jsidney

I have not been around for several reasons.

This is not a reason for being gone but might be a reason for not being a daily visitor. I am a transportation rider rather than a sport rider. I have figured out that a bike for one thing is wanting for something else as transportation takes many forms. I would kind of like a Big Dummy to use once a week as the pickup truck of bicycles. Being a transportation rider does not mean I don't love bicycles for bicycles sake.

I left because of a couple of posts. The vast majority of them were not directed at me but disturbed me. I know that everyone on the forum is not going to be like that it was enough to remove myself for awhile.

I think it is also a mistake that transportation riders are not interested in the best gear they can get for their purposes, I think some of them are but budgets are a reality.

RaleighSport

Ahhh understandable. I happen to ride for recreation, exercise, commuting and general transportation.. I do have to drive on occasion but usually only while working. From the sounds of it you should definitely check out the commuting forum you'll fit right in (not to say you don't fit in here too).

jsidney

Part of it is I feel like I am from a different planet than other people. Many of my friends (and myself in the past) measure the distance to their mailbox in miles. I am temporarily a townie (sorry, a word that some people use to describe people with neighbors) . I don't exercise for exercise sake but I get more than most people just because of the way I live. .

I do frequently ride on decades old tire ruts that are packed hard do to continual use. The world is different as a townie and I am finding that a different bike might be more practical.

One post that kind of made me want to leave the forum was about people that lived very rural.

I put a lot of miles on bikes but don't have near enough knowledge about them. On things such a geometry the only think I know is that I can tell that different bikes are easier to do different things with. I thought I could combine them all into one bike but I don't think that is optimal anymore. I think I could combine 90% of what I do with a bike into one bike but I think I would be better served by three different designs.

My idea of traffic is way different than most people on the forum. There are fairly long stretches of time where I will not see a car. I think towns of over 1k are too big . I do go to a city of more than 300k once in awhile and when I do that I think of the traffic is shocking.

Bike rack, what's a bike rack? I think I have seen those is the city.

JBC353

My wife has a Suburban 5-speed. It's perfect for our very tiny little town (pop 400) out here at the end of nowhere. I am currently finishing up a conversion of a World Sport to suit my particular needs and one of the things I would like is to eliminate a chain ring to make it a 6 speed. I need to sort through the ratios for a bit and see what works best for me.

auchencrow

Five speeds are plenty for most situations -(I rarely use more than three.)

- And at the risk of getting flamed for bicycle "heresy", I strongly disagree with Sheldon Brown:
Stock SA 3-speeds are geared just about right. (I don't see the point of replacing a typical 18T AW cog).

Velognome 

My youngest rides a 1x5 around town and beyond without any difficulties

Turbo231

I think it hits a spot for some people and misses it for a few. My wife can't really crank hard to save her life, so the standard .7/1/1.3 works very well. I run a high cadence, so a 6-speed can do that for me. The stock SA-3s are nice, and in high gear can move, but they are just a bit sluggish for me. I'd love like a .5/.7/1 drive ratio on one. But that being said, they didn't make them that way, so its kinda moot....which is why I love the 5 and 6 speeds.

I mostly deal in used equipment, so I have to deal in what they made 25+ years ago.