Bicycle thread

[Plan B]

Originally Posted by yater

but my ksyrium equippes have been razor straight since day one...no problems at all. My steel/carbon road bike weighs 18.4lbs with these wheels and full ultegra....I can deal with that.

I've had great luck with ksyriums. I use them on my road bike and then put knobbies on for cross season. I can't kill them. My aluminum Kona road bike is 17 lbs. and my cross bike is 18 ibs. I can live with that too!

[vfr700]

Aside from some of the narrow focused mission specific equipment such as light weight climbing or tt wheels, today's gear exceeds the performance and reliability of years past. During the 80's and 90's I've raced on Nuovo Record, Shimano 600 (pre Ultegra and did not stand up to the rigors of racing), C Record, Surpebe Pro (one of my favorites and ahead of its time), DA, and Mavic SSC. I was lucky enough to work in a bike shop and got alot of shit at cost. I wouldn't say that the old stuff was more reliable than any of today's mid to high end groups.

Low and mid level groups have substantially benefitted from trickle down and absolutely rock compared to equivalent equipment from the 70's-90's. Compare today's 105 with circa 1988 DA.

Dirty equipment is the largest single factor of most performance or failure related issues. Using equipment not designed for its intended purpose is another. Nine and ten speed drive trains suffer when dirty, but so did five speed equipment. Dirt accelerates wear on all equipment.

I see alot of people riding dirty equipment in their 53 x 25, or 39 x 12 complaining about shifting performance or drivetrain noise. I ran a LBS in the early 90's and would try to educate everybody who purchased a bike about maintenance and the proper method to shift. Some people got it but the vast majority didn't, and those were usually the chronic complainers. I didn't want people to be unhappy with their new bikes, or have the expectation that minimal to no service was acceptable.

I actually had more failures on 80's equipment than today's. I've broken bottom bracket spindles, pedal and hub axles, and spokes. Today's bearings are sealed cartridige units (BB, hub, headset, pedals, etc). I don't know how many times I had to tear apart my BB or hubs because of water contamination in cup and cone set ups.

Sorry, I didn't intend to ramble I'm done.

[Flaco]

Originally Posted by yater

A couple of pics from sunday's "race". It actually turned into a 4 1/2 hour training ride...but it was a benefit for a fallen buddy's kids so it didn't matter. The climb in the first pic started at the water in the background. Nothing serious but we did 7 loops that day



This was a fun little log jump on a blazing downhill. My teammate was about 3 feet in front of me on this pic but the camera didn't get us both. We had a blast chasing each other through these sweepers and berms.



Last saturday, on my way out of town, I stopped in at one of my lbs's (the one I DON'T do much business with) to get some accelerade, sport legs, and a few extra waterbottles. I noticed their cool team jerseys behind the counter and told the shop owner I'd register under his name for all of my races this season in exchange for free nutritional supplements, a set of team kit, and some cheap parts if needed...long story short, I have a new sponsor this season

Sweet. I'm trying to rally a team for 18 hrs of Fruita in April. All the mountain bike races on the west slope of colorado have really gone away in favor of either 24 hr races or Extreme Trekking type races. If there were more plain old XC races here, I'd prolly weigh a lot less.

Flaco

[pierce]

true, when I rode my 70s roadie regularly all season, I tore down the hubs and bottom bracket at least once a year and cleaned and lubed them. And, of course chains and rear sprockets (at least the smaller ones) were regular wear items. I wore out a couple sets of the plastic idler pulleys on my Campi NR rear derailleur too. and cables got replaced every couple of years (and lubed several times a year). OTOH, steel frames were a lifetime item, no matter HOW much you abused them (it still has a dent in the steering tube from when I caught a steel cable cyclecrossing down mt. tamalpais back in the early 80s... it doesn't interfere with the forks, the headsets are still parallel, so there it sits).

[vfr700]

NR and SR are still some of my favorite bits. Talk about throw away items do you remember the Campy SL aluminum freewheels?

[vfr700]

Originally Posted by pierce

I caught a steel cable cyclecrossing down mt. tamalpais back in the early 80s... it doesn't interfere with the forks, the headsets are still parallel, so there it sits).

It's just a bit of character, kind of a snapshot in time captured by your head tube.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by vfr700

It's just a bit of character, kind of a snapshot in time captured by your head tube.

and a perpetual reminder of the beautiful somersault I did. somehow managed not to kill myself.

i'm thinking back again, I bought that bike in 75 in Sacramento, then in 76 and part of 77 I was back in Marin, then summer 77 I moved to Pacific Grove (Monterey area), so it must have been 76/77 when I did that, which means I was still running silk sewups, and riding the fireroads of Mt. Tam

[Plan B]

=vfr700 Sorry, I didn't intend to ramble I'm done.

Hey , it was a good ramble and spot on. I have a couple pairs of old campy hubs tucked away, and they are so smooth it's amazing. But everything that came between those hubs and more recent gear was destroyed. I started Mountain biking in the Vancouver BC to Seattle WA. corridor and we thought it was normal to go through three or four headsets a year, re-pack BB's at what seemed like bi-weekly intervals, monthly hub repairs, broken free-hub axles, fooked cables, brake pads that melted in the rain.....

Bike stuff is so good now it is truly amazing and the advancements in technology, especially with mountain bikes, is something I think about everytime I ride.

Some of you younger guys must be WTF?

[Scary Mc]

We hit the trail at 7:15 this morning. 14 degrees out so there wouldn't be any mud. Fook me it was cold.

45 minutes and 2300ft of gain put my buddy Jeff and I here...



...only I wasn't wearing shorts and shortsleeves. I spent 30 minutes in the shower when I got home trying to warm up.

BTW, the trailhead is 2.8 miles from my driveway.

[Scary Mc]

C'mon Summer!!!!

'The Strand' in Crested Butte

Scary


Leila


Jen


Brian SS'ing it

[Scary Mc]

'401' in Crested Butte

Beer Break and rest at the the top of the road slog




Jen


Jeff


Jen again


Evan, my closest friend since high school (heading back to Iraq soon)


Hoggle and Leila


Scary

[Jarvis]

My good friend Mike on the Maah Daah Hey trail, North Dakota.

2000+ miles from my driveway.

[knary]

[Scary Mc]

Originally Posted by Flaco

Sweet. I'm trying to rally a team for 18 hrs of Fruita in April. Flaco

I'm interested, if it's a drinking team.

[Plan B]

Originally Posted by Scary Mc

I'm interested, if it's a drinking team.

I'd be in too if I wasn't so far away...I won't be back in the Northern Hemisphere until mid-August.
Maybe we should form a ADVrider MTB enduro team. I can think of endless possibilities for a jersey design. All the kids would want one.