Who here are avid cyclists?

[ECOSSE]

I get excited at this time of year as the Tour de France is upon us, to me it represents that summer is in full bloom. If I could I'd stay home everyday to watch all the stages of the Tour in the morning. And this got me thinking of how many avid cyclists there are here.

Here is my road bike, a basic Giant TCR C3. Nothing fancy but gets me around Cuyahoga Valley National Park roads here in Ohio, good short steep hills that give you nice interval training.

[ouch]

That's a nice bike. What kind of gears do you run?

[Slant-Fan]

I used to do a lot of road biking and still have a '73 Raleigh Pro and an '83 Gios Torino Aero but they don't get much use. I do mostly off road trails and my Willits 29er and Moots YBB get most of the action.

[kongjie]

My bike is crap but I commute to work on it, every day, about 5 miles one way.

[Bill Smith]

I am on a 14 year old Asama Seismic mountain bike and I live on it in the Summer for both short journeys around town and for extended rides.

[comfortablynumb]

I've owned a 1993 Trek 830 full rigid Mountain Bike since new, I took last couple years off acquired everything I needed to rebuild it. Finally got of my butt couple months ago and rebuilt it: XT Rear Derailleur, XTR Front Derailleur, LX Canti's with Koolstop Salmon Pads, Mavic X517 Rims (LX Hubs, Wheelsmith spokes 32 hole) SRAM PG-850 (11-30) Cassette, SRAM Chain, Kore 3° Straight (Easton aluminum) bar.. Fizik Nisene saddle not in pic

Running pretty good, put 70 miles on it last couple months, the new rear hub needs a rebuild, either Shimano or the wheel builder not sure which over tightened the hub upon assembly . I also plan to replace the crank eventually.

I'm thinking some time down the road looking into a roadie, as most my riding now is paved..

[Vanguard Felix]

I've been very interested in picking up cycling as my main mode of transportation, unfortunately my city has a terrible track record of killed cyclists (Toledo).

I'm planning on getting a job in a major city post college so I think that's when I'm going to make the transition. My interest in cycling is primarily motivated by being green. Past that, well...it's fun to ride that's for sure. And there's always the Queen angle as well.

[_JP_]

Here is my road bike, a basic Giant TCR C3. Nothing fancy but gets me around Cuyahoga Valley National Park roads here in Ohio, good short steep hills that give you nice interval training.

I was up at the Stanford House Hostel in Cuyahoga a few weeks ago! Next time I go I'm going to take my bike, it's an awesome place to hit the trails.

[slcsteve]

Cyclist - yes. Avid - not so much anymore. What i have remaining of all the bikes that I once owned is a 15-16 year old Merlin and an original Mountain Klein. Back in the day I did the Hotter-n-Hell twice but now I don't want to leave the air conditioning.

[dwestenk]

I get excited at this time of year as the Tour de France is upon us...

So do I, but nowhere near as much as some previous years...


I've had numerous road bikes through the years. I'm currently riding an Airborne Zeppelin that is now more than a few years old. Actually, most of my rides these days are with my wife on our Cannondale road tandem.

[ECOSSE]

That's a nice bike. What kind of gears do you run?

Off top my head not sure, I think its a 52/34 up front. My pride wont let me ride a 3 ring crank but I'll take as much help as I can get.

[ECOSSE]

I used to do a lot of road biking and still have a '73 Raleigh Pro and an '83 Gios Torino Aero but they don't get much use. I do mostly off road trails and my Willits 29er and Moots YBB get most of the action.

How do you like your 29er. I sold off my mtb along with my king hubs and such as I knew I needed to upgrade. But still undecided if I want to go 29er, I know its a 'you need to ride it yourself' kinda thing but whats your honest opinion of the 29er setup?

[blary54]

Im just getting into road biking after my dad bought a new Trek Madone. He gave his old Trek aluminum road bike to me. Its pretty old and a little too big for me but it gets the job done. I love how much faster you can go on a road bike. I live in a area that is very very popular for road bikers. Lance Armstrong once stated that its one of his favorite places to train. (the driftless area of Wisconsin)

You can spent alot of money on biking stuff very quick.

[_JP_]

I live in a area that is very very popular for road bikers. Lance Armstrong once stated that its one of his favorite places to train. (the driftless area of Wisconsin)

Madison Wisconsin, I was there at the University on business last year in the Spring. Beautiful area, and I certainly wish I could have taken my bike.

Madison is also probably the place in the U.S. with the highest per capita number of motor scooters that I have ever seen! The neighborhoods around the University are full of them!

[citizensoldierny]

Define avid If avid means letting a Cannondale F300 collect dust in your garage for a decade or so while telling yourself you should do something is avid, then I'm definitely avid

[Slant-Fan]

How do you like your 29er. I sold off my mtb along with my king hubs and such as I knew I needed to upgrade. But still undecided if I want to go 29er, I know its a 'you need to ride it yourself' kinda thing but whats your honest opinion of the 29er setup?

To be honest with you I like both sizes. I get quicker acceleration and handling with the 26er but once I get going more momentum with the 29er. I had thought I would sell one or the other once I decided which I liked the best but I couldn't make my mind up so I keep both. Sometimes I ride one more then the other but in the end it is about even.

[Dave12345]

I have a fold up bike called a Brompton,its seven years old,folds up and stays in the boot of my car then onto the train and then into the city. I can assemble it in 12 seconds (how sad is that). Its a quality build,used every day for 7 years,washed at weekends with washing up liquid and sprayed with oil. The only thing to have gone wrong is a split brake cable. They are manufactured by a small family bussiness in London and their customer focus and quality is great. There is a web site and people all over the world have got Bromptons, including a monk in Nepal ! The bike has a strange shape but you will see at least 20 every day whilst walking around London.

The problem with London is that it is VERY dangerous to use a bike on the road,the cars are outragous, and the ride to work requires 100% concentration.

I dont know if its the same in the USA,but in the UK a foreigner can drive here for 364 days a year on their own driving licence,therefore a guy from Afghanistan who has passed the easiest driving test in the world,can then come and drive a car in the city. Its total madness,you have to see it to believe it. Unfortunately our government is so weak they are an absolute disgrace, I am regularly left feeling embarassed by the level of weakness that they show.

I'll go now as I feel a massive rant coming on and you guys dont need my stress

All the best.

[joe mcclaine]

I would love to get into cycling - but I don't think I could afford all the steroids.

[Bubarubu]

After letting my bike fall into disrepair, I got everything tuned up last year and have put about 300 miles on it since. 8-12 mile workouts a couple times a week, and around town for short trips last spring/summer. This year, I've been doing interval training on a stationary bike, but I am still riding to the park-and-ride bus to get up to campus every day, to the grocery store, and a couple of workout rides when I need to see the grass and work up a sweat.

[Bowcephalus]

Giant off road for me....I ride the field roads and such.....A few years back I came across a watermelon patch hidden out in the middle of several hundred acres of soybeans. Went to the house and dug out the Alice pack. The wife just shook her head when I came up the drive with that big melon strapped to my back soaked with sweat. "I could have picked you up one of those for $2.99 yesterday."......She missed the whole point.
I pedaled a bit up and down old 61 last year. That's a good,lonely ride early in the morning but I was a bit concerned about breathing all of the pesticide....