General Bike Thread (Desiderata, questions, porn) - Page 73

I was just going to grab an entry-level Dahon for $400 or so.

I like the idea of being able to travel with it. I take the subway to work but maybe a stroll around the river or park.
I could also take a regular bike with me on the subway and to my office, but it'd just be a lot more convenient. I want to bring it around with me, so I don't have to worry about bike theft in NYC either.

The Dahon Boardwalk is a cool little bike and you can pick them up for much less that $400.

How do you guys bike in the rain? I have a nice waterproof parka but my jeans get absolutely soaked. Waterproof bike pants? :S

Finally got myself a wilier cento uno with fulcrum zero wheels and campagnolo chorus.
Amazing bike.
I can drop my friends on a group ride now when sprinting. Something that I could not do two weeks ago on my old heavy and way to flexible alu frame. SNV82795.JPG 1955k .JPG file
click on attachment to enlarge the pic

Quick question. Girlfriend's dad owns a small bike shop on the other side of the country. He just sent her a Rocky Mountain Oxygen road bike as a gift. It is a size 51 cm. We have not built it yet but that seems small to me. She is about 5'7, not sure of inseam but at least 30''. Any thoughts?

Does it have a horizontal or sloping top tube? Either way it sounds a bit small.

Awesome bike! Were you coming from a high end aluminum bike or an entry level?

^^Sounds a little small, but in reality it probably doesn't matter if she doesn't bike too often. Why don't you call her dad? He might know the answer and be able to help you out.

here's the info on the that bike click on the geometry chart to see the top tube (virtual length).
http://www.bikes.com/main+en+01_102+OXYGEN_30_AC.html?BIKE=594

the 51cm comes out to 53.5 virtual top tube length which works out to be right for someone about 5'7" using the modern competitive cyclist fit (of course its small if you do the french and eddie fits). but this looks to be a modern sloping top tube bike that "requires" a "modern fit".

if you do the competitive cyclist fit calculator it usually has a 53.5cm top tube with a 100mm-110mm stem. Its actually better to have a spare 90cm stem just to start out with (especially people new to road bike positions) so she can ride the hoods comfortably. Then eventually stretch out into a 110 or 100mm stem.

remember its going to fit but with modern fit standards and aesthetics: lots of seat post showing especially with the sloping TT and you'll have a healthy saddle to bar drop (maybe 2" or even 3"). it'll look really "racy".

but if sizing for an old school totally horozontal TT frame (think old school steel frames) and short quill stem (sometimes those old school quills are less than 70mm) you do the French Fit/Eddie Fit.

Thanks BrianV,
I would say I had a mid level alu bike with an entry level campa groupset and campa vento g3 wheels.
The whole package was on the heavy side but not bad.

The stiffness in the bottombracket and headtube and fork that I feel in my new bike are just levels beyond what I was used to.
I am quite tall at 1.94 m and obviously not too lightweight. So the force that a bike has to deal with when I am standing on the pedals on a short sprint uphill is quite something.
The Wilier just takes everything you put in to it and uses it to propel you forward. It is a strange feeling. The wheels are obviously at lot lighter and stiffer as well and seem to spin forever.
The campa chorus group is also much better in terms of shifting but what you feel most is the the crankset is way stiffer.
What I also noticed is that almost all the weight of the bike is very low near the ground probably a lot of it comes from the groupset with the cassette etc. So when you throw the bike from the left to the right when standing on the pedals for a short sprint it feels weightless. My old bike had much more weight in the upper part, so you really felt the weight when throwing the frame around.

Did my first cyclocross race today. I was miserably bad! I did one warm-up lap to try out the course and bit it hard twice. During the race I managed to not fall thanks to that though! But I only managed to finish one lap. My bike handling skills are much better than some of the other riders; but my body fat content is also much higher. I'm so out of shape. Ugh.

And it turned out that my Cat 4 Beginner race was filled with Cat 1 road racers who have just taken up CX, which was a bit unnerving. Sandbagging?

Watch out you cyclists:

even wildebeestes have a thing against spandex

As we were taught as children: No gnus is good news.


(Hmmm, that doesn't translate into typing very well. Oh well!)

here, use this