EB Cycling Club

[Road Guy]

Are you trying to get away from the "suspension" part?

 

[Supe]

Are you trying to get away from the "suspension" part?

Yep.  It will probably never see anything beyond greenway or neighborhood duty (junior is no longer interested in any single track trails), and a fork from Fox, etc. that will actually hold me up worth a darn is about what the bike cost me in the first place.  Right now have my pedal energy is wasted from the front of the bike bobbing up and down.  

 

[P-E]

So I picked this up Friday, one of the REI brand bikes, I am told these come of the Giant Assembly Line... I was going back and forth with a similar specialized bike at another shop for a little more, but I had almost $400 in REI $$$ (dividends and gift cards we get through our wellness program) plus the 15% off memorial day sale...

https://www.rei.com/product/106343/co-op-cycles-ard-12-bike

Honestly have to say I never thought I would join this club, but "hory shit" was this thing fast (on the test drive)

I am going to start with just some of those extra spikey mountain bike pedals- I am not really looking forward to learning the whole clip in pedal saga, after watching my wife fall down almost every time she goes out with hers (even when we are not drunk biking)

I haven’t bothered with the clip in pedals.  I do have the old fashioned pedal cages.  Those are easy to get out of. 

 

[csb]

Yep.  It will probably never see anything beyond greenway or neighborhood duty (junior is no longer interested in any single track trails), and a fork from Fox, etc. that will actually hold me up worth a darn is about what the bike cost me in the first place.  Right now have my pedal energy is wasted from the front of the bike bobbing up and down.  

Even pretty cheap suspension has a way to lock it out. Have you tightened down the adjustment knob? 

 

[Road Guy]

^- that or maybe the suspension part is busted? I'm fairly heavy (240 lbs) and my fork doesn't do that to me?

 

[Supe]

CSB - I have, it does not lock it out.  The knobs offer virtually no adjustment, actually.  I will have to pop the knobs off and see if I can do it with an allen key.

RG - this particular fork just has a really weak spring in it, and a stiffer one isn't available.  The woes of a cheap bike.  

 

[Road Guy]

Gotcha-

Just drill a hole through it and bolt the sombitch.......

It’s funny a few years ago I bought a $800 Giant mountain bike which I thought was crazy and now I’m looking at some mountain bikes in the “low $2,000’s” (in a few years) seems there are lots of old man clubs of mountain bikers here -

 

[Supe]

If the tubing wasn't so thin that I I didn't think it would wallow out, I'd have no reservations about pinning the sucker.  I could always just weld it (I mean, I think it's like a $70 fork new).

 

[Road Guy]

if only you knew someone with a welder.......

 

[leggo PE]

I have clipless pedals (call them clip in and you're a rookie) and have never fallen with them getting stuck. But I have had a few close calls. I got used to them pretty quickly.

They are a must have (read: huge help) if you plan on biking serious hills!

 

[Road Guy]

so I did a leisurely 15 miles last night on the new bike, definitely a different feeling than the mountain bike - took me a few miles just to figure out how to shift the dam gears - I don't know if I need to upgrade my "bike shorts" but my ass was on fire the last 5 miles coming back to the house! 

 

[MA_PE]

so I did a leisurely 15 miles last night on the new bike, definitely a different feeling than the mountain bike - took me a few miles just to figure out how to shift the dam gears - I don't know if I need to upgrade my "bike shorts" but my ass was on fire the last 5 miles coming back to the house! 

Maybe you should cut back on the taco bell.

 

[FLBuff PE]

The position on the road bike is very different than the mountain bike, so you are on different "sit bones". Just keep riding, and you'll get your ass in shape!

 

[Road Guy]

it also very unforgiving, get to close to edge of road / trail and your done for! I felt like I was weaving back and forth a lot?

 

[P-E]

Yup on a road bike you need to worry about all the road hazards (drains, rocks, sand, branches, pot holes). 

 

[Road Guy]

2nd ride felt a little better, did a little over 20 miles yesterday , got some better bike shorts - I think my seat was a tad too high on the last ride also.  It definitely doesn't turn on a dime like the mtn bikes handles, I don't know why but I always seem to drift to the right and then I'm like O shit I'm about to run off the edge of the trail..

Also make a future schedule note, this time next year, EB.com ride of the Bike Ride Across Nebraska!  There will be team shirts, and we will have a beer cart girl

 

[kevo_55]

Biked to work this morning. Only took me 5 mins more than driving.

I'm loving this!

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

I did my first bike "race" this weekend. Not a race at all but a large group ride of varying distances to bring folks to a struggling mill town in northern Maine.

With my warmup & cool down ride (to/from the airbnb), it was my longest ride ever: 26.6mi lol

Convinced boyfriend to do the century - Strava tells him it was 108mi. I thankfully also still have a boyfriend after that lol

He's looking forward to returning to mountain biking, I look forward to getting my Saturdays back - he isn't a morning person so it'd be 8a or so before he'd get out of bed, then we'd eat and we wouldn't start riding until 1030-11 (or later). And his rides would be 3-4.5 hours in training (he busted his road bike twice during training so did a bunch of rides on his single speed so he didn't get all of the long rides he was supposed to, I think his max was 58-60mi). So it'll be nice to have more of our day back 

 

[csb]

I did my first bike "race" this weekend. Not a race at all but a large group ride of varying distances to bring folks to a struggling mill town in northern Maine.

With my warmup & cool down ride (to/from the airbnb), it was my longest ride ever: 26.6mi lol

Convinced boyfriend to do the century - Strava tells him it was 108mi. I thankfully also still have a boyfriend after that lol

He's looking forward to returning to mountain biking, I look forward to getting my Saturdays back - he isn't a morning person so it'd be 8a or so before he'd get out of bed, then we'd eat and we wouldn't start riding until 1030-11 (or later). And his rides would be 3-4.5 hours in training (he busted his road bike twice during training so did a bunch of rides on his single speed so he didn't get all of the long rides he was supposed to, I think his max was 58-60mi). So it'll be nice to have more of our day back 

What town did you ride to in Maine? I'm from "The County" originally. 

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

What town did you ride to in Maine? I'm from "The County" originally. 

It was the Millinocket Century, done in the same spirit as the marathon