Does my bike really make me a black sheep of the community?
02-16-21, 02:23 AM
#126
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Are you kidding? Any one with a credit card can go into debt buying an expensive road bike and matching kit. Are they represented by the bike?
Check out the bike, which was used for most of his life: https://vimeo.com/147368628
Check out the bike, which was used for most of his life: https://vimeo.com/147368628
02-16-21, 02:24 AM
#127
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02-16-21, 09:33 AM
#128
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I own a: road bike, endurance bike, fixed gear road bike, touring bike, mountain bike, SS mountain bike, fat bike and about six project bikes. Only one of them I purchased new. What does any one of about a dozen bikes (that I might be seen riding at any time) say about me?
Yesterday was a good day for riding.
02-16-21, 10:55 AM
#129
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I don't have as many bikes or as much experience as many on this forum. My sense of who I am has nothing to do with the bikes I ride or the vehicles I drive.
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02-17-21, 10:17 AM
#130
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That's what I think too.
Cycling, somewhat like American politics, is pretty evenly divided between "Freds" and "poseurs". No matter what you ride, wear or do you are going to fall into one camp or the other and half of us are going to scoff at you. Get used to it. Ride whatever you are comfortable with.
If I were you, I'd probably just get a pair of smooth tread 1.9 tires for your CCM.
Cycling, somewhat like American politics, is pretty evenly divided between "Freds" and "poseurs". No matter what you ride, wear or do you are going to fall into one camp or the other and half of us are going to scoff at you. Get used to it. Ride whatever you are comfortable with.
If I were you, I'd probably just get a pair of smooth tread 1.9 tires for your CCM.
As others have wisely stated just do your own thing and dont worry about what other people think. I have found that most of them dont think anyway.
02-17-21, 10:30 AM
#131
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Different strokes for different folks.
02-17-21, 10:35 AM
#134
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Yeah, the JC Penney bike was a welded steel frame, single piece steel cranks, steel rims, etc. So definitely heavy but also built to be ridden. Can’t recall, I assume I gave it away, because I outgrew it and it was still running perfectly.
Regarding old computers, Apple and IBM both were consistent in building durable hardware. Our university had IBM 3270 terminals in continuous use for probably at least 20 years. We have lots of 10 and 12 year old Macs that are “archaic” and still have perfectly functioning hardware.
Otto
Regarding old computers, Apple and IBM both were consistent in building durable hardware. Our university had IBM 3270 terminals in continuous use for probably at least 20 years. We have lots of 10 and 12 year old Macs that are “archaic” and still have perfectly functioning hardware.
Otto
02-17-21, 10:40 AM
#135
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Pretty much no one is going to notice on your ride if you have a department store bike.
The problem you're likely to have is speed and reliability. The $100-$200 bikes just tend to fall apart and have issues rather quickly. My dad snowbirds and bought one from walmart thinking "well it's just for a few months and I can just donate it at the end and buy a new one next year for $100". Makes sense. But within 20 miles it was creaking, making noises and starting to fall apart at the bottom bracket, etc. He ended just getting rid of it and buying a new $400 bike and finding someone who let him keep it in their garage over the summer while he's not there.
If you an find a cheaper used bike (that's not a department store bike) that's how people usually try to go cheaper.
The problem you're likely to have is speed and reliability. The $100-$200 bikes just tend to fall apart and have issues rather quickly. My dad snowbirds and bought one from walmart thinking "well it's just for a few months and I can just donate it at the end and buy a new one next year for $100". Makes sense. But within 20 miles it was creaking, making noises and starting to fall apart at the bottom bracket, etc. He ended just getting rid of it and buying a new $400 bike and finding someone who let him keep it in their garage over the summer while he's not there.
If you an find a cheaper used bike (that's not a department store bike) that's how people usually try to go cheaper.
02-17-21, 10:57 AM
#136
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And that doesnt bother me at all, because I am not sticking clear up into the wind and having to deal with it as much as you are. On my trike many times I have taken perverse pleasure out of passing up right riders going up hill into the wind. OTOH they leave me behind totally when they take off on some single track that I dont and cant ride on.
Different strokes for different folks.
Different strokes for different folks.
02-17-21, 01:05 PM
#137
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That is...really...not true...it is very possible to make/use low quality metal and have a frame that's both heavy and unreliable.
02-17-21, 03:44 PM
#139
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02-19-21, 08:13 AM
#140
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Patience
There are so many garage Queen bicycles out there it might take a couple of years to find the elusive "exceptional deal" but it's out there.
A bit of due diligence on your part will get you to at least the make and model and component group that you desire and if the bike is 25 or so years old and has been a garage Queen most of its entire existence, you might be onto a deal. Go as far back as the 70s in the Gitane or other Euro brands, or you can get into the 90s with say... a Lemond for under a thousand in really good condition.
If you need to bone up on mechanic skills, go down to the local Goodwill and buy a $10 kid bike, strip it down, grease it up put it back together again and give it away to some kid who needs a bike that is now in Tip-Top running condition.
A bit of due diligence on your part will get you to at least the make and model and component group that you desire and if the bike is 25 or so years old and has been a garage Queen most of its entire existence, you might be onto a deal. Go as far back as the 70s in the Gitane or other Euro brands, or you can get into the 90s with say... a Lemond for under a thousand in really good condition.
If you need to bone up on mechanic skills, go down to the local Goodwill and buy a $10 kid bike, strip it down, grease it up put it back together again and give it away to some kid who needs a bike that is now in Tip-Top running condition.
02-20-21, 10:01 AM
#141
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But as of today I think it is only 25 days until spring.
Big problem tho. At 82 I have seen a lot of springs. It seems if we have a rather mild Jan, which we did, and rotten cold Feb which we are, we will have a cold wet spring. With his scenario, I remember one year like it that it really didnt get warm and nice till the first of June.
Big problem tho. At 82 I have seen a lot of springs. It seems if we have a rather mild Jan, which we did, and rotten cold Feb which we are, we will have a cold wet spring. With his scenario, I remember one year like it that it really didnt get warm and nice till the first of June.
02-20-21, 10:09 AM
#142
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Speaking of frames, it was the first falsely generated gas crisis when I bought my first 10 speed bike, at Wards of all places. Yes, a dept store bike. Yet the lugged frame was quite light, and built is Austria of all places at the time. The components were cheap tho, the RD was one of the famous plastic ones. I changed it out, and the shifting worked quite well. BTW I still have that plastic RD in my bike parts junk box in the attic.
02-20-21, 12:23 PM
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02-21-21, 11:50 AM
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The OP should realize he should just do his own thing and not worry about what other people think or do or say he should do.
In my case I ride a recumbent bike and trike. I like the comfort, and the fact I sit up right and have about a 200 degree view of my surroundings. I catch a lot of flack for what I ride, but it doesnt bother me at all. As with most any subject those that think they are bothering me are wrong. Because to bother me, I would first have to respect their opinion above mine, and I dont.
Do your own thing.
In my case I ride a recumbent bike and trike. I like the comfort, and the fact I sit up right and have about a 200 degree view of my surroundings. I catch a lot of flack for what I ride, but it doesnt bother me at all. As with most any subject those that think they are bothering me are wrong. Because to bother me, I would first have to respect their opinion above mine, and I dont.
Do your own thing.
02-21-21, 01:17 PM
#145
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In my case I ride a recumbent bike and trike. I like the comfort, and the fact I sit up right and have about a 200 degree view of my surroundings. I catch a lot of flack for what I ride, but it doesnt bother me at all. As with most any subject those that think they are bothering me are wrong. Because to bother me, I would first have to respect their opinion above mine, and I dont.
Originally Posted by rydabent
Do your own thing.
02-21-21, 01:37 PM
#146
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Just a casual observation, here. I started riding about three years ago on a bike with straight bars. I ride mostly on residential roads with a fair amount of bike traffic. I wave as I pass by other riders, and when I started riding, most riders would wave back, but not riders riding drop bar bikes. A year and a half ago I bought a new bike with drop bars, and now the drop bar riders will wave back at me. Same rider, same route, same clothing. It appears that riders on drop bar bikes will wave to other riders on drop bar bikes, but not to those who don't have drop bars.It looks like my new bike commands more respect than my old one.
02-21-21, 01:42 PM
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Just a casual observation, here. I started riding about three years ago on a bike with straight bars. I ride mostly on residential roads with a fair amount of bike traffic. I wave as I pass by other riders, and when I started riding, most riders would wave back, but not riders riding drop bar bikes. A year and a half ago I bought a new bike with drop bars, and now the drop bar riders will wave back at me. Same rider, same route, same clothing. It appears that riders on drop bar bikes will wave to other riders on drop bar bikes, but not to those who don't have drop bars.It looks like my new bike commands more respect than my old one.
02-21-21, 02:15 PM
#148
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Just a casual observation, here. I started riding about three years ago on a bike with straight bars. I ride mostly on residential roads with a fair amount of bike traffic. I wave as I pass by other riders, and when I started riding, most riders would wave back, but not riders riding drop bar bikes. A year and a half ago I bought a new bike with drop bars, and now the drop bar riders will wave back at me. Same rider, same route, same clothing. It appears that riders on drop bar bikes will wave to other riders on drop bar bikes, but not to those who don't have drop bars.It looks like my new bike commands more respect than my old one.
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02-21-21, 02:39 PM
#149
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Got it. But I was somewhat surprised at where the dividing line was drawn. Drop bar riders don't recognize other bike riders as part of their tribe. That's why the OP is a black sheep.