markinlondon
Elmar user
Steve Bellayr
Veteran
Does a bike class at a Health Club with women in tight fitting exercise clothes count?
RdEoSg
Well-known
thefsb said:
If you are going to make fun of the Professor, at least spell his name correctly please!
:bang: Sheeesh
Sorry, I'm a Tolkien geek. If not for him, I wouldn't be engaged to the woman of my dreams!
Now then about bikes. I'd like to get some sort of road/touring bike for going to work. I only live a mile from work. It seems a shame to guzzle gas just for that!
Currently the only bike I use is a Giant Trance 2 2007 version that I got before summer started. I love it!!!!
Graham Line
Well-known
Bike? It's blue, the knobby tires are really noisy on pavement, and it's hard to adjust the front derailleur so it can catch both the little and the big cog reliably. Hence, we spend a lot of time using the middle cog.
No red dots anywhere on it, except the rear reflector.
No red dots anywhere on it, except the rear reflector.
David Goldfarb
Well-known
For the past nine or ten years I've been riding a three-speed Brompton, which is enough speeds for NYC.
Before that I rode a Raleigh Technium touring frame originally set up as a 12-speed, then converted for 18 speeds by adding an extra small front cog with spacers. It didn't give me a super low gear like on a mountain bike, but it was such a light frame, that it was enough for me to manage the hills when I lived in Ithaca, NY.
Before that I rode a Raleigh Technium touring frame originally set up as a 12-speed, then converted for 18 speeds by adding an extra small front cog with spacers. It didn't give me a super low gear like on a mountain bike, but it was such a light frame, that it was enough for me to manage the hills when I lived in Ithaca, NY.
EliasK
Well-known
Mostly offroad riding, roads are not very safe here
Airborne Lucky Strike:
Airborne Lucky Strike:
kully
Happy Snapper
Another Brompton rider here. They're like RF's in many ways, quirky and surpassed in so many ways by the mainstream (MBs, hybrids, tourers) and expensive to get spare parts for...
But they're also so small and easy to fold/unfold that I find myself using mine when I wouldn't consider taking another bike.
But they're also so small and easy to fold/unfold that I find myself using mine when I wouldn't consider taking another bike.
Sonnar2
Well-known
Tange CrMg Steel, aero tubing, 600AX (the stylish aero line) from 1980 -Shimano 10 years ahead of it's time.
(with my 2nd wheel pairs, 25mm black wired-on tyres it looks even better!)
At good weather, I take one of them out for a 40-50 mile ride 1-2x a week. A pure joy...
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Andyrew
Newbie
Here are mine:
Dawes Republic rigid urban hybrid
Montague Paratrooper folding mtb
Pashley-Moulton TSR27
Dawes Republic rigid urban hybrid
Montague Paratrooper folding mtb
Pashley-Moulton TSR27
dave lackey
Veteran
Shok
Low Roller
I used to have a fairly decent mountain bike... until I left it locked up outside my then local supermarket. I came back to find my helmet and lock still attached to the pole.
I knew I wasn't going mad, and had locked the bike properly. The police were involved and informed me that a gang had been stealing bikes in the area and chop-shopping the parts for sale in China. That was about $1500 down the drain, including all the parts.
Since then, I've moved house and gained a BMX from work that had been sitting around un-used for about a year. Unfortunately I moved to a rather hilly area, rendering the BMX near on useless.
However, if I ever lost my skates this way, I'd be ready to kill! Quads & blades.
Me (holding up the letter A) and the morning team. Yes I'm the youngest one there.
And my quads (preferred over blades anyday).
I knew I wasn't going mad, and had locked the bike properly. The police were involved and informed me that a gang had been stealing bikes in the area and chop-shopping the parts for sale in China. That was about $1500 down the drain, including all the parts.
Since then, I've moved house and gained a BMX from work that had been sitting around un-used for about a year. Unfortunately I moved to a rather hilly area, rendering the BMX near on useless.
However, if I ever lost my skates this way, I'd be ready to kill! Quads & blades.
Me (holding up the letter A) and the morning team. Yes I'm the youngest one there.
And my quads (preferred over blades anyday).
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Mauro
Mauro
I ride a Bianchi racing bike, an old model manufactured in the sixties, it still have its original gear device branded Bianchi Campagnolo.
dave lackey
Veteran
Hmmm...anyone have any suggestions how to make the road bike I have a lot more functional?
By that, I mean, I have a grocery store just a half mile away and would like to zip down to pick up a few items. Problem #1: Where to park and keep it safe? Problem #2: How to carry a loaf of bread, gallon of milk and a few boxes of cereal, etc.
The CF bike is great for riding but is way too expensive to trust in a parking lot with a chain around a sign post (not to mention the scratches). It also does not lend itself to racks, etc.
By that, I mean, I have a grocery store just a half mile away and would like to zip down to pick up a few items. Problem #1: Where to park and keep it safe? Problem #2: How to carry a loaf of bread, gallon of milk and a few boxes of cereal, etc.
The CF bike is great for riding but is way too expensive to trust in a parking lot with a chain around a sign post (not to mention the scratches). It also does not lend itself to racks, etc.
Andyrew
Newbie
Dave, you could always get a purpose built cargo bike: http://yubaride.com/utility-bicycles-models.html
abo_1970
Member
Dave, get yourself a decent set of Ortlieb bags and a bicycle trailer. My trailer is a Carry Freedom City; they also have bigger ones that will allow you to take home groceries for a week. And it will also allow you to take along all your photo equipment when you go out shooting...
Nightmare
Member
My brother really like bicycles but I don't ride bicycles, prefer rollerblades
robklurfield
eclipse
Colnago CT-1, Litespeed Tuscany, both with Campy Record. A Specialized some-or-other Hopper or Jumper (rock or stump or some such) with Shimano. Need to get out more to work of some of my ever-growing gut.
kshapero
South Florida Man
Inching closer to car free with my Specialized Allez
dave lackey
Veteran
Well, been car-free for 9 months now. As cool as that sounds, it really sucks sometimes.
As a city and regional planner for the last 34 years, I have now had the opportunity to travel by foot or bicycle since losing my job 9 months ago. Other than being fit, not much has been gained in any physical sense. Outside of a few trips outside of our mega-subdivision to my son's house to take care of their flowers whilst they were on vacation, I have had no opportunities to use my bike for commuting, grocery-shopping or any other daily task.
But, as for learning a lot that I pretty much already knew but not firs-hand, I can tell you that the entire metro-Atlanta area sucks when it comes to bicycle-friendliness. There is no safe way to get anywhere once outside of my subdivision.
My only hope for improvement to the local area's bicycle friendliness will lie in many years of bicycle advocacy that has not even been started yet!
Me thinks it is about time to light a fire....
Any ideas would be appreciated as my daily life depends on my Leica M3 and my bicycle. Not much else to do now that all the broken things around the house are fixed...except maybe to break them and fix them again.
In the meantime, I am eyeing a more utilitarian bike for those ugly days when it is best to keep the high-tech CF bike at home...wonder how many people have more than one bike?
BTW, this is a nice thread! Lots of nice bikes here...
As a city and regional planner for the last 34 years, I have now had the opportunity to travel by foot or bicycle since losing my job 9 months ago. Other than being fit, not much has been gained in any physical sense. Outside of a few trips outside of our mega-subdivision to my son's house to take care of their flowers whilst they were on vacation, I have had no opportunities to use my bike for commuting, grocery-shopping or any other daily task.
But, as for learning a lot that I pretty much already knew but not firs-hand, I can tell you that the entire metro-Atlanta area sucks when it comes to bicycle-friendliness. There is no safe way to get anywhere once outside of my subdivision.
My only hope for improvement to the local area's bicycle friendliness will lie in many years of bicycle advocacy that has not even been started yet!
Me thinks it is about time to light a fire....
Any ideas would be appreciated as my daily life depends on my Leica M3 and my bicycle. Not much else to do now that all the broken things around the house are fixed...except maybe to break them and fix them again.
In the meantime, I am eyeing a more utilitarian bike for those ugly days when it is best to keep the high-tech CF bike at home...wonder how many people have more than one bike?
BTW, this is a nice thread! Lots of nice bikes here...
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amateriat
We're all light!
Hi, Dave! Great to hear from you, though sorry to hear of the ongoing job (or lack thereof) issue.
Here's my current daily-driver ride:
Meet FauxFix. The handlebar tape has since been changed to more-closely match the Brooks saddle.
It's a 70s Motobecane Grand Jubile (that's the correct spelling), with its original 12-speed drivetrain swapped for a two-speed automatic hub with coaster brake. Much simpler and trouble-free, always ready-to-go, and as elegant as your garden-variety fixed-gear ride, but without the usual baggage riding fixed confers. I've been sort of petitioning manufactuers (like Sachs/SRAM, who originally made the hub I'm using) to bring it back; Schwinn is having a two-speed hub made exclusively for them by a company in Taiwan, initially for use on their own models, but they're hinting they might offer them by themselves for public sale. I can only hope.
- Barrett
Sometimes, while dodging impatient city drivers up here, and negotiating dicey roundabouts (Grand Army Plaza, here, in Brooklyn, is notorious as a potential life-shortener, even though the DOT has made some improvements), I must say that things have improved quite a bit overall for cyclists. Not all the additional bike lanes are as well-executed as I'd like, but the fact that they are there makes a statement that's hard to ignore. And, as a result, I'm seeing a lot more people on bikes.
So I've been told regarding Atlanta. I'm hoping this is simply a matter of that city being behind the curve, and the the probability for change is considerable.
I've almost always had a "workhorse" bike for grunt work like commuting, shopping and the like. These bikes were, and are, purpose-built for the job, and while they're usually worn around the edges a bit, I don't regard them as "beaters" any more than I'd regard a well-used (but not trashed) Leica M as such.
Here's my current daily-driver ride:
Meet FauxFix. The handlebar tape has since been changed to more-closely match the Brooks saddle.
It's a 70s Motobecane Grand Jubile (that's the correct spelling), with its original 12-speed drivetrain swapped for a two-speed automatic hub with coaster brake. Much simpler and trouble-free, always ready-to-go, and as elegant as your garden-variety fixed-gear ride, but without the usual baggage riding fixed confers. I've been sort of petitioning manufactuers (like Sachs/SRAM, who originally made the hub I'm using) to bring it back; Schwinn is having a two-speed hub made exclusively for them by a company in Taiwan, initially for use on their own models, but they're hinting they might offer them by themselves for public sale. I can only hope.
- Barrett