divekrb

xxx

brent_dube

Beautiful.
I'll add some later

Ralph Turney

I agree

galen_52657

I agree with all statements except about triple chain rings...they are for mountain bikes, tandems, women, children and grown men who are: 1) plump 2) missing a leg 3) real old 4) have bad knees 5) any combination of 1-4

ggg300

How about the long cage = bigger cog? Myth? Truth?

ggg300

at least your consitant

Chucklehead

i seem to remember lance making the comment that he couldn't believe he was riding a stock bike. maybe that doesn't apply to him anymore, but to alot of pro riders it does. so forgive me, but i think you're mostly wrong on that one.

triples are not for sissies or women at all. but they are great if you are ok with riding uphill slowly. no need to be insecure about it.

galen_52657

The triple/double chain ring debate may never end (and it does supply my daily dose of pithy remarks) and may be rooted in how and where a cyclist got started riding. In these parts, people who race or have raced in the past and still maintain a racer's fitness level ride doubles. Thats the way it is. If you need a 30 tooth chain ring to climb a hill in Maryland, you will be off the back of any decently-paced group ride in short order.

2Rodies

I agree with the Beloki section of your rant but that's because it was a bike handling mistake and not an equipment failure that caused his accident. There is nothing wrong with tubulars per se they are just a pain in the butt too use as training tires if you flat. For that purpose the trade off between ride and ease of use falls to the clincher.

As for tripples I could care less if you ride with them or not. Using the available technology to suit your riding style is perfectly acceptable.

As an owner of two carbon bikes I do dissagree with you on LA's broken chainstay. Had he been on a steel or ti bike the break would have been much less likely to have occured in the first place. Carbon is more likely to inccur a catostrophic failure after an accedent than ti or steel. A bent frame is still ridable while a broken one, in most cases, is not. Lance was lucky the chainstay broke in that perticular area. Had break been further back on the chain stay or had been on the top tube/down tube or seatstay the bike may have been unridable. Like CF Ti and most of the high end aluminum frames are junk after they are bent or broken so from that perspective they don't differ.

Laggard

I disagree with all but #1 and #2.

Myth: For your average rider, steep hills require a triple.

Used by: People not willing to stand and suffer up a climb.

Truth: a 39x25 is a small enough gear for your average bloke to get up most any climb. Run out of gear? Stand up!!!

Additional facts: Cycling hard is about suffering.




Myth: Spending $500 to save one pound is worth the money.

Used By: Rich folk with no willpower to eat well and lose weight.

Truth: Three pounds off the body is better than three off the bike.

Additional facts: Your average bloke will stop by McDonalds on his way home from purchasing his new carbon fibre seat post.

2Rodies

As a "race oriented" roadie I totally aggree. As someone who could give a rats a#$ about what someone else wears or rides I say let them ride whatever they want as long as they are riding.

gcasillo

Myth: Spinning a high cadence (100+) makes you a better cyclist.

Used by: Lance wannabes and everyone less talented than Jan Ullrich (read: everyone but those two).

Truth: Cadence is only one component of power, the other being torque. Different people have difference ways of putting out power.

Additional facts: You are not your cadence.

operator

These elitists sure crack me up. I'd like to see you suffer your way through knee pain.

Fugazi Dave

Myth: Fixed gear makes you a better lover

Used by: Fixie freaks like me

Truth: Fixed gear makes you a better rider, which in turn makes you a better lover

Laggard

Myth: A 53-11 is all that is needed for one to hammer along at 70 mph.

ggg300

Upgrading an older bike….say 1990 vintage and up

LBS myth….should just buy a new one…


PS: Has anyone considered why mnt bikes took over the market and why you get more for the money with a mnt bike? Could it be supply and demand… is there a link to the tripe or comfort?

If triples or more comfortable bikes got more individuals on road bikes would we eventually get more for buck? Does elitism sponsored myth make our bike stuff cost so much?

Or is that a purple monkey outside my window….man I’m hungry…damm those magic brownies!!!!!!!

Chucklehead

hey, to each his own.
i don't ride tubulars and i don't ride a triple(there is nothing elitist about having healthy knees).
i can't spin a 53x11 uphill, but i do ride at a "high" cadence(easier on those healthy knees). i don't have a carbon seat post, but i do eat at mcdonald's. sometimes even before i ride.

Chucklehead

did you even read the part of my post that you quoted..?

RegularGuy

My name is Aitor Gonzales.

Truth: My name is not Aitor Gonzales.

rustychain

I was watching that moment with Beloki, very dramatic. Phil and Paul were discusing how hot the road was that day and how it could overheat the wheels. One min later...bam his tire blew. At the time they said it was his breaking that made the glue overheat and fail (a situation that DOES happen). Now from what I have read, he does not know what happened. So am I missing something? I have a wheelset with tubes that I use on TT, I love em so I am not anti tube ( heck I don't care what YOU ride, ride wood wheels if you want). As to Lance's bike failure, while its true that steel would most likley have not broken in the wreck, it could have bent but as to win exactly that frame broke nobody can say. Treck may agree with you but they are a bit biased eh? Carbon frames do break more often (did you see the bike shred in the TDGeorga when that guy bunnyhopped over SuperMario?)in crash situations but this has no bearing on there perfomance in a race like the TDF. I would still race a carbon bike (I would race any bike if I was paid to) but I don't want to replace my bike every season so I go for Ti as it works for me and I do not race it (can't afford to replace it so I race an older CDale). Most of the posters on this board are in the same boat I suspect and while they may not choose ti they may still have a problem with any frame that will not last. We all don't need the latest greatest bike. I think that the anticarbon stuff is mostly a reaction to marketing hype

2Rodies

Yes, because he would have been well back of Mayo at that point had he been riding steel. Ultralight steel or alu tubing doesn't exactly shake off getting run over either


Ok let me disspell another myth CF is lighter than all other materials.

CF is not always lighter than al or ti.

If you think that Lance wins because of his bike you are not as informed as you think you are. If LA were on a bike that was 1# heavier than the bike he was on he still would have won. CF's best property is not it's light weight, my Cinelli Starlight was much lighter than my LOOK 481, it's the ride. The ability of CF to deliever a stiff (almost as stiff as a the top al frames) without the jarring ride that an all al bike delievers. BTW Mayo trounced LA in mountain TT at the Daulphine` on a aluminum bike. Mayo preferes the al Orbea over the Orca for mountain stages.

Yes ultralight steel or al doesen't like going down is correct I totalled my Cinelli with my knee. The frame dented and cracked during a fall...the dent and crack was caused by my knee. However these materials tend to bend not break.

2Rodies

divekrb is right on this one, it was a riding error on Beloki's part. He came into the corner to hot over braked and the rear tire steped out.

Phatman

I think that you are just pointing out specialized cases. lance is a six-time touor winning champ. of course he gets what he wants, hes the bread and butter of the team. and axel merckx rides his fathers frames. no surprise there.

however, riders like hincapie or any domestique ride what the team rides. case in point, T-mobile. I have a feeling that zabel is not a big shimano fan, judging from the way that manipulated his cables. and who in their right mind would ride a giant when they can ride a pinarello. giants are nice bikes, but they aren't pinarello?

B10Cycle

I live in Maryland and I have a triple, but only because I got a deal on a bike that came with the triple and haven't had the financing to get around to upgrading sll the components like I had planned. They are for sissies/old men/women. I have never dropped to the smallest ring and I never will.

53-11 alltheway

Insightful post divekrb......if people were writing good stuff like this I wouldn't be spamming so much