Homebrew01

No, she has almost $10,000. Only putting $2,500 in the mutual fund for now.
But she has basically 0 expenses, living at home.

gsteinb

as far as performance goes, fit and love trumps just about any upgrade you can do.

I know pros who use Stages and Ultegra.

I'm begging you, literally, not to say or write stuff like that.

you love your fit?

as others have said spending money you don't want to on things you only think you might need is chasing after an improbable gain.

shovelhd

Is this the daughter that was giving you agida last year? If so, looks like you have done a great job getting her back on track.

gsteinb

I was wondering how one might pimp out a steed.

Homebrew01

Yes, but not out of the woods yet. Not sure I get much credit, and she still needs to figure out what she wants to do with herself. .... And clean up her room !!

big john

Very cool that she's come so far, and it sounds like she'll be ok as far as money.

big john

I have one bike with 35,000 miles on it and my newer one is at about 18,000 miles. I sold one that had 30,000 for $300 after a friend raced it and crashed it. Really, when they get old they are hard to sell for anywhere near what you spend on them.

Homebrew01

My bikes are so old nobody would want to buy them. They just get pushed further back in the basement.
My son started riding, so he is using one of them.
My race bike (when I raced) was a 2008 Cannondale Six-13. Put good wheels and a clean drivetrain on it and it rides quite nicely.

shovelhd

They are out of the woods the day you go six feet under.

himespau 

Saving every penny I'd made in all my summer, part time, and after school jobs, I had ~$10k in the bank before I entered college at 18. Helped me make it through school debt free. Well, that and summer factory jobs, $13k in scholarships, ~$10k from my parents, and the fact that tuition/room and board for 4 years back then was only ~$45k. But back then, I was never one to spend a penny I didn't have to. During college, I'd take like $200 out of the bank at the beginning of a semester and that was my money for the semester. Sometimes, I wish I'd been willing to spend just a little more and have some fun, but it was nice to make it out debt free. With higher tuition these days, I can't see how a kid whose parents aren't rich could do it, especially if they want to have any sort of fun in school at all. Of course, summer jobs pay a bit more than $5.50 an hour for third shift these days too.
Yeah, but I bet your undergrad was a lot more fun than mine. Plus, I hadn't discovered cycling as anything other than going to class on the 10 speed schwinn woodlands I'd gotten for my 10th birthday to commute to class yet. Riding bikes makes your money go bye bye very fast.

mike868y

got a response from one of my professors

"Be happy to write letters depending on what your weekly average mileage on the bike is."

lol

scheibo

I appreciate everyone's advice - getting thoroughly lambasted is always a good forcing function for figuring out exactly why I feel I want (not to be mistaken with need) a new bicycle. Since I'm new to posting here (lurked exclusively for the last 3 years) there's really no way you could know what my situation is like and I think everyones' recommendations are solid (except maybe @gsteinb's point critiquing my clearly superior vernacular ).

I probably misrepresented my desire in the original post, but perhaps that's because a couple sentences fired into the BF ether aren't always sufficient explanation. I like a lot about the fit on my current bike, but my chief complaint is that it feels like I'm steering a yacht. I own another (rain) bike with a smaller frame/top tube and it feels much more nimble and maneuverable - I feel much more confident handling and riding it (e.g. I'm terrified of riding even the tamest dirt/gravel on my main bicycle, but I can stomach it on the other frame). Since technical skills/descending is by far my biggest limiter (and one I'm already working on improving through practice and drills etc.), I think I would potentially improve both results and enjoyment if I could dial in a similar reach/setback/etc (the parts I like about my current fit) on a smaller frame with a smaller wheelbase. My 'sadness' about switching to a better model is mostly just a factor of how emotionally attached I've grown to the inanimate piece of carbon and aluminum that is my current bike, though I'm sure I will be just as enamored with a new bike once I get past the nostalgia.

I think the motivation for upgrading to electronic shifting, etc. stems from the idea that if I've already decided to p̶i̶m̶p̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶s̶t̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶ buy a new frame I might as well upgrade my components at the same time provided it is within my budget. Perhaps what follows is fallacious reasoning, but my logic is that if some catastrophe occurred which wiped out my current stable of bikes (wait, maybe *all* horse analogies are no go? better check with gsteinb ), what would I walk into a bike shop and buy? Because of this, I don't think its necessarily just throwing money after non-existent perceived gains, but then again could be delusional. That's why the internet exists - for you all to tell me that . And side note: I definitely own power meters for my bikes and feel they're definitely a good investment, so thanks for the suggestion!

I wouldn't go so far as to say it makes me sick (I believe I just wrote "*gulp*" in the original post) - what I meant to convey was not so much my 'reluctance' but instead my awareness of the impact and magnitude of the decision. I, of course, like new toys, think the new bike will look cool and have a decent amount saved away in the 'bike fund', but I don't think this will make me ride my bike anymore (I'm pretty comfortable with the amount of training I manage to do). I think one positive effect might be mostly mental - its stupid but when the going gets tough in a workout/race my brain seems to be remarkably good at trying to find loopholes and excuses - I'm hoping removing the crutch of being able to 'blame my gear' will at least force my brain to come up with more creative rationalizations.

I hope this wasn't too defensive.

spectastic

anyone invest in real estate?

curious

mattm

Wish I had the money for that.

carpediemracing 

Some thoughts, may or may not apply to your situation.

I went from a typically short wheelbase bike (first bike was something like 96 cm? It had 39 cm stays and my pinkie would lock the rear wheel if I got it jammed between the tire and the seat tube, not that it didn't happen twice, both at reasonable speed, both with me hitting the deck, theoretically of course). I honestly have no idea how that bike handled because it was my first race bike.

I went to bikes in the 97-99 cm range, I think (50 cm Spec M2, 50 cm Cannondales, size S TCR, finally 52cm Cannondale). By far the best handling bike was the 52 cm Cannondale. Had the same geometry as the two size S TCRs I had but the head tube and fork were much stiffer laterally so the bike cornered like it was on rails.

Then I got a custom frame (and a second custom frame). Due to the much longer top tube I now ride about a 102 cm wheel base. At first the bike didn't handle that much differently (first frame, orig spec, basically a copy of the 52 cm Cannondale with a much longer top tube, steeper seat tube). Due to lack of traction on the rear wheel I asked the builder to make second frame with a 39 cm chainstay instead of a 40.5, the standard chainstay length for my size bike.

With the short stay, and a 1 cm shorter wheelbase (but still about 102 cm), the bike was totally the same while seated but extremely nimble when standing. It was so much better that I sent back my first custom frame to have that one shortened as well. Due to tubing limitations that frame has a 39.3 cm stay, but it's an absolutely different bike handling wise, at least out of the saddle.

Up front I run a 73 deg HT angle, 43 mm rake, so totally normal.

The chainstay length is the only thing I changed and it's a huge, huge difference in out of the saddle responsiveness.

Wheelbase, that doesn't matter. It's just a result of your chainstay length, top tube length, and front end preferences (HT angle, rake).

Components - although there may be an advantage to electric, you can 100% race on 105. I have a teammate that raced 5s and 4s with an alum 105 bike, a Felt. He upgraded to a carbon Ultegra bike when he upgraded to 3 (Trek). No big difference. He then went with carbon tubular aero wheels. Huge difference. He said that he should have just bought the wheels, skipped the bike upgrade. When he quit racing (various reasons, none of them to do with himself) he sold the carbon/Ult bike so that if he ever got back into it he'd have a very race able bike (and he got more money for his carbon/ult bike).

Nicer components wear better, but if you really wear something out then you can just buy a more durable (and it'll be lighter usually) part. Wear out an 105 derailleur, just get an Ult.

Although I have some Record/Chorus stuff, it's all old, like 6-7-8 years old at youngest. My front deraillur is from 20 years ago. My shifters are Centaur, newest part on the bike, and I got it because I like Campy's new lever shape (I gave my other perfectly good shifters to a different teammate). It wouldn't be a big deal to race on a full Centaur bike, and I did for a while (when it was called Daytona, before the trademark battle over the name). Chorus/Record chainrings are stiffer, but the Shimano stuff is so stiff I think even 105 is ultra stiff.

If you are a bit antsy about handling then going slow or fast on dirt is a great way to learn how to handle a bike. Racing will also teach you to push what you think are the limits to the bike. My first race I was really timid about cornering, although I thought I was proficient when I showed up to race. A teammate yelled advice to me while I raced. A decade later, I thought I was a pretty decent corner-er, then I raced in Michigan. I stepped it up another notch there. You learn by watching other riders exceed what you think are your limits, and by simply following them, you learn that it's not the limit.

Also, on descents, unless you're simply afraid of going fast in a straight line, it's all about cornering. You can practice cornering on your bike but you should be practicing it every time you drive your car and even when you push a shopping cart around the supermarket. Cornering is not just a bike racing skill, it's a life skill. Read some theory, play Gran Turismo (seriously, although I have no idea what version is current, or if it's still one of the games available), and think about cornering every time you take a turn in your car.

there's more of course but it's late.

ridethecliche

So switched out my cables and housing on the CAAD9 yesterday and it turns out that the cable heads weren't fraying, atleast that I noticed.

I'm really confused now though. My FD shifter puts the chain into the big ring without an issue, but will only drop it to the little ring if I push it very slowly. I remember being able to dump the gears pretty readily on DA 7800, but this bike has been sitting for a while. Any idea what it can be? Should I just spray some WD-40 down in the shifter and see if it helps?

I'm kind of at a loss. I'm not trying to throw any more money on the bike right now so new shifters would be a huge PITA since I'm running 10 speed DA with 105 cranks. I just want this stuff to work :/

I still kinda want a six13. That was the bike I really wanted in college but could never justify so I ended up with a CAAD9. I'm riding tomorrow morning!

mike868y

my dad, kind of

spectastic

rent or flip?

met some touring cyclists doing that. seems like a nice retirement option

mike868y

he has a couple vacation homes in the lake winnepesaukee area he rents out. i think he makes a decent amount of cash from it, but it's also just kind of a hobby for him. he spends quite a bit of time from what i can tell dealing with upkeep, renters, etc. granted he does it remotely (he's living in GA right now) so that probably adds to the amount of time spent managing the properties.

Homebrew01

What happens with a normal quick shift ?? After a quick shift, is there slack in the cable along the down tube ? If yes, then maybe the FD is hanging. If then see if you can pull a bit of slack that maybe is getting hung in the shifter body some where. I wouldn't go nuts with the WD40 yet. Maybe a better lube, more strategically placed.


Not sure there's much difference. Six-13 is basically a CAAD9 with a couple of carbon tubes glued in.

Duke of Kent

Unless someone is giving you a bike to ride, Ultegra is good enough. I'd buy a cheaper bike and coaching.

I'm a CAT1 and ride Rival. My bike, an eBay Chinese carbon special, cost me less than $2500, built from scratch.

Homebrew01

Thoughts on my son's fit, and sore lower back after 10 miles ?? He's new to riding a road bike.
https://www.bikeforums.net/fitting-yo...ower-back.html

grolby

I think your hunch that he needs to roll his hips forward is correct. I had this problem too, albeit to a lesser extent - part of it is also simply inexperience with a road fit. Ways to get the change in posture could include tipping the saddle a bit, maybe a longer stem. Longer stem was the trick I used, eventually I reverted back to a shorter stem, but I seem to have kept the posture it induced. Though I'm also on a different saddle.

Homebrew01

He had a longer stem, but I just switched to a slightly shorter, higher stem thinking maybe he needed a slightly less aggressive set up. I have also suggested to him it might help to get some short rides in during the week to help his body get used to it.

ridethecliche

There isn't, but it was just the bike I wanted at the time but couldn't afford slash justify due to the 9 being cheaper to replace. I doubt I'd ever buy one, but pcad made me want one too since he had so many miles on the damn thing! At this point, I'm probably better off trying to trade someone for a synapse or something more upright... because back surgery.

Regarding the shifter. It doesn't click if it's not shifting. There's no resistance at all and the piece will just move like it's hanging and not attached to anything.

Sometimes being more stretched out is a bit more comfortable and also forces a rider to rotate their hips.