Bike tinker man

Yes I know how peterws feels, I was trying to pedal up a very steep short hill last year & a blonde women jogger went past me !!! Admittedly she was about 1/3 of my age. I would really like to try a light weight carbon bike just to see how much difference it would make, as I cannot gear any lower.

By the way I'm several hours further east than the lake district & its summer here all the time.

RonH

Carbon bikes are awesome. I'm on my third one.

Fat Freddy

Just finished a post in the 50+ group, and since I am 65 get to post here as well. Sweet. It has been just a few years since I last rode but am back riding again. I haven't lost anything in the past 6 years, except my feet are getting to the end of their wear cycle but I can still pedal. There is a lot of great info on the forum, it is sure to help me with my riding. I am also stunned by the new technology and biking gadgets available. If I'm not careful my bike could end up weighing 60+ pounds with everything I could hang off it! Below is a photo of my new Diamondback road bike (had it about three weeks now), supported by a click-stand. As you can see we are in still winter here, I need to use the down time to outfit my bike with lights, gear bag with tools, and a handlebar smartphone mount.

big john

By your name and seeing the cat in your avatar I have to ask, are you related to Freewheelin' Franklin and Phineous Freak?

Fat Freddy

Indeed I am, Big John. I complete the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers trio.

"One orange cat is pretty much the same as any other orange cat"

big john

Yeah, I remember the time your cat crapped in your headphones.

"Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope."

Ray9

Greetings: I'll be 68 in March and still work 60 hours a week. I had a bad crash last summer breaking several bones and spent some time in the hospital getting lots of brain scans. I saw myself at a crossroads. I could either quit cycling as my family urged me to do or I could go the other way, which I am doing. This is the first year since 1994 that I have trained seriously to race again. My weight has gone from 145 to 126. I am 5'5.

Look at the jewel I just bought. They didn't have the charcoal color so I got the green one. With the pedals and some special wheels it is setting me back over six grand. It's worth every penny and I will spend many wonderful miles cranking my way into old age. I know some others in the seventy year old age group who still race. In a 40 mile race they ride a tour for 35 miles and race the last five.

I'm not spending my twilight years going on cruises and sitting on a couch. I'm going to be busting my balls chasing someone's wheel. This is my choice.

JanMM

Became Medicare-eligible a couple of weeks ago. Should I go out and buy another recumbent to celebrate??

JanMM

You got that right: Ride the bike.

rjdennis

Yes, never have enuf bikes

RonH

Congrats. When I got my Cannondale SuperSix EVO carbon last September (provided by the other guy's insurance ) I really wanted to get one of those but decided to settle for what I got. I'm happy.

Mixel

Hi everyone.

I am not 65+, sorry, but I wanted to post here to draw your attention to my post in the commuting section of the forum. https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...commuting.html

I am doing my master thesis project about cycling accessories for cycling commuting and one of my target groups on which I will focus is 65+ cyclists. That is the reason why I post in this thread as well.
If you have 5 - 15 minutes available and would like to help me out, please fill out my survey.

Thanks in advance.

I will leave this thread alone now

RonH

I put in my 2¢.

avidone1

Fat Freddie,
What make/model saddle is that on your diamondback?

zenshin

I'm 72 and also live on Florida's Treasure Coast. Just got back into biking. Had a Trek Shift 4 but didn't feel comfortable on it. Traded for a Sun Baja Crux with 3.5" tires and I love it! Dennis

RonH

Welcome. That Sun Baja Cruz looks like something my kids had when they were 12-14 y/o. Is it fast?

Wildwood 

Not sure where on the Forums to put this (if at all) ....

Momma's Phophecy Came True - only a 50 year incubation.
When I was a teenager, she would occasionally tell me, "You're a little bit screwy, maybe you should have your head examined".
Well I did (finally), got it fixed (maybe), and hope to be back soon (god willing).

Any other old-timers still realizing anew - Momma was waay smarter than we ever gave her credit for?

ps - only 64, so forgive me.

ctpres

Our only workaround on Strava is to form clubs that are age based and that gives us some idea of how we are doing. But my short membership in a 70+ group leads me to believe I am in very bad shape for my age. In fact I see my chances of moving up in the group as being unrealistic if not impossible. That leads me to question my need for Strava. If I am truly on the bottom of my age group in Strava, with no real hope of improving - why do I need Strava premium or for that matter do I really need Strava? Probably won't get a real answer, but today I asked Strava to explain their refusal to add one or more older age groups. BTW I am 75.

Rotherd31

FNG here. 67 yrs old. Been into two wheels for 43 yrs.....always with a motor. HD's and the last 9 were BMW's. Reared ended last fall at 33 MPH while stopped at a red light. The guy was texting at the time. I know, hard to believe Hung up M/C's after that. I was very lucky, only a broken arm. No injuries to the GF. We demo rode an Electra Roadie 3i last month while down in AL and loved them on our 9 mile demo. The miles sure go by much faster on the bike than when I'm jogging! Monday we both bought the Roadie 8i balloon. Should have them sometime next week. Now we just have to get about 6" of snow cover melted and by the sounds of next week's weather that should happen. Dick

John E

I just passed the 64-1/2 mark, making my 65 for life insurance purposes, not that I bother with that stuff anymore, and my wife can now apply for Medicare, so I guess we qualify.

My college sweetheart wife and I are happy and healthy, with two fine young adult sons and a grandson on the way. I could retire, but I am enjoying my encore career managing a lab and teaching a few classes at a local university, plus a little consulting on the side. These are the golden years for us.

ctpres

Got pretty quick answer from Strava
Sheila Fretwell, Mar 3, 10:47 AM:Hello Charles,
We see the need for more age categories above 65+. There is also a related request to divide the age categories into 5-year groups: https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/26348695-Create-Age-Groups-in-5-...
To do both of these requests requires a large chunk of work by our engineers to redesign the infrastructure to support the changes to segment filtering. So, it's a project we'll have to carefully plan and prioritize. I've very sorry but I'm don't have any timelines around when this will happen.
Best,
Sheila
Strava Support Team

So now Strava is making two large groups unhappy. I answered above by suggesting they cut the work in half - pick the easy one and at least make one group happy. But I suspect nothing will happen. Change like this only happens when revenue losses impact the bottom line. So I will make a small statement/protest and drop premium service.

avidone1

Question for all you ole geezers of the male persuasion.
Now that gravity has worked it's inevitable magic on the family jewels,
I wonder how many of us have switched to saddles with cut outs or very deep recess
to ease pressure. Or, if as I suspect, a quality saddle well fitted will be comfortable
regardless of configuration

RonH

I'm 70 and have been riding on saddles with cutouts since about 2003. I've tried Terry (3 different models), Selle Italia (2 different models), WTB, Specialized (3 different models) and a few others. My current saddles (on both bikes) are Selle Anatomica X series. One is watershed black and one is watershed graphite. Very comfy.

OldSchoolGuy

Happy birthday and let me say that's one sweet Cannondale. I just returned to riding last week, haven't done much the past 20 years. Too many bogus excuses, but I'm back now. I'm 76, just retired from a full-time, high stress job as of Feb 28, 2015. I've set some riding goals including a daily riding schedule. No way will you find me sitting in the park feeding the pigeons with blue-haired ladies. It just occurred to me, my last century was 31 years ago!

bowzette

I have tried many types of saddles but my old standby of 30 years the Rolls is my favorite.