Any cyclists? Recreation, commuting, racing, mtn or road

My friend has a Superlight and it's a nice rig as well - his size medium is a good pound lighter than my XL Blur.

My Ti hardtail was the only bike I had for several years, and while it is a good bike and would be good for a shorter distance race (10-15 miles) on longer "epic" rides my friend and I were doing I was just getting beat up. So I took a leap and got my first full suspension bike - a Gary Fisher Sugar (2003) and while it was a good bike, it was a bit on the heavy side and the suspension action tended to bob alot, and the "Genesis" geometry didn't fit me that well. So I sold the Sugar frame and bought a Blur frame (didn't even test ride one first - a big no no) built it up with the parts from the Sugar and can honestly say I've never ridden a bike that fits me so well, and rides so nice.

Even though the Blur is about 5 pounds heavier than my Ti hardtail, I can tell a huge difference in my speed on the trails, I can corner faster and can go through technical and rough sections much faster.

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Originally Posted by 2Bhumble

I decided to try a comfort bike. I got this Raleigh for Christmas. My wife got one too. I was skeptical on comfort bikes but glad I got it. I have taken it out and "punished" it a few times. It's currently a muddy mess. It's a good climber too.

Great bike...even when a muddy mess.

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The ultimate XC rig would be the Gary Fisher Suger 29'ner. 29'ners can roll over just about anything that would stop a 26 inch wheel, have increased traction with their greater footprint and when combined with their race proven dual suspension and now SRAM component group, are unstoppable.



fallen^sparrow

ps: I'm still hardnosed about my hardtail though....

hey wheres the tri thread gone?.... i have one on sunday

Hey ed!

Happy Birthday to you and good luck in your Tri this weekend! It's still cold, windy here so outdoor activities aren't alot of fun. Get some rest and enjoy your pre-race ^taper over the next couple days.

I'm not working in the bikeshop till tonight... so I'm off cycling this morning!

fallen^sparrow

Wow everyone, I don't know if your weather has been as good as it's been here in upstate NY, but it's just been beautiful, and next week should prove even better with possible sun and 70s Had the most incredible ride home tonight ... clear sky, stars out, mostly tailwind (for once ... rare since I'm riding mostly west coming home), and just a slower paced, relaxing ride ... absolute bliss!

Well Nate, I'm not sure if you say my post 2 posts ago where I gave the death sentence to my rim (which I've pounded into a relatively round shape), but in it I was making fun of the Suzue hub on my Centurion .... oh boy .... I ate my foot when I saw them in my catalog with a fixed/freehub track hub AND tandem hub. And here I thought they were a no-name brand from Japan ... oops. Oh man, I wish Surly would get their New Hub fixie/free in stock, or QBP that is, I'm so excited to go single/fixed gear ... I've been trying to pick the right gear and I think 53/18 will do it (or 39/13 which is close, QBP doesn't have a 18 tooth track cog in stock).


Well ... it's late, I have to go to bed. Ed, my best wishes on your triatholon! Kick butt!!! And post your results!

dan

Heh, ya really. Its pretty hard to tell the good stuff from the rest, I've had similar experiences where "junk" turned into "gold" ... amazing what perception does to the way one puts a value on something. I wonder what kinda bikes/parts 50 years from now will be worth something and what others will be considered trash? Will anything "carbon" or assembly line mass produced be worth anything? We had a guy bring in an old green "John Deere" bicycle and wanted it fixed up. I believe its almost worthless ... maybe I shouldn't be so sure though, heh ... right?

I had the day off so went riding this afternoon. Gusty winds in excess of 75 km/hr ... fun as you can imagine. Maybe things will improve tonight for tomorrow. Any plans for the weekend?

fallen^sparrow

Spring cycling season is under way in Texas.....today I did a little 23 mile ride that was part of a tour in Granbury, near Ft. Worth.....I would have done one of the longer rides, but frankly, I'm not in shape yet and I have a bunch of yardwork to do, so I needed to get back.....anyway, it was an ideal day, sunny and in the 60's....country roads, rolling hills, pastures, woods, wildflowers, and homemade cookies at the rest stops!.......

Lutherrunner, spring cycle season is just underway? I imagine it started awhile ago ... season for us in upstate NY has really gotten underway, probably last weekend, now that we've had some good weather in the mid-60s to low-70s. Sounded like a fantastic ride with the country roads and .... ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm .... homemade cookies ...... (where's the drooling smilie?)

John Deere bike? That's sooooooooooo cool. Yeah, sometimes that junk truly is gold. You remember the ... oh shoot, who was the sponser ..... 7-11 maybe? But, they were 7-11 (if I remember right) Huffy road bikes for some professional team. You think Huffy made those bikes? Nope ... they were Serotta's. Or the LeMond Alpe d'Huez that LeMond had for his Tour de France team back in 1991, which were really Calfee's (or Carbonframes as they were known in those days). Sometimes ... the name on the frame is just that ... a name.

Wow ... you know ... John Deere has been in the bike business for a wee bit longer than I would have imagined. "Deere & Company first entered the bicycle business in 1894" http://www.deere.com/en_US/compinfo/...roductinfo.pdf

So who knows ... that John Deere could a gem ... or maybe it's just garbage. I don't think the Centurion is all that far off from the later category, but it's turned out to be a gem in it's own because it has proven to be a fantastic work horse commuter bike

Wow man ... you gotta do something about that wind ... you should see if you can put a giant bubble around the area where you're riding or something. Well .... then again, wind is like a constant uphill, it'll help build your strength up, and next time there's no wind, you'll be flying!!!! I guess my rides have been better. Mostly bike path so I'm sheltered from the wind, and absolutely gorgeous weather. I took some pics last night/evening:

http://truevine.net/~vandeda@truevine.net/Ride/

Tomorrow got church in the morning, then youth leader training from 1-6 pm, then helping my friend put his docks in and hopefully boat in ... hopefully in preparation for a little camping on a small island by his house that we call "goose poop island" I really hope we go camping, what an incredible day that would be. One helping my friend pull the motor & swap parts onto his new motor in his '67 Mustang (sweeeeeeeeet car), then camping as long as the weather holds out.

I imagine that now the weather has been improving, you're probably out there a lot Nate, training for races, huh? I imagine you're out there everyday ... riding ... riding ... and a little more riding. Make sure to stop and smell the flowers too at some point Any other plans for the weekend?

Enjoy the rides and the remainder of the weekend!

Great pictures Dan... Thanks for sharing! Amazing the way being in a car can ruin a trip... even the shortest "drive" by bike can be a wonderful awe inspiring experience. That same "boring" stretch of road by car comes to life with sounds, smells and sights everyone misses sitting sealed in their vehicles traveling 110 km/hour. I sighed up today for a 3 day tour in the mountains 7 hours from where I live... along with 17 other cackling roadies/ex-racers/masters. Should be a blast... a real mixed bag of personalities.

We had another large group ride this morning in gusty coolish conditions. Everything went reasonably well considering the large cross section of ages/skills/experience/conditions. We had two small crashes with riders going down. Things can get pretty sketchy under such circumstances. Busy day at the shop afterwards with a record number of bikes sold and STEADY stream of bike repairs/equipment upgrades/bike accessories being sold. Tomorrow we have several group rides planned throughout the day, hopefully the weather is good and the winds are low~.

Have you ever kayaked? I have a sea kayak... great for touring and day trips. Road^bikes for the water... fast, nimble and can carry alot.

Hope you have a great evening Dan and warm Sunday enjoying church and friendships.

fallen^sparrow

ps: I may have to have another look at that green John Deere "tractor" bike ... and make the guy an "offer."