Author Topic: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition  (Read 40555 times)

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Offline GburgNatsFan

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #850: July 29, 2012, 09:34:52 PM »
Seriously though, about bears... my sister lives in very far Northern New Jersey (West Milford). We were sitting on her deck last night when a mother with four cubs waltzed through her back yard (black bears). She says she has to wait to hear the garbage truck before she takes it out because there's a 50% chance that if she takes it out a half hour early, bears will be at it.

They have bear safety training sessions in the elementary school. :shock:

Let's hope they don't get that common here!



Offline tomterp

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #851: July 29, 2012, 09:40:37 PM »
Seriously though, about bears... my sister lives in very far Northern New Jersey (West Milford). We were sitting on her deck last night when a mother with four cubs waltzed through her back yard (black bears). She says she has to wait to hear the garbage truck before she takes it out because there's a 50% chance that if she takes it out a half hour early, bears will be at it.

They have bear safety training sessions in the elementary school. :shock:

Let's hope they don't get that common here!

Once bears learn human garbage includes food, they become real pests.

Offline Obed_Marsh

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #852: July 29, 2012, 10:20:59 PM »
Da Bears. :thumbs:

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #853: July 30, 2012, 08:55:36 AM »
Back on topic fools. My legs are ready for round two tonignt - 20 miles with two loops of Hains Point.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #854: July 30, 2012, 10:02:07 AM »
I don't know if this still happens, but America's most tedious century used to be at Hains Point every New Years Day: 33 laps.  And in the winter you don't have the guys cranking Parliament while they polish their whitewalls, so there's not even any music. 

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #855: July 30, 2012, 10:18:16 AM »
I really like doing laps at Hains Point for a couple of reasons - very little traffic, it's completely flat, I can usually keep a good 16-18mph pace, and it's relatively quiet so I can blast Naked Raygun through the Bluetooths without the sounds of terrorists tourists screaming "OH MY GOD" when I blow past them at 35mph.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #856: July 30, 2012, 10:35:59 AM »
Yeah, there's a reason Hains Point gets a lot of paceline riders on weekdays (most days including the triathlon mayor).

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #857: July 30, 2012, 10:42:07 AM »
One of the pacelines gave me thumbs up yesterday since I was able to keep up with them for a good mile or so.  After I drop another 100lbs I can't wait to see what kind of pace I can keep.  Just go ahead and declare me the King of the Mountain...nag.

Offline comish4lif

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #858: August 02, 2012, 01:40:55 PM »
Made a dry run of my commute to the Mark Center on 2 wheels this AM. At ~11 miles and slightly more than an hour, it's quite doable. Howver, that uphill run from the exit from the Holmes Run Trail up Beauregard to Reading is rough - its a 150' climb in 2/3 of a mile.

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #859: August 02, 2012, 01:44:08 PM »
Does your bike have a granny gear (i.e. is it a triple or a double)?  Also, are you using panniers or a messenger bag?

Offline comish4lif

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #860: August 02, 2012, 01:55:24 PM »
Does your bike have a granny gear (i.e. is it a triple or a double)?  Also, are you using panniers or a messenger bag?

I have 3x7 gears, so, plenty of choices down in the granny gear land.  I'll be using pannniers, but for today, I had some clean clothes at my regular office waiting for me.

I couldn't imagine doing  ahill like that on a Fixie.

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #861: August 02, 2012, 01:58:37 PM »
I couldn't imagine doing  ahill like that on a Fixie.

Excellent, that's one thing my main bike doesn't have.  For any distance greater than a mile a fixed gear is just torture.  Even a single speed is pretty painful for any distance over a mile or so.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #862: August 02, 2012, 02:55:49 PM »
My road bike has a 13-21 straight block nine speed cluster...so the "granny gear" is a kneecap-ejecting 42x21.  Nice smooth shifting though  :lol:

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #863: August 02, 2012, 04:26:16 PM »
My road bike has a 13-21 straight block nine speed cluster...so the "granny gear" is a kneecap-ejecting 42x21.  Nice smooth shifting though  :lol:

How big is your second ring?  The only time I ever use the low-low gear on my road bike is when I climb the little hill coming into Crystal City.  Mostly because I'm usually spent by that point and because morons walk down that hill not paying any attention and could cause a serious crash if I came shooting out of the tunnel at 15mph.

Offline GburgNatsFan

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #864: August 02, 2012, 05:39:19 PM »
I'm looking at a climb like that on my commute. I'm thinking of walking it for a while.
Made a dry run of my commute to the Mark Center on 2 wheels this AM. At ~11 miles and slightly more than an hour, it's quite doable. Howver, that uphill run from the exit from the Holmes Run Trail up Beauregard to Reading is rough - its a 150' climb in 2/3 of a mile.


Offline LostYudite

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #865: August 02, 2012, 05:50:03 PM »
There's one big hill on my commute to work that's stopping me from riding. It occurred to me the other day... get off and walk. :shock: Bikes are much faster than walking downhill, faster than walking on flat ground, but when you are old and out of shape, it's okay to declare momentary defeat and walk up hills. It won't even slow you down much.

That was my breakthrough - as much as I'm a fan, I'm not actually IN the TdF.  No one will boo me if I get off and walk or alter my route when I'm gassed.  As soon as I came to terms with that, I started riding at least 3-4 times a week (14 miles round trip).  And the funny thing is - I never actually get off and walk.  As soon as I realized I COULD, I didn't need to.  Now that I've been doing it a while, I don't really even think about walking - I like the work of it.

Funny thing, the mind.

Separate question:  What do you all think of belt drives?  I've mangled my derailleur once and ripped my chain apart once both on that damn hill, so I'm seriously wondering about a belt drive both for the reliability and so I can keep riding as the weather starts to get bad.  I've got a 3x8 gear now, but I pretty much never use the granny gears.  Effectively, I'm riding it like an old-school 10-speed anyway.

Offline comish4lif

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #866: August 02, 2012, 09:51:37 PM »
I'm looking at a climb like that on my commute. I'm thinking of walking it for a while.

Not ashamed to say that I walked the end of it. My heart rate was over 165; that's the danger zone for me.

Offline GburgNatsFan

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #867: August 03, 2012, 08:43:49 AM »
Regarding belt drives, I'm not sure what to think of them. They require a special frame (with the rear dropout opening in the back). Plus you'll have to go with an internally geared rear hub, and no crank gearing.


That was my breakthrough - as much as I'm a fan, I'm not actually IN the TdF.  No one will boo me if I get off and walk or alter my route when I'm gassed.  As soon as I came to terms with that, I started riding at least 3-4 times a week (14 miles round trip).  And the funny thing is - I never actually get off and walk.  As soon as I realized I COULD, I didn't need to.  Now that I've been doing it a while, I don't really even think about walking - I like the work of it.

Funny thing, the mind.

Separate question:  What do you all think of belt drives?  I've mangled my derailleur once and ripped my chain apart once both on that damn hill, so I'm seriously wondering about a belt drive both for the reliability and so I can keep riding as the weather starts to get bad.  I've got a 3x8 gear now, but I pretty much never use the granny gears.  Effectively, I'm riding it like an old-school 10-speed anyway.


Offline LostYudite

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #868: August 03, 2012, 11:29:07 AM »
Regarding belt drives, I'm not sure what to think of them. They require a special frame (with the rear dropout opening in the back). Plus you'll have to go with an internally geared rear hub, and no crank gearing.

Which is more expensive, I think, but for me maybe preferable.  I think the internally geared hubs let you shift while stopped, which is good for me, because I do a lot of stop-and-go local street biking and I always forget to shift as I'm rolling into the stop.

Offline GburgNatsFan

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #869: August 03, 2012, 01:21:55 PM »
Yep. If you are looking at a new bike, it might be the way to go. What are you looking at, so far?
Which is more expensive, I think, but for me maybe preferable.  I think the internally geared hubs let you shift while stopped, which is good for me, because I do a lot of stop-and-go local street biking and I always forget to shift as I'm rolling into the stop.


Offline LostYudite

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #870: August 03, 2012, 05:01:37 PM »
Yep. If you are looking at a new bike, it might be the way to go. What are you looking at, so far?

Nothing particularly yet - I was looking at the Trek Soho Deluxe and others like it, but they are all in the $1300 and up range, which is a little spendy.  So I'll keep tossing around my creaky hybrid until I get so ticked off with it that I buy something else. Besides, I'm waiting to get in good enough shape that I get a boost from the switch.

The other thing is that I think I actually want drop handles instead of the standard bars - this hybrid is the first time I haven't had drop handles and I always miss them going downhill.

Online Slateman

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #871: August 03, 2012, 08:01:35 PM »
So we're getting new bikes to replace our stolen ones

I had a Specialized Rockhopper. I like mountain bikes because I'm more likely mountain bike recreationally. And it's not like you can't use a mountain bike on a paved road or path. Anything equivalent to what I had before I should look in to? I'm thinking used, if I can find the right deal in the area.

Offline Obed_Marsh

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #872: August 05, 2012, 12:03:46 PM »
How do you size a Salsa seat lock clamp?  :-[

I see sizes like 36.4, 28.6, and 30.6 but in what unit.

Offline GburgNatsFan

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #873: August 05, 2012, 12:05:33 PM »
There's so many good bikes out there. And I think looking at used bikes is a great idea.
So we're getting new bikes to replace our stolen ones

I had a Specialized Rockhopper. I like mountain bikes because I'm more likely mountain bike recreationally. And it's not like you can't use a mountain bike on a paved road or path. Anything equivalent to what I had before I should look in to? I'm thinking used, if I can find the right deal in the area.


Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: The Cycling Thread - 2012 Edition
« Reply #874: August 05, 2012, 12:47:14 PM »
Millimeters...if it's a road bike or a hybrid, the seat tube is almost certainly 27.2 mm, so I guess the 28.6 would be the ticket.  MTBs would probably run larger.

How do you size a Salsa seat lock clamp?  :-[

I see sizes like 36.4, 28.6, and 30.6 but in what unit.