I recently took up cycling (last 2 years). Had to quit running or face a nasty heel surgery. I have gotten on here and complained of how a lot of guys fiddle and tweak and build bikes. I thought it was all about the riding. I was wrong. I am not getting into building a bike and I love it. It seems to be another aspect of cycling. I feel more involved and it is all your fault. I hung around this site long enought for you guys to get me addicted to both riding and tinkering. You are to blame. I am even planning a tour this summer on a bike I put together. I find myselft looking for old yard sale bikes to build. Is that normal?

You're asking the 50+ guys about normal? How would we know what's normal?

Thank you!

What's normal. If it's your first time to do something than it can't be normal for you. On the other hand it can be normal for bicycle rides to look for used bicycle to rebuild. So keep it up and it will be normal for you as well as the rest of us. -

Joe

I am now banned from taking rubbish down to the tip. I always seemed to bring some parts or nearly complete bike from it. Problem is that all my neighbours now have bikes- and all I get is a knock on the door at 8pm with a very unhappy face and a plea-"Can you mend my bike". And that's from the dads. (They are all trying to secretly get fit for the Easter Challenge of getting a neighbour out for a ride). Then there is the usual bit of Just before a ride on our group- someones bike mysteriously has a fault. Like the bloke you have been telling that his bottom bracket needs replacing- Needs it replacing NOW. Good job I have spare bikes and a good supply of spares.

Unfortunately- Tweaking and rebuilding and fiddling with bikes comes with experience and at 50+ we have plenty of it. Normality does not come into it. It is just another skill that moves you up in the estimation of your neighbours.

The tinkering or mechnical aspect of cycling is just another example of how this cycling stuff can appeal to such a broad cross-section of people.

Heck-we've even got Gary learning how to air up tires with presta valves (sorry Gary-couldn't resist).

Truly, babysaph, the bike seems so simple to look at, and it is, but there is so much bike lore and so many subtle nuances that you can keep cycling simple and sweet, or make it a passion...or hit whatever middleground you want. Many riders have bike projects going....and when you finally hit the road on your cobbled together project (being sure to take along lotsa hex wrenches for on road adjustments) nothing is more fun than feeling your creation under you...complete with garage sale parts, your own personal work-arounds, and ingenuity. When I was a runner years ago, all I could fiddle with was shoe-goo.

Yet another runner that has seen the light. We are a bit out of it over here- All we had when I was running was Plimpsoles. If you had money- you bought white ones. What was Shoe-goo? Will it work on tyres to stop me falling over?

Stepfam, Shoe goo is a product which we used to repair worn down running shoes "back in the days". Its a kind of rubber adhesive in a tube which can bond soles back on, but for runners on a budget, especially pronators, you could use it (artfully) to build up the worn sections of your sole (soul?). I'm not a craftsman so I never quite got it right. You could often tell who was using Shoe Goo because they sometimes ran with a wobble due to having a lumpy sole.

I have no idea what Plimpsoles are, but I found one old Etonic StreetFighter out in the garage a while ago. My only occasional trail rides make me wish for a tire adhesive that would keep my upright. You might try velcro treads!

Plimpsoles are a very basic sports shoe with canvas top and rubber sole, nearest you can get to it is a boating shoe. Absolutely no form of foot protection- very flexible thin sole, no thick trainer type sole, and fitted where the laces were tight. perhaps thats why my knees gave up in the end. These were about right the way through my early years after WWII and even when I went in the forces in 65- we were issued with them- Can't remember the trainer type shoes coming in- except in 91- I bought my first pair for me (Hitec) but according to my 10 year old daughter- they were cr&p and she would not let me wear them unless I was in the garden.

Velcro sounds good but knowing my technical skill with modern materials- I would probably fit it upside down and I only carry two tubes to cater for the punctures it would cause.

Stepfam, like you I recall my pre-tech years. Used to play sports in my teens in Convers high tops...simple canvas uppers, stamped rubber sole, virtually no support compared to today's shoes. BUT.....they did not cost well over $100 either.

All those daughters Stepfam! I only have one but we call her "She Who Must Be Obeyed".... a family joke.

I always envied the guys in Chuck Taylors. I couldn't wear them because they were so wide they would fall off my narrow foot. However PF Flyers fit me just fine.........run faster, jump higher!!! or something like that.

I remember my first pair of WHITE high tops as a kid. My mom had always made me get black because they didn't show dirt so quickly. (Though they did fade nicely.) White was a luxury indeed. What the cool guys wore....2 kinds of kid then, those who kept their whites free of grass stains and those who didn't.