Cycling

[The Monkeysphere]

Anyone here ride a 29er?


Think I'm finally buying a decent mountain bike, most likely a Cube Acid 29

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[Aeolos]

Anyone here ride a 29er?


Think I'm finally buying a decent mountain bike, most likely a Cube Acid 29

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I just got back from my first trip ever to the Swiss Alps on my 29er which I assembled myself. It's an On-One Scandal 29er with XT groupset and Fulcrum Red Metal XL wheels, Reba 29er fork. It climbs like a goat, very agile, which was what I was worried about when building a 29er instead of a 26er. I really don't see why people call 29ers slow, not agile and heavy. Get a proper one with a good geometry, not one that is upscaled from a 26er. It's a completely different beast, but very capable of holding its own, even in heavy terrain.

I'll try and post a pic when I get some on the computer.

[Damien Smith]

Spec me a new bike FHC!

I've currently got a Giant XTC 2.5 (hardtail MTB) with slick tyres. It's never used off-road though. It's purely for commuting (about 14m each way) but some of the road surfaces leave a lot to be desired.

I've always had mountain bikes, but am considering a road, or hybrid bike this time. I'm not keen on drop handlebars though. Too weird imo. Coming from a mtb I'm not overly fussy about it being feather light, and am not averse to chucking wider tyres on it in winter, as I'll be using it year round.

So anyways, budget is around £500-£700 (around the 6 mark would be ideal) and it's got to be able to survive my 200lb+ frame bouncing over the odd pothole.

[The Monkeysphere]

How about a cross bike? Yes, drop bars (which you will learn to love), but it has dual brakes for your convenience. Isn't afraid of potholes and shitty asphalt. Obviously not fit for riding in massive snow, but other than that it's brilliant - I had the pleasure of riding one around my summer house, doing rounds on both highways and tiny, shitty forest roads and it was excellent.

I rode an older version of this:

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Dual brake levers are brilliant

[Damien Smith]

I rode an older version of this:

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Actually that bike looks pretty pimp. This might be a stupid question, but what are the main differences between Road, Cross and Hybrid bikes? Some of them look pretty similar to me.

[Calks]

Not too familiar with hybrids, but most of the differences between road & cyclo-cross will be the geometry of the frame and clearances for the forks and rear stays. This is to allow for bigger tyres on cross bikes and to allow mud to clear, etc. You might use slightly wider bars on cross bikes and some of the newer cross frames have mounts for disc brakes as well.

If you're looking to buy new consider buying last years models as the bike shops typically discount these and often they are just a different paint job from this years model. Though do check for differences in running gear, etc. to be sure.

[The Monkeysphere]

Wikiing because I'm lazy:

Road bicycles are designed for traveling at speed on paved roads.
Cyclo-cross bike (also known as "cross bike') - A road bicycle frame similar to a racing or sport/touring bicycle, but with more slack geometry, wider rims/tires and cantilever brakes. This bicycle style was originally intended for racing cyclo-cross. However, due to their robust design, strong brakes and more stable geometry, cyclocross bikes are frequently used as commuting, touring and "all rounder" bicycles.
Hybrid bicycles are a compromise between the mountain and racing style bicycles which replaced European-style utility bikes in North America in the early 1990s. They have a light frame, medium gauge wheels, and derailleur gearing, and feature straight or curved-back, touring handlebars for more upright riding.
Trekking bike - a hybrid with all the accessories necessary for bicycle touring - mudguards, pannier rack, lights etc.
Commuter - designed specifically for commuting over short or long distances. It typically features derailleur gearing, 700c wheels with fairly light 1.125-inch (28 mm) tires, a carrier rack, full fenders, and a frame with suitable mounting points for attachment of various load-carrying baskets or panniers. It sometimes, though not always has an enclosed chainguard to allow a rider to pedal the bike in long pants without entangling them in the chain. A well-equipped commuter bike typically features front and rear lights for use in the early morning or late evening hours encountered at the start or end of a business day
City bike - optimized for the rough-and-tumble of urban commuting. The city bike differs from the familiar European city bike in its mountain bike heritage, gearing, and strong yet lightweight frame construction. It usually features mountain bike-sized (26-inch) wheels, a more upright seating position, and fairly wide 1.5 - 1.95-inch (38 – 50 mm) heavy belted tires designed to shrug off road hazards commonly found in the city, such as broken glass. Using a sturdy welded chromoly or aluminum frame derived from the mountain bike, the city bike is more capable at handling urban hazards such as deep potholes, drainage grates, and jumps off city curbs. City bikes are designed to have reasonably quick, yet solid and predictable handling, and are normally fitted with full fenders for use in all weather conditions. A few city bikes may have enclosed chainguards, while others may be equipped with suspension forks, similar to mountain bikes. City bikes may also come with front and rear lighting systems for use at night or in bad weather.
Comfort bike - essentially modern versions of the old roadster and sports roadster bicycle,[1] though modern comfort bikes are often equipped with derailleur rather than hub gearing. They typically have a modified mountain bike frame with a tall head tube to provide an upright riding position, 26-inch wheels, and 1.75 or 1.95-inch (45 – 50 mm) smooth or semi-slick tires. Comfort bikes typically incorporate such features as front suspension forks, seat post suspension with wide plush saddles, and drop-center, angled North Road style handlebars designed for easy reach while riding in an upright position.



tl;dr:
- road bikes are light and the fastest around, but very prone to punctures on bad roads. The aggressive riding position isn't very comfortable for commuting either, though it isn't as bad on the entry-level ones. Brakes are pretty terrible and don't really handle bad weather. Still, great amounts of fun IMO
- cyclocross bikes are much more robust because this is what they're used for competitively. Massive cantilever brakes that are typically doubled, a more upright position, (usually) knobbier but rather narrow tires (compared to a MTB, vice versa for road bikes obv).
- as from the wall of text above, hybrid bikes can be anything, but it's often just a mediocre mountain bike

Anything can be used for commuting really as most frames can be fitted with a pannier rack - hell, some guys use full carbon setups. That's obviously not a sensible thing to do but v0v


//e: I remembered I have pics of the friend's CX bike. Really fun to ride:

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(I didn't have my shoes with me, luckily he had hybrid SPD/platform pedals)

[Damien Smith]

//e: I remembered I have pics of the friend's CX bike. Really fun to ride:

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Well I'm sold tbh. I didn't want another MTB but hybrids look pretty gay. I'm glad you pointed out CX before I did something dumb like get a proper road bike. I'm not going to get one for a few months yet (unless my work comes through on the bike scheme thing) but I like the look of this one so far.

Cheers for the info bros.

[Smuggo]

I'm thinking about what to do with this bike to work tax saving thingy, not sure whether to go for sensible or fun option.

Currently my ride is split. I ride about 3 miles to the station on my old Trek 4000 with road tyres. It's far from being the greatest bike in the world but when my BMX got stolen I was bikeless and broke and it was only £100 on ebay. It has done me very well over the years for getting around, needs a bunch of bits replacing though really as they're quite old and worn. Then I ride about a mile in London using a hire bike. The hire bikes are okay I guess, but parking them can be a pain and I often end up parking 10 min walk from my office despite it having a docking station outside.

Sensible option is to get a folding bike on the scheme, do away with cycle hire completely and then sort out the Trek so I can use it at a mountain bike. This has the advantage of me not having to leave a bike at a largely unmanned train station, and getting right into work easily. Disadvantage is folding bikes look extremely wank with their odd little wheels and such.

Fun option is carry on my ride to work as it is and spunk the bike to work money on a decent mountain bike. Been ages since I had a good one and have moved to the countryside and some pretty good places to ride round about me.

What would you do?

[Damien Smith]

What would you do?

I'd double check the bike to work scheme specifics with your company tbh. I was looking at the exact same thing but the rules have changed recently. As of Jan 2012 VAT is charged on all your salary deductions, and also the old 'after lease term expires buy the bike for ~5% cost' rule has gone. They now have to charge 'fair market value', which for a £500+ bike after 1yr would be 25% of original value. That's pretty much your original saving wiped out right there.

You can do some fiddling by having your employer carry on leasing you the bike for 0.00p a month until the percentage drops (to about 12% after 4y) but that depends on your employer being that cool.

If you consider it as a 0% finance deal but paying about retail price once it's all worked out that's about gist of it now.

Check out these links.

tl;dr - HMRC are cunts.

[Smuggo]

What would you do?

I'd double check the bike to work scheme specifics with your company tbh. I was looking at the exact same thing but the rules have changed recently. As of Jan 2012 VAT is charged on all your salary deductions, and also the old 'after lease term expires buy the bike for ~5% cost' rule has gone. They now have to charge 'fair market value', which for a £500+ bike after 1yr would be 25% of original value. That's pretty much your original saving wiped out right there.

You can do some fiddling by having your employer carry on leasing you the bike for 0.00p a month until the percentage drops (to about 12% after 4y) but that depends on your employer being that cool.

If you consider it as a 0% finance deal but paying about retail price once it's all worked out that's about gist of it now.

Check out these links.

tl;dr - HMRC are cunts.

Oh that's a bit crappy

Probably still worth it on the basis of it being a cheap loan to buy a bike but might have to look at something cheaper in that case.

[Bamse]

Guess I might as well dive into this stuff as I do enjoy biking more than anything else (almost) =) Since my previous bike (Specialized Hardrock) got stolen at the end of Maj I did a little research to find a similar bike at roughly the same price (Insurance \o/) and picked a Trek 3700 Disc. Now I've finally bought an actual jersey and a heart beat monitor, which I hope can help me getting into better shape than ever (Using Endomondo to track sessions) and I'm going to get some tires with less resistance than those currently fitted, as I only do urban biking.

Now, as my target for the summer was to ride my way home to my parents place and back again. It took 4 and a half hours each way, which was roughly 130-140km in each direction. I normally use my bike for commuting to the University and whenever I have to go downtown, so no biggie doing the 20-30km. That was like a month ago and it seems I'm way out of shape so I've gotta start from scratch which sucks, but my new goal is to have done 1000km on my new bike, at the end of August. I know it ain't a lot by pr0 standards but I'm not pro!

One thing that seems odd to me though, is the fact that my legs have never given up but I always struggle with my abdomen as I bike.. I guess this has to do with breathing, the stance you're in as you go and sheer bad shape?

[Daneel Trevize]

Going to guess stance/posture, as I was not in great shape and never had that problem. More details required?

[Smuggo]

I'm in terrible shape and don't get abdominal issues either. I do get arm pain on extended rides though and I put it mostly down to stance.

[kopf]

This is my current ride, mine is an '07 I think? I don't get to ride as much as I like due to travel though
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/caballero/

[Dirk]

I don't know how it happened but I've volunteered for a charity ride next August to Prague....from Scotland. FFFUUUUUU


Better start training :S

Stealing my dad's cycle scheme bought bike that he never actually rides, a specialised tricross from 2009 as seen on page 3. If he's lucky I might even give him some money for it, as my current generic shit "here's a bike son" bike is heavy and dying.




In other words, I have about 12 months until I die of a heart attack or similar.

[Skidrowpunk]

Along the lines of cross bikes, I've decided to build myself one, slowly over winter. Tired of looking at 1400$ cross bikes with fucking Sora components. I'm getting an old road frame, stripping it, and building it up with used shit, hopefully used 105s + bar ends. Probably won't save any real money, but it will be a super fun project.

[FatFreddy]

Sometimes, I feel like punching other cyclists. Like yesterday, girl on a bike cuts off a pedestrian, giving her a good scare, then proceeds to ride slowly smack in the middle of a downhill cycle lane, with earbuds in. Pondered pushing her over with full force when I was next to her.

[Smuggo]

Sometimes, I feel like punching other cyclists. Like yesterday, girl on a bike cuts off a pedestrian, giving her a good scare, then proceeds to ride slowly smack in the middle of a downhill cycle lane, with earbuds in. Pondered pushing her over with full force when I was next to her.

I think the lesson here is there are lots and lots of idiots using different forms of transport. I see lots of cyclists doing dumb things like you mention, lots of pedestrians throwing themselves out infront of my bike, and lots of drivers not really seeming to understand how things like indicators or roundabouts work.

[Navigator Six]

I've had a road bike for about four years and commute to work on it (used to be about 14 miles a day; now quite a bit less). I had a few problems with punctures initially but got some kevlar tires and they went away (the tires are slightly heavier but don't really affect your speed). Bumpy roads have never been an issue.

My strategy for dealing with cars is to bike fast enough that you can treat yourself as one; this generally works fine in cities, and has the advantage of cars treating you much more politely. Pedestrians and the vast majority of other cyclists are a whole different matter though, and are either nutjobs or space cases who don't look where they're going. Really should be mandatory to have a driver's license to bike after a certain point; knowing what cars should be doing is pretty key to not pissing their drivers off.