Who here bikes (pedals)?

knucklehead

knucklehead

Active member
I have goofed an aging GT Avalanche 3.0 - it is my primary mode of transport, used mostly on street but I have cantons to ride in as well so the geometry works for where I live and where I can ride.

I ditched ALL suspension, and converted from a 3x9 to a 1x9. REALLY tough on the trail side. Contemplating a 1x11, but I may need a different frame to execute.

Anyone else?
 
I used to do a lot of cycling. When I was in grad school (longer ago than I would like to believe) I got rid of my crappy old truck and used my bike for 100% of my transportation for about 3 years. In that time I also did a lot of road cycling - I'd do about 150 or so miles during the week and then on Saturday I did a group ride with friends anywhere from 40 to 100 miles (usually around 60 or so). I was in the best shape of my life! In jr. high, high school, and my first year of college I raced BMX, so I have a long history with bikes.

Then I got a girlfriend, then I got a car, then I got married and now I haven't ridden my bike in ages. It's been probably close to 5 years since I've even touched my bike and I stopped riding serious miles probably 5 years before that. So I have gotten extremely fat and complacent and lazy, and it's a tough rock to get out from under.

I still have my bikes: a Bianchi Volpe (which is decked out as a commuter) and a Gunnar Roadie (which is my schnazzy road bike). I need to take a day to go through them, tune them up, and see if anything needs to be replaced. Luckily I'm a competent mechanic so I don't have to pay for others to work on them, but I am feeling like I may bring it in to a shop to have them do the work just because I seem to be using my laziness as an excuse to not ride: "I don't have time to fix it so I guess I'll just never ride again!" :ROFLMAO:
 
peccary said:
"I don't have time to fix it so I guess I'll just never ride again!" :ROFLMAO:
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:ROFLMAO:

I did most of the work on the mods - I DID rely on the expertise of others to get that last 5% that ALWAYS hangs fire.

I get 5-7 miles a day in 6 days a week - doesn't sound like much, but my corner of SoCal has killer hills. I was on the fence with how much or if I'd like a 1x . . . turns out I do, but I lost decent trail climbing and I think I can get that back with a bigger cassette.

IMG_7151.jpg

I AM 62 yo - having no suspension keeps me from doing trails I ought not. Mostly.
 
knucklehead said:
:ROFLMAO:

I did most of the work on the mods - I DID rely on the expertise of others to get that last 5% that ALWAYS hangs fire.

I get 5-7 miles a day in 6 days a week - doesn't sound like much, but my corner of SoCal has killer hills. I was on the fence with how much or if I'd like a 1x . . . turns out I do, but I lost decent trail climbing and I think I can get that back with a bigger cassette.

View attachment 10421

I AM 62 yo - having no suspension keeps me from doing trails I ought not. Mostly.
Click to expand...
Right on, looks like you've got yourself a pretty sweet commuter there!

Here's my commuter:
bike2.jpg

And here's my road bike:

bike1.jpg
 
Yeah I've got a full squish LaPierre. 1x11. It's a massive orange thing and I love it.

I go out to Woodhill Forest and Rotorua semi-frequently (or used to before covid) and hit the trails there.
 
BurntFingers said:
I go out to Woodhill Forest and Rotorua semi-frequently (or used to before covid) and hit the trails there.
Click to expand...

You win - I will NEVER complain about my hills again.

o.0

fwiw I have canyon trails that give me 8 miles to the Pacific. GREAT ride.

Still rolling 26" wheels - if I decide I HAVE to do an 11 speed cassette I'll pony up for 27.5's. The frame I have will support them. 29ers aren't 'nimble' enough for the street riding I do.
 
A remote dropper post will make way more difference than anything else. Those things are game changers for xc riding.

Saying that I went from 3x10 to 1x10 on my last bike and bought an expanded cassette (more teeth as well as less teeth at the extremes). That was pretty cool. Made me wonder why 3 cogs up front was ever a thing.
 
BurntFingers said:
A remote dropper post will make way more difference than anything else. Those things are game changers for xc riding.

Saying that I went from 3x10 to 1x10 on my last bike and bought an expanded cassette (more teeth as well as less teeth at the extremes). That was pretty cool. Made me wonder why 3 cogs up front was ever a thing.
Click to expand...

Not so sure my frame will support a dropper post - weather is just getting good so I'll be hitting the trails more often. That'll be the tell.

I popped for a 9 speed recumbent rear cassette - 9-32 - and have a 42 on front. As I said I am mostly street. I never thought I'd miss my granny gear, but the 32 leaves me wanting for more teeth in back on off-road climbs. The 11 speed cassette I am considering is a 9-46 - I think that's the magic sauce.
 
I have a lot of bikes hanging up in the rafters of my old workshop space in chicago where I used to build steel frames, but since moving to Toronto I'm down to my commuter (a bridgestone RB-T with a wald and flat bars), and my "go-fast" (though I do not go fast at all any more) 650B / large-ish tire / gravel / etc thing, which is sram red22 hydro on a frame and fork I built myself.

Bikes rule.
 
I have a small fleet, but still not quite enough for everything I like to do.

My most recent purchase was fulfilling a life-long dream to get a track bike. Borrowed a colleague's bike to get my license. It was a long road, and an even longer story. Every time I got close, I moved to area without a track or the track was shut down... etc.

Anyway... commuting, MTBing, crits, SS, tandem-MTB racing, touring, track... if it's got pedals I'm interested (including hand-cranked wheelchairs)...👩‍🦽


@ knucklehead Those tires you have are similar to my favourite commuter tire. For a job I had, I would lock up my bike at a gas station highly visible to the workers and vehicle traffic, then I'd get picked up by the work truck. End of day dropped off at the gas station. Well, one day when I got back $%^&* thieves managed to get my rear wheel. Broad daylight. In front of gas attendants and customers ... It was my junker commuter, I didn't mourn the loss of the wheel as I had other junk wheels to spare, but that one tire was worth more than the entire bike.

🚴‍
Cheers,
FF
 
Feral Feline said:
I have a small fleet, but still not quite enough for everything I like to do.

My most recent purchase was fulfilling a life-long dream to get a track bike. Borrowed a colleague's bike to get my license. It was a long road, and an even longer story. Every time I got close, I moved to area without a track or the track was shut down... etc.

Anyway... commuting, MTBing, crits, SS, tandem-MTB racing, touring, track... if it's got pedals I'm interested (including hand-cranked wheelchairs)...👩‍🦽


@ knucklehead Those tires you have are similar to my favourite commuter tire. For a job I had, I would lock up my bike at a gas station highly visible to the workers and vehicle traffic, then I'd get picked up by the work truck. End of day dropped off at the gas station. Well, one day when I got back $%^&* thieves managed to get my rear wheel. Broad daylight. In front of gas attendants and customers ... It was my junker commuter, I didn't mourn the loss of the wheel as I had other junk wheels to spare, but that one tire was worth more than the entire bike.

🚴‍
Cheers,
FF
Click to expand...
the attendant did it
 
My day job is bike repair/building but I'll be honest I'm more into technician stuff than I am actually cycling. I'm definitely the least kitted out in my shop, my bike is entirely made of spares and parts customers didn't want.
 
Dumb question but does anybody here have access to a 3d printer and or is willing to modify some Sram wireless blips?

I am using them to install wireless shifting on a rim brake bike (Look KG386).

They are designed to fit on clips that are put on the handlebars. I want to incorporate them into the brake levers some way but there is no good way to do so.

1000108268.jpg

1000108269.jpg
 
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