NBD! (New Bike Day)

[RaySachs]

No neck and shoulder problems on this. It also happens to be my fastest bike (with the seat in a somewhat different position than shown here)

We got a bent rider! They're definitely the fastest bikes on a lot of terrain. Maybe not for sustained climbing where I always liked to be able to very my effort by alternating time in and out of the saddle, but if you're strictly a high cadence climber I don't see a downside to bents. That said, I could never get comfortable on one - I had friends that were way into them and I certainly gave them an honest try, but I really loved riding an upright (I forget the pejoratives the bent riders used to have for us, but I seem to remember there were some). I loved being able to spin at high cadences but also jump out of the saddle and apply a different kind of power to the pedals.

All the bikes in this thread are awesome. Like Ray, I have had to take my mileage down, but still ride my road bike about 60 miles every week (and I am fortunate enough to live in a place where you can do this 52 weeks a year). Riding does really help "keep the doctor away"

It's certainly better to be fit than not, but I learned how much of a difference there is between fitness and health. Even with the amounts I was riding in my peak years (which was still only about a half to a third of what a pro cyclist would ride), I rode enough to sometimes really wipe out my immune system. I used to eat waaaaay too many carbs because I treated food as fuel instead of food and I ended up with some real issues because of that. You see a lot of super hardcore cyclists develop a number of health problems along the way. But I don't think the amounts we're talking about here (60-120 miles per week) should have any real downside. When I was riding a lot, I usually averaged more like 140-160 a week during peak season and sometimes pushed to get closer to 200. And I'd usually do a tour or two each year where I might do 400-500 miles in a week. There's a huge difference between 120 miles per week and 200. And after those 400-500 mile weeks, I'd take a while to recover. But then I'd feel like a god because a fast 60 mile ride just didn't feel like a lot anymore. There's a certain independence and joy that comes with that feeling - I sort of miss it at times - but it also comes at a price. Once I couldn't pay now if I had to.

Now I like to go walk a couple miles!

-Ray

 

[bodia]

No neck and shoulder problems on this. It also happens to be my fastest bike (with the seat in a somewhat different position than shown here)

I've always wanted to get a recumbent, but hesitate. In my head, if I had to make a quick movement, or dismount, avoid a situation, I don't think I could do it on a recumbent. At least not as quickly as a "regular" bike. Although, I did fall into a fence post because I couldn't get my shoe to release!

 

[bodia]

At 61 and diagnosed with a blood clot last year, I felt like getting back into shape (round is a shape, right?) whilst doing something I like but in a new and fun way!
Got home tonight and went for two rides. Dayum!!!
E-bikes rawk!

Now... without further delay...
A Giant Fathom E+ 2 for your perusal.
Here it is all loaded up at the store today. Got it a day earlier than expected!


Drove home and took a few snaps...


Close up of batt pack...

Went out for a quick spin. Will do another after supper. This thing is stupid fun!
Oh yeah... not even 90 seconds into the first ride, I come across another MTB rider going the other way/towards me. Not quite under his breath, and easily heard he says... and I sh!t you not...
"That's cheating!".
WTF?!!???
I immediately let out a loud guffaw/laugh! Man... is that what I'm in for? Really? I was expecting a comment or two on a more difficult trail or hillclimb, but tooling around the neighborhood?
Goof! Put yourself in my shoes, or STFU.
Anyway... whatever.
The power selections are easily made. Mostly didn't use anything over 3rd level of assist up hills.
Gear shifts are smooth and easy. What a cool ride!

That's bada$$ Dave! I'd do one of those. But, as long as there are Santanas to be bought, it'll have to wait!

 

[alantig]

Although, I did fall into a fence post because I couldn't get my shoe to release!

Could have been worse - ask Johnny Hoogerland!

 

[bodia]

Could have been worse - ask Johnny Hoogerland!

I was watching when that happened.

 

[RaySachs]

I was watching when that happened.

Me too, Worst TdF crash I'd seen live. But Gilbert going off the mountain this year was pretty brutal. He got pulled back up to the road, rode away, and I think even finished the stage. But he broke his kneecap and had to abandon. Really scary to see when it happened...

-Ray

 

[bodia]

Me too, Worst TdF crash I'd seen live. But Gilbert going off the mountain this year was pretty brutal. He got pulled back up to the road, rode away, and I think even finished the stage. But he broke his kneecap and had to abandon. Really scary to see when it happened...

-Ray

I was watching when it happened. Scary moment. Especially since it was so close to the spot that Casartelli died in '95. You couldn't tell how far of a drop that was from the camera angles they had. Then when they showed him getting help up, the size of the rocks that were down there....lucky, for sure.

The Richie Porte accident last year was pretty scary looking too.

And this one from the '16 Olympics. I actually thought I watched someone die.

 

[Huggy Love]

Picked up this baby from the 6 yr old down the block, traded him a bag of Doritos, 2 snickers bars, and an old SE for it.
Suh-weet!!!

 

[László]

That e-bike looks like a cool ride to me!

I used to be a serious, racing bike-obsessed rider in my misspent youth. But that was then, this is now.

A little help in spots when you get to a “certain age?” That’s a good thing. I haven’t ridden in years, but a bike like that might convince me to do it.

That is, if I ever stop buying music gear.

 

[dmatthews]

Picked up this baby from the 6 yr old down the block, traded him a bag of Doritos, 2 snickers bars, and an old SE for it.
Suh-weet!!!

Proud Mary keep on burnin'

 

[dmatthews]

That e-bike looks like a cool ride to me!

I used to be a serious, racing bike-obsessed rider in my misspent youth. But that was then, this is now.

A little help in spots when you get to a “certain age?” That’s a good thing. I haven’t ridden in years, but a bike like that might convince me to do it.

That is, if I ever stop buying music gear.

It's only half of a 594!

 

[RaySachs]

That e-bike looks like a cool ride to me!

I used to be a serious, racing bike-obsessed rider in my misspent youth. But that was then, this is now.

A little help in spots when you get to a “certain age?” That’s a good thing. I haven’t ridden in years, but a bike like that might convince me to do it.

That is, if I ever stop buying music gear.

I've never had GAS for music gear like I had it for bike gear for a while. I essentially had a semi-pro repair shop in my basement and I always had a crazy number of frames and parts such that my wife never noticed if anything came in or went out. I was way into it. The GAS didn't stop until I spent all my money on a custom road bike fitted, designed and made by Tom Kellogg at Spectrum cycles (he's they guy who designed all of the old Merlin frames). First time I threw a leg over the bike I knew within about 3 blocks that I'd never been on anything that handled like it did. Then I got him to build me another one with S&S couplers (so you break a bike down and pack it - barely - in a suitcase) and slightly more relaxed geometry for light touring and I rode that thing all over the place, the Rockies, the Dolomites, Wales, etc, etc. Those two bikes were so incredibly sublime I never wanted anything else again ever. They were crazy expensive for the time (although today's prices for high end spec bikes would put them to shame) but if I'd have bought those ten years sooner it would have saved me a LOT of money in the long run. I just sold those two Spectrums within the past year and that's how I've financed my resurgent guitar habit. The second one paid for a lot of the 594 I had recently. Sold one to a guy in Switzerland who send me photos every now and then of it in the Alps - nice to see it getting used like that!

-Ray

 

[Huggy Love]

Proud Mary keep on burnin'

Can't wait to do a couple spin outs!!!

 

[Mike Duncan]

I live in bike shorts. I couldn’t care less how they look. I have the cargo looking bike shorts, but just get too hot in the summer.

I wear Lycra like I’m from an 80s heavy metal video.

 

[Mike Duncan]

Don’t make me post my crazy leg pictures.

 

[veinbuster]

Training wheels, cheating, a crutch... I don't care what anybody calls it. It's a freakin' blast to ride.
And if it gets me to places nobody else goes, that's cool too.

Own it brother!

 

[dmatthews]

Own it brother!

And... speaking of shorts...

 

[veinbuster]

I've always wanted to get a recumbent, but hesitate. In my head, if I had to make a quick movement, or dismount, avoid a situation, I don't think I could do it on a recumbent. At least not as quickly as a "regular" bike. Although, I did fall into a fence post because I couldn't get my shoe to release!

Most two wheel recumbents aren’t nearly as nimble as a traditional bike. The geometry just doesn’t lend itself to really quick adjustments. I can turn at high speeds on the stick bike (the orange one), but not super tight. And if you don’t get unclipped, your hip and shoulder are a long way from the ground.

The trike can stop on a dime and turn really tight - I don’t need nearly the width of a lane to make a U turn. And I don’t have to dismount. I just get where I need to be and stay on the trike. Off the top of my head I would say I can stop in less than a third the distance of any of my traditional bikes and turn in maybe half the space.

 

[bodia]

Most two wheel recumbents aren’t nearly as nimble as a traditional bike. The geometry just doesn’t lend itself to really quick adjustments. I can turn at high speeds on the stick bike (the orange one), but not super tight. And if you don’t get unclipped, your hip and shoulder are a long way from the ground.

The trike can stop on a dime and turn really tight - I don’t need nearly the width of a lane to make a U turn. And I don’t have to dismount. I just get where I need to be and stay on the trike. Off the top of my head I would say I can stop in less than a third the distance of any of my traditional bikes and turn in maybe half the space.

The trike is definitely something I would look into. Didn't know they existed!

 

[veinbuster]

Bents are harder climbing. They are generally heavier and it’s all legs. I do miss being able to stand and get my cadence back up. On the bent I have to manage my cadence all the way to the top because once it drops it is really hard to lift back up. I try to save a couple of extra gears, but it doesn’t always work so I can end up grinding it out.

As to comfort: there are a lot of different geometries and seat styles. I dislike a lot of them.

I agree that fitness and health aren’t the same thing, but many of the same behaviours support both. I was on the bike every day of the Tour de France: 1,700km, over 10km of ascent. I needed three days to feel ready to ride again.

We got a bent rider! They're definitely the fastest bikes on a lot of terrain. Maybe not for sustained climbing where I always liked to be able to very my effort by alternating time in and out of the saddle, but if you're strictly a high cadence climber I don't see a downside to bents. That said, I could never get comfortable on one - I had friends that were way into them and I certainly gave them an honest try, but I really loved riding an upright (I forget the pejoratives the bent riders used to have for us, but I seem to remember there were some). I loved being able to spin at high cadences but also jump out of the saddle and apply a different kind of power to the pedals.



It's certainly better to be fit than not, but I learned how much of a difference there is between fitness and health. Even with the amounts I was riding in my peak years (which was still only about a half to a third of what a pro cyclist would ride), I rode enough to sometimes really wipe out my immune system. I used to eat waaaaay too many carbs because I treated food as fuel instead of food and I ended up with some real issues because of that. You see a lot of super hardcore cyclists develop a number of health problems along the way. But I don't think the amounts we're talking about here (60-120 miles per week) should have any real downside. When I was riding a lot, I usually averaged more like 140-160 a week during peak season and sometimes pushed to get closer to 200. And I'd usually do a tour or two each year where I might do 400-500 miles in a week. There's a huge difference between 120 miles per week and 200. And after those 400-500 mile weeks, I'd take a while to recover. But then I'd feel like a god because a fast 60 mile ride just didn't feel like a lot anymore. There's a certain independence and joy that comes with that feeling - I sort of miss it at times - but it also comes at a price. Once I couldn't pay now if I had to.

Now I like to go walk a couple miles!

-Ray