Messages

1

Urban Cycling / commuting by bike

« on: June 06, 2007, 09:54:11 am »

i agree with boone! ipods are evil (so are tv's). they will turn you into a lemming. and along with the jesus people, the one's who amuse me are the prius (or any other hybrid) drivers who get mad at bikes. hardeeharhar!!!!

but boone's right. what kinda life do those folks gave anyway. i can't imagine what it'd be like to take a car everywhere ya go.

i don't wanna sound like an asshole though.

happy everything to everybody!!!

2

Urban Cycling / commuting by bike

« on: March 30, 2007, 09:59:33 am »

for cold hands--MITTENS. i have some from a place called ragged mountain made in new hampshire. real thick fleece with windproof heavy-duty shell. i have the coldest hands on the planet and these keep me warm here in the northeast. i've ridden when it's 2 below and my hands were ok.

real heavy wool or fleece mitts are the way to go. look for dachstein wool if they still make 'em.

3

Urban Cycling / commuting by bike

« on: March 14, 2007, 09:14:50 am »

good point, but man o man!! i'd have to take the LONG way if my commute was only a mile or two!!! my 22 mile r/t isn't long enough most days. i generally do a lot of joyriding as well.

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Urban Cycling / commuting by bike

« on: March 08, 2007, 09:49:28 am »

you sir, are hardcore!! my lowest temp commute this winter was 2 degrees.

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Urban Cycling / commuting by bike

« on: January 05, 2007, 10:10:17 am »

who commutes by bike to work? how many days a week?

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Urban Cycling / what bike do you use for pure urban ridin'?

« on: May 18, 2007, 10:01:49 am »

hey boonebikeguy! yer nutz duder! nice whip!! i'm from greensboro. have a few buds who went to app state.

7

Urban Cycling / what bike do you use for pure urban ridin'?

« on: January 13, 2007, 09:45:40 am »

i'm adding to my collection of bikes a surly karate monkey built with a rolhoff speedhub. should start the build next week sometime as my lbs had to order the frame. (i needed a small one). should be real nice for haulin' groceries and all since i plan to equip it with racks and all.

8

Urban Cycling / what bike do you use for pure urban ridin'?

« on: January 03, 2007, 02:16:38 pm »

i commute and do errands daily on my fendered iro jamie roy fixed gear. avg. around 30 miles a day--22 mile roundtrip commute and a few miles of errands.

9

Urban Cycling / top bicycle-friendly cities and towns

« on: February 19, 2007, 10:14:03 pm »

thing is--everywhere's good to cycle really when ya consider the alternative. assumin' you're not one of those who live way out in edge city and feel you have to drive to work in town.

boston's often cited by different bike rags as a bad place to be a cyclist, but we got a seriously vibrant bike community here. lot's o' bike shops, custom builders, activists, etc.

anywhere's good if you cycle it.

word.

10

Gear Talk / Best touring bike under $1,000

« on: March 05, 2007, 09:07:08 am »

i say surly.

11

Gear Talk / Building an expedition touring bike

« on: February 21, 2007, 10:06:40 am »

hey smiley!
take a look at surly frames--the long haul trucker (more of a road tourer) or the karate monkey (a 29er mtb frame). surly makes real nice steel frames with all the braze-ons. and real high quality and durability for around 450 dollars or so. i don't know if you can get them easily in ireland or england, but it'd be worth checking. like the previous poster pointed out, it's gonna be hard to get a proper tourer for under, i'd say, 1500 dollars. but if you spent that, i think you could build yourself a pretty nice bike.

i also heard that thorn bikes is selling off one of their derailleur models as they are going to all rohloff hubs. if so, thorns are (as you probably know!), REAL nice frames. check them too as they're english.

good luck.

12

Gear Talk / ibex shak or wm flash vest?

« on: February 19, 2007, 07:10:43 pm »

i'd stay away from down for bike ridin'. you'll get way way too hot. stay with wool. you'll be way better off. and you don't have to worry about wool gettin' wet. down is useless when wet as you probably know.

i have some ibex stuff. it's good.

13

Gear Talk / a monkey on the great divide route

« on: February 16, 2007, 10:57:08 am »

hey northstar! i'd go for the sprung saddle. i have a brooks conquest that is breaking in nicely and really smooths out the bumps.

14

Gear Talk / a monkey on the great divide route

« on: February 14, 2007, 11:19:25 am »

i have a karate monkey i just set up with a rohloff hub i plan to take to southeat asia in november. with big tires i feel that you don't really need a suspension fork. i'm old school as i've never rockes one. the tires and a sprung saddle seem to me to provide good shock absorbency.

15

Gear Talk / trekking handlebars

« on: February 15, 2007, 11:36:24 am »

i have the nitto mustache bars on one of my bikes--a fixed gear i ride around town in good weather(as it's my pimped out "sunday" bike). i put them on for looks and really like them. but i notice that for anything over say 40 miles at a stretch they tend to make my hands a little numb. and mounting a handlebar bag is difficult (at least my carradice bag).

that being said, i have nitto ergo drop bars on my long distance bike (a ti IF club racer). very comfortable as the frame was made to measure for me and the fit was dialed in by a serotta trained fitter here in boston. this bike disappears under me. and the bag fits perfectly (i have a campy cockpit--the shimano looks to me to be a little problematic in that the cables would seem to get in the way).

on a 29 inch mtb i recently had built up for a trip to southeast asia i have nitto albatross bars. very comfortable. i haven't yet put a handlebar bag on, but it looks like i can rig something. i played around with stem lengths and just about have it the way i want it. more of an upright ride.

the "trekking" bars i don't like the looks of (there's just too much out there) and that's kind of important to me.

for me the traditional drop bar or "raleigh" type bars work best for long days in the saddle.