Are you a bicyclist?

Are you an avid cyclist?

  • Yes

  • No

  • I prefer teleportation

Results are only viewable after voting.
twyg

twyg

Back to Mac Baby!
I was curious how many people are avid riders on the site.

I have a mountain bike which I frequently use on my morning commute. I also use it for trail riding both light and intermediate trails.

Can someone recommend a good tire for that usage? Daily use on pavement w/ basic trail grip.

Thanks!
 
I 'm an avid bicyclist too. I usually ride about 25 to 30 miles when I go riding. I have a Giant ATX 760 with touring tires. It's the only bike I've had that rides really smooth on the road (with touring tires) where I can quickly change the tires and go off thrashing around in the woods without destroying it.
 
I ride A LOT. I have a Cannondale F700 that I absolutely love! I do a lot of free-riding in the desert in Phoenix during the summer, but in the cooler months I head up to Flagstaff and Sedona where I can get a lot more technical trail riding.

As for moderate riding around town and off-road, you can't go wrong with Maxxis Minotaur's. They've got a kevlar bead so they're pretty flat-resistant, they're fairly light and have decent tread that'll grip the dirt but won't be a pain in the ass when you ride on concrete.

I use them on my older bike that I ride around campus and they're perfect. Not to mention, they're only like $25.
 
Sweet bikes!

I'm also looking into what new bikes cost. I'm looking for a full suspension. 80% of my commute is 10º - 25º grade hills. There are more than a few bumps, and obviously the gearing must be perfect. Both for going fast downhill, and for good uphill. Braking must be powerful without locking. Now you know why I need a higher caliber bike. (See below)

It's downhill in the morning, and uphill at night. I saw a Mongoose MTX on eBay for $75, almost got it but when I did a real fast search found that they retail for 199, and had a recall on the front fork. Turns out the fork would fall apart. Considering my average mph is 28 (from my trusty on board computer) I can't afford to take a digger due to a missing front fork. They of course fix it for free, but I'm glad I looked it up. I had no idea how expensive bikes have become. Last Trek I bought was $300, and it was almost top of the line mountain bike. They hadn't even invented shocks for bikes at that point... Now a decent bike is in the neighborhood of $600+ w/out suspension. (Yes, you can get 'em for $300, but it's bare bones)

It's just wild to see that hike in price. (Mackey, you know what I'm talking about, we're basically the same age)
 
I purchased my Giant ATX 760 in 1995 for $675 from a small bike shop. It doesn't have suspension. I specifically did not want suspension seeing that my uncle who races mountain bikes, was spending bookoo bucks for new suspension forks and rear suspension shocks. I asked him what actually wears out. He said there are a series of polymer plugs that basically get ripped apart from compression and shearing forces. Seeing how often he was working on the suspension, I decided I would get a bike without suspension. I'm very happy with my decision. The touring tires I put on it are Continental Conti-Top Touring tires. I did a quick search over at Continental's website and was surprized that they were so similar to automobile tires.
 
I ride to Uni every day, about 10 kilometres each way with some nasty hills in between. I own a Giant Rincon 21-speed mountain bike which is about ten-years old now and is still a fantastic bike. I've had to do a lot to it recently, replacing the tyres and the gears, chain, brakes and such, to keep it in shape, but it has lasted a very long time and still holds its own.

I can overtake those pompous idiots on $4000 road-racers, and they tend to look a bit sheepish when they're passed by a mountain bike on an open road, especially when I'm laden down with my back-pack and all.

I've found the Giant's to be fantastic bikes. Mine is tough enough to be able to handle a breakneck-downhill run every night along a potholed road with utmost confidence. I wouldn't go out without my BLT rechargable light-kit, which lasts 3 hours and is bright enough to startle traffic. Also, I recommend you get quality, well-matched mud-guards. While they may detract from the "coolness" of the bike, there is nothing cool about having a big muddy stripe up your back. Add on a packrack for practicality and a quality lock-cable, and you've got a bike that's easy to live with.
 
I just got mud guards actually, very usefull, no more line of water up my bum.

The gears are starting to go on the bike. Is there a web site that gives directions on how to adjust deraileurs? (sp. on that)

I too over take bikers quite frequently. Typically it's just a matter of them not training right.
 
I don't bike much. I much prefer quantum teleportation and such. The thing about Bikes is one can only go so far before incinerating one's muscles...
 
I do almost all of my (local) travels in greece with a bike :D -- of course my last one broke down cause I had so many miles on it :rolleyes: .... in just 6 months (2 summers) I managed to put on it MORE than 5000 miles :p :p :p --- I threw it away... I am debating whether to get another one or not :p
 
Oh, you don't beat my ThØNderBørD 3500EXPF (EXtra PerFormance) with supersonic frontal quad oil filled TRAX-dampers made in pure titanium, and gel-filled RIPPER 200ALU (RIght Performance for Professionals and Experienced Riders) frame.
Super-modern semiconductor-controlled CdS-photocell sensors, temperature sensors and capacitance-based surface sensors make sure that the right amount of oil is automatically filled in the dampers, and control that the gear and braking systems are properly adjusted to the current climate, weather, temperature and other environment conditions. Also,12 520 nm wavelength lasers on the front scans what's in front of me and gives me 3D sight on a 100% weather-proof 8" LCD TFT screen, and automatically calculates the distance to the nearest objects. A high-tech not-yet-on-the-open-market GPS 2.0 receiver prototype from Magellan with 0.1 mm 3D accuracy and 0.2 second refreshment rate via a high-speed 1 Mbps 2-way link between 12 satellites and the GPS 2.0 receiver makes sure I never get lost, and always shows my exact location, speed, heading, altitude etc etc etc, as well as my exact position on a 3D map covering the whole galaxy on another 8" LCD TFT screen.
The UNIVCOMP tires are made in tritanium-carbonate-sulfide-rubber, a highly expensive and requested material used in modern military flight construction and rocket industry, and with an almost invisible self-cleaning Xmud mud-guard in poly-carbonate plastic, I'm always protected against unwanted surprises.

:p
 
Next time, use a :sarcasm: smiley. All of this ctually could be constructed, but the bike would be awfully heavy. :( :D
 
well, that's all well and good ksv, but my bike has a ....

bell!!!

.... HAHAHA! My bike crushes yours! Bow to my bike as it bling bling's past you! HA!

:D
 
I bike for 1.5 - 2.5 hours a day, that is, when it's not 45 degrees (centigrade) and a UV index of 9 outside like it is now... :rolleyes:

Come to think of it, I've got signatures for my bass guitar setup, iMac setup, LAN setup, now maybe I'll add one for my bike setup :)

``Gwailo
Specialized Hard Rock
Shimano trigger shifters & derailers
Shimano brakes
Slick Tires
Louis Garneau apparel

:)
 
Originally posted by twyg
well, that's all well and good ksv, but my bike has a ....

bell!!!

.... HAHAHA! My bike crushes yours! Bow to my bike as it bling bling's past you! HA!

:D
Click to expand...

AAaaaaaugh! Aaaaargh! :eek: :eek:
I feel completely destroyed! :eek: :( :eek:
Let my bike vanish in dishonor and shame! :eek: :(
 
I bike everywhere in the city. Unfortunately, in Saskatchewan, everything is so far spread out that any other town I would conceivably want to get to would be about five days' ride or more away.

I ride an old ten speed that's actually my dad's. I also had an old ten speed of my own, but that met a horrible end some months ago. I left it locked outside a church when I was at a party there one night. I accepted a ride home at 4 AM Saturday night, since I had a lot of things to bring home; when I came back Sunday afternoon, someone had run over the bike and completely flattened it. The only thing that was salvageable off the whole bike was the front tire.

For some reason, I'm not as fast on my dad's bike as I was on my own. I used to love to pass the expensive cyclists, and think "my entire equipment cost half what your biking shoes did, and I'm faster than you!" as I did. I can still pass them, but I can't just tear past them as I did...
 
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