  What are peoples reasons for running drop bars?, like if your not racing around and your just commuting or cycling for pleasure.   (edit I can't get my bars wide enough or high enough.  I got riser everything and mini bmx bars on my mtb. 

Drop bars give the most hand positions. I often will use the drops in a headwind or out on a long ride, they're a good way to stretch your back mid-ride. I'm no racer, that's for sure. I do need to adjust the position of my levers a bit the next time I wrap my bars... I'm not used to the classic drop shape of these bars and I put the levers too high up.

[givecigstosurfgroms]

    The drop bars seem tried and true that's for sure. 

[Beeda Weeda]

i have a set of gumwalls, but blew out the rear tire last fall and now i am rocking a gumwall in the rear and a black wall in the front, terrible.

[tumulishoomaroom]

I got this a week ago : Genesis Croix de Fer 20





I wanted a do it all bike and this fit the bill perfectly. It can go from forest single tracks to roads seamlessly. I can finally leave Paris get some fresh air !
I've done two 60km outings with it so far, I really love the bike. I might put a Brooks saddle on it to keep things British but other than that don't want to change much. I'm planning to do a tour with this in early summer.

I might convert my old 3 speed to single to roam around the city and go out at night, I don't really want to leave the Genesis in the streets anytime.   

[beatifk]

Looks fun!

Are you going to put some real pedals on that thing?

Also, what's the bottle/holder? Looks slick and I hate drinking from a plastic bottle, it's gross.

[tumulishoomaroom]

Can you recommend good pedals ? I've never had anything other that standard pedals on my bikes. Not sure I wanna go the bike shoes + clip route though.

Bottle is a Klean Canteen, I highly recommend them for bike or any situation in which you can be thirsty (life really). That's the smaller model, I should get the bigger one and put it on the bike as well because this is not nearly enough. They have insulated ones too. Bottle holder is a no name thing the shop gave me.

[ungzilla]

sick ride man, if i had a surplus of money i'd absolutely get one of those gravel road bike type things. look like a blast.

[Beeda Weeda]

cycle cross, I don't see a huge difference between these and mountain bikes.



I ride clip in pedals, I have for a few years now, its like night and day, you get power on the down stroke and the upstroke and use two different muscles, they look really nerdy and you are an official bike nerd when you wear them, but its worth it for longer rides, not worth it for commutes or just cruising.

[beatifk]

Yeah, clipless pedals are a real gamechanger.

I have the Shimano SPD-M540 or whatever the number is on my pink bike that I posted earlier in the thread. I've never used real road bike clipless pedals like Looks or something like that because the shoes just look so impossible to walk in and I usually live in apartments with stairs and I just imagine eating shit on the stairs going out or returning from a bike ride. NO THANKS. But I'd definitely recommend SPDs because you can find shoes that you can walk in (even if they look goofy as hell).

But clipless really is for a bike that you will only be using for cycling. Like you want to go out and ride your bike and that is the end goal. Not for commuting (although, if you can leave shoes at work to change into, it's great), not for casual riding to the bar or skatespot or whatever. When I was doing short 2 day tours I was riding with clipless. But on longer tours where we would hike upon arrival my favorite pedal setup was BMX pedals with Holdfast straps. I eventually switched my barbike to holdfast straps as well because I liked them a lot better than traditional straps and clips. Clips and straps never felt 100% secure to me.

[Beeda Weeda]

I am converting from mountain bike clipless to road bike clipless on Friday. I have huge wide feet so I had my local shop order me in some gyro hv road bike shoes, I am pretty excite.

I am kinda bad with knowing all my specifications of my equipment, I have a cannondale super six evo, and pretty high end shimano gears and brakes, but I don't know exactly what the specs are. My biggest regret was not buying a a model with disc breaks.

[Hercules Rockefeller]

i´ve got look keo clip ins, digging them.

as for super wide feet and shoes: same problem here, i got the mavic aksium because my bike shop instantly told me "those are the only ones that are gonna feel good for you."

and they do.



kind of on the fence about disc brakes. i still cant stand the look of them.

[Beeda Weeda]

I had them on my old cannondale "lefty" single fork mountain bike, then went back to non disc on my road bikes, they are amazing and don't get affected by water or humidity like tradition brakes.

[Blue Fescue]

I have ridden clips for 25 years but am considering going to flats for my next bike.  though it will probably just be situation based.  there are arguments for either but Sam Hill is the greatest argument for flats.  ONe of the best downhillers ever and now dominating the enduro world series.

[Blue Fescue]

^^^Sick

I put together a single-speed, fully-rigid 29er because I like the simplicity. SLAP bike heads: I have an Absolute Black oval chainring on this bike and another; I feel like I have increased traction, and on a geared bike I can run about one gear harder with the oval chainring

That is so nice.  I always want to make something similar but am just trying to get it together for a new full suspension. there are so many bikes I want

[tumulishoomaroom]

sick ride man, if i had a surplus of money i'd absolutely get one of those gravel road bike type things. look like a blast.

Thank you ! They really are a blast ! I tried a Kona Rove ST as well but really felt better on the Genesis + I though it looked nicer as well. I'm planning on doing the Paris-Mont St Michel route this summer for a start; 500km should be sufficient.

I also received a really nice Fairweather handlebar bag today, they look real nice if anyone's looking for one :


As for the clipless pedal, I'm sure they are amazing; I will see if I wanna go the goofy shoes route when I get to really  know this bike. They'd be useful though as this bike is for cycling only and usually for 2-3hours at a time.

[Beeda Weeda]

My current rig, cannondale super six evo, I had the same bike with a silver/dull metal looking frame, but I cracked the down tube and cannondale replaced the frame, but I didn't get to pick the same color.
yellow tire is for the trianer


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[Beeda Weeda]

I like it, I had a bit of trouble getting it calibrated at first, sometimes when I mark a hard effort on a steep short climb it will get all sluggish and feel like I am still climbing when I am doing the next down slope and it requires me to reset it mid ride. I have had issues with zwift losing connection with it from time to time too.
Are you running off apple or android? I run android and I get a 3 second delay on zwift, so I climb for 3 seconds after a climb ect

[Beeda Weeda]

I run it with the ant+ dongle and its a little bit better, it's funny, it will run perfect 5-10x in a row, and then I will have a ride with a bunch of interference.
I don't want any apple products, I  know they are superior, i just don't wan to spend the money

for the most part it runs pretty realistically, almost more difficult than riding outside.

[artskool]

Anybody ever order from http://www.bikesdirect.com/ ? Looks kind of shady, but some really good prices. I have an old road frame that I want to build out, but it seems cheaper to buy a whole complete at a discount and toss the frame than to get a proper build kit.

[ungzilla]

prices aren't that great. ie:

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/wellington1-xv.htm

listed "700" dollars? yeaaaa right. Thing has fuckin' friction shifters. It's basically a department store road bike.

Also don't forget to factor in the cost of it getting built, a bike shop will charge probably 60-100 (when I worked in bike shops which was ages ago) to assemble a boxed bike. Maybe you can handle that yourself, but a lot of the time these things will come with wheels out of true, loose headsets, etc, and those are more difficult to remedy without some basic bike repair knowledge.

also most bike shops will have some kind of tune up after purchase, because cables will stretch, spokes will settle, etc. also if there is a warranty issue your SOL with a place like this... well maybe not totally but it's a bear to deal with remotely.

[givecigstosurfgroms]

Anybody ever order from http://www.bikesdirect.com/ ? Looks kind of shady, but some really good prices. I have an old road frame that I want to build out, but it seems cheaper to buy a whole complete at a discount and toss the frame than to get a proper build kit.

 THey get great reviews and they're dirt cheap.  If you live in the states why would you buy anything else?