Picking a road bike, and general questions.

hippy wrote:

"Tamyka Bell" wrote
of your palm closing is not parallel to the wrist joint. It'd be nice to
have bars that come back towards you a bit, in fact maybe omega
(lowercase) bars would be good. Because when I'm on the hoods, I have to
externally rotate a bit more than I would like to, if they curved back
in towards the centre a bit that'd be really nice... has anyone seen any
weird bars like that?

http://www.jonesbikes.com/hbar/default.asp
??

What about a TT bar setup with 1.2
million hand positions?

hippy

The hbar (maybe a physics geek?) looks okay except that I like hoods and
was thinking it might be nice to just bend 'em in a bit... the angle on
the hbars wouldn't allow you to keep your elbows bent, etc. Now as for a
TT bar... aren't they only for use in the circus? I reckon you could get
a lot of acrobats on a bike with those.

T

bubelrocks wrote:

Tamyka Bell Wrote:
suzyj wrote:

It'd be nice to have bars that come back towards you a bit

Nitto Noodle bars, perhaps (I'm getting a Mongoose Randonneur soon &
I'm intending to put these on).

http://tinyurl.com/6q82g

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/handlebars.asp



--
bubelrocks

I like those. they're cute

"Tamyka Bell" wrote
The hbar (maybe a physics geek?) looks okay except that I like hoods and
was thinking it might be nice to just bend 'em in a bit... the angle on
the hbars wouldn't allow you to keep your elbows bent, etc. Now as for a
TT bar... aren't they only for use in the circus? I reckon you could get
a lot of acrobats on a bike with those.

You're a circus girl.. guinness ad Brilliant! /guinness ad

Gratuitous Carbon Product (GCP):
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/v2_product_d...dID=5360012900

hippy

"Stuart" == Stuart Lamble writes:

Stuart A large bicycle store in Nunawading suggests the Giant OCR 2
Stuart as being a reasonable compromise between price and
Stuart performance. I was kinda hoping to get away with a bike for
Stuart a smidge under $1,000 (depending on budget, which is,
Stuart admittedly, still up in the air a bit, as I have higher
Stuart priorities... like repairing a few things around the place.)
Stuart Would anybody have suggestions on bikes that aren't super
Stuart expensive, but are reasonably comfortable to ride?
Stuart (Accessories -- like clipless pedals, lights, etc., I can
Stuart justify as extra costs over and above the bike itself; in
Stuart any case, if I do end up having the budget for something a
Stuart bit better, so be it.)

I picked up a Trek 1200 over a year ago as a commuting bike, one of the
things that swayed me is that it has mounting points for a rear rack.

Whack on a Topeak rack and a set of Ortleib panniers, swap out the tires
for set of Gatorskins or some other Kevlar variant and it's made a
pretty decent commuting bike.

I did have some problems with the rear wheel busting spokes which went
away when I had it rebuilt; haven't had a problem since. General
consensus is that I was unfortunate to get a lemon wheel and a rebuild
is generally unnecessary.

Can't fault the Trek comfort wise though that's largely thanks to the
excellent service from Cecil Walker who fitted the bike to me. Haven't
had to adjust a thing.

I'm one of those unfortunates who has to lug a laptop around; a Dell
Latitude which is basically a brick. I carry it in the provided bag
which I then squeeze in to one Ortleib pannier. It's tight but it
works.

The other pannier has my change of clothes, wash kit and food. Lots of
food :-) In a few weeks I'll be based at one location so I'll be able
to leave pretty much everything at work; I can't wait!

If there's anything I'd change it'd be the wheels; 23mm is a bit on the
skinny side when it's ****ing down with rain.
--
Cheers
Euan

Tamyka Bell wrote:
suzyj wrote:

snip

Most road bikes use Maes pattern handlebars. These have flat tops,
then a right angle bend to the hoods, then a further bend around to the
drops. Most newer ones use the "anatomical" shape, which simply has a
flat bit behind the brake lever, to make it harder to reach the brake
lever from the drops.

snip

I was thinking the other day (rare occurrence) about my handlebars and
how being a small-handed woman can be hell for trying to reach the
brakes, and then it struck me how the 90 degree angle thing doesn't
really sit anatomically. I like to cruise with my hands towards the
centre of the bars, but to get a good grip, this turns the elbows
outwards and I have to consciously pull them back in. You know, the line
of your palm closing is not parallel to the wrist joint. It'd be nice to
have bars that come back towards you a bit, in fact maybe omega
(lowercase) bars would be good. Because when I'm on the hoods, I have to
externally rotate a bit more than I would like to, if they curved back
in towards the centre a bit that'd be really nice... has anyone seen any
weird bars like that?

T


I've got ITM Kero 3 bars. The tops bend back towards you like that and
the bottom of the drops is also angled outward a bit for the same reason.

Here's a couple of pics.
http://www.users.on.net/~angrydwarf/853/kero1.JPG
http://www.users.on.net/~angrydwarf/853/kero2.JPG

Not sure how available they are. I got them on ebay by chance.

I've done about 2000kms on mine and I really like them - really
comfy on longer rides.

--
Nick

"NickZX6R" wrote in message
...
http://www.users.on.net/~angrydwarf/853/kero1.JPG

Which reminds me.. what are the details of that
computer you were talking about? I was busy
trying to clear the lactic acid from my brain when
you were talking about it.. brand? model? price?

hippy wants a power meter for more numbers!

hippy wrote:
"NickZX6R" wrote in message
...

http://www.users.on.net/~angrydwarf/853/kero1.JPG


Which reminds me.. what are the details of that
computer you were talking about? I was busy
trying to clear the lactic acid from my brain when
you were talking about it.. brand? model? price?

hippy wants a power meter for more numbers!



Well it's probably useless to you as a power meter because
weight is the only thing you can specify. All the rest is based
on the assumptions that it's a flat ride with no wind.

Also, it's recorded in 20watt increments, which doesn't help.

Aside from that, it's good. I need to get the cadence option for it
though. It also records info about air temperatures, altitude,
gradients, rate of ascent/descent and all the other usual bike stuff.

It's a Ciclosport CM434 Wireless. Haven't seen them for sale here
but Cecil Walker is a Ciclosport dealer. Maybe they have them.
Ciclosport make quite a range of full on computers, HRMs and altimeters.

Check out:
http://www.ciclosport.de/

I haven't found any retailers that stock them but judging from OS prices
they're around AUD150.

--
Nick

"Tamyka Bell" wrote in message
...
suzyj wrote:

snip
Most road bikes use Maes pattern handlebars. These have flat tops,
then a right angle bend to the hoods, then a further bend around to the
drops. Most newer ones use the "anatomical" shape, which simply has a
flat bit behind the brake lever, to make it harder to reach the brake
lever from the drops.
snip

I was thinking the other day (rare occurrence) about my handlebars and
how being a small-handed woman can be hell for trying to reach the
brakes, and then it struck me how the 90 degree angle thing doesn't
really sit anatomically. I like to cruise with my hands towards the
centre of the bars, but to get a good grip, this turns the elbows
outwards and I have to consciously pull them back in. You know, the line
of your palm closing is not parallel to the wrist joint. It'd be nice to
have bars that come back towards you a bit, in fact maybe omega
(lowercase) bars would be good. Because when I'm on the hoods, I have to
externally rotate a bit more than I would like to, if they curved back
in towards the centre a bit that'd be really nice... has anyone seen any
weird bars like that?

T

No, but I know what you mean about the elbows out thing. When climbing with
my hands on the flats I tend to hang on with my thumbs over the bar (ie, not
wrapped around under) next to my forefingers. Maybe I have weird hands, but
I find this keeps my elbows in... Dunno why I like the elbows in, I just
do - find it more comfortable, I suppose. I figure this makes me more
unstable, but I really only use the flats for climbing - steady, not too
steep climbs - so stability really ain't a hassle.

T

TimC Wrote:
On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 at 09:20 GMT, Andrew Reddaway (aka Bruce)


Good point. Being a sysadmin, Stuart, are you going to want to take
your laptop to and from work? Are you going to want to put panniers
on? Panniers add much to the weight of your bike, but by the time you
put laptop and stuff in, this no longer matters. Then all of a sudden,
the weight of the bike no longer matters either.

boy, you need an iBook then or a 12" PowerBook:-

--
ProfTournesol

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 at 09:45 GMT, ProfTournesol (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

TimC Wrote:
On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 at 09:20 GMT, Andrew Reddaway (aka Bruce)


Good point. Being a sysadmin, Stuart, are you going to want to take
your laptop to and from work? Are you going to want to put panniers
on? Panniers add much to the weight of your bike, but by the time you
put laptop and stuff in, this no longer matters. Then all of a sudden,
the weight of the bike no longer matters either.

boy, you need an iBook then or a 12" PowerBook:-)

Some people around work need to develope a secret handshake or
something. Their apple fandom is getting grotesque.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
All science is either physics or stamp collecting.
-- Ernest Rutherford