Bicycles!

[Apex]

Just watch out for the race ready tires. They are sometimes made with super soft compound so it grips better. Would wear out pretty fast on the street. Try to get something 60a+ durometer. Typical XC tires tend to be in the 60-70-ish range. Avoid anything under 50a. Those will wear out super fast (downhill tires for instance). Hybrid tires should work just fine.

Just pick a tire that suits what you will be doing more of. The link that @choneofakind posted has some good suggestions.

However, also factor in your trail riding. If you want actual decent grip on the trails, you may want to go with something that is better suited for the trail. Possibly like a Kenda Kozmik Lite II. It really is a matter of personal preference and trial and error.

[Yakaru]

I bought a new bike today -- a Lapierre Audacio 200L. Broke her in with a nice 30 mile ride. I hurt, but it's a good hurt. Love the bike. Even more flickable than my Ninja :P

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

I hurt, but it's a good hurt.

Can you be my backup in case my GF ever breaks up with me?

You ride motorcycles, are a nerdy physics/engineering type, and you know the good hurt of a road bike.

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Can you be my backup in case my GF ever breaks up with me?

You ride motorcycles, are a nerdy physics/engineering type, and you know the good hurt of a road bike.

Aww -- I'm honored, but I prefer the ladies :P Sorry

[Alex]

(couldn't help myself; please forgive me!)

[choneofakind]

Drat.

Your bike is lovely looking btw. I've never heard of them though.

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by Alex

(couldn't help myself; please forgive me!)

Bwhahaha, I laughed so consider yourself forgiven :P Sorry, I'm single ATM and I also don't think I'd wear my bike helmet, would get in the way

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Drat.

Your bike is lovely looking btw. I've never heard of them though.

Neither had I, got it from a little tiny hole in the wall shop which does imports and custom built bikes. It's last years model, and he needed some more floor space so the owner cut me a nice deal on it.

[choneofakind]

I just trued both my rims, and the weather got nice, so I went for a ride yesterday. I got a nice 30 miler in.

So today I go for another ride. I hit something in the road, it pops up and breaks one of my spokes. Damn construction zone.


Anyone know where I can get a new flat bladed spoke for this bad boy? This is for the non-driveside of the rear wheel. There's no bike shops near me/I don't have a car to drive to the next town. I would normally bike to the next town, buuuuut I might be able to bum a ride if I need to. Ballpark estimate of how much it will cost me? I can't really find replacement flat spokes on google so far.

[Apex]

You can try www.Universalcycles.com, www.Jensonusa.com, or maybe even www.Pricepoint.com. May need to call them to make sure they have/don't have something for your application. I noticed http://www.bicyclewarehouse.com/, but I have never dealt with them, so no reviews on their service. The other three I've had zero problems with.

[Confuzshuz]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

I just trued both my rims, and the weather got nice, so I went for a ride yesterday. I got a nice 30 miler in.

So today I go for another ride. I hit something in the road, it pops up and breaks one of my spokes. Damn construction zone.


Anyone know where I can get a new flat bladed spoke for this bad boy? This is for the non-driveside of the rear wheel. There's no bike shops near me/I don't have a car to drive to the next town. I would normally bike to the next town, buuuuut I might be able to bum a ride if I need to. Ballpark estimate of how much it will cost me? I can't really find replacement flat spokes on google so far.

I would just order from the manufacturer. They typically cost no more than $6 a piece. Get some spare sizes for the whole wheel to help offset the cost of shipping.

[Apex]

You may be able to order through an LBS and they can set the shipping to your place. You just pay over the phone. Gives you another route if you have a hard time finding it...

[BlueHairSar]

I rode my bicycle today for the first time in a good long while. It's so light! And I can't shift my weight off my arms! And I kept over-turning 'cause I would instinctively flick into a turn, but the bike is just so light!...

That is all...

[Apex]

Yeah, totally different beast from a motorcycle. lol

[Aurodox]

Originally Posted by BlueHairSar

I rode my bicycle today for the first time in a good long while. It's so light! And I can't shift my weight off my arms! And I kept over-turning 'cause I would instinctively flick into a turn, but the bike is just so light!...

That is all...

Funny story. I rode a CBR600rr for a while, and then some friends wanted to go ride bicycles. I hoped on mine and just about fell over from how light and maneuverable it was. hahaha

[choneofakind]

When I was teaching a friend how to countersteer when he first started riding a ninjette, I had him get up to speed on my bicycle without hands. Then I had him use one finger to flick the right handlebar to prove to him that countersteering leans the bike. He shot across the road and ate it in the ditch.

My poor MTB gets beat on.

[YunMing]

I need to buy a bicycle. Not sure what's good nowdays.

[ally99]

I love my Cannondale! Great for mountain biking with its strong, sturdy frame. Slap street tires on it and it's taken many thousands of street miles too.

[subxero]

I'm chompin at the bit to get in some downhill mountain biking back in PA where i grew up. Would like to make a few new trails but it all takes time, time i dont exactly have right now but hopefully over the summer i will get to play a bit.

[ally99]

Originally Posted by subxero

I'm chompin at the bit to get in some downhill mountain biking back in PA where i grew up. Would like to make a few new trails but it all takes time, time i dont exactly have right now but hopefully over the summer i will get to play a bit.

Everyone loves them some downhill. I like the physical challenge of the uphill personally. Downhill is a pleasant reward though.

[massacremasses]

I still havent really gotten to test mine out hardcore yet

Need to get my brother inlaw to show me some trails.. but my wife is a dummy and got a cruiser so we have to borrow my moms bike for her... -__-

[subxero]

Originally Posted by ally99

Everyone loves them some downhill. I like the physical challenge of the uphill personally. Downhill is a pleasant reward though.

i guess that makes me lazy... i don't deny this.

I like uphill on my dirtbike

[ally99]

Originally Posted by subxero

i guess that makes me lazy... i don't deny this.

I like uphill on my dirtbike

Lazy makes you normal. Enjoying the uphills makes me weird...I don't deny this.

[choneofakind]

I love the uphills. Best part of the trail/road

[Apex]

Ohh, I love climbing. To me if you can climb, you really have mastered the bicycle. The few baby climbs around me, they are technical. Your line makes all the difference. Sure they are short, but they can be steep.

I love my Trek/Gary Fisher HiFi (now called the superfly).

I did my MS150 ride this past weekend. 160 miles, over 4000ft gained over two days. A FUN ride. I was blasting up the climbs. Best quote was when I passed these two guys on $4000+ carbon road bikes. One guy said to the other, "Dude, you just got passed by a mountain bike." ROFL

Who says a heavy $600 MTB is not good? The motor matters more than the bike IMHO. The only mods to the Hardrock Sport Disc 29er are 35c tires, eggbeater 3's, Truvativ Stylo carbon bar, Stylo stem, and RavX bar ends. All else is stock, and I whooped up on some road bikes.

My friend took his $4k Specialized roadie out. We rode together for half of the ride that day. I dropped off because I lost my MP3 player, back tracked over 2 miles to get it (after it was ran over by a vehicle...still worked too), and then beat him by over 10-minutes at the end of the day. The following day I just took off on him and beat him by over 30-minutes to the finish line. It wasn't a race, but I love to challenge myself. For the first time in a long time, I was not constantly paying attention to my HR.

[massacremasses]

I dont like hills...

[Apex]

I didn't like hills until this year, when I truly understood what my body is capable of. Once I knew I could push myself and still be okay, the hills suddenly got fun.

[leed]

Originally Posted by Apex

I didn't like hills until this year, when I truly understood what my body is capable of. Once I knew I could push myself and still be okay, the hills suddenly got fun.

+1 I've always enjoyed hills because they warm me up quick, makes for a good challenge for yourself too. Going down them is usually fun too, but sometimes I find it boring haha.

Originally Posted by choneofakind

I just trued both my rims, and the weather got nice, so I went for a ride yesterday. I got a nice 30 miler in.

So today I go for another ride. I hit something in the road, it pops up and breaks one of my spokes. Damn construction zone.


Anyone know where I can get a new flat bladed spoke for this bad boy? This is for the non-driveside of the rear wheel. There's no bike shops near me/I don't have a car to drive to the next town. I would normally bike to the next town, buuuuut I might be able to bum a ride if I need to. Ballpark estimate of how much it will cost me? I can't really find replacement flat spokes on google so far.

Did you tension it after truing it? To be honest, I personally just replace broken bladed spokes with regular spokes hahahaha. The aerodynamic disadvantage with a regular spokes is minimal, and they don't twist a easily when you're truing and tensioning. But the wheel I did this to is a no-name wheel.. And I used a spoke I had laying around hahaha [identical length, thankfully]

Today I rode for the second time outdoors since winter. We recently had a crapton of rain so an underpass was flooded with ~1 foot of water. I may need to do some work to my BB and hubs now

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by leed

Did you tension it after truing it? To be honest, I personally just replace broken bladed spokes with regular spokes hahahaha. The aerodynamic disadvantage with a regular spokes is minimal, and they don't twist a easily when you're truing and tensioning. But the wheel I did this to is a no-name wheel.. And I used a spoke I had laying around hahaha [identical length, thankfully]

Yeah I tensioned them. They all made the same pitched 'twang' when I plucked them, so it's all good. But then I hit something on the road and it popped up into the rear wheel and snapped the spoke.

I told the shop idgaf about bladed or round spokes. I just want them to give me a call back so I can ride already.

[YunMing]

Anyone know a good deal on a road bike around $1000 bucks

[choneofakind]

Depends what you're going to do with it and what frame fits you. Go test ride some. There's plenty of options from all the major manufacturers in that price range. Trek, Giant, Raleigh, Specialized, etc.

You're going to want to look at Aluminum frames and basic-medium components to meet a $1000 price range. No problem with that. Lots of reliable options at that price range.

[Apex]

I'll stick with my cheap wheels. Sure they are heavy, but man they will take a beating.

Though those ZIPP wheels are quite tempting....

[Apex]

If you can find a sale, a Trek 1.5 goes for about that price brand new. I'm sure other big names have bikes in that range as well. If you want to go slightly cheaper, something like the 1.2 or 1.1 would work as well. Hybrids are a bit cheaper...

[YunMing]

Originally Posted by Apex

If you can find a sale, a Trek 1.5 goes for about that price brand new. I'm sure other big names have bikes in that range as well. If you want to go slightly cheaper, something like the 1.2 or 1.1 would work as well. Hybrids are a bit cheaper...

Alright i'll keep an eye out. My other option is to build a road bike since I have a large garage and tons of tools. If I were to go the builders route which frame would be a good choice to purchase?

[YunMing]

So far my list consists of trek 1.5, specialized allez, and fuji 2.0

[Apex]

Any of those would work, good stuff. Test ride them. They can do a rough fit before you even buy the bike. It is quick and will be in the ball park. After that, go by feel. Like for me the Specialized roadies feel really twitchy, why the Trek feels stable (however my friend is 100% opposite). Fuji didn't feel right either, so I have been with Trek. I am a Trek fanboy only because they seem to make all their bikes feel right for me. Apparently the people who work there think a bike should feel like how I think a bike should feel. You tend to find a common "theme" like that among different manufacturers. Enjoy the search!

[choneofakind]

Check out the Giant Defy 2 as well.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/...specifications

Not a bad bike at all from my test ride on it. Very comfortable geometry. Pretty good ride for an Aluminum bike.

[choneofakind]

Well, I got my rear wheel fixed!!! It looks gorgeous.

BUT I go for a ride, and realize that I can't shift off the biggest crank. I get back and realize that what ever I hit also bashed my derailleur hard enough to bash off the tooth that holds onto the spring which allows the derailleur to down-shift. It works fine for riding, but it's stuck in the largest crank. Good thing Ada is flat. I'll get it fixed before my race at Watkins Glen. ...in 2.5 weeks.

I'll probably end up getting a cheap derailleur from Nashbar or something. Right now it's just an old Sora group, so it's really no biggie. I'm buying a new bike soon, but damn. This is annoying.

[choneofakind]

Got a nice workout in today!! I'm running a duathelon in 1.5 weeks. So I biked 26 miles and ran 3 miles.

I bought a new Sora front Derailleur to replace the one that broke. Other bastard on Ebay bid me all the way up to the same price as the other auctions. Whatever, $25 including shipping is no biggie. I'll get it installed just in time to go race.

I'm excited to do a big race as my first of the season!!! It'll be a great start to the season.

[Apex]

I have to wait until September for my MTB race. Plenty of time to train though!

Good luck on your race!

[choneofakind]

replaced my derailleur with a newer sora unit. Score.