friend has the Plasma setup on his Seven Elium Race with Zipp wheels,very nice.

believe me,mine is the low end ride among the group.

I LOVE beating up on guys with expensive bikes...

My plebian S-Works with old parts does really well for me...

M

:nod you'll be amazed at whatcha find...

M

you'd probably kick my ass on a unicycle,but i'm ok with that.:D

That would be funny to see in the literal sense. :D

a young kid showed up last week for the thursday evening ride on a single speed fixed gear bike,i couldn't even see him after a few miles he was so far ahead of us slackers.

I want to build up a single speed to commute on. My ride is mostly flat so I make a game of keeping my bike in the same gear for the whole ride. It really depends on how I'm feeling. I do have "the hill" I try to ride 2x's a week for the extra exercise that puts in the small ring up front the the big ring out back.

Anyone know how much energy is lost using a multispeed bike vs. a single speed?

very little. a slight amount of friction in the derailleur takeup rollers. a tiny bit of wind resistance in the extra sprockets and derailleurs. a bit of weight in all of the above along with the extra chain length.

Thanks. I was thinking along the lines of motos how a certain degree of HP is lost to the drivetrain.

I used to ride fixed on my commuter too... Much more fun than geared bikes in a sick kinda way.

I rode my 42x17 pretty much all over the DC Metro area. Small enough to keep you going slow on the flats, big enough that you can keep up with the spin on the downhills, and well, if you HAVE to climb, it can be done.

M

So Stick Me and I were out scouting trail for the Hash next Wed. Her first time on my Dean HT. I was on the 'cross bike.

Since I don't like (I fucking HATE it actually!!) putting bikes inside cars, I rode over to the ride. Met her there and we took off down the trail. I NEED a Thule or Yakima for her Camaro. Badly!

For a first ride, she done real good. :clap

'Things' hurt, so its time to start looking at ways to eliminate the ache...

We were out maybe an hour or so. About halfway, she got a thorn in her front tire. Yours truly busted out the spare tube and fixed it. Then fixed it again as I found a small pinch in the new tube. :bluduh :baldy I refuse to walk out when there's alternatives. Worst case I woulda stuffed the motherfucker with leaves and rode out! Fuck walking!

Unfortunately, I'm thinkin I'm not getting any tonite. :umph Someone's sore. :cry

Next time, no flats!

M

I'm the same way, always carry a spare tube w me through the city.
I used to change out flats right on a crowded sidewalk back in the day, always funny to see reactions (in a city where no one who actually lives here does anything manual labor except exercise).. I used to time myself.


I did a very quick ride last night on my Klein, for the first time I was actually keeping up with most of the roadie racers on the path. It just felt right, had a good cadence going, wasn't feeling like I was out of steam at all, really just pushed it the whole 15 miles.

The susp fork kills me though and soon will be history. Also I'm running 1.50 tires probably should get 1.25's. But either way I was cooking fast enough to have another Klein rider come up to me (on a Klein roadie) and give me a compliment for keeping up and passing alot of the pack. It felt good to hear that. Progress:clap

Only thing I'm noticing is the Klein is such a small frame that I have the seatpost hoisted to the max height, and still wish to be taller in the bike. The frame is almost BMX in it's layout. ANd he wheels feel tiny. I guess that's why Cyclocross bikes are so great.

Cheers, rain again.:1drink

:thumb

They make 400mm seatposts... BUT it sounds like you need the next larger size frame.

HTH,

M

indeed. a larger frame will have a longer wheelbase and longer seat to stem distance as well as being a bit taller. my stumpjumper fsr is a 'medium', and I really need a 'large', i have trouble keeping the front wheel planted on steep dirt climbs.

Ha! The way you SFOTLC's talk, you'd think those weren't even sold on the left coast. Did she pony up for the t-tops? :razor