The R3V Bicycle Thread

[leegf]

Nice score.

[BlackbirdM3]

I picked up a '93 Marin Team Titanium frame over the weekend. Built by Litespeed, its 3/2.5 Ti, 3.3lbs. It should build up as a sub 22lb bike. The frame is a satin ti finish, but I'm going to sand it down, and polish it to a mirror finish. For $130 including a set of XT cranks, bottom bracket and rear derailleur, it was very hard to say no. This was a dream frame of mine when I first started riding. (Its retail price was also over $2k for the frame alone. That was a HUGE chunk of $ for a frame in those days.)

I'm half tempted to strip my Seven of all its super light parts and put them on the Marin. I'd guess it would be a sub 21 lb bike or so. (Even with all the trick parts, the Seven is heavy.)

Will

[Nick_S]

damn son! riding af
Rode all day yesterday on my new (to me) fuse and really learned the benefits of airing down the tires. Also thinking about switching to flat pedals from spds. Anyone got some recs on stiff flat pedal shoes? Currently set on the shimano gr7s but wanted to ask here before pulling the trigger.

I ride to the point of exhausting every change I get, haha.

I ride Saint pedals right now but I keep hearing good things about Kona's Wah Wah pedals and I'm going to give those awhile. I have Shimano GR9's. Had some Five10 Freerider shoes and they were supppppper grippy but alot less comfy on my feet (I have a bad foot thats hard to find shoes for). I can't do SPD's, 24 years of riding BMX has me trained I guess.

[wworm]

damn son! riding af
Rode all day yesterday on my new (to me) fuse and really learned the benefits of airing down the tires. Also thinking about switching to flat pedals from spds. Anyone got some recs on stiff flat pedal shoes? Currently set on the shimano gr7s but wanted to ask here before pulling the trigger.

[Nick_S]

Solid day of riding yesterday. Rode some BMX out in Edwards, CO for awhile till did a belly flop on some concrete. Took off from there for awesome trail riding in Eagle. Feeling that fall today.

[AWDBOB]

I'm going to use this space to bitch about new "standards", and how ridiculous it is trying to keep up, or upgrade an older bike. Headsets/steerer tubes/axles/bottom brakes/brake mounts. F!

^ Its a pain in the ass. Makes you have to sell last years model and buy this years just to avoid getting stuck in a "they dont make that anymore" situation.

I struggled a lot with that with my Epic (2013), but thankfully was able to overcome it.

They designed a fancy brain shock that needed a $300 rebuild once a season, along with a few other annoying proprietary items. I called fox, gave them dimensions and a had a rebuildable shock made. I did the same with the front fork. Got a take off s-works rovals wheelset, fresh bushings from specialized (thankfully their support is pretty good), and it's (al frame) lighter than the carbon frame epic by like 3lbs, and 1/3 of the price.

Once you find a frame that really fits you well I think it's definitely worth building/holding onto for at least 5 years if you can work out details to make it happen (like the above).

At this point the MTB industry is spewing a bunch of bs marketing. When you push 29" bikes like it's the best thing, that gets old so you push 27.5", when that gets old you push 650b, then push fatties, and then vary their sizes to follow the above.

It's all BS. The fastest guys I know ride 26" trek frames they've had since the 90s that they've built to their liking, so I followed suit and couldn't be happier, but you really have to fight with some of these models to make it happen.

[Nick_S]

So nice. Looks like a Master X-Light with Campy 10 speed. Your FIL had great taste in bikes.

Yes sir. All Record 10spd. It's a touch too big for her so I'm getting a zero offset thompson post and a 70mm stem. She's not a big roadie either but wants to take it out for a spin on nice days (hence the plastic platforms).

[leegf]

So nice. Looks like a Master X-Light with Campy 10 speed. Your FIL had great taste in bikes.

[Nick_S]

New addition in the house. My ladies father sadly passed away recently and she ended up with his cherished road ride. I'm not much of a road rider these days but I have zero problem having this gorgeous bike sitting around the house.

[wworm]

^super rad. I like canyons stuff lately

Are we talking mountain or road?

I only really see this as an issue with the mtb industry. Doesn't really bother me too much anymore as I've gotten used to it but I'm pretty sure the fork on my specialized fuse is blown or broken and I have to get a 2017+ because of boost front hub spacing. Not too mad about it because that means I have to get a nicer fork but I can definitely see how it'd bother some people.

That being said, anyone got some budget friendly 120mm travel 27.5+ front shock suggestions?

[Jb325is]

I've had this bike for a few months now, 3rd bike since getting pretty serious about MTB 3 years ago. Love this thing so far, going to Asheville in 2 weeks to ride Pisgah area again with it. It's my first XL frame bike (previous was Giant Trance 1 L) and you can definitely feel the longer wheelbase of the XL on tighter singletrack but this bike absolutely rips on fast downhill type stuff.

2018-05-10_07-01-53

[lti_57]

Just Picked this up Last Saturday at the urging on my Son
Damn the kid was right this thing is amazing great ride corners well
1x11 sram drive train is awesome

[leegf]

Are we talking mountain or road?

For road, I would guess any shop in this here US of A can support mechanical 11 speed SRAM or Shimano with a conventional English threaded bottom bracket, and likely will be able to for many years to come. I get that the industry introduces a lot of new stuff each year and tries to get consumers to adopt, but if you just unplug from that hype machine, then I don't see the problem.

[wworm]

^ Its a pain in the ass. Makes you have to sell last years model and buy this years just to avoid getting stuck in a "they dont make that anymore" situation.

[Rob]

I'm going to use this space to bitch about new "standards", and how ridiculous it is trying to keep up, or upgrade an older bike. Headsets/steerer tubes/axles/bottom brakes/brake mounts. F!