5 Mile commute.
#201
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A-D: Nice classic bike. I see no triple crank, and also, is it me, or is the inner ring not a 42, but larger, closer to half-step gearing? Just curious. If you don't need the lows on the hills, especially if you climb while standing, great. Me, if a long hill, I need a bailout low to spin if I run out of gas climbing, I can't push hard while sitting, hurts my knees.
Glad you can do low drop bars. Me, even in my prime, too low for me, I went with bullhorn bars tilted up at about 30 degrees maybe, perfect height and hand position for me most of the time, and clip-on aeros for when I needed aero.
On my current flat-bar bike, I considered bullhorns, but realized that is a lot more narrow than I like now, so went with bar-ends on the flat bars, about 15 cm wider.
Glad you can do low drop bars. Me, even in my prime, too low for me, I went with bullhorn bars tilted up at about 30 degrees maybe, perfect height and hand position for me most of the time, and clip-on aeros for when I needed aero.
On my current flat-bar bike, I considered bullhorns, but realized that is a lot more narrow than I like now, so went with bar-ends on the flat bars, about 15 cm wider.
#202
it is a double ring up front. 42 and 53. The rear is a 6 speed 13-24...i liked the bailout gears on my MTB for sure. Eventually i will see what i can do about extending my climbing range...i do not normally climb standing but i did on this bike and iy seemed much more natural than trying to stand and pedal on the MTB so that is what ill do in the meantime...or get my old butt off and walk 😆😆😆
I made a breakthrough in climbing standing (efficiency) when I figured out, to not be geared too low so cadence too fast, nor too high so having to pull hard on the handlebars, but middle of that where I'm using mostly my weight on the pedal without much pull, and perhaps about 50 cadence or lower, nice and easy. When climbing at higher torque, I try to use whatever chainring gives me the better chainline, to put less stress on the chain. However I still note quicker wear on the chain than when I was always spinning in low, that higher load does have an effect. Also, for my flat-bar bike, bar-ends for a more forward hand position, helps climbing while standing, as well as better hand ergonomics, less wrist angulation when the bike swings laterally.
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#203
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LOL. So how many rides did it take to figure out you took the wrong free advice, 10 rides?? Still it shouldn't be that slow, but those tires looked way too fat.
Noglider should hang his head in shame.
So now you basically have an old TEN speed, 8 diff gears with GIs both high and low worse than my SA 5w, 47 to 110. LOL. Without a co-op there it won't be easy changing it. A 50/ 36T in the front would be the first thing to try.
This bike is the other end of not commuter practical, skinny thin tires and still no rack mounts that I see. But still a good ride around bike that looks like a good fit.
Noglider should hang his head in shame.
So now you basically have an old TEN speed, 8 diff gears with GIs both high and low worse than my SA 5w, 47 to 110. LOL. Without a co-op there it won't be easy changing it. A 50/ 36T in the front would be the first thing to try.
This bike is the other end of not commuter practical, skinny thin tires and still no rack mounts that I see. But still a good ride around bike that looks like a good fit.
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#204
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LOL. So how many rides did it take to figure out you took the wrong free advice, 10 rides?? Still it shouldn't be that slow, but those tires looked way too fat.
Noglider should hang his head in shame.
So now you basically have an old TEN speed, 8 diff gears with GIs both high and low worse than my SA 5w, 47 to 110. LOL. Without a co-op there it won't be easy changing it. A 50/ 36T in the front would be the first thing to try.
This bike is the other end of not commuter practical, skinny thin tires and still no rack mounts that I see. But still a good ride around bike that looks like a good fit.
Noglider should hang his head in shame.
So now you basically have an old TEN speed, 8 diff gears with GIs both high and low worse than my SA 5w, 47 to 110. LOL. Without a co-op there it won't be easy changing it. A 50/ 36T in the front would be the first thing to try.
This bike is the other end of not commuter practical, skinny thin tires and still no rack mounts that I see. But still a good ride around bike that looks like a good fit.
MEH, its 5 miles and i basically just use it as an excuse to ride...i cant see myself pinning racks or fenders on any bike. Even when i rode motorcycles i stripped them down to the bare parts needed to go, stop, and turn.
this bike started life as a touring type bike and does have some little mounting holes and pins on the fork and stays but they will never get touched.
You are not wrong though, it is still not a "commuter" and is absolutley on the opposite end of the spectrum from the MTB. But its fun, looks cool, ill ride it and it will be commuted on and i still spent less on these 2 bikes that it costs to get a battery for an E-bike 😉
My next bike so I can say I have a basket......
Last edited by Strawbunyan; 04-24-24 at 08:48 PM.
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#205
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Yesterday I rode my tour cruiser weight with Rohloff14. First highway ride of the year 64 miles with 3 good valley hills.
All 3 faster than 29.5 LOL, got up to 41.1 mph, weeeee. My SA 5w has done 46 mph there with a good tailwind.
Avg. was slowed by jacket and long pants and I'm getting damn old now. Passed up 3 tools lying on the road too. LOL.
And yah, it weighs MORE than that bucket bike.
All 3 faster than 29.5 LOL, got up to 41.1 mph, weeeee. My SA 5w has done 46 mph there with a good tailwind.
Avg. was slowed by jacket and long pants and I'm getting damn old now. Passed up 3 tools lying on the road too. LOL.
And yah, it weighs MORE than that bucket bike.
Last edited by GamblerGORD53; 04-24-24 at 09:17 PM.
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#206
Depends if you want to food shop on the way home from work, that's where racks and panniers are awesome.
Only thing I don't like about that huge basket bike is that the wheels are too close to steer, so that one steers by pivoting the whole front end and axle, which makes for heavy steered mass, which can get tricky on high-speed descents or fast e-bike riding. I like the look of the Bullitt bike and similar competitive models like Riese & Muller:
Only thing I don't like about that huge basket bike is that the wheels are too close to steer, so that one steers by pivoting the whole front end and axle, which makes for heavy steered mass, which can get tricky on high-speed descents or fast e-bike riding. I like the look of the Bullitt bike and similar competitive models like Riese & Muller:
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#207
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Depends if you want to food shop on the way home from work, that's where racks and panniers are awesome.
Only thing I don't like about that huge basket bike is that the wheels are too close to steer, so that one steers by pivoting the whole front end and axle, which makes for heavy steered mass, which can get tricky on high-speed descents or fast e-bike riding. I like the look of the Bullitt bike and similar competitive models like Riese & Muller:
Only thing I don't like about that huge basket bike is that the wheels are too close to steer, so that one steers by pivoting the whole front end and axle, which makes for heavy steered mass, which can get tricky on high-speed descents or fast e-bike riding. I like the look of the Bullitt bike and similar competitive models like Riese & Muller:
I legitimatley want that yellow one.
#208
My ride home is at 2300hrs in a rural town where me and 3 cars are the only ones out. I dont shop even in the van. Mrs.Bunyan handles that between the hours 8AM and 2PM 😉 At this point I am not really a "commuter" so much as some dude that rides a bike to work and back sometimes
I legitimatley want that yellow one.
I legitimatley want that yellow one.
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it is a double ring up front. 42 and 53. The rear is a 6 speed 13-24...i liked the bailout gears on my MTB for sure. Eventually i will see what i can do about extending my climbing range...i do not normally climb standing but i did on this bike and iy seemed much more natural than trying to stand and pedal on the MTB so that is what ill do in the meantime...or get my old butt off and walk 😆😆😆
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#210
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That AD is ABSOLUTELY a fine commuter. I commute with a similar set up for 40 mile RT. Shimano 600 like the AD but friction. Currently it has 26mm GK slicks but they measure 25 on the Araya rims. It is a little bumpy on a few sections of my commute but I put up with it because it is such a fun bike to ride.
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#211
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That AD is ABSOLUTELY a fine commuter. I commute with a similar set up for 40 mile RT. Shimano 600 like the AD but friction. Currently it has 26mm GK slicks but they measure 25 on the Araya rims. It is a little bumpy on a few sections of my commute but I put up with it because it is such a fun bike to ride.
#212
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Yes. My 85 Ironman Is not SIS. Last week, I was commuting on my Cannondale with friction shifting Suntour Superbe and the same gearing: 52/42 and 13-24.
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#213
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how much of a part do the shifters play in this situation? I know my RD is SIS but the shifts dont feel indexed. Should i be attempting to index the RD to the freewheel?
#214
For modern indexed shifting, the indexing steps were all in the shifter, the derailleur was basically the same as friction. (Very early indexing tried steps at the derailleur, it must not have worked well, because that disappeared.) My 1989 SIS downtube shifters had a small flip-out wire handle that would allow switching between index and friction. If your derailleur and shifter are in adjustment, indexing should work well. But (with downtube shifters) friction is always there as a backup if the cable stretchs on a trip, for example. My current grip and trigger shifters do not have a friction mode, but, they have barrel adjusters right up there on the shifter, to adjust on the fly.
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#216
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I assumed that you were set up with an indexed group but now I see you have the “Arabesque” shifters which predate SIS but work very well with any derailleur. They are very attractive levers and that you are having fun riding and shifting is not a good sign😆. You are one of us!