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05-24-08, 10:05 AM
Hi, everyone,
I finally started an account here because every time I google something about bikes, I get an archived bikeforums page--and it's usually one of the more useful results of the search.
I'm a bicycle commuter in NYC (26 miles/day on a modified Dahon Matrix when childcare logistics allow; 13 miles/day as a compromise sometimes; 0 miles a day more often than I'd prefer), and I do the occasional organized century tour on a Trek 1000SL. The Trek has never been all that comfortable, especially on my hands. It was my first road bike, and I bought what Bicycling Magazine called the best entry road bike of the year. It's a perfectly good bike, but I realized it makes more sense for somebody who wants to go fast. I like increasing my average speed on a century, but I don't really care who I beat to the finish line.
My wife wants to do a credit-card tour of Quebec next summer with our twin four-year-olds (they're currently three), so I'm thinking of selling the 1000SL instead of spending money trying to turn it into a touring bike, and getting a real touring bike instead, breaking in a Brooks saddle, and getting a year's worth of fussing and tinkering done before setting out on the trip. It'll probably only be 30-40 miles/day (my wife's not a bike nut), but I'd be hauling a child trailer and carrying STUFF, so something like a Trek 520 or Cannondale Touring model seems appropriate, and I'm reading about the Novara Randonee, as well.
So anyway--nice to meet you all. (And Paulie--I moved from Queens to Washington Heights a few months ago. Woodside was part of my daily commute.)
Keith
I finally started an account here because every time I google something about bikes, I get an archived bikeforums page--and it's usually one of the more useful results of the search.
I'm a bicycle commuter in NYC (26 miles/day on a modified Dahon Matrix when childcare logistics allow; 13 miles/day as a compromise sometimes; 0 miles a day more often than I'd prefer), and I do the occasional organized century tour on a Trek 1000SL. The Trek has never been all that comfortable, especially on my hands. It was my first road bike, and I bought what Bicycling Magazine called the best entry road bike of the year. It's a perfectly good bike, but I realized it makes more sense for somebody who wants to go fast. I like increasing my average speed on a century, but I don't really care who I beat to the finish line.
My wife wants to do a credit-card tour of Quebec next summer with our twin four-year-olds (they're currently three), so I'm thinking of selling the 1000SL instead of spending money trying to turn it into a touring bike, and getting a real touring bike instead, breaking in a Brooks saddle, and getting a year's worth of fussing and tinkering done before setting out on the trip. It'll probably only be 30-40 miles/day (my wife's not a bike nut), but I'd be hauling a child trailer and carrying STUFF, so something like a Trek 520 or Cannondale Touring model seems appropriate, and I'm reading about the Novara Randonee, as well.
So anyway--nice to meet you all. (And Paulie--I moved from Queens to Washington Heights a few months ago. Woodside was part of my daily commute.)
Keith