Official GRM Cycling Thread

Wasn't sure if anyone else here was into cycling (mountain, downhill, or road... doesn't matter). Was going to search but then I didn't. Anyways I have a few bikes... my mountain bike is a '13 Trek Mamba, my road bike is a '94 Cannondale R400 with a '14 Shimano Sora groupset & Mavic CXP22's, & my fixed gear is a no name track frame with Mavic CXP22's, a Brooks saddle, lasco crank (saving up for an Omnium), Dura-Ace front brake w/cane creek lever, Zipp stem, & FSA bullhorns. So who else rides & what do you sink money into

My favorite, and only non-wally world, was a D-Back kalamar, until I lost it down a waterfall.

Now I have the hideous Walmart fixie in black, red, and yellow. But I have painted the bar and fork black so the only red/yellow left is the rims/tires. The only reason I bought it is that it is so simple the trained monkeys they have assembling them can't berkeley them up too much. So far the upgrades have been limited to grips and a seat.

My usual ride is my SE Floval Flyer, a 24-inch BMX cruiser. It's stock aside from the S&M Gay Bars. I need to get my road bike back on the road, too. It's a 1986 Canondale SR400 that I built while in high school.

neon4891 wrote: until I lost it down a waterfall.

Spill beans.

I have a '98 Univega hardtail mtn bike I use for trail and road riding as well as it being my pit bike ;) That is the subtle way of saying I only own one bike and it's pretty old.

It's a little short on gear to keep up with the road bikes out on the flats but... I have 1300' of elevation change on a typical ride so I usually keep up just fine. It rocks on tight single track climbs thru the woods and it's never made me carry it home so... all win.

In the stable:

• 80s Bianchi something or other (Top tube decals are long gone). Reynolds cromo, suntour downtube shifters, mismatch wheels, shimano crankset...your basic mutt - its in the same basic spec that I bought it in, minus tires and tubes and bartape, and the titanium Felt saddle, but the frame was what I was after - for $50, it was a no brainer

• Bridgestone MB1 rigid Hardtail - $35 garage sale find. Again, the cromo frame was what I was after - the Shimano drivetrain is in bad shape, but that doesnt matter. It will eventually undergo major surgery to convert it to a single speed...NO, not a fixie, but a freewheeling single speed, with 1 rear brake. "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" - Leonardo Di Vinci

• I still have my Premium Products 20" freestyle bike with S&M ditchforks, T1 hirise bars, profile SS crank arms on a FSA sealed euro BB, Odyssey Hazzard hubs in BFR 48 spoke rims. I barely ever touch the BMX monster anymore, but I still want to put some lighter forks and bars on the thing, and a cassette rear hub with a low profile drivetrain...cuz real men have 20 inchers

In reply to David S. Wallens:

I want a BMX cruiser really bad. I think I'm too heavy for one right now.

I've started riding a bike again for the exercise (see the dieting thread). Right now I have 4 bikes: a mid 90's bike store Mongoose Threshold basic mountain bike, a Pacific "Schwinn" S-25 mountain bike, and two mid 90's Robinson Rebel 20" BMX bikes. I bought the Mongoose and one of the Robinson bikes back when I had a paper route. One was my "DD" and the other was my "sports car". I broke the rear hub on the Robinson years ago and never fixed it, mainly because I got a car.

I picked up the S-25 a few years ago, and I've been riding that lately, although it needs some adjustments here and there because it was assembled at Target. The 2nd Robinson was a $6.99 purchase at Savers that I couldn't pass up, and needs to be cleaned up, but rides well. I remember paying $175 for my other one!

I have an All-City Cycles Macho Man, a Jamis Dakota Pro hardtail mountain bike and a Wike Super Cargo Trike. I don't ride nearly enough, in fact I haven't ridden my mountain bike since I left MN last fall. I've got to fix a stuck rear brake caliper before I ride it.

I've been commuting on a singlespeed converted Specialized Hardrock circa 1999 for the last 8 or so years. Did the conversion because I was living in Chicago (flat) at the time and my drivetrain all rusted to oblivion. Now I finally have a little more disposable income so I kept the commuter and picked up a Bikesdirect I've been lusting after for a long time - Fantom Ti Team, so a titanium frame cross bike with 11 speed Ultegra group and BB7 road mechanical discs. I swapped to SPD road pedals (A600), Vittoria Voyager Hyper 700x35 tires, and my Charge Spoon saddle from the Specialized. I've never owned a nice bike like this and I'm loving it, riding on a mix of road and dirt/gravel trails. It is sexy too with brushed bare metal finish and very minimal branding. I need to snap a pic sometime.

2012 Cannondale Quick CX that seems to do everything really well, '93 Specialized Hardrock FS (for friends to ride), '96 Cannondale Delta V in pieces, and an early 70s Lambert road bike that was my dad's and is currently a single speed.

I used to bike to work on nice days, but anymore I'm lucky to even get out in the neighborhood.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote:

neon4891 wrote: until I lost it down a waterfall.

Spill beans.

From the last bike thread

Ok, so... The first year I had the bike I didn't have much opportunity to do any more than up and down the road. The next spring I finally get the chance to take it out and I go to a local state park, Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca. I park and start riding up the road to the upper falls. At one point I stop to get some pictures so I had the bike on the kick stand. A gust of wind knocked it over and into the water and down the falls it went as this was at the height of the spring thaw. I almost jumped in after it but I hesitated as my new iPhone was on my pocket and my warranty didn't include water damage. Had I jumped in I would likely have died, and I doubt my wife wanted to become a widow after 2 weeks.

I have a 99 Bianchi Veloce. Its a steel frame road bike with 8 speed shifters and full Campognolo components. I bought it from the original owner who had it on a trainer inside for the last six years. It has a little rust on the frame but other than that rock solid. It rides pretty well but still in the process of finding the ideal saddle height.

I'm predominantly a mountain biker. I have a Cannondale Rush 4 for three season riding and a 1994 Cannondale Delta V set up for riding on frozen lakes with studded Hakkapeliittas.

A couple of years ago, I bought a Trek Alpha road bike, but riding on the street didn't take for me. It's only got about 200 miles on it. It's the only bike that I've bought brand new since 1986. I've been thinking about throwing it on Craigslist.

I also have a bunch of Schwinn Stingrays from the 60s and 70s.

I've been commuting to work almost exclusively on my bicycle for the last few months since the ride from the new place is by far the best that I've encountered here in Lexington. My bike is an old Fuji Del Rey road bike I picked up at a garage sale for $30 over a decade ago. I've replaced most everything but the frame and handlebars at this point (and the shifters... really need to get brake-mounted ones and lose the original drop-frame shifters...) and wouldn't trade it for anything newer. I've also got a mountain bike I picked up for a similar price that is going to be what I'll switch over to when the weather gets too nasty in the winter for the thin road tires on the Del Rey.

Silverfleet, I love my cruiser. It's like a BMX but just the right size.

If I were shopping again, I'd probably spring for this: http://www.planetbmx.com/shop/complete-bikes/24-bmx/2014-se-racing-floval-flyer-retro-looptail-bike-tan.html

In reply to David S. Wallens:

That thing is rad. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a cheap cruiser. And they make 26" sizes too? Cool.

I have an early 00's Specialized RockHopper. It's pretty basic. I haven't been on it all year. I need a tune up and the crank bearing is making a clacking noise, so I need that looked at too.

I mainly ride Rail Trails seeing that there are quite a few around these parts.

SilverFleet wrote: In reply to David S. Wallens: That thing is rad. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a cheap cruiser. And they make 26" sizes too? Cool.

I got to ride a 26" BMX style bike at a redbull event several years back - brand was called Dobermann, but I dont know if theyre still in production. I was still very active in BMX back then, doing a lot of skatepark and street riding. I was expecting the thing to have wonky balance and behave oddly. They let me loose in the skatepark with their demo bike, and the thing had almost the same feel as my Premium 20" frame. Balance was great, easy to control, front end popped up with ease, and I could manual it for a mile. Completely changed my perception of cruiser/26ers, for the better.

Great bike, would ride again

SilverFleet wrote: In reply to David S. Wallens: That thing is rad. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a cheap cruiser. And they make 26" sizes too? Cool.

They do 29-inch BMX cruisers, too.

Woo! I used to bike all the time. Mtn and road. At first on an old GT rebound hard tail, I think it was a few years before they were bought out and turned into a walmart brand. Even so it was a cheap bike and it was too small for me because I got it in middle school. I upgraded to a trek liquid full suspension bike, rode it quite a bit. I started road biking then on a borrowed old Raleigh super gran prix which was pretty awesome then upgraded to a trek 5200 or something like that. I don't remember exactly but it was the cheaper carbon fiber one. That was like 10 years ago, the bike is mostly unchanged except a wheel that broke and a couple other things that got mangled in a crash. I still have the bikes but I mostly only use the road bike now on a trainer.

I have a few bikes:

2002 Giant TCR Composite 1 w/ Campagnolo Record

2009 Cannondale CAAD9 w/ Shimano 105

2010 Trek District single speed belt drive

2011 Electra Townie w/ 3 speed hub

I am a bit out of shape right now so I mostly ride the CAAD9, don't want to look like a Fred.

Looks like I'm going for another ride tonight with the wife and the dog.

before I can ride, I have to figure out what's wrong with the brakes on my Schwinn. The rears take a lot of effort to work, and the brake lever sticks. Probably some small adjustments needed. Like I said, it was put together by some acne-riddled kid at Target.

I have a late '80's USA-made Schwinn Probe ATB wearing road slicks. Last time I had it out was Saturday night, when the entire family rode in the Anthem Moonlight Ride. It was pretty cool--about 3500 riders got started around 8 pm on a course of city streets entirely closed to traffic. My elder son and I took the long course--17.3 miles. Different, and fun.

I'm a mtber at heart that got fat and moved to a very hot and humid area... I tried to go out MTBing in the middle of the day in summer and it took me almost 2 weeks to recover... I sold the frameset and built a touring bike lol.

current stable

'83 trek 560 25.5" (64ish cm) crit racing frame 501 Reynolds chromo frame, built up with late 90's ultegra drivetrain (soon to have campy shifters), a brooks b17, nitto noodle bar, and a $1000 DTswiss wheelset rolling on 32c tires ;-) oh and a weird look ergo stem that needs replaced with a nitto nitto technomic

my other bike is a surly disc trucker touring frame I built up with parts from the 29er I sold the frame from. Jones/titec H bars, SLX/deore mix build with shimano dual control shift/brakes, saddle is a brooks flyer (b17 with springs)... running 42c tires... this was back in my on the Katy trail in MO... got a bit wet and cold durring the trip... sucked as we expected nice solid 60-70 weather :-/

also have a '98 klein stage 63cm that needs a drivetrain and controls hanging in the garage, think I'm going to do a 1x9 drivetrain with mtb bars on it... only thing that sucks are 28c tires are tight on it and that's the smallest I feel comfortable riding with... also have a '85ish schwinn le tour hanging that needs to be sold... got it for next to nothing when I bought the trek frame... uses 120mm rear hub and a strange 98mm front that schwinn liked to use in the days of 27" wheels I guess

ImprobableConstruct wrote: 2011 Electra Townie w/ 3 speed hub I am a bit out of shape right now so I mostly ride the CAAD9, don't want to look like a Fred.

my wife has an electra townie... I LOVE riding that thing around the neighborhood :), hung out at a shop that sold em... they had a neat one that used skinny 700c tires... was such a strange ride as it was super upright and comfy but still felt so quick.

i need to get my behind out riding more... I'm not a morning person and this summer just has been painful to go ride... thankfully school is starting up again and temps should be going down so I should be able to catch rides while the kids are at school :)