Bicycle thread

[pierce]

see, when I tried Kona bikes, I didn't like the geometry at all, the short-tall front was whack to me. Specialized Stumpjumpers fit like they were made for me. but, then, I'm 6'0" tall with 30" inseam, which I guess means I have a long torso.

Rockhopper is Specialized's mid-range, the Stumpjumper Hardtails are a big notch up in frame quality. Either of these come in a number of models with different equipment (brakes, derailleurs, etc) at varying price points.

[JJ_008]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I went and test rode all three bikes and I ended up with the Kona. It seemed lighter then the other two and I really like the hydraulic brakes. All three felt very similar when I was riding them. The rockhopper and the Mojave felt a little "softer" but I think that has more to do with the tires. The LBS discounted the Kona by $100 which made it a lot cheaper then the Rockhopper and brought the price closer to the Mojave which was still $100 less then the Kona.

On Sunday I am doing a cyclocross race. We'll see how I do with this bike.

[Javarilla]

Originally Posted by Oznerol

I've got a Karate Monkey that I haven't been riding much this summer, but love quite a bit. I bought it on eBay last December as a nicely-built 1x9, used the wheels and other bits as upgrades to my 29er hardtail, and built a new set of wheels to convert the Monkey to a fat-tire fixed gear for winter riding:



The rims I used for those wheels are Kris Holm mountain unicycling rims: Really strong, and 38mm wide. (The width was why I chose them -- everything I'd read about icebiking said that wide rims and low pressures were what you wanted.) Unfortunately they're also very heavy.

Shortly after I built those wheels, Salsa announced a 35mm wide rim, the Gordo. They'd be making a 29er version that would be much lighter than the Holms, and would have a nice bead lock that would probably make it possible to run even lower pressures. I started lusting after the Gordos right away, but they took forever to actually reach the market. I finally got a pair last week, and built them up right away.

I'm kinda excited about the new rear wheel, which is as versatile as the Karate Monkey itself: The hub is meant for singlespeed use, so it builds a strong nearly dishless wheel. But it has a narrow splined freehub. The idea is to run a splined cog and use spacers to adjust chainline, but there's also enough room for 6 cogs using 9-speed spacing. So I disassembled an 11-34 SRAM cassette, bought a 13t first position cog and lockring, and built myself a 6-speed 13-30 drivetrain:



(And in the winter I'll probably get a cog drilled with a 6-bolt disc pattern, flip the wheel over, and run it fixed again.)

I've only got one ride on it so far, but loved it. 6 speeds doesn't seem like much of a compromise compared to 9, since the cogs I dropped saw little use. And after a summer spent mostly on FS rigs, there's something nice and precise about a rigid bike's handling. It's wearing fat 2.4 tires that I run at ~20psi. They feel sluggish on pavement, but on trails they're sweet. High-frequency chatter is pretty much gone, larger bumps are significantly muted, and there's oodles of traction.

That's pretty freakin' cool...

[DoctorIt]

very nice work on that 6-speed


I had my own dose of cycling coolness, a fixed-gear finally followed me home! Nothing fancy, chinese-built cro-mo mongoose, but geometry fits me well, decent bars and cranks, flip-flop hub with both fixed and free gears mounted/included. All for a lousy $500 Australian play-dollars. It was a no-brainer. My first fixed ride in years, it was fun on another sunny gorgeous day in Oz.

[Askel]

Goddamn you people, went over to the Salsa page to check out those rims and saw this: http://www.salsacycles.com/fargoComp09.html

The "Fargo".

Damn, that's cool....

[DoctorIt]

Originally Posted by Askel

Goddamn you people, went over to the Salsa ....

The shop where I bought my bike today had some very pretty Casserolls setup for touring.

[patch29]

Originally Posted by Askel

The "Fargo".

I saw it on some Interbike news pages. I would like to see the price, but it looks like a good setup.

I still have my eye on a Big Dummy. I have been riding around town with my panniers and could use more space, using the BOB trailer in town is a pain. I wish I could find one locally to test ride.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by Askel

Goddamn you people, went over to the Salsa page to check out those rims and saw this: http://www.salsacycles.com/fargoComp09.html

The "Fargo".

Damn, that's cool....

phew, that has a LOT of rake and trail


(draw an imaginary line down the headset, then a horizontal line to the front axle).

maybe its just an illusion from the photo, I dunno, but I can't help but think that would make it steer like a cruiser.

[patch29]

The rear rack on the Fargo looks like a Surly rack. I guess Salsa/QBP needed a solid rack and pulled it from their catalog.

[Gummee!]

Dear Ms Stoopit fucking cunt Fauquier Co bus driver:

Thank you SO very much for passing me and then immediately stopping. I REALLY enjoy hauling myself down from a 25mph cruising speed in a short distance.

...then going 100m up the road AND DOING IT AGAIN!



The ONE stretch of my ride yesterday was competely fucked over by a skool bus driver. HAD to pass me right out of Casanova in order to stop and let some breeder's useless sack of protoplasm off. Then did it again less than 100m down the fucking road!

After we all (me and the truck behind the bus) got going again, there wasn't another stop till she got to the fucking train tracks a mile or two up the road! Couldn't wait, couldya?! Couldn't sit behind a bicyclist doing 25-ish mph till you got to a spot where you didn't have to stop, huh? That was less than 1/4mi down the road from where she initially passed me BTW.

Thanks. Thanks a bunch for fucking up my day.

I really do appreciate it.



Till then, I'd decided I really don't like the Toupe saddle. I really DO like the new Fetish frame I inherited. Rides nicer than the specs would indicate.

M

[OuttaMyWay]

[patch29]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Dear Ms Stoopit fucking cunt Fauquier Co bus driver:

Thank you SO very much for passing me and then immediately stopping. I REALLY enjoy hauling myself down from a 25mph cruising speed in a short distance.

...then going 100m up the road AND DOING IT AGAIN!



The ONE stretch of my ride yesterday was competely fucked over by a skool bus driver. HAD to pass me right out of Casanova in order to stop and let some breeder's useless sack of protoplasm off. Then did it again less than 100m down the fucking road!

After we all (me and the truck behind the bus) got going again, there wasn't another stop till she got to the fucking train tracks a mile or two up the road! Couldn't wait, couldya?! Couldn't sit behind a bicyclist doing 25-ish mph till you got to a spot where you didn't have to stop, huh? That was less than 1/4mi down the road from where she initially passed me BTW.

Thanks. Thanks a bunch for fucking up my day.

I really do appreciate it.



Till then, I'd decided I really don't like the Toupe saddle. I really DO like the new Fetish frame I inherited. Rides nicer than the specs would indicate.

M

I had that same school bus driver here yesterday, pass me to race to a red light, pass me again another light, pass me again to stop for the train tracks......... I really wish the school bus exhaust was up high as the transit busses are. I think school busses are some of the consistently worse vehicle to bike around and the drivers should be driving with safety in mind, some days I wonder what they are thinking.

[DoctorIt]

Originally Posted by patch29

I had that same school bus driver here yesterday, pass me to race to a red light...

Ha! she must also have a lot of distant relatives in Brisbane!

[kv]

Salsa Fargo
Complete build: $1865 (available in February 09)

[sp0911]

Remember, a bicycle is a vehicle under any states revised code ... even though the masses think otherwise.

Catch those idiots with your helmet cam going over that double yellow to pass you and you will never have to experience a move like that from the driver caught on film again.

After filming the driver, let your next bicycle ride cover that district's school board meeting with a special showing of your new movie ... and make sure it is in color.