Any cyclists out there?

joeyd said:
I'm a big flat pedal fan. When I was trying to learn how to ride a bike with clipless pedals I kept falling over at traffic lights. A bunch of times in front of people I knew. One time I fell over so slowly my wife had time to ask me what I was doing. I just panicked and forgot to twist my foot out. Some people seem to pick up the unclipping motion/reflex really quickly (not me). I see the benefits - consistent, locked-in foot position, applying power on the up-stroke - but I couldn't get habituated. You'll probably have no issues if you're used to toe-clips.
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Yea I actually think the flats are much more comfortable than I was anticipating, and didn't feel like a drastic loss of ability to really push the bike. That said, I still really like the feeling of being able to "pull" the pedals up, so I ordered some super basic Shimano mountain bike clips and cleats. We'll see how they compare.
 
I like mtb shoes more for pavement riding. Give those bigger tires some time before getting into upgrade loophole. I have 55mm slicks for road use and honestly they’re as fast as 23mm slicks were. And what a comfort bigger volume tires are on rugged pavement!
 
I was trying to PR a trail a few minutes ago. Had a pedal strike and almost missed a log. Almost. I'm pretty sure I ditched my bike and tried to roll over the log. I think I was successful - it happened very quickly. I have a large, angry stripe of road rash down my left side that very closely resembles the contours of the log (and a broken brake lever). But I'm pretty sure my bones and joints are intact and I didn't hit my head so I'm calling this a win. I took some ibuprofen to take the edge off the wound care I'm about to do.
 
Feral Feline said:
"...too much of them..." THAT'S WHAT I MEAN! TOO MANY!

You can't call it a "standard" when by definition ... there. is. no. standard.
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My rebuilding the Madone led me to this frustration. Especially with SRAM and the T47 bottom bracket.

I appreciate that Shimano and many manufacturers try to stick with a 24mm spindle diameter. But SRAM? Three different spindle standards, DUB, PF30, and GXW that I was completely unaware of. I won't get into it but the experience was irksome.
 
joeyd said:
I have trouble wrapping my head around the tire choices and pressures common in road cycling. The comfort from a slightly more aggressive tire tread and lower PSI (I ran 40ish) was so much more preferable to the marginal performance gain. And it didn't feel as hostile to my joints.
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Totally agree - no sense in rock-hard tires in this modern age of large-volume and tubeless.
jwyles90 said:
Yea I actually think the flats are much more comfortable than I was anticipating, and didn't feel like a drastic loss of ability to really push the bike. That said, I still really like the feeling of being able to "pull" the pedals up, so I ordered some super basic Shimano mountain bike clips and cleats. We'll see how they compare.
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Honestly the PD-M520 and -M540 are pretty much indestructible and for most people are more than enough. I ran the same pair of M520s on my hardtail since I was a teenager and only stopped cause I made a terrible mistake trying to service them (for the first time in 13 or 14 years) and damaged one. The Fog Cutter has M540s now which are pretty much as good as Deore XT at 69% of the price.
JohnnyCreepy said:
I like mtb shoes more for pavement riding.
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Same. The walkability is reason enough to go this route, and if you veer into gravel you'll be glad you had them.
Pauleo1214 said:
My rebuilding the Madone led me to this frustration. Especially with SRAM and the T47 bottom bracket.

I appreciate that Shimano and many manufacturers try to stick with a 24mm spindle diameter. But SRAM? Three different spindle standards, DUB, PF30, and GXW that I was completely unaware of. I won't get into it but the experience was irksome.
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Don't even get me started on how Shimano's 24mm and FSA's 24mm are somehow different sizes. BB30/PF30 and their brethren were a mistake that should have never happened 😂
 
Pauleo1214 said:
My rebuilding the Madone led me to this frustration. Especially with SRAM and the T47 bottom bracket.

I appreciate that Shimano and many manufacturers try to stick with a 24mm spindle diameter. But SRAM? Three different spindle standards, DUB, PF30, and GXW that I was completely unaware of. I won't get into it but the experience was irksome.
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Bikers should unite and stop calling all these sundry specs "standards".


Italian-threaded BB-shells are a standard.
English-threaded BB-shells are a standard.
My old Zip, Bridgestone MB-0, had an unusual BB-shell, it was threadless and chamfered for a Mavic BB — NOT A "STANDARD".



MTB shoes for road-riding here as well. I've had quite the variety and some were super-slick looking, perfect for road-rides but with a MTB sole — handing for not going arse over teakettle in the coffeeshop for a mid- or post-ride pick-me-up.
 
I need to get back into road cycling. I picked up a 1980 Schwinn Le Tour (all steel, baby!) for $80 back in 2009 and rode the hell out of it until someone stole it from my shed just before covid. I wish I'd seen them trying to ride it without clip shoes lol.
 
Just had my first successful ride on the new “gravel bike”. About 5 miles on my local rail trail.

My first attempt yielded two flat tires in about 100 feet. Then I learned about upper pressure limits on vintage “hookless clincher” rims from the 60s / early 70s. Currently running 70 psi per the recommendation of some other niche hobby forum.

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Erik S said:
Just had my first successful ride on the new “gravel bike”. About 5 miles on my local rail trail.

My first attempt yielded two flat tires in about 100 feet. Then I learned about upper pressure limits on vintage “hookless clincher” rims from the 60s / early 70s. Currently running 70 psi per the recommendation of some other niche hobby forum.
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Ooooh I love the look of that bike! Bummer to hear about the two flats. I'm still wrapping my head around different psi recommendations and all that. Coming from pretty much strictly road biking I've always been of the mindset to just pump it up to it's max psi level and call it good 😅

I swapped the flat pedals on the Aspero out for some clipless mountainbike style pedals recently and it's been an adjustment for sure. Getting the hang of it pretty well on paved roads, but the idea of having my feet clipped in while on a more gravel only type ride still freaks me out.
 
jwyles90 said:
I swapped the flat pedals on the Aspero out for some clipless mountainbike style pedals recently and it's been an adjustment for sure. Getting the hang of it pretty well on paved roads, but the idea of having my feet clipped in while on a more gravel only type ride still freaks me out.
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Back when I did a lot of biking I ran spd clipless on my road and mountain bikes. I fell over a couple times coming to a stop the first week, but after that the disengage motion was second nature even during crashes on the mountain bike. If you're putting in serious miles it's totally worth it.

Right now my priorities are a little different - I'm more excited about having a bike I can take to the hardware store without having to change my shoes. It's a little like how if I keep my guitar in the case I'll play it way less than if I keep it on the stand.
 
Erik S said:
Back when I did a lot of biking I ran spd clipless on my road and mountain bikes. I fell over a couple times coming to a stop the first week, but after that the disengage motion was second nature even during crashes on the mountain bike. If you're putting in serious miles it's totally worth it.

Right now my priorities are a little different - I'm more excited about having a bike I can take to the hardware store without having to change my shoes. It's a little like how if I keep my guitar in the case I'll play it way less than if I keep it on the stand.
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Yea I feel that. My old Raleigh has now turned into my "tool around town/general commuter" type bike, so no fancy shoes for that one. I tried taking the pedals off to put the flats that came with the Aspero on, but those suckers seem to have fused to the crank arm or something cause they did not want to budge.
 
There's also the hybrid pedals, one side SPD, the other side flats.

I ran those for a short time on my MTB, thinking for the really sketchy bits with a high-regret factor, I could unclip and stand on the flat side.
ALAS, the cleats on the bottom of the shoes and their hard-rubber soles made trying to stand on the flat-sides even more perilous than staying clipped in.

Perfectly good option for a commuter/training bike, though. Clip in for longer rides, wear regular sneakers for the trips to the store.

SmimanoPD-324-1_1024x1024 clipless-flats.jpeg
 
Tire change went well as I ended up cutting rear tire off with a hobbyknife. Gonna head north tomorrow and have too much work to do with straightening derailler hanger, changing new bars as old were bent, centering discs, putting new tires on, hoping tubeless taping will hold etc. Wish me luck. :D
 
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