Any bicyclists out there?

jgibv

After riding my bike into work today, I got thinking "I wonder if there's a cycling thread on CCOM."
So I did some searching, didn't turn up much and figured us cyclists needed a thread to discuss all things bike related.

So who all rides and what are you guys ridin'?
What's your favorite riding - road, smooth trails, or "mountain" riding? Anybody bike to work?


I just got back into riding about 2 months ago after not being on my bike for about 2 years. My fiance didn't have a bike so we got one for her - Nishiki mountain bike, hard tail with front suspension fork.
We've ridden together about 6 times since then, anywhere between 4-12 miles. I've got in a few other solo rides too, I usually try to go about 10 miles.
And today was the first time I rode into work, on a workday. I had done a couple "practice rides" to figure out the route and timing - but it was finally cool enough that I could do it today without having to shower when I got to the office. It was a 6.8 mile ride, took me 33 minutes and I feel awesome! Great way to start the day.

And I'm riding a Specialized Hard Rock hard tail, front suspension fork. It's probably close to 7-8 years old now and still rides surprisingly well for it's age.
It needs a tune up though; chain needs greased, brakes need adjusted, derailuers need tuned, and I need to (at least) tighten the shifter cables - maybe replace them since they're the originals.
I've always taken it to the local bike shop in the past but want to learn how to do these things myself; any of you do your own bike maintenance? If so, any tips or good sites I should check out for a "beginners how-to guide."

Ride on!

beatnic

Long-time rider here. Of course at my age, everything is long-time. Been riding since I was a kid. Commuter and touring for many many years. I hate racing (except watching). LOL. My favorite was a 1970 Bottecchia Special. Been through a few Bridgestone's and Fuji. Looking at getting a Gary Fisher and stepping off of the main roads. Not sure if my old bones will like that, though. I'll always have a working bicycle.
And in my book, everyone who rides one should be able to completely rebuild a bicycle on the side of the road. Ride them long enough, and the opportunity will arise. LOL.

JCizzle

Used to ride all the time when I lived in Arizona. Used to ride 10 miles to work, I had a nice Trek bike. Out here, riding would be a death wish. :S

y2pascoe

I have a Diamondback Insight 2 hybrid. I ride for exercise and/or short trips. I'd ride it to work more but I have to drop my daughter off at daycare 4 days a week. Haven't gotten out much over the past two weeks because it's been hot as blazes.

Sadly my community's had two cyclist fatalities in the past 5 months, which is rather ironic because a committee was established two years ago in Newport, RI to make the community more bicycle friendly. One thing I've learned cycling around town is you really gotta watch your a$$.

jgibv

@ beatnic - if you're looking to do some off-road riding, look for something with dual suspension...it won't dampen all of big bumps but there's a noticeable difference between a hard tail and a bike with rear-suspension.
One of my college buddies had a dual suspension mtn bike that he let me take off trail a few times, and it was so much smoother than my hard tail, i was amazed at the difference.
And that's why I want to learn how to work on it myself, at home, before I have a problem. I hope to start biking to work a few days a week and don't want to have to hike it or wait on a ride if a problem would come up, you know?


@ JCizzle - Never owned a Trek but I know they're great bikes; I was between Trek and Specialized when I bought mine.
My uncle lives in Phoenix and is always biking, even in the summer months when the temperature is ungodly hot...I don't know how he (or you) could do it, that's way too hot for me!


@ y2pascoe - I'm sorry to hear about the cyclist fatalities, that's truly sad. I've been to Newport a couple times and last time I was there I swore there were designated bike lanes on some of the roads....but I also remember some of the folks were driving like maniacs, I just can't understand why motorists aren't more vigilant and often have such a problem with "sharing the road".

Toombes

I used to road race and downhill when I was in the military. I road Cannondale on the road and a Stumpjumper for downhill. Haven't ridden in years. I sported a Diamondback Rattler to race BMX and freestyle ride when I was in high school.

y2pascoe

Toombes:

I used to road race and downhill when I was in the military. I road Cannondale on the road and a Stumpjumper for downhill. Haven't ridden in years. I sported a Diamondback Rattler to race BMX and freestyle ride when I was in high school.

Did you see "Rad"?

Hays

I like to ride as much as I can, but that ends up not being as much as I'd like - I tried riding into work, but it turns a 10min commute into an hour commute, and that's hard to justify :-/.

One of the things I'd say to the OP is to check out your local REI - if you're not familiar with them, look it up... it's pretty much a cult, but one I'm glad to be a part of. Join the Co-Op ($20 for life), and you get stupid discounts on their classes - my local ones run classes all the time on bikes 101, bike maintenance, advanced riding, etc..

jeep edson

sadly i am to old to ride my 20 incher anymore. still keep deep roots in the bmx community though.

Toombes

y2pascoe:

Toombes:

I used to road race and downhill when I was in the military. I road Cannondale on the road and a Stumpjumper for downhill. Haven't ridden in years. I sported a Diamondback Rattler to race BMX and freestyle ride when I was in high school.

Did you see "Rad"?

Do I really have to answer that...?

j0z3r

I like mountain biking. There are some foothills about 5 mins away with some very cool single track. Haven't been on a ride since I crashed hard about a month ago, still have some aches in my back and shoulder from that.

bandyt09

j0z3r:

I like mountain biking. There are some foothills about 5 mins away with some very cool single track. Haven't been on a ride since I crashed hard about a month ago, still have some aches in my back and shoulder from that.

It's because you're getting old Joe..........

[Deleted User]

jeep edson:

sadly i am to old to ride my 20 incher anymore. still keep deep roots in the bmx community though.

that's what she said.

I ride my 9 yo Trek mtn bike. Try to get as many hills as possible. I love hills and single tracks. Aren't the dual suspensions harder to ride uphill?

leonard

j0z3r:

I like mountain biking. There are some foothills about 5 mins away with some very cool single track. Haven't been on a ride since I crashed hard about a month ago, still have some aches in my back and shoulder from that.

Yea, that was a good crash Joe. Did you get your rim fixed yet?

j0z3r

leonard:

j0z3r:

I like mountain biking. There are some foothills about 5 mins away with some very cool single track. Haven't been on a ride since I crashed hard about a month ago, still have some aches in my back and shoulder from that.

Yea, that was a good crash Joe. Did you get your rim fixed yet?

No...I keep reminding myself to do it and then I get to doing something else and forget. **** short attention span. Tomorrow for sure.

kuzi16

i used to do a bit of mountain biking. i have a Diamondback Ztech. hard tail. Judy Cs up front. titech stem, bmx pedals. got the hard tail so i could have traction in the snow. dont ride it as much as i used to. i need to replace the shifters. i should get back into it.

bandyt09

j0z3r:

leonard:

j0z3r:

I like mountain biking. There are some foothills about 5 mins away with some very cool single track. Haven't been on a ride since I crashed hard about a month ago, still have some aches in my back and shoulder from that.

Yea, that was a good crash Joe. Did you get your rim fixed yet?

No...I keep reminding myself to do it and then I get to doing something else and forget. **** old age. Tomorrow for sure.

Forgetting is ANOTHER sign of getting old Joe.............................

y2pascoe

Toombes:

y2pascoe:

Toombes:

I used to road race and downhill when I was in the military. I road Cannondale on the road and a Stumpjumper for downhill. Haven't ridden in years. I sported a Diamondback Rattler to race BMX and freestyle ride when I was in high school.

Did you see "Rad"?

Do I really have to answer that...?

You did.

j0z3r

bandyt09:

j0z3r:

leonard:

j0z3r:

I like mountain biking. There are some foothills about 5 mins away with some very cool single track. Haven't been on a ride since I crashed hard about a month ago, still have some aches in my back and shoulder from that.

Yea, that was a good crash Joe. Did you get your rim fixed yet?

No...I keep reminding myself to do it and then I get to doing something else and forget. **** old age. Tomorrow for sure.

Forgetting is ANOTHER sign of getting old Joe.............................

I keep forgetting that too...thankfully I have you to remind me.

leonard

MTB'er here.

JCizzle

jgibv:

@ JCizzle - Never owned a Trek but I know they're great bikes; I was between Trek and Specialized when I bought mine.
My uncle lives in Phoenix and is always biking, even in the summer months when the temperature is ungodly hot...I don't know how he (or you) could do it, that's way too hot for me!

Yeah those are some dedicated MFers to ride in that heat! I used to get up before the sun came up to ride.

Gray4lines

I may be alone here, but my buddy and I used to ride unicycles all the time. Mountain stuff was our favorite, I still have my Kris Holm 24". If you havent seen real mountain unicycling (Muni) you should do a quick search, its pretty cool and im not talking about clowns here.

While in school I was able to ride on campus and around town a lot, got a smaller 20" Kris Holm trials uni. But now I do not ride often. I would love to get a big 36" (basically the road bike of unicycles) Man, I do miss living so close to good trails. We did some pretty nasty stuff!

JDH

Odd that this thread should pop up just now. For the last few weeks, I've been researching the bicycle market, and I've decided to get a Hybrid (probably a Trek 7300 or a comparable Cannondale, Giant or Fuji). All that's left is to find a good price from a good retailer.

danielzreyes

leonard:

MTB'er here.

+1

jgibv

Hays:

I like to ride as much as I can, but that ends up not being as much as I'd like - I tried riding into work, but it turns a 10min commute into an hour commute, and that's hard to justify :-/.

One of the things I'd say to the OP is to check out your local REI - if you're not familiar with them, look it up... it's pretty much a cult, but one I'm glad to be a part of. Join the Co-Op ($20 for life), and you get stupid discounts on their classes - my local ones run classes all the time on bikes 101, bike maintenance, advanced riding, etc..

Yeah it's definitely hard to justify commuting by bike if it increases your time by 50 mins; I assume you have to take the highway to work? Luckily my drive to work is usually about 10-15 mins and biking is 30-35 mins, so it's not too bad.

And thanks for the suggestion about REI, I've heard of them but we don't have one locally....
We do have some pretty good bike shops though so I might check them out to see if they offer something similar - I just always assumed that since they performed maintenance as part of the business, they wouldn't want to give away the "tricks of the trade."

But I did successfully adjust my brakes over the weekend after some tinkering and watching a couple YouTube videos - it turned out to be pretty easy and now the brakes are extremely responsive and feel brand new.
I want to adjust the derailleurs too but think that might be a little more complex

jgibv

kuzi16:

i used to do a bit of mountain biking. i have a Diamondback Ztech. hard tail. Judy Cs up front. titech stem, bmx pedals. got the hard tail so i could have traction in the snow. dont ride it as much as i used to. i need to replace the shifters. i should get back into it.

Kuzi, where did you ride? There's only 2 parks with "official" mountain bike trails and they're on opposite side of Columbus - are there any good parks/trails in your part of the state?

jgibv

As I've started riding more and more this past month, and am in a routine/have a good route to go to & from work - I've been thinking how more efficient my ride would be with clip less pedals.

I've shopped around on a few website looking at the various styles/brands/models and have been reading articles on them but am a bit overwhelmed.
I need to stop at the bike shop and talk to a "professional" about the pedals, but probably won't be able to get over there for a couple weeks - so in the mean time I'll pose the question to you folks: does anyone have clipless pedals? If so, will you share some feedback?
Is there a noticeable difference in power/efficiency between standard and clipless pedals? Are they easy to clip in and out of - have you ever wiped out because you couldn't unclip your foot quick enough?

kuzi16

jgibv:

kuzi16:

i used to do a bit of mountain biking. i have a Diamondback Ztech. hard tail. Judy Cs up front. titech stem, bmx pedals. got the hard tail so i could have traction in the snow. dont ride it as much as i used to. i need to replace the shifters. i should get back into it.

Kuzi, where did you ride? There's only 2 parks with "official" mountain bike trails and they're on opposite side of Columbus - are there any good parks/trails in your part of the state?

who need official trails?
i usually ride "illegally" or in the urban jungle.
Kent State University has some good hills and steps and whatnot.
my neighborhood has a few elevation changes that are good. the downtown area in Cuyahoga Falls has a few good places and a few parks around here have areas that are good.

ill ride to the park, ride at the park, ride to another location, ride at that location, then ride home.

letsgowithbob

I ride clipless, (mtb) I find it a lot more efficient for riding. I feel it makes me a lot more surefooted as well. The best thing about clipless is that you can adjust the spring tension on the pedals by turning an allen wrench bolt, it's super easy. You can make them so loose that your feet will come out at the slightest pull, and you can make it where your feet are locked on the bike and are not coming off no matter what (true story, and have the scars to prove that "Yes I was that stupid") I say go clipless, it's a bit of an expense, but in my opinion well worth it.

letsgowithbob

j0z3r:

bandyt09:

j0z3r:

leonard:

j0z3r:

I like mountain biking. There are some foothills about 5 mins away with some very cool single track. Haven't been on a ride since I crashed hard about a month ago, still have some aches in my back and shoulder from that.

Yea, that was a good crash Joe. Did you get your rim fixed yet?

No...I keep reminding myself to do it and then I get to doing something else and forget. **** old age. Tomorrow for sure.

Forgetting is ANOTHER sign of getting old Joe.............................

I keep forgetting that too...thankfully I have you to remind me.

My favorite ride is the fire road from idyllwild to cranston station, Used to be epic....don't know what it's like anymore.

jgibv

kuzi16:

jgibv:

kuzi16:

i used to do a bit of mountain biking. i have a Diamondback Ztech. hard tail. Judy Cs up front. titech stem, bmx pedals. got the hard tail so i could have traction in the snow. dont ride it as much as i used to. i need to replace the shifters. i should get back into it.

Kuzi, where did you ride? There's only 2 parks with "official" mountain bike trails and they're on opposite side of Columbus - are there any good parks/trails in your part of the state?

who need official trails?
i usually ride "illegally" or in the urban jungle.
Kent State University has some good hills and steps and whatnot.
my neighborhood has a few elevation changes that are good. the downtown area in Cuyahoga Falls has a few good places and a few parks around here have areas that are good.

ill ride to the park, ride at the park, ride to another location, ride at that location, then ride home.

haha - I like your sentiment, Kuzi. A kind of "if you can get to it, ride it" metality.
Most of the metro parks only have jogging/walking trails and all of the closest bike trails are flat & paved paths.

But it's still fun to hop on the paved trail, ride to a park or 2 and hit the "impromptu trails" then head home.
That's not as "mountain" like & technically challenging as the official trails I mentioned earlier, at Alum Creek State Park, but then again it sure beats having to pack the bikes in the car - and driving 30 minutes each way just to ride the "official trails."