Bicycle Heads: Help Me Identify This

[Sartorian]

Heavy bikes are a pain because they just make you waste energy: the point isn't that it'll make you go faster, but that more of your pedaling energy will go into actually moving forward, rather than just hauling around a bunch of steel.

You want a vintage Raleigh 3-speed, just look on Craigslist. Decent one shouldn't cost you more than about $125. You want a nice leather Brooks saddle, that'll cost you another $80-170.

Best weight/classic look compromise is a vintage road frame converted to singlespeed. That's also one of the most fun rides you'll have.

 

[LabelKing]

What do you think about Bianchi?

 

[parham]

Originally Posted by Sartorian

Heavy bikes are a pain because they just make you waste energy: the point isn't that it'll make you go faster, but that more of your pedaling energy will go into actually moving forward, rather than just hauling around a bunch of steel.

You want a vintage Raleigh 3-speed, just look on Craigslist. Decent one shouldn't cost you more than about $125. You want a nice leather Brooks saddle, that'll cost you another $80-170.

Best weight/classic look compromise is a vintage road frame converted to singlespeed. That's also one of the most fun rides you'll have.

Well it all depends on the intended goal. Knowing a thing or two about efficiency (I'm an energy consultant), and owning quite a few road bikes, mountain bikes, and heavy steel classics, it's more a matter of style and purpose.

Just because a bike is lighter doesn't mean it's more fun. Fixies are notoriously twitchy unless you have the right setup, and aren't the most practical bikes either. They wouldn't be my best choice for a commuter where you choose to wear a suit. My 3-speed 60's Raleigh is a good 20 pounds lighter than my single speed 40's Condor, but I much rather enjoy riding the latter. The extra mass, when on flat ground, is actually a benefit. Maybe it's more in my head, but it's just more pleasant, although there are times when the Raleigh's lightness makes more sense. Efficiency isn't always the best motivator when choosing transport; think 60s muscle car vs. Toyota Prius. An electric Citroen or the new Tesla Roadster would meet both requirements.

Regarding Bianchi, I have no experience with them but folks seem to love the newer ones. Again, it's a matter of taste and intended use.

 

[Tarmac]

You should just get an old used bike and clean it up. Plenty of touring bikes from the 80s are still around. All those accessories are readily available and the real topper is a brooks leather saddle.

 

[culverwood]

There are few things better value these days than a custom bike. A good custom frame fully fitted will be about half the price of a Savile Row suit.

I've always been a little confused on the bike weight thing. If I weigh 160lb and my bike 28lb how much am I going to reduce my overall weight by going for the lightest bike, about 5lb. It will cost more and have more fragile components. I prefer to ride a sturdier bike and on my tourer use MTB gears to lug my weight, the bikes and my luggage up hills with the minimum effort possible.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by culverwood

There are few things better value these days than a custom bike. A good custom frame fully fitted will be about half the price of a Savile Row suit.

I've always been a little confused on the bike weight thing. If I weigh 160lb and my bike 28lb how much am I going to reduce my overall weight by going for the lightest bike, about 5lb. It will cost more and have more fragile components. I prefer to ride a sturdier bike and on my tourer use MTB gears to lug my weight, the bikes and my luggage up hills with the minimum effort possible.

If you are biking a century, trust me 5 lbs makes a huge difference when spread over the course of 100 miles. There is a damn good reason why the make bikes out of carbon fiber and why Campagnolo charges so much for it's light weight Record groupset (on top of the fact that they are really well deigned and made with top-end materials)

Jon.

 

[culverwood]

If you are cycling across Europe doing a century a day then trust me 5lb is nothing compared to what you will be carrying and you will never fit four panniers on your carbon fibre whippet.

I do not think we have an arguement here we are just talking about different things.

 

[whacked]

Inspired by this thread, I bought a "Shogun" (a respectable Japanese manufacturers during the late 80's, it seems) 10-speed in pristine condition off craigslist yesterday. For a song too.

Thanks guys. Please keep the discussion coming...

 

[Renault78law]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

If you are biking a century, trust me 5 lbs makes a huge difference when spread over the course of 100 miles. There is a damn good reason why the make bikes out of carbon fiber and why Campagnolo charges so much for it's light weight Record groupset (on top of the fact that they are really well deigned and made with top-end materials)

Jon.

Dude, "It's Not About the Bike."

 

[etl]

As Lucky Strike points out, in order to really pull this off you must go with a Brooks saddle. (aside: LS, the umbrella attachment on the front fork is killing me.)

FWIW, it should be noted that a number of Italian men commute on "women's" bikes with the sloped top tube so that you're not throwing your trouser leg up and over the bar. Bianchi and i think a few other makers continue to make modern versions of commuter bikes. Some of the new ones have internal hub shifting which seems so very clean and easy.

I've never had a commuter bicycle but wish that I lived somewhere that i could bike to work and park it. Manhattan would eat a pretty bike like those alive. Until then, it'll be me and my carbon frame on 9W in full lycra.

 

[etl]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

What do you think about Bianchi?

let me know if you're interested in a 49cm reparto corsi frame in light-metallic blue with chrome drops.

 

[doink]

Considering people's here penchant for the finer things, you could always get in line for a vanilla (http://vanillabicycles.com/) or a mariposa http://www.bikespecialties.com/marip_customcity.html

If you need it "now" there is always ANT http://www.antbikemike.com/bikes.html

 

[ruben]

It's a nice bike, but I'm not sure most people under 60 could pull it off without looking eccentric.

I no longer bike, tough when I did I really love this company called Bontrager, they're been bought up by now, but they used to make stunning handmade steel frames. I realize that mountain bikes are passe now, and eveyone wants a fixed gear road bike (whether they need it or not) but they'd be worth looking into.

 

[Lucky Strike]

Ah, yes, I remember Bontrager. Good stuff.

On a similar note - does Breezer still exist? Lovely frames.

And doink, thanks for the links - the Vanilla and ANT bikes look very good. This inspired me to take the Bianchi to the shop for a thorough facelift. I shall have to improvise a bit, as many of the parts are non-standard and will probably turn out to be impossible to replace.

 

[doink]

Originally Posted by Lucky Strike

Ah, yes, I remember Bontrager. Good stuff.

On a similar note - does Breezer still exist? Lovely frames.

And doink, thanks for the links - the Vanilla and ANT bikes look very good. This inspired me to take the Bianchi to the shop for a thorough facelift. I shall have to improvise a bit, as many of the parts are non-standard and will probably turn out to be impossible to replace.

For more hand made goodness checkout

http://www.handmadebicycleshow.com/

Breezer does still exist and has actually moved into making more commuter type bikes

http://www.breezerbikes.com/index.cf...TOKEN=32729970

As for Bontragers, they have a cult like following, especailly the Santa Cruz mades ones and the composite forks.