Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Any new goodies?

I can't help but wonder if anyone got some new bike goodies over the Holidays? My better half to be "gifted" me with a trainer and a spinnerval DVD. I set it up last night in my spare bedroom and spun for a half hour. I couldn't help but notice the painter did a really lousy job, lots of overlap and runs. Can't say I noticed it before but then again I never stared at the wall for a half hour either. Maybe I'll share this information with the land lord so he don't contract this fellow again. Magnetic trainers sound somewhat like a generator being wound if you ask me, made me wonder if there are trainers with a generator built in so you could power a light bulb, stereo or some other non essential widget to amuse yourself.

Anyone else?

At 47 years of age, I know not to even try a trainer. The only kind of exercise equipment that doesn't bore me silly are those treadmills at the gym that keep changing their speed and incline to a program. Otherwise I just sit and watch the clock getting rebellious, and thinking a walk outside would be better for me.

I have a treadmill at home, but only the dogs use it. I should get rid of it.

I can't help but wonder if anyone got some new bike goodies over the Holidays? ...
Anyone else?

I bought a bell that sounds like an old fashioned doorbell. Neil Fein can tell you how fond I am of it.

I bought a bell that sounds like an old fashioned doorbell. Neil Fein can tell you how fond I am of it.

Awesome, personally I'm holding out for an Oogah (http://www.ptwarehouse.com/accessories/interior/horns.htm) horn. They need to make a horn like that for a bike.

At 25 years of age

Fixed that for you :D


The only kind of exercise equipment that doesn't bore me silly are those treadmills at the gym that keep changing their speed and incline to a program.


Those treadmills are pretty neat little devices, do free weights bore you as well?

I saw That Bell last week in my LBS.
I saw it on the photo you posted.
Just had to have it.
The rain has just stopped.
66* Sunny
Ding Dong lets go riding.

It won't be here for another 2 days, but I bought myself a Surly X-Check. Partially because I wanted a new bike, partially to combat the effects of the ice-cream maker I gave to my fiancee. :) (Thankfully she looked up a bunch of sugar-free, low-fat, non-dairy "ice-cream" recipes for us to try out.)

Fixed that for you :D




Those treadmills are pretty neat little devices, do free weights bore you as well?

Thanks for fixing my momentary lapse of judgement! :D

No, weights are kind of interesting because they cause so much pain at the end. Every time you do a rep, it feels completely different. What I don't* like is all the leftover man-sweat on the benches.

Hey all, my mom picked me up some PI Gavia gloves, some performance bib shorts (can't wait to try them! picking my bike up from NH tomorrow!) and some performance tights! Then I got some cash from the rest of my family so I will be getting some pedals and shoes soon!

Can't wait to pick up the LeMond from storage!

I finally was lucky enough to receive enough funds to buy a new set of rims. Now I'm sitting here with endless windows open deciding if I really wanted DT Swiss RR 1.1's after all.

Got me some Cannondale carbon fiber road shoes, a trainer and a Spinerval DVD. Should get my clipless pedals this week aslo (once I figure out exactly which ones I want). Now I just need to get my fat arse on the bike and ride the dang thing!

Well, I got a little licence plate thingy for the front of my car with a picture of a moose riding a bike that says "I'd rather be riding a bike". A great solution for those of us for whom going car free is impractical at this point. I'll just have to figure out how to mount the sucker.

That's my only cycling related doo-dad I got for Christmas.

Mrs Santa brought me a pair of urban-camo Hoss shorts and jersey to match as well as a pair of white Fox gloves and a new chain guide for the new rig. All will be completely tested out tomorrow but we will go on a short ride today.

Cheers
DBD:beer:

No bike stuff this year. None needed actually, except of course for a new bike. Gifts this year were mostly clothes and some sentimental family stuff like pictures. It was a great Christmas.

Santa bought me:

1) Assos winter glove system. 3 gloves.
2) Giordinia toe botties
3) Whia Vario-S Torque system with bits. More a fine instrument than a tool.
4) Selle Italia Max Flite saddle in yellow leather.
5) Some "GU" gel paks.

I bought myself earlier in the year for Christmas a New Specialized Langster "London" series SS.
Saving for a BMC Road Racer with Chorus. Maybe mid-year.

:)

Got me some Cannondale carbon fiber road shoes, a trainer and a Spinerval DVD. Should get my clipless pedals this week aslo (once I figure out exactly which ones I want). Now I just need to get my fat arse on the bike and ride the dang thing!

Cool! nice shoes.
I just bought a pair of Dura-Ace clipless pedals from PBK. Very light and typical top-O-line quality if it helps.

I got a Spin Dr work stand, cone wrenches and chain breaker. The Fuel EX8 I got in Nov was an early present....................to myself. ;)

I can't help but wonder if anyone got some new bike goodies over the Holidays? My better half to be "gifted" me with a trainer and a spinnerval DVD. I set it up last night in my spare bedroom and spun for a half hour. I couldn't help but notice the painter did a really lousy job, lots of overlap and runs. Can't say I noticed it before but then again I never stared at the wall for a half hour either. Maybe I'll share this information with the land lord so he don't contract this fellow again. Magnetic trainers sound somewhat like a generator being wound if you ask me, made me wonder if there are trainers with a generator built in so you could power a light bulb, stereo or some other non essential widget to amuse yourself.

Anyone else?

I got a bit of Eriksen shwag and some bike tools. I also presented my boy six year old with a modified cheapie mag trainer so he could ride beside me. He seemed to enjoy it...so far.

For them that can afford it I highly recomend a VR trainer to help make the indoor rides less deadly boring. Yes they can cost as much a bike, but I'm still pedalling away almost every day and the scenery and ride can be different every day if that's what it takes to help you keep on keeping on.

For them that can afford it I highly recomend a VR trainer to help make the indoor rides less deadly boring.

I've got my stationary 'bent in front of the TV so I can play my X360 games or watch movies.

I've got my stationary 'bent in front of the TV so I can play my X360 games or watch movies.
Also a good way to make the trainer time suck less, but it sure sounds very much like setting up a regular trainer in front of the TV and spinning away.
Shill Hat ON:
IMHO the variable nature of VR or RLV ride is a different animal altogether. They can require a level of focus that doesn't lend itself to playing video games at the same time. I know because I've zoned out just spinning away and almost been ground to a halt by a 15% climb I didn't see coming.

I use it, my wife uses it and I think the fact that my 6 year old wishes he could use is a pretty strong testament to its high non-suckiness factor.

Additionally all that seat time means I won't have to harden my backside up again when our all to short season comes around again...Is it mid May yet I wanna play outdoors.

Garmin eTrex Vista HCx. Oh yeah :)

And $$ for wheels. Woot!

New Motobecane Messenger:
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/images/msg06_med.jpg
Yes, I have ranted about bikesdirect.com advertising tactics in the past over at the Road Bike Forum. I assembled it, but used my own set of SPD clipless pedals, and test rode it. The rear wheel had a few spokes unwind, but I reset them and it seems all is well. I am riding with the freewheel.

LG Magma Gloves (makes it look like I have NightCrawler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightcrawler_(comics))hands).
A couple of windproof winter jerseys
LG Balaclava (for the Ninja look)
PI Amfib Booties
And some gift cards to my LBS that are destined to be used for either a new wheelset or crankset.

Everyone seems well loved on this board!

I got a set of Tubus racks for myself, but most of my friends aren't all that into biking and wouldn't know what to get me. (Neil B knows me and my bike well, but got me a non-bike present for Channukah.) Of course, my birthday is in a few weeks, ya never know...


Awesome, personally I'm holding out for an Oogah (http://www.ptwarehouse.com/accessories/interior/horns.htm) horn. They need to make a horn like that for a bike.

They have a sound sample of the horn made me laugh! I've been thinking about getting an air horn if I can find room on my handlebars for it.

I got a Chrome Citizen messenger bag. I think it will be real handy for commuting to work!

I can't help but wonder if anyone got some new bike goodies over the Holidays? My better half to be "gifted" me with a trainer and a spinnerval DVD. I set it up last night in my spare bedroom and spun for a half hour. I couldn't help but notice the painter did a really lousy job, lots of overlap and runs. Can't say I noticed it before but then again I never stared at the wall for a half hour either. Maybe I'll share this information with the land lord so he don't contract this fellow again. Magnetic trainers sound somewhat like a generator being wound if you ask me, made me wonder if there are trainers with a generator built in so you could power a light bulb, stereo or some other non essential widget to amuse yourself.

Anyone else?

Nothing bike related, but not completely off topic, I went from a 700MHz Celeron computer with 128MB of RAM, and a packed full 20GB hard drive, running Windows ME, to a 1.6GHz Dual Core 2 with 1GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive running Ubuntu 7.10. It's a lot faster, of course I only got it set up yesterday, so some things are not working quite yet.:D

Also a good way to make the trainer time suck less, but it sure sounds very much like setting up a regular trainer in front of the TV and spinning away.
Shill Hat ON:
IMHO the variable nature of VR or RLV ride is a different animal altogether. They can require a level of focus that doesn't lend itself to playing video games at the same time. I know because I've zoned out just spinning away and almost been ground to a halt by a 15% climb I didn't see coming.

I use it, my wife uses it and I think the fact that my 6 year old wishes he could use is a pretty strong testament to its high non-suckiness factor.

Additionally all that seat time means I won't have to harden my backside up again when our all to short season comes around again...Is it mid May yet I wanna play outdoors.

The 'bent that I have has multiple programs which vary the resistance. (It's a DB 1150Rb) While I don't get the benefit of seeing a hill coming up on a VR scene (which would be really awesome) there's an LED scrolling screen which keys me in as to what's coming next. I keep seeing ads for that VR system in Bicycling magazine, and I wish I had the coin to drop on that full setup with the screen/mat/trainer stand etc.
The biggest drawback is that I don't ride a 'bent outside, so it's not the same as putting in long miles on my regular bike. At the same time, it's nice to switch things up and be able to totally relax my upper body when I'm riding the 'bent. My 15 mile r/t commute at least keeps me somewhat in condition for when spring rolls around, so it's not too much of a change from riding the stationary.

I got a Park TM-1 an a copy of The Bicycle Wheel. Now if Santa would have given me the skills to build rims;)

Nothing bike related, but not completely off topic, I went from a 700MHz Celeron computer with 128MB of RAM, and a packed full 20GB hard drive, running Windows ME, to a 1.6GHz Dual Core 2 with 1GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive running Ubuntu 7.10. It's a lot faster, of course I only got it set up yesterday, so some things are not working quite yet.:D

Hey, I built a PC for my brother who needs one for online classes. Your upgrade to the newer one is a huge leap forward, it cost me $400 on black friday to build this:
320GB Sata HDD
2 GB DDR2 RAM
Abit SLi board
AMD 4400 X2 AM2 socket
Nvidia Geforce 8600 pcix16 card


Unfortunately I just got some money, gift cards, and an warrant for my arrest. Apparently I did something wrong when i sent in my Defensive Driving stuff to the court over a year ago. Now I have to pay full ticket price. The real kicker is that I have been car free for the last few months. :mad: . I used a gift card to buy a Samsung toner printer for $49 yesterday...$70 off. So I guess thats a gift.

Unfortunately I just got some money, gift cards, and an warrant for my arrest.

Man, that's as bad as the year I got pneumonia for Christmas. (Well, 2 days before, actually.)

Way too many things too list.

Nashbar Ultimate bicycle stand.

Nashbar Wheel truing stand.

Spoke wrenches.

Bicycle socks.

Underarmor pants and shirts.

wool socks.

Clothes!!!

What I got myself:

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s200/ronzorini/AcornMed-3Colors.jpg

I got a tan one, and one of the bikeforums members, ronzorini, makes them. Excellent bag, but still haven't put it on the bike yet (work, weather, and some back problems have be getting in the way of riding recently)

Mrs Santa delivered:
A new all-weather reflective commuter jacket
a wind jacket
long sleeve jersey
short sleeve jersey
reflective leg warmers
It will be a much warmer, nicer commute now.

Waiting for my new front derailleur to arrive, and I get to buy some new bar tape. That's about it for bike stuff. Then I get to start a handlebar rebuild, switching to an adjustable stem, bar-end shifters, aero brake levers, retaping (of course), then remounting my light and horn.

alum and carbon Airborne Thunderbolt

I had a "HOLY COW!" Christmas!:
A set of Crank Brothers Egg Beater pedals
Profile Century Aerobars
Oregon Scientific ATC Helmet Camera
Wind/waterproof cycling tights
$700.00 cash
Tent lantern set (LED)
3 books (One a signed First Edition from the Author! Better to Beg Forgiveness:- Mike Z Williamson)
Various Shirts
A Hemp snapbrim style cap, in Green and Gold
A Mercury Marine Ballcap
An Oregon Scientific Weather Radio (Portable, for bike touring....):eek::D

Nothing bike related, but not completely off topic, I went from a 700MHz Celeron computer with 128MB of RAM, and a packed full 20GB hard drive, running Windows ME, to a 1.6GHz Dual Core 2 with 1GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive running Ubuntu 7.10. It's a lot faster, of course I only got it set up yesterday, so some things are not working quite yet.:D

Yeah, I bought myself a new laptop this Xmas. :beer: I just installed XP pro and I'm partitioning the drive to dual boot Ubuntu 7.1.

I had an old computer like yours for many years and all I can say is that you're going to be shocked at the change in performance.

Oh, if your gpu doesn't seem to be working right after you've installed your drivers, make sure xgl-server is installed. For some reason it doesn't install on 7.1.

Here's my foo post:


Originally I had intended to buy something this spring but since the remaining lifespan of my Gateway can now be measured in weeks, not months, I had to accelerate the search.

Instead of buying a standard consumer laptop, I decided to build a custom notebook. Mine is based on the Compal IfL90 chassis (my other choices were the Asus C90 and Asus S96S). Turns out that it actually costs less, especially if you can avoid paying Bill Gates for the OS.

It doesn't look fancy but, it's comparable to the base model 15" MacBook Pro for about half the price. Check it out and tell me what you think:

http://www.xoticpc.com/images/IFL9011.jpg


Compal Ifl90 (Sager 2090 / Force 3297 / PowerPro J 10:15)

15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) "Glossy" LCD w/PCI-e
nVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT w/512MB
Intel Core2 Duo T7500 2.2GHz Processor w/4MB L2 On-die cache - 800MHz FSB (Santa Rosa)
(Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound )
2GB (1 SODIMM) * CORSAIR * DDR2/667 Memory
1GB Intel Turbo Memory (Robson) - (Vista Only)
120GB SATA 3GB/s Seagate Momentus 7200.2 Hard Drive at 7,200 RPM
Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive
Built-in Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 802.11a/g/n
Smart Li-ion Battery (9-Cell)

$ 1,390.98 with 3-year Warranty - Next Business Day Shipping - Lifetime 24/7

:D

Cycling related stuffs:

My dad bought me some Yakima Towers so that I could move my ancient bike mounts and cross bars over to my subaru.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2220/2121045818_0dc6e0f889.jpg?v=0

I ordered myself a big pile of Hammer Nutrition clothing (3 pairs of bibs and a jersey) when they went on sale this month. Ugly stuff, but it is high end Voler gear. It's nice to pick up $100 bib for $30. Oooh, and I'm a size L now instead of an XL! ;)

http://www.e-caps.com/images/product/header/header_KCS.jpg

:eek:

Just ask the guys to use a towel...

gah...exactly.

You guys got so many cool things! My family stopped exchanging presents. It makes for a relaxing and pleasant pre-Christmas, and a really nice holiday, but the day after I'm jealous of all the goodies! On the other hand, my credit cards are unmarred...

From the In-Laws:
1. Trek padded shorts (first pair ever)
2. Underarmor "heat gear" shirt
3. Bicycling Science - physics and physiology associated with cycling
4. Zinn & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintanence - for upkeep of my Hardrock
5. Alien II multi-tool
6. Tire lever/patch kit
7. ~70 cu.in. bag for under the saddle to hold #5, #6 and cell phone
8. 1 year subscription to "Bicycling" magazine
9. Crank Bros. frame pump

From my folks:
1. Trail Rat 15W head light "to see" so I can ride in the dark now!!!

That's only the bike related stuff, but it's also the stuff I was most excited for. Now I just need a couple of warm days to get rid of the gal-danged ice so I can start riding again since I got a bunch of cold weather gear for my birthday last October.

4. Zinn & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintanence - for upkeep of my Hardrock

That looks like a cool book. How well does it cover older MTBs? (I have a 20-year old bike.)

That looks like a cool book. How well does it cover older MTBs? (I have a 20-year old bike.)

Go on alibris.com or abebooks.com and find a cheaper older edition!

Santa really surprised me! I still cannot believe it. Madone 5.2 with a triple ring front. It is also getting some Deep V's next week!

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb4/Barabus2001/IMG_1139.jpg

The 'bent that I have has multiple programs which vary the resistance. (It's a DB 1150Rb) While I don't get the benefit of seeing a hill coming up on a VR scene (which would be really awesome) there's an LED scrolling screen which keys me in as to what's coming next. I keep seeing ads for that VR system in Bicycling magazine, and I wish I had the coin to drop on that full setup with the screen/mat/trainer stand etc.
The biggest drawback is that I don't ride a 'bent outside, so it's not the same as putting in long miles on my regular bike. At the same time, it's nice to switch things up and be able to totally relax my upper body when I'm riding the 'bent. My 15 mile r/t commute at least keeps me somewhat in condition for when spring rolls around, so it's not too much of a change from riding the stationary.

That sounds pretty decent, there are days my butt would really prefer sitting in a bent.

Hey, I built a PC for my brother who needs one for online classes. Your upgrade to the newer one is a huge leap forward, it cost me $400 on black friday to build this:
320GB Sata HDD
2 GB DDR2 RAM
Abit SLi board
AMD 4400 X2 AM2 socket
Nvidia Geforce 8600 pcix16 card


Unfortunately I just got some money, gift cards, and an warrant for my arrest. Apparently I did something wrong when i sent in my Defensive Driving stuff to the court over a year ago. Now I have to pay full ticket price. The real kicker is that I have been car free for the last few months. :mad: . I used a gift card to buy a Samsung toner printer for $49 yesterday...$70 off. So I guess thats a gift.

I Paid CA$280.00 total, it's funny though, it's kinda like upgrading a bike, you always run into the might-as-well-as:

I needed Processor, Main Board and Memory possibly a power supply, as the old one might not have enough umph..... Cases are amazingly cheap, a power supply with case attached $29, without $35 (not sure why they do that), but I get the 450w power supply with case attached.

I'm looking at the old hard drive, it's a 20GB with about 1GB free, an 80GB hard drive goes for $40 around here, a 160GB goes for $50, so I go with the 160GB.

I am also car free, no wants or warrants though.:D

That looks like a cool book. How well does it cover older MTBs? (I have a 20-year old bike.)

I've only flipped through it so far. It looks to be a pretty general guide actually, with an emphasis on mountain bike components. It covers basically every component in fair detail, using illustrations rather than photos and I think it's actually easier to understand that way. I'd imagine that it covers older stuff pretty well, assuming you're not talking about something REALLY old. I've seen that it covers multiple types of shifters, brakes, etc - I don't know how much that has changed in the last 10, 15 or 20 years since I'm a bike newbie.

I got the book at the suggestion of my brother.

I don't know about the Mountain Bike book, but I just received the Zinn and the Art of Road Bicycle Maintenance and it is a good book.

After some reading, I'd highly recommend the Bicycling Science book as well. There is a fair amount of physics (power transmission, aerodynamics, etc) and some physiology in addition to general bicycle history. The physics aren't terribly difficult, and the math is fairly simple since the author doesn't bother to show the derivations but skips right to the "answers." He also does a good job of supporting his info with anecdotes from bicycle design, race results, etc so things that may get lost in the technical text are made more apparent with concrete examples. I'm a mechanical engineer and find this kind of stuff interesting anyway (I also have a book on vehicle dynamics from a college class I took that's lots of "fun").

I got a Class 3, level 2 safety shirt/vest. As it has short sleeves it can substitute for a shirt, keeping you cooler. And it has so much reflective tape on it it is hard to photograph at night.