There's a new bike boom happening

Walking my dog around the neighborhood, the only way I can keep up with her is on a bike.

 

No reason not to have both, one for the road and one for trails.

Which Century rides did you attend? Or was it by yourself?

 

Not many trails here, there is one nice park with trails in 200 acres of woods, mostly flat walking paths. Then there is a pay to play campground and lots of ATV trails but depending on rain, it's either mud or sugar sand. Used to smoke the old dudes that worked there in there gas powered golf carts by hitting the single track when they tried to chase me because i no pay to play in the woods

My century rides were solo multiday camping trips. Went with an older friend once, we did about a 60 mile day.

 

Depends on how you ride, I exert the same amount of effort on a geared bike as I do on a single speed, the end result is just going faster on a geared bike. 80 miles a week has to be a route to be that consistent. Was it a bike park? Or a route you measured out?

 

SS will improve your biking, instead of relying on gears you learn to use momentum. Anyone ever tried fixed gear? I did a century on a loaded bike with one, never again. You cant stand off the saddle and stop pedaling to give your ass a break. If I ever do a century again it will ONLY be recumbent. Your ass (and pretty much every other part) will thank you for it

 

I got mine free from the local recyclery, customized by me. I can haul a lot of stuff on it, but I'm a biker and we're good like that, be it bicycles or motorcyles either way...



Check out the cool free chair I grabbed on the side of the road on the way home! With a spare bunji cord in the saddlebag, it was mine! It even has a Bluetooth sound system now!

 

Yep, I wont ride a bike without at least a cargo rack. I cringe when I see cyclist with a heavy backpack, backpacks are for walkers, let the machine carry the load. Are the saddlebags improvised? Ever seen improvised ones from those yellow cat litter buckets? It's crazy that people pay up to a 100 bucks on saddlebags (or panniers, if you prefer) when you can easily improvise your own.

 

Same effort? And when you hit a 15-20% grade? Of course measured routes. But the last couple of years I have been traveling all over the world so I need to get off my lazy ass and back to a routine.

 

I am full bore, balls out, WOT, all the time, geared or not. The only difference is the resulting speed at which I hit the grade. The only time I am slow is when I bonk, or walking my dog.

 

No, they're pricey saddlebags someone else threw out, so were easy to mount. The zippers have worn out but they still carry things fine. The blue thing behind my seat is my backpack, which is never on my back until the bike is locked up, that's what luggage racks are for, luggage!

Price of the whole bike was just turning some wrenches and patching tubes and getting dirty. I never spent a penny on anything on that bike, save perhaps tubes and a patch kit, and green slime for after the tubes were patched (a must around here unless you don't mind constant flats). It also has cool, all right hand shifting. I left the rotating shifter for the front, and swapped the back cable for it to reach with the high bars, then I used a thumb shifter right behind it for the rear gearset, and used another cable from a junk bike with high bars so everything would reach.

My back really thanks me, regular American mountain bike bars are murder on the back if you plan to ride all day. Europeans know what's up with bars for cruisers, and while not the same kind of bars, the effect on how it rides is the same.

 

Cool, I'm thrifty myself but I do spend $ on my bikes and lights, but I still shop around alot before the wallet comes out! The other day my friend told me about a bunch of frames and other bike parts in some woods that the homeless got rousted out of. Damn but was it trashed out! After about a half hour, I found a decent frame to chop for my new build. Looked like about 6 abandoned camps in a few acres.

My saddle bags on my recumbent are a craftsmen tool bag and an insulated lunchbox both lashed on with some insulated copper wire, I can pack plenty of weight in them. My back rack I fabricated relatively large, I lashed that frame and handle bar and fork onto it with a bungee. I learned very quick, years ago to make sure you bungee is firm on the rack. One time in my moving wheel, was all it took.

 

Way, way, WAY too many Lance Armstrong wantabee's on the two lane roads around here for me. Cycling is great exercise but like anything else a handful of self absorbed narcissist aholes screw it up for everyone else.

 

And it's a shame a few give the rest a bad name, if it's a busy two lane I will ride the sidewalk. I have a large mirror and I use it. I wanted to smack a guy in Sarasota recently. A line of about 30 cars behind him, trailing behind him at 15 MPH. Narrow two lane, morning rush hour. Either pull off and let them pass or find a damn different road!

 

I'm not nearly as thrifty as y'all. I keep my saddle bags on my motorcycles.

 

I did just shoe my horse with Continental town and country tires and brought a new wheel

 

Conti's are nice tires. Good choice.

 

That's the difference between MTB riders and roadies, you're not likely to find MTBer's holding up traffic.

 

Pretty good deal at BikeNashbar too, 24$ a tire. 1.90 (or 5) Run 60 PSI in em. Nice round profile with negative threads.

 

Sounds fast. I have a similar tire mounted on the Dog Walker, Kenda K-Rads @1.95. I run them at 50psi so they roll easy.

 

The chain was brand spanking new. I hadn't even rode it yet.

The tires on the Cannondale are stock in that pic.
That's why I had to give it up. Every time I rode single track I went rubber up at least once.

The $80 was spent on two new aluminum wheels, two tires, two tubes, and new cables on the shifters and brakes.

 

I stay clear of the roads. Too many people smoking cigarettes and texting. It's the bike trail for me.

 

Love our small town, I can take back roads, 95% of the time and Hwys have bike lanes or sidewalks, all 4.2 Sq miles of it! But we are pothole city!

 

Great thread!

 

A rare happening, 4 pages of common interest discussion, devoid of the usual divide. We (in general) should try more of it.

 

Probably many people in the younger generation cannot afford cars these days.