Dear Jesus,

Why do Ridley cross bikes have to have such hideous (and double-powdercoated on) paint jobs?

Love,

- Mike

...

Mike,

Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Yours,

Jesus.

Don't have the luxury to be too picky on the geometry since all my bike are used. I did learn what I needed though. Had a way too small bike (50cm) at first, but it wasn't so bad, apart from looking awful. So I realized I needed a short TT, for my short torso.

My three bikes have a TT of 54, 55 and 56cm. I play with stem and handlebar reach, saddle setback, to get it confy. So far so good. Now in terms of ST angle, chainstay length and steering trail... I can't really comment apart that its though to tell the difference.

any pics of the race surface yet?

I haven't seen any of the race itself but lots of before / after / sprints:

Erin's Photos

Ben's photos

Ian's Photos

My Photos 01 | 02

I'm sure there are lots more floating around... I'll post up as I find 'em.

I see Ben all the time but is his co-worker Nick(?) still riding? I haven't seem him around in ages.

Yeah, Nick still rides but not quite as much because he's been extreeeeeeeeemely overloaded at work for the last couple of months... he usually gets out for a west - east - west ride in the mornings but he doesn't come out with us much anymore...

so the doctor at my work says to me "was there a critical mass the other day? i saw something going on..." so i told him about the race and he seemed amused, but also concerned because everyone was running red lights at such high speeds, and the folks trying to keep up to the leaders were being a bit more reckless. he did make a distinction between racing and mass rides where riders keep together, but that there were no marshalls to communicate with the crowds. it is a point that with all the crack-down on street car racing, that if someone were to get hurt that bikes might start getting confiscated as well. just thought i'd share.

oh and regarding bike fit *pfft* i'm still trying to work on finding pants that fit properly...

I only have two running bikes, one of which I bought new from Canadian Tire (happy Mark? :p) because I frankly didn't know better at the time, and it worked for me. This one I tried out in the very *very* basic sense of "seems to fit, crossbar isn't so bad mmmkay". I'm was and still am a n00b to more serious cycling.

The other, my roadie, I got free from my bosses garage. The roadie is a 19" and seems a bit small to look at, and I've been told it's too small for me (ie, like a dog hunched over screwing a football), but I've made it fit me - I don't get uncomfortable, I've ridden more than a century on it in one go amongst other fairly long distance rides and it's seemed nice enough. I found saddle height adjustments made the world of difference for me, and this bike is my primary commuter/everywhere/tourer/whatever bike and I've put over 5000kms on it since I got it going in May.

I'm right at the base of the learning curve for bike-fit though, and perhaps I'll come and get some measurements done one day, but I've not spent too much time thinking about it. For my IRO, I got a 56cm frame, which seems to be more appropriate for my height, but this is guessing still. I figure I'll try to dial it in, go to a shop ask questions, dial in some more, etc. then build my knowledge from there. I was going to do the rounds around stores to try and get fitted and stuff, but I just haven't had time/desire to do that... I prejudiced this experience with sales pressure and expectancy of wanting to buy some $2k roadie or something, and I had no intention of buying from the store, so would feel guilty of being fitted and then just saying "thanks for all the fish" and taking off.

Can I come into CT (or other?) and get fitted for $0 or thereabouts? I hate to sound cheeky but I just don't want to spend much on it, nor can I get a new bike other than my IRO build.

As for frame geometries, I consider myself very new to cycling in a deeper sense, so knowing what geometric differences can/will do on a bike is all fairly new to me, I chose the Rob Roy frame because a) it was on sale and b) from the IRO site the description for it's intended purposes sounded ideal (it was either the Rob or Jamie based on that) - I need a good all-round all-weather bike that can handle fenders if need be, as well as hold a rack and other commuter junk - my bike is my primary transportation so I have more practical/functional desire. I hope for a day where I can get to try out some CX or something.. since I gave up the TTC in June I've become a lot fitter generally but I have serious self-doubts re: my ability in racing. I got "shoved" to the back of a peleton in the Ride for Heart, as I honestly said "I've no idea how to ride in a pack" when someone asked me if I was moving up, heh - that was very intimidating being shunned away by the roadie crowd, but I rode at the back of the pack (Riding with platforms at the time made some people give me some odd looks as I passed them on their decked out Cannondales, etc. ;))

I've got to go upto 400/7 next week... anyone got a good plan for a route that far north? I've not been past Steeles that way on a bike.

I've been up Bathurst and had no problems, that said you're still a bit East of the 400. I don't suggest a huge ride along 7, since the drivers on it are terrible.

Okay, well for the love of proper bike fit I'm offering free loaner threadless stems to anyone that wants to try out something. Just get in touch and I'll hook you up. If anyone's wondering about their bike setup and just does not have a ****ing clue how it should be feel free to stop in as well and I'll try to help you out.

FlimFlam, come in and get fitted - no charge.

Punch out the old chain on the whip....replace with some 1/8 chain and 1/8 masterlinks.

Anyone know the guy who rides a white Poprad (avec barcons), currently set up w/ front and rear racks? I rode part of the way home next to him tonight - really nice bike.

:/

P.S I quit drinking
P.P.S I felt like smiling for some reason today.


****

Hey guys, where can I find a decent older road bike at a reasonable price? I'm thinking of something like a panasonic or miele. This bike would be for riding on weekends I spend up at my parents place in Peterborough. What's the ballpark for such a beast? I'd like to stay below $400.

edit: anything but CL - I hate seeing $350 CCM road bikes...:P

I have also pretty much given up on CL, although I still watch it compulsively.
You can try parts unknown in kensington, he (George) has a few jewels and is reasonable. Or check http://www.tbn.ca/retailer/rtdb/at.htm and look for the bike shops with used stuff in your neighbourhood, you might get lucky at this time of the year.

If you have a car... garage sales in the 'burbs.

sometimes OK stuff shows up on CL, but you pretty much have to check it and get the deals as soon as it's posted. I got a nice miele road bike for 120 a couple of years ago from a local used bike dealer (no longer there)... needed some attention but I'm happy with the results. The old mieles are great bikes that don't seem to call for as much cash as some of the other names out there.

The MEC classifieds is also usually good.

This:

http://www.damonrinard.com/wheel/wheel88.jpg

+

http://thumbnail.image.rakuten.co.jp...b-7710-r-s.jpg

= new wheel build

Yeah, but there are also a lot of delusional people that think 80% of what they paid for a 3 yr old bike is a good price.

[QUOTE=operator;5669185]The MEC classifieds is also usually good.

This:

http://www.damonrinard.com/wheel/wheel88.jpg
/QUOTE]
hey its named after me...but they switched out the I with an A....I told them but they said it would sound sexier as Shamal not Shamil...wah wah wahhhhhhhhhhhh!

i think mine is 1/8"; i got it at MEC and i believe urbane sells them (rob?). if you're stuck you could always just buy a 3/32" and take off the chain portion and install some scrap links from a 1/8" chain?....

What are you going to stick in the many many unused flange holes? Is there even a symmetric lacing for this pair? Are you also doing this for the 12-spoke front? This is for road? I'm so confused.. all this to save 50-100g over open pros?

no no cause hes reppin my name!