Sometimes out there on the pavement you can just smell the love. I think that's why so many of us have gone feral (mtn biking).

*speechless* :headshake


lucky you didn't end up :greenface

I had a perfect moment of centrifugal forces, gravity, momentum, friction, compression, weight shifting and nerve while riding single track Sunday. My front wheel almost totally washed out on a slick rooty downhill. My wheel slid and the fork compressed until the tire found purchase and I freaking bounced up and on. A rousing cheer came from behind me and I couldn't help but let out a victory roar. As Chris Farley would say that was Freaking Awesome!

Lets not get slaughtered out there BN.

Hard to believe that I finally rode my first race of the season tonight. I really was not in shape to do the pre-season events - and tonight made me realize that I'm not even ready for these races. :)

Rode in the cat 5 race at the Floyd Bennett Airfield in Brooklyn. It's a 2.3-mile rectangle (old runway strip), completely flat with LOTS of wind coming off turn 3 and especially so into turn 4. I was astonished - we averaged 26 mph, which is pretty damn fast for that level. I made a huge mistake of jumping too early and I got stuck in the front for 3/4 of a lap. Then I got squeezed off the inside and touched the brakes a little too hard trying to avoid a few potholes - by the time I recovered and started pedaling, I was already 25 feet off the lead group. I looked back to see where the other half of the pack was ... and they were hardly in sight. Had to slog through the last 4 miles completely solo, but I kept the lead group in sight and only finished 8 or 10 seconds back.

Oh well. Next Tuesday night!

26!!!!!

You're in much better shape than me anyway. Keep spinning.

Pretty frickin fast, eh. I was really surprised - and my legs got zapped a lot faster than expected. Next time, though, I know exactly what to do: Ignore all the attacking and sit in the middle of the lead group until 1.5 miles to go - then jump and sprint through the finish. I think people wasted a lot of energy waiting to see what would happen with 1 km to go. Better to get out ahead and try to give yourself a comfortable distance.

I have never even considered a bike race, there aren't that many around here. 26mph??? How many laps was the race? Yikes. I saw some bike races last year, and was totally intimidated, but intregued (sp??). I'm looking forward to a PB in a 5K foot race this Sat, have to look into bike races a little closer. Haven't had the road bike out of the basement yet, been too focused on running. Did get the mountaing bikes cleaned up and greased tho. Good luck in the next one breakingnews!

Toured the local pawnshops and found several cool looking mountain bikes. I think I can overcome my distaste for profiting from another's misery and shop at these stores, because the price seems reallly right. So, I know you've previously recommended Giant and Trek, but I found a couple of other makes that seemed to have cool components like front and rear suspension, disc brakes, gel padded seats, handlebar winglets (grablets? right angle add-ons, 3 inches long at the end of the bars pointing forward like horns...) etc. The other two makes were Gary Fischer and K2. Both these bikes were a little more expensive, but also "on sale". The Gary Fischer model came to $200 and the K2 was $150.

Whatcha think?

I was in a rush looking for other equipment*, not bike shopping, but they really caught my eye. I will probably go back this weekend for a ride. More info to follow.


* Turns out I was looking for a "splined wrench, 8 mm" I am in the process of replacing the clutch in DaughterofV's new VW Golf. They didn't have one though. More info in another post in another thread.

I have a question for you bike folks. When I ride my 10 speed, which is admittedly not so often these days, I have never been able to go through the gears, 1-10, in that order. There are 5 gears in back, and 2 up front. It's easy to switch between gears 1 through 5 on the rear wheel, and then use the front gears to jump up to 10. But how do you go from 5th gear into 6th gear? In order to make that switch on any bike I've seen, you have to downshift from 5 to 1 on the rear wheel, and then jump directly from 1 to 6 with the pedal mounted gears. It's always been such a complicated maneuver for me, that I often loose all my steam, and have trouble once I get it in gear. I end up going 1-2-3-4-5-10, and feel like I'm being cheated out of using 6-9.

Am I missing something? Do all 10 speeds perform like this? My bike is an old Schwinn Varsity, which cost $200 25 years ago. A decent bike, but no racer.

Um, yeah, you don't really need to shift gears in order (just like you don't really have to in a car). You should accelerate, then soft-pedal while shifting into the big chainring and then downshifting in the rear.

Try going to 4th gear and giving yourself four or five extra-hard cranks ... then, while lightly pedaling (to keep the chain moving) shift the front derailleur to the big ring ... then downshift to 2nd or 3rd cog in the back. Start pedaling - if it's too much or too little, up or downshift to compensate. This is a lot easier with STI levers (the brake levers double as shifters) - you probably have the traditional levers mounted on the forward downtube, which are a pain to use.

I rarely use my 9th cog. Since I'm heavier and carry a lot of momentum, I'll usually go to the 5th cog, then shift to big ring in the front. That's a good "medium" gear for me - some people will ride longer using small chainring and a small gear before shifting to big chainring, and vice versa. Whatever works for you.

Gary Fischer will be alright. Dunno if I've ever seen a K2 bike, to be honest.

Just based on what I know - I've only worked on suspension and disc brakes once or twice - be careful buying that stuff second hand. If you do, make sure they're better quality parts because they're tough (and $$$) to replace if something does go wrong.

But front shox would be pretty cool. Keep in mind that it's really exhausting to ride on pavement with suspension, especially rear shox, so you should consider how much trail vs road riding you'll be doing. Otherwise, at those prices, you should be good to go!

Oh, the aero bars are very helpful on mountain bikes. They're there to let you change your hand positions (which you should be doing every few minutes) to avoid problems.

If you really want to know and understand all of your gears, you need to work out the ratio of front to rear sprockets. Once you know the various ratios, you can put the ratios in order and you will know what sprockets to set to move smoothly from gear 1 to 10.

Here's a web page to help.

I never did that though. With every bike I've owned, I've eventually found about a half dozen gears for various situations and use those.

Wow, that page is pretty neat.

My brother has a computer with downloadable data - he really knows how to analyze all the different factors (wattage, output, cadence, etc.). I understand the basics, but maybe I need to sit down and read closely.

I guess I just figured it out for myself, using just the rear five and then jumping up to the highest gear by switching front sprockets.

So does anyone use all their gears? Seems like a 5 speed with properly spaced gears would be enough for most situations. A real low gear for starting off, a real high gear for racing, and three intermediate gears for getting between the two extremes should be all you need. Seems crazy to have ten gears and never use most of 'em. Mountain bikes have even more gears. I don't get it. Maybe it makes a difference when you are racing/riding long distances to have 12 speeds so you can find the one "sweet" gear for a particular situation, but it seems to me 5 or 6 gears would probably be enough for 99% of the situations you might find yourself in.

Well why limit yourself when Shimano/Campy can build more gears into the gearset at even less weight than before?

Racing bikes now sport 20 gears (10 cogs in back), and I believe mountain bike standard is still 21 (7x3).

Have all the gears you could possibly need. I have Shimano Flight Deck components, which if I bought the actual computer would tell me what gears I use and how long. Really, I only use the middle 6 cogs (of 9) - seems to cover all the bases in racing situations.

That's certainly been true in my case (even now when I have 21 gears :eek: ). But we live in more-is-better land.

On the other hand, I think the racers really do use all those gears. As I understand it, they try very hard to keep their cadence at one exact speed and vary the gears to the terrain.

I suspect that those of us who don't race would do fine with six. The kids and I have 21 gears on our hybrid bikes. My wife never has any trouble keeping up with us -- and she rides the same 3-speed Raleigh that she rode growing up.

Each additional two gears adds a half inch to the biker's penis, don't they? It's the tradeoff for the testicle damage from the seats.

So wolf, what exactly are you saying about dar's wife?
:lol:

Shopping for a new mtn bike for my husband, and 24 gears is what the sales guy's were pushing. I agree with only using 5-6 gears 99.9% of the time. A nice Specialized with heavy duty frame (hubby's over 300#) and front suspension is going for $329...

The K2 is probably a legit bike as well. You do have to be careful about cheap suspension. You're probably alright with either bike but you may want to write down the model name of each bike and look at the manufacturers web site... or let one of us do it for you just to be sure you're not paying more than its worth. It's prolly cool though. Have fun!

I rode home from work tonight. It was pretty sweet got a thumbs up from a Toyota pickup while I climbed the brutal West Hill (Vestal) nice to get positive input from the fossil fuel set. Got nice waves from a couple kids. One little guy in a pedal car who I've seen before really admired the speed. I must bring him to the good side of the force. The boys at school were pretty mellow today so I didn't NEED the ride but it sure was nice to have the ride along with a couple Negra Modelos when I got home.

K2 is cool. Is that the one with the trick rear suspension where the spring is in tension and the rear shock is inside the frame. Thinking outside the box.

both sold one hour before i got back to the pawnshop. :grr:

But I'll keep the money handy and strike the next time the iron's hot.

About the only time I go all "oriental" and wax about karma is with shopping. Obviously either one of them was not mean't for you. You'll find your bike.
I also dislike this 21st century retail marketing which bury's a little worm that says "Better buy it now, because tomorrow........" They want all purchases to be impulse that way the price/quality becomes less important.

Went shoppiong this weekend for new mountain bikes, ours were 10 years old with no suspension. Hubby got a Specialized, I got a Trek again, but Woman specific this time. LOVE the WSD, highly recommend it especially for shorties like me!! Mostly for riding around the neighborhood. There are some nice offroad areas around here, but the Burley tends to be a little wide for most of the singletrack :)

When the Burley Rat gets too big and wants his/her own bike. Don't waste time with training wheels and what seems like hours running down the street stooped over holding the saddle . Simply remove the pedals, crank and chain from "the first' bike and let Burley Rat walk the bike around for a week. (see attached)

After a week and no less, because BR will whine and plead to have pedals reinstalled after a couple of days, reinstall the pedal etc. and BR will pedal off into the future.

An Austrian guy told me this and it worked with my then 3-ish year old.

Am I correct in thinking that one cannot practically use all the gear ratio combinations because of the angle of the chain across the cogs? So even if one has 7 or 8 on the rear cassette one doesn't use the two larger rings in conjunction with the smallest of the front set and same applies the other way around. so practically mountain bikes have say 13 or 16 useable combinations.

You are correct!

Argueably, my 9speed cassette actually has too wide a selection to be usable. The 44tooth rear in combination with the granny may provide too much mechanical advantage to be useful climbing causing you to break loose.

Long Day
 

Okay I left the house about 6:15am and rode the Trek into work. Its been extremely muggy here for a few days so I was thinking that the ride home would be brutal. I realized that I have Team Meeting this week so I needed to get all my data in before leaving work. I finished just as the thunderstorm started sliding into the area. I got really wet which doesn't help loosen up legs which sat in little chairs playing the autism game all day. I rode a few miles and thought I'd stop at a little market for some chow, since I hadn't had dinner. The market is out of business... crap where is the Resevoir Dog Cart when you need it. :cool: I settled for a hot fudge sundae and a coke while I waited for the rain to slacken and the lightening to mellow. I made it home before dark! Wet,tired, and sore. Oh, happy as well.

What does this mean? :confused:

Please select from the following:

a. He sat and rocked and flailed his hands about and wailed occasionally.

b. The people he was meeting with were similar to people with autism in their level of understanding the data presented.

c. He is a teacher of autistic children and is trying to get the end-of-year paperwork wrapped up.

d. All of the above.

c. well almost. We don't shut down in the summer because our kids would lose too much ground. The data is inputed weekly but every five weeks or so we meet and look at the graphs, talk about any problems we see in each childs program, address behavioral issues etc... but with a crushingly intelligent administator present who can bring fresh eyes to the situation.

Arrrrgggghhh ... bad day at the races this morning. Full field (50 riders) in the cat 5 race at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Probably a half-dozen really inexperienced racers swerving all over the road; one caused a small pile-up pretty early in the race (halfway through first lap).

But on the final lap, it came time for breakingnews to pull an extremely amateur move and try to jockey his way along the outside of the pack into sprinting position, only he misjudged the finish line and did it about a half-mile too soon.

I was pulling around 32 mph when I see the rider in front of me cut back into the pack - only to discover that he was avoiding a triangular median jutting out onto the road way (a "right turn" median from an entrance onto the park road). I managed to get my front wheel up and over the curb, but my back wheel slammed into the median and exploded. I jumped another curb and, fortunately, there was a clearing in the woods and I just kinda cruised until I slowed down. Really, really fucking stupid move, but oh well.

At least I didn't go down - there were at least three other crashes today, one involving a guy on a unicycle who cut right on the park road without noticing the 50 riders barreling down the street. He took down 6 racers, one of which completely shredded his shorts. I think each of the four races going on today had at least one crash apiece.

But before that, pack averaged 24.5 mph, and I maxed at 43 mph! Fucking fast.

I guess I will be buying a new rear wheel.

http://www.supdogg.com/wheel1.jpg

http://www.supdogg.com/wheel3.jpg

http://www.supdogg.com/wheel5.jpg

http://www.supdogg.com/wheel6.jpg

Ouch. Sorry for your loss. But did you at least have fun doing it? I've been known to say "Holy crap........WHEEEEE!" While flying off various wheeled apparati.

I had a fantastic time, much better race than I expected, despite it the gun going off at 6:45 am.

Oh, I got a new camera, too. :) Totally loving the thing.

Yeah - those are some good pix.
Well at least you have the rest of the day to nurse your injuries, or to buy a new wheel.

Sorry to hear about the mishap, that sucks. But great pictures...whad'cha get?

I got me a Nikon 8800. I've been debating between an SLR or an advanced P&S, but then I realized that I just couldn't justify spending all the $$$ on SLR and lenses, more or less for recreational use. Got a great deal on the 8800, and there's a Nikon summer rebate too. :)

It works beautifully - once you actually figure out how to use the thing. Major learning curve - took me almost 150 shots before stuff started coming out remotely close to how I wanted it.

Otherwise, it's built like an SLR, fully programmable with plenty of functions. The nikkor lens is great, but a little slow to focus beyond, say, 150-200mm. Sadly, many of the "cons" that were posted to dpreview.com are VERY prevalent with the 8800 - but with a little tinkering, I've been able to work around some of the shortcomings.

That little dent means buy a new wheel? Don't they have vice-grips where you live? Is is still circular? Sheesh.

That little dent means buy a new wheel? Don't they have vice-grips where you live? Is it still circular? Sheesh.

Come again? :)

Bike shop is doing its best to fix the wheel, but it's now a training wheel from here on out. Ordinary riding is fine, but for racing, it's too dangerous.

- No way they could make the rim wall (braking surface) level again, which could lead to braking problems
- It's already 6 years old, with some 8,000 miles, and the bump likely caused more spoke problems than I already have (3 loose spokes)
- If the clincher edge isn't straight, lateral pressure could pull the tire off the rim

It's probably fine, but I don't wanna take chances. Just gonna order a new rear wheel, which is only $125 with Ultegra 9-speed hub.

Sounds like you definitely got your money's worth. Choose a safe path.

Could've sworn I congratulated you on not being very dead following your mishap. Man that must have been hairy!

Just bought a 12 speed 23" Raleigh technium. Used. ($100)

The rear wheel had a broken axle, and it was a Campagnolo freewheel, so I replaced that ($140), plus chain, and moved up to 2x7.

The brakes and limit screws need some fiddling, but it looks to be a significant improvement over my old Mongoose mtb with bent handlebars and hanger.

(The photo's from the craigslist posting that I bought the bike from; I've since put pedals on.)

How's she treating you, Skunks?

I learned last night that the bottom bracket on a racing frame is a lot lower than on a mountain bike.

I'd discovered before that that cornering was a lot different (I think it's the difference between 700c and 26" rims), so I was playing around with turning sharper. I went down a gentle hill, made a left turn pretty sharp, leaning into it a lot. Inside pedal hit the pavement, and (I gather) bounced me up. Came down again on the rear wheel, bent it pretty severely, flew a few feet, landed relatively gracefully (one small bruise, one small cut.)

So I'm hoping the guy who I bought the wheel from, a nice bike shop right around the corner from my house, will be able to do something about its odd shape. (From side to side it varies by about two inches, but I don't think there's any rim damage.)

Yesterday I rode the 20th annual North Jersey Cycling Classic, which was a pretty well-run event in Park Ridge, NJ, with about $10,000 in prize money.

It's a great track - 0.8 mile rectangle through downtown PR. Course starts with a <I>brutal</I> quarter-mile climb at 17%, then downhill into a sweeping, almost 180-degree turn through a four-lane intersection back into the finishing straight.

I would have loved to run the Pro-1-2 event for the $1,000 purse, but on the 3rd lap of my 8-lap race, I realized why I was not ready to do 25 laps with the top riders.

I got dropped by the lead group on the third climb, but held on to finish 9th and win myself some socks, gloves and other gear. I should be happy based on the fact that I even finished - I think less than half of the riders crossed the line.

But I made a huge mistake pussying out and letting myself trail off the back. No one was moving too fast - all I needed to do was stay with the leaders, but I got scared and backed down, basically gearing up for a solid ass-whoopin'. Talk about a brutal day. Will post photos when I get a chance.

Wow BN that's cool. You must be in good shape.

We also did a bike ride over the weekend, but it was a family trip to the library two towns over ~4 miles each way.

We did a road ride for our Sunday morning today. I'm simply not in shape. We did 35 miles at 19mph. I pulled a few times but the boys basically carried me. I was in that loopy place where your focus is just not there. I need to get cracking so I don't blow up on the MS ride. I can hide my fatness on the mountain bike but I was exposed today.

I'm a piker compared to y'all here, but I just have to toot- I rode a 14 mile trail last weekend, and that's something for this old broad. We tried out the new car rack, and took the bikes out to a park trail. I rode my birthday present, a basic but wonderful hybrid trek bike. Its smooth! I'm loving it. More! More!

piker?

Good for you! I'ts all about the fun, and it sounds like you had a lot of it!

Piker-
must be a regional/ temporal phrase? or did I just make it up? = wannabe/novice/wimp

Lance
 

... has all but completed what looks to be his final career trip into Paris this Sunday wearing yellow for an unprecedented seventh victory.

Armstrong sits almost three minutes ahead of his nearest competitor, Ivan Basso, and has left long-time archrival Jan Ullrich (5:58 back) fighting just to make it onto the podium this weekend. Tour victory margins range from 8 seconds to something like 30 minutes; Armstrong is sitting above the average mark.

At this point, a severe crash - one that would put Armstrong on the sidelines - is pretty much the only thing stopping him from achieving his seventh win.

Beyond the obvious, today marked another tremendous day for Team Discovery (formerly the U.S. Postal Service squad) when Italian Paolo Salvodelli outlasted 16 other men in a long breakaway to take Stage 17, his first Tour de France stage victory (I believe).

His win comes on the heels of George Hincapie's brilliant ride across several brutal alpine climbs last Sunday to win his first Tour stage in 10 years of riding the race. As a dedicated Postal domestique for seven of those years, Hincapie had never left Armstrong's side until this past weekend. Even then, his original plan was to go with the attacking group and fall back to help Lance on the day's final climbs. With about a quarter of the stage to go, Discovery director Johan Bruyneel told George to put the hammer down and ride his own race.

Salvodelli's and Hincapie's victories are big because the Discovery squad has come under sharp criticism for twice leaving Armstrong by himself on difficult mountain stages (8 and 14). The second time, Armstrong independently fended off three very strong T-Mobile riders - including Ullrich - who were all considered as top contenders for the yellow jersey and eventually busted apart the group in that usual, outlandish Texan fashion.

Are they to blame? Are they not doing their jobs? How did all 8 riders managed to fall off from the lead group? But after all, it is a race, and everyone on a team needs to learn what to do when the strategy breaks down. It happens, and rather often. Fortunately Lance kicks a huge amount of ass and stepped up to every challenge that was posed those two days.

In my opinion, these two stage victories - unprecedented moves for the team during the Lance era - proves that Salvo and Hincapie are, in fact, incredible riders, and shows that they are more than just Armstrong's servants. They know how to fight, jockey and grind their way to a mountaintop finish. The team might have slipped once or twice over the past three weeks, but what makes a great squad is its remarkable leader, who picked up the pieces and carried the flag home anyway.

In short, if Lance keeps his yellow through Sunday, there's no reason to think anything but that Team Discovery is the best effin' group of riders in the world.

It has been so sweet to get a free trip to France through some incredible coutryside watching the Tour.
And I am so proud of Discovery's captain for giving Hincapie that well earned stage - especially since it didn't hinder Lance's chances. (yeah, in Frances, in his pantses, do a little dances, etc.)
What wast he name of the place on the top of the mesa? Looked like something out of some fairy tale. I could visit. Just hope there isn't a fire, with that sole evacuation route.
Don't usually watch televised sports but wow, what a journey.

anyone have recommendations for racks -- Yakima vs. Thule... vs. ? roof vs. hitch? My new bike is a Trek 7700 hybrid.

...and yes! loving the Tour de Lan... I mean France! All the classic sights in 3 weeks.

We got a little Yakima mighty joe rack that clamps on our nissan trunk, rest on the bumper/liscense plate. Has carriages for 2 bikes and strong rubbery button straps. Easy to take on/ off. We like it.

My bike's a trek 7100, hubby got the 7300, we're like a freakin commercial riding around. Meeting lots of other trek owners.

sheesh, give a person a chance to answer...:)

Petes got Yakima tray racks on the roof of her Subaru. One is a tube clamp and the other holds the crank arm. The crank clamp is pretty universal in case you buy a bike with an atypical frame. If you've got a bad back or shoulders you might resent the lifting. I prefer the roof mount because the bikes are more secure and safer from the general public. If you have a garage and tend to be forgetful a roof rack is a terrible idea.

:blush: excuse me, i thought that 174 and 175 were by the same person, my bad. carry on... I have no opinion on the racks, I just take the front wheel off my bikes and they fit in the backseat longways. I put a towel on the hump part to keep grease off the carpet. Yes, I am anal, why do you ask?

That has the advantage of covering up the overdue registration sticker.

We're starting the search for Pete's next bike. My Trek 520 is pretty heavy but a good reliable ride. She's thinking something more light tour. There are getting to be more cyclo-cross bikes out there. The Jamis Nova might work...we've just started.

I did 3 hours on the road today. I felt sluggish starting out but hammered home. :)

Ulrich tried today but Lance beat him back. :thumb:

Did the Perkiomen Trail this weekend, Collegeville to the dilapidated bridge which would, if it were open, lead into a junkyard in Green Lane Borough. There's enough lumber and beams nearby to make me think there were plans to put new decking on the bridge and continue the trail through there, but that stuff was there last year too.

As for the rack, it's a Saris Bones, about the only thing that'll fit on a Miata without welding a hitch on. But the Perkiomen Trail I can do from home.