Dem bicicletas, doe

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Apex
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troyguitar wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 7:08 pm I did a quick dust off on the Schwinn today and it's pretty terrible. After lots of fuckery I think I got the shifters working OK, but the brakes are horrible and neither wheel is straight plus the tires are garbage. :thisisfine:

I did ride it for 5 minutes, god damn is it awkward to be up so high. How do you guys stop and start when your feet can't even touch the ground?
Unclip and put your foot on the ground? You’re not sitting in the saddle when your feet are on the ground.
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Apex wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:12 pm
troyguitar wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 7:08 pm I did a quick dust off on the Schwinn today and it's pretty terrible. After lots of fuckery I think I got the shifters working OK, but the brakes are horrible and neither wheel is straight plus the tires are garbage. :thisisfine:

I did ride it for 5 minutes, god damn is it awkward to be up so high. How do you guys stop and start when your feet can't even touch the ground?
Unclip and put your foot on the ground? You’re not sitting in the saddle when your feet are on the ground.
Don’t even get him started on “clipless” pedals that you... clip in to?
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fledonfoot wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:38 pm
Apex wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:12 pm

Unclip and put your foot on the ground? You’re not sitting in the saddle when your feet are on the ground.
Don’t even get him started on “clipless” pedals that you... clip in to?
:lol: :mindblown:

And then you don’t unclip fast enough from the clipless pedals and fall over when you stop.
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Apex wrote:
troyguitar wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 7:08 pm I did a quick dust off on the Schwinn today and it's pretty terrible. After lots of fuckery I think I got the shifters working OK, but the brakes are horrible and neither wheel is straight plus the tires are garbage. :thisisfine:

I did ride it for 5 minutes, god damn is it awkward to be up so high. How do you guys stop and start when your feet can't even touch the ground?
Unclip and put your foot on the ground? You’re not sitting in the saddle when your feet are on the ground.
Don't you have to take your ass off the seat in order to put a foot down, shifting your whole body forward a foot vs instantly putting a foot down?
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fledonfoot wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:38 pm
Apex wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:12 pm

Unclip and put your foot on the ground? You’re not sitting in the saddle when your feet are on the ground.
Don’t even get him started on “clipless” pedals that you... clip in to?
Stupidest fucking name
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troyguitar wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:47 pm
Apex wrote:
Unclip and put your foot on the ground? You’re not sitting in the saddle when your feet are on the ground.
Don't you have to take your ass off the seat in order to put a foot down, shifting your whole body forward a foot vs instantly putting a foot down?
I lean a little bit right and with my foot fully extended I can touch and stay on the saddle.

Or track stand it. Until I fall over at least.
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And dropper seatposts.
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Johnny_P wrote:
troyguitar wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:47 pm Don't you have to take your ass off the seat in order to put a foot down, shifting your whole body forward a foot vs instantly putting a foot down?
I lean a little bit right and with my foot fully extended I can touch and stay on the saddle.

Or track stand it. Until I fall over at least.
Damn, I can't touch at all if I jack the seat up to the "correct" height where my knee is only slightly bent with the pedal all the way down. Do you just do the typical biker thing and never stop for stop signs or red lights?
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fledonfoot wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:54 pm And dropper seatposts.
These are :neat:
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troyguitar wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:55 pm
Johnny_P wrote:
I lean a little bit right and with my foot fully extended I can touch and stay on the saddle.

Or track stand it. Until I fall over at least.
Damn, I can't touch at all if I jack the seat up to the "correct" height where my knee is only slightly bent with the pedal all the way down. Do you just do the typical biker thing and never stop for stop signs or red lights?
Nope, just scooch forwards a bit and stand forward of the saddle
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fledonfoot wrote:
troyguitar wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:55 pm Damn, I can't touch at all if I jack the seat up to the "correct" height where my knee is only slightly bent with the pedal all the way down. Do you just do the typical biker thing and never stop for stop signs or red lights?
Nope, just scooch forwards a bit and stand forward of the saddle
That's a big scooch, all the way off the seat and not down too far because the frame is an inch from your :balls: - plus lifting your leg 90 degrees to get off and on. I feel super awkward doing any of that. I guess you just get used to it, like parallel parking a :truk:
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troyguitar wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2019 8:55 pm
Johnny_P wrote:
I lean a little bit right and with my foot fully extended I can touch and stay on the saddle.

Or track stand it. Until I fall over at least.
Damn, I can't touch at all if I jack the seat up to the "correct" height where my knee is only slightly bent with the pedal all the way down. Do you just do the typical biker thing and never stop for stop signs or red lights?
I slow way down but if clear yeah I roll thru. Sitting at a light or stop sign can get you run over here. Seen it happen.
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:derp:

I tried to adjust the spokes to get the bends out of the wheels and the second one busted as soon as I started to turn it. This bike might just go in the trash, it can't be worth putting money and time into.
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troyguitar wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:45 am :derp:

I tried to adjust the spokes to get the bends out of the wheels and the second one busted as soon as I started to turn it. This bike might just go in the trash, it can't be worth putting money and time into.
Hm, yeah this is the problem with an old neglected bike, the nickel and dime stuff adds up to quite a bit of money.
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Johnny_P wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:06 am
troyguitar wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:45 am :derp:

I tried to adjust the spokes to get the bends out of the wheels and the second one busted as soon as I started to turn it. This bike might just go in the trash, it can't be worth putting money and time into.
Hm, yeah this is the problem with an old neglected bike, the nickel and dime stuff adds up to quite a bit of money.
Yep, $75 in tires and tubes, who knows what if it ends up needing :ramz: vs spokes, the brake pads are toast, the chain could likely stand to be replaced along with all 4 shift/brake cables - maybe $200-300 total to make the bike decent especially if I end up having to pay a shop to do anything? It might be better to buy that new FX2 for $600 and call it a day. I assume it'll still be worth $300 next year if I either hate bikes or like them enough to buy a better one. Same overall cost, better bike, and zero hours wasted swearing at the thing. :math:
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troyguitar wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:22 am
Johnny_P wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:06 am

Hm, yeah this is the problem with an old neglected bike, the nickel and dime stuff adds up to quite a bit of money.
Yep, $75 in tires and tubes, who knows what if it ends up needing :ramz: vs spokes, the brake pads are toast, the chain could likely stand to be replaced along with all 4 shift/brake cables - maybe $200-300 total to make the bike decent especially if I end up having to pay a shop to do anything? It might be better to buy that new FX2 for $600 and call it a day. I assume it'll still be worth $300 next year if I either hate bikes or like them enough to buy a better one. Same overall cost, better bike, and zero hours wasted swearing at the thing. :math:
Assumptions are about right. Could cost more at a shop especially if you need new wheels.
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Is there any reason not to order a :scrooge: internet bike since I'm not a :derp: and can wrench on shit? This seems pretty damn simple and half the price of a name brand:

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/gra ... -bikes.htm
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Got the vintage POS kinda sorta rideable just as it was turning dark and buggy out tonight. Continentals on the Continental. The wheels still aren't particularly true and the brakes squeak like crazy, but it does hold air, turn, stop, and shift without throwing the chain every 10 seconds. :fullretard:


Image


According to the serial number, this 38 lb beast was made in Chicago in November of 1974. :wap:
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That should be fine for paths I think
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The bike itself is kind of :neat: but at the same time it's terrible, like driving an unrestored 1974 Camaro. I'm going to keep making adjustments to get it a little better but doubt I'll throw more money at it vs buying something from the 21st century instead. At least the tires were only $44 shipped.

That Gravity Zilla thing with the 1x11 gears and mechanical disc brakes for $799 seems super cool and simple.
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I've got a buddy that bought a bike from bikesdirect to just ride to and from the bars around town. It's a legit nice bike for the price. For your purposes, it's not the worst idea...biggest risk is buying a bike that doesn't fit you well because you can't test it first.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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[user not found] wrote:The Bikesdirect bikes are perfectly fine - they can be quite good if you get one with decent components.
:notbad:

I quite like the idea of a rigid but beefy thing. :dedong:

I just did the first little ride on the Schwinn to lunch and back, the brakes kinda sorta smoothed out and quieted down by the end. ~10 miles on residential streets, sidewalks of the 35+ mph roads, and the one little bike path in town.

My primary observation is that this thing is rough on anything other than the perfectly smooth bike path. What kind of tire pressures should I be running? The sidewalls say 80 max so I put it at like 65, assuming my gayge is anywhere near accurate.

Second observation is that I'm in terrible shape. I barely made it home since it's all uphill for the last mile. Might need a shorter first gear if I get a real bike. This one is around 1.4 IIRC, 39/28.

Third is that roads are scary. How do you handle doing at best 1/3 the speed of traffic with no shoulders, passing lanes, or mirrors? I pretty much only went on the sidewalks and least busy sidestreets parallel to the regular roads.

The path was nice, the road was stressful. :pussy:
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troyguitar wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 3:47 pm
[user not found] wrote:The Bikesdirect bikes are perfectly fine - they can be quite good if you get one with decent components.
:notbad:

I quite like the idea of a rigid but beefy thing.

I just did the first little ride on the Schwinn to lunch and back, the brakes kinda sorta smoothed out and quieted down by the end. ~10 miles on residential streets, sidewalks of the 35+ mph roads, and the one little bike path in town.

My primary observation is that this thing is rough on anything other than the perfectly smooth bike path. What kind of tire pressures should I be running? The sidewalls say 80 max so I put it at like 65, assuming my gayge is anywhere near accurate.

Second observation is that I'm in terrible shape. I barely made it home since it's all uphill for the last mile. Might need a shorter first gear if I get a real bike. This one is around 1.4 IIRC, 39/28.

Third is that roads are scary. How do you handle doing at best 1/3 the speed of traffic with no shoulders, passing lanes, or mirrors? I pretty much only went on the sidewalks and least busy sidestreets parallel to the regular roads.

The path was nice, the road was stressful. :pussy:
What size tires? 65 should be fine if the max is 80.

Gearing depends on what you're riding and how strong you are. My road bike has a 34x26 low, my cross bike has a 36x36 low, my mountain bike has a 30x46 low. 39x28 is old school strong man gearing and will be a bear on a longer or steeper climb for sure.

Roads are in fact scary. Its why people advocate for bike lanes and such. If a road doesn't have a shoulder or a bike lane and is even somewhat busy I get antsy. A lot of the suburbs are like this because those roads were old farm roads and aren't very wide. A blinking rear light can help, cars tend to give you more room that way. Otherwise I'll ride in such a way that forces a car to have to use the opposite lane to pass me, so they don't try and do something stupid and stay in the lane and nearly kill me. Usually staying in the right half of the lane or on the right tire track is sufficient. In South Philly I take the full lane and ride down the middle, I'll pull over and let faster cars pass if needed.
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These are 27x1 1/4 or 32-630 IIRC, basic Conti city tires with some tread.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01L0WE6 ... asin_title

I just grabbed the cheapest tires I saw in that size.
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try 55 front 65 rear
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