The Official DMF Bicycle Thread

[somegirl]

Did you happen to check the derailleur hanger alignment? if that's tweaked, no amount of twiddling or fussing will make it right. Chain length can make a big difference, too, as that's what gets the top jockey wheel close enough (but not too close) to do its job-- and I know you probably checked all of that already and are looking around for a big stick to whomp me with.

He's going to whomp me after this post.

Not a lot of adjustment was needed.  It's just that throwing a bicycle in a suitcase and leaving it to the mercy of baggage handlers every other week takes its toll on a bike.

He started with adjusting the derailleur limit stops (which didn't need adjusting).  After things got worse, then he turned to my bike repair book for help. 

I eventually limped it over to the LBS to have it fixed.

[triangleforge]

He started with adjusting the derailleur limit stops (which didn't need adjusting).  After things got worse, then he turned to my bike repair book for help. 

It's just that for us artistic, creative types derailleur limit stops are, I dunno, just so LIMITING.

[ro-monster]

Saturday I replaced the cheap plastic pedals on my bike with these: http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/pedals_and_so_on#product=14-053. Went out to the shop in Walnut Creek to get them; it's an interesting place.

[triangleforge]

Was poking around Pez Cycling News reading reviews of stuff I'll never be fast enough or rich enough to justify and found a nice long-term look at the new SRAM Red Gruppo.

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=6011&status=True

About half way through, I spotted a bike picture that I thought might belong in the "WTF" thread; a cigarette company logo on a high end racing bicycle? Then I looked closer:



Oh baby, that's nice.  Looks like the child's not going to be able to go to college after all...

[somegirl]

I got to try a very different kind of bike yesterday.

This custom bike belongs to a friend...guess it could be described as a semi-recumbent tandem?





We swapped places for a little while, but it is challenging to ride a tandem when the captain (the one in charge of steering and braking) can't see over the stoker's head.  

Someone took this video of us being goofy.

[Randimus Maximus]

that is just plain silliness.

[Got Duc]

That is a unique looking bike.

[DRKWNG]

Yes it is.  Recumbents are a trip!  Completely different sort of balance needed for those things. 

[Got Duc]

We have a guy that comes through town everyday on one.

Other than that you hardly ever see one.

[FatguyRacer]

Yes it is.  Recumbents are a trip!  Completely different sort of balance needed for those things. 

Mental as well as physical. Recumbents are the ultimate Fred bike.

[triangleforge]

Yes it is.  Recumbents are a trip!  Completely different sort of balance needed for those things. 

Can't imagine spending the coin on one, but would be fun to see how fast you could get one of these going, especially if fully-faired:



Used to see a guy riding one fairly regularly going the opposite direction of a weekly training ride I used to frequent; it usually occasioned active discussion in the Java Shack after the ride about whether or not one could successfully bunny-hop the trike & rider in a game of chicken. 

[FatguyRacer]

I've seen one or three of those on the B&A Trail in the past. Along with every other 'bent' known to man. They do look fast. I'd hate to hill climb with it.

That remindes me, at last weeks Itailian Bike Night at the Rhodeside in Arlington, one of the guys brought his Piaggio MP3 3 wheel scooter. Tres' chic! I gotta have one.

[FatguyRacer]

Local photog and racer dad Jim Wilson posted this photo in his Reston GP gallery.

How cool is that?

Click on the link for the big pic and you can spot Super Dave dead center and Ramon to his left. The guy in black is Health Net Maxxis pro and former MABRA rider Matt Cooke.

http://www.2wheelinphotography.com/FGR_RestonGP_Moto_07_fullsize.jpg



The car was a stupid idea, but he must be friends with somebody on Team Evo. Fortunately the chief ref defered to me and the other scooter ref,  Kevin, and we decided one lap was enough and only before the P123 race. I took the driver for a lap on the back of my bike beforhand. I wanted to scare him to death, but i didnt have an extra helmet, so i took it easy. 

[triangleforge]

Cool pic!  Do they still have the turn of death at the bottom of the course necked down by construction into a single lane with jersey barriers and a chain link fence on either side -- and an ambulance on call ten yards away?    My sphincter puckered every time I dove into that sucker and it took a conscious effort EVERY SINGLE TIME not to grab the brakes -- which would, of course, have ended my race and that of a half dozen others. Guess in a nutshell that explains why I sucked as a crit racer.

About three years since I raced that course (or any road course in earnest, for that matter), so the night terrors have faded somewhat. Now, Reston mostly makes me remember how much fun it was to race against & shoot the shit after the race with Keith Mitchell -- a friend to me and many others who died during the race of a massive heart attack. RIP.

[77south]

So I have enough expensive hobbies for someone triple my income,  here are most of the bikes, the carbon trek 5500 with the custom paint job and the cyclocross frame are not pictured.  I will probably not be adding to the stable anytime soon, since bikes got lots more expensive since TREK and I parted ways.


and my favorite road bike, geared low enough to almost climb stairs:


why does it need to be geared that low?
http://www.horriblyhilly.com/home.html