The R3V Bicycle Thread

[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.

[leegf]

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

[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).

[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]

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.

[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]

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.

[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

[leegf]

Nice score.

[Rob]

Mainly MTB I guess, because that's more what I'm into. Trying to find a decent wheelset that isn't QR is a chore, same with straight steerer forks, etc. Or a decent crankset that isn't BB-something-stupid. I've finally worn out my I-9s to the point where rebuilding/relacing them doesn't make financial sense, but shopping for a new set (QR, SS) is a slow process.

I guess I'm slowly slipping into grouchy old man status, but I never once hit a jump or climb or whatever and thought "Man, if only this steerer was 1/4" bigger at the bottom, I'd be better off"

[BlackbirdM3]

Mainly MTB I guess, because that's more what I'm into. Trying to find a decent wheelset that isn't QR is a chore, same with straight steerer forks, etc. Or a decent crankset that isn't BB-something-stupid. I've finally worn out my I-9s to the point where rebuilding/relacing them doesn't make financial sense, but shopping for a new set (QR, SS) is a slow process.

I guess I'm slowly slipping into grouchy old man status, but I never once hit a jump or climb or whatever and thought "Man, if only this steerer was 1/4" bigger at the bottom, I'd be better off"

These days I go looking for the stuff I was racing on 18-25 years ago. The stuff was bombproof back then when I was breaking anything and everything. Since Most of that original group I still have, its easy to put a bike together. Heck, some of the stuff is now affordable (Like Shimano M900/950 XTR.) 8 spd XTR was hands down the best group sets Shimano has ever produced. I'm still riding the right XTR shifter I bought in 1997 (The indexed shifting for hte front derailleur bugged the hell out of me because it would rub, so I replaced it with a Suntour XC Pro front thumb shifter, saved a few grams and had a trimmable FD so it never rubs.)

Seriously, the parts these days exist to sell more parts. They aren't supposed to last like the M950 or M900 stuff was. Its all gimmicks and bad ideas being sold as the latest and greatest things now. Not once have I been bombing down a hill at 40+ mph and thought "I wish I had disk brakes" A dropper post? How cute, never once needed one. Yeah, I'm a cross country rider, raced semi pro. Still, do I put the hurt on guys with their big hit bikes and dropper posts on most single track trails? Yep. I shift into my 46 tooth big ring and off I go laughing at these guys with a single 32 tooth chain ring and 9 inches of travel all spun out as I blow past on my 20 year old hardtail with 3 chain rings and V brakes.

Seriously, there is nothing on the market that I currently want on my bike (aside from tires) Hell, even my seats date back to the 90s.

If I had the time to get out and ride, would I show up on my 20+ year old hardtail with 20+ year old parts on it for an XC race? Hell yes! It wouldn't be the bike that would keep me off the podium. They worked great back in the day, and they still work great. Fitness and age would be the only things holding me back.

Will

[Nick_S]

DH parks are opening. I refuse to pedal uphill till October.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxVIbS8Attw&feature=youtu.be

[wworm]

dont forget to wear sunscreen! lol I am currently sitting in bed with a gnarly ass burn. Weather was so good yesterday that I spent the whole day riding in a tank and my gringo ass got cooked. All these whistler opening day vids make me want to move north

[BlackbirdM3]

dont forget to wear sunscreen! lol I am currently sitting in bed with a gnarly ass burn. Weather was so good yesterday that I spent the whole day riding in a tank and my gringo ass got cooked. All these whistler opening day vids make me want to move north

Whistler has some awesome stuff. I raced a Cactus Cup race there in 1997 (There is a certain amount of irony there, not a cactus to be found in 1500 miles) . It wasn't my best xc race ever, but it was a pretty awesome race.

Will

[superj]

I got a new (to me) bike yesterday.

I rode with a local group yesterday and one of the guys had ridden his recumbent with me before. Well, he said he wanted to sell it because he was having hip pain (he is 65) well on it but not on his rubauix.

So I told him I would swing by once I finished my ride and grab it. I ended up doing 60 miles so once I made it to his house, we swapped my 700 bucks for his p38 and went our ways.

The bike is a rocket. Its so fast. I have done a lot to my phantom in the 4 years I have been riding it to make it faster but its still a touring bike. The p38 is a racing bike and feels that way while riding it.

Hopefully I can gain some speed because one section of a local strava spot I have been trying to kom and so far, 4th has been my best at 36mph for the 1/4 mile it stretches. I hope to improve that on this bike