Fifty Plus (50+) - I have to wonder

Should the government look into the addictive properties of Bike lube? Maybe I just have a more addictive personality than some people but looking at the N+1 rule, whatever that is, I believe bikes are addicting.

When I moved to a more bike friendly area and decided to look at getting back into cycling I simply was interested in a bike to ride to the store and around town now and then, more of a point A to point B rider. I got a rather unusual bike but a comfortable one and started riding. I was shocked at how expensive bike have become but I took the advice preached in many of these forums and went to a LBS and spent the extra money to get service and a quality bike set up correctly.

I won’t take the time to explain how I began to feel the addiction starting to take place but at some point riding seemed to give me a feeling of euphoria. I look forward to my morning rides and you would think I should be content and satisfied. As I would ride passed the hill that lead to our local dirt trail I began to feel a “need” for a trail bike. The next thing I know I started looking for a MTB. I could say not seriously but one day I got a deal on a used one and drove out to get it and bring it home. I have had it out and find that kind of riding challenging and even exhausting. But I am working on my bike to make it conform more to my riding ability and conditioning. So I should be content and satisfied right?

Now I decided to join a bike club yesterday and while turning in my registration at then LBS I saw a road bike that interested. This was while I was making an appointment to bring my MTB in for service. I was ok till I decided to test ride the road bike and as I went home I started feeling a desire. Not to sell my comfort bike or trade in my MTB but to add a road bike to my limited storage area at home. I think the government should test bikes to see if there is some addictive additive being added to the bars or seats or even to chain lube.

I have read with interest many of the posts in these forums and I suspect others have experienced something similar to what I am talking about.

Welcome. N + 1 Rule is simple. N is the number of bikes you now own. N + 1 is the number of bikes you should own.

Welcome! You're in good company. :)

You got it bad, RF. Ain't no cure either, you just gotta learn to live with it. Kinda go with the flow, if you get my drift.

You're gonna need tools too.
Why? You ask.
It's too expensive to have the LBS do all your wrenching as your fleet increases, because you need to save every penny you can...to buy more bikes.

The more bikes you buy...the more specialized tools you're gonna need to service the bikes you can't afford to take to the LBS.

But don't despair. WE understand.

You got it bad, RF. Ain't no cure either, you just gotta learn to live with it. Kinda go with the flow, if you get my drift.

You're gonna need tools too.
Why? You ask.
It's too expensive to have the LBS do all your wrenching as your fleet increases, because you need to save every penny you can...to buy more bikes.

The more bikes you buy...the more specialized tools you're gonna need to service the bikes you can't afford to take to the LBS.

But don't despair. WE understand.


Are these tools covered with the same substance as the bikes themselves? Am I going to wake up in the morning thinking that I need a special tool and then obsess about it for weeks on end?

Once you get one of each type of bike, then you will realize that you need a better one of each type.

Are these tools covered with the same substance as the bikes themselves? Am I going to wake up in the morning thinking that I need a special tool and then obsess about it for weeks on end?
Yes, and yes. Before long you will realize that working on bikes is a hobby in itself. Riding your bikes and wrenching on your many bikes will soon not be enough to satisfy your lust. Next comes asking friends and family if they need any bike work done, no charge - of course. Sometimes they will bring you 6 packs, 12 packs, and even cases of you favorite beverages which may require a refrigeration unit to be placed near your workshop.

Then there's ebay just in case you need yet another addiction.

It's hell, RF, but we're here for you.:hug:

Should the government look into the addictive properties of Bike lube? Maybe I just have a more addictive personality than some people but looking at the N+1 rule, whatever that is, I believe bikes are addicting.

http://www.heartbone.com/no_thugs/anslinger.jpg

It is indeed surprising that Harry J. Anslinger overlooked the addictive properties of bike lube when he was working to make his name as the first drug czar in the 1930's and instead chose to pursue that innocent source of rope and sails, hemp.

Certainly, the killer lube was around even then. All sorts of bikes existed to desire N+1, racing bikes, cruisers, even tandems, recumbents and alt bikes. BMX and Mountain Bikes were not officially with us, but by that time, people had been doing 1900 mile cross country rides for over 40 years.

http://bp1.blogger.com/__GU_oynHw2o/RthlMHZ3DCI/AAAAAAAAABk/jR6Y_SSQGjo/S240/Buf+1.jpg

Of course, now we have bicycle lube that is far stronger that anyone ever imagined back then. The problem has gotten worse, especially since the invention of the carbon-fiber bike. We must protect our children!

It's high time that the government created a large industry designed to stifle trade in illegal bicycle lube, employ thousands of people to keep bicycle lube from entering our borders and send hundreds of thousands of people (called bicyclists) to prison because of their addictive bicycling habits. Further, we must create eduction programs designed to warn children of the dangers of bicycling. That is the only sane way to deal with the problem.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/German_bicycle_soldiers.jpg

Long live the War on Bicycles!

I understand

They can have my bike when they pry my cold, dead feet out of the clipless pedals!

I deal in illicit bikes and bike lube, meeting folks in the early am - about 2:00 am, in dark corners on streets named Broadway and Delgado.

I have to be careful of the Bike Narcs - (Barcs) - who I frequently see near my place of "business" in black vans with strange looking antennas.

The Barcs are on to this, and I caution those of you who also have an illlicit bike and bike lube trade to watch for guys riding bicycles in grey-blue suits with helmets disguised as Fedoras.

THE FEDS ARE ON TO US!

http://www.parktool.com/

It starts simply enough, out back on the school playground.........a friend maybe. "Pst. you know that would ride better if you lubed the chain". Maybe someone gives you a free taste............"Here let me adjust that derailleur". The freebees get bigger and bigger................down at the end of the block, the guys in the link above give free seminars and instructions on how to fix.........or even worse, modify your bike using their tools. Pretty soon you can't stay away from these guys, you need more and then............................





its too late to stop............its too late to save you bank account...........you can't sleep at night cause your in the shop working on the bike.......................you loose your job......................you go to work in the LBS





Aaaaargh. Its "Park Tool Madness" showing at the corner theater in the original black, white and blue.

You are lucky that you have found the support available to members of BF. There are others just like you who have imbided in "Bike Lube" and overcome it's destructive nature. Once you admit to N +1 you are on your way to redemption. Are you addicted? You'll need to test yourself. The first thing you should do is purchase that road bike and begin to ride it everyday possible. Then after a pierod of time purchase an indoor trainer and see if you desire to spend mindless and painful hours riding your road bike affixed to the trainer in your basement, all the while wishing for better weather so you can once again feel the euphoria your soul seeks. Once the new riding season dawns, only then, will you be able to determine if you are addicted. On the first rides' of the new season you will appreciate everything about riding a nice bike but there may be a little doubt creeping into the back of your mind. You feebly ask yourself, "could I ride faster with new lighter wheels, could I ride up the hills better with a CF bike, would I be more comfortable with a Brooks saddle, I wonder if a cross bike would?"... If the voice gets stronger and stronger and you begin to research the questions and even visit the LBS you are on your way to addiction. If so, just come back here to your friends, cause we all understand and will accept you anyway.:love:

When someone walks into your garage, looks around, and up and down, and says "Holy S***! What's with all the bikes? You opening up a store?" Your one of us.

...yeah, it's just the same with cars, guitars, amps, and cd's etc. GAS!!!

as i once told my ex-wife...."It is certainly possible to have enough bikes. However, dear, it is impossible to have too many bikes."

be well,

jim

Yeah, I've been a bicycle addict since the late 60's, and I tell you, it only gets worse with time.

More bikes, more miles, more time spend riding and wrenching. Unlike many other addictions, however, bicycling actually adds years to your life, increases your enjoyment of life, and makes you a better person.

So I say, "Why fight it?" I am a bicycle addict, loving every minute of it!

Not sure that the lube is the reason though.

Re: Park Tools, I have visited their factory in MN, actually went on the 2 day ride in upper MN with the Park Tool folks, and use their bike tools (almost) exclusively. Excellent people, and products!

Rick / OCRR

When someone walks into your garage, looks around, and up and down, and says "Holy S***! What's with all the bikes? You opening up a store?" Your one of us.

What garage?- Its when the bike shed appears that you have to start worrying.

The garage is for storing the bikes you don't ride.

Once you start collecting lots of bikes and tools you'll probably get past the buying new bikes stage and into the building new bikes and upgrading or reconfiguring old bikes stage of the disease.

My hope was that riding would limit the effects of bike lube. But today I was the only comfort cruiser to show up at our local club ride. Everyone else was out of town so the road bike guy’s assigned one kind soul to escort me to the meeting destination. My average speed was up 2 MPH trying to follow the roadie. He was kind I believe and kept things to a nice 15MPH, which is about my maximum cruising speed. When we all met at the coffee shop everyone was smiles and friendly but I found myself wishing I already had the road bike for days just like this.

On the way home I told my assigned escort that I knew the way home and he was free to join the rest of the road bikes. He did and I was dropped about 3 miles into the ride home. I wasn’t upset but I was more determined than ever to put a deposit on a road bike next week. I suddenly realized I might have been exposed to everyone else’s bike lube and there will be no real cure. I still love my Revive for utility riding and short trips to the grocery store. I plan on tinkering with my mountain bike till I get it set up the way I like it but I know I will not be happy till I get a bike so I can join in some of the longer road rides and that is a complete change in attitude from when I got my bike in the first place. :innocent:

I explained my new addiction to my wife yesterday and at first I was not greeted with total understanding. After first expressing how she didn’t see how I could need another bike for “street” riding she softened as she looked at my face. I honestly never thought I would ever try to get back into a lifestyle I abandoned so many years ago. But I stopped by the LBS to look at some road bikes and test ride one or two. The strange thing is I have not lost one ounce of affection for my Revive or respect for the qualities of my MTB. To a degree I feel like someone that has children and is expecting another. I don’t think I can hold out much longer.:love:

I don’t think I can hold out much longer.:love:

My guess is you'll have that road bike in the next couple weeks:D

HI,
I noticed I stopped washing the lube off my right calve , its makes me feel closer to the bike during those long breaks at work when I must leave to make that Money so I can buy more bike stuff.
So I wear my grease patch with pride till my next ride:love:, And why do all my white socks have grease on them around the top..:eek:
MAybe I'll take the bike to work for a breif ride at lunch.:thumb:
Doug
Lets outlaw gas burning cars and only allow bikes on the streets. that would be great for the environment, and the couch potatoes.

I just switched out my steel forks to carbon and the old threaded headset for a new one on my Miyata so that I could run 28mm tires. The desire to DIY, tinker, and play gets stronger and stronger with this addiction. There is no cure but the grave. Of course, riding bikes only keeps one healthy and thus delays the cure!

Should the government look into the addictive properties of Bike lube?

Absolutely they should!

Ask anybody who has ever worked as a shop mechanic. I've seen many bikes that had chains so covered with oily gunk that I didn't want to touch it with my pliers. Many bike enthusiasts go from never lubeing their chains to utterly saturating them with lube every week and looking for other bike parts they can oil. Nothing could possibly explain this phenomenom as well as potentially addictive properties.

Should the government look into the addictive properties of Bike lube?

"Psychoactive dependency properties of carbon-based lubricating fluids applied to propulsion components of dual-wheel light weight vehicular transport systems powered by **** sapiens". This would be the title of the application for a grant of $50,000,000 submitted to Congress, which it would quickly approve. Al Gore would get on the band wagon stating that bike lube will be the death of all of us due to the massive carbon footprint of bike lube. The lawyers would begin suing the manufacturers of bike lube, anyone who had ever used bike lube as well as anyone who ever said the words "bike lube." There would be a federal tax applied to bike lube. There would be a ten-day waiting period for the purchase of bike lube as well as a background check, and then only if you had a prescription from a left-handed wrench at a government licensed LBS. Hillary, Barack, and John would come out and say that they've always been against bike lube. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez would compose and sing protest songs about bike lube. A one ounce bottle of bike lube would be required to have a warning label the size of a bill board.

The government could tear up railroad steel with a rubber hammer. They do not need to investigate bike lube.

The government could tear up railroad steel with a rubber hammer. They do not need to investigate bike lube.

Good point. When I went to my LBS to get my MTB worked on today I had to give them my e-mail address. I had joined our local bike club and they promised to send me their newsletter. I mentioned my theory on bike lube he just smiled and said that now that they have my address they don’t need any additives in my bike lube. They will inject the addicting substance directly into my water supply. ;)

I don’t think I can resist it anymore. I have been nursing a sore leg for a few days and haven’t been on a bike since Friday. I have been feeling better and I have been trying to walk off the soreness. I believe it is sore because I tried to keep pace with one of our club members on a road bike on our last ride and the pace was a bit too fast for my Revive. I might have done better on the Mountain bike but the bars hadn’t been adjusted yet and the old set up made my hands go numb. But that is all beside the point. I have been thinking about and talking about and looking at road bikes for the last month. I started debating the drawback and benefits of a compact crank set. I believe I am hooked. And tomorrow we have a big club ride planned and the LBS is closed till Tuesday. I can only hope more cruisers show up tomorrow so I can work lightly on this leg. :(