Cycling thread - been a while since the last one

[CamB]

Now that I've bought a road bike (second hand 2000 Giant TCR2 with std 105 components but 12-23 cassette, and Open Pro wheels with titanium front hub and XTR rear - the wheels are the coolest part of the bike), to supplement my reasonably nice new mountain bike (NZ brand - 2004 Avanti Aggressor), I'm all excited about cycling

It's summer here, so I've been getting out quite a bit. I enjoyed my first group ride a couple of weeks ago (only four people, but as the least fit, I got to ride at the back ), plus rode up into the local ranges (400+m rise) last weekend. Most cars were polite to me .

And tomorrow I'm going mountain biking in a forest with more singletrack than I can ride in 1/2 a day. This week, twice I rode up a 400m high, 6km long, "mountain" (unfortunately on mountain bike, so I was slow).

Oh yeah, and I'm on holiday 'till Sunday, and have been all week (in the sunny Hawkes Bay).

So life's pretty good. On holiday, feeling really, really fit.

Rant over, I've bored anyone reading this enough...

[Bill Verburg]

It being winter in the northeast U.S. I can only day dream about my next ride, enjoy!!

I'm feeling really fat and can't wait to get back on the road. Running and skiing don't do it for me, I like some fun to accompany the pain.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I got back on my Trek for a short road ride this past weekend and I felt very squish-able. Some dude in a lowered pickemup almost took me out with his mirror (there are bike lanes 36"+ wide where I ride and the law requires giving cyclists >60" clearance).

I think I'm gonna stick to playing with edged weapons.

[Bill Verburg]

It would likely be safer I don't know what's worse, cars or other users of the bike paths

[turbo6bar]

I got in a slow, long (1hr 45min) ride today. The weather was windy and overcast, with temps just above freezing. I like riding during the afternoon, because there's less traffic to fight.

Got a heart rate monitor a couple weeks ago. I tend to push a little too hard. On my first ride, I hit a max heart rate of 185, and I wasn't really pushing hard. I usually feel spent after hard rides, though. On my ride today, I burned over 1500 calories.

My favorite part about riding in cold weather is the shower afterwards. It feels so good to go from freezing temps to a steaming hot shower. That, with the slight runner's high is absolutely marvelous. Getting to sleep at night after a good ride... well, piece of cake.

jurgen

[Overpaid Slacker]

Went for my first ride of the season today (actually, the first since I broke my neck last May!). Took the Stumpjumper instead of the ONCE, b/c some of the roads around here remain snotty. Felt great to get out again -- and it's a great incentive to cut back on the smokes.

The thing about LI, though, is that there are no freaking hills! I used to ride from Brooklyn, through Manhattan, over the GWB to Tarrytown and back -- no such epic rides out here.

JP

[dd74]

I hate to say this, but I've ridden all winter.

I sidestepped my new LeMond for my 20-year-old Colnago. 20 years between bicycles, technologically, is like night and day. The LeMond, stock, weighs 18 pounds, and it's a steel-framed bike. The Colnago, also steel, is seven pounds heavier, and it's wearing 12-23 gears on a 48/53 chainwheel, no STS either; you change gears via the bottom tube levers.

Anyway, like old Porsches, it's a work of art and super tough. The ride is like butter, too. I took it out only because it was quite windy today, and I thought I'd have a better chance of staying atop the wheels and not getting blown over on a heavier bike.

Tomorrow is the LeMond because, if I'm up for it, I'll climb some hills.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Man you guys are cycle geeks. I don't even know what model # my Trek is, heck I wouldn't even know it was a Trek if it weren't for the big letters on one of the tubes. I think it has more than 7 speeds but I never use the shifter on the left side....

[CamB]

Man you guys are cycle geeks.

But this is part of the "why"

I have titanium hubs... like a 935 (I think). If you built a whole Porsche like a high end road bike, it would weigh about 1500lb

The mountain biking was at least as good as expected - 2.5 hours on well constructed trails and pretty dry. I ditched the wife (her first time out, and she did really well) with about an hour to go and rode up the fire road to the top of the forest, then a 10 minute blast back down to the flat with my hands cramping up from braking. A high speed run back through one of the easy trails (twisty but flat singletrack) and we were off home.

[Bill Verburg]

Bikes are a tech geeks best shot at owning state of the art materials and construction They are works of art as well.

I'll never own an all Ti/C/Al car but my bike will do.

[cegerer]

Bill has let my secret out of the bag!!! I've been into bikes since I was 12 or 13. As much for the tech aspects as riding them. My latest is a K2/ProFlex mountain bike I built up a few years back. Mostly carbon and titanium components. Kevlar spokes, carbon hubs, carbon swing arm, etc. etc. Even has active suspension! The front and rear shocks have electronic dampening via sensors and 9 volt batteries . Ahhh ..... F1 technology at 1/100th of the cost ........

[cegerer]

Here's the full shot. And, yes, I road 15 miles today - on the wind trainer ......

[CamB]

Holy crap. Lookitt all the carbon

That reminds me how much I want to get a carbon seatpost, because I can't see the carbon in my fork...

[Overpaid Slacker]

Wind trainer? Get rollers! At least there's some peril involved.

JP

[cegerer]

Yeah, I flattened a coffee table once on rollers. It's amazing how much forward momentum is generated when that rear tire hits the floor ......

[Overpaid Slacker]

The bike shop owner where I got the ONCE suggested pointing myself at plate glass windows while I was getting used to the rollers.

They are great for developing "spin" technique -- learning to pull up as well as push down on a stroke.

JP

[nostatic]

too much plastic for my taste. I prefer this:



or maybe a Seven

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Whoever welded that is a true artist!!!

[dd74]

Cegerer: that machine is gorgeous. But I'm more into Nostatic's welds. Ah, Ti...

Rollers. Talk about stuff for a real man. I once had rollers, and rolled right off 'em into the side of our house and cracked the exterior wall. Rollers are only for the very balanced cyclist it seems.

[cegerer]

That's a beauty Todd! No doubt. My last road frame was a custom built by Assenmacher. Talk about an artist. I watched him build the frame over a 4-5 month period of time. Incredible. It was a criterium design and constructed of Columbus "KL" tubing. At the time, only a handful of sets of this ultra-light tubing were in the country. I'll have to look for a photo.

As for the mtn bike, I'm already thinking of building a new one - being the tech geek that I am, I need something with disc brakes front and rear!!