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Do you enjoy dropping riders on expensive modern bikes?

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Do you enjoy dropping riders on expensive modern bikes?

Old 05-05-15, 09:20 AM
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Great description, Rob, and I bet it's a blast to ride with or or to be dropped by you or to drop you.
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Old 05-05-15, 11:54 AM
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I ride alone. I do shorter rides — 50 to 90 minutes as often as I can — daily if possible. I get the aerobic thing because I combine what I love with what I have to do to keep my BP down. Some local dudes whip past me like they are on fire. Sigh — so what!? I know my ride. And their grandfathers may be already on their walkers!

Sometimes I am on the single-speed Simplon, and I don't wanna turn 110 RPM. Nevertheless — often — three or so Kms later, I pass them. If I ever care to glance back, they seem to have vanished like ghosts. I dunno!?

Then there are the other guys. These are keirin riders out doing road work. Usually they are on fixies with flip flops. They are very friendly if you can stop and talk to them. They have legs that look like oak trees. Uhh-huh — I can't even draft them.

Oh, there are the Freds riding on the river levee. They put on the show and feeb out. But then again there are riders who no matter how hard I go, I just cant follow. I can see that they they doing the same cadence, but they are in a taller gear. I've almost passed out trying the trail these people. Are they pros who are training? Just better, faster, younger? They go so fast I never get a chance to even see what they are riding. I just hear shift clicking behind me and they are accelerating away from me like Chuck Yeager's X-1 leaving the B-29 mother ship.

Then there is yet another rider. He may be on a bike even older than mine. I get up beside him and his face tells you he is 105 years old. He looks at you for an instant as you creep up beside him. His eyes look like those you imagine in Coleridges Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. They don't even seem to see you. And he just keeps cranking on and on and on and on and on — not giving a damn if I am beside him, behind him or dropping him. I get the idea that if we rode in the same direction long enough, he'd just be grinding away in the same gear, in the drops — and I would be dying.

As a school boy I was pretty fast in the 100 yard sprint by the standards of the time. The 440 tortured me, no matter what condition I was in — and I trained bloody hard. The 800 would have killed me stone dead, even though I played rugby all winter. I know my ride

I love cycling, and I don't know what I would do without it. I keep saying this to my wife as I come back from a ride. By now, she doesn't even roll her eyes!
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Old 05-05-15, 12:07 PM
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Lenton58, thank you for sharing your experience from the other side of the globe- very interesting

Originally Posted by Lenton58
Then there are the other guys. These are keirin riders out doing road work. Usually they are on fixies with flip flops. They are very friendly if you can stop and talk to them. They have legs that look like oak trees.
Inquiring minds would like to know: are they in their neon-colored uniforms when they are out on the road?
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Old 05-05-15, 12:14 PM
  #154  
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Originally Posted by RobbieTunes
I ride with friends... so it evens out. We take turns pulling, unless we are going up or down hills, when it's every man/woman/alien for his/her/itself, then we regroup.
This made me laugh. Riding with Rob is exactly like that, IME. Of course, it's trickier riding with aliens, because they have warp drive, cloaking devices, and fear of water bottles...
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Old 05-05-15, 12:29 PM
  #155  
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CF Makes You Go Faster...





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Old 05-05-15, 12:40 PM
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Back in the mid 70s did a century with a riding buddy on his tandem. We started out with the Cat 1, Cat 2 racer set. Every time I looked over my shoulder we had a gaggle of them sucking our wheel!

They'd drop us on the hills but we'd reel em back in on the down side. We were spinning out 60-13T gears and they'd try to jump on our wheel!

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Old 05-05-15, 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by verktyg
Back in the mid 70s did a century with a riding buddy on his tandem. We started out with the Cat 1, Cat 2 racer set. Every time I looked over my shoulder we had a gaggle of them sucking our wheel!

They'd drop us on the hills but we'd reel em back in on the down side. We were spinning out 60-13T gears and they'd try to jump on our wheel!

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You had a 60t chainring? Was that a normal thing for tandems?
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Old 05-05-15, 01:31 PM
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Originally Posted by caloso
You had a 60t chainring? Was that a normal thing for tandems?
My friend was a machinist and made a special BB spindle to run 4 chainrings - 26T to 60T on TA cranks. He also made a special long cage for his Campy Nuovo Record front derailleur. I think that he had a Suntour long arm rear derailleur to handle the 13-32T 6 speed FW.

We sold a number of tandems at our shop back in the 70s and kept 54, 55, 56 and 60T TA chainrings in stock for them.

Here's a Bertin tandem from our 1980 flyer. We imported these from ~1976 to 1980. We specified the components - they came with 56T large chainrings.



BTW, the tandem that I rode in the century was a Gitane badged Alex Singer bike. Mel Pinto the Gitane importer back then had some "Gitane" tandems specially built by Singer with Reynold 531 Tandem tubing and top quality components.



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Old 05-05-15, 01:46 PM
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^ wow Chas.!
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Old 05-05-15, 02:10 PM
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@Lenton58, sounds like there are tons of amazing cyclists on the streets of Japan.
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Old 05-05-15, 02:40 PM
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Out of the Country I met up with a weekend Group ride in Newcastle Northumbria , and they were thoughtful enough to drop someone back and keep me company.

On My Touring Bike Minus the Luggage , I went on to complete my Loop trip to Warsaw Poland , And Back to Amsterdam to box my bike Up and Fly Home.
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Old 05-06-15, 02:32 AM
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Originally Posted by leegf
Lenton58, thank you for sharing your experience from the other side of the globe- very interesting
Inquiring minds would like to know: are they in their neon-colored uniforms when they are out on the road?
No, actually the keirin guys I've met are not Fredded-out at all. Of course, they are in Lycra and wearing jerseys, but nothing the least bit flashy.

As we are on this: I once talked to group of them that had ended their road session in a park where public parking was allowed. (Probably since destroyed by the tsunami.) It was nice weather, but I noticed that each of them were wiping down their machines before putting them into their cars. The "sempai" (senior rider of about 40 y.o.) down to the most junior were all very friendly and interested in answering my questions.

These guys go through very serious, disciplined training to get licensed. They do something like a year of grinding bootcamp. I think any arrogance just gets kicked out of them very early on. It's a dangerous sport and a lot of money rides on their backs. It's a way of making a living, but only if you can cut the mustard year after year. I've had 20 year old students whose papas were still racing. They must have been 40-something! They are amazing looking athletes!
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Old 05-06-15, 03:56 AM
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Originally Posted by noglider
@Lenton58, sounds like there are tons of amazing cyclists on the streets of Japan.
Yes, some them are very amazing, like the one that used to pull out of a side street right in front of my front wheel without looking — a baby on her back, the oldest child in the back chair, and the middle child in the handlebar seat! I learned to creep up on that corner with my hands on the brakes.

Anybody who has not been here has no idea how many bicycles are on the streets and roads of Japan. The underground bike-parks in Sendai are consistently over subscribed. (At least they are there!) The sidewalks are lined with bikes. Special squads of what I call the "Bicycle Nazis" troll the streets in brown shirts and armbands. They slice through locks and toss hundreds of bikes onto a lorry and take them to one of several compounds where you must pay a fee to get them back. The official belief is that bicycles make the city look ugly, and "illegal" parking is a very bad thing. But that is not stopping an increase in cycling.

If anything, cycling is growing. Years ago in Sendai, a drop-bar bike used to be a rather rare thing, despite the fact that several regional races are held here each year. Well things are changing — they gotta be when you see a 20's something woman in a skirt, blouse and jacket dressed for the office speeding down a hill in the drops on her way to work!

Drop-bar sports bikes are becoming more and more popular. Youngsters are not worshipping the car like they used to; they are buying a better bicycle than the ubiquitous mama-chari (shopping bike). Huge mortar and brick bicycle shops like Aeon and Asahi are springing up across the city. Twenty year old girls are working as mechanics. The fixie craze is fading, and more and more bikes have big, free-hub clusters and brifters. These are not bikes that I envy, but they are surely different than what almost everyone used to ride just a couple of years ago.

For years I've been incensed by daily encounters with people riding all sorts of bikes, from scrap metal that has not seen oil since god was a corporal, to a week old drop-bar sporty model — all on the wrong side of the road! Then two weeks ago, I was told by a Japanese acquaintance that when he was in school, the kids were being taught to ride opposite of the traffic! How is this! Bicycles are subject to the motor vehicle laws of the road?

Just another idiosyncrasy in the country that travel writer David Barry called, "the most foreign place I've ever been to"

I ride partly to keep my BP down, but sometimes I swear it gets raised up. There is what I call 'the bike dance'. When another cyclist is coming straight towards you, there is this wobbling and guessing what side the other rider will take. The rider can be of any age — from 8 to 85. The dance is the same. Of course, if you are going with the traffic, you risk being rear-ended if you swing out because the other rider insists on taking the inside path. I've had a lot of occasions when with screeching brakes we both came to a halt — front wheels touching.

Bicycle accidents are not uncommon as you might have guessed. A few years ago a law said that children had to have helmets, special seats to protect them in falls and seat belts. Most, if not all mama-chari frames, proved to be not rigid enough to carry the increased loads, so the government specified a new frame and design for transporting children. The first ones rolled out of the factories, and the costs were so high that they enraged the young mothers of the nation. They rose up in revolt. City wards began subsidizing families to buy these newly designed bikes — oversize frame tubes, smaller wheels and unusual shapes. The manufacturers were pressured to lower the prices. Children did start wearing helmets — the children. No young mother is going to wear one. It just would not be right — very unfashionable, not cool, ugly.

I don't see these new requirements being policed, but conscientious, new parents are more often purchasing this new style of child transporter as part of the expense of having children. The law says only two children are allowed, but I still see the babies strapped behind mama and the two kids front and rear.

Still, one thing has not changed: the morning sounds of thousands of unlubricated chains, chains clanking against chain guards, the screeching of shoe type rear brakes indicating panic and danger somewhere out there on the streets where thousands of Japanese are grinding their way to another day of work or school.

Now if you go to Shibuya in Tokyo you will find yourself bent over and examining hundreds — thousands of bikes. Velo heaven! If there is a score of famous frame-makers that you worship, you find many of their names on bikes within a three block stroll. And in-between there will be bikes of such interest that your back will be bent over staring at parts and decals fr so long that so you will be on aspirin and Scotch for a week!

In Tokyo, Nitto still makes parts by hand. Vintage swap meets are held several times a year. People ride tweed bikes — in tweeds. Just follow Dawes-man here on BF and his photo site. He'll show you. I live in provincial Sendai. We are the peasants of cycling compared to parts of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Oh yes ... amazing!
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Old 05-06-15, 06:45 AM
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Fantastic reporting, @Lenton58. Thank you so much.

NYC now has a high cyclist population compared with the past and compared with other U.S. cities. Wrong way cycling has become a huge problem. Law enforcement for some cycling infractions has increased but not for wrong way cycling! I'd prefer if they enforced that law alone and left the others, until this problem subsides. I had a really tough time last week on a major avenue, avoiding many wrong way cyclists in a six mile trip. A couple of times I have stopped and blocked the cyclist entirely, but I'm not really the right messenger for this message.
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Old 05-06-15, 07:29 AM
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Originally Posted by noglider
Fantastic reporting, @Lenton58. Thank you so much.

NYC now has a high cyclist population compared with the past and compared with other U.S. cities. Wrong way cycling has become a huge problem. Law enforcement for some cycling infractions has increased but not for wrong way cycling! I'd prefer if they enforced that law alone and left the others, until this problem subsides. I had a really tough time last week on a major avenue, avoiding many wrong way cyclists in a six mile trip. A couple of times I have stopped and blocked the cyclist entirely, but I'm not really the right messenger for this message.
Thanks for the comp, Tom. I get exactly what you are saying. People sometimes ask me if I still ride the bicycle to work. I answer, "No, too much stress!" And exactly for the reason you describe. It's just bloody dangerous out there during rush hour — because of cyclists! I stride my old Yamaha SRX and fight the cagers. Less dangerous. When I get home, I go for a quiet ride by the river! — Cheers ... Lorne
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Old 05-06-15, 07:33 AM
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I'm told they also teach wrong way cycling in Latin America.
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Old 05-06-15, 11:55 PM
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Cruising along around 25mph+ on my commuter, I passed on of those electric bikes today. I don't really get enjoyment out of passing expensive modern bikes, but I enjoyed that. I don't need no stinking motor!
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Old 05-08-15, 06:08 AM
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Originally Posted by gaucho777
Cruising along around 25mph+ on my commuter, I passed on of those electric bikes today. I don't really get enjoyment out of passing expensive modern bikes, but I enjoyed that. I don't need no stinking motor!
to go 25, I do....
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Old 05-08-15, 06:29 AM
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When I was an aspiring college student I always tried to race the aluminum and carbon race bikes with my hybrid commuter and I'd never be able to hang on for more than 5 minutes. Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end I work far harder than I should have. Once I obtained a proper roadbike and lost the spongy suspension up front, I became the ******* I had always wanted to pass, but I'm always looking at that faster person ahead of me as a goal and never behind.
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Old 05-08-15, 07:22 AM
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To me there is a difference between passing people (cyclists) and dropping them. Dropping to me means that I have been riding with them for a period of time and then leaving them behind. I don't drop because I typically don't ride with anyone. I must confess that since I started riding the Montello to work instead of the RockHopper, I have been impressed with the difference.

On the RockHopper, I am reasonably fast for riding a nearly 50 lb bike loaded. Not like many of you, but I average around 15 - 16 mph on the commute with traffic lights etc. I do get passed by the kitted out guys on whatever they are riding with their backpacks or not. Occasionally I will pass a CF or AL bike, but it looks to me like they are newbies or wannabes, so I don't count them any more than passing Peds.

In the two weeks I have been riding the Montello, no one has passed me. I think its the time of day, their aren't as many of the others I typically see on the RockHopper or we are going nearly the same speed and we never see each other. During this two weeks, I have passed everyone I have seen until today, typically commuter bikes or MTB with panniers and racks. There were two kitted out on CF/AL bikes that I caught because of MUP traffic. We rode on each others wheels for a period of time. The one in front of me passed the first and I stayed behind wondering of the sanity of a paceline of three on the MUP! We continued until the 14th St bridge where #2 went straight, breaking off from us. I followed #1 across the bridge and in front of the Jefferson Memorial where the path crosses the road to the sidewalk/path which allows travel against traffic visiting the Memorial (one way). Sidewalks in DC are about 8ft wide and riding on them is legal. This time of year is challenging because of the visitors so your take your pick on what is safer, crazy tourists or crazy locals in their cars.

We stayed on the road until the first curve where there is a driveway opening with a bunch of cones in front of the entrance. Who know why, the entrance has Jersey barriers. One cone was out of place making a nice break to transition to the sidewalk. He didn't take it, I did. He tried to get on the sidewalk past the last cone but the curb was already rising from the road. He jumped the front wheel but not the back. Whack! No flat but it nearly stopped him. He was in a higher gear and could barely pedal.

I was approaching and said "I heard that!" We had a short conversation but he was out of energy at that point and I continued on. Carbon rims. Did I drop him? No, he dropped out. His freehub was extremely loud when he coasted. I can barely hear mine. Part of the CF experience I guess.
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Old 05-08-15, 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by noglider
I'm told they also teach wrong way cycling in Latin America.
We were taught the same thing right here in the New Ninety States when I was a kid. The reasoning was that you could see the cars coming and avoid them.
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Old 05-08-15, 01:43 PM
  #172  
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Originally Posted by obrentharris
We were taught the same thing right here in the New Ninety States when I was a kid. The reasoning was that you could see the cars coming and avoid them.
Really? Where was that?

At the Virginia gradeschool I attended from grade three onward we had no buses, everyone walked or rode bikes to school. We were taught walk on the left because you can see oncoming traffic, ride bikes on the right because the bike is a vehicle. The system worked well.
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Old 05-08-15, 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by jimmuller
Really? Where was that?

At the Virginia gradeschool I attended from grade three onward we had no buses, everyone walked or rode bikes to school. We were taught walk on the left because you can see oncoming traffic, ride bikes on the right because the bike is a vehicle. The system worked well.
Same here in WI, but buses ran in from the county once those schools closed, no buses in town.
It's not like you could live a mile from school and still be in town, anyway. Lots of us rode to school.

The fire department had bike safety days and you got your bike inspected and a free town license plate.
Helmets were not even on the horizon, but they made sure you had good pedals, good grips, and your bike was safe.

We had a bike rack at school, and I don't know of anyone that had a lock on their bike, or even carried one.
I got a heck of a scolding from the principal of my elementary school for zigzagging up a hill on the way to school.
Back then, you said "yes, sir," and hoped he didn't call your parents, who would punish you again.

The first kid in town to get a Schwinn Continental made a lock out of a garden hose, a chain, and a padlock.
The green hose matched the bike pretty well. It was impressive, but appeared heavy.

I ran a stop sign once, I think on the High Street, in front of Charlie Palzkill in his car; he had to stop quick.
By the time I got home, a couple of people had already called and told my parents, and I received a pretty good come-uppance.
I had to go apologize to him. He told me to straighten up and fly right, quit being dangerous to myself and others.
I think I was 9. He was 100% right.

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Old 05-08-15, 02:42 PM
  #174  
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Originally Posted by jimmuller
Really? Where was that?
La Mesa, California, 1959
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Old 05-08-15, 08:31 PM
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When I was a kid on my 70s 531 Trek, if I could see them ahead of me I could pass them.

Nowdays most of the people I see are passing me. A couple of years ago I rode the Dairyland Dare; right from the get-go everyone was pushing hard. It took a lot of discipline and lack of guts on my part to ride slower than the rest but I was really only trying to finish. I was so slow in that race it seemed like there really only were 3 or 4 people I passed that actually stayed behind me. Later I found out that I came in 3rd in my age group. I honestly don't want to be that old and slow but that's how it goes... at least I'm still riding.

These days I ride an expensive machine with a custom stainless frame. It does seem faster than some of my earlier rides, but in this case I didn't get it to be fast so much as comfortable. I figure that if I'm on it a long time the comfort will translate to faster further down the road... How's that for backwards thinking?
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