#21
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Selecting a Bike
On Jul 12, 2:36 am, Chalo wrote:
Katuzo wrote: How well do road bikes handle rain or grass, only talking about riding a hundred feet or so? "Road bikes" have been with us since the 19th century; "mountain bikes" since about 1980. A lot of us have been riding long enough to remember when off-road riding was a matter of location, not type of bicycle. Just about any bike fit for life on the road can tolerate being ridden over the occasional gravel road, empty lot, or grassy field. If you want to ride rock gardens, you may be happier with both fat tires and dual suspension. Are disc brakes worth the extra money? At the low end? No. For mostly road riding in mostly dry conditions? No. For nasty-weather riding at $1000 bike purchase prices, maybe. For being able to switch between different wheel sizes on the same bike (with handling implications), sure. For riding routinely in mud and snow, definitely. A bicycle rim constitutes a brake rotor of larger mass, larger surface area, larger radius, and better thermal conductivity and heat capacity than any disc brake rotor. Tradeoffs include their tendency to foul the bike with smut during wet weather riding and the necessity to keep rims running true. Chalo Thanks for reply, I was going to call around to see if someone had a Cypress DX this morning, now I look for a Cypress instead (the major difference between the two was that the DX had disc brakes). Katuzo |
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#22
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Selecting a Bike
Just for the record, I've looked and there are no places that let me
demo a bike that is within 50 miles of where I live. When I did look at the Sedona yesterday, one place had one that had a 14" frame, and it was the only one they had and told me it would fit, however, I tried out a 16" frame the day before, and I was able to touch both heels to the floor on it. Thats why I don't trust sales people. Why the Sedona, there are alot of Giant dealers in my area (16), they get high ratings, and there are within my price range (less than $500). Plus the girl at the store explained that a Sedona would be more versatile and more comfortable and be able to ride on trails, while the Cypress would not. Now I know that the Cypress tire is wide enough (38cm), to be comfortable, and the Cypress is capable of trail riding if I ever wish to take a trip to the park and watch the birds or go fishing. Hopefully, it will be able to handle that if there is still dew on the grass with not that big of an decrease in safely. Still have some issues I'd like to resolve however. What are the disadvantages of a woman's bike over a man's? My dad (who'se 86) rides a bike, and a few years ago, he lost his balance getting on the bike outside of a supermarket, and did major damage to the inside of his thighs. Now he rides a women's bike, and he likes that just fine. Thanks Katuzo |
#23
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Selecting a Bike
Avoid that 29" hype BS. You would be served well by a bike such as a
Trek 7100 which has a front suspension , shock seatpost and wider 700c tires. They cost about $360. Avoid x mart type bikes and the dual suspensions. MTB's usually have a hunched over position and your hands and neck will suffer. Your shop is right about a comfort type bike On Jul 11, 3:55*am, Chalo wrote: Katuzo wrote: Doctor told me to get a bike. Consumers Reports say Giant FCR3 is good for exercising ( I'm 57, 5'7", 170 pounds). When I went to the LBS, and told them I wanted a bike that was also comfortable, and could take some bumps (be easy on my butt + back), handle curbs, be fitted with baskets and perhaps even be ridden in a campground occasionally or a dirt path, they told me to go with something like a Giant Sedona or a Cannondale Comfort 5 instead. The difference between the Giant FCR3 and the Giant Sedona is that the latter bike has 26" wheels. *Such wheels can be fitted with fatter tires, and they are naturally stronger. When I talked to the people at work, they all seem to like low end mountain bikes like the Iron Horse Warrior 3, except for one buddy who got a $100 dual suspension bike whose bearing failed in a coupled of yrs. So right now, I basically confused with conflicting advice. It seems that big tires are the way to gain comfort but exercise bikes don't seem to have them, and if the bike isn't comfortable I know I won't ride it. Whether you'll be more comfortable on a so-called mountain bike or a comfort bike is a matter of personal preference and how far you intend to ride at one time. *Comfort bikes are great for short rides at low effort levels, but they impede the process of strong athletic riding. Stay away from department store bikes of any kind. *They are generally made in only one size, so you most likely won't be able to find one that fits you properly. *They are almost always incompetently assembled and made of the cheapest parts and materials available. Many worthy bike shops won't service them because they are more trouble than they are worth. I really would like a dual suspension, even if it's used + a little scratched. No you wouldn't. *It's not worth it unless you intend to ride on very harsh surfaces. *You'll waste a lot of muscle power bouncing the bike on its suspension, but you probably won't find the ride much more pleasant than a normal fat-tire bike on a normal road surface. *Dual suspension bikes require a lot more service over time than rigid frame bikes do, and they cost a lot more for any given level of quality. Simple is better. *For comfort, fat tires at low pressure are beneficial, but large diameter wheels are also helpful. *You can have both if you get a bike with 29" wheels (that's a 700c road-bike-sized rim with a 2"+ mountain bike sized tire on it). *The Redline D440 29er is a good and cost-effective option if you want multiple gears. *The Redline Monocog 29er is good if you are interested in a single speed bike. Make sure the bike fits you acceptably well. *You should see to it that the handlebars are no lower than the height of the saddle, and preferably a few inches higher, if comfort is of paramount importance. *Lower handlebars are for efficiency at high speeds at the expense of comfort. *And take care to get a saddle you can live with; most originally equipped saddles are terrible. Chalo |
#24
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Selecting a Bike
Chalo Colina wrote:
Tom Sherman wrote: Chalo Colina wrote: Katuzo wrote: ... I really would like a dual suspension, even if it's used + a little scratched. No you wouldn't. It's not worth it unless you intend to ride on very harsh surfaces. You'll waste a lot of muscle power bouncing the bike on its suspension, but you probably won't find the ride much more pleasant than a normal fat-tire bike on a normal road surface.... If you put a jack-shaft concentric with the suspension pivot and position the rider so the reciprocal motion of his/her legs while pedaling is orthogonal to the direction of the suspension motion, pedaling related suspension bob is eliminated. That would require that you ride a distorted bike in the manner of some kind of upended insect. It would be undignified, even if it were technically feasible. :^) Chalo is very astute. I have a trike that fits my above description, and indeed, it is named after an insect. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/19704682@N08/1940450454/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/19704682@N08/2661128680/. -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia "People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon. |
#25
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Selecting a Bike
Chalo Colina wrote:
Katuzo wrote: How well do road bikes handle rain or grass, only talking about riding a hundred feet or so? "Road bikes" have been with us since the 19th century; "mountain bikes" since about 1980. A lot of us have been riding long enough to remember when off-road riding was a matter of location, not type of bicycle. Just about any bike fit for life on the road can tolerate being ridden over the occasional gravel road, empty lot, or grassy field. If you want to ride rock gardens, you may be happier with both fat tires and dual suspension.... My experience on club rides is that every time we would take a gravel road, someone with skinny (23-mm or less in width) tires on a road bike would flat. However, a more reasonable width tire (e.g. 28-622) will work well on surfaces such as gravel roads, hiking trails and fire roads [1] (in dry conditions - the latter two should be avoided when wet to minimize rut creation). [1] I used to ride a road bike with 32-630 tires on such surfaces without problems. -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia "People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon. |
#26
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Selecting a Bike
Katuzo wrote:
Just for the record, I've looked and there are no places that let me demo a bike that is within 50 miles of where I live. I would not let you demolish a bicycle without buying it first, either. Oh, did you mean test ride? Decent shops allow test rides as long as it is dry outside. When I did look at the Sedona yesterday, one place had one that had a 14" frame, and it was the only one they had and told me it would fit, however, I tried out a 16" frame the day before, and I was able to touch both heels to the floor on it. Thats why I don't trust sales people. Some of the better shops will observe you riding the bicycle on a trainer, and will swap out stems and handlebars to get you a proper fit. Here is an example: http://www.yellowjersey.org/fit.html. Why the Sedona, there are alot of Giant dealers in my area (16), they get high ratings, and there are within my price range (less than $500). Plus the girl at the store explained that a Sedona would be more versatile and more comfortable and be able to ride on trails, while the Cypress would not. Now I know that the Cypress tire is wide enough (38cm), to be comfortable, and the Cypress is capable of trail riding if I ever wish to take a trip to the park and watch the birds or go fishing. Hopefully, it will be able to handle that if there is still dew on the grass with not that big of an decrease in safely. The Cypress should be able to handle anything short of technical single-track, mud and sand. Mud should generally be avoided (rut creation and making a mess of the bike) and it takes very wide tires at low pressure to ride in sand. Just go slowly on wet grass if the handling gets squirrelly. Falling at low speed on grass does not really hurt, either. Still have some issues I'd like to resolve however. What are the disadvantages of a woman's bike over a man's?... Greater weight and lower torsional frame rigidity. These are not significant in moderate riding. -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia "People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon. |
#27
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Selecting a Bike
Katuzo wrote:
"Some bumps" suggests you want to ride on roads. Mountain bikes are ill-suited to that. I can't imagine why you would want to jump curbs. Avoid them, don't ride over them. I figured curbs where just a part of life when you road on major streets with traffic. I just didn't want to stop the bike and get off at every curb to lift it up. This is only a problem if you ride on the sidewalk, which is both unsafe and usually illegal. Road bikes work fine for occasional dirt paths. You might also consider a hybrid, but again suspension has more negatives than positives. Would you mind stating some of the negatives. Less climbing ability. Weight. Complexity (and thus possibility of failure). because of the width of the tires, but you're saying that maybe the Cypress tires are wide enough for comfort. Must have some truth in that because today at the LBS, I saw a old guy, who was riding a Cypress come in for a seat change,and he said the ride was comfortable . Heck. I'm an old guy. If you ask me, 23mm tires are comfortable. -- David L. Johnson As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. -- Albert Einstein |
#28
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Selecting a Bike
On Jul 12, 12:37*am, Katuzo wrote:
I figured curbs where just a part of life when you road on major streets *with traffic. I just didn't want to stop the bike and get off at every curb to lift it up. I see a serious problem here! It sounds like you're planning on riding sidewalks. That's almost always more dangerous than riding the street. When you ride a sidewalk, you've got frequent potential for collisions with utility poles, signposts, street furniture and of course pedestrians. Those pedestrians may include people rushing out of building doors, jogging, walking two or three abreast, etc. You also get problems with paved surfaces that are rough or have sudden drop- offs. But worse, there's a big risk of being hit by cars while riding a sidewalk. Most common, I believe, is for motorists to turn into a driveway, or come out of a driveway. They won't be looking for anyone moving faster than 3 mph walking speed. The same happens at intersections. Learn to ride with confidence as a vehicle operator. See http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm or http://www.bicyclinglife.com/Practic...ng/VCIntro.htm - Frank Krygowski |
#29
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Selecting a Bike
On Jul 12, 1:33*am, Katuzo wrote:
[ Iwrote:] A couple years ago, I advised on exactly the same question for an acquaintance (who's now a very good friend of mine). *He's an electrical engineer, and he had done what he thought of as "considerable research" online, which was mostly visiting manufacturer websites and reading an article here or there. Like me, I'm also an electrical engineer. He was all set to get a bouncy comfort bike - suspension fork, suspension seatpost, soft saddle, high handlebars - until I told him some of the tradeoffs. *He and I went shopping together. Like me, except, I have no one to guide me, hence I'm here. Would you mind mentioning the tradeoffs again for me. No problem. We mechanical engineers are always happy to educate electricals! ;-) Suspension (even in a seatpost) adds weight, complexity, expense and maintenance. Sometimes the benefits are worth it, but those "sometimes" are almost always limited to very rough mountain biking. If you're riding over baseball-sized rocks, suspension will save you energy. If you're riding over anything like a decently paved surface (including crushed limestone rail-trails) the suspension wastes pedaling energy and money. Remember, your fundamental "suspension" is your set of pneumatic tires. You've shown no interest in super-high-pressure (150 psi) super-skinny (18mm) racing tires, so we don't have to talk you out of those. But within reason, wider tires will soak up ordinary bumps just fine. "Within reason" shouldn't include knobby tires, though. They buzz horribly on pavement and give tons more rolling resistance. I normally ride 28 mm tires, always perfectly smooth ones. When I've got a camping load on my touring bike, I go up to 32 mm or more. With those, I've ridden many miles of gravel roads and other rough roads successfully. 37s are even better for such work. (Remember, you should stand up slightly to take a big bump; then your legs provide added suspension, saving your butt.) Regarding handlebar height: It's a tradeoff affected by personal flexibility and riding style. The more your upper body tilts forward, the easier you slip through the wind, and the less weight you have on your butt. It also makes you a bit more agile on the bike, including things like pedaling while standing, for a quick acceleration or for a short climb. OTOH, you'll have more weight on your hands, and some people may get neck discomfort. If you're riding short distances at slow speed, you may not care about the advantages, and may prefer to be very upright. It's a choice. - Frank Krygowski |
#30
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Selecting a Bike
On Jul 12, 7:44*am, wrote:
Avoid that 29" hype BS. *You would be served well by a bike such as a Trek 7100 which has a front suspension , shock seatpost and wider 700c tires. *They cost about $360. *Avoid x mart type bikes and the dual suspensions. *MTB's usually have a hunched over position and your hands and neck will suffer. *Your shop is right about a comfort type bike The 7100 is more like $450, but it's a fine bike. I flipped a yard sale example I found for $50 on Craigslist last summer. It's got enough squidgy bits to make a person getting back to riding happy, but it's plenty fast compared to the misery of a mtb on pavement. |
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