Any cyclists here?

Gregadd

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All one *really* needs would be a front disc brake. Save the weight of the back brake for speed. This is of course IMO/IME. Once one is in need of extreme braking, the back brake is useless anyway due to the back end lifting up off of the ground.

Tom

According to the rep bikes are so light they have been struggling to make the outdated 15lb weight limit. Many had to add weights to the down tube. At least the brakes are functional.
 

treitz3

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Daggum Greg. Technology has advanced greatly since I was last *really* into it. Thanks for the information bro'.

Tom
 

Bobvin

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I've been busy with business and taking some classes at the university, so I haven't done much training this year. Been off the bike way too long. A few weeks back a friend calls and says lets do a brief credit-card bike tour in Montana. So with a few weeks to go, and finals, I squeezed in on 5 training rides, the longest at 39 miles on the flats, and couple of spinning classes. Hardly enough to consider myself fit and ready.

Last Tuesday I drove from Portland to Spokane and on Wednesday we drove to Jackson, Montana (in the Big Hole Valley). We rode a short 18 miles and spent the night in Wisdom. Next day was mild 37 miles to Wise River, very gently downhill with a tail wind. Perfect! We then had a 53 mile day to Dillon, again mostly a gentle downhill with a few little 1 mile climbs at 6-8%, but the final 12 miles was into a stiff quartering headwind of about 18mph.


I had mapped the route with my GPS, and we knew the last day of 48 miles was going to be the toughest with two passes to climb, the first with a steady ramp up at about 3-4% for about 13 miles, and a final pitch of about 6% for another five miles. The second was the highest at 7400ft, and it too had a tough climb at 6-8% for about 4 miles. The strong wind out of the southwest had not died down overnight, so 44 of the 48 miles was going to be dead into this headwind. It was one of the toughest days I ever had on the bike, mostly because I'd spent all the glycogen in my legs the day before (and because typically on a tour day 3 or 4 is the hardest as your body gets accustomed to the effort.) I wanted to quit before the climbing even started, just from the effort into the headwinds. But... I finished. I was completely spent.

Here's a few pics... the southwest portion of Montana is extremely sparsely populated, and in the Big Hole valley there are very, very few structures of any kind. Just miles and miles of wide open spaces, with a snow capped mountain range in the distance whichever way you look. And we caught the timing right as this is one of the greenest years many locals could remember. Rather than the hill sides being dried out and brown, the grasses still had some green in them. It was spectacular!









 

853guy

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Aug 14, 2013
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So here’s my new (second-hand) bike.

What? No vintage Italian steel-framed hand-painted restoration? What happened to “getting my hands dirty”? What about my values?

Yeah, so, about that…

I’m a mountain biker at heart. Never been a roadie, never wanted to be one, still don’t really. But there’s no denying how great road cycling can be for basic conditioning. My intention was never to get a super light carbon framed road bike, but to find a Columbus steel frame I could restore and make a summer project. I’ve had my eye on various Colnagos, Ciöccs, De Rosas and a Bottechia saved to various watch lists. It’d be fun, wouldn’t burn into our cash reserves too much, and I’d have bragging rights to say “yeah, brah, that paint job? That’s all me”.

Of course, the confounding variables in all this was time and size. Realistically, I don’t really have enough of the former and being a small guy meant rejecting vintage frame after vintage frame because they were simply all too big.

So I bought the EXS. Why? It was in my size. And given titanium is a rarity on the second-hand market, if I can’t have steel than I’ll settle for carbon, and I liked that it’s lugged. But mostly? Because it had one of the finest pre-carbon mechanical groupsets ever made in Shimano’s Dura Ace 7800 (the one Lance “I never failed a test” Armstrong rode to “victory” in 2003), in which replacement cost alone now would be more than what I paid for the entire bike. At the time it was arguably superior to everything else out there, and with OEM parts so reasonable now, it’s easy to keep a bike on the road in primo condition for years to come. That it has 1st gen Kysriums was the icing on the cake (rear hub probably needs replacing shortly).

And it rides okay. It’s not too chattery or boxy or dead, is very stiff though the bottom bracket and chain stays, pretty responsive, and on the pavé around where we are is quite forgiving. The geometry is a bit aggressive, but I’ll probably tweak that in the weeks and months to come.

Oh yeah, and the seat is brutal. I forgot how unyielding most road bike saddles can be, but thankfully we already have a brood of wonderful children.

So we did the financially conservative thing, keeping our powder dry for the house that remains frustratingly elusive, and hey - I have a bike to ride. Win. Sure, maybe one day I’ll splurge for a full-custom geometry Columbus-framed dream bike but in the interim, my metabolism and resting heart rate are grateful I’ve finally stopped procrastinating. Lower overall body fat may be the secondary beneficiary. Could my abs make a late summer appearance? It’s an ever increasing possibility.

853guy

P.S. Does anyone have experience with Bont cycling shoes? Looking for something with a wider toe box as I’ve had problems with a Merton’s Neuroma in my right foot. Recommendations welcome.

DSCF1006.JPG
 
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rockitman

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I got back into cycling pretty heavy last year and road a lot. This year for some reason I have been procrastinating riding much and am out of biking shape.
I ended up building a Trek Domane SLR Project One custom bike last year. Zip head set/stem, Zipp 303 NSW wheels, Shimano 9000 mechanical group set. Amazing machine to ride and comfortable.
 

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Tango

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Hello,

Its been almost two years since my last ride. I used to ride 75-90 KMs four times a week. But now helping my wife caring a baby boy took pretty much all my biking time. I have a Pinarello Dogma with Shimano DuraAce mechanical groupsets, Zipp 202 wheels. I dont know how a carbon fiber road bike could ever be comfortable though. :p

Tang
 

rockitman

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Hello,

Its been almost two years since my last ride. I used to ride 75-90 KMs four times a week. But now helping my wife caring a baby boy took pretty much all my biking time. I have a Pinarello Dogma with Shimano DuraAce mechanical groupsets, Zipp 202 wheels. I dont know how a carbon fiber road bike could ever be comfortable though. :p

Tang

This particular road frame was designed for Paris-Roubaix race. The fork and seat main tube are decoupled. Makes for a comfortable ride compared to my aluminum cannondale. Interesting technology that works...
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/inside_trek/isospeed/
 

JimmyS

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Sep 1, 2013
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So here’s my new (second-hand) bike.


P.S. Does anyone have experience with Bont cycling shoes? Looking for something with a wider toe box as I’ve had problems with a Merton’s Neuroma in my right foot. Recommendations welcome.

View attachment 33625

Check out Lake cycling shoes. Their normal width is wider than any shoe I have tried and they also make a Wide version. I use their normal width shoes for both road and mountain biking, and my feet have been very happy.
 

Folsom

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Christian, I'm not sure Trek's page really explains that frame, but I'd love to see what one feels like.
 

853guy

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Check out Lake cycling shoes. Their normal width is wider than any shoe I have tried and they also make a Wide version. I use their normal width shoes for both road and mountain biking, and my feet have been very happy.

Hello Jimmy,

I've made a short list of Bont, Sidi and will add Lake now, too. Am going to try some out today.

Thanks for the recommendation, appreciate it!

Best,

853guy
 

Bobvin

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I got back into cycling pretty heavy last year and road a lot. This year for some reason I have been procrastinating riding much and am out of biking shape.
I ended up building a Trek Domane SLR Project One custom bike last year. Zip head set/stem, Zipp 303 NSW wheels, Shimano 9000 mechanical group set. Amazing machine to ride and comfortable.

That is a wierd looking bike... the head angle looks extremely aggressive, maybe it is just the length as it is clearly a tall guys bike, and the wheelbase seems pretty short too. (Makes sense with the steep head angle.) Maybe its the color! Maybe its the clashing bottles!

Nice wheels though, and a nice group. I think we share Arundel carbon cages.
 

853guy

Active Member
Aug 14, 2013
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Hello Jimmy,

I've made a short list of Bont, Sidi and will add Lake now, too. Am going to try some out today.

Thanks for the recommendation, appreciate it!

Best,

853guy

In the last couple of days I've been trying on shoes, and narrowed down my choice to either a pair of Specialized or a pair of Lakes.

But I didn't buy either of those. I bought a pair of fi'zi:ks instead. And I'm really glad I didn't buy online.

You know when you slip a pair of shoes on and they're just right? That's the fi'zi:ks.

And after a ride in thirty-two degree celcius heat today, I came home with no right foot pain under my toes, which is the first time that's happened since forever.

Who would've thunk it? Never paid attention to fi'zi:k before, but I may have just found my new favourite pair of cycling shoes and will now investigate their MTB range.

Best,

853guy
 
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rockitman

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In the last couple of days I've been trying on shoes, and narrowed down my choice to either a pair of Specialized or a pair of Lakes.

But I didn't buy either of those. I bought a pair of fi'zi:ks instead. And I'm really glad I didn't buy online.

You know when you slip a pair of shoes on and they're just right? That's the fi'zi:ks.

And after a ride in 32 degree celcuis heat today, I came home with no right foot pain under my toes, which is the first time that's happened since forever.

Who would've thunk it? Never paid attention to fi'zi:k before, but I may have just found my new favourite pair of cycling shoes and will now investigate their MTB range.

Best,

853guy

Lakes are the best shoes I have ever had albeit size 50 excludes me from most other brand's top of the line shoes
 

rockitman

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Christian, I'm not sure Trek's page really explains that frame, but I'd love to see what one feels like.

Unlike all road bikes I have riden. No arm/wrist/hand fatigue with the Domane SLR frame. That's why it's a prime choice at Paris-Roubaix cobblestone roads. It has won the race a couple times in the past with Fabian cancellera.
 

853guy

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Aug 14, 2013
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Lakes are the best shoes I have ever had albeit size 50 excludes me from most other brand's top of the line shoes

I'm still interested in the Lakes, but the stores I visited had a lesser selection. Perhaps had I tried their upper tier choices I may have found my Goldilocks in Lake. In any case, I didn't want to splurge too much as I was quite anxious my Morton's Neuroma would suddenly appear ten minutes into the ride and create a situation in which I end up with a 400 € pair of vanity slippers. Like most of these issues, they tend not to raise their head whilst standing in the store transferring one's weight across the foot and back, but just as you cross the half-way point of the ride in which it now makes no difference if you turn back anyway.

Thankfully with the fi'zi:ks my feet were comfortable the whole ride, no cramping, no sharp shooting pain between my toes and still have freedom of movement now four hours later. I also bought my first pair of Assos bibs having previously been a Castelli kinda guy, and though I really liked the Castellis, I felt I owed it to myself to at least try them. I can't say the Assos are significantly better than the Castellis in every way, but they fit really well, they stay in place on my legs, and although I have a ridiculously sadistic saddle, I came home feeling great. So, win, win.

BTW rockitman, are you, like, nine feet tall? The head tube on your bike is the longest I've ever seen on a modern bike. The bigot in me refuses to ride Trek in a post-Oprah world*, but the engineering geek in me finds the idea of decoupling the tubes really interesting. It's actually why I always really liked lugged steel frames.

Best,

853guy


*Though personally, I was a Lance sceptic from about 2002. I know, petty, right?
 

Bobvin

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I know a lot of people really like the Assos kit. It didn't work well for me at all—as is true for most company's bib-shorts the straps were a little too short for my torso. I have an amazing pair of Pearl Isumi bibs sitting in the closet until I can get a seamstress to add a couple inches of material to the straps. As they are, if I were to wear them, my voice would be a couple octaves higher! The Castilli shorts are pretty much my kit these days.

Another brand of less flashy but extremely high quality kit is Rapha. Really top notch kit, but not the most exciting selection of colors. As much as I like to wear black in the cool PNW weather, I hate not being visible.

When I'm in peak conditioning, I like to wear this kit: http://elevengear.com/product/poseur-jersey-cap-mens/. The guys in the club get a laugh at it every time, but I only feel comfortable wearing it when I'm able to deliver the V!

(From the Elevengear website:)

Strength-sapping sleet, bone-rattling cobbles, furnace-like temperatures on seemingly unendurable climbs: These were the conditions that defined the strong men of professional cycling in their day. Perhaps that is why one rarely hears of the legacy of Team Poseur.

In 1968 the little-known Poseur team toiled in the pro ranks of continental Europe. Sponsored by a small factory in Nancy that made clip-on ties, heel inserts for mens’ shoes and women’s dickies. The team was small, and their budget, meager.

Poseurs were a band of grim-faced grogneurs, an équipe of riders like Oopgegaven, DeBonque, and Barfolini, crafty and determined riders who could find a way to lose more races than they entered. Poseur riders battled the giants of the road in their day. They scarcely earned the respect of their peers in the pro peloton, but did they flinch? Never! The heart of the true Poseur can withstand any insult.

The Poseur era ended when a new co-sponsor, Charlatan, came on board late in the season bringing an influx of francs. But when the promised cheque was lost, accusations flew, and Charlatan withdrew its sponsorship, casting its lot instead with the nascent sport of competitive bodybuilding. Time has not smiled sweetly on this once mighty team. You only find them at the best coffee shops and bakeries, always riding easy, never taking the lead. So now the question is: Do you have what it takes to re-ignite the storied history of Vélo Poseur? You may be Poseur’s last hope.
 

853guy

Active Member
Aug 14, 2013
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38
I know a lot of people really like the Assos kit. It didn't work well for me at all—as is true for most company's bib-shorts the straps were a little too short for my torso. I have an amazing pair of Pearl Isumi bibs sitting in the closet until I can get a seamstress to add a couple inches of material to the straps. As they are, if I were to wear them, my voice would be a couple octaves higher! The Castilli shorts are pretty much my kit these days.

Another brand of less flashy but extremely high quality kit is Rapha. Really top notch kit, but not the most exciting selection of colors. As much as I like to wear black in the cool PNW weather, I hate not being visible.

When I'm in peak conditioning, I like to wear this kit: http://elevengear.com/product/poseur-jersey-cap-mens/. The guys in the club get a laugh at it every time, but I only feel comfortable wearing it when I'm able to deliver the V!

(From the Elevengear website:)

Strength-sapping sleet, bone-rattling cobbles, furnace-like temperatures on seemingly unendurable climbs: These were the conditions that defined the strong men of professional cycling in their day. Perhaps that is why one rarely hears of the legacy of Team Poseur.

In 1968 the little-known Poseur team toiled in the pro ranks of continental Europe. Sponsored by a small factory in Nancy that made clip-on ties, heel inserts for mens’ shoes and women’s dickies. The team was small, and their budget, meager.

Poseurs were a band of grim-faced grogneurs, an équipe of riders like Oopgegaven, DeBonque, and Barfolini, crafty and determined riders who could find a way to lose more races than they entered. Poseur riders battled the giants of the road in their day. They scarcely earned the respect of their peers in the pro peloton, but did they flinch? Never! The heart of the true Poseur can withstand any insult.

The Poseur era ended when a new co-sponsor, Charlatan, came on board late in the season bringing an influx of francs. But when the promised cheque was lost, accusations flew, and Charlatan withdrew its sponsorship, casting its lot instead with the nascent sport of competitive bodybuilding. Time has not smiled sweetly on this once mighty team. You only find them at the best coffee shops and bakeries, always riding easy, never taking the lead. So now the question is: Do you have what it takes to re-ignite the storied history of Vélo Poseur? You may be Poseur’s last hope.

Hi Bob,

It’s so personal, right?

No complaints with Castelli, for sure. I’ve also had good experiences with Santini, but thought it would be fun to try something different (so also bought a POC jersey, socks and helmet for the same reasons). Admittedly, I’ve only had one ride wearing the Assos but like I say, fit is perfect and comfort was brilliant.

I do like the look of Rapha, but I need my cardio to be significantly improved before I start wearing it least I look like the poseur my fitness currently has me pegged as (it's nice to see Eleven Gear gets the joke). Might buy a pair of their socks though.

And I fully agree with being visible. Here on the Continent drivers tend to be very respectful, but the reason I bought the POC jersey in pink was primarily for reasons of visibility. I mean, sure, I want to look cool too, but I’d rather wear pink and get home alive than wear black and be dead.

Best,

853guy
 
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rockitman

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Sep 20, 2011
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BTW rockitman, are you, like, nine feet tall? The head tube on your bike is the longest I've ever seen on a modern bike. The bigot in me refuses to ride Trek in a post-Oprah world*, but the engineering geek in me finds the idea of decoupling the tubes really interesting. It's actually why I always really liked lugged steel frames.

I'm 6'7", 230lbs so my frame is 62cm. All in w/o water bottles 16.5lbs. Not bad for such a large bike. Decoupling really works. The flex on the seat tube decoupling is adjustable allowing you to dial in a stiffer or more comfortable ride. The découple on the head tube makes it so comfortable for hands, wrists, forearms...no abrupt shock from tough roads.
 

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