The bicycle thread

[YellowJersey]

So no riding since I got home last Friday. I've got some bad saddle sores (You have failed me, "Spongy Wonder!!!") so I've been taking it easy. But, after doing around 400km and 4000m of vertical throughout Jasper, Banff, and Kootenay National Parks and doing seven mountain passes, I figured I'd earned it and decided to treat myself to a King of the Mountains jersey. My fiance said, "Ugh, that's ugly," when I showed her.

[Motifator]

Cycling 100 km daily does sound a bit more off than walking 10.000 steps a day, kinda well depending on how you look at it... but it's not extreme far from doable given car roads like posted and some form of exquisite bike made out of a full carbon frame, electric support, an individual in full shape & all that jazz. I see it happening harder under more regular conditions, though.

[RollyShed]

On 9/12/2022 at 9:05 AM, Motifator said:

Cycling 100 km daily does sound a bit more off than walking 10.000 steps a day, .... and some form of exquisite bike made out of a full carbon frame, electric support, an individual in full shape & all that jazz. I see it happening harder under more regular conditions, though.

At the start of the holidays I'd often do 100 km a day with a loaded bike (tent, sleeping bag, cooker, food, etc.) with no electrics and a simple steel frame.

Super fit and strong? No, just a normal weakling who has done a bit of riding.

OK, the first two days would only be 90 km each before 120 km the next day into a head wind all day. Then over hills for a quick sprint to a late lunch where I'd be staying for a few weeks.... or maybe lunch at the side of the road (there is bread and a cooker for making coffee on the bike) before the last hill.

 

Other times, a 100 km day ride in the weekend with friends. Usually every second weekend as the other weekend would be the beginners 60 km ride. The 10 year old daughter would be on the back of a friend's tandem. She did the 400 km ride at age 12. She only had her tent and clothes and books on her bike as I had the other tent, cooker, food, etc. Her bike? My original steel frame 3 speed I'd got at age 12. Yes, re-geared to 18 gears. And no, we weren't doing 100 km days on that trip.

[Motifator]

Downhill would be easy if the case, also regardless of what, 400 km of straight biking for a 12 year old girl doesn't sound too good. Don't tax yourselves too hard, just saying.

[YellowJersey]

On 9/11/2022 at 3:05 PM, Motifator said:

Cycling 100 km daily does sound a bit more off than walking 10.000 steps a day, kinda well depending on how you look at it... but it's not extreme far from doable given car roads like posted and some form of exquisite bike made out of a full carbon frame, electric support, an individual in full shape & all that jazz. I see it happening harder under more regular conditions, though.

TBH, it's all about working your way up to it. I usually start off with 50-80km per-ride in the spring. You also need to know what your pace is. I generally strive for an average speed of around 20kmph. It's basically knowing how much power you can output at a sustained rate over a certain period of time.

[RollyShed]

2 hours ago, Motifator said:

Downhill would be easy if the case, also regardless of what, 400 km of straight biking for a 12 year old girl doesn't sound too good.

The third day, the long down hill was annoying to say the least as it was always hard pedalling, downhill, against the prevailing summer wind into the flat land where that night's camp would be. The whole valley is now covered with vineyards.... not that that helps with the wind.

 

The 12 year old didn't do 400 km in a day. Her complaint about that trip was, "If Mum wasn't with us we could go faster."

 

She was doing about 40-60 km on the back of a tandem every fortnight for 2 years previously to that. A month after the trip, the annual ride event, a month later, 40, 60 or 100 km. That year she did the 100 km on her own bike. And yes quite a bit of hill climbing.

[Motifator]

19 hours ago, YellowJersey said:

TBH, it's all about working your way up to it. I usually start off with 50-80km per-ride in the spring. You also need to know what your pace is. I generally strive for an average speed of around 20kmph. It's basically knowing how much power you can output at a sustained rate over a certain period of time.

Yeah I YOLO it too much when I bike.. I don't cycle at a specific rate of speed. When the road is empty and long straight ahead, I just hit it hard... lol, and boy isn't that tiring with a full suspension MTB meant for mountain stunts.

[RollyShed]

12 hours ago, Motifator said:

 and boy isn't that tiring with a full suspension MTB meant for mountain stunts.

A fat tyre MTB just isn't a road bike. Heavy and a lot of tyre drag. Even fully loaded touring I've done on gravel roads has been with 27" x 1-1/4" tyres.

I will admit the tyres on the Avanti round-town bike, at present are a bit wider but do need replacing. 700 x 35

 

The last time I rode the Claude Butler touring bike a few months ago it was on a gravel road which had just been graded. Yes, all stones.

[YellowJersey]

Took advantage of what seems to be the last vestige of summer before our 8 months of darkness sets in. 101km today in 4 hours 22 minutes. I had my first bear encounter! I've been cycling these here parts for over 20 years, cycled across Canada, cycled through the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, cycled through Banff and Jasper plenty of times, and yet today of all days was the first time I'd ever seen a bear while cycling. It was a small black bear about the size of an English sheepdog. I was enjoying a slight downhill and cruising around 30kmph when I looked to the right and saw the bear looking back at me. I looked behind me and saw it bound across the pathway. Keep in mind, this is within city limits, literally 5km away from my apartment building.

 

Total this year: 2,519km

[YellowJersey]

102km today in 4 hours and 29 minutes. Could very well be the last ride of the season. We'll have to see how the weather holds up.

 

Total this year: 2,621km

[Tamesh16]

I need help from the Cycling members, I have been trying to get a new bike for a while. Been riding for 10+ years only roads finally settled from traveling so looking for a steady nice but affordable road bike. My current choice is a Triban Rc120 for about 560 (on sale)

Alot of people recommend used but I have no idea what to look for, in terms of Models, and I have never bought used so unsure of red flags in buyers and products.

If you could help me with some tips that would be great. My current budget is about US $600, living in NYC (incase there are local used deals)

 

I have tried looking up Trek, specialized, Giant and Triban (with good shimano shifter) and have had a hard time with the models, especially with trek its usually older models I have no idea about so I wouldnt know if its a good deal.

 

This is one example of a deal I found that I think might be good but only because its a model I recongnize

Specialized Allez in NJ

[Guest]

Oh jeez ... I rode my bike 2 hours one way up and down hills to the store... Then I rode two hours back... I'm so tired!!!

 

Annoying sub story

Spoiler

I gave my sandwich I packed to a homeless guy and then he asked for water so I said "can you water fall it" cuz it's my canteen and he's like yeah yeah.... Dude slaps his lips right up to it... Come on! I gave you food unprovoked and then you ask for more...I make one rule and you... Ugh.... Now I have to boil the canteen to sanitize it

So yeah... I was really really tired without food and water. Had to buy chocolate milk and citrus tea to get hydration and electrolytes

[whm1974]

So I rode my Bike today after not riding it for while. I'm out of shape, need to ride everywhere.

[Radium_Angel]

So today I discovered that the parent manufacturer of "Autobianchi" still exists in the form of "Bianchi" and makes very nice (though high-end, which is standard for an Italian manufacturer) bikes. Their basic model is around 1,000$ and goes up from there. Shame where I live is vehemently bike-hostile. 

[YellowJersey]

36 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

So today I discovered that the parent manufacturer of "Autobianchi" still exists in the form of "Bianchi" and makes very nice (though high-end, which is standard for an Italian manufacturer) bikes. Their basic model is around 1,000$ and goes up from there. Shame where I live is vehemently bike-hostile. 

None of the bike shops here have anything under $1500.

 I'm thinking of getting a DaVinci for my next bike as it is (last time I checked) the only independent Canadian bicycle maker left.

[G-Lord20]

7 hours ago, YellowJersey said:

None of the bike shops here have anything under $1500.

 I'm thinking of getting a DaVinci for my next bike as it is (last time I checked) the only independent Canadian bicycle maker left.

You mean devinci bikes, right? If yes, that's a great choice. A friend of mine, rides a Devinci enduro bike and is really happy with it.

[whm1974]

I can't believe I stop riding my bike regularly since I gotten my disability. Now I've getting back in to it since Sunday.

 

I was going to replace my 26" Diamondback with a 24" one, but the shop I purchased my current one is not selling the bikes the owner used to. So I'm keeping this one.

 

Now that I'm going to learn how to do my own bike upkeep sooner or later, anyone know of a good bike repair manual?

[YellowJersey]

It's that time of year again! After a bit of a chilly week last week, I went out yesterday for my first outdoor ride of the year. No leaves on the trees yet and the reservoir was still partially frozen over, but it was a nice, sunny, albeit windy, day. Looking at doing a loop around the rockies sometime in July using the following route.

63km in 3 hours and 1 minute.

[8tg]

Here to flex.

I do about 9-10 miles a day now in a fairly consistent loop. Sometimes I take the bike trail next to my house a few towns over which is a 16 mile total loop.

Nothing crazy, I don’t time it because that’s just casual fun.

And then I have another bike that’s for just getting around town for errands not for pleasure, a cannondale trail 6 which is good for getting groceries or snacks from town.

[YellowJersey]

70km today! It was a really nice day and I felt a lot stronger in the later half of the ride compared to my last ride.

 

Total this year so far: 133km

[RollyShed]

Something I've not had a problem with in my 70 years of biking. A puncture, OK a few of those, but this one caused by the plastic over the spokes going hard over time where it goes past the valve. At that part, the plastic cover was double thickness and the corner of the short length of added thickness, sticking out, had hardened and finally poked through the tube within 5 mm of the valve.

 

A sharp knife and some sandpaper have smoothed things down and a new tube has been fitted.

 

Hopefully the rain will stop and I'll be on my bike tomorrow.

[YellowJersey]

51 minutes ago, RollyShed said:

Something I've not had a problem with in my 70 years of biking. A puncture, OK a few of those, but this one caused by the plastic over the spokes going hard over time where it goes past the valve. At that part, the plastic cover was double thickness and the corner of the short length of added thickness, sticking out, had hardened and finally poked through the tube within 5 mm of the valve.

 

A sharp knife and some sandpaper have smoothed things down and a new tube has been fitted.

 

Hopefully the rain will stop and I'll be on my bike tomorrow.

Can you post a pic? I'm not sure to what you are referring.

 I've had a few spoke-related issues in my 25 years of cycling. First one was the rear wheel on my first proper road bike (1998-2012, rip). I was going up a really steep climb in the wrong gear and the spoke literally pulled out of the rum. Guys at the bike shop said they'd never seen anything like it. My second one was a busted spoke on my cross-Canada cycling trip; had to ride 12km with a wonky wheel back to the nearest town to get it fixed. And lastly, I had to get the rear wheel on my current bike )2011-present) replaced last year as the rims were cracked after a decade of use.

 I've been fairly puncture-free since I switched to Continental Gatorskin tyres in 2008, even more so since I switched to 28s (thinking of going even thicker). I've had a few flats here and there. One involved a two-cm diameter hole being sliced out of the tyre by god-knows-what while cycling from Banff to Lake Louise (and then on to Jasper). Thankfully, I had enough tube patches to close the hole in the tyre but sticking all my patches on the inside. Another one was a mystery flat in 2008 where I woke up to find both my tyres completely flat, but had no issues after I pumped them up again.


Also: 90km yesterday in 4 hours and 17 minutes. Not bad for my third ride of the year. The wind was crazy and I had a lovely 15km section of tail wind... before I had to turn around and had 15km of brutal headwind. It was a good ride, though. It's been raining a bit and, according to the forecast, I probably won't be back out on the bike again until late next week sometime.

Total this year so far: 223km

[YellowJersey]

102km today in 4 hours 41 minutes. Came home and had three burgers and a large fries for dinner.

 I also ordered a pair of "cat ears" for my helmet. They claim to reduce wind noise and my current helmet straps make the wind noise nearly unbearable. I'll report my findings when they arrive. Anyone else have any ideas for reducing wind noise while on the bike? https://www.cat-ears.com/

 

Total this year so far: 325km

Edit: Tested out a DIY idea I had to reduce wind noise. I took some foam "noodles" (for lack of a better term) that were about the diameter of my finger and zip tied them to my helmet straps. It actually worked alright. It was a bit of torture test due to some pretty strong winds (I hit 69kmph (nice) going down a big hill on another 102km ride today).

Total this year so far: 427km

[8tg]

it’s getting easier, I’m still fat and this still hurts but it did not take long at all to get my cardio back in order

 

yesterday I went too hard and had a bad time wheezing in the woods because I did not stop or slow down and just forced myself to go full tilt for like 5 miles straight which was dumb as hell

because I got to this point:

and while taking that picture couldn’t hear anymore and couldn’t breathe enough, so I just sorta agonized there for a bit before casually cursing around the forest floor 

the cruising around the forest floor part was super fun, but I need to remind myself to take breaks and not full sprint in 18th gear for miles at a time 

 

[RollyShed]

7 hours ago, 8tg said:

it’s getting easier, I’m still fat and this still hurts but it did not take long at all to get my cardio back in order

Looking at the previous pictures of your bike, are you very short? The seat looked very low.

Also toe clips might help. I dislike immensely riding without them.

They do not need to be tight and even those without straps help a lot.