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I scored a few small bottles of that at the Calgary airport, (buy 3 get 3 or something) if anyone needs any?

Dont judge, the sales girl was wearing pigtails and I couldn't concentrate!!!!

 
I bent the right side of my drop bars this morning when I fell over on my bike due to my own stupidity. I also think my brakes got nudged to be misaligned. I think my derailleur is okay, though.

I'm taking my bike into the shop on Thursday anyway, to get my wheels switched to not quik-release, so I'll have them take a good look at it then.

 
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Okay, I didn't actually bend the drop bars, themselves, thankfully! I just bent the shifter and break level. I was able to mostly bend them back into place myself. I'm happy about that!

 
Ive thought about just going and buying a fat tire bike but its probably not a good time to drop $8G's with the holiday and all..

 
does anyone use a headlamp on your person as well as a headlight on the bike?

 
I don't. I also do not do very much twilight/night time riding. But I do have a headlight for on the bike which works very well. My headlamp would not fit around my bike helmet.

 
LyceeFruit PE said:
does anyone use a headlamp on your person as well as a headlight on the bike?
Click to expand...
Yes, I have a Cygolite Dart attached to my helmet and a second light on a low rack mount on my fork (for better depth perception, it casts a better shadow than headlamp). For my ride home I have to ride on mixed surfaces: city streets, paved cycle path, and trail so it's kinda necessary.

 
[SIZE=11pt]So I’m just getting into cycling and I’m wondering if I should be upgrading my bike. I just bought a Trek Dual Sport 2 last summer and I rode it around town and on bike trails and the bike handles that just fine. I went on a casual group ride where everyone was on a road bike and in lycra. Turns out once every year this group does a climb and that’s the day I decided to go. I was able to keep up with the group, but there were frequent breaks. On descents though, I was way behind everyone. I’m not sure how fast I was going, but I was just spinning out at the highest gear. The total trip was about 25 miles. They suggested I go on their annual Century Ride event, but I decided I wasn’t ready for that yet.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I want to do the ride next year, but I don’t know if I have the right bike for it. I am thinking about trading my bike in for an entry level road bike or trying to find a used model on craigslist. If I trade in, I’m basically losing a lot on the trade-in. Effectively paying more for an entry level bike. On the other hand, I don’t want to have to deal with two bikes if I’m not really going to ride the other one. The bikes on craigslist seem to vary from ~$200 vintage bikes to $1000+ for carbon frames. I don’t know much about what I’m looking for, so I’d feel better if I got a bike fit that comes with a new bike. What would you do in my situation?[/SIZE]

 
preeb said:
[SIZE=11pt]So I’m just getting into cycling and I’m wondering if I should be upgrading my bike. I just bought a Trek Dual Sport 2 last summer and I rode it around town and on bike trails and the bike handles that just fine. I went on a casual group ride where everyone was on a road bike and in lycra. Turns out once every year this group does a climb and that’s the day I decided to go. I was able to keep up with the group, but there were frequent breaks. On descents though, I was way behind everyone. I’m not sure how fast I was going, but I was just spinning out at the highest gear. The total trip was about 25 miles. They suggested I go on their annual Century Ride event, but I decided I wasn’t ready for that yet.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I want to do the ride next year, but I don’t know if I have the right bike for it. I am thinking about trading my bike in for an entry level road bike or trying to find a used model on craigslist. If I trade in, I’m basically losing a lot on the trade-in. Effectively paying more for an entry level bike. On the other hand, I don’t want to have to deal with two bikes if I’m not really going to ride the other one. The bikes on craigslist seem to vary from ~$200 vintage bikes to $1000+ for carbon frames. I don’t know much about what I’m looking for, so I’d feel better if I got a bike fit that comes with a new bike. What would you do in my situation?[/SIZE]
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Go to your local bike shop and try tell them everything you just told us. Keep the bike you have now. 

 
I second what csb said.  There's an enormous difference between a hybrid and a road bike.  Every person and bike is different, but I average almost 3 mph faster on my road bike than the hybrid.  But the hybrid is a lot more comfortable for commuting and on the crappy roads we have around here.  So it probably makes sense to have both (it does for me at least.)

I'd also suggest shopping around a bit for a road bike and make sure you get something you're comfortable on.  I found I wasn't comfortable on Treks, but I liked Specialized and Giant.

 
Also consider keeping your existing bike and renting a road bike for the one event.  The rental bike would likely be a better bike than the one you'd be looking at buying anyways.  

 
csb said:
Go to your local bike shop and try tell them everything you just told us. Keep the bike you have now. 
Click to expand...
I've talked to a LBS about some of these issues and they ran me through some of the benefits of the road bikes. They said they would take the blue book value of the bike, which is about half of the original cost. I do think I will keep the bike I have for commuting, but at least try some of the road bikes at the shops to see how they feel.

mudpuppy said:
I second what csb said.  There's an enormous difference between a hybrid and a road bike.  Every person and bike is different, but I average almost 3 mph faster on my road bike than the hybrid.  But the hybrid is a lot more comfortable for commuting and on the crappy roads we have around here.  So it probably makes sense to have both (it does for me at least.)

I'd also suggest shopping around a bit for a road bike and make sure you get something you're comfortable on.  I found I wasn't comfortable on Treks, but I liked Specialized and Giant.
Click to expand...
I did buy this bike originally for commuting. The roads here in Upstate NY get torn up due to the weather and other factors. It wasn't until I went on the group ride that I felt the urge to get another bike. I'll have to try some out at the LBS to feel the difference.

Supe said:
Also consider keeping your existing bike and renting a road bike for the one event.  The rental bike would likely be a better bike than the one you'd be looking at buying anyways.  
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if this is something that any of my LBS's do, I'll have to call them and find out. Another thought I had is to go on more group rides and ask if anyone has an extra bike they would let me borrow. It would be good practice anyway to get me ready for the event.

Thanks for tips, guys. 

 
(coming from a non bike guy who does like to ride my bike)

Last year we were going to do a race/ride here with just under 50 miles and a shit ton of elevation.  I bought the road bike from REI because I had around $500 bucks in dividend money and in Denver id say 90% of the bike shops are just to F'n judgmental for me.  I cant recall the bike name but it was the REI brand, which I was told was done at the Giant plant, mainly wanted the good gears and cared less about having the carbon frame stuff. bike was around $2200?  I am 6'2" so I just needed the XL size - But I did compare similar bikes with some bike nerd friends I was working with who said the specs on that bike were equal to or better than the ones I had looked at the Bike Shops.

The wife had a "Specialized" hybrid bike and she was going to just use that and not buy a bike, but about half way through the summer, even with her riding 2X as much as me, the hybrid bike just wasn't going to keep up with a road bike, especially on the hills. So she went and looked at several bikes at several different LBS, got the same judgmental asshole feel that once you are not interested in the $4500 bike they dont really give much a shit about you, so she went back and got the women's equivalent of the REI brand bike I bought in the spring.  She took the hill climbs more serious than me and was doing 150 miles a week and ended up kicking my ass for the most part - except that she cant ride fast downhill . lol.

We did originally buy her hybrid bike at a local bike shop that wasnt "stuffy" but that guy sold it to his kids so it went from being "donuts" to "avacado toast" .. but the old guy had this comment about the hybrid bikes. You can ride on both the pavement or the dirt / gravel on the same ride- it doesnt do either one very well but it does do them both. (or something)

But anyways, I think the point I was trying to make is that for the longer road rides you probably need to get a road bike and get some miles in on it.   I only have a mountain bike and road-bike - we use the mountain bike for trips to the gym, Mexican restaurant, day drinking, etc. 

This reminds me I really want to get a better mountain bike for this summer, but I am also eyeing some 37" tires for the jeep. If only I can get some dependas off the payroll..

 

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