Whatcha riding, bicycle-wise?

[mandoman]

I cruse venice beach on this baby cant incert the image for some reason sorry

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[AverageJoe]

Looks good!

[AverageJoe]

My new daily rider:



It's an old Schwinn traveler that has been converted to a single speed & customized. Up close you can see several cosmetic flaws including a not-so-pro paint job. But I kinda like that about it cause it puts it in that "beater" niche.

I see these were made from '75-'91. Can anybody narrow down the age range of this for me?

Looks good!

[Legion]

Sadly, I wasn't that lucky :S

Actually, I wish it HAD come with horizontal dropouts, which is how 'production' single-speeds and fixies are able to easily adjust the chain tension. My closest chain length was just a little too slack, even with a '1/2-link' replacing a full link. When I took it out it was too tight!!! I considered a chain tensioner (readily available specifically for this purpose), but that was contrary to my original goal of having the most bare-bones-looking bike possible. It basically looked like another derailler in the back and made extra noise, which I was also looking to eliminate!

What I settled on was lengthening the drop-out slots towards the front a little bit using a Dremel and a round file. BINGO!! This gave me the small amount of adjustment I needed without having to use a tensioner. It's a short enough slot that it's still covered by the clamp, which is nice. The drop-out/QR mechanism can be adjusted to clamp as securely as you want and I've never had a problem with it----it's solid. It came from the factory with QR front and rear-------those are stock/original Shimano parts.

Ah, right. Another option, although more expensive, would be to get an eccentric rear hub. My bike has an eccentric bottom bracket, so that is easy enough.

[Timo]

I am riding a Santa Cruz Blur mountain bike with all hand selected top end parts....Chris King Hubs hand built on Stan's hubs, fox 6 inch front shock, fox rear shock, SRAM XO and Shimano XTR components.

[p.m.a.]

Ack I need a new bike. Bought my first one a couple of years ago (Trek 7000 commuter bike) and I've grown to hate it. The frame is so big and heavy it's not worth it to me to try and upgrade its parts. I just learned of a local bike shop that deals with used bikes and rebuilds - looks like a cool place owned by a dedicated bike mechanic. Sorry for the long cut & paste, but it's a pretty good read - I'd rather give this guy my business than to go through one of our "upscale" bike shops:

The Bike Club is not your typical bicycle shop. Entering the Bike Club for the first time can be a bit intimidating. It feels more like a cluttered warehouse than a spacious store filled with wide rows of shiny new bikes, clothes and gear.
Although its front door is on Washington Street (Lee Highway) in the city of Falls Church, VA, veteran customers are more likely to enter through the side door, marked "Service", just a few steps from the shop's rear parking lot. Inside, dozens of bicycles, seemingly hundreds of tires, and uncounted wheels hang from the ceiling of the long, narrow building. Other bicycles are tightly wedged against each other running down half the length of the store. A narrow aisle separates the bikes from a rarely used counter.
Roughly in the center of the shop is a repair stand. This is the heart of the enterprise and it's where you're most likely to find Phuoc Van Pham, the owner. That is when the weather is cold. Other days, Pham can be found just outside the service door -- down from the collection of used bikes and bike frames lining the outside wall -- working on an outdoor repair stand. He's usually at one stand or the other, seven days a week. With the warm weather, the Bike Club stays open until 8 p.m. Other times it closes at 6.
It's been a long, mostly uphill road for Pham. A native of Viet Nam, he was too young for the military during the war there, but shortly after the United States pulled out of Viet Nam, so did Pham. For the latter part of the 1970s, he bounced around Southeast Asia, living in Laos, Korea, Thailand, and Japan. During that period, a Vietnamese family living in Thailand "adopted" Pham and he considers them his family.
His main occupation was as a kick boxer. Pham told SPOKES he was a state champion in his age bracket in Thailand. In 1978, a church group agreed to sponsor him to come to the United States and he was brought to St. Cloud, Minn. He worked in a motorcycle repair shop there for a few years before being laid off. So he headed east, arriving in Herndon, VA, to stay with his adopted sister. Her brother was working at NOVA Cycles in Herndon, so Pham began hanging around the warehouse, learning how bikes were put together.
"I didn't know anything about bicycles. I just watched and I learned quick," Pham said. Soon he was working full time assembling bicycles in NOVA's warehouse. His quick work was soon noticed within the company, and Pham was asked to work in NOVA's Springfield store when it opened. Eventually, he began traveling among the seven stores NOVA owned then in Northern Virginia, assembling new bikes and doing repairs.
It wasn't too long before the folks at the Bicycle Exchange and Bikes USA became interested in him. One manager asked Pham how quickly he could assemble bikes. Pham said he could build five to seven in an hour. The manager asked for a demonstration. After building three bikes in a half hour, the manager said he believed him. Offered more money to jump ship, Pham was soon working for the Bicycle Exchange and Bikes USA. At first, he worked in a warehouse in Alexandria assembling bikes. He didn't enjoy it and the pay wasn't what he'd expected. At the time, new bike orders were taking two days to be assembled, Pham said. One female customer started to walk away when told of the two day wait. Pham said he asked her to wait five minutes and he'd have her bike ready. He said he did.
Soon Pham moved into the Exchange stores assembling and repairing bikes. Business was booming and Pham's services began to be sought by the other stores in the Bicycle Exchange's chain, he said. By day he would work on assembling new bikes. In the evening he would make the rounds of the stores working on repairs.
"My name was real popular at the shops," Pham said in broken English. "Everybody wanted to be my friend." Pham's work took him to Bicycle Exchange / Bikes USA stores in Germantown, Baileys Crossroads, Potomac Mills, and even Raleigh, N.C.
In 1990, he was named Bicycle Exchange "Mechanic of the Year." In 1991 he was Bicycle Exchange's "Service Technician of the Year."
In 1993, however, Pham had a falling out with a service manager. When his salary was cut, Pham quit. His finances hit rock bottom. He'd been living lavishly, driving a Mercedes and owning a house in Springfield. Soon, his money was almost gone, he lost the house and the car.
Eventually, Pham found another job with the Washington Bike Center. But it was only a matter of time until Pham realized it was time to run his own shop.
"Then I did it." Leaving work at the Bike Center at 3 p.m., Pham set up a bike repair tent in the front yard of a mattress store owned by a friend in Falls Church. He worked out of a simple toolbox.
Using his $5,000 life savings and borrowing from his insurance policy and 501K plan, Pham was able to scrape together enough money to move a few blocks north into his present location, a one-time pizza parlor. The landlord gave him three months to get his shop stocked and running. But within about six weeks, customers began coming to him for repairs. Pham threw the doors open and has been open ever since.
In the beginning, he sold mostly used road bikes and a smattering of low end GT's. His bike sales now are primarily hybrid, mountain bike and BMX bikes. Most of his road bikes are custom build-ups using old frames and installing components to meet his customers' specifications. He also still sells used bikes.
Most of the business is devoted to repairs. Pham has hired one mechanic and two high school students to help him part time. "Service is what we pride ourselves on here," he said. Indeed, while some bike shops have a week or two waiting period for repairs -- a seemingly interminable period during peak spring and summer riding times -- the Bike Club generally is able to complete all repairs within the same day. And the store is open seven days a week. "I never closed the shop for three years," he says proudly. For the past two years, Pham has sponsored a BMX team of four riders. Last year, team members brought home 37 trophies, many of which are on display at the shop. Meanwhile, his inventory of parts and bikes continues to grow. "My dream is, I want everybody who enters to come in and I have what they want."

[SeattleSparky]

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&b...r:7,s:10,i:113

I will be picking this up from a neighbor this week. It has a few dings and scratches, but good components and it was handbuilt in the USA!! Supposed to be a decent bike, it is old and I am sure technology has brought bikes a long way. But for $150 I figure I can't go wrong!!:)

[LegendofVogel]

Motobocane Outcast 29er Frame. Alexrims T021s. Road tires. Truvativ Single speed crank and chainwheel. Flipflop hub currently in fixxed. Easton stem, and Bontrager Handle bars. Pretty bomb proof, I got it for commuting on Ohio States campus after destroying 2 road bikes. Got it used off of craigslist 4 years ago for $250 in perfect condition (except for the guy used WD-40 on the rims causing the brakes to emit a horrible squeel).

[JDTTO]

My recreational/workout bike (I should take it out more often)

Giant Speeder

I think it was made early 90's
I replaced the scarry racing handle bar with a flatbar and proper levers after a crash which I would not have had if I did that earlier.
It still features the frame shifters but I did upgrade the brakes to a more modern (rigid) set.

My daily bike:

Batavus Personal Bike Special Delivery

My daily means of transportation with a seat for my little boy, will need to add another seat in about a year!

[razumny]

I'm on a Fuji Roubaix 1.0 racer, and Scott ex-hybrid with 29'er tires

[Legion]

I'm on a Fuji Roubaix 1.0 racer, and Scott ex-hybrid with 29'er tires

Why the 29'r tyres? (I recently took the 29'r tyres off my 29'r mountain bike and replaced with 700c tyres for commuting. I'm wondering why someone would go the other way on a hybrid. I see you are in Oslo. Is it for the snow?)

[razumny]

Why the 29'r tyres? (I recently took the 29'r tyres off my 29'r mountain bike and replaced with 700c tyres for commuting. I'm wondering why someone would go the other way on a hybrid. I see you are in Oslo. Is it for the snow?)

There are several reasons. First off, I wanted something that would take me wherever my skills at riding a bike would. The old tires had no chance of doing that. Secondly, I wanted something that would deliver additional shock absorbtion. Keep in mind that the former hybrid is one of two bikes, and whenever I do commute with it, the distance of the commute will be less than 10 kilometers, meaning that weight isn't really a consideration, and they only add about a kilogram anyway. It'd NOT for riding on snow, if it had been, I'd be getting something with wicked spikes for the ice, but really, winter biking is not something I do.

[Legion]

Fair enough. Bare in mind, I'm in Australia. I have only seen snow once when I was a small child. I have no idea of what is needed to make my way through it.

[Clarifixer]

Any love for recumbents here? After experiencing numbness in my hands that no combination of bars, bar ends, ergonomic grips or padded gloves could relieve, I switched to a Tour Easy recumbent and Rans Fusion semi-recumbent. Now I can cycle in comfort.Attachment 222168Attachment 222169

'Bents have saved my riding, too. I've had this I.C.E. Q-26 for a couple of years and can't say enough about it other than that hills are very slowwwww.

[rickboone1]

I have a Schwinn High Plains MTB

[breadstick]

Any love for recumbents here? After experiencing numbness in my hands that no combination of bars, bar ends, ergonomic grips or padded gloves could relieve, I switched to a Tour Easy recumbent and Rans Fusion semi-recumbent. Now I can cycle in comfort.

I have a Terratrike Zoomer for me and a Terratrike Rover 8 for my wife. We love them. Regular bicycles were uncomfortable for me after a few miles but I could sit on my recumbent trike all day. Plus, when you see something you want to look at or take a picture of, you just slow down and get out of the way. You don't have to worry about falling off or stashing the bike. I'll never be without a recumbent trike again.

[turtle]

Dahon Curve.....

[Groat]

'Bents have saved my riding, too. I've had this I.C.E. Q-26 for a couple of years and can't say enough about it other than that hills are very slowwwww.

From the angle that the photograph is taken from, it looks like you're only a couple inches from the ground and might have trouble going over speed bumps. Interesting looking bike, though. I'd imagine it's unnecessary to take the wheel off when changing a flat in the front. The chain line looks crazy as well, being routed down under you and back up to the crankset.

[Clarifixer]

From the angle that the photograph is taken from, it looks like you're only a couple inches from the ground and might have trouble going over speed bumps. Interesting looking bike, though. I'd imagine it's unnecessary to take the wheel off when changing a flat in the front. The chain line looks crazy as well, being routed down under you and back up to the crankset.

Ground clearance has not been a problem so far--it's about 90 mm (3-1/2 inches) from the lowest point on the frame tube with the 20" tires up front. 16" might be interesting. The chain is actually two standard bicycle chains in length, so chain management (and maintenance) is a real factor. Some models use tubes to encase the chain, others utilize idlers or a mix of the two. I replaced tubes with idlers, and found that idler placement and positioning is critical to keep the chain from rubbing under the seat.

Luckily (knock on wood) I have not had to change flats on the road yet, but would guess it might be easier to take off the wheel. The axles are quick release, although I reversed them so the levers are on the inboard side, and machined some aluminum bling "hubcaps" for looks. Makes it not quite so quick, though. Ah, the price of trying to look chic....

[Quigg]

'Bents have saved my riding, too. I've had this I.C.E. Q-26 for a couple of years and can't say enough about it other than that hills are very slowwwww.

Looks relaxing! I have been curious to try a trike. But It's wider (and lower) than I'd like for the crazy traffic here.