Bicycle thread

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by brianwheelies

I don't care much for the shifters/derailleurs as the seem a little sloppy and need constant adjustment..

Make sure your cables are in perfect condition and that there's no slack in your derailluer cables. Make sure the cables and derailluers are properly lubed. Also, the quality of the chain and chainrings have a big influence on shifting performance. Some of the lower quality rings have ramps stamped into them, but, have no pins to grab the chain and lift it. Likewise, less expensive cassettes have less tooth manipulation, which affects rear shift performance. Lastly, inexpensive chains sometimes lack the finite manufacturing steps that allow a more expensive chain to climb teeth.

My GF's first road bike has the same setup as yours and it shifts fine. Granted, it's no Dura-Ace or Red, but, it gets the job done. I have scrutinized the drivetrain, but, still can't get it to shift as cleanly as the some of the other drivetrains we have. Some of it has to do with the aforementioned quality differences and some is the chainline issues that a triple crankset causes.

Originally Posted by brianwheelies

Also not sure what bars are going to work best. I am never on the drop portion of the bars so bull horns with mtb style shifters and levers could be an option.

Consider a more upright stem. There are 125 degree versions available, which will raise your bar position. QBP's housebrand is Dimension and they're usually around ~$20 each. You can go to QBP's site, where they have an online "flip" catalog and look at what's available.

It looks like the Gios bar is only 120mm drop, so you're not going to find much shallower than that.

[ducnut]

2013 Kona bikes are up.

Diggin' the Rove.

[brewer90]

Originally Posted by rob feature

I feel the need to apologize for those of you in my neck of the woods experiencing this cold snap - and maybe even a little snow. I think I know why...the bike fairy came to see me yesterday

Nice bike Barrett. I've always been a Yeti fan and most recently had a ASR-sl until I went big wheels. I'm just waiting for them to come out with a x-country 29er and then I'll be back in the tribe.

[brianwheelies]

Originally Posted by ducnut

What Gios model do you have? Is it the Pure Drop?

Why are you swapping the fork and front brake to what you ordered? If you have the Pure Drop, the fork that's on it will ride better than a carbon fork.

I was worried when I read this but it is on the bike now and damn this thing is light and super smooth compared to the chromoly fork.

Huge upgrade!

Will have to get some pics up here soon. Needs a bath.

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by brianwheelies

I was worried when I read this but it is on the bike now and damn this thing is light and super smooth compared to the chromoly fork.

Huge upgrade!

Hmmm. That's contradicts what I've experienced, as well as the bike forums I follow. I'm wondering if that Gios fork was originally a MTB design (stiff for extreme use and strength).

I'm glad it has worked out for the best, for you.

[brianwheelies]

Originally Posted by ducnut

Hmmm. That's contradicts what I've experienced, as well as the bike forums I follow. I'm wondering if that Gios fork was originally a MTB design (stiff for extreme use and strength).

I'm glad it has worked out for the best, for you.

Everything I have read states that carbon will smooth out road vibrations better than alternative materials.

I think the stock fork suffered from excessive oscillation when going over road imperfections.

I could watch the wheel bend back when on the brakes before.

Looking forward to more mileage with the smoother ride. Carbon frames must really be nice!

As for shifting, now that the cables have broken in it is OK. Fresh oil on moving parts does make the shifting/drivetrain more refined.

It would be nice to have a groupset that would require minimal fiddling and lubing for 3 to 500 miles at a time.

For the gent asking why I didn't get a hybrid; I wanted to try a road bike so I bought what I thought was a roadie. Ended up with my current ride and luckily it is set up for multiple conditions usage. Has mounts for the rack built in. Love having it even though it is not aerodynamic. Want to tour as I dial in comfort and increase mileage.

[rob feature]

Originally Posted by brewer90

Nice bike Barrett. I've always been a Yeti fan and most recently had a ASR-sl until I went big wheels. I'm just waiting for them to come out with a x-country 29er and then I'll be back in the tribe.

The 95 suspension is supposedly quite nice for xc as well, but I haven't had the opportunity to find out for myself. This new ride got here 4 days ago and I haven't had as much as the chance to bed the brakes yet . School's getting really tough and then a cold front moved in...didn't wanna ride in the cold with a cold. Now it's snowing/freezing rain...not really the best conditions to get the brakes ready and get everything adjusted.

Also just got a call that my hardtail is out of the OR. 3 black bikes in the house now. (err 4 if you count the DRZ). May go get the Gitane out of consignment today too...it ain't sellin'. Is there a point where this becomes hoarding?

[Oznerol]

Originally Posted by pierce

I've had spoke heads break off at the hub, usually on cheap wheels, but never had a nipple break. What sort of wheel was this?

I'm betting on aluminum nipples, plus an under-tensioned wheel. Al doesn't like cyclic loads, and an under-tensioned wheel will mean that each individual spoke and nipple experiences greater extremes of load.

I found a couple of broken nipples on my girlfriend's mountain bike, last time we were preparing to go for a ride. Aluminum nipples, stock machine-built wheels.

I've used aluminum nipples on some of the wheels I've built, but since I was hand-building I could ensure that they were properly tensioned; So far no problems.

[pierce]

that sounds/looks like a comfort bike to me??

zero need for suspension forks on pavement. 40mm are really fat tires for a bike trail hybrid, especially for a 120lb rider (I'm using 35's on my hybrid and I'm 210lbs). I'll take 32's or 35's over all sorts of hard pack dirt. deep sand sucks on anything other a pugsley

something more like the Giant Escape would be much more suitable for the sorts of riding you're describing, and make the miles much more enjoyable.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/...specifications

(or the 0.w (more $) or 2.w (less $))

[brianwheelies]

When I bought my bike:


Now:

[Aurelius]

A local rider is looking for an inexpensive road bike. One model he's particularly interested in, because of it's low price, is the Motobecane 'Immortal Ice'. The thing that's holding him back is that Motobecane seems to have a bad reputation. I've only owned one Motobecane (600DS) and it proved to be a heap of junk, but I don't know whether that's representative of the entire brand. Anyone here know?

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by Aurelius

A local rider is looking for an inexpensive road bike. One model he's particularly interested in, because of it's low price, is the Motobecane 'Immortal Ice'. The thing that's holding him back is that Motobecane seems to have a bad reputation. I've only owned one Motobecane (600DS) and it proved to be a heap of junk, but I don't know whether that's representative of the entire brand. Anyone here know?

These days Motobecane, Raleigh, and whatever other brand that Bikes Direct is selling are basically made in asia bikes that'll be just fine. Tubing, etc may not be quite as nice as say Specialized, Giant, or Trek (which come out of the same factories) but it'll be just fine.

I'm fixin to go to a cross race. Its in the 50s and sorta rainy. Should be awesome!

M

[YakSpout]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

These days Motobecane, Raleigh, and whatever other brand that Bikes Direct is selling are basically made in asia bikes that'll be just fine. Tubing, etc may not be quite as nice as say Specialized, Giant, or Trek (which come out of the same factories) but it'll be just fine.

I'm fixin to go to a cross race. Its in the 50s and sorta rainy. Should be awesome!

M

Sounds like cross weather to me. Go get 'em.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

These days Motobecane, Raleigh, and whatever other brand that Bikes Direct is selling are basically made in asia bikes that'll be just fine. Tubing, etc may not be quite as nice as say Specialized, Giant, or Trek (which come out of the same factories) but it'll be just fine.

I'm fixin to go to a cross race. Its in the 50s and sorta rainy. Should be awesome!

M

Giant is an actual builder, they also apparently make the frames for all but the most expensive Treks.. Specialized apparently uses a lot of different builders. . I believe (but I'm not sure) that Bike Direct are Giant, too.

Ths article has some interesting tidbits in it. http://cyclingiq.com/2012/02/14/shad...rtner-paradox/

re: Bike Direct, you get what you pay for. ignore the brand name on those bikes, its just a decal... They sell low end junk and decent mid range bikes. You the consumer are responsible for setup, if you don't set the bike up right, you'll have a lousy experience, if you do, you'll get a decent bike for a great price.

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by YakSpout

Sounds like cross weather to me. Go get 'em.

So I get to the race course and signed in. Went back to the car to get changed and start warming up.

Rode around Hyattsville, MD for a little bit, then wandered around the race course to see if they'd changed it from last year. Yup. Small stuff, but the course is indeed different. The section thru the woods especially.

So I get to the start line and go to hop a curb. Whack! WTF?! I stuck 29psi in the rear tire there should be a whack when I go over a curb.

...bout that time they call the M 3/4 aka Killer B's to the staging area so I don't have time to go to the car to pump up the tire.

So I hafta race on it as is.

I lost a bunch of places in the start cause I was tentative. Both in the crowd and of my rear wheel. First turn and sure nuff! Starts rolling over and squidging sideways. Drat! I hope it doesn't get any worse thru the race.

Speaking of which... its mid- to high-50s and off and on drizzly. The drizzle held off thru our race, but the course was fairly wet overall.

So I get going and in every corner the rear tire squidges around and in some of em it actually loses grip enough to send the ass end of my bike skipping sideways a foot or so. Managed to catch it every time, but its disconcerting...

I could turn on the power (somewhat. Tired legs again) on the straights. Rear tire felt fan-farging-tastic on the straights. Absorbed all the clumps of grass, etc. Like riding on a cloud. Then I hit a turn and had to tip-toe thru the turn so I could lay on the power in the straights again. This came back to haunt me on the last couple of corners...

The course was wet, but not especially slippery. Odd combo. ...till you go into the woods. This year's woods section was a bunch of off-camber stuff with tree roots going across the trail. Pretty much every time I hit the top of the first turn in the woods, I slid sideways till I ran out of tree root.

So you get to the top of the first hill. To the left are a couple of 6" or so dia tree roots so you don't wanna go there. The good line is to the right over the 1" dia tree roots. Aim for the opposite side of the trail to get to the next corner to set up for the off-camber, loose, tree-rooty second half of the hill. I managed to get it right the first lap, then ended up in a hay bale or unclipped from the bike the next two, then was too close to the guy in front of me so ran the last one.

Top to bottom you may lose 30-45'. The pitches themselves are maybe 10-15' per. Nothing too extreme, but the combination of racing and skinny tires = lots of enjoyment for the crowd watching that spot.

Right before the finishing straight they had a corkscrew inside a baseball diamond. I'd been holding off this dood in a black skinsuit with red polka dots on it for most of the last few laps. Because I had to tip-toe thru the corners he managed to catch me right before the last turn and get past. I ended up half a lap behind the leaders in 47th. Started 2 rows from the end in a field of appx 90.

All in all not a bad day after my legs had actually warmed up some.

Things to change: actually bring (and use) the trainer I got specifically for cross warmups. I seem to need a good hour of riding before my legs want to go hard. Its hard to get a good warmup JRA around the venue.

Double check pressure before heading out to pre-ride the course.

Get more aggressive in the start so I don't have to pass as many people later.

M