On yer bike!

Mike1973 · Oct 1, 2009

A lucky escape! Hope you are recovering well Chris and that it hasn't put you off cycling!

kampkatz · Oct 1, 2009

Teresa, happy to hear that your son should recover fully. The driver's insurance should replace the bike.

Trickeration · Oct 1, 2009

Thanks guys! Chris is doing quite well now. We are all in favor of the proper safety gear, too, and this has given us the chance to show many of Chris's friends just how important the "uncool" helmet is. Now even the ones who didn't wear them before have them.

Actually, far from turning Chris off of cycling, he's gotten more involved since the accident. He's now preparing for his first race and wanting to try his hand at triathlons (he's already also competitive swimmwer and has timed very fast as a runner during dry-land practices). He is still pretty shy of riding along a street with cars, even when there's a bike path, but I don't blame him on that one. You can never be sure what the drivers are doing.

My husband replaced the Diamondback with a new Scattante that weighs only 18 pounds. It's a bit scary to me because it feels like a good breeze would blow you right over. I'll post a picture tonight when Rob gets home.

Being into vintage, my dream is to own something like one of the great bikes I've seen on this thread. Right now my regular ride is a '92 Giant mountain bike, currently sporting road tires, and for vintage a '62 Motobecane touring bike that was given to us. Here's a pic of me cleaning the Motobecane (my hair is in rolls preparing for a night at Cicada). Pardon the mess around me, it was one of those major bike cleaning/repairing days.

Lamplight · Oct 18, 2009

Ah, a thread about bicycles: My favorite thing! My favorite type of bicycle is the French custom cyclo-touring bikes from the 1930s onward. To me, nothing else combines utility with beauty so well:

And the porteur bikes, for around town. Note the stout front rack, designed to support as much as 110 pounds, while still being elegant:

Unfortunately, these bikes are rarer than hen's teeth. They were finely crafted, superbly finished fully integrated machines that were very expensive at times when most people didn't have much money. The frames were custom tailored to fit the particular customer. The wiring for the lights often ran inside the frame tubes. The racks and in some cases, even the stem, front derailleur, cranks, and brakes were all custom made. The bikes were well designed for whatever type of riding they would be used for. Most were designed to handle well with a front load, as handlebar bags were popular in France at the time. Try finding a modern bike that can be ridden no-handed with 20 pounds in a high-mounted bag. Also, try to find a modern bike that does that, while being made of steel, with fenders, a generator, lights, and a frame pump that weighs under 25 pounds and can take years of abuse riding over cobblestone streets and unpaved trails, while often carrying 20+ pounds. Needless to say, when they turn up in the U.S. they are astronomically expensive. Luckily, with careful parts selection on a decent, but more common bike, one can sort of replicate at least the look, somewhat. Which is what I've done with my favorite bike, a 1983 Univega Specialissima touring bike:

Carlisle Blues · Oct 18, 2009

Lamplight said:
Try finding a modern bike that can be ridden no-handed with 20 pounds in a high-mounted bag. Also, try to find a modern bike that does that, while being made of steel, with fenders, a generator, lights, and a frame pump that weighs under 25 pounds and can take years of abuse riding over cobblestone streets and unpaved trails, while often carrying 20+ pounds.

I do not think you can find one. The steel frames I have seen start weighing in at 27+ pounds/12.2469 kg before any accessories.

Lamplight · Oct 19, 2009

Carlisle Blues said:
I do not think you can find one. The steel frames I have seen start weighing in at 27+ pounds/12.2469 kg before any accessories.

Exactly. My lightest steel bike is this:

It weighs just a hair over 22 pounds (not with that seat, though) with no provisions for racks or bags of any kind, nor pump, lights, or fenders. Some of the finest steel constucteur bikes of the 30s and 40s weighed that little with lights, fenders, and a pump, and considerably larger tires. The Univega I posted above weighs about 26-27 pounds without the racks, fenders, or bag. A decent, modern steel frame may weigh around 4 pounds or slightly less, and I imagine the best frames from that era were similar if not a little heavier. Chromoly steel really hasn't changed that much in 70 years. But the components were considerably lighter. If you hold a vintage brake lever in your hand, and then pick up a modern one (without integrated shifters), you'll be astounded how heavy the modern one it, despite being mostly plastic. Also, there were a couple of French makers from that period who were using aluminum for their frames, and some of those bikes weighed a hair under 20 pounds fully equipped.

Carlisle Blues · Oct 19, 2009

While i do not have a Road bike, mine weighs roughly 23 pounds even with the shocks, but the frame is aluminum. The fork is of the uni-fork design I then attached a heavy duty carrier for my panniers. TYhe fastest I was clocked at was 37 MPH/59.55 km/h on a flat street surface.

It just has a different purpose than the Road bike. However, I keep it in the back of my mind to get a road bike.

Lamplight · Oct 19, 2009

If you went 37mph with mountain bike tires, then you would FLY on a road bike! The fastest I ever managed with mtb tires was about 36, and that was when I was about 14 and very fit. Now I'd be lucky to hit 30 on my fastest road bike.

Just can't spin the old legs like I used to.

Carlisle Blues · Oct 20, 2009

I use tubeless tires and the resistance is low. The tires are not the knobby, chunky normal mountain bike tires.

BellyTank · Oct 20, 2009

Slick tyres make my mountain bike liveable on the road- it makes such a difference over the knobbly ones. Not so good in winter.

I've gone insanely fast down-hill but nothing exciting on the flat-
not enough gear.

B
T

Carlisle Blues · Oct 21, 2009

^
^

Exactly the gears. Here are the specs. Cannondale Jekyll 1000

I also changed the saddle out for a Brooks B17 Titanium Honey colored.

Frame Jekyll
Fork HeadShok Lefty Max, TPC+, Ti spring
Rear Shock Manitou Swinger SPV w/3-way air
Rims Mavic XM819 disc, 24 hole
Hubs Cannondale Lefty front, Cannondale Wind disc rear
Spokes DT Champion
Tires Hutchinson Scorpion Light UST, 26 x 2.0"
Pedals Shimano PD-M520
Crank Shimano M510, 22/32/44
Chain Shimano 9-speed
Rear Cogs SRAM PG-970, 11-34
Bottom Bracket Shimano Octalink
Front Derailleur Shimano LX
Rear Derailleur Shimano XT
Shifters Shimano XT dual control
Handlebars Cannondale Fire riser
Stem Cannondale HeadShok Si
Headset Cannondale HeadShok Si
Brakeset Shimano XT
Brakelevers Shimano XT
Saddle Fi'zi:k Plateau
Seat Post Cannondale Competition
Colors Jet Black (matte) (BBQ).
Sizes S, M, L, XL

Lamplight · Oct 21, 2009

That is definitely one sweet bike! (and as you can see from my bike, I'm a Brooks fan

) Even moderately smooth mtb tires make a world of difference over ones with huge knobs. But you would still almost definitely be even faster on a road bike. The fastest I ever managed was 44mph on my mountain bike with completely slick street tires, going down the largest hill I could find around here. After the high 30s I couldn't even pedal anymore anyway, so those last few miles per hour were just gravity doing it's thing. lol That was years ago when I was young and in really good shape. In more recent years the best I could do was 34mph on the road bike I posted above. However, that was on a flat road, not a hill. Not sure I could do that now, though. On my 45 pound commuter I'd be very lucky to even hit 20 on a flat.

Carlisle Blues · Oct 22, 2009

I know and the thing is I am more into the street now than ever..It varies with the mood I am in and the time available. The flat stuff was Florida in the summer ........ short spin 25 mi/ 40.23 km.

I am back up in the Northeast again and the workout is totally different. It is more weight training than cycling, due to the weather, however, I was very much into spinning at the gym. That is a workout !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alexi · Oct 23, 2009

Carlisle Blues said:
I do not think you can find one. The steel frames I have seen start weighing in at 27+ pounds/12.2469 kg before any accessories.

my Hot Tubes weighs 19.5 (no carbon fork) with fenders, and it's a size 58

"Chromoly steel really hasn't changed that much in 70 years."
tell that to Reynolds True Temper or Columbus. the thin wall tubing of today blows away even the old classics like 531.

Alexi · Oct 23, 2009

closest thing I have to a classic:
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8727/img0051tx.jpg

if anyone calls it a fixie, i'll smack you :rage:

classic in another sense (built by mike flanagan) she is now wall art
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9763/1000547q.jpg

Kinda the grandson of my paramount
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/1483/1000589s.jpg
grr the light is blurring out the decals in ever picture I have of her, she is a waterford

Silly carbon bike
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/281/1000677c.jpg
The porteur bike
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/6074/img0036go.jpg
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/3859/img0037oa.jpg

I used to have a problem
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/4861/1000514u.jpg
only action shot I have a on a bike, track standing with a pipe!
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/2933/1000799a.jpg

why do all my friends have beards?
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/4059/1000765v.jpg

Carlisle Blues · Oct 23, 2009

^
^
^
Nice bikes

Alexi said:
my Hot Tubes weighs 19.5 (no carbon fork) with fenders, and it's a size 58

"Chromoly steel really hasn't changed that much in 70 years."
tell that to Reynolds True Temper or Columbus. the thin wall tubing of today blows away even the old classics like 531.

Is Hot Tube frame composed of Carbon ?????

I understand the fork is steel....

BTW I used to go to Belmont Wheel Works all the time...until I got a little more proficient at maintaining my bikes ....now I usually go on online to order parts and equipment.

BinkieBaumont · Oct 23, 2009

"After copious research I think I will go with this, its affordable, striking and available,here"

Carlisle Blues · Oct 23, 2009

^
^
^
Great choice Binkie!!!! Do not forget a helmet [bad]

Alexi · Oct 23, 2009

whoops sorry about the huge pictures, thought i had hit the resize button. I've linked them instead

my hot tubes is an all steel randonee bike. I'll try to get some pictures of it this week, i'm surprised I couldn't find any.

oh and the hot tubes sticker on the cervelo might be confusing you, the cervelo was a hot tubes youth development team bike.

Lamplight · Oct 24, 2009

Alexi said:
"Chromoly steel really hasn't changed that much in 70 years."
tell that to Reynolds True Temper or Columbus. the thin wall tubing of today blows away even the old classics like 531.

That's true, I had forgotten about the latest from Reynolds, or things like Columbus Nemo, Brain, Genius, etc. Heck, my Bertoni is Columbus TSX, which is rifled and splined internally. I didn't even think about it. :eusa_doh:

In the 30s in France, a group of people started the "technical trials", which, instead of testing riders was meant to test bicycles. This lead to some great advancements in bicycles, and some of the participants were astonishingly lightweight. Rene Herse had a bike that weighed about 17.5 pounds including lights, fenders, racks, and a pump (and a bell). Alex Singer had one that weighed just over 15 pounds with all those things, but that weight does not include tires. These super light bikes were made just to win the trials and may not have been intended to withstand many years of hard riding, of course. But nearly all of them had steel frames, which leads me to believe that, even in the 30s and 40s chromoly was pretty advanced. Even with the extensively modified aluminum components, it would have been difficult to put together a sub-18 pound bike if it had an 8 pound steel frame. I'm not sure how much these frames weighed, but I'd guess the lightest ones almost had to weigh under 4 pounds, certainly under 4.5.

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