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Tyranny of the masses thread one jillion

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Tyranny of the masses thread one jillion

Old 12-06-09, 07:08 PM
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Tyranny of the masses thread one jillion

So I was at Yojimbo's earlier today test riding some bikes. Rode an IRO Mark V, a Surly Steamroller, and a Pake. Pake's too twitchy for my tastes, the Steamroller handled right, but the IRO was a little zippier than the roller. It seems that I want a more road-oriented geometry. I'm really attracted to the Wabi Cycles Classic- I'd probably buy the frame and fork and bring it to Marcus at Yojimbo's to get the parts straight... Also, Surly and IRO both make a 56 and a 59, but I ride a 58 pretty much spot on... The 56's I rode were a little too small and the 59 is too big. Seems like a 58cm Wabi is what's up... Any opinions, yokel calls, or stupid comments?
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Old 12-06-09, 07:47 PM
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Originally Posted by doomridesout
So I was at Yojimbo's earlier today test riding some bikes. Rode an IRO Mark V, a Surly Steamroller, and a Pake. Pake's too twitchy for my tastes, the Steamroller handled right, but the IRO was a little zippier than the roller. It seems that I want a more road-oriented geometry. I'm really attracted to the Wabi Cycles Classic- I'd probably buy the frame and fork and bring it to Marcus at Yojimbo's to get the parts straight... Also, Surly and IRO both make a 56 and a 59, but I ride a 58 pretty much spot on... The 56's I rode were a little too small and the 59 is too big. Seems like a 58cm Wabi is what's up... Any opinions, yokel calls, or stupid comments?
I have a plethora of stupid comments.
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Old 12-06-09, 08:11 PM
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am i too early for the cat thread?
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Old 12-06-09, 08:17 PM
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Old 12-06-09, 08:29 PM
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Old 12-06-09, 09:01 PM
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Are you into dooooom metallllll
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Old 12-06-09, 10:17 PM
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hmmm...
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Old 12-06-09, 10:43 PM
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you need one of these awesome bikes.

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Old 12-06-09, 10:45 PM
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wow that is crazy
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Old 12-07-09, 04:54 AM
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Originally Posted by doomridesout
So I was at Yojimbo's earlier today test riding some bikes.
WTF is Yojimbo's? This is an international forum and most of us aren't going to be familiar with your LBS.

Originally Posted by doomridesout
I'm really attracted to the Wabi Cycles Classic- I'd probably buy the frame and fork and bring it to Marcus at Yojimbo's to get the parts straight...
This is an excellent way to end up with a really expensive, really middle-of-the-road-quality bike. 9 times out of 10, there is nothing wrong with the way a manufacturer has built out a 'complete' bike. If you want to "customize" your bike with some gawdy colored deep vees or a pair of risers that were chopped to be ridiculously short, you should be able to add those things at home with basic hand tools. Buying a frame and having a shop build it out will just end up being very expensive but probably not very superior to the stock 'complete' bike as far as parts go. If you are a serious enough rider to really need a frame-up build- buy some tools and learn to wrench on your own bike. [But hey, it's your money not mine.]

Originally Posted by doomridesout
Also, Surly and IRO both make a 56 and a 59, but I ride a 58 pretty much spot on... The 56's I rode were a little too small and the 59 is too big. Seems like a 58cm Wabi is what's up... Any opinions, yokel calls, or stupid comments?
Get the 59. One centimeter difference isn't going to make that much of a change to how the thing rides if you have the saddle, stem, and bars adjusted correctly. It may ride a little different than your previous bikes (because the geometry as well as the size is a little different) but unless you are training for the TdF or the Olympics (which we can pretty well rule out based on the frames you are looking at) that 1cm won't mean anything once you get used to riding it.
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Old 12-07-09, 05:27 AM
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Originally Posted by HandsomeRyan
Get the 59. One centimeter difference isn't going to make that much of a change to how the thing rides if you have the saddle, stem, and bars adjusted correctly. It may ride a little different than your previous bikes (because the geometry as well as the size is a little different) but unless you are training for the TdF or the Olympics (which we can pretty well rule out based on the frames you are looking at) that 1cm won't mean anything once you get used to riding it.
This is bad advice. It's one thing to offer such advice if the guy hadn't tried the bike. But, he tried the 59cm and it felt too big. THERE IS A REASON WHY ROAD BIKES COME IN 2CM INCREMENTS.

This guy is probably a 57/58cm like me. 56cm is too small, 59cm is too big, period. I comfortably ride a 57 or 58cm bike depending on if the manufacturer uses odd or even numbers. I even had a custom bike made and after all of the measurements the TT was...you got it...58cm. I once had a 59cm Steamroller that I got for a great deal. Great bike. I had to sell it because it was too big.

A bike is like a pair of dress shoes. It doesn't matter how nice and how cheap they are, if they don't fit, it's not worth it.
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Old 12-07-09, 09:37 AM
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Originally Posted by doomridesout
So I was at Yojimbo's earlier today test riding some bikes. Rode an IRO Mark V, a Surly Steamroller, and a Pake. Pake's too twitchy for my tastes, the Steamroller handled right, but the IRO was a little zippier than the roller. It seems that I want a more road-oriented geometry. I'm really attracted to the Wabi Cycles Classic- I'd probably buy the frame and fork and bring it to Marcus at Yojimbo's to get the parts straight... Also, Surly and IRO both make a 56 and a 59, but I ride a 58 pretty much spot on... The 56's I rode were a little too small and the 59 is too big. Seems like a 58cm Wabi is what's up... Any opinions, yokel calls, or stupid comments?
These numbers don't really mean anything. Figure out what cockpit length works for you, then buy a frame that will allow you to achieve the proper bar height and cockpit length. No one here can offer you any real advice about which frame will work better for you. Its not easy to get a perfect fit the first time , but its easy to get fairly close. You have a few cm tolerance either way with frame size, considering you can adjust saddle position, buy stems of different lengths and run a variable number of spacers under your stem. (When they cut your fork for you, cut it long and leave a spacer or two above the stem so you have room to experiment with bar height...you can cut it down later) Also consider that just because you test rode a few bikes, doesn't mean you can judge right away which one fits you best because you have not had the chance to experiment with the position of your bars, saddle, crank length, etc.

The more you ride the more you'll begin to understand exactly what works best for you, so its best to save your money in the beginning until you've had time to ride and think about it a bit. "Perfect fit" is a moving target that moves with your age, fitness level, and riding style. I've ridden over 30,000 miles in the last 4.5 years and I still am not entirely certain what my exact fit is although I have gotten it down to a few mm in terms of cockpit length, saddle position, etc. Beyond that it starts to get rather subjective.

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Old 12-07-09, 04:57 PM
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Cat thread!
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Old 12-07-09, 05:10 PM
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Old 12-07-09, 05:55 PM
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Originally Posted by carleton
This is bad advice. It's one thing to offer such advice if the guy hadn't tried the bike. But, he tried the 59cm and it felt too big. THERE IS A REASON WHY ROAD BIKES COME IN 2CM INCREMENTS.
If 1cm over ideal makes the bike unridably large then why doesn't 1cm below ideal must make the bike unridably small?

I'm okay with you disagreeing with me but I don't think what I offered is bad advice it's just an opinion that is different from your own.
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Old 12-07-09, 05:59 PM
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A Wabi is definitely a bad choice for deep v rims. I have the Classic, and it's light and rides sweet right out of the box. A heavy wheelset would be wasted money. What components were you planning on having a shop install for you?
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Old 12-07-09, 06:11 PM
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Perhaps a top tube brake?
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Old 12-07-09, 06:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Scrodzilla
Perhaps a top tube brake?
You'll never find a clamp big enough to fit over that Pake pad.
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