"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Do you shift?

Not if you're a real man. You're riding a fixie now.

Pcad is Wussy. He has a derailleur on his bicycle.

Real men ride unicycles.

shift happens.

Real men ride unicycles.

Yeah, but real real men ride unicycles, on rollers, while playing Wii tennis, right? :rolleyes:

Real men ride unicycles.

Fixed.

Yo kidz: You tellin' me I'm not a real man?
At age 75, got in over a quarter million miles on bicycles . . . anything from 3 to 27-speeds.
So how many miles you got in, sonny???

Yo kidz: You tellin' me I'm not a real man?
At age 75, got in over a quarter million miles on bicycles . . . anything from 3 to 27-speeds.
So how many miles you got in, sonny???

Nothing is quite as gratifying for Pcad as somebody who claims to be older than him on these boards. That ROCKS. How many miles do I have in? Over 100K pops. I'm quite confident that I will be flattened by a motor vehicle long before I hit 250K. Hopefully.

By the way, I typically don't try to tell somebody 75+ anything. I'm really not sure if they're going to hear me anyway. Forgive me if I bust balls on age, I may not get this chance again for a very long time.

"what?"

Nothing is quite as gratifying for Pcad as somebody who claims to be older than him on these boards. That ROCKS. How many miles do I have in? Over 100K pops. I'm quite confident that I will be flattened by a motor vehicle long before I hit 250K. Hopefully.

By the way, I typically don't try to tell somebody 75+ anything. I'm really not sure if they're going to hear me anyway. Forgive me if I bust balls on age, I may not get this chance again for a very long time.

Yeah, I've got about 150K at this point, but I'm not piling them on as fast as I used to :beer:

I don't shift on my single speed, but I only ride it once/week, on the days when I'm a real man :)

Shift This (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E0DD103CF935A1575BC0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print)

Or Here (http://www.nissancommercials.com/nissan.htm#nisz).

*edit* Check out The Run. I haven't watched it in a while but it has a Bourne type feel to it. Only disappointment is no heel-toe in the hairpin.

Doh it just ended. It's only the first bit. *end edit*

I thought you bought a car. lol.

I'm way below 100k. I hit 10k in one year only once. This year is like 2.5k, most of it before March. Sad.

cdr

Real men are still racing . . . cyclocross.

Real men are still racing . . . cyclocross . . . singlespeed
fixed

Yeah, but real real men ride unicycles, on rollers, while playing Wii tennis, right? :rolleyes:
I'm sure we'll actually see that on youtube some day.

fixed

fixed speed comes after race season, not during it for me

fixed speed comes after race season, not during it for me

Ha ha. Now *that* would be a real man (racing CX fixed).

Ha ha. Now *that* would be a real man (racing CX fixed).

I would like to see it though

I would like to see it though

Maybe we'll see *that* on YouTube someday, too. We can only hope. :eek:

Shift This (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E0DD103CF935A1575BC0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print)

Or Here (http://www.nissancommercials.com/nissan.htm#nisz).

*edit* Check out The Run. I haven't watched it in a while but it has a Bourne type feel to it. Only disappointment is no heel-toe in the hairpin.

Doh it just ended. It's only the first bit. *end edit*

I thought you bought a car. lol.

I'm way below 100k. I hit 10k in one year only once. This year is like 2.5k, most of it before March. Sad.

cdr

Damn, those are full-size videos! Where'd you find that gem of a link??

I love me some Nissan. Grew up pretending to be Paul Newman in my pops Datsun racecar (SCCA D-Prod).

Damn, those are full-size videos! Where'd you find that gem of a link??

I love me some Nissan. Grew up pretending to be Paul Newman in my pops Datsun racecar (SCCA D-Prod).

I forget how I got it. I was looking around for vids and stuff for Nissan.

If car racing weren't so expensive I'd probably be racing cars. As it is I live for empty and poorly designed (i.e. low speed limit) entrance/exit ramps, any excuse to heel/toe (parking the car, exit ramps, turns, etc), and good lines through turns no matter what speed. And the occasional free/cheap autocross. And I tell all my family members that going +0 really is a better size tire and they really do want HPS or EBC pads. lol. Even my wife is on more squared off tires and HPS/Brembos on her otherwise stock civic.

And she's getting Koni Yellows :)

cdr

As it is I live for empty and poorly designed (i.e. low speed limit) entrance/exit ramps, any excuse to heel/toe (parking the car, exit ramps, turns, etc), and good lines through turns no matter what speed.

Man, we should carpool. Exactly how I drive. Lately I've been enjoying cornering at 5k rpm, at the traction limit, and suddenly lifting off the accelerator to oversteer the rest of the turn. Yum.

<love Nissans, but I'm in a TSX right now -- incredible value, IMO>

I have two more weeks of 'cross left, and it'll be fixed-gear on the road and single-speed mtb offroad.

But I have to wonder how much training benefit either really offers. My cross bike with touring or studded tires and fenders seem like a better winter bike set up. And while the fixed keeps your legs spinning (and there by keeping you warm), I'm not really buying the perfect spin thing (since the flywheel effect will get you through the dead spots.) But I figure you can keep your own legs spinning, and by shifting in to a bigger gear, you can get a better resistance workout to boot.

Not if you're a real man. You're riding Powercranks now.



f1x0r3d

If any of you had one hair on your bike racer balls you'd be riding a Powercrank Fixie from now until February. You Wussies.

I ride behind a guy who rides those Powercranks in the winter on some weekends. It's like watching QB Joe Thiesmann's leg break over and over again (infamous brutal NFL film clip from about 15 years ago). I try not to look.

I have two more weeks of 'cross left, and it'll be fixed-gear on the road and single-speed mtb offroad.

But I have to wonder how much training benefit either really offers. My cross bike with touring or studded tires and fenders seem like a better winter bike set up. And while the fixed keeps your legs spinning (and there by keeping you warm), I'm not really buying the perfect spin thing (since the flywheel effect will get you through the dead spots.) But I figure you can keep your own legs spinning, and by shifting in to a bigger gear, you can get a better resistance workout to boot.

Fixed gear is a bike that you ride in the wrong gear 95% of the time:D

Fixed riding does have its place. A lot of riders do some early season LSD on a fixie in a small gear, never getting out of the saddle and just spinning the whole time, up steep hills, on downhills. And riding the track is a great complement for criterium racers sprinting skills.

I'm not really buying the perfect spin thing (since the flywheel effect will get you through the dead spots.)

U-oh. Is that the sound of sleeping giants awakening that I hear in the distance?

Not if you're a real man. You're riding a fixie now.

I resemble that remark...;)

Not if you're a real man. You're riding a fixie now.

A fixie with a 54x11. Uphill all the way. In the snow. Barefoot.

Ha ha. Now *that* would be a real man (racing CX fixed).

did it in a race earlier this year. not to display my masculinity though, i forgot to reinstall the freewheel on my flip flop hub after replacing the bearings :rolleyes:

it's actually a lot easier than you'd think. even in the tight corners speeds are low enough that pedal strike isn't an issue. dismounts are smooth if you pedal on your instep and let the crank lift you out of the saddle (a la kevin bacon in quicksilver).

i actually did pretty well too. it was only my second race and i placed 23rd out of a field of 60 something. and that was starting in the back of the field, out of courtesy.

i'd recommend trying fixed offroad to anyone inclined.

A fixie with a 54x11. Uphill all the way. In the snow. Barefoot.

A fixie with 22x36. Downhill at 30%. On ice. Toeclips.

If any of you had one hair on your bike racer balls you'd be riding a Powercrank Fixie from now until February. You Wussies.

I ride behind a guy who rides those Powercranks in the winter on some weekends. It's like watching QB Joe Thiesmann's leg break over and over again (infamous brutal NFL film clip from about 15 years ago). I try not to look.

Yeah Powercranks are the hardest damn athletic endeavor I've ever undertaken. They are absolutely brutal physically and mentally.

It's also impossible to not get a reaction. This is good and bad depending on mood and gender of the reactant. Definitely a great conversation starter with the gals ;)

Yeah Powercranks are the hardest damn athletic endeavor I've ever undertaken. They are absolutely brutal physically and mentally.

It's also impossible to not get a reaction. This is good and bad depending on mood and gender of the reactant. Definitely a great conversation starter with the gals ;)

I'm pretty sure that trying to use powercranks with a fixed gear would be a monumental failure.

did it in a race earlier this year. not to display my masculinity though, i forgot to reinstall the freewheel on my flip flop hub after replacing the bearings :rolleyes:

it's actually a lot easier than you'd think. even in the tight corners speeds are low enough that pedal strike isn't an issue. dismounts are smooth if you pedal on your instep and let the crank lift you out of the saddle (a la kevin bacon in quicksilver).

i actually did pretty well too. it was only my second race and i placed 23rd out of a field of 60 something. and that was starting in the back of the field, out of courtesy.

i'd recommend trying fixed offroad to anyone inclined.

Allrightythen. Real Man count = 1, the rest of ya pay attention and get some lessons from dirtyphotons.

That's pretty badass. Congrats on even performing it at all, but a decent placing, too. I'm duly impressed.

I'm pretty sure that trying to use powercranks with a fixed gear would be a monumental failure.

wouldnt it just be a single speed with the freewheel in the bottom bracket instead of at the rear wheel?

I'm pretty sure that trying to use powercranks with a fixed gear would be a monumental failure.

I think pcad was just trying to come up with the worst combo known to man.

In reality using Powercranks with a fixed gear would give the bike a freewheel due to the clutches in the cranks. It'd just a be a single speed then.

I think pcad was just trying to come up with the worst combo known to man.

In reality using Powercranks with a fixed gear would give the bike a freewheel due to the clutches in the cranks. It'd just a be a single speed then.

Yeah, I figured that's what pcad meant. My post was in response to your post, since it seemed to me (though I was wrong) that you missed that detail.

Man, we should carpool. Exactly how I drive. Lately I've been enjoying cornering at 5k rpm, at the traction limit, and suddenly lifting off the accelerator to oversteer the rest of the turn. Yum.

<love Nissans, but I'm in a TSX right now -- incredible value, IMO>

I work from home and one of the things I miss is the commute, sort of. Although the time/money/etc was a drag, I tried to make the most of it. Until it broke I used a GTech RR (measures Gs and 0-60 among other things - sort of like a car's version of a PowerTap/SRM/etc) and would do some corner attacks then download/check the graphs afterwards (1.02 Gs on stock sized Avons M555s). Ditto 0-60 - three rest stops each way would allow me to practice six 0-60 (that's the speed I'll admit to) runs a day (5.1 was my best, also on Avons). Until my clutch started complaining. And I still got 26-28 mpg :)

Running a virtually stock 350Z albeit with nicer brakes and 275+315 Pilot PS2s tires on Nismo rims (my Gtech broke before I got these so no stats). I have some stuff to install (mainly handling/weight items) but am between houses for now so it's all sitting in a friend's garage, car included.

I have a feeling it'll be my last impractical car so I'm trying to make the most of it. Although an STI or Evo wouldn't be a bad "winterable" car. For now I make do with my 271k Civic VX.

cdr

Very cool. I just have "a car."