HC Bike/Cycling Thread

[aerius]

Great time but 27 miles is a long time to be on a trail, especially with a 10 pound pack on my back. Definitely need a different seat and a shorter stem for these longer rides

 

Cripes!  I haven't seen a stem that long since the late 90's.  Definitely shorten that sucker up, the only bikes with stems that long these days are pro XC race bikes or bikes ridden by guys who are 6'5".  Most modern mountain bikes work best with a stem in the 60-90mm range, my personal bike for instance has an 80mm stem.  You might also want to consider a setback seatpost, I notice that your seat is pretty far back on the rails and a setback post will give you more room to play around with reach and stem lengths to find a good position and balance point on your bike.

 

 

Mike I was under the impression that mtb people prefer short stems for twisty trails because they steer faster. I guess you just mean that the technical stuff doesn't involve as much endurance.

Got word that my dropper seat post is at the store. Very interested to try it out sometime when it gets warmer. I also got word that to get a remote lockout installed on my fork would cost like $450 which is probably not a sensible investment considering how little I ride mountain.

 

There's actually a couple reasons for short stems, handlebars have gotten a lot wider in the past dozen years and toptubes are a bit longer as well.  Wider bars give you a more stable base on the bike along with more leverage to crank out power when standing on steep climbs.  Wider bars will slow down the steering and bring your body more forward on the bike so stems got shorter to balance it out.

 

Dropper posts are pretty darn useful, only thing is you need to stay on top of the maintenance or else they get crunchy and develop play real fast.  I'm lazy and hate working on my bike so I don't have one.  As for remote lockouts, what fork do you have and how the fuck does a remote lockout kit cost $450?   I have a Manitou Minute Pro and the kit for my fork costs about $40 and takes 15 minutes to install.

[Dreadhead]

Fox F29 FIT RLC fork and there is no kit you apparently have to send it to the factory for a full rebuild. I have asked if they are going to upgrade the fork to the latest internals etc for the money but I doubt it. If it does I may consider it.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Dreadhead

[Dreadhead]

So I remembered Rule #5 (HTFU) and went out riding with a teammate for 40 miles where the temperature never rose over 36 degrees. Was a great ride though. It was a recovery ride for him and he dropped me on the hills. Oh well, I'm not racing this year anyway. Edit: Here's the data: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/NYVOPZPDVCCVPQOJGGMVQUGXZE

Edited January 28, 2013 by Dreadhead

[aerius]

So I will remembered Rule #5 (HTFU) and went out riding with a teammate for 40 miles where the temperature never rose over 36 degrees. Was a great ride though.

 

And don't forget to calculate your Jens Factor number.

The Jens Factor has become a competition among some of our local riders, they try to see who can get the most rides in the worst conditions.

[mrarroyo]

Well, after 16 years of not riding my bike I finally went today thanks to the order from Performance Bike arriving early. I took about three rounds around the building's parking lot since I was having a hard time getting on the clip less pedals and the saddle … let's say I need a lot of training to do more than the 3.5 miles I did today at a measly 9.5 mph

 

Below is a link to my old 1988 GT Karakoram!

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/109437154048011247077/GTKarakoram?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCInB3L-O7KmTwwE&feat=directlink

[jp11801]

Miguel WTF we should ride together soon!

[boomana]

Miguel, very cool.  We will have to go riding some time.  I'm pretty much back to day one myself.  I've had to wear my frankenstein boot all week due to standing on my bad leg last Saturday (well worth it), but haven't been on my bike in almost two weeks.  I'm hoping to get out on Wednesday for a short ride with some of the women I had been training with, though they'll probably drop me within five miles.  I'll take it.  

 

Nice @ MIke and Chris.  This weather was absolutely stunning for riding here this weekend.  I hope it holds out all week.

[c12mech]

I finally got out and rode today.  There are still some minor adjustments that I need to make to the bike but all in all it is a huge immprovement over my old bike.  I'm still getting used to the handling and just how far i can push it through turns.  I guess it is just a matter of time and knowing the bike for that.  Now to figure out how to load up the Garmin data so you guys can see how pathetic my speeds are.

[mrarroyo]

Hi John and Vicky, perhaps in 5-8 weeks I might be able to start riding with you two albeit at a much lower pace! 

[jp11801]

Miguel that would be fun

[c12mech]

I have decided that i do not like my Garmin 500.  Not because it has anything wrong with it at all.  It is just doing its job to well by showing me how sloooooow I am actually riding.

[n_maher]

Give it some time.

[Dreadhead]

Or don't worry about it at all We are all in it for the fun of it. Go the pace you can go and push yourself and if you get faster cool, if not cool too.

[jp11801]

X2, the more it is fun the more you'll ride

Edited January 29, 2013 by jp11801

[c12mech]

Just to clarify, that was meant as a sarcastic comment. 

 

I know that I am slow, right now.  Hauling 365lbs up hills is a lot of work.  I consider it a positive thing just to reach to top of the hills without stopping or having to walk the bike up.  Right now as long as I am on the flatter sections of road, not much of that here, I can maintain about 13-14 mph.  My cadence is slow but I know that will just take time.  I have a bad habit of pushing myself to hard when I start to workout and end up hurt only to have to start all over again a couple of months later.  I'm trying to take it slow this time around so that I can keep at it. 

 

The new bike is so much easier to ride than my old one.  I'm very happy with it so far.

[boomana]

^ You're doing better than I am.  Truth.

 

I set up a Computrainer session tomorrow morning.  My ankle isn't doing that well again, and this way I can just spin lightly and stop when I need to without having to figure out how to get back home.  I figure it's a good way to start out without overdoing it like I had done a month ago.

[pigmode]

^ Almost seems like you're prolonging recover by pushing too hard too soon, but its your injury so you should know best.

[tyrion]

^ You're doing better than I am. Truth.

I set up a Computrainer session tomorrow morning. My ankle isn't doing that well again, and this way I can just spin lightly and stop when I need to without having to figure out how to get back home. I figure it's a good way to start out without overdoing it like I had done a month ago.

Vicki, this sucks. Take it easy, plenty of time to ride when you feel better.

[boomana]

^ Almost seems like you're prolonging recover by pushing too hard too soon, but its your injury so you should know best.

I was actually doing okay until I made the excellent bad decision to walk/stand on it for about eight hours a couple Saturdays ago.  It was still worth it, but I learned I gotta wear my frankenstein boot if I plan on doing anything like that again.  I ended up not going this morning as I stupidly didn't wear my boot all day yesterday, but although I'm a slow learner, I'm getting the deal: It's the damn walking crap that's messing up my plans!  Maybe I should hire someone to do that for me.  

[pigmode]

^ Okay, take care. I've screwed up my own recovery in the past, because I was too stubborn to take the chance of losing fitness to allow an adequate rest period and a properly slow ramp up when back in the saddle.<br /><br />

[boomana]

Thanks.  I've definitely screwed up on that front more than once.  I did ride the Computrainer yesterday, just light spinning, but stopped at about 35 minutes.  Today, I rode my old Raleigh three-speed around the neighborhood for about a half hour as well.  It was gorgeous out!  I'm going to try and get out on my Gunnar for a little bit tomorrow morning.  I put the Fulcrum wheels and the B17 back on, and also switched out the handlebars from 40s to 38s I want to try things out.

[mrarroyo]

Good luck there Vicky.

 

I went out yesterday for my 2nd ride and although it felt great afterwards I sux big time specially in stability, wobbled a lot. Ended up doing a tad over 7 miles at 10.5 mph. Will try to ride again today and hope not to wobble as much. 

[c12mech]

I went for my longest ride yet yesterday, 10.5 miles.  I was able to manage 12.8 mph which I am actually very happy with.  Even with the 11-23 cassette some of the hills here are still damned hard for me.  It is getting a little easier though and slowly the weight is coming off.  I'm happy and that is all that matters really.  

[Pars]

Good for both of you, thought I begrudge you your weather   Cold and snow here. The cold I can deal with (as long as it isn't windy as well). Snow, not so much.

 

c12, a 23 isn't much for a low end for you with hills. What is your front? You might think about a wider cassette, though others up on modern drivetrains can probably tell you more of what is available, etc.

[Dreadhead]

I run compact 50/34 in the front and a 11-28 in the back. I highly recommend it to anyone with hills to deal with. It allows you to spin up hills a lot more and will make you a lot faster up hill.