New BSO long-term test!
#251
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#252
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Location: Burlington Iowa
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Note: It cost $82 new including the Brooks B72 saddle.
#253
working on my sandal tan
Join Date: Aug 2011
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How do you like the "bad azz dropz" so far? Seems like you had some skepticism of drop bars and the people who use them in the past.
#254
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Alpharetta, GA
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I predict that you'll easily reach your target £/km (or whatever). It's a nice bike; shoot for a couple of years and halve that!
#256
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In synopsis, they're interesting enough to get me to try a real drops setup at some point with hoods/brake levers and interrupter levers.
Also of interest is that difference in geometry compared to the MTB. I feel that more of my effort is put to the ground compared to the MTB.
Overall, it's been quite fun and I think the bikes will end up being split like this:
in UK, just the "BSO" FGSS
in Germany, keep the MTB there so we can shoot into the alps when visiting family/friends
in CPH, keep the city bike locked outside of the flat so the couple of trips there per month
in Hungary, keep the on city bikes at the lake house because no one will steal them
so, maybe i'll take the FGSS across the country (UK) when it warms up a little
So let's hear some narrative! How do you like the ride, how does it compare to commuting your other bikes? Have there been any challenges that you didn't anticipate? Any pleasant surprises?
I predict that you'll easily reach your target £/km (or whatever). It's a nice bike; shoot for a couple of years and halve that!
I predict that you'll easily reach your target £/km (or whatever). It's a nice bike; shoot for a couple of years and halve that!
As stated above, the geometry is interesting as the power gets to the ground and I like the drops as they're something different. New country, new living standards, so why not a new bike at the same time?
I'm definitely out of shape after getting the bike (Sep 2013) compared to when I left Germany (Apr 2013) because I essentially travelled for the whole period in between and didn't really work out as I was either on holiday or sleeping on people's sofas/spare beds, which made me quite fat as everyone always wants to eats and drink a lot when they have guests.
It's been good for getting me into shape as it's quite uncomfortable to ride when going below a certain speed, so I really need to maintain the speed.
It will also be interesting to see how the components last as FFGS seems quite cheap, both in cost and quality. The surface of the freewheel is already rusting for example, as are the pedal threads into the crank arms.
However, I think it will be a fun experiment to see how much use I can get out of it
Last edited by acidfast7; 11-18-13 at 07:01 AM.
#257
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
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acidfast, remove your pedals and grease the threads generously. Then screw them back in tightly. You may want to do this every six months.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#258
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thanks for the tip
just did it with again with generous grease ... seems to just be the end of the pedal stud that is rusty ... cheap pedals!
Last edited by acidfast7; 11-18-13 at 01:12 PM.
#259
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back from Denmark and had an interesting dinner with some ex-colleagues
four Germans
two Ukrainians
me (American)
with a working knowledge of English, Spanish, German, Swedish, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian and we think Danish is messed up as you don't say all of the letters ... and it made me think of this Norwegian show making fun of the Danes ...
never mind that there's two Norwegian languages (+ high Norwegian!) ... lol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language
four Germans
two Ukrainians
me (American)
with a working knowledge of English, Spanish, German, Swedish, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian and we think Danish is messed up as you don't say all of the letters ... and it made me think of this Norwegian show making fun of the Danes ...
never mind that there's two Norwegian languages (+ high Norwegian!) ... lol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language
Last edited by acidfast7; 11-18-13 at 04:35 PM.
#260
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Thread Starter
just noticed that the little bumps on the centre of the rear tire are beginning to wear.
will be interesting to see how much mileage I can get out the tires ... my prediction is 1100 ± 100 out of the rear.
here's a shot of the tread pattern new (from the web):
will be interesting to see how much mileage I can get out the tires ... my prediction is 1100 ± 100 out of the rear.
here's a shot of the tread pattern new (from the web):
#261
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great however the roads now have frost so I try to be careful:
stats:
406km/252mi
£395/$633 total
£0.97/km
€1.15/km
$3.05/mi
goal is to catch up to the ratios of bigbenaugust:
6900km/4287mi
£267/$438
3.8p/km
5c/km
10.2¢/mi
photo:
stats:
406km/252mi
£395/$633 total
£0.97/km
€1.15/km
$3.05/mi
goal is to catch up to the ratios of bigbenaugust:
6900km/4287mi
£267/$438
3.8p/km
5c/km
10.2¢/mi
photo:
#262
Banned
Thread Starter
interesting ride tonight:
windy and just got over a cough after 4 week ... first ride without it and i was quite faster than usual
in addition, the was water on the street and it really felt like the bike rolled better (maybe i need some grease in them thar bearings)... it was also +6C warmer than rest of the past week.
good ride:
stats:
425km/264mi
£395/$635 total
£0.93/km
€1.12/km
$2.40/mi
goal is to catch up to the ratios of bigbenaugust:
6900km/4287mi
£267/$438
3.8p/km
5c/km
10.2¢/mi
photo:
windy and just got over a cough after 4 week ... first ride without it and i was quite faster than usual
in addition, the was water on the street and it really felt like the bike rolled better (maybe i need some grease in them thar bearings)... it was also +6C warmer than rest of the past week.
good ride:
stats:
425km/264mi
£395/$635 total
£0.93/km
€1.12/km
$2.40/mi
goal is to catch up to the ratios of bigbenaugust:
6900km/4287mi
£267/$438
3.8p/km
5c/km
10.2¢/mi
photo:
#263
Banned
Thread Starter
same as last evening, kinda crazy, must have a slight head wind in the morning and a slight tail wind in the evening.
good ride:
stats:
443km/275mi
£395/$638 total
£0.89/km
€1.07/km
$2.32/mi
goal is to catch up to the ratios of bigbenaugust:
6900km/4287mi
£267/$438
3.8p/km
5c/km
10.2¢/mi
photo:
good ride:
stats:
443km/275mi
£395/$638 total
£0.89/km
€1.07/km
$2.32/mi
goal is to catch up to the ratios of bigbenaugust:
6900km/4287mi
£267/$438
3.8p/km
5c/km
10.2¢/mi
photo:
#266
Banned
Thread Starter
#267
Banned
Kids.these days ,, cant leave the phone at home.
let alone in their pocket for more than 5 minutes
let alone in their pocket for more than 5 minutes
#268
Banned
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#270
Banned
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#273
Been Around Awhile
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Burlington Iowa
Posts: 29,950
Bikes: Vaterland and Ragazzi
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#275
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Thread Starter
well it was bound to happen. was riding home from a dinner after work (after wine) to the pub and it was late at night around 0C/32F and the very last road to the pub was frozen.
i saw the glistening street and tried to stop but i couldn't get out the toe clips fast enough.
ouch.
so i ended up ripping the bar tape and banging my knee quite hard
stats:
462km/287mi
£395/$640 total
£0.85/km
€1.02/km
$2.22/mi
goal is to catch up to the ratios of bigbenaugust:
6900km/4287mi
£267/$438
3.8p/km
5c/km
10.2¢/mi
photo:
i saw the glistening street and tried to stop but i couldn't get out the toe clips fast enough.
ouch.
so i ended up ripping the bar tape and banging my knee quite hard
stats:
462km/287mi
£395/$640 total
£0.85/km
€1.02/km
$2.22/mi
goal is to catch up to the ratios of bigbenaugust:
6900km/4287mi
£267/$438
3.8p/km
5c/km
10.2¢/mi
photo: