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Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:29 am
by continuous
yep...

PDX is a big bike town, which is great, but I wish I had a different ride than my mtn bike to be honest. Alotta kids ride the oldies where you sit up straight and take your time. I like that and want one too but kinda trendy.

anyhow... like my friend says... bikes are magic time machines.

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:15 am
by zalo
v76 wrote:No offense to anyone here... but am I the only one to find the "hey-my-handlebars-are-even-shorter-than-yours-at-a-whopping-2-centimeters" trend insanely stupid? I know about the messenger (sigh) thing but even my messenger friends find them stupid. "But it's so siiiiimmpplllle it's beeeauuutifullll" STFU! "But it's so EASIER to ride in traffic, like!" STFU! Rant over...

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MY OWNER IS STUPID!
i understand what you are saying, and i ride with bullhorns or pursuit bars because its easier to stop with my hands on the horns, and climbs are easier(parking garages in florida)

but there are a lot of people who find it more comfortable to ride on the flats of the bar, and i would have to say i am 50/50 between my hand position when i ride

one of my good friends never rides in the drops, she hates being that far forward, she only rides with her hands on the flats of the bar, the rest of her handlebars are basically for decoration at that point

i dont know maybe the person who owns the bike in the picture cut the bars down that much to make up for the 400 extra grams a front aerospoke adds to the bike, not worth 400 dollars

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Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:34 am
by aqua_tek
zalo wrote:
v76 wrote:No offense to anyone here... but am I the only one to find the "hey-my-handlebars-are-even-shorter-than-yours-at-a-whopping-2-centimeters" trend insanely stupid? I know about the messenger (sigh) thing but even my messenger friends find them stupid. "But it's so siiiiimmpplllle it's beeeauuutifullll" STFU! "But it's so EASIER to ride in traffic, like!" STFU! Rant over...

Image
MY OWNER IS STUPID!
i understand what you are saying, and i ride with bullhorns or pursuit bars because its easier to stop with my hands on the horns, and climbs are easier(parking garages in florida)

but there are a lot of people who find it more comfortable to ride on the flats of the bar, and i would have to say i am 50/50 between my hand position when i ride
Much truth in this. I usually hate leaning that far forward on my bike. Most of the time I'm grabbing the flats. I'm just glad my bike has dual position brake levers, so I don't feel forced to lean into the horns, just to be able to pull the brakes.

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:56 am
by 8O
zalo wrote:one of my good friends never rides in the drops, she hates being that far forward, she only rides with her hands on the flats of the bar, the rest of her handlebars are basically for decoration at that point
Unless she's got crazy bars of some kind, I'd say there's something wrong with the bike fit in that case - frame wrong size, not right geometry for her, stem angle/length wrong. With my first racer (see photos on the first page, I think), I hardly ever rode on the drops, was just too uncomfortable. My new Trek racer's frame is 5cm smaller than my old bike, and a different geometry, and I can ride on all of the handlebar positions, including the drops, in comfort. Worth investigating...

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:29 am
by telekom
I've got a Kona Dew, sand coloured with black forks and red downhill pedals... it's a nice bike, picked it up for £115 from gumtree. No pics of it though. I haven't been riding it for ages because my friend has a brand new Felt hybrid which keeps breaking down - whenever it goes back to the shop I lend him mine. Hoping to get it back this week!

I need to get back into riding again - I also have a motorbike which takes up more of my attention... I was just about to buy a Topeak rack for my Kona, and then I found one lying in the grass outside my GFs flat - couldn't believe it, a £40 rack for free!!! Once I get it on the Kona then some bike camping is one the agenda.

Helmets - yes, always. If I fell off my motorbike at under 30mph without a helmet I could expect a head injury, and I would never ride my motorbike without a helmet. So it figures that since I'm going under 30mph on my bicycle, I need a helmet.

I live in a hilly part of Glasgow so a fixie is not for me...

Finally... bicycle doughnuts. Amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GNB7xT3rNE

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:04 pm
by WaveRider
Racing with a Kona The King
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Trusty old Kona Stuff
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Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:20 pm
by WaveRider
monkeyboy wrote:Ah bikes. Probably a bigger drain on my finances than music gear. If I get a ride in and make some music in a day, then that day has been a good day.

+1 8)

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:29 pm
by 8O
WaveRider wrote:Racing with a Kona The King
Image
Very cool. Always liked Konas. But there's something wrong with this picture... it's a race and you're smiling... the few races I've done have always been a grim and bitter struggle from start to end, the only thing on my mind being "how can I sabotage my bike so that it looks like an accident and I can stop this suffering right now..." :wink:

Good job!

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:58 pm
by Tone Deft
telekom wrote:Finally... bicycle doughnuts. Amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GNB7xT3rNE
crazy, looks like there's sand in the street or are they strange tires that degrade into powder? :?
more of the same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E14GN2_zNE&NR=1

WaveRider wrote:
monkeyboy wrote:Ah bikes. Probably a bigger drain on my finances than music gear. If I get a ride in and make some music in a day, then that day has been a good day.

+1 8)
yeah, spent a lot of money this summer (new helmet, clothes, tires, tools, pump, repairs...) now my bottom bracket needs rebuilding. argh!!


continuous wrote:bikes are magic time machines.
:lol:

even with the poo flinging at fixie riders, I'd rather have a beer with a bike fanatic than people from just about any other segment of society. TBH I'd be begging to borrow the fixie to try to ride backwards. ;) (out of the clips :lol: )

wife actually talked me into going running with her rather than going for a ride today. this is gonna hurt. tomorrow's another day off, will ride then.

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:35 pm
by WaveRider
8O wrote:
Very cool. Always liked Konas. But there's something wrong with this picture... it's a race and you're smiling...
yeah but it's such a nice descent! :lol: and I was surprised to see my girlfriend standing there (she took the picture)

btw that frame is cracked but under warranty; I'll get a new one but orange

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:50 pm
by bosonHavoc
ya all ready for this

http://www.newbelgium.com/tour-de-fat

Tour De Fat is weeeee fun :)

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 5:08 pm
by Tarekith
Tour de Fat was cool when it was here in Seattle, definitely recommended.

I just got the BEST anniversary present from my wife. She just told me she booked an extended weekend in Whistler for me to ride the bike park. OMG, been wanting to go there soooo bad for sooo long now. This is going to rock, can't wait.

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 5:42 pm
by formatk
Tone Deft wrote: even with the poo flinging at fixie riders, I'd rather have a beer with a bike fanatic than people from just about any other segment of society. TBH I'd be begging to borrow the fixie to try to ride backwards. ;) (out of the clips :lol: )
.
Tone, Hipsters model themselves on me.. ;) 8O

seriously though, the fixed gear trend did at first put me off at first. I been riding fixed since I was 15 (I'm 29 now) when I used to be a bike mechanic and built a work horse to get about on from spare track parts in the workshop. I can understand all the yelling about deep rim wheels in day glo colours etc, as it's pretty nasty, but the handlebar thing is very practical. In fact, most 'narrow bars' are same size if not wider than a standard set of drop handlbars. If you're cycling in a city all day, you don't want to be using the lower drops, you need to be sat high and upright so you can see everything around you. London ain't a race track, it's too dangerous, better to plod around than try and race your fellow cyclists.

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 5:49 pm
by formatk
8O wrote: You have seen this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4 already, right?
noice bro.

Re: OT: Cycling ... as in... riding bikes... as in... bicycles

Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:02 pm
by bosonHavoc
hey check this out too
my buddy makes bike cloths and bags and stuff

http://www.subversivecycling.com/

he is really cool and makes cool things :P
i think the coolest thing he has done is come to a show of mine when i called hime about 30 minutes before we went on and told him he has to come because their is nobody here :) hehe