# bikes bikes bikes



## inferno

post your bike(s). i guess many of you have a bike. i do too. i have 5 actually. and no car.
what do like about your bike? do you use your bike? i use my bikes every day. 

this is my latest bike, its a budget build. i got the frame for about 1300€ or so. instead of 3300. 
too bad the weather wasn't too great this summer so i have only used it about 10 times or so.


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## rob

Jeff Jones titanium spaceframe.

I was into down hill mountain biking when I was younger, not so much anymore. 

The Jones is a great all rounder. I have two sets of wheels, semi slicks for road riding and fat front knobby rear for off road.


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## JoeWheels




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## lumo

IMG_1280



__ lumo
__ Aug 22, 2019



Custom Quiros Columbus tubes

















IMG_0694



__ lumo
__ Aug 22, 2019


















IMG_0679



__ lumo
__ Aug 22, 2019


















IMG_6113



__ lumo
__ Aug 22, 2019



Seven Evergreen SL




Quiros custom Columbus tubes light weight bomb around towner
Handsome Devil around town hope no one steals her but won't cry if they do
Early 1970's Schwinn Suburban fishing bike
Seven Evergreen SL gravel grinder

A few others I have no photos of and all in storage across the country...why I'm so fat!


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## Brian Weekley

Haven’t been without a bike since I was 14 ... I’m 70! Here’s my current bike ... and my 8yr old son waiting to get a bike of his own.


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## valgard

My bike, which I use almost daily for the 3-4 month the weather allows it is around 30 years old and probably the equivalent of an IKEA gyuto... I should probably get a better bike, but they have gotten my current one out of the way to steal other bikes and left mine there so there's that lol.


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## CB1968




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## CoteRotie

I'm on travel so I can't post pics, but I have a Serotta titanium frame road bike with Campy Chorus/Record and a Santa Cruz 5010 mountain bike. The Serotta is a great frame, I was bummed when Ben Serotta went out of business, but I hear he's started up a bike design firm.


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## McMan

CB1968 said:


> View attachment 59496



What?! It’s not a 1968 Honda CB?


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## parbaked

My Pegoretti...RIP Dario:


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## Brian Weekley

I started out on a 1962 Honda 50 Sport! New bike ... cost me $335. Worked as a packer at Safeway for $1.10 an hr after school to buy it. Countless bikes thereafter. 

I love the bottle holders on the push bikes ... when I bought my first bike I don’t think plastic had been invented yet!


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## Namaxy

Love this one. Deserves more cleaning.....


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## Nemo

Namaxy said:


> Love this one. Deserves more cleaning.....View attachment 59505


My old trail bike is the original Mach 5 (26er). Great bike although it has a pretty long wheelbase compared to more modern frames, even some 29ers. Nonetheless, it perfoms almost as well as my Trek Fuel 29er.


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## panda

i dont have one, but if i did it would be a steel frame custom seven roadbike.


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## lumo

parbaked said:


> My Pegoretti...RIP Dario:
> My road bike is on XL-Eco frame I found new, supposedly designed by Pegoretti. Great ride!
> 
> 
> 
> panda said:
> 
> 
> 
> i dont have one, but if i did it would be a steel frame custom seven roadbike.
> 
> 
> 
> Seven is great to work with on customs and I kind of wish I stuck with steel for pavement but for dirt and gravel roads it didn't really make enough of a difference.
Click to expand...


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## JBroida

Just getting into road bikes myself... specialized allez elite to start




Excuse the mess... I keep it on a trainer in my living room so I can also bike in front of my tv for any mma fights I want to watch


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## labor of love

JBroida said:


> Just getting into road bikes myself... specialized allez elite to startView attachment 59537
> 
> 
> Excuse the mess... I keep it on a trainer in my living room so I can also bike in front of my tv for any mma fights I want to watch


I purchased the exact same bike from a local shop after testing 4 different bikes in different price ranges. 
Because I’m very new to bikes myself I could hardly discern a difference really in use between this model and something twice the price. But definitely preferred it over cheaper options.
The salesman told me that my wallet was quite fortunate haha.
Anyway it’s served me well.


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## inferno

parbaked said:


> My Pegoretti...RIP Dario:
> View attachment 59498
> 
> View attachment 59500


is that the same bike or 2 different ones?


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## parbaked

inferno said:


> is that the same bike or 2 different ones?


2 different bikes, one is a Duende the other is a Fina Estampa


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## inferno

labor of love said:


> I purchased the exact same bike from a local shop after testing 4 different bikes in different price ranges.
> Because I’m very new to bikes myself I could hardly discern a difference really in use between this model and something twice the price. But definitely preferred it over cheaper options.
> The salesman told me that my wallet was quite fortunate haha.
> Anyway it’s served me well.



you will usually get an ok bike for a grand or so. what you are paying for with more expensive models is lighter components. more durable components, sometimes a lot better functioning components. and usually a carbon frame or lighter carbon frame.

I mean like wheels. you can pay pay a grand or 2 for wheels and they roll just as good/bad as the cheapest shimano ones.
I actually run the very cheapest shimano road wheels on the de rosa lol. works fine for me. didn't even have to build them myself this time.

The things i would swap out on cheap bikes, talking road bikes is this:
tires
handlebars (and probably stem, for better suiting length)
saddle (asses are totally individual)
pedals (i need to ride with all types of shoes)
middle ring up front (i would convert it to single ring up front, probably a 42 or 44)

no real money there, just ergos pretty much. and some personal prefs.


and then i would do this (you basically have to do this with all bikes when new if you want them to last):

disassemble the entire bike and lube all bolts, nuts, cables and housings, and if steel; also the internals of the tubes so they dont rust. 
Then lube seatpost and seat tube. 
Crack open the hubs and lube all bearings and the mech (you HAVE to do this with shimanos hubs when new), also set correct bearing preload of the hubs. 
Lube the BB bearings and the headset bearings if not sealed cartridge ones (i do however open up shimano external cup ones and fill with correct grease). 
Spray teflon/moly spray inside the shifter mech.

Then i wont have to touch it for several years except for swapping cassettes/chains/chainrings/pads.

This is where it makes sense to buy frames separately. You dont have to disassemble anything...  just assemble


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## inferno

parbaked said:


> 2 different bikes, one is a Duende the other is a Fina Estampa



i see. It looks like the seatstays are beefier on one of them. is it so or just an illusion?


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## labor of love

inferno said:


> you will usually get an ok bike for a grand or so. what you are paying for with more expensive models is lighter components. more durable components, sometimes a lot better functioning components. and usually a carbon frame or lighter carbon frame.
> 
> I mean like wheels. you can pay pay a grand or 2 for wheels and they roll just as good/bad as the cheapest shimano ones.
> I actually run the very cheapest shimano road wheels on the de rosa lol. works fine for me. didn't even have to build them myself this time.
> 
> The things i would swap out on cheap bikes, talking road bikes is this:
> tires
> handlebars (and probably stem, for better suiting length)
> saddle (asses are totally individual)
> pedals (i need to ride with all types of shoes)
> middle ring up front (i would convert it to single ring up front, probably a 42 or 44)
> 
> no real money there, just ergos pretty much. and some personal prefs.
> 
> 
> and then i would do this (you basically have to do this with all bikes when new if you want them to last):
> 
> disassemble the entire bike and lube all bolts, nuts, cables and housings, and if steel; also the internals of the tubes so they dont rust.
> Then lube seatpost and seat tube.
> Crack open the hubs and lube all bearings and the mech (you HAVE to do this with shimanos hubs when new), also set correct bearing preload of the hubs.
> Lube the BB bearings and the headset bearings if not sealed cartridge ones (i do however open up shimano external cup ones and fill with correct grease).
> Spray teflon/moly spray inside the shifter mech.
> 
> Then i wont have to touch it for several years except for swapping cassettes/chains/chainrings/pads.
> 
> This is where it makes sense to buy frames separately. You dont have to disassemble anything...  just assemble


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## parbaked

inferno said:


> i see. It looks like the seatstays are beefier on one of them. is it so or just an illusion?


Yes...Duende is steel so the tubes are smaller diameter.
Fina is aluminum and has beefy tubes and dropouts for a road bike.


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## inferno

labor of love said:


>



an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.


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## inferno

of yeah i almost forgot. after riding for a month or so i always retension the wheels. so they are bombproof. almost all non custom built wheels needs retensioning pretty quickly if you want them to last. you would need special stuff for this if you do it yourself.


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## HRC_64

inferno said:


> an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.



+1... Also, these are the worth the hit to you bank account


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## Nemo

inferno said:


> you will usually get an ok bike for a grand or so. what you are paying for with more expensive models is lighter components. more durable components, sometimes a lot better functioning components. and usually a carbon frame or lighter carbon frame.
> 
> I mean like wheels. you can pay pay a grand or 2 for wheels and they roll just as good/bad as the cheapest shimano ones.
> I actually run the very cheapest shimano road wheels on the de rosa lol. works fine for me. didn't even have to build them myself this time....
> 
> 
> and then i would do this (you basically have to do this with all bikes when new if you want them to last):
> 
> disassemble the entire bike and lube all bolts, nuts, cables and housings, and if steel; also the internals of the tubes so they dont rust.
> Then lube seatpost and seat tube.
> Crack open the hubs and lube all bearings and the mech (you HAVE to do this with shimanos hubs when new), also set correct bearing preload of the hubs.
> Lube the BB bearings and the headset bearings if not sealed cartridge ones (i do however open up shimano external cup ones and fill with correct grease).
> Spray teflon/moly spray inside the shifter mech.
> 
> This is where it makes sense to buy frames separately. You dont have to disassemble anything...  just assemble



Yep, there is definitely a law of diminishing returns. If you are not riding competitively, 1-2K USD is probably a good staring point. Of course, it's every bit as big a rabbit hole as kitchen knives, so the sky is the limit...

Alloy frames work fine and modern hydroformed alloy frames are only a few hundred grammes heavier than carbon. Carbon frames can help take some of the road buzz/ vibrations and they can be a bit stiffer laterally. Unfortunately, carbon frames are a bit easier to break. My Trek Domane is currently in the shop with a crack in the bottom bracket caused by a dropped chain.

Cheap wheels make sense if you are just riding along. However, they are usually machine built, so the spoke tensions are all over the place (I retension all new wheels before I ride on them). More expensive wheels are lighter and rotating mass makes more difference than static mass. The weight of pedals and shoes is important here as well. But really only if you are riding near your limit. I built my everyday wheels to be tough and easy to fix: Alloy rims, 32 spokes laced 3 cross. I used Shimano Dura-Ace or Hope hubs which are not cheap but not super expensive, are reasonably light and easy to maintain.

Very expensive road wheels often have wind tunnel tested aeorofoil rim designs which reduce drag. I pretty much disregard any drag reduction claims that aren't backed up by wind tunnel data, even if they are designed with a CFD (computational flow dynamics) package. Wind tunnel testing is expensive and so are the wheels that come out of them. Generally only the big companies have enough sales volume to be able to afford wind tunnel testing, even on expensive wheels.

Note that power loss against wind is related to the cube of velocity (drag is related to the square of velocity and p = f.v) and most wind tinnel testing is in the 40-45 kph (30ish mph) range, so if you are not riding at these speeds (or you are being protected from the wind by riding in a bunch), you are not getting nearly as much power benefit as advertised.

Proponents of aero wheels (i.e.: those trying to sell them to you) counter that slower riders are riding with a higher yaw angle (angle at which the wind hits the wheel relative to its forward motion) And that most aero wheels have lower drag at middling yaw angles (say 10-20 degress, depending on the wheel). This is true, but it doesn't come close to overpowering the law of cubes, so some perspective is needed.

Aero wheels are often deep rimmed, so heavier and more prone to being blown off course by sideways wind than shallower rimmed wheels. They make sense when competing. Not so much for everyday riding. Except for the bling factor. They definitely add bling.

On lubing: I agree: lube all pivots and cables. DO NOT allow any lube to get onto your braking surfaces (pads, rims or discs). Do not lube carbon seatposts (you may need to use a carbon grip compound to stop it from slipping).

If you are going to work on bikes a lot (especially those with carbon components), buy a torque wrench and tighten all bolts only to spec.

As mentioned, many hubs and bearings now days are cartridge bearings and are not really user servicible. They have the benefit of not needing to be tensioned 'just so', which can be a pain in the proverbial because the tension in the nut while you are tightening it is slightly highrer than the tension once you stop tightening. Shimano hubs are still cup and cone, which has the benefit of dealing better with sideways forces. The higher end ones (Ultegra and Dura-Ace IIRC) have a very clever tensioning system which is much easier to adjust than old fashioned nut secured cup and cone bearings.

The problem with buying a frame and building a groupset on it is that when you buy a new complete bike, the groupset is heavily discounted. So unless you already have a groupset to put on the bike, you will be out of pocket.


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## milkbaby

I like my bicycles like I like my knives: too many



























I have more but pics not saved on Imgur to share, oh well. I need to stop being fat and get back into shape like I used to be. Four years ago I remember that I rode something like 1500+ miles (>2400 kilometers) in one month while working full time and running 140 miles during that month as well... Now I'm just an average fatty, oh well.


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## inferno

Nemo said:


> aero wheels



I saw some youtube vids where they ride around an oval outside at a set power output. i think they gained 1km/h or so with aero wheels (think it was enve) and maybe 0,5-1km/h with an aero frame. and iirc about 1,5-2km/h with both aero wheels and frame. that was at about 40km/h.

so for me that wont matter. i'm averaging like 25-30km/h. I think my best average to work is 32km/h (half the route is through residential areas). 

I build all my own wheels usually and my letest was h plus son archetype rims with dt 240 hubs, and updated ratchets, 28-32 dt comps 1,8-2,0. usually i run dt rims since they build up very easy. always 32-32. i like the durability.
--------

I'm also trying my best to avoid carbon fiber stuff. i like metals. so steel or ti frames for me. i also like handmade stuff thats why i like the italian lugged frames. they ride great.


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## Nemo

inferno said:


> I build all my own wheels usually and my letest was h plus son archetype rims with dt 240 hubs, and updated ratchets



My first wheel build was on an Archetype rim. So easy to build compared to some of the flimsier rims around.


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## Ryndunk

Mavic rims are the easiest to build imo.


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## inferno

i measured a few mavic rims some years ago and they were lower than 0,5mm oval so thats as good as it gets. dt's are also this round usually.


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## rickbern

Here's a shot of my Lynskey. Titanium is a great material for bikes that you bang around in, not gonna get into too much trouble if you get it or yourself banged around a little. My bike shop buddy polished the bottom of the frame and then put chevron masks on it and then returned the unmasked part to the original mill finish. Really nice detail that only I know is there.


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## milkbaby

Nemo said:


> The problem with buying a frame and building a groupset on it is that when you buy a new complete bike, the groupset is heavily discounted. So unless you already have a groupset to put on the bike, you will be out of pocket.



I'm not sure if things changed in the last few years, but a lot of retailers were selling discounted groupsets, basically grey market components that they were probably buying in bulk for their own line of bicycles. They get a bunch at discounted wholesale to build their retail bicycles then sell the extras at a discounted price.

I'm in the USA and often the prices were less than what US bicycle shops were paying at wholesale. I have a Carl Strong custom steel frame and a Campy Athena gruppo, laced up H Plus Son wheels, and all other bits ready for me to put together but been so busy and not riding so it's all been in storage for a few years. I think I had less than $1500 into it, pretty good value...


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## inferno

titanium is forever...  if youre lucky..

i also have 2 lynskeys. 1 is my rain/winter/snow commuter. its a cooper cx. and another one i lent to my dad, a procross 2018. with the helix and triangular tubes, for the bling.


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## WPerry

The bike that gets the most miles is my Domane - 






I also have a cheaper gravel bike - a Diamondback Haanjo that I upgraded to hydro 105. I take that out on gravel rides (of course) and in the sloppy and/or cold weather when I don't want to plug away on the trainer. Oh, and I slapped a rear rack on it for grocery/beer runs.


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## WPerry

milkbaby said:


> I'm not sure if things changed in the last few years, but a lot of retailers were selling discounted groupsets, basically grey market components that they were probably buying in bulk for their own line of bicycles. They get a bunch at discounted wholesale to build their retail bicycles then sell the extras at a discounted price.
> 
> I'm in the USA and often the prices were less than what US bicycle shops were paying at wholesale. I have a Carl Strong custom steel frame and a Campy Athena gruppo, laced up H Plus Son wheels, and all other bits ready for me to put together but been so busy and not riding so it's all been in storage for a few years. I think I had less than $1500 into it, pretty good value...



Some manufacturers are trying to put the kibosh on that - a lot of UK sellers can't ship anything from the SRAM brands to the US, now. Shimano can still be had for a deal, but maybe not as steep of a discount as before. Merlin sells full 105 groups starting at a little over $400, which wouldn't be too shabby if you had a frame laying around.


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## WPerry

milkbaby said:


> I like my bicycles like I like my knives: too many



That Time was my dream frame for a while - I used to live pretty close to R&A in Brooklyn, and they often had one hanging in the window. Every time I walked by, I'd pause and drool for a bit. My first road bike was a Xenith, a Comp (105). Fun bike.


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## mille162

I spend all of my peddling time off-road. Despite being a bike friendly city with dedicated bike lanes, it’s just way too dangerous to ride around Philly.





The carbon frame really improved ride quality, but more importantly, carrying it up 4 flights of stairs after a 25mile ride is much easier, lol! Still holding out with the 26” wheels but might trade it in next year for a 27.5” 11x1 model. Thoughts on 26” vs. 27.5” vs. 29” on mtb’s?


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## Nemo

mille162 said:


> The carbon frame really improved ride quality, but more importantly, carrying it up 4 flights of stairs after a 25mile ride is much easier, lol! Still holding out with the 26” wheels but might trade it in next year for a 27.5” 11x1 model. Thoughts on 26” vs. 27.5” vs. 29” on mtb’s?



I moved from an alloy 26er Pivot Mach5 to a carbon 29er Trek Fuel Ex a couple of years ago. Main difference is that the 29er rolls over obstacles noticibly easier. I don't really notice it being harder to spin those big wheels up but I haven't done a side by side comparison. I guess I feel a bit more in the bike than on the bike. I'm tall, so this is good for me. YMMV. Weights are pretty similar between the 2 (maybe the carbon frame makes up for the bigger wheels?). Both are 5" travel bikes. I don't notice that the ride quality is very different between the carbon and an alloy frame on these two 5" bikes (recognising that the frame geometry, suspension geometry and shock dynamics are different between both bikes).

It is theoretically easier to break a bigger wheel if you are tough on your bikes. FWIW, this has not been an issue for me.


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## Nemo

BTW, my approximate order of upgrade BFYB for an MTB:

1) Good tyres appropriate to the terrain you will be riding on. Better grip.
2) A tubeless tyre setup and don't over-inflate (the Stans air pressure formula is a pretty good starting point). Better grip.
3) Wide rims. More tyre stability and air volume. Better cornering grip.
4) A dual suspension. Better traction in rough terrain.
5) A dropper post. Lower, more mobile centre of gravity. Major improvements to descending and cornering.
6) Fancy valving on forks and shocks. Better terrain following means more control over rough terrain.
7) Fancy frame geometry. Four bar, multi links, ABP, etc. Can offer better terrain following and reduce brake jacking... but... a good modern shock can do much of this work.
8) Stiff, light shoes with a lowish stack height. Better power transfer, less rotating mass.
9) Carbon wheels. Lighter & stiffer for more snappy acceletation and better terrain tracking.
10) Carbon frame. A little bit lighter. Or you could lose a kilo and be much lighter. I know I could. Maybe a tiny bit stiffer.

Probably more important than all of these is.... get the bike properly fitted. It's much better to ride a $1k bike that is set up perfectly than a $15k bike that is not set up for you. Ask me how I know.


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## Ryndunk

My old racing machine.


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## Stratguy

My road bike is setup inside currently as I'm in rehab for a knee replacement.


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## Chuckles

That is a baller Colnago. 








I have a few. 

OM flyer with rear pegs for taking the kid to the bus stop. Best bike for riding slow with kids and general neighborhood hooligan duties: jumping curbs, bunny hops, peg wheelies etc. Shown in full on dad adventure mode. I really enjoy this bike. It’s like a scaled up kids bike.

All City Space Horse is what I ride when I can get out on my own. Compass ultralight tires. Really like this bike. Not the lightest but very versatile and comfortable for long rides on all types of roads and under-biking off road. 

I also have a Sunday Model C that mostly the babysitter rides. A Lemond Reno as a back up road bike. Also a vintage French single speed wolf in sheep’s clothing to ride to venues that can be left locked up.


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## HSC /// Knives

in 1993 I bought this Cannondale at Cycle Scene in Ventura CA, I believe I paid $1,000...
I actually never rode it much, I gave it to my son a few years ago and he rides the heck out of it regularly.
He road bikes with it.

I sought out another vintage made in the USA Cannondale for myself, I'll get a pic of that later.






2008 Speed triple for me and I never ride much....


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## WPerry

Just built me a new ride. 






The stem in the pic was a temporary one while fit was confirmed. I've got a new Cervelo stem inbound and will trim the steerer down to final height when it arrives.


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## CoteRotie

WPerry said:


> Just built me a new ride.
> 
> The stem in the pic was a temporary one while fit was confirmed. I've got a new Cervelo stem inbound and will trim the steerer down to final height when it arrives.



Very nice. I like the Speedplay pedals too. I only have disc brakes on my Mt. bike, but I really notice the difference when I get back on the road bike.


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## Matt Zilliox

I have more bikes than some here have knives. i think i have 10 or so. here are some favorites
Fetska One Super record 11 sub 15lbs




Goodrich oversized steel w record 11




Jeff Lyon all road/gravel w record 11




Giles Berthoud Randonuese with record 10


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## WPerry

CoteRotie said:


> Very nice. I like the Speedplay pedals too. I only have disc brakes on my Mt. bike, but I really notice the difference when I get back on the road bike.



When I got my gravel bike with mechanical discs a handful of years ago, it was my first experience with discs. It was fine. After I came across a good deal on a hydro lever/caliper set and upgraded, it was a wrap - nothing but hydro disc since.


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## milkbaby

Matt Zilliox said:


> I have more bikes than some here have knives. i think i have 10 or so. here are some favorites
> Fetska One Super record 11 sub 15lbs
> View attachment 71719
> 
> Goodrich oversized steel w record 11
> View attachment 71720
> 
> Jeff Lyon all road/gravel w record 11
> View attachment 71721
> 
> Giles Berthoud Randonuese with record 10
> View attachment 71722



Steel is real! Beauties...


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## panda

i swear one of these days i will get a custom se7en steel frame..


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## Matt Zilliox

someone say seven?





this traildonkey is my new fishing and gravel bike. sweeeet


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## kidsos

WPerry said:


> Just built me a new ride.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The stem in the pic was a temporary one while fit was confirmed. I've got a new Cervelo stem inbound and will trim the steerer down to final height when it arrives.


That is one SEXY bike!!


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## kidsos

My humble aluminium Specialized crux and fixed gear koga criterium bike. Both alu and both orange.


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## thebradleycrew

Love all the bike photos (the pedal kind). @Matt Zilliox - do you own 50% of the bikes in Grants Pass? 
@WPerry - love the new Cervelo. But its kinda snowy to be riding in the Twin Cities area right now, isn't it? You should be XC skiing and prepping for the XC Ski World Cup in Wirth Park bringing such a race to the U.S. for the first time EVER. I'm trying to secure flights myself.


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## Matt Zilliox

Haha, We actually have a silly amount of cycling community here for who knows what reason. Jeff Lyon and Keith Anderson, Landshark, DeSalvo, and one of the group rides is with the first American to cycle pro in Italy, George Mount. whod have guessed?

but yes, i own nearly half of the bikes i think.


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## milkbaby

Matt Zilliox said:


> someone say seven?
> View attachment 71744



Dat lugged SEVEN is slick...


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## WPerry

thebradleycrew said:


> @WPerry - love the new Cervelo. But its kinda snowy to be riding in the Twin Cities area right now, isn't it? You should be XC skiing and prepping for the XC Ski World Cup in Wirth Park bringing such a race to the U.S. for the first time EVER. I'm trying to secure flights myself.



That is so very odd to me - Theo Wirth is about 5 miles away from me and I only know it as the place where some of my riding buddies take their fat bikes for a quick off-season ride if they don't have the time to go further afield. That they're hosting an international event is... yeah - odd. I never would have guessed.


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## lumo

Just went back East to get my things. Three of my bikes were stolen, the Seven gravel grinder, Quirós custom single speed, and the blue drop bar townie...about $17k. Had them under lock and key in one of my friends buildings and the door of the storage was taken off the hinges. Thousands of dollars in mint tuna fishing gear, reels, rods, custom lures, TV’s, pro kitchen equipment, turntables and electronics are all untouched. Kinda relieved I developed a c’est la vie attitude recently or I’d be in jail or a hospital over this. F___! rant over


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## Chuckles

That’s terrible. Sorry to hear it lumo.

@WPerry wouldn’t have guessed Wirth would host anything other than maybe a cyclocross weekend. Of all the parks in Minneapolis it just wouldn’t have crossed my mind.


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## WPerry

lumo said:


> Just went back East to get my things. Three of my bikes were stolen, the Seven gravel grinder, Quirós custom single speed, and the blue drop bar townie...about $17k. Had them under lock and key in one of my friends buildings and the door of the storage was taken off the hinges. Thousands of dollars in mint tuna fishing gear, reels, rods, custom lures, TV’s, pro kitchen equipment, turntables and electronics are all untouched. Kinda relieved I developed a c’est la vie attitude recently or I’d be in jail or a hospital over this. F___! rant over



That totally blows. You'll probably never get the bikes back, but I hope that you at least get some kind of compensation from insurance.


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## inferno

imo there is very few problems that a glock can't solve in this world.


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## lumo

inferno said:


> imo there is very few problems that a glock can't solve in this world.


 I wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than a pipe wrench and welding torch.


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## Corradobrit1

inferno said:


> titanium is forever...  if youre lucky..
> 
> i also have 2 lynskeys. 1 is my rain/winter/snow commuter. its a cooper cx. and another one i lent to my dad, a procross 2018. with the helix and triangular tubes, for the bling.


I've owned 2 Lynskeys. A Cooper CX and my current Sportive framed gravel bike. Love their frames and such a deal when bought through their regular Ebay sales. I paid $650 for a disc ready version. Built the bike up with the top spec Enve CF and Campagnolo components. I'll post a pic later.


----------



## Matt Zilliox

inferno said:


> imo there is very few problems that a glock can't solve in this world.


seriously? a glock in a knife forum? the stuff was stolen, id assume with nobody present.


----------



## LostHighway

WPerry said:


> That is so very odd to me - Theo Wirth is about 5 miles away from me and I only know it as the place where some of my riding buddies take their fat bikes for a quick off-season ride if they don't have the time to go further afield. That they're hosting an international event is... yeah - odd. I never would have guessed.



Tuesday, March 17th is the date



lumo said:


> Just went back East to get my things. Three of my bikes were stolen, the Seven gravel grinder, Quirós custom single speed, and the blue drop bar townie...about $17k. Had them under lock and key in one of my friends buildings and the door of the storage was taken off the hinges. Thousands of dollars in mint tuna fishing gear, reels, rods, custom lures, TV’s, pro kitchen equipment, turntables and electronics are all untouched. Kinda relieved I developed a c’est la vie attitude recently or I’d be in jail or a hospital over this. F___! rant over



That is awful, I hope you have good insurance. I've become increasingly paranoid about bike theft - no more garages or storage units, locked or not. I've also given up on the convenient and relative light but low protection bike locks when out for a ride with stops. I've had bikes stolen and it a very unpleasant experience.


----------



## Corradobrit1

LostHighway said:


> That is awful, I hope you have good insurance. I've become increasingly paranoid about bike theft - no more garages or storage units, locked or not. I've also given up on the convenient and relative light but low protection bike locks when out for a ride with stops. I've had bikes stolen and it a very unpleasant experience.


I keep mine in the living room as a display piece.


----------



## boomchakabowwow

i keep my bike in the garage. it is too dirty to bring into my home. i tried to bunny hop a huge horse butt-explosion on the trail. my success cannot be determined. this was this past weekend.

it is a 2005 carbon mtn bike. i worry less about it, because in the mtn world, my bike is ancient. Lumo, i am sorry for your losses. i hope your insurance company makes you whole. i should really cable my bike in my garage.


----------



## inferno

Corradobrit1 said:


> I've owned 2 Lynskeys. A Cooper CX and my current Sportive framed gravel bike. Love their frames and such a deal when bought through their regular Ebay sales. I paid $650 for a disc ready version. Built the bike up with the top spec Enve CF and Campagnolo components. I'll post a pic later.



i still have my cooper cx. its on cummuter duty. i got my frame for 50% off or similar from crc. 
i got hit by a car on monday on my other commuter so i will have to ride on the cooper now for the rest of the winter. 
the cooper was my first choice for this winter, even got new studded tires, but like 2 weeks in i got a flat, the gravel is too sharp here! (cheapass gravel)
I have not determined the damage on my other bike yet, it will have to wait a few days until can move again like a normal person. but it appears frame and fork is ok.


----------



## Corradobrit1

inferno said:


> i still have my cooper cx. its on cummuter duty. i got my frame for 50% off or similar from crc.
> i got hit by a car on monday on my other commuter so i will have to ride on the cooper now for the rest of the winter.
> the cooper was my first choice for this winter, even got new studded tires, but like 2 weeks in i got a flat, the gravel is too sharp here! (cheapass gravel)
> I have not determined the damage on my other bike yet, it will have to wait a few days until can move again like a normal person. but it appears frame and fork is ok.


Sorry to hear about your off. I don't ride on roads here in Texas. You'd need a death wish to do that. If the potholes don't get you, the inattentive, aggressive SUV driver's will.


----------



## inferno

its not the same here in scandinavia, we have lots of bike paths. but still you always have to be on top of things and never rely on anything except yourself. i can usually predict whats going to happen way before it happens. and you need to be able to do this if you want to stay alive. 

but this time i guess i lost focus for a sec and then a see a car, and i realize i will definitely crash into this car unless it brakes immediately, and then it just kinda happened. i end up on the hood and then fly about about 3m infront of the car. luckily no broken bones. feel kinda sore though.

but in the end i know the risks and i am willing to take them. i regard commuting as any other extreme sport. sometimes you get hurt but most of the times you dont. training reduce the risks. i've been bike commuting since 2008. not gonna stop now.


----------



## Corradobrit1




----------



## campagnolo

I’ll play.


----------



## WPerry

campagnolo said:


> I’ll play.



Some beautiful bikes, but I love the Kvale in particular. I follow Peacock Groove on IG and love the relationship that the two of them (seem to) have.


----------



## campagnolo

WPerry said:


> Some beautiful bikes, but I love the Kvale in particular. I follow Peacock Groove on IG and love the relationship that the two of them (seem to) have.



Kvale is an interesting guy. Genuinely a sweet old man but everything is very much his way or it’s wrong. Ha

I don’t think there’s a better builder/painter combo out there though.


----------



## WPerry

campagnolo said:


> Kvale is an interesting guy. Genuinely a sweet old man but everything is very much his way or it’s wrong. Ha
> 
> I don’t think there’s a better builder/painter combo out there though.



Ha - that's the impression that I get and the reason that he and Erik are such a fun odd couple trip - Erik is very out there, in comparison.


----------



## CoteRotie

campagnolo said:


> ...



Love the name, I'm a Campy only guy, at least on my road bike (since they stopped making Mt. bike gruppos years ago.)


----------



## campagnolo

WPerry said:


> Ha - that's the impression that I get and the reason that he and Erik are such a fun odd couple trip - Erik is very out there, in comparison.



Yep. They share a large warehousing building. 

Erik is very eccentric in his own right but go see him and he’ll chat you up for an hour about everything. There’s some Kvale in him and I’m sure Chris seen that in him and why he trained him. Erik is a wiz with a torch though. I brought him an early Eddy Merckx frame that I got for free when I purchased another bike. Had a cracked dropout and did a very quality quick fix. Had no issues with it riding for a few years. It’s down to the frame as I may get it refinished at some point.


----------



## Geigs

I roll a Giant TCR as a commuter and have an Eddy Merckx team Scandium built yo with campy record for special occasions. By which I mean it gathers dust.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Love those road bikes. Cool to see so many here ride & even commute on bikes. Inferno glad you were not hurt when car hit you. 

All the training rides for only race I did were cycle to the sun on Maui. Did it three years. Cracked up once was my fault even though car pulled in bike lane near intersection. Had a strong tailwind on the flats. Was pushing my biggest gear 53-12. Was flying down on the bars seeing how fast I could go. Car no signal pulled into bike lane pulled hard on the brakes but still hit him at speed. Broke my hand & went over the handle bars helmet saved me. When took it off my forehead was black & blue front of helmet was crushed.


----------



## Tanalasta

_I'll play...
_
Having sold my Collage C60 ... I know I won't get 'upgraditis" from this forever bike.

It rolls so very, very well.

Moots Vamoots CR. Made to measure titanium. ENVE 3.4 GenII. Campag SR mechanical. Understated, classical elegance. It's responsive and whilst it's not as aerodynamic as others ... the engine on this one isn't really going to care!


----------



## LostHighway

campagnolo said:


> Kvale is an interesting guy. Genuinely a sweet old man but everything is very much his way or it’s wrong. Ha
> 
> I don’t think there’s a better builder/painter combo out there though.



Agreed, I have a Kvale (plus one in temporary residence that I'm selling for a friend) and a Zeh along with some off the shelf bikes. Chris's work rivals or betters anything I've ever seen. The Murphy brothers (Columbine) frames are certainly more ornate if that is what you are looking for but I prefer the clean elegance of the Kvale frames. Mark Leonardson was another superb local painter but I don't think he has done any bike frames for 20 years +.


----------



## Chuckles

So how many knives do I have to sell to get a Kvale? Looks like right clearances. What tire size do you run on it?


----------



## campagnolo

Chuckles said:


> So how many knives do I have to sell to get a Kvale? Looks like right clearances. What tire size do you run on it?



Ha. I wouldn’t be completely opposed to moving it but it wouldn’t be cheap. It currently wears 23 Vittoria Open Corsa Evo SCs, you may be able squeeze some 25s but definitely no bigger. I haven’t tried as I love these tires and Veloflex Masters. It’s an 85 criterium bike though so it was built for speed with tight clearances.


----------



## Chuckles

Is he still making bikes? I could just go and get one from him.


----------



## campagnolo

Chuckles said:


> Is he still making bikes? I could just go and get one from him.



Yes. I have one coming. 

I would say if you ever thought about getting one, move quickly. He’s at the age where you never know when he’ll hang it up. Frankly, his prices are very reasonable in the custom world. Ask for disc brakes, carbon fork, etc and he might show you the door.


----------



## Chuckles

Not a surprising stance on a knife forum perhaps but I do agree that steel is real. I’ll have to check him out. I am in that area all the time.


----------



## campagnolo

Chuckles said:


> Not a surprising stance on a knife forum perhaps but I do agree that steel is real. I’ll have to check him out. I am in that area all the time.



He’s pretty good about responding to emails. He is typically in town over the winter and parts of spring/fall and summers in the UP. You can check out his website for pricing.


----------



## AT5760

I can barely comprehend the depth (and cost) of the bike realm. I’m struggling to justify spending $1k on a bike - though I probably will this year. New home has tons of paths/trails for a relatively urban area.


----------



## campagnolo

AT5760 said:


> I can barely comprehend the depth (and cost) of the bike realm. I’m struggling to justify spending $1k on a bike - though I probably will this year. New home has tons of paths/trails for a relatively urban area.



Tell your(self)/significant other it’s cheaper and healthier than cars/motorcycles!


----------



## WPerry

AT5760 said:


> I can barely comprehend the depth (and cost) of the bike realm. I’m struggling to justify spending $1k on a bike - though I probably will this year. New home has tons of paths/trails for a relatively urban area.



Spend enough time in the saddle and the costs start to make sense and your point of diminishing returns will inch upwards. I'm not a super high mileage rider, about 4000-5000 miles per year, but it's a great outlet for maintaining health and (relative) sanity.


----------



## WPerry

campagnolo said:


> Tell your(self)/significant other it’s cheaper and healthier than cars/motorcycles!



Hell, it's cheaper than planting your ass on the couch, getting fat and having to pay medical bills.


----------



## andrewlefilms

Little vintage hybrid conversion! Trek Multitrack 720 with Sora road groupset


----------



## milkbaby

andrewlefilms said:


> View attachment 73146
> 
> Little vintage hybrid conversion! Trek Multitrack 720 with Sora road groupset



Nice, tho some people would frown on this. Looks like you're in Gainesville? I run over that bridge a lot or used to at least!


----------



## LostHighway

A Chris Kvale frame currently starts at $3,400 ( https://www.chriskvalecycles.com/ )
As someone who has been around bike for many decades I'm not happy with the current state of cycling. It was never dirt cheap but relative to a number of sports it was fairly affordable. That is far less true today if you're buying new, top shelf, equipment. It used to be that you could readily buy parts for a 10 or even 20 year-old Campy gruppo but cycling has moved significantly more toward planned obsolescence. Steel frames are both robust and repairable (lugged frames especially) and that is somewhat true of titanium as well. I know plenty of people still riding steel frames from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Ultra light aluminum and carbon fiber frames are basically made to be junked after a few seasons.


----------



## andrewlefilms

milkbaby said:


> Nice, tho some people would frown on this. Looks like you're in Gainesville? I run over that bridge a lot or used to at least!


Yes I wanted a cx-like bike with big tires but do not have cx bike money so this is the best I could do and yep I'm a UF student! Go Gators


----------



## WPerry

LostHighway said:


> Ultra light aluminum and carbon fiber frames are basically made to be junked after a few seasons.



Sure, some CF frames are race day only by design, but saying that CF frames are made to be junked after a few seasons is hyperbole. Carbon frames are often easily repaired (by a skilled worker, of course). One of our local builders, Appleman, offers such services.


----------



## Matt Zilliox

My festka is the finest bike i have ever come close to, and ive had a few winners in the stable. my curt goodrich oversized steel bike used to be the all time fave, but my festka carbon has taken the top spot. i expect my festka to be as good as any bike i could acquire in the next 10 years, and i expect it will last at least that long, by then ill want something different anyway. nothing at all wrong with aluminum or carbon, its just the material lots of china factories use because its cheaper than steel or ti. a good builder can build a life bike out of the material, a chinese factory will build what chinese factories build.


----------



## LostHighway

WPerry said:


> Sure, some CF frames are race day only by design, but saying that CF frames are made to be junked after a few seasons is hyperbole. Carbon frames are often easily repaired (by a skilled worker, of course). One of our local builders, Appleman, offers such services.



There are plenty of steel frames from the 1970s still in use, although admittedly most no longer see regular daily use. We'll see how many carbon fiber frames from the 2010s are still around in half that interval (e.g. 2040). There is also the issue of retained value, a well preserved or restored Eisentraut, De Rosa, or Club frame from the 1970s probably retains most of its original value (corrected for inflation) in 2020.


----------



## WPerry

LostHighway said:


> There are plenty of steel frames from the 1970s still in use, although admittedly most no longer see regular daily use.



And? They were ubiquitous. Of course there will still be some around. This alone doesn't say much about the merits of the material. Can it be repaired? Sure, a lot of the time, though it often doesn't make financial sense. Does it dent, bend and corrode? Sure does. 



LostHighway said:


> We'll see how many carbon fiber frames from the 2010s are still around in half that interval (e.g. 2040).



Carbon frames have been around for decades. LeMond won all of his TdFs on carbon frames, for gods sake - they're not some new, unproven thing. 



LostHighway said:


> There is also the issue of retained value, a well preserved or restored Eisentraut, De Rosa, or Club frame from the 1970s probably retains most of its original value (corrected for inflation) in 2020.



And is that a matter of material or a matter of collectability? How many old steel bikes are there that can't be given away? 

Ride what you want to ride, dude, but give the "get off my lawn!" bit a rest.


----------



## Lpn562

yt jeffsy.


----------



## Lpn562

my old evil uprising


----------



## rickbern

Dusted off my bike Friday and put it back in full time service last week. 

this was in The NY Times today 


Halimah Marcus’s bike had been collecting dust for five years. But as coronavirus fears exploded in New York, she pumped air into the tires and replaced the batteries in the light mounted on the handle bar. By Monday, Ms. Marcus, 34, was biking daily to work instead of taking the R subway train. She has not been back on the subway. And she has a lot of company in the bike lanes.

Citi Bike, the city’s bike share program, has seen demand surge 67 percent this month: Between March 1 and March 11, there were a total of 517,768 trips compared with 310,132 trips during the same period the year before. A growing wave of New Yorkers are embracing cycling to get to work and around the city as their regular subway and bus commutes have suddenly become fraught with potential perils, from possibly virus-tainted surfaces to strangers sneezing and coughing on fellow passengers.

“It reduced my anxiety,” said Ms. Marcus, the executive director of a nonprofit digital publisher in Downtown Brooklyn. “For me, riding is manageable, and I felt it would be beneficial to my mental health


----------



## rickbern

best bike ever for fitting in an elevator


----------



## WPerry

rickbern said:


> Dusted off my bike Friday and put it back in full time service last week.
> 
> this was in The NY Times today
> 
> 
> Halimah Marcus’s bike had been collecting dust for five years. But as coronavirus fears exploded in New York, she pumped air into the tires and replaced the batteries in the light mounted on the handle bar. By Monday, Ms. Marcus, 34, was biking daily to work instead of taking the R subway train. She has not been back on the subway. And she has a lot of company in the bike lanes.
> 
> Citi Bike, the city’s bike share program, has seen demand surge 67 percent this month: Between March 1 and March 11, there were a total of 517,768 trips compared with 310,132 trips during the same period the year before. A growing wave of New Yorkers are embracing cycling to get to work and around the city as their regular subway and bus commutes have suddenly become fraught with potential perils, from possibly virus-tainted surfaces to strangers sneezing and coughing on fellow passengers.
> 
> “It reduced my anxiety,” said Ms. Marcus, the executive director of a nonprofit digital publisher in Downtown Brooklyn. “For me, riding is manageable, and I felt it would be beneficial to my mental health



I used to live near GAP and work just off of Union Square - commuting by bike was so, so, so much better than taking the subway. Well, unless it was raining pretty hard or was below ~20° (I'm a baby by commuter standards). Anyway, yeah, it was definitely good for mental and physical health and I always showed up to work feeling a little better about being there.


----------



## rickbern

WPerry said:


> I used to live near GAP and work just off of Union Square - commuting by bike was so, so, so much better than taking the subway. Well, unless it was raining pretty hard or was below ~20° (I'm a baby by commuter standards). Anyway, yeah, it was definitely good for mental and physical health and I always showed up to work feeling a little better about being there.


I’m across from borough hall and my office is (moving on Friday) in the garment center. I’m a slug climbing that bridge (I’m 66) but I do it twice a day.


----------



## Ryndunk

Took this old thing out for a spin today.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

I did three Cycle To The Sun, sea level to 10,000 foot finish line on the same bike. Not to mention training rides climbing up every ridge on east Oahu.

Bought it 1989 Aluminum Trek 1500 very reliable down tube shifters 22# light for a 900 dollar road bike at that time.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Rick good to hear the bike share business is booming. When the Biki bike share started here I wondered if it would work, boy was I surprised when it took off & expanded. Very popular with the tourists.

Now Honolulu is deserted. With cases rising people only go out for essentials. Bars, eaterys, many places closed.


----------



## MrHiggins

Now that the weather has improved and most of the snow is gone at my elevation, I was finally able to hit the trails on my Niner (who went out of business, I hear). Anyway, it was a beautiful ride on a nice sunny day.


----------



## Matt Zilliox

nice one, no more niner? seems like they had a pretty good share of the gravel market,


----------



## WPerry

Niner hasn't gone under.


----------



## MrHiggins

WPerry said:


> Niner hasn't gone under.



Oh, great. I could have sworn I heard that somewhere. Glad to hear I was wrong. Sorry!


----------



## WPerry

MrHiggins said:


> Oh, great. I could have sworn I heard that somewhere. Glad to hear I was wrong. Sorry!



They did file chapter 11 and restructure a year or two ago, but they're kickin'. As mentioned, they're big on/in gravel.


----------



## Up_dog128

Top end excelerator xlt pro. For those who pedal with their arms.


----------



## WPerry

Wasn't much in the mood to hammer it on the ride today, so I moseyed around to a half-dozen murals around town to use as a backdrop for bike pics. 

Here's one of 'em -


----------



## inferno

dusted off the summer bikes finally. 

in have a de rosa nouvo classico and a colago master for the rain free days. got the de rosa for like 1/3 price. old color. it was in the factory show room. i got a black one since its the easiest color to repair. and italian paint is the shittiest of the ******. the de rosa is my beater and the colnago is the premium ride. but to be honest i fell 0,00% difference between them. and no speed difference either. the colnago is just above 8kg. and the de rosa is 10,5 the derosa i built as cheap as possible with 120€ wheels and the nago 1k wheels that i built from scratch. makes no difference at all. 0. surprise surprise. 

i got a new stem for the derosa yesterday. a 30mm chromag. purple. matches the pedals now. i intentionally buy 2cm longer frames to avoid toe overlap because that **** sucks ass. **** that ****. 

and no. a shorter stem will not feel twitchy. the only thing that matters is the steerer axis to hand position distance and angle. everything else is ********. trust me i have tried it all. also you get accustomed to whatever stem length and hadlebar width and hand position and whatever in like an hour. then its like you never ridden anything else. you can even have the hand position behind the steerer axis. 

you also get accustomed to rakes and HTAs in like an hour.


----------



## inferno

i run tt bars on my summer bikes. and 9sp shifters. with mtb shifters. and as you may or may not know, road bars are 23,8mm diameter and mtb bars 22,2. but sometimes the tt bars are 22,2 too as my vision bar (discontinued for several years). but the position of the shifters are way off when on a tt bar even if it was the same diameter. so some assembly is required. just like ikea.

you can make all of this under 2-3h with a cordless drill and a file basically. and a hacksaw. and a tap


----------



## milkbaby

I know these bikes are just tools, but those bars on the Colnago and De Rosa are an aesthetic abomination to my eyes


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Not for climbing steep mountains need that center bar


----------



## swarfrat

LostHighway said:


> .... As someone who has been around bike for many decades I'm not happy with the current state of cycling. It was never dirt cheap but relative to a number of sports it was fairly affordable. That is far less true today .....


I have to disagree. I would say that the high end has stayed relatively constant but that the middle ground has made huge gains.

Back when I was introduced to sport cycling as a kid (roughly the bronze age), there was only one choice for a full high performance groupset, Campgnolo. Other companies made bits and bobs, a derailleur here a crank there. You had only one choice for the whole shootin' match (which I was far too young and poor to afford). If you weren't rich you normally mixed and matched. And Shimano only made stamped-steel derailleurs for discount store bikes. A top shelf Colonago with a full Campy Record groupset cost about $1k.

Back then a luxury car cost $6k and house cost $60k.

Fast forward to today, a car costs $60k and a house costs $600k. Accounting for inflation, a $6k bike is really about the same as waaaay back when. Where things have changed in a big way is below that. There was very little in the way of entry level and mid level performance gear. Nowadays, manufacturers put much of the same technology found in their high-end gear into their lower tier products (albeit with moderate weight and performance penalties). The products you can get today for $1k and below far out perform their equivalent priced products from yesteryear.



WPerry said:


> ..... LeMond won all of his TdFs on carbon frames, ...


Ya' mean like this steel bike he used to beat Fignon on the final stage time trial and take the Yellow Jersey of the '89 tour?


----------



## WPerry

swarfrat said:


> Ya' mean like this steel bike he used to beat Fignon on the final stage time trial and take the Yellow Jersey of the '89 tour?



Damn it, how am I supposed to "like" your post when you get cheeky with me like that at the very end?!


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Late 80's early 90"s when doing a lot of climbing Shimano Dura Ace groupsets were good components at reasonable price. 

My 22# Trek 1500 came with Shimano Ultegra group set. Had very reliable down tube shifters.

I loved that Road Bike it was fast with a 53-12 top gear. I took a bike mechanics class at bike shop installed Dura Ace set on my Trek and a granny gear in the rear cluster. 

Came in handy on my last & by far most difficult cycle to the sun bike race. It was 1992 just a few days after Iniki hit Kauai and same year Andrew hit Florida.

Winds were gusting over 40 mph last part of race is a series of steep switch backs as you finish 10,000 ft summit.

One switch back would have tailwinds to help push you up the steep grade. Before would make tight turn shift all the way back to the granny gear in the wind out of the saddle using body weight just to get the crank around. Those steep grades with strong wind in your face some guys had to quit riding With full macho racing rear clusters. I never got off my bike bale out gear served me well. Was 43 years old that race finished high up in the Masters division 40+.


----------



## inferno

milkbaby said:


> I know these bikes are just tools, but those bars on the Colnago and De Rosa are an aesthetic abomination to my eyes



but its comfortable. its more ergonomic. and the shifters and brakes works better than regular road stuff for the simple reason that its only supposed to work in 1 single position as opposed to 2.


----------



## Eziemniak

rickbern said:


> View attachment 74049
> 
> 
> best bike ever for fitting in an elevator


That a bike friday?


----------



## Eziemniak

Titanium because of vanity
I am also finishing a Ritchey Breakaway 
Because of color


----------



## rickbern

Eziemniak said:


> That a bike friday?


Yup


----------



## swarfrat

Keith Sinclair said:


> .... Came in handy on my last & by far most difficult cycle to the sun bike race. It was 1992 just a few days after Iniki hit Kauai and same year Andrew hit Florida.
> 
> Winds were gusting over 40 mph last part of race is a series of steep switch backs as you finish 10,000 ft summit.
> 
> One switch back would have tailwinds to help push you up the steep grade. Before would make tight turn shift all the way back to the granny gear in the wind out of the saddle using body weight just to get the crank around. Those steep grades with strong wind in your face some guys had to quit riding With full macho racing rear clusters. I never got off my bike bale out gear served me well. Was 43 years old that race finished high up in the Masters division 40+.


Epic!


----------



## inferno

Keith Sinclair said:


> Not for climbing steep mountains need that center bar



actually these bars suck when climbing. but its the only thing they suck at. with a regular drop bar you have the hoods height and the drops height, the ultimate position is somewhere inbetween. so the actual bar will be higher with this config. and much more comfortable. i mean you can't put the drops too low if you want to use them. 

but with a tt bar the height of the "hoods" position is the same as the bar where it meets the stem. so you only get one "height", and it feels quite low when climbing. i always climb with my hands near the stem. dont know why it just feels more natural/better.

but other than that i like the tt's better. 
i have tried all types of bars made pretty much, TT, drops, ergo drops, dirt drops, promenades, up side down promenades, north roads, up side down north roads, flat bars, low risers, high rise high angle risers. you name it i tried it.

you need uncut steerers lots of spacers and lots of stems to try stuff out properly. and also get creative with shifters and brake levers. 

probably gonna get a major taylor bar next to try, with reverse levers.


----------



## inferno

Eziemniak said:


> View attachment 78740
> 
> Titanium because of vanity
> I am also finishing a Ritchey Breakaway
> Because of color
> View attachment 78741



i see you found proper bars for the ritchey


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Climbing in the saddle is power to the crank with hip flexors. Arms more in line on top bar. Also comfortable more open position to take on oxygen.

Out of the saddle hands on the hoods for stablity. I guess you can climb any how you like. I used top bar & hoods.


----------



## Eziemniak

inferno said:


> i see you found proper bars for the ritchey


Actually it is one part I am not 100% convinced of.
They are the current flavour of the month wide flared gravel bars, I guess it takes some time to get adjusted to these, also makes packing the bike a little bit more difficult

Anyone fancies this one?








Vintage Bikes for sale | eBay


Get the best deals on Vintage Bikes when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Free shipping on many items | Browse your favorite brands | affordable prices.



www.ebay.com


----------



## inferno

Eziemniak said:


> Anyone fancies this one?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Vintage Bikes for sale | eBay
> 
> 
> Get the best deals on Vintage Bikes when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Free shipping on many items | Browse your favorite brands | affordable prices.
> 
> 
> 
> www.ebay.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 78910



wow only 50 grand..


----------



## inferno

i was adjusting some stuff of a coworkers bike and he told me he just bought a road bike. some 1500€ specialized i think. 

I told him he could take a spin on my de rosa. he came back in a few minutes and told me he just has to have bullhorns with tt levers and mtb shifters too  he liked it much better than the regular road bars and shifters.

so i guess i will be helping him out quite soon to make it happen.


----------



## parbaked

inferno said:


> he just has to have bullhorns with tt levers and mtb shifters too



My old city beater was a Merlin Extralight 1 x 10 speed.
Cockpit had Nitto Bullhorns and a Paul Components adapter to mount a bar end shifter on the handlebars.




It was fun for city bombing but for any real riding, I prefer drops...


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Eziemniak said:


> Actually it is one part I am not 100% convinced of.
> They are the current flavour of the month wide flared gravel bars, I guess it takes some time to get adjusted to these, also makes packing the bike a little bit more difficult
> 
> Anyone fancies this one?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Vintage Bikes for sale | eBay
> 
> 
> Get the best deals on Vintage Bikes when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Free shipping on many items | Browse your favorite brands | affordable prices.
> 
> 
> 
> www.ebay.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 78910


This got me looking at vintage race bikes on eBay. Some nice bikes in 1-3K range.

Kind of like people buying old cars etc. at Auctions. Always been a two wheel junkie from small kid time. I like auctions with old very cool motorcycles some are mechanical art you could put in your living room. Also like those vintage two stroke racing motorcycles.

Can see some vintage steel tubes with campy groups being collected just because they are works of art bicycles.


----------



## ayumi_ishida

rob said:


> Jeff Jones titanium spaceframe.
> 
> I was into down hill mountain biking when I was younger, not so much anymore.
> 
> The Jones is a great all rounder. I have two sets of wheels, semi slicks for road riding and fat front knobby rear for off road.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 59145
> View attachment 59146


How do you like it on the road ? 
I was thinking of getting one of his Complete models and putting on a bit less wide tires .


----------



## ayumi_ishida




----------



## inferno

parbaked said:


> My old city beater was a Merlin Extralight 1 x 10 speed.
> Cockpit had Nitto Bullhorns and a Paul Components adapter to bar mount a bar end shifter on the handlebars.
> View attachment 80509
> 
> It was fun for city bombing but for any real riding, I prefer drops...



i like the color of that metal...


----------



## inferno

Keith Sinclair said:


> This got me looking at vintage race bikes on eBay. Some nice bikes in 1-3K range.
> 
> Kind of like people buying old cars etc. at Auctions. Always been a two wheel junkie from small kid time. I like auctions with old very cool motorcycles some are mechanical art you could put in your living room. Also like those vintage two stroke racing motorcycles.
> 
> Can see some vintage steel tubes with campy groups being collected just because they are works of art bicycles.



that bike may be cool and all but its no chance its worth 50 grand. you can build one for like 1/5 of that from scratch most likely. and then i mean build the frame too.

unless its a collectors thing. then it could be "worth" whatever as long as its "rare" enough.


----------



## inferno

ayumi_ishida said:


> How do you like it on the road ?
> I was thinking of getting one of his Complete models and putting on a bit less wide tires .



i like to comment on this even though i dont have a jones.

i have converted several bikes to road bikes. thinner tires, road bars etc etc. but in the end they only get you 70% there. they just feel more sluggish.

been alternating between my colnago with 28s, derosa with 28s and the cooper cx with 32s-35s (but its a beefier frame to begin with). and i can tell you no matter what you do to a beefier frame than a road frame, and no matter what tires you put on there. it wont ever be a real road bike. nor feel as fast as one. it gets close but it never really gets all the way unfortunately.

even though my cooper is pretty blinged out with light and strong parts, my cheapie de rosa feels twice as fast, almost like it pedals itself. no joke.


----------



## ayumi_ishida

Thanks for your feedback .
To clarify , I'm not trying to turn the Jones into a drop bar road bike . 
I was/am considering it as a flat bar touring / townie bike on pavement . 
Either as a 29er or 27.5 . But with the least wide tires it could run and not experience pedal strike .
I'd need to change the rims on the Complete model or start with just a frame .


----------



## Eziemniak

inferno said:


> i like to comment on this even though i dont have a jones.
> 
> i have converted several bikes to road bikes. thinner tires, road bars etc etc. but in the end they only get you 70% there. they just feel more sluggish.
> 
> been alternating between my colnago with 28s, derosa with 28s and the cooper cx with 32s-35s (but its a beefier frame to begin with). and i can tell you no matter what you do to a beefier frame than a road frame, and no matter what tires you put on there. it wont ever be a real road bike. nor feel as fast as one. it gets close but it never really gets all the way unfortunately.
> 
> even though my cooper is pretty blinged out with light and strong parts, my cheapie de rosa feels twice as fast, almost like it pedals itself. no joke.


Feels faster and is faster are two different things
I have no doubt a 6kg featherweight on 23mm pumped to 130psi will FEEL faster than 9kg bottom of the range modern aero with 30mm tyres
However I have also very little doubt that it would be way slower in most cases, hence the recent movement towards wider tires and rims, even at the world tour level


----------



## inferno

i guess they run 25s when "going wide" in the TDF. or maybe even 28's sometimes on cobbles.

actually most rim brake frames dont take any wider than 28's and many only take 25's. so thats the upper limit on some frames.

its a big difference between 32/35's and 25's. both in comfort and speed imo. just try it yourself. and a frame that actually takes 35s, well its big difference between that and a real road frame too. road bikes look how they look, and fit what they fit for a good reason i have learned. only took me like 10k € to find out.


----------



## Runner_up

I love vintage Japanese steel road bikes. Here is my recently acquired 1977 Fuji Professional. This bike has been outfitted with campagnolo nuovo record components. Originally would've been suntour superbe - which is far better imo. Oh well, the bike is fast as hell and rides like a dream.. they just don't make em like they used to..


----------



## LostHighway

Runner_up said:


> I love vintage Japanese steel road bikes. Here is my recently acquired 1977 Fuji Professional. This bike has been outfitted with campagnolo nuovo record components. Originally would've been suntour superbe - which is far better imo. Oh well, the bike is fast as hell and rides like a dream.. they just don't make em like they used to..



If you don't already have one you need a Miyata Team or or Pro. IMO those were the nicest of the Japanese made framesets from the 1980s along with the Fuji Pro and the Panasonic racing frames. While I don't quite buy that the late '70s SunTour Superb and Shimano 7100 DuraAce groups were better overall than the Campy Nouvo Record gruppos I will acknowledge the rear derailleurs were probably better.


----------



## thebradleycrew

Runner_up said:


> I love vintage Japanese steel road bikes. Here is my recently acquired 1977 Fuji Professional. This bike has been outfitted with campagnolo nuovo record components. Originally would've been suntour superbe - which is far better imo. Oh well, the bike is fast as hell and rides like a dream.. they just don't make em like they used to..


I also really dig the Eames setup. Perfect reading chair.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

In late 80's had my Trek 1500 with Ultegra group set. It was very good. When took class at bike shop upgraded to Dura Ace crank, rear derailer, & chain. That derailer was like a piece of jewelery. It wasn't really needed but you know how it goes with boys & their toys.


----------



## Eziemniak

inferno said:


> i guess they run 25s when "going wide" in the TDF. or maybe even 28's sometimes on cobbles.
> 
> actually most rim brake frames dont take any wider than 28's and many only take 25's. so thats the upper limit on some frames.
> 
> its a big difference between 32/35's and 25's. both in comfort and speed imo. just try it yourself. and a frame that actually takes 35s, well its big difference between that and a real road frame too. road bikes look how they look, and fit what they fit for a good reason i have learned. only took me like 10k € to find out.


Eh, mini Vs and cantis?
Also (which is for worse as far as I am concerned) you will struggle to buy a new caliper brake road within a couple of years
My (anecdotal) experience is opposite to yours
My G-one from Schwalbe is the fastest tyre I have tried so far and measures 31.2 on my rims, and incidentally also FEELS faster than previous gp4000 with bonus of being comfier and tubeless
I do agree frame design is just as important as tyre choice, to stiff or not stiff enough and it will not be as fast
I also agree this




Will always look better than this




(Last frame takes at least 32mm, it won a couple of stages last TDF)


----------



## Geigs

New Toy, Merckx Team Scandium with Campy Record. Now I just need to figure out shipping from USA to AU 

(and old school huckster, cannondale for the sick jumps bro)


----------



## WPerry

25mm has become the default "skinny" tire and 28mm - 30mm nominal has become a sweet spot for real-world riders on real-world roads (and comparing to the TdF is a little silly because they have support crews and they're often running tubulars, though tubeless is starting to make inroads). With appropriate, modern rims, those 28-30mm tires are aero and also allow pressures that increase comfort while decreasing the suspension losses that occur with higher pressure tires on anything less than pristine tarmac. After running 28-30mm tires at ~70psi, there's no way I'd go back to 23mm at ~105 - that's insanity.


----------



## WPerry

Anyone want to buy a bike?  This is the one that was replaced by the Cervelo, and I finally got off my butt to replace the wear items (chainrings, cassette, chain, brake pads) and tune it up before listing it -


----------



## LostHighway

Frame size? I can ask around among my friends but most of them can either get industry bro deals or are partisans of old school steel. In any event you should list it on Non Knife BST.


----------



## WPerry

It's a 56. I was just kidding when asking about it here. There certainly seems to be a decent number of Minnesotans on the board, but I'll stick to local listings. And yeah, that's the problem with knowing a lot of club and bike shop folks - everyone can get a deal on their own!


----------



## Runner_up

LostHighway said:


> If you don't already have one you need a Miyata Team or or Pro. IMO those were the nicest of the Japanese made framesets from the 1980s along with the Fuji Pro and the Panasonic racing frames. While I don't quite buy that the late '70s SunTour Superb and Shimano 7100 DuraAce groups were better overall than the Campy Nouvo Record gruppos I will acknowledge the rear derailleurs were probably better.



I would love to get a Miyata pro - I rode a team for a year, but sold it. Very nice bike. These days I seem to really be enjoying the Fuji's, and want to get an early 80's Opus III with suntour superbe pro groupset. Definitely the "star" of the Suntour brand was their rear derailleurs - they were making groundbreaking designs back then that everyone, including campy, copied once the patent expired.



thebradleycrew said:


> I also really dig the Eames setup. Perfect reading chair.



Thanks - they might be a little overplayed but it really is a classic and timeless design. It's also great for napping, which I'm getting to do a fair amount of these days


----------



## swarfrat

Barely have room for the riders I have now, not to mention the two more MTB's I have to build up for my wife. But if I did have the space it would be great fun to build up some period bikes.

For something Japanese, I think a Suntour Superbe Pro equipped 3Rensho would be way cool. Make that two, one road and one track.


----------



## LostHighway

swarfrat said:


> Barely have room for the riders I have now, not to mention the two more MTB's I have to build up for my wife. But if I did have the space it would be great fun to build up some period bikes.
> 
> For something Japanese, I think a Suntour Superbe Pro equipped 3Rensho would be way cool. Make that two, one road and one track.




Thanks for the memory jog, I had forgotten about 3Rensho. A keirin or sprint 3Rensho would be very cool but last summer was the last year for the local velodrome. DuraAce 10 pitch ftw!


----------



## parbaked

3Rensho also made road bikes e.g the Super Record Export:


----------



## inferno

Eziemniak said:


> Eh, mini Vs and cantis?
> Also (which is for worse as far as I am concerned) you will struggle to buy a new caliper brake road within a couple of years
> My (anecdotal) experience is opposite to yours
> My G-one from Schwalbe is the fastest tyre I have tried so far and measures 31.2 on my rims, and incidentally also FEELS faster than previous gp4000 with bonus of being comfier and tubeless
> I do agree frame design is just as important as tyre choice, to stiff or not stiff enough and it will not be as fast
> I also agree this
> View attachment 82028
> 
> Will always look better than this
> View attachment 82029
> 
> (Last frame takes at least 32mm, it won a couple of stages last TDF)



the rider won you mean...  they ride whatever the sponsor demands them to. and i'm fairly certain the actual bike makes only the slightest difference in performance. its all plastic semi aero, aero rimmed, min weight, its all the same ****, made by the same slaves in china as far as i'm concerned.

----------

mini vs and cantis are not centerbolt. and this is the standard. but yea those take wider tires of course. but most frames and forks that have regular calipers cant fit wider than 28's. i'm actually running 25s that measures about 27-28 actual. and thats the max.

i dont think calipers is going anywhere to be honest. i'm actually an all disc guy, its so much better. and have been since 2008 or so.
when i started converting mtbs to road, with discs..

well i had to get creative since there were no road disc stuff then, definitely no hydro stuff. thats why i went mtb shifters and bb7s. but for road bikes you dont really need discs. calipers works good enough. my conversions were all year commuters (in scandinavia) so i needed discs on those.

but yeah back to calipers going away. i dont think they will. because they work good enough. and its looks much cleaner. and that alone will keep people buying them. and money talks.

i think its gonna play out like "the great BB standard debacle". the manufacturers decieded for the customer that "pressfit X" (whatever now the current one is) is moar better than BSA threaded. and then after a few years with pretty much all customers realizing that "this is ****" and stop buying the stuff. then the manufacturers revert to BSA threaded. surprise surprise...

i guess they are forced to do it. the warranty claims piling up etc etc. 11 and 12sp will probably disappear too in the future i guess. i have a feeling tapered headtubes will too.

--------------

about that jones frame on the road. i guess its gonna be spongey feeling mofo. with sluuuugish steering. i have converted xc frames to road and since the seat stay attach so low on the seat tube you gets lots of comfort since they can flex so much, but all stiffness (up-down) and power delivery is gone. BUT you dont really feel it unless you cram out lets say 85% or more of you max power, up to that point it could feel the same as a level top tube frame, but when you really start hammering thats when you notice its holding you back.

and i guess its the same with wider tires too, and beefier frames in general.

------------

that being said, i read a post from a guy that simply put slicks on his rigid flat bar mtb and compared with a real road bike. he had a 1h commute. he saved 1min with the road bike. it is what it is. its the motor not the bike...

----------

i notice that when i'm on my 32-35mm, fendered, ti, cooper cx i can get to work in 25 min. no problem, but i have to push it quite hard.

on my road bikes (the colnago and the de rosa) 25 minutes takes basically half the felt effort. 25 minutes with all of them but 2 of them almost pedal themselves. so i prefer those when the weather is good.


----------



## inferno

WPerry said:


> 25mm has become the default "skinny" tire and 28mm - 30mm nominal has become a sweet spot for real-world riders on real-world roads (and comparing to the TdF is a little silly because they have support crews and they're often running tubulars, though tubeless is starting to make inroads). With appropriate, modern rims, those 28-30mm tires are aero and also allow pressures that increase comfort while decreasing the suspension losses that occur with higher pressure tires on anything less than pristine tarmac. After running 28-30mm tires at ~70psi, there's no way I'd go back to 23mm at ~105 - that's insanity.



on my road bikes i try to run the biggest i can fit, and on the mtbs the smallest that makes sense on the rims kinda. and on my fendered ones i try to fit the biggest i can fit under the fenders (these also run with nokians and marathons winters so it is what it is)


----------



## parbaked

Interesting discussion on rim v. disc brakes from one of the more bougie bike shops in the Bay Area.








AC Tech Talks - Rim vs. Disc


Brakes. Of all the different components on a bicycle, it’s amazing how polarizing the topic of brakes can be amongst riders. People get damn near religious on their views of a bicycle’s stopping system. Even amongst the team here at AC, we’re pretty divided divided. Now, to be fair, it's not...




abovecategorycycling.com





Their Journal also has some very nice "Bike of the Week" builds...


----------



## Eziemniak

Funny we talk about discs
When these work they are great
When these fail it is catastrophic hehehe
It seems it was overfilled and coupled with extremly hot day and heavy work out descending rear brake gave up and burst
Not a pleasant feeling hehehe


----------



## WPerry

Eziemniak said:


> View attachment 82071
> 
> Funny we talk about discs
> When these work they are great
> When these fail it is catastrophic hehehe
> It seems it was overfilled and coupled with extremly hot day and heavy work out descending rear brake gave up and burst
> Not a pleasant feeling hehehe



Was this mineral oil or DOT fluid? I'm trying to imagine what it would take to boil either. Though, I guess if it was DOT fluid, some water content could have lowered the boiling point significantly.


----------



## WPerry

Oh, and I just sold the bike. 

Though maybe I shouldn't be celebrating N-1 in the 'bikes, bikes, bikes' thread.


----------



## Eziemniak

Perfect excuse to get another one then 
Liquid was dot so maybe you are right but how would water get inside


----------



## inferno

dot fluid is designed to absorb water to prevent brake lines from rusting out. works good in cars. not so good on bikes. basically you have to flush the brakes once a year. the fluid sucks up moisture from the air through the hoses.

i run cable discs for this simple reason. mineral oil brakes freeze up in the winter, like rock hard...
dot is better in the winter. flawless actually. but you need to flush it once a year otherwise you have to "pump" the brake handle for them to function acceptably.

you dont need to flush cables, and they dont freeze up either just because its -25C. win-win.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Just watched a good bike movie (The Flying Scotsman 2006) Graeme Obree battles mental Illness with his home made bike "Old Faithful" Winning the one hour twice in 1990's. Pushing one giant gear at full bore for one hour. 

When got into cycling in late 30's Greg Lemond won first of three TDF victory.

At time wanted to know cycling history ordered VCR tapes about Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, & Fasto Coppi. Merckx the greatest cyclist of all time called the one hour hardest thing he ever did.
If you love cycling The Flying Scotsman is a good watch.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

For steep mountain downhill think you will see more disks on lightweight climbing bikes esp. with rain & other bad weather in the mountain stages.


----------



## swarfrat

Here's a trailer for a bikie documentary I'll bet you'd like.

The producer/distributor Demand Films has several bike related works on their roster.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Thanks 

The DVD Eddy Merckx is two programs on one disk La Course en Tete (The Eddy Merckx story) and The Greatest Show on Earth (Story of the 1974 Giro d Italia) The year he won the Triple Crown Tours of Italy and France + The World Championships. 

The Fausto Coppi Story and Jacques Anquetil is also two parts on one disk.

Both put out by World Cycling Productions. Bought VCR tapes in 1980's switched to DVD later.


----------



## swarfrat

inferno said:


> .....you dont need to flush cables, ....


Strangely enough, I did flush cables a couple of weeks back. They were shifter cables, But over the years I've done brakes, too.

A friend's mountain bike wasn't shifting right, making it impossible to use her climbing gears (ain't no flat dirt around here), so she brought it over. The system was just gunked up real bad.

Of course, the best thing to do would be change out all the cables and housings. But she was here, now and not in a position to go out and hunt down parts. There was enough excess cable to the derailleur and it wasn't frayed badly so we reused what was on the bike.

Snipped the ferrule, pulled out the cable being careful not to kink it, dripped de-greaser through housing segments, reamed them out with a length of clean cable leftover from some previous service, lubed the slightly shortened cable, slid it back into the housings, clamped it into the derailleur, crimped on a new ferrule and Bob's you uncle, low gears again.


----------



## inferno

the housing will sooner or later clog up and they may or may not be worn out then. easiest thing is to simply sprat down some oil in it and make sur its works its way through. still not working? rthen you need to change housings. 

i'm using the jagwire shifter and brake housings and buy these in big coils. i like silver and gold  then i buy cables that are either teflon or "rounded" stainless. i think the teflon ones work longer but i feel i can just as well use the flattened/rounded/smoothed ss ones and just lube them. i lube the teflon ones too though. 

so far i have about 15000km on the teflon cables and maybe 12000km on the ss ones, on 2 different bikes. both shifter and brake. and they are as smooth as new. BUT i'm running full length housings on all my bikes! even my colnago and de rosa (and everyone just hates this). because i know how it works.


----------



## Corradobrit1

Speaking of Greg Lemond has anyone else watched the 4 hour doc 'Lance' on ESPN's 30 for 30? Won't change peoples perceptions, in fact if you're anti-Armstrong like me, it merely hardens them. What an awful human being. That said its certainly a complex story.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Yes I watched it. Was not going to because had all his wins on DVD watched him lie & believed him. When teammates esp. Tyler Hamilton came out knew he was guilty. Your right mentioned that he felt close to Ullrich in part because both came from single parent homes father's that left. As Lance started to become well known father wanted to reconnect. Lance told him to Fu#+off would have nothing to do with him. He is a flawed character in a real life Greek tragety.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Speaking of Greg Lemond in the 1985 tour 4 time TDF victory Benard Hinault crashed broke his nose. He was solid in the yellow jersey. His team mate was Lemond. When Lemond did well in latter mountain stages he was held back to help his leader. He could have won that tour. Hinault won his 5th tour & told Lemond he would help him win the tour next year.

1986 Hinault was in shape & came out firing trying to win his 6th tour. Lemond couldn't believe it. He had to toughen up fast. Was able to drop him in a tough mountain stage gain back lost time. That was Lemonds first TDF. He was the best with a huge lung capacity. Same year he got filled with buckshot in hunting accident. Almost killed him. They never got all the shot out of his organs. Went on to win two more tours after two years gap because of injury.

Multable winners in TDF aren't timid types. You have to have a crush your opponents mentality. Lance certainly had that. 

In the 30 for 30 Lance was trying to say that present riders are treated like heros while guys like Ullrich, himself, and Marco Pantani were treated in distain because used drugs. It just didn't fly felt like he was using it as a sympathy play. It is not just that he took drugs it is more about lied so well & treated people with venom that dared to tell the truth.


----------



## Corradobrit1

Keith Sinclair said:


> Multable winners in TDF aren't timid types. You have to have a crush your opponents mentality. Lance certainly had that.


And it helps having the governing body (UCI) in your pocket........


Yes, Armstrong wanted the doc to be a pity party but the Director/Producers did an excellent job to cut through the BS and scratch at the true character, giving enough facts to let the viewer make up their own minds.


----------



## WPerry

I have a dilemma. I want a new knife. I also want new wheels. It'd be tough to justify both. It's a hard knocks life.


----------



## Corradobrit1

WPerry said:


> I have a dilemma. I want a new knife. I also want new wheels. It'd be tough to justify both. It's a hard knocks life.


Such is life.


----------



## WPerry

WPerry said:


> I have a dilemma. I want a new knife. I also want new wheels. It'd be tough to justify both. It's a hard knocks life.



I ended up getting new wheels.


----------



## inferno

blingy exotic ones?


----------



## WPerry

inferno said:


> blingy exotic ones?



Semi- on both accounts - Zipp 303S. I wasn't sure if I had a current pic, but of course I do.


----------



## inferno

looks very nice. i think if you had gone deeper it might look weird.


----------



## WPerry

Thanks! I love 'em - they're a great all-around wheelset; nice in terms of comfort, holding speed, and handling with the 28mm Pro Ones (which have been awesome tires, BTW). I was just checking my stats and was surprised to see that I should have 2,000 miles on these wheels before the end of the week.


----------



## inferno

is it easy to get spare spokes and nipples for these if anything should happen?
i have heard some nightmare stories about some mavics and such with straight pull spokes, and aluminum spokes. 

personally when i build wheels i try to build with a lighter front rim, and if i feel like taking a walk on the wild side  i also do fewer spokes up front. but never less than 28. 

but i think my next road build will be maybe 20 or 24 up front. and then 28 out back. with dt alpines, and brass nips. 
ooor maybe 36 back and 36 front but with like 1,8-1,6-1,8 spokes just because its fun. imagine a 36sp front wheel, radially laced. 

according to dt themselves aero spokes will save about 1W at 40km/h


----------



## WPerry

Yup, one of the things that I really liked about them is that it's all standard bladed spokes and even brass nipples, which are becoming a rarity on pre-built, higher-end wheels. Easy to service, should I need to, though they come with a lifetime warranty if I want/need to have them sent out for a full re-build.


----------



## inferno

thats very good.


----------



## Bear

The old Turner 5 Spot


----------



## Twigg

Its in the background of the picture of my favorite box. Its a white BMC Teammachine with 105 group rocking Continental 5000 tires.


----------



## inferno

anyone out riding in the snow? i've been commuting all winter. lately it has been between -10C to maybe -18C in the mornings. everything below -15 feels veery cold. my face basically freezes up and i feel like terminator that had a LN bath. now recently its been -3C to -8C, almost feels like summer in comparison.


----------



## rickbern

inferno said:


> anyone out riding in the snow? i've been commuting all winter. lately it has been between -10C to maybe -18C in the mornings. everything below -15 feels veery cold. my face basically freezes up and i feel like terminator that had a LN bath. now recently its been -3C to -8C, almost feels like summer in comparison.


I’ve been doing a ten mile roundtrip once or twice a week, wfh most of the time. When there’s snow and crud on the roads I’ve been using a bike share. Hasn’t really gotten that cold in New York yet, fingers both crossed and a little numb (lost my favorite gloves)


----------



## WPerry

I haven't been outside on a bike ride in about two weeks - we had a long stretch where it didn't get above 0°F. We're actually going to have highs above freezing for the next week or so, though, starting tomorrow. If the sun is out enough, I might be able to swap wheels and go for a ride without the piggish studded tires.


----------



## inferno

i'm running schwalbe marathon winters now with 200 hardmetal studs. 
got a flat early caused by a very sharp piece gravel. they use the cheap crap gravel here now so its full of these sharp pieces.


----------



## WPerry

I flipped a coin between the Marathon Winters and the 45NRTH Gravdals and ended up with the Gravdals. They've kept me upright, so no complaint there. Holy **** is it a trudge to pedal them, though. Can't wait for some proper skinny tire riding.


----------



## inferno

here is my winter bike. only good thing about the low temps is the no slush get stuck on the bike.

i like the marathon winters, but they are not very good unless the snow is hard packed or powder. they are good for asphalt though since they roll very good when pumped up.

i prefer the nokian/suomityres w240. and those can be had in 32s and 40s for 700c i think and also 47s for my 26er.
better rubber, corner better on icy asphalt, better in deep and heavy snow etc etc. but they were too expensive this year. the marathons were a lot cheaper and i could get them locally same day.

i'm gonna change the drivetrain soon. going 8sp. x4 power! as you can see, i like the premium stuff 
14€ shifter, 
20€ RD, 
14€ cassette, 
13€ chain


----------



## WPerry

My winter bike is just my nothin-special gravel bike with the spare wheels/studs tossed on -


----------



## Keith Sinclair

You guys are hard core


----------



## big_adventure

You all and your fancy winter bikes with things like "cables" and "cassettes."

All fixie, all the time. I'll grab a photo later, but it's a frankenbike I built 12 years ago, designed for ripping through Paris. The frame n fork are steel, a fixie/SS frame made by some Taiwanese manufacturer I had never heard of (Quaalife - but the quality is amazing). Spiky plats for shoe compatibility. I do have a 12 euro front brake: I'm not insane and drivers here, especially scooter and motorcycle drivers, definitely are. Nobody would want to steal it (I leave it dirty), and if they did, man, I'd love to see them try to ride it: it's geometry is pretty extreme, with a straight bar cut to 38cm wide for zipping between traffic, nothing quick release on it, and a keyed seatpost bolt holding the saddle at least 20cm over the bar height.


----------



## Evan Estern

Before the pandemic I bike commuted at least 3x a week. 12 miles each way, with a small mountain in the middle. I typically ride 100-150 miles a week whether commuting or not. I'm lucky to live in rural New England, near the Berkshires, an amazing place for cycling. This winter there's been so much snow, plus I stepped back from my restaurant job until after I can get vaccinated, so I've put the bike aside for now. Meanwhile I'm XC Skiing, trying to go every day--it's a killer workout. My 3 main bikes: Top: custom 650B Randonneuse. Middle: budget 650B machine set up for mud and snow. Bottom: Early '80s race bike.

When I lived in NYC, I always had a beater bike for transportation. Set up kind of like yours, big-adventure--except usually with multiple gears. They'd regularly get stolen no matter how crappy they looked or how well I locked them up. Where I'm living now bike theft is pretty rare. My lock these days is a 25 gram stainless steel zip tie!


----------



## LostHighway

Evan Estern said:


> Before the pandemic I bike commuted at least 3x a week. 12 miles each way, with a small mountain in the middle. I typically ride 100-150 miles a week whether commuting or not. I'm lucky to live in rural New England, near the Berkshires, an amazing place for cycling. This winter there's been so much snow, plus I stepped back from my restaurant job until after I can get vaccinated, so I've put the bike aside for now. Meanwhile I'm XC Skiing, trying to go every day--it's a killer workout. My 3 main bikes: Top: custom 650B Randonneuse. Middle: budget 650B machine set up for mud and snow. Bottom: Early '80s race bike.
> 
> When I lived in NYC, I always had a beater bike for transportation. Set up kind of like yours, big-adventure--except usually with multiple gears. They'd regularly get stolen no matter how crappy they looked or how well I locked them up. Where I'm living now bike theft is pretty rare. My lock these days is a 25 gram stainless steel zip tie!View attachment 115164
> View attachment 115165
> View attachment 115166



Nice! There are things I miss about Northern New England but the drivers not so much. Both predictability and when to yield apparently aren't taught making both driving and biking a bit of a white knuckle adventure with some regularity.


----------



## big_adventure

Evan Estern said:


> Before the pandemic I bike commuted at least 3x a week. 12 miles each way, with a small mountain in the middle. I typically ride 100-150 miles a week whether commuting or not. I'm lucky to live in rural New England, near the Berkshires, an amazing place for cycling. This winter there's been so much snow, plus I stepped back from my restaurant job until after I can get vaccinated, so I've put the bike aside for now. Meanwhile I'm XC Skiing, trying to go every day--it's a killer workout. My 3 main bikes: Top: custom 650B Randonneuse. Middle: budget 650B machine set up for mud and snow. Bottom: Early '80s race bike.
> 
> When I lived in NYC, I always had a beater bike for transportation. Set up kind of like yours, big-adventure--except usually with multiple gears. They'd regularly get stolen no matter how crappy they looked or how well I locked them up. Where I'm living now bike theft is pretty rare. My lock these days is a 25 gram stainless steel zip tie!View attachment 115164
> View attachment 115165
> View attachment 115166



Lovely tools there.

Yeah, Paris is pretty legendary for bike theft, I've just been stupidly lucky. A friend of mine had a 50 euro beater attached with a big ass Abus right next to my 1500 euro fixie, and his was taken and mine wasn't touched.


----------



## Evan Estern

Paris must be incredible to explore by bike.


----------



## big_adventure

Evan Estern said:


> Paris must be incredible to explore by bike.



It's nice. Plus, in the last year, the mayor used covid to close tons of roads and make bike lanes everywhere. It went from being pretty diffcult to pretty chill.


----------



## Lars

big_adventure said:


> All fixie, all the time.


Damn hipster.


----------



## big_adventure

Lars said:


> Damn hipster.



Nah, I have hair, no glasses and will never have a beard. Maybe a proto-hipster? Post-hipster?


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Like reading about you guys & checking out your bikes.

I was one of those smaller guys in high school.
Ran Cross Country & Track. Was good at it won quite a few races. Early teens had paper route three basket bike two gears.

My best friend was from Hawaii & got me into surfing. Worked scallop trawler off Va. Made good money came to Hawaii with my friend.

All cared about was surfing in free time. I was working in kitchens & doing a lot of free lance ice carvings for Hotels in Waikiki. Was drinking beer & had a pot belly. One of my coworkers shamed me for being out of shape so started riding bike up a mountain range. I kicked his butt pot belly & all. Found out could beat younger guys esp. hill climbing was 38 yrs old, later another coworker who was a good cyclist got me to go to Maui for my first Cycle to the Sun.

This was my second one was 41 years old 1990. Did three all together my best time up there was three hours twenty nine minutes.

Not too bad sea level to 10,000 feet. A few top riders could break three hours.


----------



## KO88

Thinking about Sram Force E tap 1x12 (10-52 with garbaruk) upgrade and maybe some day carbon wheels. But still has time before winter ends.
So I just changed the stem for the Redshift Shock Stop which is great for my city rides on paving stones and it works prety good (takes care of vibrations). And have the wings instead of normal seat - I hope my prostate thanks me later.
Im trying to keep 10km a day for the whole year. (525km so far this year - had to ride in -14 degrees Celsius  )


----------



## Evan Estern

LostHighway said:


> Nice! There are things I miss about Northern New England but the drivers not so much. Both predictability and when to yield apparently aren't taught making both driving and biking a bit of a white knuckle adventure with some regularity.


I seem to encounter more drivers with some type of rage than the careless ones. More than a few times I've been harassed by people who assume cyclist=commie liberal. Seems to be mostly youngish men in pickup trucks (I drive a pickup when I'm not on the bike). There's a certain type of diesel that can be made to belch out a big cloud of noxious smoke on demand. Anyway that's happened to me a few times. But I usually take the more remote back roads and trails and most of my "encounters" are more like the one below. 


below.


----------



## big_adventure

Evan Estern said:


> I seem to encounter more drivers with some type of rage than the careless ones. More than a few times I've been harassed by people who assume cyclist=commie liberal. Seems to be mostly youngish men in pickup trucks (I drive a pickup when I'm not on the bike). There's a certain type of diesel that can be made to belch out a big cloud of noxious smoke on demand. Anyway that's happened to me a few times. But I usually take the more remote back roads and trails and most of my "encounters" are more like the one below. View attachment 115324
> below.



See, that's awesome. I rarely run into those in Paris.


----------



## Evan Estern

You can't tell from the photo, but this guy was huge! The top of my helmet was about at the tip of his nose.


----------



## WPerry

Here's my snowy day, yesterday - it was a good ride.


----------



## Evan Estern

WPerry,do you ever run into ice where you ride? In my area when there's snow on the roads it sometimes covers this incredibly slick ice--impossible to stay upright. I've gone down 3 times that I can think of in the last few years. I've considered getting studded tires, but I'm afraid the exra weight and mass will make the bike really sluggish and take the fun out of riding. This year I put 48mm Rene Herse knobbies on, but the XC Skiing has been so good that I've stayed off the bike so I haven't tried them in the snow.


----------



## WPerry

Evan Estern said:


> WPerry,do you ever run into ice where you ride? In my area when there's snow on the roads it sometimes covers this incredibly slick ice--impossible to stay upright. I've gone down 3 times that I can think of in the last few years. I've considered getting studded tires, but I'm afraid the exra weight and mass will make the bike really sluggish and take the fun out of riding. This year I put 48mm Rene Herse knobbies on, but the XC Skiing has been so good that I've stayed off the bike so I haven't tried them in the snow.



Oh yeah, lots of ice - this is my first year with studs (45NRTH Gravdals) after wiping out in past years. They've kept me upright all winter, so far *knock on wood* I even did my first frozen lake traversal, a little more than a mile long, on them - under the snow cover, the ice was suuuuper slippery.


----------



## KO88

The worst is dark black pavement with “sparks” I fell 3times on 10km ride when this condition (like -5 degress and relatively dry)... I have the basic WTB 700c gravel tires...


----------



## Whit3Nitro

Man, I love bikes. Bikes and knives!


----------



## Polycentric

Got a new (to me) bike a couple of months ago!

Only had the chance to go on a few serious rides before it got too cold for comfort though. It's still pretty fun to ride over snow and ice covered paths despite only having my regular 25mm road tires!


----------



## MarcelNL

nice, seeing all those bikes makes me sad having a bum knee...E-bike is the max I can manage nowadays. Once upon a time I had a custom Italian race bike, those were the days...


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Evan Estern said:


> WPerry,do you ever run into ice where you ride? In my area when there's snow on the roads it sometimes covers this incredibly slick ice--impossible to stay upright. I've gone down 3 times that I can think of in the last few years. I've considered getting studded tires, but I'm afraid the exra weight and mass will make the bike really sluggish and take the fun out of riding. This year I put 48mm Rene Herse knobbies on, but the XC Skiing has been so good that I've stayed off the bike so I haven't tried them in the snow.



Yeh Evan you have to pick your sports skis, snow boards better in winter than spoked wheels.

Still like seeing these cold weather setups for the hard core dudes riding bikes in the snow.


----------



## DavidPF

KO88 said:


> And have the wings instead of normal seat - I hope my prostate thanks me later.


Normal bike seats are not normal at all. I'm glad someone is trying to fix that.

The fact that a real seat that's also lightweight tends to end up looking like a toilet seat if the designer isn't sneaky, is probably part of the difficulty.  But the fact remains that a real seat is basically a chair, not basically an axe head.


----------



## DavidPF

KO88 said:


> gravel tires


Tires with sandpaper grit embedded in the outer surface would actually be a nice invention if it worked


----------



## ecchef




----------



## Keith Sinclair

ecchef said:


> View attachment 115453


Is that classic yours? Kickstart, polished aluminum side covers. Sweet


----------



## Keith Sinclair

WPerry said:


> Semi- on both accounts - Zipp 303S. I wasn't sure if I had a current pic, but of course I do.
> 
> View attachment 91741


That's a lovely bike. Going back on this thread is bicycle porn.

I like the looks of the disk brakes. When that Frenchman expert decender passed forget how many he was using disk on a lightweight Mt. climbing bike. Two years ago TDF. Last year thought would see more disk but in the Mountains only noticed his team using. Other teams rim brakes. Have done a lot of downhill road bike rim brakes. Just tapping the brake levers, tight turns little more grab. Enjoy fast downhill, even little counter steer just like a motorcycle.


WPerry said:


> Semi- on both accounts - Zipp 303S. I wasn't sure if I had a current pic, but of course I do.
> 
> View attachment 91741



That is a lovely bike like the look of the disk brakes. Going back on this thread is bicycle porn.


----------



## Luftmensch

Fun thread,

I used to do a fair amount of trail riding... but its been a while. Have you guys seen HTech bikes? I have never used one and wont claim anything about them... except to say wood is one of my favourite materials and i think the bikes are pretty....


----------



## big_adventure

They are beautiful, but I imagine that they are some combo of at least two of three: heavy, fragile and expensive. I don't see how you'd manage differently with wood?


----------



## WPerry

Keith Sinclair said:


> That's a lovely bike. Going back on this thread is bicycle porn.
> 
> I like the looks of the disk brakes. When that Frenchman expert decender passed forget how many he was using disk on a lightweight Mt. climbing bike. Two years ago TDF. Last year thought would see more disk but in the Mountains only noticed his team using. Other teams rim brakes. Have done a lot of downhill road bike rim brakes. Just tapping the brake levers, tight turns little more grab. Enjoy fast downhill, even little counter steer just like a motorcycle.



Thanks! I've cleaned it up a little more over the winter, finally getting around to trimming the steerer so that it's flush with the stem (funny what a difference that makes) and getting a slightly more tidy mount for the radar-equipped rear light. Actually received my annual supply of new tires yesterday, too - can't wait to try them out in... oh, two or three months. 

A lot of retrogrouches say that they hate the look of disc brakes, but I quite like them. Visually, I think that it provides a cleaner silhouette without the brake calipers hanging off the fork and seat stay bridge. I mean, it's not a big deal either way, but I just don't get the hate. In terms of performance, yeah - hard to argue against.


----------



## big_adventure

Yeah there is definitely no arguing with the performance of discs. Once you ride with a decent set, it's painful to go back to rim brakes.


----------



## tomsch

Some great looking winter bikes! My winter bike is a Peloton that I ride daily in the comfort of my home  I did used to MTB every weekend but life/work has a way of dominating some times.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

parbaked said:


> Interesting discussion on rim v. disc brakes from one of the more bougie bike shops in the Bay Area.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AC Tech Talks - Rim vs. Disc
> 
> 
> Brakes. Of all the different components on a bicycle, it’s amazing how polarizing the topic of brakes can be amongst riders. People get damn near religious on their views of a bicycle’s stopping system. Even amongst the team here at AC, we’re pretty divided divided. Now, to be fair, it's not...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> abovecategorycycling.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Their Journal also has some very nice "Bike of the Week" builds...



Parbaked posted this article couple pages back. On Rim & Disk. Plus & minus of both.

When Julian Alaphilippe passed bunch of guys fast downhill was amazing to watch. 2018 TDF.

Like the look of the disk too.


----------



## Bear

Evan Estern said:


> View attachment 115324
> below.



In Connecticut?


----------



## inferno

rim vs discs imo = different horses for different courses.

when i was young i ran xtr v brakes on ceramic rims, lx v on alu rims. magura hydros on alu rims. and they all worked well in the winter too.

then over the last 12 years or so i was all into discs. had several brands of hydros and then simply said F it! too much service/fiddling needed with all of them. and in the winter the problems start... so i went with mech discs on all bikes. bb7 road/mtb. and if you see my choice of brake levers you understand that there is/were no hydro solution for this when i built them.

the rims brakes are even more simple than mech discs. even less to go wrong. so on my sexy italian steel bikes i run regular calipers. i dont run these in bad weather on purpose. for the intended use they are more than enough. i even run the cheapest sram calipers with stock pads, and i have more power than i would ever need. this is on mostly flat though.

now if i were riding lots of steep fast mountains roads i would probably go for a 180 disc up front and a 160 out back. then you know you can stop when you really need to.


----------



## WPerry

First, people can use whateverthe**** they want - it doesn't bother me in the least and I'm not going to tell anyone that they're wrong in their personal choice. 

That said, for me, running discs isn't just a matter of pure stopping power, it's the way it behaves up to that point. I like the lever feel/feedback, the way it can be modulated finely, really flirting with that lock-up point. I like that they're consistent in any conditions that I'd ride in. I like that my chunky ass can descend with one finger on the lever and three wrapped around the bars and still stop as fast as I need to. I also like my blingy carbon wheels and appreciate that those expensive rims are no longer a wear surface.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Never had a bicycle with disk, was amazed how well the rim brakes worked on down hill runs with my trusty Trek road bike.

When going on hikes drive up the mountain ridge to start. Up there had trail bike guys getting ready to go down the mountain via dirt trails. Their bikes all had disks & fancy suspension setups.


----------



## big_adventure

Rim brakes are fine for road bikes, especially when on flats, and they are easier to deal with in case of a fixable failure. But for off-road? Discs are just mountains better: better control, better fade resistance, and if you melt something, it's a 50 dollar rotor and not a stupidly expensive rim. That's not likely, but it can happen. The front brake (the only one) on my fixie is literally a 12 euro knockoff, and it's all I've ever needed in 12 years of hard use. I've only had to change the shoes once I think. Fixie magic there. I've also got an electric assist single-speed for friends to use, it has discs and they are great, but they really aren't necessary. All of my MTBs over the last 23 years have been discs.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

I'm in my 70's a electric assist with disk brakes painted a cool color is my cup of tea.  

I see these old geezers pedaling along with a battery pack in the back.


----------



## big_adventure

Keith Sinclair said:


> I'm in my 70's a electric assist with disk brakes painted a cool color is my cup of tea.
> 
> I see these old geezers pedaling along with a battery pack in the back.



Oh I having nothing against electric assist. I enjoy that bike and would ride it more, in a covid-free world. I use it when I'm heading out and up a hill, and don't want to arrive too sweaty.


----------



## ecchef

Keith Sinclair said:


> Is that classic yours? Kickstart, polished aluminum side covers. Sweet


It was. My first bike...1962 BSA Super Rocket. That pic was taken around 1979.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

We have something in common my first motorcycle in Hawaii was a BSA 441 Victor.
In 1969.


----------



## inferno

today i fixed my coworkers hydro road discs. shimanos.
basically the lever went all the way to the bar, and he had very low power.

so i remove the caliper from the frame and pump the lever *once. *pads now move out a bit further and stay there.
reassemble. same problem. 

investigate further. seems one piston is moving much further than the other. pump them out very far and clean the pistons with brake clean. then i push the "faster" piston in to try to get the sluggish one to move out. this works, and when i have that one out far i spray it with brake clean. 

then i try to cycle them in-out a few times. and spray them a few times more with brake clean. when they are moving freely i drip one drop of oil on each one making sure it wont get on the pads.

then i set the distance i want the pistons sticking out, and assemble again on the frame. pump the brakes a few times and make sure its not rubbing.

done. now the lever wont go all the way into the bar anymore and both pistons move at the same speed. this took me about 10 minutes. 

its BS like this that made me ditch hydros. long live the bb7!


----------



## big_adventure

inferno said:


> today i fixed my coworkers hydro road discs. shimanos.
> basically the lever went all the way to the bar, and he had very low power.
> 
> so i remove the caliper from the frame and pump the lever *once. *pads now move out a bit further and stay there.
> reassemble. same problem.
> 
> investigate further. seems one piston is moving much further than the other. pump them out very far and clean the pistons with brake clean. then i push the "faster" piston in to try to get the sluggish one to move out. this works, and when i have that one out far i spray it with brake clean.
> 
> then i try to cycle them in-out a few times. and spray them a few times more with brake clean. when they are moving freely i drip one drop of oil on each one making sure it wont get on the pads.
> 
> then i set the distance i want the pistons sticking out, and assemble again on the frame. pump the brakes a few times and make sure its not rubbing.
> 
> done. now the lever wont go all the way into the bar anymore and both pistons move at the same speed. this took me about 10 minutes.
> 
> its BS like this that made me ditch hydros. long live the bb7!



I have a deep love of mechanical discs for road bikes. I'd probably still opt for hydros for a hard core offroad bike, but mechanicals are nice for so many reasons, mostly like the story you just told.


----------



## Lpn562

I don’t think would ride mountain bikes without disc brakes again. They are just as necessary as dropper posts
now.


----------



## Bear

inferno said:


> today i fixed my coworkers hydro road discs. shimanos.
> basically the lever went all the way to the bar, and he had very low power.
> 
> so i remove the caliper from the frame and pump the lever *once. *pads now move out a bit further and stay there.
> reassemble. same problem.
> 
> investigate further. seems one piston is moving much further than the other. pump them out very far and clean the pistons with brake clean. then i push the "faster" piston in to try to get the sluggish one to move out. this works, and when i have that one out far i spray it with brake clean.
> 
> then i try to cycle them in-out a few times. and spray them a few times more with brake clean. when they are moving freely i drip one drop of oil on each one making sure it wont get on the pads.
> 
> then i set the distance i want the pistons sticking out, and assemble again on the frame. pump the brakes a few times and make sure its not rubbing.
> 
> done. now the lever wont go all the way into the bar anymore and both pistons move at the same speed. this took me about 10 minutes.
> 
> its BS like this that made me ditch hydros. long live the bb7!


They really aren't that bad, I had XTR's on my Turner, when you start to have bad alignment problems with them you should check how worn the pads are, if the cylinders work their way out too far you start to have jamming issues, in the winter you've got to change your brake fluid, I used to hook a bleed bag on the nipple and it was done in a couple of minutes. In mountain biking if you are doing allot of downhill runs they are the only thing that's going to stop you.


----------



## inferno

Bear said:


> They really aren't that bad, I had XTR's on my Turner, when you start to have bad alignment problems with them you should check how worn the pads are, if the cylinders work their way out too far you start to have jamming issues, in the winter you've got to change your brake fluid, I used to hook a bleed bag on the nipple and it was done in a couple of minutes. In mountain biking if you are doing allot of downhill runs they are the only thing that's going to stop you.



hehehe he never changed his fluid. ever. i would know since i'm the service department for this bike. it was just a case of general sticky pistons. 
and while the pads were very worn. about 0,8mm left on each i'd say it still works. until spring at least.

he's getting new pads and a whole new drivetrain for me to install. i have absolutely zero problems with this since he drives me around whenever i need to go somewhere that requires a car. great guy.

i'm trying to sell him my de rosa frame. he thinks de rosa i the best brand out of italy. and i agree, its very good. there are 3 good italian steel brands. colnago, cinelli, de rosa. and thats it. and i know he always wanted a de rosa so i'm willing to let mine go. but i will have to replace it with a cinelli lugged one if he buys mine. as my bad weather "good bike"  my colnago master only does sunny weather. and thats how it shall remain.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Interesting fixing hydro disk. This thread got me looking at new Road Bikes on line. They get pretty expensive fast with things you don't need like e tap wireless shifting. Heck I loved my bomb proof reliable down tube shifters on my Trek. When I was in my 50's was thinking training for another Cycle to the Sun. Did all 3 on my 22# Trek 1500. Red Aluminum bike. Was looking to upgrade to a lighter carbon rode a friend's carbon bike with the brake lever shifters took me awhile to get used to them. 

Since I loved my old Trek so much, looked at some of the new ones. The Emonda SLR premium fast light bikes are pretty expensive.
6K to 12K. The Emonda SL 6 disk pro has a lot of features at 4,299.00. Aerodynamic frame, Utegra components. Bontrager Aeolus Elite OCLV carbon wheels. 17. 71# a couple pounds more for thousands less. Love the clean aero frame in red & black. It's worth it to pay more for the pro model. That is a serious climbing machine.


----------



## WPerry

Keith Sinclair said:


> The Emonda SLR premium fast light bikes are pretty expensive.
> 6K to 12K. The Emonda SL 6 disk pro has a lot of features at 4,299.00. Aerodynamic frame, Utegra components. Bontrager Aeolus Elite OCLV carbon wheels. 17. 71# a couple pounds more for thousands less. Love the clean aero frame in red & black. It's worth it to pay more for the pro model. That is a serious climbing machine.



The introduction of electronic shifting really stretched the upper tiers of bike pricing. If you don't factor that in, pricing has been pretty stable for the last decade plus.

It used to be that $2k got you a decent carbon frame and Shimano 105. You're still in that region for rim brakes, but groupsets and frames are a little better, with "entry level" carbon frames today being better than the most of what was available, at any price, back then. It's a similar story when you look at other price points with Ultegra, DA, etc.

When you move to hydro discs (without the electronic shifting), that does kick up the price another $500 or so. Keep in mind, though, that we're comparing 2008 dollars vs 2020 dollars (with the shortages that we've been seeing, all bets are off in terms of pricing stratification in 2021), so we're probably talking about a price drop if we factor inflation.

Anyway, yeah, that trim of the Emonda sounds pretty nice - $4299 is a pill, but when it comes with nice wheels, as opposed to placekeepers that you'll only keep around as spares, it's a lot easier to swallow.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

I had the Utegra system on my Trek. It was awesome many trouble free years. I rebuilt hub & changed cables, brake pads the bike was built so well it just kept going. Had a 53-12 top gear & a granny gear I installed rear cluster needed on windy very steep switch backs Haleakala mountain. I used to train on a mountain ridge near where I live, winding turns on the climb to the top, & nice down hill run on other side. Got so strong doing that never touch my granny gear. I sure needed it last last & hardest Cycle to Sun so windy 8K-10K feet up some 18 percent grades. 

I thought the Emonda 6 disk Pro was a decent value because in early 2000's was looking at carbon race bikes that were in that price range already. It had Utegra, not carbon wheels, & rim brakes. Not knocking regular wheels & rim brakes at all. For most getting a 3K Trek with 105 system would be excellent choice.

I just appreciate upgrade to a true climbing bike. Noticed plenty reviews of Emonda SL 6 disk pro from around the planet. So it's a popular new model. 

Perry I see that you have a Trek disk road bike how do you like it?


----------



## WPerry

Keith Sinclair said:


> I just appreciate upgrade to a true climbing bike. Noticed plenty reviews of Emonda SL 6 disk pro from around the planet. So it's a popular new model.
> 
> Perry I see that you have a Trek disk road bike how do you like it?



The Emonda has been around for a while, slotted in as their lightweight climbing bike.

Basically, Trek has three main road bike lines, each with a slightly different focus, all of their names anagrams using the same six letters: Emonda (lightweight/climbing), Madone (aero/race) and Domane (endurance/long distance).

I had a Domane. Wonderful bike, I really liked it - it's a great bike for long rides over sometimes shoddy roads. With some good 30mm tubeless tires, it was magic carpet ride smooth. If you want to feel fresh after 100+ miles, it should be towards the top of the list. I ended up selling it as my focus changed a bit; I wanted something a little more twitchy and responsive for sometimes race-like group rides,


----------



## swarfrat

WPerry said:


> The introduction of electronic shifting really stretched the upper tiers of bike pricing. ....


An expense I'll happily avoid.

In half a century (time, not distance) of riding mechanically actuated gear changes, I've never had to recharge my cables before a ride or worry that I hadn't. And they've never lost power and defaulted to limp-home home in the middle of a ride. (I have, but not my derailleur cables.)


----------



## WPerry

swarfrat said:


> An expense I'll happily avoid.



I'm happy to avoid the expense for now, but I'd jump at the right price. 

If user feedback is any indication, for most people, electronic shifting falls in to one of those "you can happily live without it, but once you experience it, you'll never want to go back" categories. 

That and I have no romantic notions associated with mechanical systems. Sure, they're easy to maintain if you're not a dunce and there's no batteries to recharge, but you do need to maintain them. While I haven't had a dead battery put me in limp home mode, I have had to cut a ride short, limping to an LBS and then back home after the RD cable frayed and jammed the shift lever. Likewise, I've obviously had to do the regular maintenance, like replace cables that became gummed up, tweak finnicky derailleurs, and all of the other little issues that make shifts fall well short of crisp and precise.


----------



## Matt Zilliox

Here my off roader
Traildonkey


----------



## WPerry

With the warm and sunny weather, I was able to ditch the studs and gravel bike altogether and get in a couple rides on the road bike over the weekend. Not exactly a scenic pic, this was while I was waiting on the boys at a coffee shop, but here's the current state of the bike with the fresh new tires, trimmed steerer and cleaner/nicer mount for the tail light/radar -


----------



## Lpn562

With new Lyric fork installed.


----------



## inferno

i took out my de rosa today for the first time this year. 90% of the gravel is gone here. but only 90%.

gonna take pic tomorrow.


----------



## Eziemniak

New old toy, came with 39x23 climbing gear hehe. Put a triple and 12-28 cassette and now I can ride uphill. Bronze age housing for scale


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Where is this bronze age site? 

Granny gear comes in handy in the mountains.


----------



## Eziemniak

Keith Sinclair said:


> Where is this bronze age site?
> 
> Granny gear comes in handy in the mountains.











Rafal Rubí – Navetas de Enterramiento | Menorca Diferente


Las navetas de Rafal Rubí son construcciones megalíticas construidas entre el periodo pretalayótico y el periodo talayótico de la prehistoria. La finalidad de estos monumentos era la de proteger los espíritus de los difuntos y se utilizaban como panteones colectivos




www.menorcadiferente.com




In the mountains or if you have my legs)


----------



## inferno

Eziemniak said:


> View attachment 124427
> 
> New old toy, came with 39x23 climbing gear hehe. Put a triple and 12-28 cassette and now I can ride uphill. Bronze age housing for scale



glued alu frame? soldered?


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Eziemniak said:


> Rafal Rubí – Navetas de Enterramiento | Menorca Diferente
> 
> 
> Las navetas de Rafal Rubí son construcciones megalíticas construidas entre el periodo pretalayótico y el periodo talayótico de la prehistoria. La finalidad de estos monumentos era la de proteger los espíritus de los difuntos y se utilizaban como panteones colectivos
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.menorcadiferente.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In the mountains or if you have my legs)
> [/QUOTE
> 
> An island off the coast of Spain. Looks like a cool site.
> 
> The Orkney islands off Scotland have quite a bit of prehistoric sites. Europe has plenty old stuff. Going farther back Homo Erectus had walked out of Africa to spread out over much of the planet. Oldest site in Georgia southern
> Russia about 1.6 million years ago. He had reached Spain close to 800,000 years ago.
> 
> Homo Erectus was a successful hominid. Was dominate species well over a million years.
> 
> Homo Sapiens been around 200,000 years so far.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bone clones replica scull from site in Georgia
> 1.6 MYA. A real stone chipped hand axe the longest single tool used in hominid history.


----------



## KO88

Since one crash I looking for some nice handlebar. Now I think I know what I want ENVE G series but it's kinda hard to find in the EU at least for retail price (350$). It s very pricey and I'm one day yes another no. But whatever... I couldn't find anything else in the design like the ENVE...

Is the problem global? I know many bikes etc. are just sold so is it the same with components?

Also, do you know if ENVE running some sales from time to time?


----------



## WPerry

KO88 said:


> Since one crash I looking for some nice handlebar. Now I think I know what I want ENVE G series but it's kinda hard to find in the EU at least for retail price (350$). It s very pricey and I'm one day yes another no. But whatever... I couldn't find anything else in the design like the ENVE...
> 
> Is the problem global? I know many bikes etc. are just sold so is it the same with components?
> 
> Also, do you know if ENVE running some sales from time to time?



What is it that you like about the ENVE? Shallow drops, drop flair, reach, shape of the tops, etc? 

ENVE is a high-end, boutique brand - they're going to be less widely distributed and probably more tightly controlled in terms of price. If you look at the offerings of other companies with great products, you'll probably have an easier time finding a deal. Depending upon what, exactly, you're looking for, I would also check out 3T products - they've got a pretty wide range of great bars and can often be found at a discount.


----------



## KO88

WPerry said:


> What is it that you like about the ENVE? Shallow drops, drop flair, reach, shape of the tops, etc?
> 
> ENVE is a high-end, boutique brand - they're going to be less widely distributed and probably more tightly controlled in terms of price. If you look at the offerings of other companies with great products, you'll probably have an easier time finding a deal. Depending upon what, exactly, you're looking for, I would also check out 3T products - they've got a pretty wide range of great bars and can often be found at a discount.



I like a combination of flair and that straight part under the breaks, so the shape...

3T stuff looks great but also very expensive... Could you just PM if you are hit by some discount I will check but still...


----------



## Corradobrit1

KO88 said:


> Since one crash I looking for some nice handlebar. Now I think I know what I want ENVE G series but it's kinda hard to find in the EU at least for retail price (350$). It s very pricey and I'm one day yes another no. But whatever... I couldn't find anything else in the design like the ENVE...
> 
> Is the problem global? I know many bikes etc. are just sold so is it the same with components?
> 
> Also, do you know if ENVE running some sales from time to time?


I have the 3T Ergonova LTD on my bike. Super nice and comfy. You can find deals on the Merlin Bike website in UK (bought two 3T bars from them with a substantial discount). 
I have ENVE carbon wheels and seat post so I can understand the appeal of the brand.


----------



## parbaked

WPerry said:


> ENVE is a high-end, boutique brand - they're going to be less widely distributed and probably more tightly controlled in terms of price.


In 2016 Enve was acquired by Amer Sports, the same company that owns Mavic, so production and distribution are growing.


Corradobrit1 said:


> I have ENVE carbon wheels and seat post so I can understand the appeal of the brand.


You need the bike...








Unveiling the Enve Custom Road


The Enve Custom Road is here. A premium high tech road bike, made to order and built by hand in Enve's USA facility. We look at the history of how their debut bike came to be and share our initial impressions riding their flagship bicycle offering.




abovecategorycycling.com


----------



## WPerry

KO88 said:


> 3T stuff looks great but also very expensive... Could you just PM if you are hit by some discount I will check but still...



Check with some of the European sellers, assuming that they'll sell/ship to you. Merlin Cycles, Pro Bike Kit, Lordgun, etc.


----------



## inferno

no no
no no no no
no no no no
no no there's no carbon 

here is my "maybe it will rain later today" commuter.
this is the only thing de rosa actually makes in italy anymore, handmade by skilled craftsmen. well maybe the Ti frames too. i dont know.
really like this frame. its so smooth, its like riding on a cloud. it just sucks up all the bumps. even with 7-8bar in the tires.

the wheels are kinda good i think. spent 100-120 or so € for the set at chainreaction. rs010 i think. had to detension them a bit though. its the cheapest shimanos you can get. but they are quite flexy from side to side. only 24 spokes in the rear. i build my own with 32. and those dont flex at all. but hey if i build from scratch just the cost of the spokes and nipples is almost the same as this whole set.. of course i tore the hubs apart and filled them with molykote. you have to put them in the truing stand too if you want them to last, to get equal tension. also these nipples were loctited, which i dont like.











how it looks from the riding position. xtr 9sp. fuk yeah.


----------



## inferno

and yes for those why are wondering. why the ultra short stem? 
well time trial bars build a lot more forward than regular road bars, and these specific ones build even more. maybe 2-3cm. 
so you have to compensate with a shorty stem. to prevent getting reeeaaally stretched out. 
and i dont like short frames. since i dont like toe overlap (i always riode with regular shoes). so i will always go for long and run a short stem anyway.

in the end it doesn't matter if the stem is short. the only thing thats important is where your hands end up. it behaves just the same as a longer stem and regular bars. 

yeah its no beauty queen. its a lot sleeker in reality. i guess the rear fender dont really help either.  i just got tired of getting my ass sprayed with road crap when it rains. but hey what can i say, its a budget build _without resorting to crap parts_. this is the cheapest bike i've ever built. and i think its the bike i like the best since it wasn't 5-6 grand. its my beater and it has to be (at least slightly) practical. 

end of disclaimer. i love it. its fast. its good. its durable. its comfortable.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

If your going to be a geek bicycles are a worthy
subject.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Not that anyone gives a rip was going through old photo albums with my brother I've thrown away plenty photos. Who put pictures in albums anymore?

Wanted to save some & get a digital record of old photos & Alfa's my brother has restored.

Got these old photos of my trek on work stand
Repacking hub & changing rear cluster.

Finish line of 1992 Cycle to the Sun. Most extreme conditions by far. 40-50 mph winds, sometimes directly in your face up steep switchback climbs. Was last one I did. Not my fastest time, but my best ranking in Masters division 40+ was 43 year old. High above cloud level at 10,000 feet. Totally spent sunglasses hanging down. Switching to higher gear after climbing last 17% climb wind in face in granny gear.


----------



## Geigs

Finally got my hands on a Team Sc. Littlle bit of history amongst a sea of Taiwanese carbon.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Is that Merckx aluminum? They are not made anymore he sold off his bike business. Nice bike.

My trek was aluminum 22# Ultegra components 900.00 new. I rode the crap out of it. Never any major problems.


----------



## Geigs

Keith Sinclair said:


> Is that Merckx aluminum? They are not made anymore he sold off his bike business. Nice bike.


Yeah Merckx is Aluminium, or Aluminium/Scandium blend, Easton 7000. Haven't had a chance to ride it as it literally turned up a few days ago but heard nothing but good things.


----------



## Lpn562

new hardtail build with an my old fork.


----------



## swarfrat

Looks awfully clean! 

Time to get it dirty!


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Nice & clean for the picture before the down hill.


----------



## parbaked

My little city beater…Cannondale Hooligan with rigid lefty fork and Nexus 3 speed…


----------



## Lpn562

That’s a really nice beater.


----------



## WPerry

Other than the fresh, new Pirelli, not much has changed, but that's not necessarily a bad thing - just clicked over 10,000 miles on the odometer since building it in the spring of 2020.


----------



## Terryy

Nice bikes guys! Planning to attract my kid with me and looking for the suitable decisions (these ones seem to be good, but I am no sure). Have you ever bought kid's bike, what's the main features of choosing it? Is it a good idea of choosing bike online?


----------



## tostadas

Terryy said:


> Nice bikes guys! Planning to attract my kid with me and looking for the suitable decisions (these ones seem to be good, but I am no sure). Have you ever bought kid's bike, what's the main features of choosing it? Is it a good idea of choosing bike online?


How old is your kid?


----------



## Brian Weekley

My son was thrilled with his new bike …


----------



## Terryy

tostadas said:


> How old is your kid?


7 y.o. It's a boy


----------



## Whit3Nitro

My crit racing machine.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Get him a powered two wheeler were his feet can almost touch the ground. I was riding on dirt roads & orchards in 1950's on a vintage Cushman scooter in Virginia 9 years old. First powered vehicle. Been a lifelong two wheel junkie bicycles and motorcycles ever since.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Couple Harleys of different sort. I used to strap ice chisels to back of motorcycle for Hotel accounts. Motorcycle & moped parking free. I saw this black Harley nothing like had seen before. After carving 7 ice sculptures stopped at store to buy a six pack 
of beer & motorcycle magazine. In it they listed most collectible motorcycles the Harley cafe racer was on their list. This was l988. I went back next day left a note on seat saying interested in buying it. Next day it was gone. Thought I missed it. About a week later guy called me up said you wanta still buy dat Harley how much you pay. Told him I'd pay one thousand for it. Said you 
crazy want at least 1,800 for it. Told me if could get it started pay that. If not 1,300. I agreed. Brought my pickup with tie downs & wood ramp. He couldn't get it started so got it 1,300. Ray Baldaz was harley mechanic for Honolulu Police Dept. when they still used Harleys. Now they use BMW bikes. He told me to pick a color I liked the deep red. He rebuilt the engine & transmission. Put a Del Oltro carb. on it. Sold my Japanese 
motorcycle when he finished. Had the only 1977 Cafe Racer in Hawaii. They only made them two years. It was cool looking but not a very good bike this was AMF years. The battery plate was welded to bottom edge of oil tank vibration of the 1000cc Shovelhead weight of battery with no support cracked the oil tank oil leaking out. Had to strip parts off to get tank out. Rewelded the crack & welded support bars to make it much stronger. Had it a while about 9 years. People would ask what is that. Found the Buell 1997 only few months old with good stuff done to it better air intake hypercharger, new jets in carb. to make it faster. Vance & Hines exhaust. Took it for a test ride loved it. Had it 11 years longest ever one bike. Sold it bought a Kawasaki 650R Ninja my last motorcycle.


----------



## Brian Weekley

Keith Sinclair said:


> Couple Harleys of different sort. I used to strap ice chisels to back of motorcycle for Hotel accounts. Motorcycle & moped parking free. I saw this black Harley nothing like had seen before. After carving 7 ice sculptures stopped at store to buy a six pack
> of beer & motorcycle magazine. In it they listed most collectible motorcycles the Harley cafe racer was on their list. This was l988. I went back next day left a note on seat saying interested in buying it. Next day it was gone. Thought I missed it. About a week later guy called me up said you wanta still buy dat Harley how much you pay. Told him I'd pay one thousand for it. Said you
> crazy want at least 1,800 for it. Told me if could get it started pay that. If not 1,300. I agreed. Brought my pickup with tie downs & wood ramp. He couldn't get it started so got it 1,300. Ray Baldaz was harley mechanic for Honolulu Police Dept. when they still used Harleys. Now they use BMW bikes. He told me to pick a color I liked the deep red. He rebuilt the engine & transmission. Put a Del Oltro carb. on it. Sold my Japanese
> motorcycle when he finished. Had the only 1977 Cafe Racer in Hawaii. They only made them two years. It was cool looking but not a very good bike this was AMF years. The battery plate was welded to bottom edge of oil tank vibration of the 1000cc Shovelhead weight of battery with no support cracked the oil tank oil leaking out. Had to strip parts off to get tank out. Rewelded the crack & welded support bars to make it much stronger. Had it a while about 9 years. People would ask what is that. Found the Buell 1997 only few months old with good stuff done to it better air intake hypercharger, new jets in carb. to make it faster. Vance & Hines exhaust. Took it for a test ride loved it. Had it 11 years longest ever one bike. Sold it bought a Kawasaki 650R Ninja my last motorcycle.
> View attachment 183494
> 
> View attachment 183495



What a great story!!!

I don’t want to hijack this thread so I’ll make it short. I’ve been riding since I was 14 … I’m 73 now. Went into Harley’s when I could afford to. Been retired since 1999 and spent years touring. Northern hemisphere summers in Canada and the Western USA ,,, Southern Hemisphere summers in New Zealand. Was staying with a friend in Napier when I agreed (after more than a bottle of wine each) that if he came to Canada and bought one of the newly released BMW 6 cylinder GTL’s, I would do the same and take him for the ride if a lifetime to the Mexico border. He did, I did and off we went. Problem was the BMW riding gear just sucks so I rode the BMW in my Harley gear … half helmet, T-shirt, vest, boots etc. Was stopped at a light in Southern California when a couple of guys pulled beside me in an old pickup truck. The passenger rolled the window down, looked me over … as said … “man … that’s just wrong!”.

Great memories.


----------



## WPerry

Terryy said:


> Nice bikes guys! Planning to attract my kid with me and looking for the suitable decisions (these ones seem to be good, but I am no sure). Have you ever bought kid's bike, what's the main features of choosing it? Is it a good idea of choosing bike online?



Does he already know how to ride? What's the terrain like where he'll be riding - will gears be necessary/helpful? Are you looking for a bike that's perfect for now, and may need to be replaced in a year or two, or are you hoping for a bike that will last him another 3 or 4 years?


----------



## noj

I used to race road (and a little track) years ago. Raced in a few US National Championships. This is my latest bike.


----------



## MarcelNL

NICE, in my teens I drove a custom built racing cycle...I'm pretty sure my knees have taken damage using too much torque going fast, an electric bike is about it these days. I rode a lot in Austria, downhill was so much fun, overtaking cars at breakneck speeds (literally, I've driven that particular mountain road many times in a car since, and always wondered how it's possible to go faster on a bike) 

Motorcycles.....naaah not for me, I took driving lessons long ago and found myself doing well over 160 km/h getting onto the highway...max acceleration somehow always gets me so I quite ahead of the game ;-)


----------



## MarcelNL

Terryy said:


> Nice bikes guys! Planning to attract my kid with me and looking for the suitable decisions (these ones seem to be good, but I am no sure). Have you ever bought kid's bike, what's the main features of choosing it? Is it a good idea of choosing bike online?


we started our kid (now 6) on a Woom bike, IMO the best kids bike around, built for kids with arm leg ratios etc taken into account, low weight etc...

He took a while fooling around when he was 4, so we took the pedals off and let him use it as a walking bike, couple of weeks later he announced that he now could ride it; I went out, let him go and he took off....no side wheels, ever. He's now on his second Woom bike, whizzing through the park in front of our house.


----------



## WPerry

noj said:


> I used to race road (and a little track) years ago. Raced in a few US National Championships. This is my latest bike.
> View attachment 183527



Is that kit from Grand Performance in St Paul, MN? Interesting to see it on someone hundreds of miles away!


----------



## Keith Sinclair

MarcelNL said:


> NICE, in my teens I drove a custom built racing cycle...I'm pretty sure my knees have taken damage using too much torque going fast, an electric bike is about it these days. I rode a lot in Austria, downhill was so much fun, overtaking cars at breakneck speeds (literally, I've driven that particular mountain road many times in a car since, and always wondered how it's possible to go faster on a bike)
> 
> Motorcycles.....naaah not for me, I took driving lessons long ago and found myself doing well over 160 km/h getting onto the highway...max acceleration somehow always gets me so I quite ahead of the game ;-)



Did same thing trying to get close to my times Tantalis mountain climbs in my early 50's. Was not too bad not quite as quick as late 30's early 40's. Screwed up my knee climbing in the saddle putting too much power to the crank. Love mountain downhills
too on road bicycle. 

Motorcycles one of man's greatest coolest inventions.


----------



## noj

WPerry said:


> Is that kit from Grand Performance in St Paul, MN? Interesting to see it on someone hundreds of miles away!


I raced for them back in the late 80's. I rode with Dan (the owner) a lot. Here's the bike from the club sponsor. It used to be my training and race bike, but now a winter beater. I got the jersey (in the photo) when visiting the area, and stopped by the bike shop to say "hi" and do a club ride for old times sake, and Dan was still riding (10 years ago).


----------



## WPerry

noj said:


> I raced for them back in the late 80's. I rode with Dan (the owner) a lot. Here's the bike from the club sponsor. It used to be my training and race bike, but now a winter beater. I got the jersey (in the photo) when visiting the area, and stopped by the bike shop to say "hi" and do a club ride for old times sake, and Dan was still riding (10 years ago).
> View attachment 183564


Awesome! I figured that there had to be a story behind it.


----------



## noj

WPerry said:


> Awesome! I figured that there had to be a story behind it.


For ya' cycling old-timers, please note the spare tire (tied to the saddle) is [covered by] in an old sock strapped on with a genuine Alfredo Binda toe strap;-)


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Terryy said:


> Nice bikes guys! Planning to attract my kid with me and looking for the suitable decisions (these ones seem to be good, but I am no sure). Have you ever bought kid's bike, what's the main features of choosing it? Is it a good idea of choosing bike online?



Is this his first bike? Seven years old looked at kids bikes on your list. Like #2 pick not dirt cheap like some others but versatile as he grows some. Comes in different sizes 14,16,18 get larger size, can lower & raise the seat. Plus it's a cool small kids bike with nice lines, good brakes & aluminum frame so it's lighter. I can see a seven year old tooling around & exploring on that. Royal Space Shuttle bike. Nice handle bars on it too for comfort & control. By the time he is 10 or 11
He will be ready for larger wheels. 

It's funny things you remember. When I was 10 for Christmas got a Schwinn bicycle blue with chrome fenders. It was a 2 speed back pedal to change gears. Before that had hand me downs from sisters to learn to ride two wheelers. Finally not a girl's bike. I think that was best Christmas present I ever got. Two years later at 12 got a paper route it was large # route had front basket & two side baskets rear wheel. I would have to pack the papers with bike leaning against a wall, because I wasn't strong enough to lift it fully packed.


----------



## BoSharpens

First bike was a used Columbia which I cleaned, oiled & painted up with flames on the fender tips when I was about 7 & it served thru high school. No one had "10 speeds" in those days in St. Helens, Oregon.

First thing I did no day one in San Luis Obispo @ Cal Poly was to buy a Schwin 10 speed at a garage sale for $10 and rode it to Avila beach. Being new to SoCal, I found out how quick you can get a sunburn.

The Schwin lasted until I got my first job designing diving gear at Jaques Cousteau's US Divers in the mid-60s. It's been on hell of a ride & now approaching 80 I'm on a Felt 7 mountain bike. I still average about 20 mph on my 16 mile round trip to Crystal Cover nearly every day. Gotta keep it up, so to speek. 

No interest in "real fast" anymore. Over the handlebars is, shall I say, "harder" than I want to do again.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Woom bikes for kids was mentioned. They cost a little more but also have good features. Easy seat adjustment & handlebars 
as kid grows. The woom 4 is rated for kids 6-8. Going up to Woom 5 is for kids 7- 11. Bigger wheels, both have 8 gear derailer. Depends how big your 7 year old is always think with adjustable seat & handle bars they can grow into larger wheel bike. Think woom site gives kids heights for 4 & 5 models.


----------



## KO88

We bought our kiddo Kubikes and it s very nice... Well build and light weight. Price is very similar to Woom.


----------



## Heckel7302

Just got my 9 y/o a Polygon Premier Ultralight 24. Will see how it is when it arrives. They get super good reviews and the price is significantly less than bikes of similar specs, $320 on sale at the moment. Plus he liked the paint job the best. That’s what matters most, right?


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Heckel7302 said:


> Just got my 9 y/o a Polygon Premier Ultralight 24. Will see how it is when it arrives. They get super good reviews and the price is significantly less than bikes of similar specs, $320 on sale at the moment. Plus he liked the paint job the best. That’s what matters most, right?


This is a great thread never thought could get stoked researching kids bikes. Thanks for the input.


----------



## Heckel7302

Keith Sinclair said:


> This is a great thread never thought could get stoked researching kids bikes. Thanks for the input.


This new bike is a size up from the Guardian Ethos 16, which is also a super great bike. He wanted something a little more aggressive and trail capable this time.


----------



## Heckel7302

Kids new bike came in. Pretty sweet ride. He’s thrilled. 

I also put some new shoes on my fixed gear converted 1981 Panasonic DX-3000. I love this bike. So much fun to ride.


----------



## WPerry

Heckel7302 said:


> Kids new bike came in. Pretty sweet ride. He’s thrilled.
> 
> I also put some new shoes on my fixed gear converted 1981 Panasonic DX-3000. I love this bike. So much fun to ride.





Heckel7302 said:


> View attachment 185235




Sweet! 

Just a heads-up: kids often have trouble with the twist grip shifters - they can sometimes need quite a bit more hand and arm strength than the kids can muster. If he's having trouble shifting through the entire range, look in to some trigger shifters - *much* easier. Shimano are $20 bucks or so, other brands may be even less - just be sure to check compatibility. Oh, and you'll need some new grips (can be had for under $10). Install is easy unless you're absolutely not mechanically inclined. Well worth the investment, though.


----------



## Heckel7302

WPerry said:


> Sweet!
> 
> Just a heads-up: kids often have trouble with the twist grip shifters - they can sometimes need quite a bit more hand and arm strength than the kids can muster. If he's having trouble shifting through the entire range, look in to some trigger shifters - *much* easier. Shimano are $20 bucks or so, other brands may be even less - just be sure to check compatibility. Oh, and you'll need some new grips (can be had for under $10). Install is easy unless you're absolutely not mechanically inclined. Well worth the investment, though.


Yeah, will probably upgrade the shifter. The stock is a shimano revoshift, which is pretty basic. He had fun running through the gears on our test ride (it’s his first geared bike), but was complaining his hand hurt at the end.


----------



## tostadas

Heckel7302 said:


> Yeah, will probably upgrade the shifter. The stock is a shimano revoshift, which is pretty basic. He had fun running through the gears on our test ride (it’s his first geared bike), but was complaining his hand hurt at the end.


Invest in a pair of biking gloves. The padding, however minimal, helps tremendously for their little hands. Open finger gloves are lightweight and allow you to still feel stuff with your fingertips. Full finger gloves for very cold weather or if you're on tough trails where you need the extra protection.


----------



## Heckel7302

tostadas said:


> Invest in a pair of biking gloves. The padding, however minimal, helps tremendously for their little hands. Open finger gloves are lightweight and allow you to still feel stuff with your fingertips. Full finger gloves for very cold weather or if you're on tough trails where you need the extra protection.


Oh, they’ve had those for years. Though I do need to invest in some full fingers, just moved to indiana from Florida, didn’t need no full finger gloves in Florida!


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Never had a twist shift bike.


----------



## BoSharpens

Keith Sinclair said:


> Never had a twist shift bike.


I never did have twist shifters until I got a Diamondback mountain bike. What I found is that I didn't need to work two separate Shimano levers to go through the range of sprockets. To go up on sprocket size often takes 2 pushes on the "large lever", which I see as an annoyance.

Bought a used/but new Felt 6/7 recently with the "old" dual shift levers and I'm tempted to put twist shifts on it for the simplicity again, though I don't know what that will take. I do agree that the levers give a weak hand more leverage in moving to a new gear, making the effort lower. I really never thought of the effort with my older twist shift on the Diamondback, so it must not have been very much force.

Mountain bikes with off-road nobby's for literal high calorie exercise without beating up the body is terrific in my opinion. And if you want more exercise, all you have to do is lower the tire pressure down to 30-35 psi.

I put in 16 miles a day to try to keep my general health up. Yeah, I'm over-the-hill as they say. Been biking now for over 70 years.


----------



## inferno

hmm thinking about building new wheels. rim brake wheels. 

apparently you can't get ultegra or dura ace hubs anymore? ***.
105 is all there is. and only 32 or 36hole front and rear. ***.

personally, if i'm gonna build shimano wheels i want these 2 words to be found on them. "dura" and "ace", because that looks cool. but now this options seems to be gone. ***.

so i had a look at the dt hubs, 240 and 350. front 240 hubs only come in 20 and 24 hole. ***. and the rears are only available in 24 or 28. ***.
the 350 fronts 20, 24, 28, 32. rears 24, 28 , 32. its ok i guess. 

yeah maybe i just build up a pair of 350ies 20/24 f/r with alpine3 spokes.

i also got this idea: why not run a 36 spoke up front, with the thinnest dt comps 1,8-1,6mm or revos 2,0-1,5mm. radial. and then out back a 24 but with alpine3's  

i'm also planning on building some wheels for a coworker, (he weighs 100kg). probably some pinned rims, dt or mavic, 32-32 but beefier/heavier rim in the rear, with regular dt comps. 2,0-1,8, or maybe a 36 in the rear. 

so disappointed with shimano. and dt.


----------



## parbaked

Looks like you can order DA 9000 hubs from these guys in UK…








Dura ace hub | TotalCycling.com


| TotalCycling.com



www.totalcycling.com


----------



## swarfrat

They want you to buy whole integrated wheelsets now.


----------



## inferno

swarfrat said:


> They want you to buy whole integrated wheelsets now.


yeah i noticed. its a shame really. and its all proprietary crap today. i need stuff built with regular spokes, regular nipples that takes regular tires and cassettes. also now there is like a 100 different dt 240 rear hubs to choose from. the "standards inflation".

i remember the good old days when there were 2 rear widths, 130 for road and 135 for mtb. 
and then you could get either disc or no, 
and cl or iso mount.
campy or shimano cassette. 

now its a ****ing jungle. its almost a joke now.


----------



## inferno

parbaked said:


> Looks like you can order DA 9000 hubs from these guys in UK…
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dura ace hub | TotalCycling.com
> 
> 
> | TotalCycling.com
> 
> 
> 
> www.totalcycling.com



with those prices... it might even be worth it to chase down some nos da of older generations.


----------



## swarfrat

inferno said:


> ....i remember the good old days when there were 2 rear widths, 130 for road and 135 for mtb....



Good times. 

Heh, heh, I remember when we only had 126mm with freewheels in the back and there were no mtb's. Back then anybody's cluster worked with anybody's derailleurs, anybody's shifters and anybody's hubs. (Of course by today's standards, none of them shifted very well.)

As a Campy guy, I'm doubly screwed. I have Even fewer choices for hubs.


----------



## inferno

5 and 6sp was 126 right. but was 7sp 130?


----------



## inferno

anyone with experience of square taper cranks? 

i wonder if jis or iso is better? is there any practical difference at all (in use/to service).

i found old dura ace and old campy stuff online and i wonder if its problematic to run these over time?
i have the impression that this system is the most reliable/durable ever made.

---------------

i've only been using shimanos hollowtech 2 system for the last 15 years or so. and it just works. but earlier this month i had to change the cups/bearings on my winter bike. only the drive side bearing was shot, but still. these were the cheapest shimano silver ones. 15€. they lasted about 15000km or so.

the problem with these is that there is no way of relubing them. you cannot get any grease inside the bearings, not from the front nor the back. even if you remove the dust covers there is no way to lube them since the bearing balls are held on a plastic ring and it basically fills up the whole bearing.


----------



## noj

A small sample from my "early" racing days.


----------



## LostHighway

inferno said:


> 5 and 6sp was 126 right. but was 7sp 130?


120mm was old school 5-speed road rear spacing, 126 was 6 and 7-speed road, 130 was 7-speed mountain and then that shifted to 135 for 7, 8, and 9 mountain.

The early 1990s Shimano switch from Uniglide to Hyperglide did make a noticeable difference in shifting. Personally, I'd be looking for DuraAce 7402 or 7403 series hubs but prices have gone crazy

I'm totally not down with the planned obsolescence and lack of interchangeability among current bike parts.


----------



## inferno

now there is like 4 or 5 different standards/mounts for cassettes.
and then 12sp, 11sp, 10sp, 9sp, new 7sp downhill etc etc. with different chain widths.
many many hub widths and axle standards.
7 gazzillion bb standards (and none of them is better than the old bsa)
several headtube/steerer standards

**** it. i dont need nor want any of that ****. 
i always go with the most common (and therefor cheapest) systems and standards.
right now i'm running 8 or 9sp on all bikes. 130mm qr for road and 135qr for my disk bikes.
bsa or italian bb, italian steel frames usually only come with italian bb.
no fancy hubs/wheels with unobtanium parts.

i stocked up a few years ago on 8/9sp parts. 8sp is ridiculously cheap. like 14€ cassettes, 14€ shifters, 14€ chains, 20€ RD's and similar 
I like that. 9sp is about 50% more expensive than 8sp in general.


----------



## inferno

even though i have hoarded a lot of 8 and 9sp parts i realize i didn't hoard enough. should have gotten a few 9sp sram shifters and RDs when they went to 10sp and you could still get the premium ones cheap. also i should have gotten more hubs and cranks.


----------



## swarfrat

LostHighway said:


> ... I'm totally not down with the planned obsolescence and lack of interchangeability among current bike parts.



That's what soured me on Shimano in general and Dura-Ace in particular _back in the 70's_. Went Italian in the 80's and never looked back.

Now that it's standard procedure for _everybody _I guess I could theoretically peek outside of Vicenza.

Nah. At least Campy is good about internal compatibility across lines and generations. Plus I've tried SRAM and Shimano shifters. I hate them.


----------



## LostHighway

We probably should be asking @boomchakabowwow what is happening in fishing equipment. Shimano makes far more money off fishing gear than it does from bike equipment.


----------



## Greasylake

LostHighway said:


> We probably should be asking @boomchakabowwow what is happening in fishing equipment. Shimano makes far more money off fishing gear than it does from bike equipment.


Shimano has been leading in the reel department for some time, but Daiwa has really stepped up their game lately and Shimano has been facing some really stiff competition. I haven't really noticed any planned obsolesce in reels and such, actually I regularly fish Shimano reels that are 10-20 years old and they're a pleasure. It does seem that with every new generation of reel there are actual improvements made to the designs and they do make changes that fishermen request, so there is definitely innovation going on and the new generations aren't just the same old reel with an updated color scheme. Shimano is also pretty good with service and they keep parts on hand for something like 7 years after the reel of a particular model rolled off the line, and often times they'll give people small parts for free. I can't really comment though because none of my Shimanos have needed more than fresh grease and the occasional bearing. I did have to swap the spool on an old Stradic I got because it was badly chipped, probably where someone dropped it against a rock. I got a NOS spool for 20 bucks with drag stack included though, so no complaints there. 

I'm not even sure what the question was but there's my rambling thoughts on Shimano. If anyone has a specific question about their gear, I'd be happy to ramble some more.


----------



## LostHighway

Greasylake said:


> Shimano has been leading in the reel department for some time, but Daiwa has really stepped up their game lately and Shimano has been facing some really stiff competition. I haven't really noticed any planned obsolesce in reels and such, actually I regularly fish Shimano reels that are 10-20 years old and they're a pleasure. It does seem that with every new generation of reel there are actual improvements made to the designs and they do make changes that fishermen request, so there is definitely innovation going on and the new generations aren't just the same old reel with an updated color scheme. Shimano is also pretty good with service and they keep parts on hand for something like 7 years after the reel of a particular model rolled off the line, and often times they'll give people small parts for free. I can't really comment though because none of my Shimanos have needed more than fresh grease and the occasional bearing. I did have to swap the spool on an old Stradic I got because it was badly chipped, probably where someone dropped it against a rock. I got a NOS spool for 20 bucks with drag stack included though, so no complaints there.
> 
> I'm not even sure what the question was but there's my rambling thoughts on Shimano. If anyone has a specific question about their gear, I'd be happy to ramble some more.


Thanks, it sounds like Shimano product support is much better for fishing gear than it is for bikes.


----------



## swarfrat

inferno said:


> anyone with experience of square taper cranks?.......



Hell, I still have square taper cranks _on my mountain bike_. Never anything but on my roadie bikes. (Well,... my wife's road bike has ISO.)

I've never had problems. The most common issue is that they creak if you grease the flats when assembling them to the cranks. Don't do that. I always wipe them with a solvent before assembly.





inferno said:


> ....i've only been using shimanos hollowtech 2 system for the last 15 years or so. ...
> 
> the problem with these is that there is no way of relubing them. you cannot get any grease inside the bearings, not from the front nor the back. even if you remove the dust covers there is no way to lube them since the bearing balls are held on a plastic ring and it basically fills up the whole bearing.



I have no experience with Holotech BB's specifically, but in general, sealed cartridge bearings aren't serviceable. You just replace the whole bearing cartridge. But they're usually just a friction (interference) fit into whatever shell (BB, hub, headset, etc) they're fitted to. You normally pop them out with a puller or press.


----------



## inferno

does anyone know whats different between the cheapest 3-4 shimano hubs?
they start out at like 10-15€
but they kinda increase in price in 50% steps. 
sora/tiagra rs300 rs400. whats the difference?
more clicks?


----------



## AT5760

New to me. First drop bar bike. Looking forward to some longer rides than with my old hybrid.


----------



## inferno

i'm debating with a coworker if we should modernize his chesini from the 70ies.
he bought it in the 80ies and then it was already 10 years old. it has a mix of campy and shimano stuff on it. for example one crank is a campy record and the other is a japanese one. mishmash of wheels. downtube shifters (unindexed), 6sp freewheel rear. 144bcd unobtanium rings. etc etc. its basically a race bike that he used in the 80ies that we revived 2 years ago.

i did some upgrade last year. and then we did

modern ergo handlebar.
quill to ahead adapter to run modern stems, to run modern bars.
shorter stem (the frame is too long for him 2-3cm)
sram apex brakes
modern brake levers
new cable housings and cables (jagwire)
and then i adjusted and lubed up everything and reground bearing surfaces (its all loose ball).
new tires. conti gp4k.

and now were talking about maybe building a modern set of wheels that you can run cassettes on.
8 or 9sp cassette since these are the cheap ones. and if he wants 9sp he needs new cranks since the chainrings will be too fat most likely.
cranks. 110 or 130mm 5 bolts. preferably shimanos.
new bb italian.
8 or 9sp shimano "brifters"
new RD and new FD
and if the shimano brifters dont like the apex brakes he needs new calipers too. they have different pull ratios supposedly.
and chainrings.
and chain.

so it adds up pretty fast. its at least a 5-600 project now. probably more. and the bike is not worth that much to begin with. i think its worth doing something at least!

so my plan is to build up a pair of wheels that takes cassettes. some cheap shimano hubs but prepped and adjusted well. **** i run shimano slx hub on several disc bikes, even on 4000 dollar frames. i like the shimanos myself. servicable and durable. then some touring rim in the back, either dt or mavic. ~550g. and then a 500g up front, maybe half aero. dt comps 2.0-1.8-2.0.

then an 8sp cassette.

then an sram x4 8sp shifter somewhere on the handlebar. i mean they are (******) downtubes now.
and an x4 RD out back. I'm running just that combo on my lynskey ti now and its rock solid. and all the internals in the shifter is steel!! and its 14€!!
the RD is 25€ now.

keep FD/crankset/BB/rings/front DT shifter/brake lever/brake calipers for now.

what do you think?

here below is what i did with my x4 shifter on my upside down nitto north road bar. this actually works very well. i had to hacksaw away a bit from one of the levers but other than that its working very very well. now, my friend will use an ergo drop bar so i will probably have to machine/weld a mount for that x4 shifter.

the sram shifters are more problematic to adapt to this than shimanos since it has a completely different design. you use the thumb for both functions. and this works well on flat bars. but not on anything else. while with the shimanos you can use the index finger for one function. well i actually use my thumb for both on my shimanos that i have converted but its a different design. the shimanos you can simply space out a bit and angle and then its perfect. not so much with srams.

i run shimano mtb shifters on all my bikes  in a way i'm not supposed to.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

My Shimano Ultegra down tube click shifters 
were bomb proof reliable. Best I had ever used. Boat trolling used Penn Senator & International. Spinner have a Cadence CS8 that I like. The Shimano reels are in another class.


----------



## swarfrat

inferno said:


> i'm debating with a coworker if we should modernize his chesini from the 70ies....


Dang, so many possibilities, so many opportunities to fall into the abyss. All I can suggest is to never lose sight of the goal. Are you trying to smooth the rough edges off a classic? Or are you trying to create something modern? 




inferno said:


> does anyone know whats different between the cheapest 3-4 shimano hubs?
> they start out at like 10-15€
> but they kinda increase in price in 50% steps.
> sora/tiagra rs300 rs400. whats the difference?
> more clicks?


Haven't a clue. We don't really even see those parts for sale around here. I get the impression Shimano makes them for OEM's to hit price points on their bikes. Maybe somebody who works in a bike shop and sees a lot of different bikes could say?

I wouldn't be surprised if the differences in hubs are mainly cosmetic in those groups and they get their price point differentiation in the shifters, derailleurs and cranks.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Anyone up on present used bike market? Seems like disks & very light carbon frames have made some nice rim brake bikes relatively cheap. Because biking is popular in Hawaii. Iron man triathlons, century rides craigslist has some nice hardly ridden carbon frame bikes for reasonable price. I saw a Trek OCLV carbon silver & blue paint, Ultegra 
components put in storage 20 years. New tires, brake pads checked out by bike shop for sale ready to ride. Bike looks almost like new. It's a 2005. owner asking 800.00. Live close to mountain used to train on. It's a loop 
climb clockwise trees whole way so nice climb up switchbacks in the shade. Decent less tight turns Good fun end up at base of ridge were you started. I'm older used to make that climb sometimes won in my age group. Now happy to climb slower in low gear, haven't redden in over 10 years. Watching Tour de France got me thinking. 
Walking uphill & hiking with a group I'm in decent shape for my age. Also saw a steel bike with full dura ace components for under a grand. I like the light weight of the Trek for climbing & sure it's a good for downhill. Ultegra are excellent that's what had on my Trek 1500.


----------



## inferno

its nothing wrong with rim brakes. if the bikes look good then why not?

i have rim brakes on half of my bikes.

i was considering a getting a caad13 or specialized allez sprint disc now. but i think i'll just weld some **** up myself instead. dont like alu. dont like specialized. a whole new welder is the same price as the spech frame so. fronius transtig 170. i can weld up a **** ton of frames with that. and they're all gonna be better than that spech. steel is real.


----------



## inferno

maybe i'm biting off more than i can chew here. it made so much sense though. i mean it would be cool to make my own frame, but i think it gonna be a lot of work. when i look at some frame builders pics, i see lots of special tools, and they all look expensive. 
maybe i should just start small and make a fork


----------



## inferno

pr0n!! (talking the classic here of course)


----------



## LostHighway

Interesting video. I admire old school lugged steel frames because I grew up with them but I'll certainly yield the point that composite frames can be lighter, stiffer, and more aerodynamic. That said, they will never be as cool, especially if you're not a Cat 1 or 2 rider or a pro. The video didn't touch on it but modern wheel/tire cross sections have much lower rolling resistance, especially if they are tubeless. Some of the technological innovations since the 1970s have been great, I have no serious desire to go back to Campy Nuovo Records derailleurs with friction shifters despite the cool factor but I do object to the planned obsolescence and throw away culture that infects so much of modern cycling. The fact that a 1968 Campy gruppo was still 100% repairable/maintainable, down to the smallest part, through normal parts channels as opposed to eBay and fair amount of luck, in 1993 is something that can't be said about current tech.


----------



## inferno

i'm "pro cat 6"  so lugged steel is good enough for me. i run de rosa and colnago. wish i had a cinelli too.

i kinda doubt i would be noticably faster on aero carbon with aero wheels.

cinelli supercorsa delivery times are 180 days, give or take. used to be 2 weeks. saw some quoted colnago master delivery times, 450 days lol


----------



## Lars

inferno said:


> i run de rosa and colnago.


La Bella Figura..!


----------



## Keith Sinclair

inferno said:


> pr0n!! (talking the classic here of course)


 

Enjoyed the video but it kind of takes apart your steel is real except it is definitely cooler.

On Craigslist here some good deals steel frame bike with dura ace components under one thousand dollars. Plenty carbon bikes for sale too but not cheap.


----------



## daddy yo yo

Just saw this thread and thought I’d post my bikes here, too:

Road bike (2 wheelsets):











MTB:






Gravel:






I have a long bike story behind me, had many, sold many, had some injuries. Those are the ones I have and ride. Don’t need „more“.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Is that Canyon a gravel bike? The rear cluster 
is massive.


----------



## daddy yo yo

Keith Sinclair said:


> Is that Canyon a gravel bike? The rear cluster
> is massive.


Indeed it is.


----------



## LostHighway

Keith Sinclair said:


> Enjoyed the video but it kind of takes apart your steel is real except it is definitely cooler.
> 
> On Craigslist here some good deals steel frame bike with dura ace components under one thousand dollars. Plenty carbon bikes for sale too but not cheap.


If you're not racing and not fast to begin with most of the technological advances really don't mean much, although as noted above I do like modern wheel/tire combinations. Unlike advances in car technology which have made modern cars both better performing *and* more suitable as daily drivers relative to cars from '60s, '70s, and '80s bikes from the '70s, '80s, '90s don't really give up much in comparison to modern road bikes for regular non-racing use.

If you decide to buy a used composite or aluminum frame inspect it very thoroughly as they are both subject to failures modes not commonly seen in steel or titanium. The beginnings of notch failure on the exterior of the tubing are generally not too hard to catch but composites can have an number of other failure modes that often aren't easy to detect. Composite technology has advanced quite a bit since the 1990s but a used composite bike or frame is still more caveat emptor than steel or titanium.

Caveats:
I don't really know how much of a problem corrosion of steel frames might present in the Hawaii. It usually isn't a problem in the Midwest or West unless the bike has been stored outside or in other dubious conditions or used for winter commuting. 

While cars like a '68 4.2l XKE, a '70 Alfa 1750 GT Veloce, a Lotus Elan or any number of other examples you could name are both slower and less suitable as daily drivers than modern cars they remain far cooler.


----------



## WPerry

LostHighway said:


> If you're not racing and not fast to begin with most of the technological advances really don't mean much, although as noted above I do like modern wheel/tire combinations. Unlike advances in car technology which have made modern cars both better performing *and* more suitable as daily drivers relative to cars from '60s, '70s, and '80s bikes from the '70s, '80s, '90s don't really give up much in comparison to modern road bikes for regular non-racing use.



I'd agree that modern wheels/tires are huge improvements and I'd go so far as to say that I wouldn't buy another bike that couldn't accommodate them. Of course, we may have different definitions of modern; to me, that means disc wheels, wide rims (21mm= internal width), tubeless tires, and the ability to run at least 28mm tires. 

IMO, the above gives you the ability to have your cake and eat it, too (as far as road riding is concerned). You can have wheels light, nimble and aero enough for racing/sportives. At the same time, they're comfy and flat resistant enough to be ridden daily and log serious miles. Tread wear may be a compromise for some, but I generally get ~3k miles out of each rear tire (twice that for the front) and I'm satisfied with that.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

I rode the crap out of my aluminum trek that bought 1989. Until mid 2000's sold it to a Navy guy for cheap. Went through 
cables, , tires, brake pads, chains, bottom bracket rebuild.
I had fixed it up nice when screwed up my knee trying to get my Tantalus mountain times down pushing a 39 chainring low 20's rear cluster mostly in the saddle. It was stupid I was 59 years old at the time. Since I'm a climber plenty mountains & ridges, hills in Hawaii ended my cycling.

It's my favorite climb through the Rain Forrest all in the shade some steeper grades 
on the climb it's all up hill until the summit. Then down hill on other side of mountain. There are several craters on it roundtop lava flows went into Manoa valley pushing Manoa steam from middle of valley to edge against ridge on other side. Near the summit 
Is another crater it's lava flows went into Paoa valley where we live. Paoa flats is where lava flattened out lava stopped the front slope is over 400 feet high. It was last eruption on Oahu about 10 thousand years ago. The flats are board of water supply land 
It's usually muddy up there because less steep drainage among the trees and bamboo forest.


----------



## inferno

Keith Sinclair said:


> Enjoyed the video but it kind of takes apart your steel is real except it is definitely cooler.
> 
> On Craigslist here some good deals steel frame bike with dura ace components under one thousand dollars. Plenty carbon bikes for sale too but not cheap.



you can make steel just as stiff as cf these days. this frame they tested is either a 25mm top tube or first OS, 27,2mm or so. then the downtube is one size bigger. you can get 35-40mm tubes today. also aero drop formed ones. 

the thing with thin steel bikes is that 1; they are sexy. and 2; comfortable. and 3; efficient/fast enough. back i the 80ies the average speed in the TDF was like 1-2km/h slower than it is today. and the doping is even better now.

When i ride my lugged steel bikes its like riding on a magic carpet. or a dampened spring. never harsh. they just swallow everything up. and if i lose 1km/h in average speed over an aero cf bike i dont really care. not the slightest. 

also my bikes will be up and running long after i'm dead, but most cf bikes will be landfill in less than 10 years for different reasons. they simply have no soul and they are made by slave labour in china. and every year there is a newer, better, lighter, faster, stiffer, more aero model that people just have to have. 

while with the lugged steel frames, well, they are made just as they did them in the 70ies and 80ies. they dont really give a F about aero this, stiff that, yada yada.. its simply good enough. it was good enough then and its good enough now. aaand they are hand made in italy, by skilled craftsmen. i kinda like that last aspect. i can pay for that.


----------



## inferno

WPerry said:


> I'd agree that modern wheels/tires are huge improvements and I'd go so far as to say that I wouldn't buy another bike that couldn't accommodate them. Of course, we may have different definitions of modern; to me, that means disc wheels, wide rims (21mm= internal width), tubeless tires, and the ability to run at least 28mm tires.
> 
> IMO, the above gives you the ability to have your cake and eat it, too (as far as road riding is concerned). You can have wheels light, nimble and aero enough for racing/sportives. At the same time, they're comfy and flat resistant enough to be ridden daily and log serious miles. Tread wear may be a compromise for some, but I generally get ~3k miles out of each rear tire (twice that for the front) and I'm satisfied with that.



i run 25mm conti gp4ks on my rim braked bikes. these are 27-28 or my rims. i find them very comfy.
on my 26er i have 47-50 out back and 37 up front.
on my lynskey cooper i'm running a 35-37 out back, and 32 up front. schwalbe marathon supremes. that now seems to be discontinued. dafuq.

i feel the sweetspot is around 27-30mm there for me speed/comfort.


----------



## WPerry

inferno said:


> i run 25mm conti gp4ks on my rim braked bikes. these are 27-28 or my rims. i find them very comfy.
> on my 26er i have 47-50 out back and 37 up front.
> on my lynskey cooper i'm running a 35-37 out back, and 32 up front. schwalbe marathon supremes. that now seems to be discontinued. dafuq.
> 
> i feel the sweetspot is around 27-30mm there for me speed/comfort.



Sure. Keep in mind that the GK4k is a generation old and that newer tires are smaller for the same nominal size (they're sized for wider modern rims), so when you need to replace those, you may want to look at 28mm tires if you move to the GP5k or another tire from the latest batch (Pro One Evo, P-Zero Race, Power Road/Cup, etc).


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Eddy Merckx greatest cyclist in history rode a relatively light steel frame to ride rivals off his wheel in the mountains. 

You sound like me old die hard manual transmission guy. Vanishing breed.


----------



## daddy yo yo

Keith Sinclair said:


> Eddy Merckx greatest cyclist in history


For me, it was Lance Armstrong.


----------



## KDSDeluxe

daddy yo yo said:


> For me, it was Lance Armstrong.


Mat Hoffman forever!!!


----------



## daddy yo yo

KDSDeluxe said:


> Mat Hoffman forever!!!


Who?

Hans Rey, Missy Giove, Myles Rockwell, John Tomac, Nico Vouilloz, Anne Caroline Chausson, Tinker Juarez, Miguel Martinez…


----------



## KDSDeluxe

Could be because I'm a skateboarder . Its the same game that we hate inliners 

But we are getting old, so it's ok For women's and old people to keep fit it's ok.....


----------



## inferno

Keith Sinclair said:


> Eddy Merckx greatest cyclist in history rode a relatively light steel frame to ride rivals off his wheel in the mountains.
> 
> You sound like me old die hard manual transmission guy. Vanishing breed.


the thing is: these "increased performance upgrades" are mostly theoretical. or slim at most.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

daddy yo yo said:


> For me, it was Lance Armstrong.


One of bikes I looked at on Craigslist was early 2'000's carbon US postal teams Trek. 
Nice bike, but frame was to big for my 5'8". 
Looking at used bikes sold in US found these were popular when Lance Armstrong was starting to win TDF victories. Trek even put out exact replica of bike used to win first tour 1999. Same paint and frame different components. Guess they sold a lot of them.

To say I have mixed feelings about Armstrong is understatement. The drugs everybody was doing them, the lies most athlete drug users lie through their teeth a lot of money involved. Trying to go after people with lawyers treating them with venom when they were telling the truth. 

Armstrong a flawed character in a real life Greek Tragedy.


----------



## daddy yo yo

Keith Sinclair said:


> One of bikes I looked at on Craigslist was early 2'000's carbon US postal teams Trek.
> Nice bike, but frame was to big for my 5'8".
> Looking at used bikes sold in US found these were popular when Lance Armstrong was starting to win TDF victories. Trek even put out exact replica of bike used to win first tour 1999. Same paint and frame different components. Guess they sold a lot of them.
> 
> To say I have mixed feelings about Armstrong is understatement. The drugs everybody was doing them, the lies most athlete drug users lie through their teeth a lot of money involved. Trying to go after people with lawyers treating them with venom when they were telling the truth.
> 
> Armstrong a flawed character in a real life Greek Tragedy.


I lost every bit of faith in cyclists. I think they’re still full of drugs nowadays - every single one of them. Clean pro cyclist? No such thing… Look at all the managers and consultants, they’re all former pro cyclists, dopers. To believe that they’ve changed would be naive.

Whatever, I enjoyed Lance Armstrong‘s times. He’s not the evil guy. Look at his rivals, Ullrich, Pantani, Zülle, Virenque, Landis, Beloki, Rumsas, Winokourov, Basso, Contador - we all know why they were so good.

Had these Trek bikes back then:


----------



## LostHighway

daddy yo yo said:


> Who?
> 
> Hans Rey, Missy Giove, Myles Rockwell, John Tomac, Nico Vouilloz, Anne Caroline Chausson, Tinker Juarez, Miguel Martinez…


You forgot Jacquie Phelan, Ned Overend, and maybe Steve Cook


daddy yo yo said:


> I lost every bit of faith in cyclists. I think they’re still full of drugs nowadays - every single one of them. Clean pro cyclist? No such thing… Look at all the managers and consultants, they’re all former pro cyclists, dopers. To believe that they’ve changed would be naive.
> 
> Whatever, I enjoyed Lance Armstrong‘s times. He’s not the evil guy. Look at his rivals, Ullrich, Pantani, Virenque, Landis - we all know why they were so good.
> 
> Had these Trek bikes back then:
> 
> View attachment 190187
> 
> 
> View attachment 190197


It is concerning that pro cyclist power output and times have not dropped relative to all the riders that we know were doped to the gils. This year's Tour definitely had some eyebrow raising performances
Edit: Not sure I buy that Lance Armstrong is not evil but flawed character certainly


----------



## WPerry

LostHighway said:


> It is concerning that pro cyclist power output and times have not dropped relative to all the riders that we know were doped to the gils. This year's Tour definitely had some eyebrow raising performances



There's a *lot* more info available on the current riders than there ever was in the decades past, so I think that it's hard to compare there. Times are also not necessarily easy or useful to compare when you're talking about a race; getting to the line, as fast as you possibly can, is (almost) never the goal of a race, and this is even more true with a stage race.

While I'd like to think that, in general, the peloton is much cleaner than before, only time will tell. That said, I'd like to believe that much of what we're seeing the results of improved training and recovery regimens, more comprehensive nutritional programs and a smattering of technological improvements (including two-way communication with riders).


----------



## inferno

daddy yo yo said:


> I lost every bit of faith in cyclists. I think they’re still full of drugs nowadays - every single one of them. Clean pro cyclist? No such thing… Look at all the managers and consultants, they’re all former pro cyclists, dopers. To believe that they’ve changed would be naive.
> 
> Whatever, I enjoyed Lance Armstrong‘s times. He’s not the evil guy. Look at his rivals, Ullrich, Pantani, Virenque, Landis - we all know why they were so good.
> 
> Had these Trek bikes back then:
> 
> View attachment 190187
> 
> 
> View attachment 190197


that gray silver color really makes that bike sexy. even though i'm not a carbon guy.


----------



## inferno

have you guys seen this? 
i guess what these guys avoid saying for the whole episode is that the brittle epoxy gradually turns into powder when it flexes.


----------



## Famima

Keith Sinclair said:


> Anyone up on present used bike market? Seems like disks & very light carbon frames have made some nice rim brake bikes relatively cheap.



Echoing some of the other comments here, my current stable consists of 5 bikes: 4 road (1x 90's italian steel, 1x 2012 alu, 1x 2009 CF, 1x 2019 CF) all rim brakes, 1 Ti Gravel disc brakes. The steel frame is cool and I love riding it, but it's noticeably slower both up (due to the weight) and down (due to stiffness) down the hills vs the others. I'm very happy on rim brakes, but it's also true that discs are probably better for the average cyclists, especially if heading to the mountains. There's no doubt that frame technology has come on a hell of a way in the past 10-15 years - I don't agree with the CF is rubbish and will fail view, my old CF frame is still going strong, and there's also some very interesting CF frame manufacturers around (e.g. Time, Look - spent the best part of 10 years on Look CF and love them!).

Is the old CF frame worth it? Sounds like you know what you're doing and I'd tentatively say go for it, it's likely a great ride and great value! My 2009 frame (ridley damocles) still rides great and has more than enough stiffness for me! But be aware that something newer will have shaved significant weight off the frame as well as potentially smoothing out the ride a bit. 15 years ago, CF was designed and geared for racers - the current crop of comfort oriented frames are really good (I test rode a Look 765 recently and it's pretty awesome!), comfortable and with geometry handling that makes them slightly less lively but more confidence inspiring e.g. down hills, with great braking too. And the very legitimate point about newer frame opening up wider rim/tyre choices. Something like that Look, with a modern groupset, might well be a better choice overall if you have the cash. Also worth noting that while number of gears is less important than it's made out (I only recently upgraded by last 8sp bike, and 2 of my bikes are still 10sp!), the newer 11sp and especially 12sp groupsets give you much wider gear range, which can make a difference in the mountains.


----------



## Luftmensch

Similar but different...

On mountain bikes, the difference in weight between aluminium frames and carbon frames is negligible. Unlike road bikes, mountain bike manufacturers aren't optimising for minimal weight (at the cost of other design parameters). Frames might weigh 3-4kg and produce a 14-16kg bike. By using stout carbon frames, they can be ridiculously strong. According to people who know better than me, this can make carbon frames (and especially carbon rims) 'harsh' as there is less flex in the system. 

I'd say an over-engineered carbon fibre mountain bike frame with a light and tame rider... will probably outlast its rider (so long as they dont crash). I am sure the engineers know what they are doing, but carbon frames that are designed to flex worry me. The Specialised Stumpjumper is known for its four-bar, horst-link suspension. In recent models (~2020?) they have removed the rear pivot on carbon frames. Instead they use flexible carbon seat stays. On a single ride those stays must undergo 100's or 1000's of load cycles. Maybe that doesnt reduce the lifespan of the rear triangle? Maybe it does? I wouldnt want to be the guinea pig!

Road/racing bikes are quite different. Manufacturers _are_ concerned about optimising weight. A good road bike might weigh 4-8kg _in total_? That is a lot less frame material to absorb loads. I doubt I'd ever be able to produce enough fatigue cycles to kill a carbon fibre road frame... but it strikes me as being more likely!





inferno said:


> maybe i'm biting off more than i can chew here. it made so much sense though. i mean it would be cool to make my own frame, but i think it gonna be a lot of work. when i look at some frame builders pics, i see lots of special tools, and they all look expensive.
> maybe i should just start small and make a fork





Do it! You seem pretty handy!

If you have access to a good workshop i am sure you could easily make a mediocre frame. It doesnt have to be 'the best'... I would have so much fun from just doing the project! After making one or two, you would have enough experience and confidence to think about making a really good one.


----------



## Famima

Also also.... the other major evolution in the past while on road bikes has been geometry. Almost universally, higher-end bikes from the mid-2000s would have had relatively low stack heights for a given reach. The trend more recently, and focused on the more comfort/endurance oriented frames, has been for significantly higher stack heights. This is generally good and better for the less race inclined, and opens up wider frame choices.


----------



## Luftmensch

Famima said:


> geometry



I know very little about road bikes... 'Geometry' is a bit of a mantra in mountain bikes. I suppose mountain bikes are a relatively young sub-category. They more or less started out as modified 'regular' frames. Since then frames have evolved to better enable the sport. They have become longer with slacker head angles and bigger wheels. This makes them less nimble but a lot more stable. Tyres, suspension and brakes have also improved. Dropper posts are a _huge_ innovation (I hope the original designer made good money off the idea). All in all... I would say a modern mountain bike is a much more capable bike than a 20-year old one.

But as always... it depends on what your needs are. If you arent pushing the envelope, you can have a great time on a 20-year old mountain bike. If you just want to commute around town, you can ride any old thing!


----------



## MarcelNL

I always chuckle when I see overweight middle aged men puffing away on an expensive all carbon bike, they would be better off using a steel frame weighted down with lead.

Problem with buying used 'confection' frames or frames custom built for someone else IMHO is that they only work if your measures and style are standard/similar as well, there is only so much adjustment you can do. I used to ride confection bikes in my teens and tested a custom bike my dad had built (our measures were close enough and off by enough to make confection frames less ideal, long arms and legs) and boy what a difference that was, frame built by someone knowing what they did using the same tubing.


----------



## Luftmensch

MarcelNL said:


> I always chuckle when I see overweight middle aged men puffing away on an expensive all carbon bike



The other thing is.... if I _*need*_ to lower my riding weight by 2kg.... then I probably _*need*_ to lose 2kg of weight first! Not the other way around 

Hehe... I guess it is status? Some of the cycling crews you see out and about are seriously fit people that include cashed up white-collars (like lawyers) - so they can afford all the high-tech toys.


----------



## daddy yo yo

MarcelNL said:


> I always chuckle when I see overweight middle aged men puffing away on an expensive all carbon bike, they would be better off using a steel frame weighted down with lead.
> 
> Problem with buying used 'confection' frames or frames custom built for someone else IMHO is that they only work if your measures and style are standard/similar as well, there is only so much adjustment you can do. I used to ride confection bikes in my teens and tested a custom bike my dad had built (our measures were close enough and off by enough to make confection frames less ideal, long arms and legs) and boy what a difference that was, frame built by someone knowing what they did using the same tubing.


THIS!!!

The 2 Trek road bikes I had, they were good at the time I bought them. I was young(-er) and (more) flexible back then. I had those bikes for 5-7 years each. At one point I rode the grey carbon bike and each spring I had massive problems adjusting to the position on the bike, I had neck issues and back issues. I had a bike fit analysis done and it became clear I had to adjust my position on the bike and therefore I had to exchange some of the components such as seatpost and stem. As you would imagine, a race geometry frame looks incredibly stupid with a lower seatpost and the saddle more forward, as well as with an uprising and shorter stem. But changing those things were a quick win and, boy, the difference was HUGE! In the end, looking at my bike in that configuration hurt my eye and I had a frame custom-built for me. The outcome is just perfect and it is worth every single cent!


----------



## MarcelNL

My grandfather used to race as amateur (Olympics of '28) and had several custom 'fixie' track bikes made by one of THE specialists in those days. When I was in my teens we restored one and the ride on that thing, even though gramps was like 25cm shorter, was amazing even when the bike looked horrible. It outperformed a high end-ish then modern (80-ies) confection street racing bike, having a frame properly fitted or better, have it's geometry and dimensions built to measure is IMO an investment well worth it!


----------



## daddy yo yo

Luftmensch said:


> The other thing is.... if I _*need*_ to lower my riding weight by 2kg.... then I probably _*need*_ to lose 2kg of weight first!


I always joked with my friends about that. My suggestion was, go to the toilet first and also shave your hairy legs, hahahaha (a friend had really *H-A-I-R-Y* legs).


----------



## Famima

Luftmensch said:


> I know very little about road bikes... 'Geometry' is a bit of a mantra in mountain bikes. I suppose mountain bikes are a relatively young sub-category. They more or less started out as modified 'regular' frames. Since then frames have evolved to better enable the sport. They have become longer with slacker head angles and bigger wheels. This makes them less nimble but a lot more stable. Tyres, suspension and brakes have also improved. Dropper posts are a _huge_ innovation (I hope the original designer made good money off the idea). All in all... I would say a modern mountain bike is a much more capable bike than a 20-year old one.
> 
> But as always... it depends on what your needs are. If you arent pushing the envelope, you can have a great time on a 20-year old mountain bike. If you just want to commute around town, you can ride any old thing!



Yes, and geometry is two separate things too: 1) the ability of the frame to support (without compromise) a particular positioning of contact points; 2) the impact on the dynamic handling of the bike. More modern road bikes give a greater range in both, and allow more people to fit onto a stock frame, rather than having to go custom (which was more common in the past, because of the lack of range!). 

You're always going to suffer if you buy based on marketing/what the pros use. The most extreme recent example I've seen is this: 






Xelius SL 8.0 | 2022 | Lapierre Bikes


Do you want to conquer the steepest slopes? The Xelius SL 8.0 developed with the Groupama-FDJ team is for you.




www.lapierrebikes.com





I'm pretty flexible and I still race, but I'd never be able to get a proper fit on this frame, the stack-to-reach is ridiculous!


----------



## Famima

Luftmensch said:


> If you arent pushing the envelope, you can have a great time on a 20-year old mountain bike.


And just on this specifically, yes, I agree, but even if you aren't pushing the envelope a more modern frame (if chosen correctly!) can significantly enhance your riding comfort/pleasure, and expand your choice of frame.


----------



## WPerry

MarcelNL said:


> I always chuckle when I see overweight middle aged men puffing away on an expensive all carbon bike, they would be better off using a steel frame weighted down with lead.



No, they wouldn't. 

There's a common misconception that a heavier bike provides a better workout, but anyone that trains with power knows that workouts are determined by intensity and duration, neither of which is directly affected by bike weight. If my 5min threshold is 350w, it's 350w regardless of the bike underneath me - a heavier bike will not allow me to go harder for the same duration, it'll just make me go a little slower. 

Cyclists that need or want to get in to better shape are best served by a bike that they _want_ to ride. If they love the feel of steel - cool. If lightweight and nimble floats their boat - awesome. If they think they look cooler and faster on a Ferrari red bike, that works, too. The important thing is getting their ass on the saddle - if they do that, they have my respect, regardless of their weight, their bike, how they're dressed, etc.


----------



## LostHighway

M


WPerry said:


> No, they wouldn't.
> 
> There's a common misconception that a heavier bike provides a better workout, but anyone that trains with power knows that workouts are determined by intensity and duration, neither of which is directly affected by bike weight. If my 5min threshold is 350w, it's 350w regardless of the bike underneath me - a heavier bike will not allow me to go harder for the same duration, it'll just make me go a little slower.
> 
> Cyclists that need or want to get in to better shape are best served by a bike that they _want_ to ride. If they love the feel of steel - cool. If lightweight and nimble floats their boat - awesome. If they think they look cooler and faster on a Ferrari red bike, that works, too. The important thing is getting their ass on the saddle - if they do that, they have my respect, regardless of their weight, their bike, how they're dressed, etc.


More succinctly the advice attributed to the great Fausto Coppi "Ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike"


----------



## Keith Sinclair

One of the Americans think it was Bob Roll with Phil Liggett in Denmark at first part of TDF said that in Copenhagen bikes vastly out number cars.


----------



## MarcelNL

Seems to me that for any American counting bikes is a like ; 1-2 -3-MANY ;-)
Copenhagen is bike friendly, there are plenty of cars too (as in Amsterdam Copenhagen has quite impressive traffic jams)!


----------



## swarfrat

inferno said:


> maybe i'm biting off more than i can chew here. it made so much sense though. i mean it would be cool to make my own frame, but i think it gonna be a lot of work. when i look at some frame builders pics, i see lots of special tools, and they all look expensive.
> maybe i should just start small and make a fork


Hehehe,...

If you thought knives are a rabbit hole, wait'll you start playing with frame building.


----------



## inferno

yeah this will be quite deep. no sh1t. i'm willing to make the commitment though. i'm willing to do the work. 

i already know how to weld but there is a lot in the design department i dont know.


----------



## LostHighway

inferno said:


> yeah this will be quite deep. no sh1t. i'm willing to make the commitment though. i'm willing to do the work.
> 
> i already know how to weld but there is a lot in the design department i dont know.


You might want to take a look at Bicycling Science. The original was by David Gordon Wilson but I think there are co-authors listed for the more recent editions (now on the fourth). It isn't all frame design but he does get into trail and some other elements. There is also a book called How to Build a Bike but I've never looked at it. IME if you get trail right and have good alignment you're at least 90% of the way there as long as your tube lengths, angles and drop aren't crazy. Having access to a big surface plate is helpful but I've seen good frames made without one (save maybe for a final alignment check).

Edit: Lugged and brazed is more forgiving than welded, especially with the old school stamped lugs. Modern cast lugs aren't much more forgiving than welding. Don't rush the mitering, go slow with very frequent fit tests.


----------



## inferno

so today i picked up my welder. fronius transtig 170








TransTig 170







www.fronius.com












edit: long story short: it going to be awsome.

i want to make frames out of steel in a similar design as these 3/4 below. imagine you mixed these in your mixer. not talking pioneer mixers here.




















its gonna be fun this. and i will have to make a sh1tton of fixtures and aligning sh1t. but hey even paul brodie has to bend his frames into spec and he's done several 1000s of them.

yeah just wanted to give you a little update.


----------



## Edge

inferno said:


> yeah this will be quite deep. no sh1t. i'm willing to make the commitment though. i'm willing to do the work.
> 
> i already know how to weld but there is a lot in the design department i dont know.



Since you like custom bikes, you may want to give this forum, and this thread a look. They do bike build offs. Here is the Journals to one style they are doing now. And you may want to explore the site to see some great bikes.






Build Off 17 Class 1 Build Journals







ratrodbikes.com


----------



## inferno

i haven't ordered an argon bottle yet. so i have not tried the actual tig function yet. 

but today i figured i would try out the stick welding mode. 

the contenders were:
old 80ies esab invertig ltl "some number between 150-180" (amps) or so. 3phase 400v (this is a first gen inverter)
kemppi minarc evo 180, 1phase 220v, modern stuff. top of the line.
fronius transtig 170. 1phase 220v. absolute latest tech stuff. top of the line.

so i just welded a few beads with some 48.00 type sticks, 2,4mm. 100 amps (quite hot for this diameter). 

i think the kemppi was the best to be honest. is the easiest to start and then re-start. also easiest to work with when you accidentally weld the electrode stuck to the material. 

the esab felt the smoothest while going somehow. and the kemppi second. 

i guess i can set all the settings on the fronius, in the menus, to 100% replicate these 2 machines. talking "hot start current", "arc force" and **** like that. but i feel the kemppi was a better stick welder out of the box. it was tuned better in the factory config.

now since the fronius has some high freq modes for stick welding i had to try these out. i ran 100amps 10hz/100hz/500hz/1khz square wave pulse (only positive going, *this is not an ac welder*). couldn't really tell any difference at all compared to straight dc 0hz. except that it makes musical notes at 100/500/1khz when you weld. 

and you have to increase your amps to go the same speed as 100amps straight dc. since now you are not at a 100 amps "average". you are at 50 amp average. i just cranked it up to the max, 150 amps. and then i could weld at approx the same speed as 100 amps straight dc. 

don't know how useful pulse is with sticks to be honest. not very much in my findings. but there might be _special cases_ though. and then i suggest just simply use another/better method of welding!


----------



## Keith Sinclair

I wouldn't know where to begin my younger brother is a good welder. 

Didn't want to post until got some riding under my belt didn't even know after injuring my knee if it was possible. Bought a Lemond 
road bike my size 2008 aluminum carbon fork. Bought it from a Russian guy who married a local gal. He has several bikes had changed cables brake pads & did nice job on handlebar wrap. Paid only 400.00 for it. First time on a bike since I was 59 injured my knee climbing pushing 39 chainring low to mid 20's on cassette. I felt uneasy with clip on shoes felt I might fall over. After First ride knew needed easier climbing gears in rear cassette also bottom bracket rebuild. Bike shop busy had it couple weeks. In the meantime I borrowed with option to buy a hybrid with disk brakes. That's what been riding last two weeks mon, wed, fri.
The road up tantalus is far worse than I've ever seen it. Truly dangerous on the downhill. Trees have overgrown & not trimmed in years. A retaining wall gave way passed the sumet area part of the road fell off so closed can't do decent on other side of mountain most turn around downhill on crappy pavement until you hit housing area.

I feel much safer decent on hybrid flat bar & disk brakes. Still take it slow you cold blow a wheel or tire hitting rough areas even pot holes. I ride flat pedals with light running shoes. 
Lemond feels like 21-22# 
Hybrid at least 30# aluminum with steel fork good considering rough ride most of the downhill. Got my Lemond back from shop today.


----------



## WPerry

Keith Sinclair said:


> I wouldn't know where to begin my younger brother is a good welder.
> 
> Didn't want to post until got some riding under my belt didn't even know after injuring my knee if it was possible. Bought a Lemond
> road bike my size 2008 aluminum carbon fork. Bought it from a Russian guy who married a local gal. He has several bikes had changed cables brake pads & did nice job on handlebar wrap. Paid only 400.00 for it. First time on a bike since I was 59 injured my knee climbing pushing 39 chainring low to mid 20's on cassette. I felt uneasy with clip on shoes felt I might fall over. After First ride knew needed easier climbing gears in rear cassette also bottom bracket rebuild. Bike shop busy had it couple weeks. In the meantime I borrowed with option to buy a hybrid with disk brakes. That's what been riding last two weeks mon, wed, fri.
> The road up tantalus is far worse than I've ever seen it. Truly dangerous on the downhill. Trees have overgrown & not trimmed in years. A retaining wall gave way passed the sumet area part of the road fell off so closed can't do decent on other side of mountain most turn around downhill on crappy pavement until you hit housing area.
> 
> I feel much safer decent on hybrid flat bar & disk brakes. Still take it slow you cold blow a wheel or tire hitting rough areas even pot holes. I ride flat pedals with light running shoes.
> Lemond feels like 21-22#
> Hybrid at least 30# aluminum with steel fork good considering rough ride most of the downhill. Got my Lemond back from shop today.
> View attachment 191921




Groupset (minus the cranks) looks to be at least 5700, which is no more than 11 years old or so (it was the first generation where the shift cables went under the bar tape instead of jutting straight out). And HED wheels, too?! Beautiful bike and that's an absolutely screaming deal - kudos!!!


----------



## Keith Sinclair

Yeh it's a Shimano 105 black components. 
Had never even seen a Lemond road bike guys at bike shop said I got a cool bike cheap I had noticed on Craigslist some really good deals on aluminum & steel bikes rim brakes. Anton had been riding it up Tantalus he warned me about condition of road. Nice guy making some cycling friends.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

I rode the Lemond up Tantalus today usually don't go on Sunday as more bikers up there going up & coming down. All my climbing in past was road bike with clip on pedals. Didn't think twice about it even riding on the road with cars. Now it's hard for me to get clipped 
in as starting on an incline no flat road around. Once clipped in I'm fine. Like climbing hands on the top bar near the stem. 
The lower climbing gears are easier on my knees. The road bike is lighter. Down hill different story. Hard thin road tires. From the Sumit two thirds the way down many switchbacks terrible road conditions. Last third smooth road you can pick up speed. 
On Friday when took the Fuji hybrid up I stop often to check things out. On one part of bad road surface saw a ripped bikers jersey on side of the road. I know some bikers have been thrown. Used to only climb this part better decent on other side of mountain ridge more sweeping faster decent used to 
love that. They are fixing retaining wall high up on mountain where part of the road fell off. I decided to buy the Fuji Absolute as it is more user friendly esp. on decent. It has many pluses considering my age & present road conditions.

It is heavier to lift into my Forrester than the lighter Lemond. The bike is new hardly ridden went down once decided to sell 2021 model. It is 650.00 new I offered 450.00 got it for 500.00. mechanical disks thumb shifter's that I really like intuitive easy shifting. Thicker tires. Aluminum with steel fork. I thought climbing without clip on not good, but was wrong can pedal up fine with light shoes on flat pedals. For now I'll use Lemond on a stand & plastic holder for front wheel to spin in lower gears to help get my climbing legs back. Waiting for the road to get repaired so can do decent on the good side on the Lemond.
Fuji


----------



## Keith Sinclair

First time using thumb shifter really like them.


----------



## PineWood

OK well I might get flamed here for posting an e-bike in this thread for cycling enthusiasts... but I'm not a racer or a mountainbiker, I use my bike to go to town, short rides etc.
I absolutely love my new bike, Ampler Axel, got it a couple of weeks ago.




I love the simplicity of the design: no gears, no screens (just a small screen built in the top tube), no suspension (just big tires), no visible battery (it's built in the frame). Relatively light at 14 kg. And it's so quiet with the belt drive. The motor assistance feels very natural, it's just like riding a normal bike but with the wind in your back.


----------



## WPerry

I think that e-bikes are great - they can replace vehicle trips, they can help get some asses off of the couch, they can assist those that might otherwise have difficulties with a given trip, they can extend the range of the more daring, they can help the less fit or injured keep up with/enjoy the company of their friends, etc.

My only problem with e-bikes is that you'll occasionally run across some asshat that doesn't have the smarts and bike handling skills commensurate with their newfound and unearned speed. Case and point, about a month ago, I witnessed some idiot crash at 20+ mph and dislocate their shoulder as they jumped off of, and then back on to, a bike bath to pass a slower rider.


----------



## swarfrat

WPerry said:


> ..... My only problem with e-bikes is that you'll occasionally run across some asshat that doesn't have the smarts and bike handling skills commensurate with their newfound and unearned speed. .....



I don't know about your neighborhood, but around mine that's like 95% of e-bike riders.


----------



## WPerry

swarfrat said:


> I don't know about your neighborhood, but around mine that's like 95% of e-bike riders.



 It feels like that sometimes, but I'm all too aware of confirmation bias. Despite our 8 months of winter, we have decent cycling culture and infrastructure. When I really slow down and look, I see a lot of people riding respectfully: a surprising number of seniors getting exercise, a lot of utility cyclists commuting or running errands, and fair number of parents lugging their kids around, etc.

That said, I ride on the roads and I like to get out of the city, so I don't spend a lot of time on/around the metro paths that see a lot of recreational use.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

I have been feeling out when less traffic too early everyone going to work & kids to school more cars on the mountain too as lower slopes have people coming to work at several facilities. I time it to be at base 830 - 900 am. Same time as a tour operation that advertised e -bikes through a rain Forrest. 
So far I've seen guy with as many as 7 e- bike tourist. Today had 4. It's a pretty cool experience gets good reviews. Been up there 
7 times now it is hard for me my quads are sore from not biking so long even climbing in low gears. I'm stubborn give myself 2 months 3 times a week to get my climbing legs back, cardio & lung power. I'm breathing hard all the way up. Sometimes I think maybe I should have gotten a hybrid bike.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

e-bike


----------



## Keith Sinclair

It's Viator e-bike tour Honolulu Rainforest 
The guy Danial who takes them up seems to have it under control stopping at all the lookouts on the way up. He follows going up & leads going down some of those turns are pretty tight.


----------



## Keith Sinclair

I just got a new phone. 5G took it up Tantalus today. It's still a tough ride for me almost five miles all up hill. My legs are sore calf, front & back of Quads muscles haven't used in a long time. Breathing hard all the way up. Funny feel great after downhill probably all that oxygen pumped into my brain. 






Summit S




Summit looking down on Honolulu in the distance. Little down the road Diamond head crater in upper left. Below other side of ridge looking west at Waianae range. 


Farther down punch bowl crater shadow inside of crater.


----------



## Brian Weekley

The problem with push bikes is that 99% of the world is up hill. 

A scientific fact!


----------



## swarfrat

WPerry said:


> It feels like that sometimes,...


Around here it's all the time.

On a recent ride on a paved, multi-use trail. I started counting unsafe e-bike behaviors. Beside personal safety issues like lack of helmet, riding in flip flops or even barefoot, riding two-up on a single seat bike and the like, we saw lots of cutting off and weaving around other trail users at unsafe speeds, passing way too close, practically brushing elbows without announcing their presence, diving into blind corners or opposing lanes with oncoming traffic including other cyclists, runners, families with strollers, munchkins on kiddie bikes and Big Wheels, etc. I lost count at about a dozen and figure it was about the same for the rest of the ride. So two dozen or so individuals exhibiting one or more of the above behaviors.

Counting the number of e-bike riders who rode courteously, passed at a safe distance, announced their pass, and held their line was much easier. The grand total was _one_.

My wife and one of her girlfriends ride a multi-use dirt trail on their mountain bikes pretty much every week. When I ask how the ride went she almost always has a tail of one or more e-bike trying kill them, usually by riding too fast and out of control into their oncoming lane. It's gotten to where they've start yelling any time they approach a blind corner. And when they get to the segment where they enter the wilderness park with the NO E-BIKES sign they're usually met with a swarm of e-bikes going in or coming out.

One of the "best" ones I saw a recent Costco run. SIx lane, fifty mile per hour road, the guy crossed three opposing traffic lanes and rode into the middle lane going his way _doing a wheelie_. He didn't put his front wheel down until he got to stopped traffic that he then weaved in and out of.


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## MarcelNL

totally OT 
@Keith Sinclair Is there something you do to your pictures or is it the native light environment in Hawaii?
Most if not all of your pictures look as if they come straight from a Polaroid and were taken in the 70-ies.
The scenery is stunning, the colors seem faded/overexposed is it my screen?

BTW; if you want to see bike behaviour (E-bike or regular) watch some footage from Amsterdam....in my country bikers get the benefit of the doubt as 'weak traffic participant' since some years and hitting a cyclist with your car means you're to blame, behaviour was bad enough before but these days it is appalling.. 
(must admit that my driving on a bike through Amsterdam was also not always so neat)


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## Luftmensch

The worst e-bikers I have come across are gig-economy delivery cyclists. I guess they are paid per delivery? And probably have penalties if they are slow/late? They wiz around like lunatics. They seem to be the worst offenders of both pedestrian safety and road rules/etiquette.

At our previous home, there was a Dominos pizza near the local train station. If I was walking home from the station at dinner time, I'd fairly reliably jump out of my skin as some pubescent teenager thundered down the footpath on Dominos e-courrier-bike. It was so dangerous... that footpath serviced the station and was heavily used. It also ran along a seriously busy highway that had many bus stops in this short stretch near the station... As I write this I am beginning to wonder if Dominos was deliberately exploiting a legal loophole - children under the age of 16 are legally permitted to cycle on footpaths.


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## MarcelNL

On a related note ; Hope you all saw how dominoes fared in Italy and what the comments from the locals were  

delivery e-bikers are indeed the worst, together with pizza delivery folks on mopeds (snorfiets in Dutch), In the OR I used to work we used to call the latter donor bikes.


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## Luftmensch

I did! I am not surprised! 

Apart from there not being much reason to get pizza from Dominos in the first place...there are several great independent pizzerias in that area! I am being a little bit cruel... I appreciate the shameless junky niche those brands fill (Dominos and Pizza Hut). Like treating your kids to 'pizza' night as compensation for leaving them with the babysitter... or a cheap office lunch where your order will be 30 pizzas.

Pre-gig economy, Pizza Hut (and to some extent Dominos) was pretty agressive in using technology to simplify ordering cheap and fast food. Their advantage was distribution and logistics... not good pizza. UberEats and Deliveroo have really eroded the advantage of that model. I wonder if they will slowly disappear like video stores??


Ha! Our family used to call motorcycle riders "organ donors". But only if the motorcycles were fast (e.g. Hayabusas). We really should switch that to e-bike delivery! Though I have some sympathy for them because the employment conditions are terrible and they are usually economically vulnerable people (students, immigrants).


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## Keith Sinclair

Thanks pointing that out. I always liked the way world looked through my Maui Jim sunglasses cut glare & changed to richer colors. When used cameras outdoors used a polarized lens filter esp. water shots. Lately been using filter option on phone. I'll stop that habit.


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## MarcelNL

Keith Sinclair said:


> Thanks pointing that out. I always liked the way world looked through my Maui Jim sunglasses cut glare & changed to richer colors. When used cameras outdoors used a polarized lens filter esp. water shots. Lately been using filter option on phone. I'll stop that habit.


I was just curious, please use whatever you like for your pictures!


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## Keith Sinclair

A lot of island photography postcards, photos for sale are heavy photo shopped that look totally unnatural.


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## MarcelNL

Keith Sinclair said:


> A lot of island photography postcards, photos for sale are heavy photo shopped that look totally unnatural.


that seeems to be a habit for postcards


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## Keith Sinclair

Same photos back to no filters just as phone camera took them. Summit of Tantalus mountain.


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## tostadas

Keith Sinclair said:


> Same photos back to no filters just as phone camera took them. Summit of Tantalus mountain. View attachment 196671
> View attachment 196674
> View attachment 196673


Amazing views!


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## inferno

got my tig up and running. 

tried to weld some 1mm ss on 1mm ss with 1mm 312ss using a 1,6mm electrode. it went quite well. but i dip the tungsten electrode about ever 2 minutes or so. and then its ruined and you have to regrind it. 

also tried to drill some holes in 1mm ss and then simply weld them up. didn't work out well at all. when you start welding the holes get bigger!!

i manged to get 2 of them welded up but it became a pyramid/cone. and it was quite toasted on the back to be honest. 

-----------------

why do i try to weld holes? well a buddy bought a 90ies colnago master olympic and its was quite rusted. and we found rust holes about 3cm from the rear dropouts on the drive side, on a seat stay. under the paint. about 4-5mm big. so i have to weld them up. 

but now after i tried the welder i realized that i have to patch the holes instead with some 1mm ss sheet. 

--------------------------

also tried to weld some thicker stock. like 20-30mm. this stuff wont melt at 30-40amps. but instead it takes 80+ amps. and then the 1,6mm electrode melts too, it gets rounded off. 

so i changed everything in the burner to 2,4mm. much better. 

also tried to do some fusion welding (no adder meterial) it looks like a ****ing robot welded it when i do this. and it should, since i have been welding **** for the last 15 years almost daily. so thats a good sign atleast. 

problem is when i try to add material. i feel it melts too soon. or that i have to add more material than expected, add it faster basically. this is when welding thicker stock though. my intended material thickness is 0,9mm to 0,7mm or so. so then it might work out well anyway. 

didn't shoot any pics though. you just have to trust me. 

----------------

so project no1 is patching that seat stay and since its close to the dropout the brass brazing will melt there. then i also have to rebraze it. lots of **** to learn fast. 

i now have about 1h practice on the tig. i think i need 1 more hour to make it work.


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## Keith Sinclair

Keep at it. My cousin was master welder at Newport News Ship Building in Va. He taught my brother welding when he was picking up older Alfa Romeo's when could get them dirt cheap. He restored about a dozen Alfa's over the years marks from 50's -
70's. He kept a 1967 Spyder for himself. 
Last was a Alfa Romeo 2000 1973 beautiful little car 5 speed 2 liter engine. My Nephew drives it. That car has gone way up in value. He would do all the body work & mechanics. Had guys he knew do paint work & upholstery. He got good at rust repair welding metal patch work. Now to even get 
rusted Alfa's prices are ridiculous.


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## Keith Sinclair

Have been getting stronger climbing up Tantalus spinning low gears as soon went to little higher gear keeping high cadence through out the climb my knee started to hurt again it's the quad tendon just above knee that I screwed up at age 59 trying to get close to TT times of early 40's pushing 39 chainring & 22-26 on rear cluster for speed up the mountain. Stupid. I'm in better shape than have been in years. Didn't want to quit so did research on lighter weight fitness ebikes. The tour groups use heavy bikes with strong motors. A lot of ebike folks go for power that means large battery packs. Specialized makes a fitness ebike with motor at the crank. It doesn't work at all unless your peddling. It is pedal assist. 3 modes eco, sport, turbo. Eco hardly any help on extended climb. Use sport mode most of way up & turbo on steeper sections where my knee hurt. It wasn't cheap but worth it to me because knee doesn't hurt & get up there faster. I'm not about Tantalus TT anymore.
Enjoy climbing. Put a mirror under left handle bar. Mounted a compact pump on the downtube. It doesn't even look like an ebike. The motor was developed in Germany. Bike weighs 33# light for an ebike hybrid. They are fixing the road where one lane fell off after heavy rains. It will be much better coming down other side of mountain.


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## Keith Sinclair

It's got a scram system single 46 chainring up front & mountain bike rear cluster. All the range I need going up & turn off assist for downhill run 46-11.


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## Keith Sinclair

Sold the Fuji Hybrid keeping the Lemond road bike.


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## MarcelNL

I'm by no means a welder and have no clue what that Colnago is made of, my ex- brother in law is and he welded up a broken back fork on an AL-alloy mountainbike for me in the 90-ies using TIG or MIG by adding a little copper. 
Hi best welder could not get the two parts to adhere, and his engineering company used pretty much every exotic ferrous and non ferrous alloy you can think of.


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## inferno

i just welded that **** up. 
i patched the holes with 1mm 304ss sheet. 

and then the 5200 or so minor holes with brass and nickel silver with the acetylene torch. learning by doing. 
and then i filed it smooth. and now its only sandpaper left and then its as good as new. i just have to forget everything i did with it. and pretend it never happened. then is acually new. no nothing.


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## Keith Sinclair

Picture when your pau!


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## inferno

sad but true https:#margasol #deephouse #organichouse


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## Se1ryu

Bike and scooters in a messy garage


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## BoSharpens

Anyone have moderate to longer experience with tubeless mountain bike tires?

Thinking I may eventually switch from tube type wheels.

What have you learned both good and not-so-good?


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## Luftmensch

BoSharpens said:


> Anyone have moderate to longer experience with tubeless mountain bike tires?
> 
> Thinking I may eventually switch from tube type wheels.
> 
> What have you learned both good and not-so-good?



Depends on what sort of riding you do, what sort of flats you get and what sort of rims you have. Many modern bikes are sold as 'tubeless ready'... so there is little cost swapping. Unless you are a super aggressive rider (massive jumps etc) who likes high tyre pressures, I would tend towards going tubeless.


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## Keith Sinclair

Thanks for the vids. Where I ride near the summit there are quite a few trail heads. People including tourist park in the pull outs along the road. There is broken glass were thieves break car windows. Seems like it has gotten worse since COVID. Stay away from those areas. The road is in worse shape than I've seen it over the years. Down lower where more houses are road is smooth blacktop. 
Higher you get less maintained. Shady parts of road with little sunlight are really rough even pot holes that if hit with any speed can cause pinch flats. When they finish building retaining wall to support where part of road fell off after heavy rains it will be better decent on other side of mountain.


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## Keith Sinclair

Hope this picture comes out moon in sunlight about 930 this morning at summit


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## Keith Sinclair

Coming down mountain another rider going up. where road is better you can pick up speed on downhill. Turn off motor hybrid


ebike is good descender.


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## Keith Sinclair

Don't know much about hydro disk brakes. I was able to adjust the mechanical disk brakes on fuji all that downhill braking stretched the cable. 

Now after around 40 climbs & downhills on this Specialized ebike my front piston is not retracting as it should front tire disk rubbing against the pad. Also the front handlebar brake lever is more travel closer to the grip.


No fluid leakage know some of you are familiar with & have worked on Hydro disk brakes any thoughts? Picture showing shiny part of piston not returning into housing.


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## WPerry

I can't really make heads or tails of the photo, but if the piston isn't retracting, I'd pull the wheel out, remove and inspect the pads, and gently lever the piston back in to the caliper (using a bicycle tire lever or anything wide, flat and rigid enough). 

If the pads are thin - like almost as thin as the spring clip - I'd replace them and hope that it solves the problem (which may have been that the piston was just getting out towards the end of its range and getting ****-eyed).


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## Keith Sinclair

Thanks that's what I expected grabbing brakes on down hill over 4.5 miles front brake takes most of it. Little over 3 months if weather good riding consecutive days. Rim brakes last much longer. Called bike shop they told me down hill on Tantalus as much as I've been doing it goes through brake pads on disk brakes. I've ridden my Lemond road bike couple times just test my knee. Climbing out of the saddle some. Going to buy clip on pedals for the Specialized bike. Don't like those flat plastic pedals & for climbing out of the saddle need clip ons esp. in the wet.


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## WPerry

Were you on organic/resin pads? I wonder if metallic ones might wear a little longer with those descents. They typically last longer in the wet, that's for sure.


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## Keith Sinclair

Just got back from bike shop he said uneven wear on front pads rear brakes are fine. Going to bleed the line & put new pads on front. Bike fell over leaned against poles at summit been very windy this week strong gusts got worse when that happened thought the pedal & handlebar grip caught he said maybe affected fluid well attached to brake lever.


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## Luftmensch

Keith Sinclair said:


> Going to bleed the line



This does wonders for brakes. Sounds like you are on the right track.

If you want to maintain good braking feel/performance, unfortunately bleeding is one of those routine maintenance tasks you need to do. It is worth learning how to do at home. There are lots of good video tutorials online. If you can sharpen a knife, you can bleed hydraulic push-bike brakes 

If you have SRAM, just beware that DOT fluid is corrosive. Try not to get it on your lovely new bike frame or your skin (wear gloves)!


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## Keith Sinclair

Couldn't agree with you more. When I tore quad tendon in right knee almost 14 years ago figured cycling days over sold my bike & tools. Shoes, riding pants, jerseys all long gone.

Had to buy bike, shoes, pants, gloves, helmet, water bottles, pump. Tools are next.
Ytube is great used it many times for do it yourself activities. First tool I have picked up is for taking off master link on chain. This type of link is different than my old chains. 

The bike shop here is very fair & supportive good to see operation of people that love bikes & riding.


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## mushroom

my bike, too. I'm a bike commuter.


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## RRLOVER




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## Keith Sinclair

You do any touring on that Harley?


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## RRLOVER

Keith Sinclair said:


> You do any touring on that Harley?


Just riding around Wisconsin


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## Fchef27




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## Keith Sinclair

Fchef27 said:


> View attachment 214081


Brand new at the dealership. What engine in that Street fighter style Kawasaki?


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## Fchef27

Keith Sinclair said:


> Brand new at the dealership. What engine in that Street fighter style Kawasaki?


It was new in the summer of 2021, it's the Kawasaki z900


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## Keith Sinclair

My last motorcycle was a Kawasaki 650-R Twin. Really liked that bike reliable, thin & nimble. Got my driver's licence day I turned 15 already had been riding motor scooters & small Italian made Harley all around on the dirt & gravel back roads.


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## Fchef27

Keith Sinclair said:


> My last motorcycle was a Kawasaki 650-R Twin. Really liked that bike reliable, thin & nimble. Got my driver's licence day I turned 15 already had been riding motor scooters & small Italian made Harley all around on the dirt & gravel back roads.


Japanese as always, reliable in all things, be it bikes, cars or knives


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## KO88

So I lost the fight with my roadbike friends and bought my first roadbike... The bike is absolute 

Still rideable even in winter (35mm Conti Terra Speed tyres).
Trek Domane SLR Gen 4
It s on Shimano 105 Di and carbon wheels.

I know those fender are blah but Im so happy I gott em in this weather...


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## Keith Sinclair

KO88 said:


> So I lost the fight with my roadbike friends and bought my first roadbike... The bike is absolute
> 
> Still rideable even in winter (35mm Conti Terra Speed tyres).
> Trek Domane SLR Gen 4
> It s on Shimano 105 Di and carbon wheels.
> 
> I know those fender are blah but Im so happy I gott em in this weather...


Nice bike


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