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Biking Nerds Unite

I'm excited for Mother Nature to make up her damn mind, for the same reason. hahaha.

Race you to the top of the hill!
 
Pah, fair weather riders! ;)

My new frame is having the BB and headset installed, and I should be able to pick it up from the shop tomorrow. I can't wait to see how it rides. I just have to be careful not to get too confident and injure myself on my first few rides lol. The weather is looking like it will be pretty nice too. Spring rocks
 
Dave said:
addictive: I don't have a specific tool, but my multitool has a chain breaker on it. I'm assuming that's what you mean?

And yes, I've had to use it on a couple of occasions. If there's another way to add/remove links in the chain, then I'm all ears.

I'm debating getting a pedal wrench. I <3 my bike, but it's outfitted for racing and the pedals on there are a bit much for just day-to-day errands or bombing. Plus, I'm destroying the shoe half of the system by walking on them too much.

For reference, they're the sort that look like this:

NSFW:
item-1122657360.jpg
0.2228.jpg


And I'd like to replace them with ones that look like this for day-to-day use:

NSFW:
shimano-spd.jpg
Click to expand...

you'll need new shoes as well, spd cleats+road shoes=buying new cleats a lot, horrible grinding walking, slipping over a lot.

just saw this thread. i'm an ex cycle courier, been riding since i was 11, mtb, bmx, road. recently rebuilt my bmx but just gonna get a new complete when i have the money, everything changed to micro drive, internal headsets, mid bb....
 
Shimmer.Fade said:
Hey Beagle, what kind of shoes are you using? I'm thinking about upgrading to:

Shimano AM41: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=55371

or

Five Ten Karver: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=63974

Any experience with the Shimano? They have a supposedly pretty decent Vibram rubber sole. Five Ten is probably going to kick ass of course.
Click to expand...

i've used the previous years versions of the shimano's, great shoe, lasted about 8 months of wearing all the time, were my only shoe for a period. ah, when all you do is ride bikes.
 
lately when ive been ride occasionally the the bike chain will just lock up in the middle of pedaling, its usually pretty easy to get it started again but ive had a couple of almost accidents because of it, does anyone know what could be causing this and how i could fix it?
 
what od you mean lock up? is it geared? have you changed the chain or sprockets recently?
 
i against i said:
you'll need new shoes as well, spd cleats+road shoes=buying new cleats a lot, horrible grinding walking, slipping over a lot.

just saw this thread. i'm an ex cycle courier, been riding since i was 11, mtb, bmx, road. recently rebuilt my bmx but just gonna get a new complete when i have the money, everything changed to micro drive, internal headsets, mid bb....
Click to expand...

Most MTB clipless shoes have recessed cleats that aren't such a pain in the ass to walk around in. Not all clipless shoes are terrible =P. I prefer platforms personally, but I also ride mostly MTB. (oops just read you specified road shoes ;P)

i against i said:
i've used the previous years versions of the shimano's, great shoe, lasted about 8 months of wearing all the time, were my only shoe for a period. ah, when all you do is ride bikes.
Click to expand...

I ended up going with the Shimano's because they were cheaper. I had some initial tearing up of the sole, but they have been holding steady for awhile now. They have survived about 3500km, and are still going pretty strong. I'll probably get some 510s next time mainly to check out the difference.

Cheers, and happy riding =)
 
glitter_kiss said:
lately when ive been ride occasionally the the bike chain will just lock up in the middle of pedaling, its usually pretty easy to get it started again but ive had a couple of almost accidents because of it, does anyone know what could be causing this and how i could fix it?
Click to expand...

Yea, this could be a few different things, and is pretty dangerous. You have to be more specific, or it is impossible to help you. Your LBS should be able to fix it for you for a pretty small cost I would think. That would be way better than falling off your bike on a busy street.
 
i against i said:
what od you mean lock up? is it geared? have you changed the chain or sprockets recently?
Click to expand...
the bike is geared, i havent changed the the chain or sprocket recently. What i mean by lock up is right in the middle of pedaling the chain jams or something and it stops my pedaling right in the middle of pushing down or when i start to push down. its pretty easy to get started again but it is pretty dangerous, i guess ill just have to go to bike shop
 
How often does it happen? Every pedal stroke, or only every once in awhile? Does it do it in a specific gear?

It could be that the chain has a bent link, or something is wrong with the bottom bracket among a few other possibilities. Chain slippage is usually a sign of worn out chain, cassette, or more rarely front chain rings so it probably isn't one of these things.

Bike shop is a good idea. From what it sounds like you will probably have to end up servicing or replacing something that may be tough to do without the right tools.
 
it doesn't happen very often, say in a one hour bike ride it might happen once. sometimes it doesn't happen at all. it usually happens when im going from a stopped position trying to get going again. once i get it going after it stops it wont happen again for a while. i guess ill just have to be realy careful til i can afford to go to the bike shop
 
I like to ride my bike but I'm not a nerd! Right now I have a crappy old Specialized hard tail. It's seen better days but it's a great bike. One of these days, I'll upgrade to something with front suspension and go nuts. There are so many awesome places to ride around here - both in the city and outside.
 
I bought a new cushioning seat for my bike over the long weekend. With any luck Busty would have replaced my existing seat this morning.. /flutters eyelashes <3
Hoping it negates the need to wear unflattering bike pants. Time will tell! :)
 
Whether it negates the need to wear bike pants depends on the distance you plan on riding. A cushy seat isn't so good for longer distances, but for shorter distances they do well. The thing is that when you sink into the cushyness the foam or gel compacts (often unevenly) becoming quite dense which is worse for the blood flow in the perineal region. Also, padding is often put on top of a totally rigid piece of plastic with little to no vertical flex.

A broken in seat with just a bit of padding in the right places, good vertical flex, and a good set of bike shorts can provide decently comfortable support for hours. The padding in this set up tends to stay in place much better so that it doesn't restrict blood flow, but provides padding for the most important pressure/contact points. The flex provides give so that the road chatter and bigger bumps don't force you too hard against a rigid surface. People that bike a lot wear biking shorts/tights for a reason ;].

It also takes the butt, and more importantly the perineal region, a few longer rides to get used to riding longer distances. Another tip is to stand up on the pedals every few kilometers, or just take a short (30 second) break.
 
JubJub Bird said:
I like to ride my bike but I'm not a nerd! Right now I have a crappy old Specialized hard tail. It's seen better days but it's a great bike. One of these days, I'll upgrade to something with front suspension and go nuts. There are so many awesome places to ride around here - both in the city and outside.
Click to expand...

A hard tail has front suspension, so your specialized would be called a fully rigid if the fork is rigid. There are some great mountain bikes these days, with so much variety that one can get a bike to specialize for a specific area (cross country or free ride/down hill being the extremes in the spectrum), or a bike somewhere in between depending on the kind of riding you want to do. There is a good quote relating to this spectrum from Keith Bontrager that goes something like this..."high strength, low weight, or low price. You can only pick two". However, price is relative and a decent new mountain bike hardtail starts at around $1,000 (low price). My bike has a decent weight to strength ratio, but is still fairly heavy (~30lbs), and cost so far about $2,000. I have about $600 worth of upgrades planned within the next year. However, my bike is meant to get rough, and can handle pretty big jumps, drops, and other abuse. It is also heavily modified/customized, and would have been much cheaper to get a better bike in the very beginning, which wasn't an option at the time.

If you have great trails around, and are serious about getting into MTB, I would recommend browsing some biking forums (or better yet, talk to local riders) to get an idea of what kind of bike is best for the kind of riding you want to do in your area.
 
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Yeah, Shimma_Fade I see what you're saying. I tend to ride to a 'destination' and it's more social than anything as it's always with Busty by my side.

My main concern is looking like a big-bummed dill when I get to where I'm going and am walking around. Shallow, yes, but I wouldn't be so concerned if I was riding any decent distances. :)

I'll report back!
 
That makes sense, I am the same way. I don't wear my biking shorts when I am just riding around in the city on my trekking/commuter bike, but I do go through pants semi fast because the crotch always gets worn out lol. I wouldn't want to show up in biking shorts at a party, grilling at the park by the river, or most other places in the city for that matter.
 
^ Pack a backpack and keep a pair of pants / shorts in there when you leave to go anywhere social.
 
Good advice if soreness is a problem.

My saddles are pretty comfortable to me, and I am very used to being in the saddle (my bikes are my transportation), so no real soreness for me until after ~50km if I am on pavement, so no real need for bike shorts unless I'm trekking a longer distance. My bag is usually filled with beer and groceries or a bunch of books when I'm around town anyways, and sweaty bike shorts contaminate everything else lol. The pants wearing out isn't such a big deal. I like to have new pants every once in awhile anyhow =P.

The difference with that compared to mountain biking for me is that I have a ~450m initial ascent to get up the mountain which involves a bit of sitting and spinning without much chance to stand on the pedals (allowing the perineum a bit of rest) while keeping a rhythmic cadence. In this situation, or being in the saddle for hours, the shorts really help to keep blood flow and comfort up. I really notice a big difference in comfort between my newer shorts, and a few pairs where the pad is getting worn out.
 
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