I want to ride a bicycle... - by Yakoob
Yakoob on 2/1/2012 at 22:50
Quote Posted by Sombras
Some of the most amazing--and budget--bikes I've seen came from local underground/garage builders who cobble together great components (LEGALLY!) from various sources to build excellent custom bikes. They don't always look as pretty as the tarts at the stores, but they're solid and reliable as hell and will do exactly what you need them to do, when you need them to do it. Ask around!
Yea i'd be down for that, problem is I dont know nearly enough about bikes and bike parts to really know what I am getting, so I might get something awesome, or an overpriced piece of junk. I dont have the experience to know and, honestly, I dont have the willpower to spend a month reading and going to fourty different stores checking their bikes out to see how each tiny component feels...
Nuth on 3/1/2012 at 00:10
Quote Posted by Yakoob
Yea i'd be down for that, problem is I dont know nearly enough about bikes and bike parts to really know what I am getting, so I might get something awesome, or an overpriced piece of junk. I dont have the experience to know and, honestly, I dont have the willpower to spend a month reading and going to fourty different stores checking their bikes out to see how each tiny component feels...
Get this then: (
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/cafe_latte_x.htm)
Fafhrd on 3/1/2012 at 00:39
Honestly Yakoob, for your purposes I think you'd be better off getting a cheapie from Sports Chalet or something. The decision to jump right into getting a 'biker's bike' is only going to result in you paying too much for something with dodgy components.
I'm sure jay and Sombras are utterly aghast at this suggestion, but I bought a mountain bike back in '06 for around $175 iirc, a Marin something (can't remember the exact model, don't feel like digging up the manual), and it's never been less than a solid ride for me. Mountain rode ten miles every day for about six months, did the 20 mile round trip to work every other day for a couple of months, and I just now took it out for a test run on the route from my apartment to my office here in Phoenix and everything still works fine. I should probably replace the chain because I left it out on my balcony for a few weeks, but it's not jamming up, so I don't feel a pressing need. The only maintenance it's needed is having the wheels re-trued (which I'd do myself if I had all the necessary tools), and re-aligning the brakes once or twice (which I have done myself) because some of the spills I've had knocked them off slightly.
This is the bike i was on when I broke my shoulder July before last and it came out of that accident without any problems.
Yakoob on 3/1/2012 at 06:02
I'm kinda steering away from the super-cheap bikes due to really bad experiences. I had a 100 buck mountain a while bike that after two months of biking the pedal mechanism inside the frame literally shattered. I also had a $200 schwinn hybrid from target and while I loved it to bits (and what set me on getting a hybrid again), both tires blew and needed replacement after less than a month, and the rod that holds the gear's... gears (?) also got fucked up and the gears would just slide back and forth slightly making the chain constantly fall inbetween them. And that was withing 3 months of purchase. I don't want a repeat of that; but I also dont care for something that will live unscratched for ten years.
Sombras on 3/1/2012 at 18:33
Quote Posted by Muzman
Damn, the price on those things! Probably worth it though. The ones with the central flex groove that is, as they put it, "a sure preventive to all perineal pressure" is certainly whistling my tune.
The best I've personally encountered is big squishy, girly cruiser seats. I've tried to think through a few designs myself, like what would be basically a cruiser seat with no nose/prow (or 'person splitting chisel' as I like to think of it), maybe some sort of tilting seat, or even a padded T-bar would have been preferable to many I've had. There's certain mechanical and biomechanical problems to all of these though. Even with no actual prototyping that's fairly plain. It's a matter of how much 'rump assistance' you want in your pedaling (usually a lot). If its such a problem you might as well give up and get a recliner (I think you have to reach middle age and grow a beard before they'll let you have one. They're the only guys I ever see riding them anyway).
Maybe just a good seat made of the right stuff fixes all that.
I KNOW! It was a little bit of a gut check for me to buy the Brooks saddle, even though I picked it up for a fairly decent price on eBay. Doesn't it make sense that a larger, cushier seat will be softer on your ass and less painful? And doesn't it make just as much sense that a saddle made out of a thin layer of hardened leather would be horribly uncomfortable??? I just couldn't see how a seat with such a narrow "taint chisel" (thanks!) could help relieve discomfort, but it did. All the testimonials talk about how the surface molds to your "sit bones" after a few rides. Well, mine wore in almost immediately and I had no soreness after my first nine-mile commute. Your mileage may vary, but it was the closest thing to a miracle purchase I've ever had in any of my obsessions/hobbies.
What I have figured out, at least in my experience, is that if you do any kind of riding above the exertion level of just cruising around, you really need more thigh/butt mobility, and the cushy bench seats that come on the city cruisers just don't give you that and may actually contribute to more discomfort because they are so wide and "flat" across the front. Leaning forward puts you more on your sit bones and, I think, requires that you be able to drop your thighs closer to vertical than the bench seats allow. [/geekoff]
