All about bicycles

Heading out on a Tour de Delta...
Looking down River Road at the Alex Fraser Bridge...



Beside Hwy 17...



Tug boats workin' hard on a Sunday...



Found a road I've never been on. It said "Bike route" so...







The road turned onto a road I was familiar with, and a local brewery I've visited before...



Heading home beside Hwy 99...

 
Heading out on a Tour de Delta...
Looking down River Road at the Alex Fraser Bridge...



Beside Hwy 17...



Tug boats workin' hard on a Sunday...



Found a road I've never been on. It said "Bike route" so...







The road turned onto a road I was familiar with, and a local brewery I've visited before...



Heading home beside Hwy 99...


Nice, as ever. You have a seemingly endless selection of places to ride.
 
I've been a recreational/fitness/casual rider for a couple decades. I use those descriptors to differentiate myself from serious riders who hop on their bike and ride 60, 70, 100 miles. Bikes aren't my main thing (which is why I'm posting on a guitar site), but I love biking as a form of exercise and to clear the head. My rides are usually 20-40 miles.

This summer on the way home from a short vacation we stopped at an e-bike dealer to check out rides for my wife. She has a lot of back problems and it's hard for her to ride long or far on an "acoustic" bike. Ended up getting her an Aventon Pace 500. Cool, I thought - now I can ride my Trek gravel(ish) bike or my hardtail MTB and we can ride together. Fast forward a bit. I caught the bug and picked up one of those ridiculous fat tire behemoths, an Aventon Aventure. 75 pounds.

I gotta say, I have had an absolute blast on the thing. 600 miles worth since July. I don't rely heavily on the pedal assist and I use it only on hills (remember, 75 pounds) or just to have some fun with it. Most of the time I have it turned off. The Aventure is marketed as an "adventure" bike and I get what they're going for. It's absolutely not an MTB. But after riding it on the some of the trails I usually ride, I sold my MTB. I still get the overall experience and I still have my other Trek for when I want to ride unmotorized. As a brand the Aventons are just okay, certainly not comparable to Specialized, Trek, Giant, etc. But for the money they're a good value. Components are definitely at the lower end of the spectrum but I realized that they aren't subjected to the same rigor or weight requirements as with a traditional bike. If everything works well enough together I'm happy.

I realize there's a whole debate about whether e-bikes are cheating, etc., etc. I won't engage. I sort of feel like e-bikes, or at least mine, is a completely different thing and a whole other experience. It's like comparing a PRS DGT to a dobro. Maybe there's a better analogy but you know what I'm saying. If it gets people outdoors, moving, enjoying exercise and not worrying about life then they're all good.
 
I've been a recreational/fitness/casual rider for a couple decades. I use those descriptors to differentiate myself from serious riders who hop on their bike and ride 60, 70, 100 miles. Bikes aren't my main thing (which is why I'm posting on a guitar site), but I love biking as a form of exercise and to clear the head. My rides are usually 20-40 miles.

This summer on the way home from a short vacation we stopped at an e-bike dealer to check out rides for my wife. She has a lot of back problems and it's hard for her to ride long or far on an "acoustic" bike. Ended up getting her an Aventon Pace 500. Cool, I thought - now I can ride my Trek gravel(ish) bike or my hardtail MTB and we can ride together. Fast forward a bit. I caught the bug and picked up one of those ridiculous fat tire behemoths, an Aventon Aventure. 75 pounds.

I gotta say, I have had an absolute blast on the thing. 600 miles worth since July. I don't rely heavily on the pedal assist and I use it only on hills (remember, 75 pounds) or just to have some fun with it. Most of the time I have it turned off. The Aventure is marketed as an "adventure" bike and I get what they're going for. It's absolutely not an MTB. But after riding it on the some of the trails I usually ride, I sold my MTB. I still get the overall experience and I still have my other Trek for when I want to ride unmotorized. As a brand the Aventons are just okay, certainly not comparable to Specialized, Trek, Giant, etc. But for the money they're a good value. Components are definitely at the lower end of the spectrum but I realized that they aren't subjected to the same rigor or weight requirements as with a traditional bike. If everything works well enough together I'm happy.

I realize there's a whole debate about whether e-bikes are cheating, etc., etc. I won't engage. I sort of feel like e-bikes, or at least mine, is a completely different thing and a whole other experience. It's like comparing a PRS DGT to a dobro. Maybe there's a better analogy but you know what I'm saying. If it gets people outdoors, moving, enjoying exercise and not worrying about life then they're all good.
Welcome!
No ebike hate here. I've been on one since Aug 2018 and love it!
Glad you're having fun, and pics are always welcome.:)
 
Got my rear Conti Ruban tire replaced on warranty and installed yesterday.
Knee problems gone, waited for peak temp and left around 12:30pm.
Only a couple of pics today as I enjoyed a slightly higher speed/non stop experience...



The Nemesis puddle got a little longer but oddly thinner, and has started to freeze over. Crunchy...



I like these tires.
 
I took advantage of sales at a few different retailers and finished gathering the parts to upgrade my road bike to a SRAM Rival 1 group.

The bike in question is the State 4130 Road, which I bought mainly for the steel frame. I think it was meant more as a cool retro-inspired town bike, but I like the ride and fit enough that I decided to make it a somewhat more "serious" bike. The original drivetrain was a quirky 1x8 with a downtube shifter. It was a quaint feature, but even though it was indexed it was still a bit testy. It has rim brakes, of which I'm still a fan, but the stock units were terrible.

So in come: Rival calipers (I put these on months ago), Rival 1 long cage derailleur (also bough a while ago on sale), Rival left brake lever, Rival 22 right lever/shifter, SRAM 11-speed chain, downtube cable stop, fresh bar tape. I also bought a narrow/wide chainring, which I may or may not use. I still like the aesthetics of the stock polished ring.

I spent some quality time in the garage this weekend putting it all together. It was fun to get more experience fitting components and tuning a bike. I'm far from a pro, but after following instructions and making and correcting a few minor mistakes, the bike feels and looks great. Looking forward to going for a ride this weekend.


44 tooth ring up front with an 11-36 cassette. Not quite dinner plate size like on my gravel bike, so I think it keeps a little more classic road bike look. Low end gear is equivalent to a standard compact crank with a 28t sprocket, so I have some easy/climbing gears. The derailleur handles up to a 10-42 cassette, so I could set it up pretty well for hilly terrain if I ever need/want to.

bBNEjLo.jpg



Downtube cable stop. This was the only iffy part of the job. The post for the shifter stuck out too far, so I had to cut it off with a hack saw. Fortunately, it was threaded all the way through so there was plenty of grip for the new screw. I actually like the shiny aluminum; It fits the look.

Lq7RK7c.jpg



Overall, I think it was a minor cosmetic change, which makes me happy because I thought it looked great to start with! I'm already getting used to the SRAM Double Tap shifting. It's not the most intuitive for me, but the engagement is solid. And the brakes! Between the new levers, cables, and housing, this bike freaking STOPS now. Like instantly with little effort. Going to have to remember that so I don't send myself over the bars squeezing hard like I had to on the original levers.

esG5e45.jpg
 
I took advantage of sales at a few different retailers and finished gathering the parts to upgrade my road bike to a SRAM Rival 1 group.

The bike in question is the State 4130 Road, which I bought mainly for the steel frame. I think it was meant more as a cool retro-inspired town bike, but I like the ride and fit enough that I decided to make it a somewhat more "serious" bike. The original drivetrain was a quirky 1x8 with a downtube shifter. It was a quaint feature, but even though it was indexed it was still a bit testy. It has rim brakes, of which I'm still a fan, but the stock units were terrible.

So in come: Rival calipers (I put these on months ago), Rival 1 long cage derailleur (also bough a while ago on sale), Rival left brake lever, Rival 22 right lever/shifter, SRAM 11-speed chain, downtube cable stop, fresh bar tape. I also bought a narrow/wide chainring, which I may or may not use. I still like the aesthetics of the stock polished ring.

I spent some quality time in the garage this weekend putting it all together. It was fun to get more experience fitting components and tuning a bike. I'm far from a pro, but after following instructions and making and correcting a few minor mistakes, the bike feels and looks great. Looking forward to going for a ride this weekend.


44 tooth ring up front with an 11-36 cassette. Not quite dinner plate size like on my gravel bike, so I think it keeps a little more classic road bike look. Low end gear is equivalent to a standard compact crank with a 28t sprocket, so I have some easy/climbing gears. The derailleur handles up to a 10-42 cassette, so I could set it up pretty well for hilly terrain if I ever need/want to.

bBNEjLo.jpg



Downtube cable stop. This was the only iffy part of the job. The post for the shifter stuck out too far, so I had to cut it off with a hack saw. Fortunately, it was threaded all the way through so there was plenty of grip for the new screw. I actually like the shiny aluminum; It fits the look.

Lq7RK7c.jpg



Overall, I think it was a minor cosmetic change, which makes me happy because I thought it looked great to start with! I'm already getting used to the SRAM Double Tap shifting. It's not the most intuitive for me, but the engagement is solid. And the brakes! Between the new levers, cables, and housing, this bike freaking STOPS now. Like instantly with little effort. Going to have to remember that so I don't send myself over the bars squeezing hard like I had to on the original levers.

esG5e45.jpg
Gorgeous job, and clean as a whistle!
Nicely done Garrett!
 
I took advantage of sales at a few different retailers and finished gathering the parts to upgrade my road bike to a SRAM Rival 1 group.

The bike in question is the State 4130 Road, which I bought mainly for the steel frame. I think it was meant more as a cool retro-inspired town bike, but I like the ride and fit enough that I decided to make it a somewhat more "serious" bike. The original drivetrain was a quirky 1x8 with a downtube shifter. It was a quaint feature, but even though it was indexed it was still a bit testy. It has rim brakes, of which I'm still a fan, but the stock units were terrible.

So in come: Rival calipers (I put these on months ago), Rival 1 long cage derailleur (also bough a while ago on sale), Rival left brake lever, Rival 22 right lever/shifter, SRAM 11-speed chain, downtube cable stop, fresh bar tape. I also bought a narrow/wide chainring, which I may or may not use. I still like the aesthetics of the stock polished ring.

I spent some quality time in the garage this weekend putting it all together. It was fun to get more experience fitting components and tuning a bike. I'm far from a pro, but after following instructions and making and correcting a few minor mistakes, the bike feels and looks great. Looking forward to going for a ride this weekend.


44 tooth ring up front with an 11-36 cassette. Not quite dinner plate size like on my gravel bike, so I think it keeps a little more classic road bike look. Low end gear is equivalent to a standard compact crank with a 28t sprocket, so I have some easy/climbing gears. The derailleur handles up to a 10-42 cassette, so I could set it up pretty well for hilly terrain if I ever need/want to.

bBNEjLo.jpg



Downtube cable stop. This was the only iffy part of the job. The post for the shifter stuck out too far, so I had to cut it off with a hack saw. Fortunately, it was threaded all the way through so there was plenty of grip for the new screw. I actually like the shiny aluminum; It fits the look.

Lq7RK7c.jpg



Overall, I think it was a minor cosmetic change, which makes me happy because I thought it looked great to start with! I'm already getting used to the SRAM Double Tap shifting. It's not the most intuitive for me, but the engagement is solid. And the brakes! Between the new levers, cables, and housing, this bike freaking STOPS now. Like instantly with little effort. Going to have to remember that so I don't send myself over the bars squeezing hard like I had to on the original levers.

esG5e45.jpg
Classic look! Looks great!! Congrats on a job well done!!!
 
What a classic beauty. Can’t beat some polished aluminium.

It's a shame that the overwhelming trend is "none more black" for bike parts nowadays. All the pretty silvery stuff looks so great.

I'd eventually like to get some higher spec wheels on, but I'm pretty sure they'll have to be polished. I have a feeling black rims might be enough ruin the look.
 
Interesting hadlebars! Who makes those? Seems they would be more comfortable than the classic equivalents!!
They are really comfortable- especially on the hoods. Very ergonomic and match the angle of my wrists well. They are Ritchey bars -
 
They are really comfortable- especially on the hoods. Very ergonomic and match the angle of my wrists well. They are Ritchey bars -

Mega flare! Once you go to flared bars, it's hard to go back. I have 15 degree on my gravel bike and 12 on my road bike, which I think is just enough to feel the benefit.
 
Post Turkey Day ride from Friday. Was visiting family so brought the road bike and did the Palatka to St. Augustine State Trail in NE Florida. A nice rail trail in the countryside for the most part. Rode through forests and by farms until hitting the small city of Palatka and climbing the bridge over the St Johns River to take a break at a nice park.

Weather wasn't exactly nice. It was one of those days where it wasn't raining, but everything was wet. Tons of debris on the path. Temps were nice, so it was a great 44-mile round trip in the end.

I was hoping to be rewarded with nice views of the river, but I couldn't even see it while climbing the bridge. On the banks, the water and sky blended seamlessly. A case where even thought it wasn't nice, it was still nice, if you know what I mean.

pLVLldG.jpg


RSikqSw.jpg
 
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