bicicletas

[count chocula]

Been off the bike for THREE FUCKING DAYS! Aaaaaarrrgh

Running a lot to keep the anxiety at bay.

I need a cross bike.

 

That is all

[Joker]

Fuuuuuuggggghhhh... rode my new CX bike today and the brakes fucking suck. Squealing sooooo loudly. The front end vibrates so horribly that it's too scary to use them on a downhill section. I gotta get all that figured out ASAP before I start racing. This sucks. More money I don't have...

[pedoe]

im fairly new to the bike game, always got around on my board. are there any good websites/shops you guys recommend that can school me, possibly give me a good deal on a good bike?

[Joker]

Well... you can get your schooling right here and we can probably help you find a good deal on a bike as well. Just a couple of questions...

 

what kind of bike do you want? Meaning... are you mainly going to use it to get around town, from bar to bar? Or are you going to do some distance riding on the road? Maybe you want to go do some single track in the woods.

 

How much can you spend?

[pedoe]

I need a bike that can handle hills well but nothing crazy fancy that'll attract attention. Aside from that, it would be mostly for getting around town, bar to bar? Sure.

$400 is pushing it...any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

[rubbish heap two]

Had a good crash in Forest Park today and put my CX bike out of commission, at least for now. Sheared the right SRAM shifter right off the bar, among other things. Meh.

[Uzzi 9mm]

Looks nice but would perform poorly

[acer910]

i wonder how long it took them to get it balanced on that cup perfectly

[soul vice]

Fixed gears are actually really easy to balance on pop cans, etc

[Ernie McCracken]

ive been looking for a beater as of late since ive classed up my other bikes to the point where if i lock them up i have to keep checking up on them. today i found a 1983 schwinn mountain bike thats my size with mostly all original components (shimano gruppo, dia compe brakes) for almost $150. is it worth it?

[thealmighty...]

if it rides decently and you don't care about possibly losing $150 then yes.

[Ernie McCracken]

i just want to make it into an ss to ride to the bar, unless the gruppo is good to go, then ill leave it how it is.

[Joker]

Other than the dumb Pista handlebars and incredibly shitty saddle... that's a pretty nice SS CX bike.

[Joker]

Pedoe... a quick search on Craigslist in my area brought a bunch of road and single speed bikes in your price range that also fit your requirements. They were all made within the last ten years and looked pretty decent. Nothing was above $450. So... I would check Craigslist first. Or if you have a consignment bike shop in your area you could check there as well.

 

Bikes I saw:

Motebecane road bike

Kona single speed

Bianchi single speed

Trek road bike

Fuji road bike

[rubbish heap two]

Other than the dumb Pista handlebars and incredibly shitty saddle... that's a pretty nice SS CX bike.

 

Yeah, whats up with running Deda track drops on a cross bike that much steer tube showing?

[rubbish heap two]

Took a closer look at my shifter today; it's cracked clean through the body. SS conversion here I come.

[acer910]

Fixed gears are actually really easy to balance on pop cans, etc

 

figured it was a ss

[fat ralphy]

 

 

is there too much slack in my chain?

 

someone said there was......should it be as tight as possible?

 

i do sometimes feel a little play in the crank, is that an issue with slack?

[soul vice]

Fuuuuuuggggghhhh... rode my new CX bike today and the brakes fucking suck. Squealing sooooo loudly. The front end vibrates so horribly that it's too scary to use them on a downhill section. I gotta get all that figured out ASAP before I start racing. This sucks. More money I don't have...

 

 

I know this was a while ago, but it sounds like you just need a brake adjustment, which can be done really easily with the right sized allen wrench. Even then it's pretty inexpensive at a shop.

[Fist 666]

ralphy--its 'okay' but not ideal to have slack like that in your chain. you'll be more efficient and smoother with a tight/balanced chain.

 

joker--sounds like a cockpit problem. headset probably. possible loose spokes. sounds extreme for it to rattle so hard.

[R@ndomH3ro]

 

 

is there too much slack in my chain?

 

someone said there was......should it be as tight as possible?

 

i do sometimes feel a little play in the crank, is that an issue with slack?

 

Yo chain is mad saggy and will one day slip if you dont tighten it. It doesnt have to be tight as hell, but a little play is good enough

[rubbish heap two]

Joker - brake chatter is pretty common on CX bikes, especially with really light carbon forks. It can be fixed by a brake adjustment usually - try Veloship or RCB.

[count chocula]

pretty much settled on the fact that my road race season is over - in the sense of registered competition.

joker/rubbish: any thoughts on what to do from here to january?

i was thinking about 3 or so days of base work during the week and maybe mix in some hardish rides on sat/sun.

 

thoughts??

[Joker]

Random... that photo of your bike would be so much better were it taken about twenty feet to the left of where you took it ;)

 

Rubbish, Fist... yeah, everything I read said canti brakes with carbon forks and brake shudder is just common. Even pros deal with it. I changed out the pads to Swiss Stop Rat pads and that actually helped quite a lot. Still a little bit of shudder but nearly what it was.

 

Count... I'd say for October and November really concentrate on base miles. Saturday and or Sunday should be a long-ish ride, if you can. When riding during the week try to ride for at least an hour. Warm up for ten to fifteen minutes and then ride in that comfortable but working zone for at least 45 minutes. Then cool down on your way home. Same with the weekend ride. Warm up and then get in that zone for the majority of the ride. On at least one of the weekday rides do a set of jumps toward the end of the ride. Jumps = easy gearing - 39/17 or 39/21 - stand up and sprint as hard as you can for about ten seconds. Recover for one minute and then do it again. Repeat five times. I can give you more details later.

 

if you're interested (or anyone on here for that matter) I can go through my coaching log and share with you what I did during the winter months and you can take and use what you want.

[count chocula]

awesome - thanks d00d.

*i'd love to see the coaching log if it's not too much trouble.

[R@ndomH3ro]

Random... that photo of your bike would be so much better were it taken about twenty feet to the left of where you took it ;)

 

Not my bike duder, its Fat Ralphy's. This is my bike

 

 

BMX, Ride or die. Gravy Robbers for life!!

[Joker]

Count... I'll look at my training log tonight and figure something out. It's a Google spread sheet and without opening it up to the world I'm not quite sure how to share it, but I'll figure out how to share the better parts.

 

Random... it's interesting to me how BMX bikes have evolved over the years. I was big-time into BMX in the 80's. Mike Buff, RL Osborne and Mike Dominguez were the big names at the time. Dirt jumping and half pipes were all I cared about. Saddles were plastic, chainrings were big, seat posts were long and the pedals left you with scars on your shins... for life. I really want to get another BMX bike but I think I'm a little too old to do so. I mean, I could but I would have to wear t-shirts with the sleeves cut off, baggy jeans that are hanging down around my thighs and a ball cap perfectly tilted to one side. Oh, and a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. Well, at least that's what the old dudes on BMX bikes look like in my area. Of course, they're also looking for their next fix and their bikes are beat to shit... and they work at the carnival. I heard there's a park just south of me in Gladstone that has a ton of BMX jumps and stuff... I need to go check that out.

[fat ralphy]

Btw joker....i do have the flix from that spot.

[rubbish heap two]

Ah c'mon Joker, you know the young buck BMXers wear skinny jeans and you were probably doing the same in the 80's.........

 

Say, you doing Pain on the Peak this weekend? Should be fun and I'll be there as long as I can get a ride, but it's also likely going to be retarded hard for non-climbers like you and me.

[R@ndomH3ro]

Count... I'll look at my training log tonight and figure something out. It's a Google spread sheet and without opening it up to the world I'm not quite sure how to share it, but I'll figure out how to share the better parts.

 

Random... it's interesting to me how BMX bikes have evolved over the years. I was big-time into BMX in the 80's. Mike Buff, RL Osborne and Mike Dominguez were the big names at the time. Dirt jumping and half pipes were all I cared about. Saddles were plastic, chainrings were big, seat posts were long and the pedals left you with scars on your shins... for life. I really want to get another BMX bike but I think I'm a little too old to do so. I mean, I could but I would have to wear t-shirts with the sleeves cut off, baggy jeans that are hanging down around my thighs and a ball cap perfectly tilted to one side. Oh, and a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. Well, at least that's what the old dudes on BMX bikes look like in my area. Of course, they're also looking for their next fix and their bikes are beat to shit... and they work at the carnival. I heard there's a park just south of me in Gladstone that has a ton of BMX jumps and stuff... I need to go check that out.

 

You should, also check out the BMX thread. Lots of riders and oldschoolers like yourself.

I have been riding BMX since I was a kid in the 80s as well. I still ride and its awesome