Re: The bicycle thread

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today at the holiday parade we had "pork Chop Choppers". after the parade i saw them (about half a dozen bikes, all different) on a trailer, talked to the man who builds them for fun. too dark for more pics. he said he has no web presence, so this is the all i got.
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Re: The bicycle thread

478
Tomorrow is new bike day for me. :yahoo:

Ever since I rented a Whyte gravel bike for a race in Scotland last summer I have been ruined on my Salsa Fargo. Its a fabulous bike and very comfortable and practical but certainly not light or fast. It's really a mountain bike with drop bars. It's also geared more for touring and mountain than road with the tallest gear being 42-11. I really want a road bike that can handle gravel and a little singletrack here and there. I have had to admit to myself that due to geography I am now a roadie who occasionally takes his trail bike to the trails/mountains. I'd really love a Lauf True Grit, or Salsa Warbird but $3700 would have had my wife glaring at me for at least a week. On cyber Monday I found this and couldn't resist. I already told the wife and she merely rolled here eyes. :roll: I love telling her that cycling is the healthiest thing I spend money on. ;)

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mot ... -bikes.htm

$1300 is outrageously cheap for this build kit. The geometry is about the same as most manufacturers gravel offerings. More road than gravel but that's what I need for most of my training rides. I love how laterally stiff my carbon trail bike is and I'm hoping I get the same cornering joy from this one.

Never forget that the most expensive bike is an order of magnitude cheaper than the cheapest heart surgery. :)
'Sorry stupid people but there are some definite disadvantages to being stupid."

-John Cleese
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Re: The bicycle thread

479
Mason wrote: Fri Nov 30, 2018 11:42 am Tomorrow is new bike day for me. :yahoo:

Ever since I rented a Whyte gravel bike for a race in Scotland last summer I have been ruined on my Salsa Fargo. Its a fabulous bike and very comfortable and practical but certainly not light or fast. It's really a mountain bike with drop bars. It's also geared more for touring and mountain than road with the tallest gear being 42-11. I really want a road bike that can handle gravel and a little singletrack here and there. I have had to admit to myself that due to geography I am now a roadie who occasionally takes his trail bike to the trails/mountains. I'd really love a Lauf True Grit, or Salsa Warbird but $3700 would have had my wife glaring at me for at least a week. On cyber Monday I found this and couldn't resist. I already told the wife and she merely rolled here eyes. :roll: I love telling her that cycling is the healthiest thing I spend money on. ;)

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mot ... -bikes.htm

$1300 is outrageously cheap for this build kit. The geometry is about the same as most manufacturers gravel offerings. More road than gravel but that's what I need for most of my training rides. I love how laterally stiff my carbon trail bike is and I'm hoping I get the same cornering joy from this one.

Never forget that the most expensive bike is an order of magnitude cheaper than the cheapest heart surgery. :)
Nice! I got a Motobecane from them about a year ago, I guess--pictures are posted back in this thread. The only problem was one skewer was missing components but they sent a new one right away. Mine is off-road, with the 29" tires, but even with the heavier frame, rock-shock fork, it's less than 30#. It was about $700. and I'm delighted with it, even on the street, with a lot less rolling resistance than I expected.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

480
ever since the denali was stolen, i've been picking at it, trying to get everything squared away. connecting and adjusting the rear derailleur, contrary to the first impression, there was some minor damage, nothing really significant except:
there's a fastener on the left shifter which is ordinarily captive but if it's partly disassembled the fastener can come out and get lost, which is exactly what happened. no left shifter, hence no control over the chainwheel derailleur, hence, stuck in the bottom 7 speeds. so, this fastener, i wanted to ask here if anyone had one in their spares box (doesn't everyone have a spares box?) but i didn't know what to call it, and a description generally leaves people scratching their heads. it looks something like a tiny little top hat. it's a sleeve threaded on the inside with a rim around the outside of one end. by coincidence or persistence i came across something similar in drawer G-9 in hardware at lowes, called a "threaded post", also known to the world as a chicago or T nut, available at craft shops, commonly used in leatherworking and scrapbooking. lowes has a selection in aluminum in a range of sizes somewhere around a dollar each. the 5/8ths is just right after filing on the head a bit, except that the shallow slot in the screw strips before it gets tight enough to securely fasten to the handlebars. so now i need to hunt up a screw that fits the sleeve.

in the course of all this i swapped out the derailleur on violet the peugeot and decided i needed to replace the chain. and that coda expert saddle is terribly uncomfortable.

yesterday i violated a primary tenet of my life, which is to never spend money at a bike shop if you have a choice. after a frustrating trip to wallyworld wherein they had neither chain nor chainbreaker (i was sure i already had one in all this mess) nor $12.98 seat nor the old fogey cell phone i want, i went to the local carbon frame bike pimp. by coincidence he had the chainbreaker tools out on the counter, so i told him i was also looking for a chain and a cheap seat. "what's cheap?" he asked and i said "20 bucks" so he showed me a bunch of seats, some free (takeoffs) and some marked down to $20, and i came away with a park tools ct-5 chainbreaker, $16.95, a kmc Z7 chain, $18.99, a serfas MH RX seat, $20.00, and a pair of smoove onyx/ultr-violet sunglasses for the LOTH (early xmas), $25. i'm seeing the seat listed for around $72 and the sunglasses for $38.00, so they cut me considerable slack even though (maybe because) i whined about the price, or maybe the seat and sunglasses were not selling and he wanted to be rid of them.

so i'll do reviews of each of these in their turn, but i read up on the seat, and according to some the serfas MH RX seat is among the most comfortable of seats, and good-looking to boot. and next time i'm at lowes i'll look for a steel screw that fits the threaded post. today the weather is wet and chilly, so i won't be working much on bicycles.
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Re: The bicycle thread

481
as you can see from the above pics, the serfas rx seat is split in half along its entire length, the two halves held together at the bottom by two substantial plastic lugs, all of which goes to make this an exceptionally flexible seat. it's also well padded, boasting 4 alternating layers of foam and gel, all wrapped in a sturdy-looking synthetic cover. the back of the seat is broader than the coda expert saddle it replaces, so this new seat should meet my need, which is primarily comfort. guess i'm no longer the hard-@ss i used to be. we'll see how it feels after i ride it some.

also pictured is the KMC Z7 chain and park tools CT-5 mini chain tool. what is there to say about a chain, except that after everything is said and done and installed it's quiet, smooth, and an obvious improvement over the ragged-out chain it replaces. oh, and there's the tool-less master link, which made life easy except when i dropped half of it and had to go under the porch with a magnet to look for it. made in china. i guess the master link was homesick, trying to go back to china.

the chain tool works well and easily popped the pin on the old chain for removal, and shortened the new chain by a link. it weighs 77 grams and is small. bigger handles would make it easier to use, but heavier and, well, bigger. so there's that trade-off. worked for me. assembled in USA from foreign and domestic parts, uses replaceable pin #CTP
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: The bicycle thread

482
follow-up:
aluminum threaded post from lowes stripped before it would tighten enough. steel threaded post from michael's scrap-booking section is working fine so far.
the serfas saddle is very comfortable, arguably comparable to a well-broken-in brooks, without the breaking-in. i like it.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: The bicycle thread

483
Lurker, still trying to picture what the post looks like or where it fits.

I don't mind going to my lBS -- better than Wally World (hate giving money to those bastards, the Waltons). One is REI, another is up on Rt 46, but the third, in Whippany, I found to be FOS. The local Dick's is 99% worthless, but a new store is opening in my town I've yet to check out.

Really interested in how the Serfas RX seat works out. The WTB (Wilderness Trail Bikes) seat that came with the Motobecane is fine, but I'm not thrilled with the replacement on the Peugeot AGDA, nor the cheapo saddle on my cheapo beach bike, a Kent Shogun Trailblaster "mountain bike" (no suspension, cant brakes).
I put a taller seat post and swapped the grips on the Kent, which has been a giant improvement, but the seat......
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

484
i decided that i needed a period-correct frame pump for violet, the '75 peugeot. these things are weirdly expensive, mostly $30+. i found a chromed sunlite $5.99 pump on the web which got my hackles up because they don't appear to have a physical presence. i hope they have more than a windowless closet where some poor wage slave writes their web ads. so i kept looking until i found the same sunlite pump at bikewagon for $8.99 and a cannondale (on closeout) for $7.99. what to do? easy, i ordered both. yes, i'll pay extra if you actually have a showroom/office/warehouse. i'll put the other on the denali. and of course there will be a review. 2 day shipping via priority mail was cheaper than US Ground, so they should be here shortly after the weekend.
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Re: The bicycle thread

485
the pumps arrived on the porch sometime this evening. pics tomorrow, meanwhile words will have to do.
sunlite: 214g, 16&1/4" long, chromed steel, schraeder only via 6&3/4" braided hose.
cannondale: 130g, 13&5/8" long, white aluminum w/blk stripe, schraeder+presta via direct attach to valve stem.
the cannondale seals up around the handle and at the valve, so maybe better for dusty environments.
the cannondale is shorter and also skinnier, so i expect it will pump air more slowly than the sunlite.
both come with plastic frame mounts, though i plan to use the steel lugs already welded on the peugeot frame.
both made in taiwan.
i plan to use the chromed steel pump on violet, and the white cannondale pump on the denali, which is also white. so sort of color-coordinated.
Last edited by lurker on Sat Jan 19, 2019 10:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The bicycle thread

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Mason wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2019 11:15 pm Google “fat bike” lurker.
familiar with the concept in general. thought they were for sand. i'm wondering how wide the tires would have to be to support bike and rider on snow. maybe spheres the size of beach balls? i seem to recall a trike with big ball-type wheels that went on water.... :sorry:
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: The bicycle thread

494
Go with chrome!

The USPS has screwed up again. The mat that supposed to go under the indoor trainer adapter was supposed to be here yesterday, then today, now some time next week. It's SUPPOSED to be in Avenel, NJ already so why is it delayed? Because the USPS Priority and Express mail would be a joke of their inability to deliver wasn't so consistently fucked up. This is now the fourth item lost or delayed in a month!
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

495
Well, the Indoor Stand Trainer arrived and considering it was less than $100, I'm pretty happy with it. They provide a replacement quick-release skewer for the back wheel. I needed to use it on my Peugeot because the shape of the old one won't fit, but it's a simple replacement. It has a remote six-resistance level adjuster that fits on the handlebars and despite reviews that it's noisy I didn't find it so at all. There's a front wheel stand as well that simple plastic. It's a tad more wobbly than I'd like but is only a problem when you sit up and take your hands off the bar.
Otherwise, it was SO much less expensive than a good stationary I could buy a cheap 32" Insignia TV and a Roku box to go with it! (Until the box gets here I can use my laptop as a source).

Amazon recommended a speedometer with it but that was a mistake and it's going back. It only mounts on the front wheel and won't work mounted on the rear wheel. Great recommendation for STATIONARY bike trainer! :sarcasm:

So between my treadmill, the bike, Solaflex, "The Block" weights, TV and Roku box, I may well give up my gym membership!
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

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on the 10th of this month i ordered packages from 4 vendors, one of which was bikewagon who sent me the frame pumps shown above. took them a while to get the packages out, but only a week overall.

but one of the vendors, east coast photo of new jersey has said nothing since i placed the order. so yesterday i sent them a polite email asking about the status of the order, and today, i get an e-mail from them, with tracking #, saying they shipped the package. today.

i doubt i'll be doing business with them in the future.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: The bicycle thread

497
I would always be very, very careful when dealing with any big photo store in the NY metro area. There's small shops in my town and the next town and few others that are good old fashioned camera stores. But the big, web shops all make me nervous. I can't tell you how many I've dealt with that are out-and-out crooks. B&H Photo in the city is the only one I've had a good experience with, but their prices are high.

The Roku box came and it's a royal mess to set up. Their support is atrocious. There is no phone line with a human to help and they CLAIM everything you need is on the web site. It's not. Not even close. There isn't even an online messenger or a way to email a question. Comcast has an app that runs on Roku. Took me 2 days and a number of YT vids to find out how to access it. But at least it worked, finally. Plus it only attaches to 2.4ghz WiFi, not 5ghz. But...there's no extra charge for using it, but Comcast will only allow you to run up to 5 streaming apps. Not a real problem because we rarely run more than one.

Plus: Lots of stuff and most packages like Netflix, Amazon, HBO Go and Now. Simply power it and plug in the HDMI cable.
If you have multiple Roku devices they can all be on a single account, or on separate accounts.

Minuses: Doesn't seem to stay on the last channel you use (not sure about it).
Dreadful support and manuals.
You MUST establish an account, and give them a C/C or PayPal connection for buying/renting movies or special features. But you don't have to use it.
Its remote doesn't have a power or volume button so you still need to use your TV's remote.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

498
yesterday i determined to use what sunshine there is and go for a ride. probably a mile either way, just getting some fresh air and sunshine. talked with a guy walking his genesis, (too much beer) and as we stood there another guy in full spandex on a trek hooted at us as he went by. also talked with a guy sitting in the sunny corner of his yard catching rays. on the way home i noticed a geo metro* sitting in a backyard, decided to try for a better look, and there under the carport were a 70s citroen DS and an (again 70s) alpine. apparently a fan of older french cars. i'll go back at some point and try for a closer look.

bicycles get you out into your community, on a human level. not just passing through in a metal box. you see things.

* the metro, a rebadged suzuki swift, initially caught my eye because i've had a couple and like them. very fuel efficient, very reliable, very easy to work on.
Last edited by lurker on Sun Jan 27, 2019 10:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: The bicycle thread

499
lurker wrote: Sun Jan 27, 2019 9:40 am so yesterday i determined to use what sunshine there is and go for a ride. probably a mile either way, just getting some fresh air and sunshine. talked with a guy walking his genesis, (too much beer) and as we stood there another guy in full spandex on a trek hooted at us as he went by. also talked with a guy sitting in the sunny corner of his yard catching rays. on the way home i noticed a geo metro* sitting in a backyard, decided to try for a better look, and there under the carport were a 70s citroen DS and an (again 70s) alpine. apparently a fan of older french cars. i'll go back at some point and try for a closer look.

bicycles get you out into your community, on a human level. not just passing through in a metal box. you see things.

* the metro, a rebadged suzuki swift, initially caught my eye because i've had a couple and like them. very fuel efficient, very reliable, very easy to work on.
Alpine? Sunbeam Alpine? Thought that was English, not French. But there was a French Alpine (thx Wikipedia). Was it this?
The Alpine name was resurrected in 1976 by Chrysler (by then the owner of Rootes), on a totally unrelated vehicle: the UK-market version of the Simca 1307, a French-built family hatchback. The car was initially badged as the Chrysler Alpine, and then finally as the Talbot Alpine following Chrysler Europe's takeover by Peugeot in 1978. The name survived until 1984, although the design survived (with different names) until 1986.
(My cousin had a red Sunbeam Tiger, the Alpine "fire-breathed on" by Carroll Shelby with the Ford small-block 260 cubic inch V-8 under the "bonnet")
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

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i'm not sure, didn't go into the man's yard. i think it was the sunbeam . i thought initially british, but when i went to wikipedia the french one turned up. i'll look again.

eta: yes, sunbeam alpine (i believe), so '60s british most likely.

since you mention fire-breathers, i once had a chevy LUV truck (by isuzu). the 4-cylinder died so a motorhead friend and i put a 327 small block in it. and yes, eventually it caught fire and burned.
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