- 5,492
- Vic, Australia
- gundalini
Guilty as charged.Casually posting high end magazine studio shots of your bike to show the bar tape.
Well to be fair they aren't magazine shots but from the builder for their Flickr page.
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The biking thread
- Thread starter Bram Turismo
- 4,895 comments
- 270,306 views
Well to be fair they aren't magazine shots but from the builder for their Flickr page.
- 30,024
- Thailand
I’ve only recently switched to long fingered gloves, and then only on my motorcycle.
Bailing out onto your hands is going to hurt no matter what, but the gloves only really help if it’s a low speed tip, like falling when trying to unclip.
The gloves I used now are MTB gloves from Decathlon. I cut off the tips of the index and thumb so I can keep them on when doing fiddly things.
- 5,998
- Finland
The old faithful was given an outing in the snow. Funny how it was either ten years ahead of its time or everyone is reinventing the wheel now - back then 120 mm was a relatively common suspension travel figure but while pure XC bikes stayed at 100 mm, trail bikes went to 150 mm and even beyond. Now they're back in fashion a "down country" models. Also the 68 degree head angle was quite slack but now it's pretty much exactly what everyone is building. It seems I've saved perhaps 3000€ by just hanging onto this instead of upgrading a couple of times on the way and eventually going full circle.
And no, it isn't a trick picture, I really planted it in the snow and it stayed upright on its own.
And no, it isn't a trick picture, I really planted it in the snow and it stayed upright on its own.
- 38,945
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
So I wasn't sure if my gopro was recording or if I was turning off the recordings. So I just spent the whole ride button mashing 😂
PM me if you're interested in donating to my page for the fundraiser. I still need to raise $975.
PM me if you're interested in donating to my page for the fundraiser. I still need to raise $975.
- 38,945
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
Tried to keep up with a 40mile hammer ride. Got dropped at 20 miles. Bastards in front of me kept dropping the wheel and I was done once we got to the 2nd headwind section. Didn't want to wait for the next group so I rode back to the LBS.
- 11,892
- Marin County
These flat-land rides seem very uncompromising.
I managed to maintain/average 300w for over 5 minutes today for the first time (330w per strava, so I'm rounding down
)I also did 270w for over 30 minutes enroute to smashing a PB on a pretty big climb. (Again, strava, so lets call it 250)
I'm not sure what I'm doing differently, but I seem to be making a lot of progress in the last few months.
- 5,998
- Finland
My upgrade plans are getting out of hand - once again, it's hardly news though. I may be totally nuts if I buy a brand new fork and an equally brand new shock for that old garden tiller above but I'll probably do it anyway.
It's still a bike I like riding, having a full suspension is nice every now and then, and the entry level new ones cost around 3000€ while being heavy as heck and built of low quality components while this one is somewhere around 26 lbs with summer tyres and has Shimano XT all round. The problem is that the fork and shock were never that good to begin with being late 2000s designs and not even medium spec back then, and now they're so old that service kits, seals and bushings simply don't exist anymore. The shock is leaking a bit of oil and the fork is way past its service interval.
So my options are a) drop ~650€ for new parts, b) drop ~3000€ for a new bike and then ~1000€ to upgrade it to be bearable, or c) not ride a full suspension ever again. Not much of a decision really when put that way.
It's still a bike I like riding, having a full suspension is nice every now and then, and the entry level new ones cost around 3000€ while being heavy as heck and built of low quality components while this one is somewhere around 26 lbs with summer tyres and has Shimano XT all round. The problem is that the fork and shock were never that good to begin with being late 2000s designs and not even medium spec back then, and now they're so old that service kits, seals and bushings simply don't exist anymore. The shock is leaking a bit of oil and the fork is way past its service interval.
So my options are a) drop ~650€ for new parts, b) drop ~3000€ for a new bike and then ~1000€ to upgrade it to be bearable, or c) not ride a full suspension ever again. Not much of a decision really when put that way.
- 11,892
- Marin County
- 5,998
- Finland
My good friends, Mr. 26" QR wheelset and Mr. straight steerer tube, would like to have a word with you.
- 4,155
- United States
This is an advertisement I got when I opened this thread
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- 38,945
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
It kind of works like the rides that the Aussie guys post on youtube, except, instead of a neat double-file rolling paceline, it winds up becoming a massive accordion paceline/peloton.These flat-land rides seem very uncompromising.
I managed to maintain/average 300w for over 5 minutes today for the first time (330w per strava, so I'm rounding down
I also did 270w for over 30 minutes enroute to smashing a PB on a pretty big climb. (Again, strava, so lets call it 250)
I'm not sure what I'm doing differently, but I seem to be making a lot of progress in the last few months.
I'm going to ride with the people at Black Point this weekend. After that, if I want to ride in Broward instead of Miami, I may try to get in with the Team Galiz ride where it's fewer people and more organized.
- 11,892
- Marin County
So I had an idea to build up a kind of restomod bike. Aesthetically speaking, I really like the pre-aerofoil carbon era of road bikes (early 2000s) with the large circular tubes and standard triangles. I hate the liveries/color schemes on most of the bikes from this era though, with the weird matrixy typefaces, exuberant contrasty bar tape, ugly wheels and such. My thought is to get one of these bikes off craigslist (there are tons around looks like) and take it down to the frameset and rebuild it from the ground up with the goal of making it very light and very cool looking. Aero doesn't matter to me as much because I ride on a lot of 7%+ climbs and I would rather have less weight.
Does anyone know of any particularly good looking and/or particularly lightweight frames from this era? Not looking for the ones with metal lugs, I want a monocoque bike. Cannondale immediately comes to mind, but open to other suggestions.
Does anyone know of any particularly good looking and/or particularly lightweight frames from this era? Not looking for the ones with metal lugs, I want a monocoque bike. Cannondale immediately comes to mind, but open to other suggestions.
- 38,945
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
You're getting into ultra nerdy bike territory there. I don't think anyone would recognize or appreciate the restomoddiness of a project like that.
You can find a bunch of sweet old Cannondales and Kestrels here in SFl though. I'm sure California has even more to offer.
You can find a bunch of sweet old Cannondales and Kestrels here in SFl though. I'm sure California has even more to offer.
- 11,892
- Marin County
Looks like there are quite a few Trek 5200 (think Lance postal service era) bikes around in good shape for under $500. Not the lightest bike there is, but I think I could build one to around 16lbs with the right components...
This one is a few miles from my house listed for $475...tempting. Really pretty frames on these.
This one is a few miles from my house listed for $475...tempting. Really pretty frames on these.
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- 5,210
- Essex, UK
I hit 4 w/kg average for a 40 minute race on Zwift today for the first time. I've been challenging myself to get to that point for a while now and it's incredibly satisfying to finally achieve it. Not quite the same as achieving it in the real world and it was just a one off so need to work on consistency and transferring it to my real world riding next.
@Eunos_Cosmo - David Arthur (Just Ride Bikes) has done a few old vs new comparisons you might find interesting on Colnago and Cannondale bikes to help you decide if you want to spend the money on a restomod bike or not.
@Eunos_Cosmo - David Arthur (Just Ride Bikes) has done a few old vs new comparisons you might find interesting on Colnago and Cannondale bikes to help you decide if you want to spend the money on a restomod bike or not.
- 11,892
- Marin County
4w/kg for 40 mins is a pretty meaty number! I've told myself I would be very happy if I was around 3.8...I think I'm probably in the neighborhood of 3.5ish at the moment.
I'll have to check out that comparo you are referencing. Mainly I want the old bike for its aesthetics - but I am slightly worried about the safety of a 23 year old carbon frame...
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- 5,492
- Vic, Australia
- gundalini
Nice one mate, that's about where I was at the peak of my fitness.
I'd be nowhere near that now, doesn't bother me though as I get older my riding has changed in many ways and now I'm not even bothered about how fast I'm going
it's just for the enjoyment and fresh air.Have you checked Facebook market place and the likes?
There's plenty here that are pretty much giving away some nice old steel frames.
- 5,492
- Vic, Australia
- gundalini
- 5,998
- Finland
Nope, just a need for a new chain. The old one is definitely too short now. The trick is figuring out how the pivoting of the upper pulley works, while the old systems could be run with the derailleur almost vertical even in the high gears this one needs it as close to horizontal as possible while still maintaining the tension. Otherwise the pulley is positioned (tragi)comically far from the cassette, we're talking about centimetres instead of millimetres here.
- 5,998
- Finland
More screw-ups by yours truly found. People, really think twice and look closely when doing things. 
As a part of the transformation my red Chisel received brand new Magura brakes (I like the feel better than the original Shimanos) a few months ago and it has been stripped down almost to a frame while waiting for the local shop, ie. an old friend of mine, to get the wheels built. When we replaced the brakes we disassembled the old ones, put new ones in, assembled the lever side (always done from that end in the Maguras) and bled them. All good - or so we thought.
Ever since the operation there's been a rattling sound inside the frame, no doubt the brake hose moving around, and it has irritated me. I began thinking of ways to get it silenced, opened the service hatch near the bottom bracket and noted that there's an anti-rattle foam sleeve around the derailleur cable housing, hmmm a very good idea from the factory, where to get more of such stuff for the brake hose. Which is when the "oh 🤬 no" moment struck as I realized that the place would be right there - fish the foam tube from the frame where it had been left while we had pulled the old hose from inside it without realizing that it was there and of course not routed the new one through it. 🤬 The only way to get it done would be to disassemble the entire rear brake again, shorten the hose and assemble with a new olive. Not good.
In the end I decided to split the tube with a hobby knife, feed it around the hose from outside the frame and put it back together with electrical tape from a few spots before entering the frame. I got it done successfully, no more rattling, but my blood pressure was probably twice above all reference values when I realized what had happened and how much work fixing it would require.
As a part of the transformation my red Chisel received brand new Magura brakes (I like the feel better than the original Shimanos) a few months ago and it has been stripped down almost to a frame while waiting for the local shop, ie. an old friend of mine, to get the wheels built. When we replaced the brakes we disassembled the old ones, put new ones in, assembled the lever side (always done from that end in the Maguras) and bled them. All good - or so we thought.
Ever since the operation there's been a rattling sound inside the frame, no doubt the brake hose moving around, and it has irritated me. I began thinking of ways to get it silenced, opened the service hatch near the bottom bracket and noted that there's an anti-rattle foam sleeve around the derailleur cable housing, hmmm a very good idea from the factory, where to get more of such stuff for the brake hose. Which is when the "oh 🤬 no" moment struck as I realized that the place would be right there - fish the foam tube from the frame where it had been left while we had pulled the old hose from inside it without realizing that it was there and of course not routed the new one through it. 🤬 The only way to get it done would be to disassemble the entire rear brake again, shorten the hose and assemble with a new olive. Not good.
In the end I decided to split the tube with a hobby knife, feed it around the hose from outside the frame and put it back together with electrical tape from a few spots before entering the frame. I got it done successfully, no more rattling, but my blood pressure was probably twice above all reference values when I realized what had happened and how much work fixing it would require.
- 38,945
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
I went to the local crit race before the Superbowl. While there, I ran into my friend's friend who's the super triathlete. I introduced myself, having sent her a couple messages through instagram to say like congrats and thanks for the inspiration, etc. I tried to meet some people with her bike shop group that she rides with. They all seemed like nice people. I asked her who organizes their rides and all she said was, "They're not here right now." Now her instagram seems to be gone, so I'm sure she blocked me. Oh well. It's so hard to make friends down here. I can't help but feel like the only people that have been nice to me throughout the year have done so because they want me to spend my money at their shop or at their exercise studio, etc. It's kind of a ****** feeling, but I'm not sure if it's real or because of my depression or insecurities in light of recent issues with abandonment. I haven't done any rides for the past 2 weeks because it's just made me sad instead of happy. I'm doing this 100 mile charity ride, but the LBS helped me sign up for it without telling me that I would be on the hook for $1000 if I didn't raise the money. I never felt right after that, but I'm going through with it because I already did the training rides and I figure it's just me going through a rough swing.
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- 5,492
- Vic, Australia
- gundalini
Move on mate you don't need people like that in your life.
Don't know of the road bike scene there but it can be extremely snobbish here in small doses. Don't wear the right kit and can't ride to their abilities and it's not unusual for some people to be shunned. These types are extremely shallow anyway so not worth your time.
Don't fret too much about having to have a group you need to ride with, some of the best mates I've met in the cycling community are just dudes I come across on the road while riding by myself. No judgement of gear or ability just guys who enjoy riding, if they are out there by themselves it's a good chance they just love to ride.
I don't know enough about your depression so won't go into your situation but allow me to use myself as an example.
I've had a pretty rough few years with my wife's illness deteriorating, plenty of days I feel down and don't feel like going for a ride. Sometimes I literally have to force myself out on the bike in the morning but within 5km I remember why I love this sport. It just makes you feel good being out in nature and for me often by myself with time to take it in and reflect.
I used to get hung up on numbers etc and I think that doesn't contribute to the enjoyment for me anyway, take this mornings ride as an example (i had to check) but I averaged 25.7kph over 48km. Years gone by I would have beat myself up about it and thinking why didn't you average 33kmh. You know what when I got home I felt on top of the world simply for riding on a beautiful morning.
All I can suggest is try to get out there, and wish you the best. 👍
This really ***** me, lets's say you could only raise $300 and didn't enter knowing that then they would be down $300, so much for being a charity.
I know cos merica and lawyers and stuff but what can they do if you hand over less and tell them sorry that's the best I could raise? They should be happy with any amount going to charity, I don't think that would fly in the legal system down here.
- 38,945
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
Yeah, I dunno what the deal is. I just don't want to be viewed as like some stalker weirdo for trying to make friends in the scene. FWIW, everyone seemed really nice, especially the guys, but they were all racing. I didn't really talk to anyone, just kinda stood by their group and watched the race because I literally didn't know anyone else there and all the other tents were only speaking Spanish. The bike scene here is very latino with tons of Venezuelans and Colombians, ridiculously athletic people, and/or affluent urban professionals. Hard to relate to a lot of these people. The only regular group I've ridden with are the old guys at the park. Nothing really in common there, either. lol.
Thanks, man. You're great. Like, I read stuff like this and suddenly feel so dumb for getting stuck with these feelings. I guess I need friends or even anyone at all to just give me some perspective sometimes. Appreciate that.
Well, it's something that I wanted to do. You sign a pledge and put a credit card on file to cover whatever gap you have remaining with the fundraising goal. I was just extremely naive to have wanted to try a century and to do this particular one, which is one of the largest charity events in the country. But when I got my bike fitting at the shop, it was kind of the only thing that I figured could get me into a safe group ride with other people. I don't think I would've met anyone else in person had I not done this. That's how I'm rationalizing it after the fact, anyway. And, in fairness, the training rides have been nice. I really don't like the other nearby Saturday ride that I've tried a few times so far. You have to drive 50 miles all the way to South Miami to find anything else.
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- 11,892
- Marin County
I can't comment too much on group riding and social dynamics...I'm solo 99.95% of the time. Very very occasionally I'll ride with a group based out of SF - which I will call "Muffins" for right now (not their real name). I only know a few of them relatively well. A few weeks ago I was on a (solo) ride out near me and I saw a girl (that I didn't know) wearing a "Muffins" jersey under a wind jacket and I was riding with her group for a bit (just by coincidence, and they were riding around my pace). Towards the end of the climb I increased my pace and passed most of them and when I was going around her I said something like "oh is that a Muffins Jersey?" to which she replied "yeah" and then I realized I had nothing else to say so I managed an "oh...hi" before continuing up the mountain...at even faster pace to extract myself from the cringe. Pretty sure she thinks I'm a serial killer.
- 38,945
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
Sorry to re-quote this, but I have to laugh at how it's such a good piece of advice. So simple, lol.
I did the 100 mile DCC ride this morning. It was a great time. All the people attached to the LBS were really cool. The instagram one from my earlier post was there as well. Tried to say Hi on two different occasions, but I was never acknowledged. Like, when I first noticed her there I think she also recognized me. But if you're not even gonna say Hey, that's kind of lame. So, whatever, just moved on. Had a great time with the guys. Hung out with Jaelan Phillips and Mack Hollins, too. Rode with Jimmy Graham, 'supped Desmond Howard, and was behind Ray Lewis without knowing it was Ray Lewis (he dipped when the announcer revealed his name at the finish LOL). Met Tom Garfinkel, the CEO of the Miami Dolphins, and shook his hand and thanked him for bringing F1 to Miami and helping to transform the stadium grounds, making the Dolphins a contending organization again. He was cool. Great guy.
I probably won't do this every year, but it was great as something to do at least once. The logistical support with the police rolling roadblock across so many jurisdictions, all the food and medical support, and all the training rides was worth the $1000.
I was just having so much anxiety from not believing in myself and letting my depression defeat me.
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- 5,492
- Vic, Australia
- gundalini
Well done mate on completing the ride.
I'll be honest and it crossed my mind that you may have bitten off more than you could chew with a ride of that distance relatively early into your cycling journey. I'm so happy for you that you proved my doubts wrong.
Massive kudos for the effort mate, enjoy feeling great which I'm sure you do now albeit maybe slightly sore.
👍
- 38,945
- Application hell
- MP-Omnis
Cheers mate. Really appreciate it. I love our little GTP Strava club lol.
FWIW, my numbers were better than Ray Lewis's, so I'm about as fit as a retired professional athlete.
I stopped to help a girl who must've crossed a wheel and took a bad spill. Thank god a trauma nurse was on the ride and was in control of the situation. The girl's helmet basically did nothing for her, and she had a huge gash in her head with an arterial bleed. Blood all over the street. The nurse was holding pressure on her wound with her bare hands because nobody had gauze or a towel. Even the police didn't have a first-aid kit on their car. I was shocked. I was riding with one of the University of Miami doctors in the back and when we came on the scene he stopped to help, too. After that I was basically out of the main group and just helping to tow the rest of the A-class Corral through the headwinds when I could.Our team was really organized and rode well, but a lot of these other riders and the local clubs members were a hot mess. It's a charity ride and they turned it into a giant chaotic peloton for most of it. I didn't feel comfortable in that at all, so I just hung back with some couples for most of the ride and we stuck to our double pacelines. There were 4 crashes on the day. Peeps need to be briefed on what's acceptable, imo. It's hard to find an awesome group ride here like you guys seem to have all over the place in Australia.
Also, did I mention that Jimmy Graham is freaking massive? Whenever you see athletes that are 6'7" or taller in person, it's pretty impressive. Sometimes I think I could've been an NFL player if I stuck to it as a kid. But then standing next to Jaelan and Jimmy, I'm like nah
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- 5,492
- Vic, Australia
- gundalini
Sounds like a big charity/recreation ride.
So many often ride these events without any prior group riding and it's a recipe for disaster.
I hope the girl you came across is ok.
Yeah we are pretty lucky here, cycling has always been a popular sport and it's easy to find a good group or club if you want to join one.
Just looking at your ride on Strava I tell you what else is impressive is that you only managed 164 m of elevation over 100 miles
.Miami must be nearly as flat as a pancake. Without knowing about the roads or traffic etc if you can avoid the worst of the humidity it looks like a nice place to ride. 👍
Are there any decent climbs around if you feel inclined for that sort of thing?
