Bicycles

[SoulOnIce]

I've loved riding the Masi so much over the past year that I have really cranked up my riding, finding reasons to ride every day and using it to go everywhere possible. It's been great but only problem is NE winter will be here any day and a) riding will suck and b) I do not want to subject my handsome prince bike to slush/snow/salt/shit of Boston winter.





TO CRAIG'S LIST!





where within 48 hours of deciding to build a winter beater bike I had bought a complete '09 KHS track bike from a kid 2 blocks away for under $200 ... thing looked like it had been ridden maybe 100 miles! Re-sold the clipless pedals and cleats that came with it (replaced with chunky BMX bear traps), swapped out the bars and seat, and got this:

definitely want to upgrade my fenders and tires. and not sold on these bars, kinda want low profile flatland type bars.


but as far as winter "beaters" go, built to be sacrificed to the shittiest elements, it has a nice mix of power and pizazz.





took out it out today for the first ride, since it was raining. definitely not as deft as the Masi, it was funny having to adjust my steering and handling to a heavier, less fluid bike. but it rode nicely enough, it's the first time I've had a rear brake in 16+ years and it feels weird.

 

[Jimster]

I used to run "Filth Prophylactics" like that one but will be kitting out the hack with some closer-fitting jobs next. I never found them crud-catcher affairs to be very effective.





It's all rebuilds at the moment for me. Bontrager Privateer going from this...

..to this:

Going to be carbon rigid front. Mmmm....





Spezzie commuter going from this...

..to this (split in headtube weld ):

And one of these coming anytime soon:


http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/rockrider-8-xc-replica-170475071/





Can you say "Crahhh-bon"?

 

[neil_something]

i really need to step up my bike game. having only one bike at the moment, i've been putting up with this for too long...

(you can see which gears i never use...)





hoping for some christmas money in order to sort this out.

 

[SoulOnIce]

J i m s t e r said:I used to run "Filth Prophylactics" like that one but will be kitting out the hack with some closer-fitting jobs next. I never found them crud-catcher affairs to be very effective.







Yeah I actually had a set of old-school wire-mounted fenders that fit right over the wheels that I tried to put on it, but I just could not get them to fit at all. So these are on there until I can come up with something better - I will say that riding around in the rain all day yesterday they were much more effective than I expected. I'm also gonna start shopping cyclocross tires to see if any are thin enough to have clearance on this set-up, so I can have some sno tire action.





Kinda sorry to see you dismantle that green commuter, that was always one of my tabs in this thread.

 

[Jimster]

I wept a salty tear when I found that crack... asue:





I re-used most of the components and I am running that white frame in the back on the same 1 x 9. It's a Carrera-branded frame, as sold by Halfords (big generic bike seller here) but it's made in the Merida plant in Taiwan right alongside Konas and Spezzies. It's all sticker-engineering these days.





So many bikes, so little time. You can tell I am old because that used to be "Women".

 

[Jimster]

Who wanted the DK Iron Cross pedals?

 

[SoulOnIce]

Me!!!! (for real)

 

[Jimster]

I guess, as it's Christmas, we can make that happen.





Where you want dem?

 

[dukeofdelridge]

"bike stuff is free" friend made some super wheels:

profile hubs with 204 points of engagement per revolution make the thing sound like an angry chainsaw. Laced to asshole-ish edge carbon rims. tubeless.





ridiculous.

 

[dukeofdelridge]

BIKES!

 

[SoulOnIce]

!!!





check thy PMs!

 

[SoulOnIce]

SoulOnIce said:





Kinda sorry to see you dismantle that green commuter, that was always one of my tabs in this thread.




ugh autocorrect fail, "tabs" = "favs"





and I initially glossed over the mention of damage to that frame, that sucks. I always remember when I realized I had cracked the titanium Basso (just a US-built litespeed frame with Basso badges, as were all Basso ti frames as I found out) that I loved riding so much. I just couldn't believe it was broken and couldn't be welded. Parts go down, things need replacing - but a broken frame is bicycle death. Also, that cracked frame was where my DK Iron Cross pedals were mounted, and I lost them when the frame with a bunch of components attached was stolen from my basement.





that bike was sick. it's hard to break a ti frame but I had that thing set up as a true 56cm BMX, it was so light I just bunnyhopped everything all day, pulled hangtime off every curb I crossed ... the crack came in the dropouts and I definitely had a 16t BMX cart jammed in there stretching everything out, so the crack shouldn't have been a shock I guess.

 

[Lamont]

 

[Jimster]

dukeofdelridge said:"bike stuff is free" friend made some super wheels:

profile hubs with 204 points of engagement per revolution make the thing sound like an angry chainsaw. Laced to asshole-ish edge carbon rims. tubeless.





ridiculous.




Wheel pr0n. Watch this space... Got some red ano Hope hub babys in the shop waiting to go on.





Not gone tubeless but will run Schwalbe Marathon Plus MTB tyres. I have never had a puncture on these, in over 3 years. They are a little heavier than normal tyres, but offset that against no need to carry a pump or spare inners or run tyre slime.





Some folls on retrobike are all about these at the mo':

They look a blast but I hate hills even on light bikes...

 

[The-gaffler]

dukeofdelridge said:"bike stuff is free" friend made some super wheels:

profile hubs with 204 points of engagement per revolution make the thing sound like an angry chainsaw. Laced to asshole-ish edge carbon rims. tubeless.





ridiculous.




Seeeeeek! All we need is a Mad Fibre wheel next to it!

 

[Lazer]

That's a pretty fancy wheel. 26", I hope. 29" is for the birds. I just moved to Lawrence, KS to manage a bike shop. I'm used to riding my fixed gear all winter with studded tires and this winter, I haven't needed the tires, makes riding a breeze. I've amassed 20 years worth various bike parts from being in the industry, and will gladly trade parts, complete bikes, whatever, for records.

 

[dukeofdelridge]

I want to ride a super big tire snow bike. Out here there are some people who are riding them on the coast, beach and the dunes...that'd be sick. I don't know anyone that has one, though. And they don't look cheap. But: looks fun.





That superwheel is a 26. That guy is a BMXer, and some of the absolutist stuff from that world rears its head when anyone shows up on a 29er. It's pretty funny. He freaks out on our friends with 29ers. They get called un-PC names.





I've ridden a 29er a couple times, and any rolling resistance straight line blah blah blah was overshadowed by the fact that I was on a hardtail. Never been on a FS 29er. I like to say I'm into turning, so I'm not really too hyped on a whole new bike with bigger wheels. I'd get a 26 hardtail before a 29er. And I'd probably get another road bike before a 29er. I'm not anti-29er, but it won't be my next bike. Is all I'm saying bro. Bro.





I think I'm going to reconfigure my Surly this winter. Throw some MTB bars on it and go with one ring up front. That way I can justify getting a new road bike.





Losing my favorite close MTB trails, also. They're in a working forest, and they're logging it. Bummed.





/bike blog

 

[Jimster]

Larger diameter wheels don't feel incisive enough on loose surfaces; when I rode a 29er hardtail on some fast downhill gravel sections the front end wanted to drift in a way I wasn't feeling. It was, unsurprisingly, like riding a cx bike with a bit of travel. In fact, it would be good for cx if that's your bag.





I agree with the idea you should use the right tool for the job, which is why a mtb is overwheeled for a jump park, but these are trails that a regular 26" wheeled bike just takes in its stride; whereas on the larger wheels holding a line through a curve on the gravel felt like an argument.





Talk of rolling resistance is a surely a bit moot, offroad. They have to hype them somehow I suppose. I'll pass. They look nice though.





I got the carbon-framed bad boy from the shop late yesterday afternoon, it's been pissing down, dark and mad gusty since. Must I actually get it dirty?...

 

[The-gaffler]

It's kind of nice out today. Some post-ride finger stamina training. :crazy:

 

[dukeofdelridge]

yes!





reconfigured the Crosscheck inna citybike stylee yesterday:








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bmx levers had the pull for those brakes, that made it easy. Threw on a mtb MECH to go with the shifter. Boom.





it's good to change it up.