The R3V Bicycle Thread

[leegf]

Thank god for gumwalls. They just make a bike wheel look nicer.

[BlackbirdM3]

Was just teasin'! Yeah, the balance between comfort, distance, and speed.

A lot of mtn bikes out there - seems a good way to try it vs buying yet another specialized bike. The newer cx bikes are coming with a single 42 in front, which makes them way less useful as daily commuter / knockaround bikes.

The disc brakes are crazy good, especially when it gets really dusty or wet.

My son's crank is a double Shimano with cx gears - can't remember numbers now, but they're different than road, and closer together in number. You never need full speed 52-11 gears, and you don't really need tiny baby gears - at that point it's faster to get off and run.

This week's course - it was about 1.5 miles x 9 laps in 50 minutes.
[ATTACH]101109[/ATTACH]

A light mtb will do just fine in a CX race. My Action Tec race bike was 19 lbs with full knobbies. Had a triple with a 11-28 8 spd cassette (titanium). Never needed disk brakes. The last CX race I did was a sloppy sandy mess. Ran my ceramic coated rims with a new set of pads. The sand and the rims ate the brake pads in a race but my friend and I went 1-2 lapping 3rd place (We tied for 1st, but he needed the points to win the season championship so I took 2nd.)

I hesitate to race CX because I don't want to put a wet, muddy bike in the back of my M3. If it stays dry though, I should get on it.

Will

[LateFan]

Reminds me of my old PX-10

Yeah it does. Here'a a pic - not my bike but just like it, with that pointy Pivo stem. Wonder if you can buy repro frame stickers.

[leegf]

Yeah it does. Here'a a pic - not my bike but just like it, with that pointy Pivo stem. Wonder if you can buy repro frame stickers.

Good-looking bike, and yes, you probably can find repros on eBay.

In the photo you posted (I know it's not your bike), does the fork look slightly bent?

[LateFan]

Do you mean the giant ski jump rake to it? Or rather what looks like a kink at the bottom of the head tube?

I wondered that too. Unless that's an optical illusion because of perspective on the flat-topped fork crown...

[leegf]

I mean where the crown of the fork meets the bottom of the head tube. I'm far from an expert on these matters, but judging from the head tube angle, the fork looks ever so slightly pushed back to me.

As you say, though, it could just be an optical illusion.

[LateFan]

1 - it was in an accident

2 - someone was messing with reducing the rake and steering response

3 - ?

[LateFan]

Wed night CX. It rained! Not my pics.









pizza & beer station..

[155///MPH]

Love that Poprad

[155///MPH]

Spesh E5 Smartweld

So when my Independent Fabrications Stainless bike split the seat tube I needed another bike to replace it. I wanted a workhorse, non carbon frame that would take up all rain, training, and crit duty. I looked very hard at CAAD10's but the geometry was just a little off. I ended up reading a good bit on the Allez DSW Smartweld frames and found a lot of good reviews. The geometry lined up nearly identically to the TCR. The hunt was on. This one actually came from SC and a friend of mine stripped it down to the frameset and mailed it out to me.

I put the 6870 groupset from the damaged TCR on it. That required some "custom" drilling to run the etube internally. I've been running this one as my workhorse for the past month and a half and it really is a great ride. Normally it runs a set of DT240's laced to HED Belgium+ rims with 25mm GP4000's but the Boyd/Vittoria just look so good on it.

[leegf]

+1 on the Vittorias :)

[BlackbirdM3]

So when my Independent Fabrications Stainless bike split the seat tube I needed another bike to replace it. I wanted a workhorse, non carbon frame that would take up all rain, training, and crit duty. I looked very hard at CAAD10's but the geometry was just a little off. I ended up reading a good bit on the Allez DSW Smartweld frames and found a lot of good reviews. The geometry lined up nearly identically to the TCR. The hunt was on. This one actually came from SC and a friend of mine stripped it down to the frameset and mailed it out to me.

I put the 6870 groupset from the damaged TCR on it. That required some "custom" drilling to run the etube internally. I've been running this one as my workhorse for the past month and a half and it really is a great ride. Normally it runs a set of DT240's laced to HED Belgium+ rims with 25mm GP4000's but the Boyd/Vittoria just look so good on it.

Is your IF frame built of Reynolds 953? If so, how was the ride? I've been very curious about this tubeset. Splitting a set tube makes me a little worried, what happened?

Will

[modernist]

Built this back in high school ... track bike with brakes and a 3-speed hub. Leather-wrapped handlebars are so nice ...

[155///MPH]

Is your IF frame built of Reynolds 953? If so, how was the ride? I've been very curious about this tubeset. Splitting a set tube makes me a little worried, what happened?

Will

Yes, it was a Reynolds 953 Stainless SSR. The seat tube split open just below the collar about 3 inches straight down. I had it welded back up locally and sold it pretty cheap on ebay. It rode great, smooth and springy, but I don't think it was that different from Ti but is a very light but thin tubeset. I won't have another on. I'll go Ti or normal steel next time.

[LateFan]

So...I tried this cyclocross thing last week. Borrowed an old Bianchi from a friend and did a bunch of work to get it ready. My son and his teammates were shocked and excited to see me kitted up with a number. It felt too small at 52cm, but I got it set up as close as possible, and CX fit is different from road. Still felt odd.





I learned that I'm completely unprepared and maybe too old for something like this. I learned that it is not a different form of cycling, it's a different sport entirely.

It's a core strength sport.
It's an upper body strength sport.
It is completely anaerobic - there is no place to rest.
Running uphill takes a lot more energy than riding in any direction.
Getting used to pedals you've never used is a pain in the ass.

This was like sending an intermediate skier down a triple black diamond chute with some lame advice and "You'll be fine."

I went end over end twice...in the same deep sand trap. Somehow I managed to finish, but a couple laps down. It hurts to breathe, raising my arm is sketchy, sleeping is difficult, and when I breathe something clicks or pops in my upper back. Just glad I didn't break my collarbone.