General Bike Thread (Desiderata, questions, porn) - Page 80

Give the brooks narrow a shot. Worst case you can sell it and try a different saddle. Brooks hold their value very well, assuming they've been taken care of and not left out in the elements.

Warning, brooks saddles are kind of a magnet for bike thieves, especially in NYC. Be sure to lock the saddle or have a quick release and take it with you into wherever you go.

Better, now next time chain on big ring/small cog, cranks horizontal.

Just an FYI, pricepoint.com is currently having a sale on Park Tools. 10% off. It's not much; but I'm not sure if Park Tools usually goes on much of any sale.

edit: well, I checked performancebike too and they have many items on sale as well. However, it's hard to tell which is cheaper without a serious look at the actual items. For instance, the original MSRP on one item I checked was so much lower at PP that even with a larger discount at PB, it was still cheaper at PP. Weird.


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Edited by rdawson808 - 3/20/12 at 10:09am

so a car hit me the other day. i'm basically ok, bike isn't too bad either (need a new front wheel, we'll see what else--seems that the fork is ok). I'd like to get a cheap second bike to have something while they fix my bike. Here's what I see on CL that may fit me--thoughts on any of them?

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/bik/2920006925.html -- Motiv Triad . $250

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/bik/2915242136.html -- Peugeot 12 speed. $275

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/bik/2912583206.html -- Peugeot single speed. $100

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/bik/2918517657.html -- Centurion Accordio single speed. $100



oh and here's my bike:

First one looks to be by far the best and actually looks pretty sweet as long as it fits you. Second one looks fine as well although not sure why it should cost more than the first except for hipster name recognition.

Avoid those two single-speed abortions. They didn't even try to do a nice conversion and probably trashed some perfectly good parts in doing it.

cool, thanks for the advice. I don't know enough to know these things, so I appreciate the insight. Best of all the first bike is really close to me. I think it's a 60cm frame so I am a bit worried about it being small. I'm going to check it out tuesday.

That first bike is sweet. Would totally rock that as a beater. Waaaaay better than the Peugot imo and likely wouldn't get stolen because it looks different (do bike thieves steal pink bikes?!).

Is that a Surly Crosscheck that got banged up?

haha yeah i'm totally coming around on the pink bike. i hope it fits ok. I just noticed it has a spray painted Che on it, so it is both pink and sensitive and lamely rebellious (and awesome new wave 80s). http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm189/PMSRIP420/2012-03-22_11-32-35_409.jpg .

Yep, that is a Cross-Check that got nailed. Been using it to commute to work for the past year. I've enjoyed it.
Edited by oisin - 3/26/12 at 2:05pm

ended up getting the pink bike. just tall enough to get good extension and the rest of the positioning felt good. Just need some tweaks here and there for positioning and hope some superglue can fix up the saddle. It definitely felt faster than my cross-check.

Glad you're okay. Sorry about the bike.

I am having difficult time finding that "steal" of a deal. Seems everyone now is keen on how much bikes are worth and there is obviously a trend in bikes for various reasons, so now I am confused.

Spend ~500 bucks for decent used bike or just save up some more cash and try to buy something new that is good? I am really new at this so not sure what to do. I have always favored buying new mechanical things of all stripes because of warranties and the general peace of mind....

thanks. i feel like i've crossed a boundary now into real city bicyclist. I do think I am going to start wearing a reflective vest basically at all times. They are light weight and cheap, and while not fashionable, will help even more with visibility.

pink bike is working out pretty well. was able to fix the saddle with some super glue. we'll see how long that lasts. will get some inexpensive spd pedals for it I think, and maybe re-do the grip tape. it's interesting spending time on another bike. you really do start to feel what each frame has to offer. one thing that's weird is the fork and wheel vibrate quite a bit when I apply the break. not sure what's up with that. And one or two of the spokes seem not taut. is that a concern?

i'm no expert, but first off the question seems to me, what do you want to do with it? I spent what was to me a fair bit of money on a new bike that I thought would excel as an urban commuter, and I'm glad I spent the money on it rather than cobble together something from a used bike. It's not the most amazing bike in the world but it really was serving its purpose. Now that I just got a used beater, I can see it being a fun bike to ride but it would not have been a good choice for daily commuting. So ask yourself how you plan to use your bike, how hard you plan to ride it, and then maybe people can give you opinions on what to do. One thing is, bikes seem pretty hardy, especially those with decent build quality/components. I wouldn't worry so much about a warranty, and a bike shop will be able to fix most issues for a fairly reasonable cost even if you get a used bike.

The cross check, while a solid bike, is insanely heavy, especially when loaded up. That's why the pink bike felt light

Likely your wheels are not true, the brake calipers need to be aligned, need to clean the wheel rim (where the brake pad contacts the wheel) or new brake pads. Probably a combination of those.

Nashbar has some really good and incredibly cheap saddles, grip tape, etc. They're my go to for cheap bike stuff. You can always wait around for good stuff to be cheap on bonktown (chainlove) but you might wait a while...