Life on 2 Wheels: the bicyclists thread

[SnackTime]

Great idea for a thread Linus!

I am hoping to use my bikes (mainly the mountain bike) to commute to some places next year. I am rather limited on riding at least until early spring.

At the moment, I have my Gary Fisher Advance mountain bike in the trainer. I also have a Trek road bike.

[Linus]

Well. I went out for an hour ride (truth be told I managed to get a little lost). But the good side was that the bike fared well so I should be able to use it next week. I did feel sa little naked without an helmet, gloves and whistle (i have a dingy bell but they are, IMO, useless in traffic and a pealess whistle is awesome). We'll be heading to a couple of bike shops today and probably REI. My current helmet, somewhere in a box, is about 10 years old so its due to be replaced.

What I found truly interesting was that it pretty much felt like I had never stopped cycling. And the roads in this area of Los Angeles are a cyclist's dream: perfectly smooth with no glass shards on them.

[shadows papa]

Awesome thread Linus! Anyone who is around me for any length of time is sure to find out that I LOVE all things bicycle! Hopefully when the weather cools down a bit here and I can figure out some system of book organization where I don't have to carry a 40 lbs. backpack each way, I will ride my bike back and forth to school a couple of days a week. We only live 4 miles from the campus, making it a nice little leg stretcher. This Saturday I am doing a 25 mile ride to benefit WoundedWarriors.org and the 11 mile mountain bike race in October is to benefit RideforReading.org. I like to ride for charity,for fun,for fitness,and just to RIDE. I have been seriously curtailed this year with my school commitments but I am,and always will be, a crackhead cyclist. I love to ride, find bikes for other people, work on bikes,and watch bike racing. I currently have a 1991 GT Timberline mountain bike, a 1990 Trek 1200 road bike and a 2005 Trek 1000 Discovery Edition road bike. One of these days,when time permits, I have a winter project in mind to build a bike or two or three from the frame up, full carbon fiber rigs that will fly down the road and cut the wind like a knife!! For now I ride when time permits and enjoy tearing through the woods on a mountain bike trail, at least once a week during a GOOD week!

[Linus]

Originally Posted by shadows papa

Awesome thread Linus! Anyone who is around me for any length of time is sure to find out that I LOVE all things bicycle! Hopefully when the weather cools down a bit here and I can figure out some system of book organization where I don't have to carry a 40 lbs. backpack each way, I will ride my bike back and forth to school a couple of days a week. We only live 4 miles from the campus, making it a nice little leg stretcher. This Saturday I am doing a 25 mile ride to benefit WoundedWarriors.org and the 11 mile mountain bike race in October is to benefit RideforReading.org. I like to ride for charity,for fun,for fitness,and just to RIDE. I have been seriously curtailed this year with my school commitments but I am,and always will be, a crackhead cyclist. I love to ride, find bikes for other people, work on bikes,and watch bike racing. I currently have a 1991 GT Timberline mountain bike, a 1990 Trek 1200 road bike and a 2005 Trek 1000 Discovery Edition road bike. One of these days,when time permits, I have a winter project in mind to build a bike or two or three from the frame up, full carbon fiber rigs that will fly down the road and cut the wind like a knife!! For now I ride when time permits and enjoy tearing through the woods on a mountain bike trail, at least once a week during a GOOD week!

Hehe.. you could always turn one of those bikes (probably the 1200 or the Timberline) into a single speed winter bike (with winter tires). I did that to my old MTB and it's awesome.

As for riding with 40lbs of stuff, take a look at Ortleib panniers and seriously consider getting a back rack on your bike. You back will thank you. The MTB should have the eyelets for this if the 1200 doesn't.

[shadows papa]

Originally Posted by Linus

Hehe.. you could always turn one of those bikes (probably the 1200 or the Timberline) into a single speed winter bike (with winter tires). I did that to my old MTB and it's awesome.

As for riding with 40lbs of stuff, take a look at Ortleib panniers and seriously consider getting a back rack on your bike. You back will thank you. The MTB should have the eyelets for this if the 1200 doesn't.

I had thought about that Linus,and both bikes can be rigged for a rack and panniers but my budget won't let me do it. I've got a locker at school, it's just a matter of knowing which books to bring home on which day to cut the weight I'm carrying. Building a single speed is on my list of things to do once school is done. I think the 1200 will serve as a good commuter bike. I used it to commute 24 miles round trip to school at the first college I attended. The only think I may do is convert it to a flat bar bike as the drop bars are a bit of a reach when riding with a backpack and that isn't very expensive to do. Thanks for the info!

[Rockinonahigh]

Great idea for a thred,ive been intrested in bike rideng for a while but am haveing a prob with part of an injury that effects my tail bone and sciatica and am at lost what to do about it.When I ride i get numbdown the left side of my butt that goes down my left leg the longer I ride so when I get off the bike all I can do is stand for a while till I get the feeling back in my leg,the longer I ride the worst it gets.I had a mountain bike but never could get comfy on it,infact I have had a fue diffrent bikes but with pretty much the same configuration,at the moment im looking for a regular fat tired street bike that has some stretch room for me to be comfy ( chubby body hear) plus with a back injury I find being bent over on a multi speed bike very uncomfy after a while.Then I also have a slight vertago issue that comes and goes,since I started takeing motion sickness pills its a lot better.At the moment $$ is an issue so spending a lot on a bike is a consern,in thinking of checking freecycle to see if I can find a bike or maybe haunt garage sales or pawn shops...any sugestions of what I should/can do.

[shadows papa]

Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh

Great idea for a thred,ive been intrested in bike rideng for a while but am haveing a prob with part of an injury that effects my tail bone and sciatica and am at lost what to do about it.When I ride i get numbdown the left side of my butt that goes down my left leg the longer I ride so when I get off the bike all I can do is stand for a while till I get the feeling back in my leg,the longer I ride the worst it gets.I had a mountain bike but never could get comfy on it,infact I have had a fue diffrent bikes but with pretty much the same configuration,at the moment im looking for a regular fat tired street bike that has some stretch room for me to be comfy ( chubby body hear) plus with a back injury I find being bent over on a multi speed bike very uncomfy after a while.Then I also have a slight vertago issue that comes and goes,since I started takeing motion sickness pills its a lot better.At the moment $$ is an issue so spending a lot on a bike is a consern,in thinking of checking freecycle to see if I can find a bike or maybe haunt garage sales or pawn shops...any sugestions of what I should/can do.

Rockin' you may want to check on recumbent bikes. It is actually a 3 wheeled bike that you sit down in and pedal. I know several people who have chronic back pain that utilize these for fitness and to enjoy cycling. They are not cheap for the most part, but you might come across a deal on one using Craigslist, Freecycle or checking at any local bike shops in your area. Good luck in your search!

[Jesse]

I have a bike like what you described. It's an old single speed fat tire beach cruiser, and I love it. I found listed on Craigslist for $50. I brought it home, took the chain off, cleaned it real good and re-oiled that and the sprockets, then bought two new thorn proofs tubes and put those on. I love that I don't have to bend over to ride and it has a nice fat leather seat on, so it sits very comfortable.

Jesse

Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh

Great idea for a thred,ive been intrested in bike rideng for a while but am haveing a prob with part of an injury that effects my tail bone and sciatica and am at lost what to do about it.When I ride i get numbdown the left side of my butt that goes down my left leg the longer I ride so when I get off the bike all I can do is stand for a while till I get the feeling back in my leg,the longer I ride the worst it gets.I had a mountain bike but never could get comfy on it,infact I have had a fue diffrent bikes but with pretty much the same configuration,at the moment im looking for a regular fat tired street bike that has some stretch room for me to be comfy ( chubby body hear) plus with a back injury I find being bent over on a multi speed bike very uncomfy after a while.Then I also have a slight vertago issue that comes and goes,since I started takeing motion sickness pills its a lot better.At the moment $$ is an issue so spending a lot on a bike is a consern,in thinking of checking freecycle to see if I can find a bike or maybe haunt garage sales or pawn shops...any sugestions of what I should/can do.