Tom Keats wrote:
I finally parted ways with my Cheng Shins, after 8-10K kilometers.
I went looking for a new pair of the same, but ended up instead
with IRC Metros, from The Bike Doctor. $11.69 each. They at least
look similar to the Cheng Shins.

Cheng Shin makes the sturdiest, longest lasting tire I've ever seen. They
have amazingly high rolling drag, however. You go 10% faster with anything else.
--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

In article ,
Ron Hardin writes:
Tom Keats wrote:
I finally parted ways with my Cheng Shins, after 8-10K kilometers.
I went looking for a new pair of the same, but ended up instead
with IRC Metros, from The Bike Doctor. $11.69 each. They at least
look similar to the Cheng Shins.

Cheng Shin makes the sturdiest, longest lasting tire I've ever seen. They
have amazingly high rolling drag, however. You go 10% faster with anything else.

I noticed that effect too, but over time it seemed to diminish.
I wonder if there's a break-in period for those things.

And I never was totally confident with their cornering. But
I sure got a lot of good use out of them. If it wasn't for the
gash in the rear one, I'd still be using them. I'm keeping the
front one on standby in the basement shop as a spare.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 13:45:12 -0800, LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m
wrote:

Learning toward one or the other for buying a new dept store bicycle.

Buy a much better used bike for the same amount of money, out of the
local newpaper ads.

A couple months ago I bought a Haro MTB for $30 at a flea market. Rusted but
hardly riden. Some clean up and lubrication and it runs great. You won't beat
that deal at a department store.

Ron

(Tom Keats) wrote:

Knobbies do make a pleasing 'buzz' on asphalt.

"Pleasing"? In the same way that rough pavement can be "pleasing" I
guess...

Sure, they'll
slow ya down and (heaven forbid) allow other riders to pass ya
sometimes. But if you don't care, it doesn't matter. And there
may be some shortcut scenarios where knobbies come in handy.
Even in urban environs.

While knobbies are nice when/if you find yourself navigating a section
of loose dirt/gravel, they're a serious disadvantage everywhere else.
To me the biggest drawback is the sketchy handling that most knobbies
produce in a corner. I've had some knobbies that were "exciting" in
any real paved cornering situation - they'd squirm and slip - not a
lot of fun. Plus, they wear out VERY fast on the road.

There are some "inverted knobby" tires that are reasonable compromises
though - a solid center bead that allows fairly low rolling
resistance, with enough deep grooves and inside-out tread features to
keep you upright in the loose stuff. They're not really the best
choice for on or off-road, but not bad at either.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 20:33:23 +1100, meb
wrote:


Wrote:
On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 16:47:35 -0500, PSB
wrote:

Learning toward one or the other for buying a new dept store bicycle.
I
know what to look for when it comes to assembling them. The bike is
going to be used as a commuter. The Huffy's are about 30 dollars
cheaper
and both have Shamino gears. Just curious if I should spend the 30
bucks
more for a Schwinn or not. If you are going to reply that I should
buy
from an LBS, save your bandwidth.

So which would you recommend?

Dear Dyslexic PBS,

I doubt [modest cough] that you will hear from anyone who
has wasted more time and bandwidth here extolling the
glories of such value-for-money steeds.

(I also doubt that anyone will recommend either brand.)

But I'm pleased with my $60 Fury RoadMaster from Walmart
and its fifteen fierce Shamino gears.

http://tinyurl.com/2tohm

As far as I can tell, the Fury rolls four miles along its
daily route with reasonable splendour, gnashing its teeth as
befits its name.

Most two-wheeled objects with pedals do the same.

Carl Fogel

Do 1/2" shaft clipless pedals exist?
Are they in a price suitable for Fury/Huffy/Schwinn one piece cranks
for those occaisions one is setting the commuting record?

Dear Meb,

Damned if I know.

Cleats might detract from the purity of the experience.

In any case, as I understand it, the only real value of
cleats is for extraordinary climbs and perhaps very brief
sprints, where the extra maximum effort made possible by
using both legs at once helps. Otherwise, your heart and
lungs fail you before your legs do.

Perhaps someone will explain other advantages. There must be
some, since most riders use cleats.

Carl Fogel

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:


Visions of Dave Stoller in his garage go dancing through my head...


Did you know that the movie while they were filming was tentatively
titled "Bambino"? I can't imagine it would have been as good without
the multiple meanings of "Breaking Away" as a title.

--
My bike blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/

In article ,
RonSonic writes:
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 13:45:12 -0800, LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m
wrote:

Learning toward one or the other for buying a new dept store bicycle.

Buy a much better used bike for the same amount of money, out of the
local newpaper ads.

A couple months ago I bought a Haro MTB for $30 at a flea market. Rusted but
hardly riden. Some clean up and lubrication and it runs great.

Good score.

You won't beat
that deal at a department store.

I've noticed most $100-$200 department store bikes
have hi-tens steel frames. Ugh. What's worse is
the poor-grade steel componentry (usually painted
black,) where alu-alloy would be, on a 'good' bike.
Like handlebars & stems welded together into one
piece. And in the course of my scavenger hunts,
I've noticed more than a few discards where the
welded joins had dramatically failed. Department
store bikes get thrown away a lot.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 21:01:07 GMT, Mark Janeba
wrote:

wrote:
In any case, as I understand it, the only real value of
cleats is for extraordinary climbs and perhaps very brief
sprints, where the extra maximum effort made possible by
using both legs at once helps. Otherwise, your heart and
lungs fail you before your legs do.

Perhaps someone will explain other advantages. There must be
some, since most riders use cleats.

Hmmm... maybe to keep your feet properly positioned on the pedals at
high rpm without any effort or concentration required?

Mark Janeba, who doesn't ride w/o cleats.

Dear Mark,

Hmmm . . . at what rpm do the feet tend to fly off?

Is the idea something like floating valves, where the cam
slaps the valve up so rapidly against a feeble spring that
the valve floats instead of coming down and closing?

Carl Fogel, who may mash too slowly to notice