HC Bike/Cycling Thread

[swt61]

Chris that bike is gorgeous! I'm imagining you're not going to leave it unlocked, while you slip into the 7-11.

[aerius]

aerius I love the Kona frame. I was heavily into mtb'ing around 97-02, my first good bike was a Rockhopper. I always lusted for Kona back then (along with the long travel Judy fork ), but couldn't afford it as a HS student. I don't think their new line has as much of the character of the old stuff; the thin tubes, blaring loud colors, and the older logo like on your frame is much cooler.

Thanks! It was much the same with me, I started mountain biking in the early 90's and I always wanted a Kona Explosif, and later on the Ibis Mojo Ti. Yeah, good luck affording either one of those when I was still in HS. I eventually got my hands on a 96 Explosif a few year ago and now I also have a 2006. 10 years apart, and funny enough they're the 2 runs that use shaped Italian tubing; Columbus on the 96 and Dedacciai on the 2006.

Friend of mine used to race for the Kona factory team, I rode her Kona Hot once and it was just incredible, it was like my Explosif but better in every way. She also had a titanium Hei Hei which was painted to look like the Hot, I never got to ride that one and I'm not sure if she still has it. The mid to late 90's were a golden era for those bikes, never again will we see that kind of high-end steel and titanium goodness from mass production bikes.

[deepak]

I think it's really cool how far the hobby has come in only a little over 10 years. DH/4x races attracting 20k+ people, the amount of tech you can get on a < $1000 bike, people building what they want to ride/imagine on the trails and the merging/unifying of all the various off road disciplines. I did most of my early riding around Edmonton, but made the trip to Banff a couple of times. You'd rarely or almost never see any man made stuff on the trails, mostly just what was formed from people riding over and over. I'd love to get out to Whistler to ride some of the more progressive trails out there.

[boomana]

http://miami.craigsl...3428591021.html

The ST is 52, the TT is 53. I'm currently on a 49/52. Is this too big to consider? He sent me more pics, and I can probably talk him down a wee bit in price.

[tyrion]

do you know the HT on yours and the Calfee? It is worth a trip to check out. If it works, looks like a sweet deal.

[boomana]

I just emailed him asking to check it out, but my ankle can't drive to Miami right now. I can only do about a half hour driving. I asked if he could meet me. Otherwise, I'm going to try and hit you, John or anyone up for some help to get from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale-ish.

[MexicanDragon]

Just buy it and fit it later. Simple. It's the Head-Case way.

**BRENT**

[tyrion]

Jp is in Ft. L. at a play date with Carl. He loves to drive to Miami.

[boomana]

Well, the seller and his wife (her bike) are out of town for the weekend, so maybe I can do something Monday or Tuesday evening. I did learn that his wife has my measurements except my legs are .5" longer. I suspect the bike is too big for her. I am willing to check it out, though.

[parris]

Hey Vicki I've got a couple of quick questions about your current bike fit. is your frame measured 49 ctc or ctt? what stem length are you running? and roughly how much seat post is showing? That Calfee appears to be a screaming deal if the fit can be made to work.

[boomana]

ctc: st=49, tt= 52 (effective). Not sure the stem length, but 12 cm to collar. I've had it 2 cm higher with comfort, but am still playing around/tweaking a bit. Headtube is 11cm. 90m stem.

[boomana]

More pics he emailed:

EDIT: didn't realize I'd copied the wrong pic with the last one there, but I'll keep it. I was very happy that day. That's at mile 83 with my friends Phoenix and Kim. I look like I'm dressed for the arctic tundra in comparison, but I was comfy.

[grawk]

I'd bet you could just make adjustments, and maybe a stem to make that bike fit

[Dreadhead]

Vicki you could probably make it work but with a very short stem and the Calfee frame steerer angle is pretty aggressive "race" geometry.

[jp11801]

Vicki I'm happy to help if you need it but I'd just ride the Gunnar until the Kirk is ready (unless you are assembling a bike collection)

[boomana]

Vicki you could probably make it work but with a very short stem and the Calfee frame steerer angle is pretty aggressive "race" geometry.

Right, but too short a stem? That's my concern.

John, for the price, if I can make it work, I'm going to get it. If I like it, I can sell the Gunnar, and have the Kirk be a tourer model. What are you doing tomorrow night or Monday night? I'm hoping to make a trip there, and can't drive that distance with my foot. I can get to Pomano, though, and I do owe you a birthday dinner....in Miami maybe? He wanted to meet Monday morning, which isn't happening, and I'm waiting to hear back if Sunday evening or Monday works.

[Dreadhead]

Sorry I should have been clearer that a short stem plus aggressive steerer angle usually means twitchy... For crit racing sure but distance cruising that you do it is probably less than ideal.

Edited November 23, 2012 by Dreadhead

[jp11801]

V tomorrow night or Monday night can work for me just lmk

[boomana]

Chris, since my current stem is 90mm, would an 80 be too short? I don't think twitchy and I would be friends. I would use this bike for the 30-50 milers I will probably be doing more often on the weekend now that I'm not training for longer. I'd use the Gunnar and/or Kirk for longer rides.

[CD44hi]

Certainly looks like a nice bike. If you can somehow get a feel for fit, in person. That would be the ideal. Just watch that ankle. Good luck and keep us posted.

[boomana]

It has no pedals and I have a giant semi-cast on my foot. I'm thinking I'm going to have to just eyeball it. Maybe bring my bike along with me for comparison (not exactly the best method, but it'll give me an idea), and take a risk. Hoping for a little more input from you guys that have had multiple bikes and/or more experience with fittings. My only experience is with the Gunnar and it's a perfect fit, though since I bought it, I've raised the seat almost two inches as I got more comfy on a road bike. It's not an aggressive geometry, but if it matters at all, I ride a lot in the drops and like feeling stretched out.

[parris]

Vicki your thought to bring your bike for comparison is good. something else to add is to bring a tape measure and check some things such as saddle to stem, saddle to bar lengths. Also measure the saddle to bar drop difference between the two bikes. It looks like you have compact bars on your bike now in comparison to the Calfee so discount the drops and only measure the difference between the saddle and the tops of the bars. This will give you a good idea on what may need to be changed. What is the ht, st, angle on both bikes? If you can find geo charts you may get lucky and find that the numbers are quite close. Cool stuff indeed!

[boomana]

I have to find the paperwork on the Gunnar (zero idea where I put it) as it was a custom build, but I'm imagine it's extremely close to their stock frame, so I'll start there. The Calfee is their stock road geometry for a 52, which I can get from their website. BTW, I do have compact bars, but they're 40mm as are hers so I might not have to change those out..

He just emailed me that Monday evening is good. John, you still up for being my driver? I can drive to your place after work, but it will start hurting my ankle too much if I drive further. We can do dinner in Miami. My treat.

Thanks, guys for your help.

[boomana]

On the Gunnar site, it looks like mine is in between their 50 and 52, but closest to the 52, so I took those specs and noted the differences in mine that I know.

Calfee Stock Gunnar

Size/ST 52/52 52/49

top tube length 53 53 (mine is 52)

seat tube angle 74 75

set back 14.3 ?

chainstay length 41.5 42.5

stand over height 77.4 75.9

b.b. drop 7 7.5

head tube angle 73 72

head tube length 11.3 11 (measured mine)

wheel base 97.2 100.2

Other than st, ht, and stand over height, these numbers mean nothing to mean in terms that I could translate into "it would work" or not.

[boomana]

Damnit. Why are all the numbers moving where they're not supposed to go? They look like little columns when I typed them. Who know who to work this posting stuff?

Who picked the horrible mods around here anyway? Mike deletes whole threads. I don't even know how to copy and paste. Geeez.