TinyBear

Did two rides yesterday. One was more my normal ride take it easy with a average speed of 15km/hr But this one although not as far as some days had some longer up hills that LOOKED like hills. All three hills had me droping to 1st gear but i never stoped and conquered each one .

But the real fun was on the second ride. Finely got my kid sister to come out for a ride with me (shes a athena) and is kinda annoyed that i now weigh less than her and wants to do something about it.

She has the bike i bought for my old man too use a Trek Navigator 2.0 and i told her i will replace that bike with what ever she wants IF she can pull of loosing the first 10lbs to show commitment.

But on that second ride i took a shorter route of only 5kms. I told her to take it easy and as time goes on it will only get easier. But at one stretch to give myself a challnge i told her i was gona open the taps to see my top speed and that i will wait for her so dont try to keep up.

Gave it everything i had in top gear and hit a top speed of 42.5km/hr witch was awesome till i found that equates to only 26.5mph LOL. Guess this bike aint all that fast lol but MAN does it feel like it.

I ride motorcycles for fun. i have had some of my bikes up PAST 200km/hr and that did not feel nearly as fast as pushing that bycical past the 40km/hr mark. THAT WAS FUN and better yet COMPLETELY legal lol

I thinking i gona be buying a new bike as well when i take my kid sister into get her a bike LOL.

Quick question For my sister is a womans specific bke gona help her comfort wise or is she ok on the guys bike for now (shes 5'10 275lbs).

And Second What kinda FLAT ground speeds can one expect to hit riding a road bike?

chasm54

The HTC-Columbia team lead out Mark Cavendish at about 60-65kph (say just under 40mph) for the last kilometre or so of a Tour stage, then Cavendish jumps past them with less than 200m to go. Cavendish has said he has touched 75kph/47mph on the road, but even he can sustain that only momentarily. But it's something for us to aim for...LOL

Edit - Cavendish is no Clydesdale, though: he's 5'9" and weighs 150 lbs - about 75lbs of it in his thighs.

nymtber

Heck, I have had a mountain bike up to 35mph on a flat stretch of road....

For about 100 ft at least, It took a LOT of pushing, and I was all of 15 and full of energy!

I take things easy now, I use downhills to get speed

I think your sister may appreciate a WSD bike more later on, but being she is 5'10 she should do just fine on the guys bike for now.

TinyBear

Interesting turn of events today.

Went for a ride on the rail trail with a friend today and my shifters started acting up. Could not go past 4th on the rear or down to 1st.

So after a bit i turned round and decided to take the bike to the dealer. Ended up being the cable inside the little display thingy comming off some guide.

But while i was there i decided to look at some of the hybrid bikes. Rode a few and LOVED the Giant Seek 1 i tryed. hydrulic disk brakes, 27 speed, the handle ars did not hurt my hands and even the narrow seat was not too bad (been better if i was not in jeans).
So it kinda followed me home LOL.

I probly will still keep my mountine bike but man is this thing fun and fast. Did not push too fast today on it as i want to double check the air preasure in the tires. Witch brings me to the question. How the hell ya ceck and fill these tires lol.

Did not notice at the bike shop but these valve stems are TINY not like the car ones im used to.

Tom Stormcrowe

Yep, Presta valves. You'll come to love them. They work a bit differently, by the way.

Presta

The narrow valve used on most high-performance bicycles, and all tubulars. Also known as a "French valve". The wider Schrader (automotive style) valve is used on children's bicycles and utility bicycles. Presta valves have built-in valve caps, which must be opened before you can pump them up. These caps are "captive" nuts, which cannot be removed. Since there is no spring in a Presta valve, this knurled nut must be retightened after inflating the tire, or the valve may leak slowly.
Presta valves are light, and don't require as large a hole in the rim. Since the don't use a spring, they can be easier to pump with a hand pump.
Separate valve caps are not needed with Presta valves. The caps that come with Presta tubes and tubulars are there so that the pointy end of the valve won't puncture your spare tube or tubular while it is rolled up. There's no reason to use them in actual riding


Presta valve
closedPresta valve
openPresta valve
with adaptor There is a third type of valve, very rarely seen in the U.S., which has a bottom similar to a Schrader and necks down to about the size of a Presta. This is a Woods valve, formerly popular in the British Isles and Asia. These low-tech valves work with rubber tubing and spit. This is also sometimes referred to as a "Dunlop" valve.



Schrader valveWoods valve If you want to convert a rim drilled for Presta valves to accept Schrader valves, drill it out with a 21/64" drill bit.

From Sheldon Brown's site.

nymtber

Watch out, the more you visit bike shops and get into cycling, the more bikes that seem to just "follow you home"

Sounds like a nice bike!

rm -rf

Like this Tour de France final sprint (youtube link with annoying music added)

chasm54

Buy a track pump with a pressure gauge. Ask at your LBS

chasm54

He's beautiful, isn't he? I don't think I've ever seen anything like him in 30+ years of watching the Tour. Renshaw is as much of a hero, though; by the time Cavendish jumps past him almost everybody else is toast.

Riding those finishes is exceptionally demanding, and not just physically. As they approach the end of the stage, Cavendish takes control of the team radio so instead of hearing the Directeur Sportif the rest of the riders can only hear him, and he tells them how he's feeling, where and when to go etc etc. And all this at 65 kph after a 200km stage. Phenomenal.

Mr. Beanz

Buy a pump with a smarthead type of nozzle. You can pump either type of valve with one nozzle.

Good on you to encourage little sis! 26 is a great top speed. Some flat section I can push 25 tops, same effort on another flat section I can hit 32. So your 26 aint any less or any more than my 25 unless we do it on the same course under the same conditons. So don't worry about comparing to other big fish stories

If Sis is 5'10, the womens specific design may not do much for her. I've read that taller wimmins don't need it, but that's only what I've read, no real world experince with tall wimmins. My wife is short, 5'4 and the women specific is more comfy for her in the real world compard to a mens traditional design.

TinyBear

Thanx tom thats the type of valve on this thing.

Guess i need to go get a bike pump. Figures i have a nice 28 gal 5hp air compressore in my shop and i gotta now go get a hand pump lol. Then again with the volume of air in these tires i probly dont want to use my air compressor anyways.

Side wall of the tires say 100psi though thats bloody 5 psi from what i put in the big rigs tires at work LOL.

Thanx all for the help will get pics tomorow when i get back from the bike shop with the new pump.

Talking a bit more with my sis and she likes the trek just fine she just has a difficult time getting used to the twist shifters so i gona bring it in for its free tune up at the shop.

Peter_C

I'd love for another bike to follow me home! As much as I go to bike shops, none will - as they all fear what the Boss will do to me if one did

chasm54

Don't use the compressor, people have hurt themselves exploding tubes with those. 100 psi is pretty usual for a road tyre.

TinyBear

Well as promised took some pics of the New bike today.

With all my wheels togeather


Just the New Bike

different angle


New and Old bike togeather


Took it for a 11km ride toady with some smaller hills. Normally average speed is around 12kms on that route with my mountain bike. With the new bike without pushing any harder i averaged 18km/hr (i know not a huge difference but it felt comfy and the SMALL hills were a breeze and did not have me droping nearly as many gears. Did find i need to get my self a wider seat though as that thing after the first 8kms started feeling like a tourture device (wear as the "fat ass" as i call it, seat on my mountain bike i have not had comfort issues since i started).

But over all i LOVE the new bike.