The bicycling thread.

[MidnightAbyss]

That "beater" a lot nicer than my shitty bike. All I got is an old single speed. I'd like to start biking to work and it's only 4 miles away but there are a lot of hills. I've been contemplating setting the game fund aside for a little bit and putting it towards a real bike. Any recommendations?

 

[roker]

That "beater" a lot nicer than my shitty bike. All I got is an old single speed. I'd like to start biking to work and it's only 4 miles away but there are a lot of hills. I've been contemplating setting the game fund aside for a little bit and putting it towards a real bike. Any recommendations?

Yeah, something with gears. A single speed is only good for flat terrain. I like hybrids for everyday bikes., but a low priced road bike would also suffice.

I think I just took some good pics. The scratches aren't easy to see on a grey bike like that. I just invested 100 bucks into it this summer for a new cassette, chain, and rear tire. I've also started putting stickers on it to cover some horrible scratches.

 

[cdamm]

doubletrack day! it was a little squirrely out there due to the not terribly dry conditions, but it was a good ride nonetheless.

 

[MidnightAbyss]

Yeah, something with gears. A single speed is only good for flat terrain. I like hybrids for everyday bikes., but a low priced road bike would also suffice.

I think I just took some good pics. The scratches aren't easy to see on a grey bike like that. I just invested 100 bucks into it this summer for a new cassette, chain, and rear tire. I've also started putting stickers on it to cover some horrible scratches.

I definitely want something with gears. Saw a nice Trek at an estate sale last week. It had a bunch of crap on it the owner must of added like a speedometer and other shit like mirrors, fender, and a rack. They were asking too close to what the bike sold for new though so I passed.

 

[smokehouse]

Cervelo: The official bike of overweight lawyers/doctors/weekend warriors with too much money to burn. At least around these parts.

LOL...I agree.

But I've always wanted a Cervelo TT bike...there's just something about them. It would definitely have to be in the black/red colorway too...

*EDIT*
A Felt B12 is also another on on my short list...

 

[Heinz]

Last Christmas I bought a Giant boulder 1. Nothing special and doesn't pretend to be either. I've managed to tackle some great single track and some nice jumps too without any issues. The fork is a suntour XC or XCT can't remember, again nothing great but it dampens and really that's all I expected from a base level suspension fork.
Looking forward to utilizing the daylight savings that just started here to get a good hour of cycling done after work. Living literally a few minutes walk from a huge cycling path network is amazing. I sincerely want to challenge the 50km freeway cycle path that goes up and down the eastern side of the bay in Melbourne.

Why do I keep seeing marsh mellow men on carbon fiber bikes? or some lazy cunt riding back with his milk on a full suspension top of the line mountain bike? weird.

 

[smokehouse]

Why do I keep seeing marsh mellow men on carbon fiber bikes? or some lazy cunt riding back with his milk on a full suspension top of the line mountain bike? weird.

Because many people think that they can buy speed.

I've found that all you can buy is comfort, geometry, and fit. My cousin has a garage full of bikes at the moment, a Dura Ace Specialized Tarmac, an Ultegra Giant TCR, and a Ultegra Trek Domane. He just added a set of Zipp 808 wheels to the Giant. Not a one of these bikes is more than 2-3 years old. So...that is what, at least $10,000 worth of bikes?

He weighs 275 lbs...the dude is fat. He dropped $2000+ on a set of Zipp race wheels...and can't drop 20 lbs off his body.

In the end, it is what it is...but year, some people think they can buy speed.

In the end, it boils down to this:

“Don’t buy upgrades, ride upgrades” – Eddy Merckx

 

[Heinz]

Speed is worth jack shit. Why? because it literally does nothing for you. To lose pounds you need effort, sweat and sometimes even pain. The worst bike will get you into the best shape, the best bike wont do a fucking thing for you if you're huge.

 

[smokehouse]

Speed is worth jack shit. Why? because it literally does nothing for you. To lose pounds you need effort, sweat and sometimes even pain. The worst bike will get you into the best shape, the best bike wont do a fucking thing for you if you're huge.

Speed is worth jack shit. Why? because it literally does nothing for you. To lose pounds you need effort, sweat and sometimes even pain. The worst bike will get you into the best shape, the best bike wont do a fucking thing for you if you're huge.

To a point, I agree. I do believe that fit is king and a good frame can make all the difference. Some modern frames can offer so much in terms of what you want your ride to be. A Roubaix or Domane are both amazing endurance road frames. The suck up so much road chatter and if you're fit well to them, make a world of difference. My Tarmac is a madman in the climbing and handling dept...although it is pretty harsh in the ride. Long sotry short, you definitely cannot buy speed, but you can buy a custom riding experience.

He started with the Madone, which is a great endurance frame. Good riding position, very comfortable frame design (one of the best endurance frames on the market, in my opinion). he wanted to ride long distance and hit it pretty hard, doing at least 4000 miles a year. Last year he began this "I'm going to be a crit racer!!! LOLZWTFBBQ" phase. Bout the Giant and the Specialized, then the absurdly expensive wheels for the Giant. Like I expected, he fell flat on his face this year. He's too big and too out of shape to be competitive in that world. Chugging away a century ride is one thing, the fast paced wold of crit is another.

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

well i went back to one of my favorite trail parks. Did a longish ride over the weekend.

one of the interesting downhills


you can see it follow along the ridge. Not the best bike to take down it.

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

the other difficult trail down.



Off of a small drop in and sharp corner you run into this literally if your not careful .

 

[cdamm]

icb- full 29er?

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

icb- full 29er?

Yea , not the best choice for the trails I ride I thought I'd be racing more. Going to pick up a 650b bike for more all mountain / freeride trails.

 

[cdamm]

i really like the 650b size. its kind of like the best of both worlds.

i fucked up one of my cheapass tires on a root system and which got me to buy some new rubber. i am really having fun with experimenting with new parts and stuff. figuring out what i like and whatnot. i'll move everything over to a proper frame i have my eye on next season.

btw- is that one of those camelback self sealing bottles? how do you like it? ive been eyeing them for a minute.

 

[voltronbadass]

I have gone through mountains of bmx parts to find exactly what I like. That part of the hobby can be addicting. I've built spares bikes out of stuff that didnt make it onto my daily. Its good to keep a spare on hand if you have a friend who wants to give cycling with you a try with you, they are also great for when you get a flat or something on your daily and just dont feel like doing the repair.

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

btw- is that one of those camelback self sealing bottles? how do you like it? ive been eyeing them for a minute.

actually the bottle is not that good if you ride dusty/rocky trails. It accumulates in the opening and is a pita to clean unless you stop. I got it more for its thermal properties. its suppose to stay cooler longer but i doubt that even.

 

[cdamm]

actually the bottle is not that good if you ride dusty/rocky trails. It accumulates in the opening and is a pita to clean unless you stop. I got it more for its thermal properties. its suppose to stay cooler longer but i doubt that even.

good to know. its chicagoland here. nothing but dust. i have a thermal style stay cold one myself, but the opening is god awful and you get a trickle of water.

 

[cdamm]

lol. my wife got me that camelbak bottle for my birthday.

thats what i get for staying logged into amazon. it flows good, i just haven't gotten it dirty yet.

 

[nug]

lol. my wife got me that camelbak bottle for my birthday.

thats what i get for staying logged into amazon. it flows good, i just haven't gotten it dirty yet.

I believe they make a clear bubble top that covers the whole top if you're riding dusty areas

 

[Heinz]

Recently moved into a new area, much closer to the mountain ranges about 5.5km to the base. Went for a ride today to get my bearings on the local trails and specifically for a direct route to the mountains and its fire trails. What I found was a very steep and seriously eroded trail, didn't manage to challenge it today but I hope it flattens out further up. Shit looks brutal going up and a damn death trap going down too. Can't wait! (to break a leg)

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

I know we were discussing tracking apps earlier in this thread. I found this entertaining.

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

got a new bike for more all mountain type trails. santa cruz carbon bronson 27.5 tires

 

[Electric Grave]

A thing of beauty, is it for downhill mostly? I find dual suspension bikes tend to eat up my pedaling power when going uphill...thus I stick to downhill shenanigans when using it.

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

A thing of beauty, is it for downhill mostly? I find dual suspension bikes tend to eat up my pedaling power when going uphill...thus I stick to downhill shenanigans when using it.

No its not a downhill bike even though it has 160mm F /150mm R travel, its considered a free ride / all mountain . it has smaller wheels, more travel and slacker head angles then my trek with 120mm F/ 120mm R . so i can be more comfortable on the downhill . On my first ride with the bronson i dropped 40 secs on a 1 mile downhill section as compared to the best i could do on my trek. Full disclosure i also crashed 3 times once badly.

Mountain bike Suspension and rear setup (ie vpp/horst/fsr/dw-link) has come a long way in the past 10 years. I only have 4 rides on this bike but i never had to lock out the shock into climb mode. just left it in trail mode. Thats surprising because im a big guy @ ~240 #s i have platform pedals on it so not too worried about the climbs anyway.

Now the trek fuel 29er i have i use clippless pedals and put that suspension into climb mode and there is no bob at all. a great climber and XC bike if a little heavy for it .

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

So finished the year doing a lot of riding trying to break 200k ft , but started the year off bad do to a leg infection i got from one of the many pedal strikes on my shin. I planned a bunch of big rides since i was off for the holidays , even purchased parking passes that got wasted.

i thought this was a cool pic , we could have fit 1 more bike but not 1 more person in the truck.



in my down time i upgraded the front fork to a 160 mm pike . Also note the reverb dropper is not on thats because it broke again. the one on my other bike is broke too but at least they might warranty replace it.