Your latest bike purchase?

[dcv]

@americancyclo 83770 wrote:

Ginormous Purple bikes are awesome!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]5411[/ATTACH]

ftfy

[hozn]

@krazygl00 83760 wrote:

Just curious, what is it about a tapered head tube you would prefer? I know there are advantages (stiffness, strength) but I would have considered those the province of frame designers and mechanics. Are there tangible ride-quality or usability benefits to you?

The reasons *I* would want a tapered HT (may be the same as vvill, we often agree) is that almost all of the full-carbon disc-brake forks out there are for (1.125-1.5) tapered head tubes. The exceptions are the Spot fork and the new/upcoming (maybe released now?) Ritchey WCS fork. The tapered HT is especially a requirement if you want a thru-axle fork.

I don’t know if I can feel the difference in tapered HT alone. Certainly my new bike has a much stiffer frontend than previous (Enve 2.0 straight-steerer fork), but it’s a completely different frame/fork with different wheels (45mm 28-spoke vs previous 50mm 20-spoke), so hard to know what is the making it feel different.

[dcv]

@hozn 83757 wrote:

My most recent bike purchase was my disc-brake road bike project that started last fall and wrapped up late winter. It took awhile to find (and afford) the parts I wanted, build the wheels, decide what stickers to put on it, etc.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]5404[/ATTACH]

love the head badge sticker

[rcannon100]

@dkel 83772 wrote:

Going home with the Straggler may be a foregone conclusion anyway. I’m mostly concerned with fit; I already love the thing, and I’ve done copious amounts of research.

It reads a bit like my urban Canondale. What I like about my bike is that all the geometry adds up to a long reach for me. Some people hate that. It’s definately more of a commuter / touring geometry. I find it extremely comfortable, good leg reach, and still pulls my torso down a bit.

[DaveK]

@83(b) 83747 wrote:

I’ve since rebuilt the Litespeed as a city bike with decent cargo capacity.

I know that bike! I’ll say hi next time I see you on the Hill. I’ve seen several riders misjudge how quick you move with the e-assist on there.

[vvill]

@krazygl00 83760 wrote:

Just curious, what is it about a tapered head tube you would prefer? I know there are advantages (stiffness, strength) but I would have considered those the province of frame designers and mechanics. Are there tangible ride-quality or usability benefits to you?

Newer (especially full carbon) disc brake front forks tend to require tapered head tubes (there are only a couple straight disc carbon fork). It’s more just keeping up with current standards than a tangible benefit, but given that my CX bike is disc only I would’ve preferred to be compatible with more rather than less of the market. (In the model year I bought my Jake, the next level up Jake the Snake had a tapered head tube, but wasn’t disc – I couldn’t win!) Also, I assume that frame designers prefer a larger fork for disc braking stresses, and that this would be better managed with a beefier headtube/fork interface (I don’t know the mechanics of this for sure, but it seems to make sense.) Given that I don’t bomb downhills and I’m not heavy it’s probably a moot point, but a disc frame without a tapered headtube is less upgradeable.

@TwoWheelsDC 83765 wrote:

What is it about FG that you find less practical than SS? Honest question, as I’m just curious about your preferences/experiences…not trying to challenge your thinking or anything.

Steeper/longer downhills, pedal strike on turns, and riding over bumps/bridge joints/potholes/etc. I do often wonder (and ask) other FG riders about how they handle those things. How are they for you? I noticed you took to FG like a duck to water!

I think if I just commit to riding a few days in a row on FG I’d feel more comfortable overall, but when I need to brake suddenly (a situation I encounter more often than I’d like on my commutes), my natural reaction is to stop pedaling and concentrate on handling the bike and braking (with brake levers). I do love the ability to modulate speed with your legs though. Rim brakes feel so clumsy after a FG ride (and coasting almost feels like some part of the bike fell apart).

I am planning to switch out my stock dropbars for a more compact set, and probably the stock 23mm tires as well. I’m sure I’ll try FG again after I get those set up right, at some point.

[consularrider]

My most recent bike purchase was almost four years ago and was four days after I crashed my ’84 Raleigh road bike and thought I had bent part too much ride it in the Reston Century the upcoming weekend. I hit four different shops and rode eight bikes from six manufacturers. I rode a three aluminium, four carbon, and one steel frames. Of those five has Shimano 105, two had SRAM Rival and one was a mix of 105 and Ultrega. I got in at least 30 minutes on each bike and tried to factor in a couple of hills on each ride. In the end I went with the steel frame Salsa Pistola because it was the one that felt the best.

Earlier in 2010 I purchased a new Giant Transend hybrid to replace a ’94 rigid Raleigh mtb I was using as my daily commuter. I did not ride the bike (or any other) before ordering it, but had look at numerous bikes online to get a sense for what I wanted. While this bike has served my needs, I keep thinking I should have bought something else.

In the end I did not end up getting rid of my older two bikes. Instead I kept them in running shape and the mtb lives on as my winter bike (and backup commuter) while the old road bike lives at my parents’ home in Indiana and I use it there when I visit.

While I keep looking at new bikes, probably the only one I would consider is a folder that I would use while traveling. Of course that doesn’t stop me from coveting all kinds of things.

[83b]

Thanks! I had actually run across your review of the FM145/166 via google. Small world! I’ve been thinking of doing a very similar build but would really like to spring for hydraulic brakes and Di2. I think it’ll be a few seasons before the tech has settled down to an acceptable price point and worked out any kinks. Hopefully by then I’ll have worn out something significant on the Lemond and can easily justify it!

[dkel]

@consularrider 83784 wrote:

While I keep looking at new bikes, probably the only one I would consider is a folder that I would use while traveling. Of course that doesn’t stop me from coveting all kinds of things.

Sounds like you’ve got your bike needs pretty well worked out. This is what I’m aiming for, too. If I get the Straggler, it will be my all-purpose bike for commuting, family rides, whatever. I’ll hold onto the Quick as a backup and secondary all-purpose bike. I have a 1980s Schwinn that will become SS/FG sometime in the future (right now it’s not quite rideable, but I don’t really want to tune it up if I’m going to strip all the components off anyway). If I find that I love FG (as many do, apparently), one of the advantages of the Straggler is that its funky rear dropout is designed to go FG in no time, so I could convert it to a FG all-rounder. I’m wondering if I couldn’t go with an Xtracycle FreeRadical on my old Trek someday; I could replace the suspension fork with a disc fork, and use a disc on the back (would mean a new wheelset and brakes, of course). And then a fatbike for killing it in the snow. Maybe a skinny-tire road bike for keeping up on certain group rides…I figure 4 or 5 bikes would be plenty.

[drevil]

@dkel 83767 wrote:

… Surly Straggler …

I have a couple of bikes being made (1 each for me and my wife), so when we got our REI dividend and I half-jokingly said that we should use it on a Straggler for me, I got the death stare that sent shivers down my spine I love that lilac color since it reminds me so much of my mid-90s Fat City Yo Eddy!

[DismalScientist]

My latest acquisition is a Motobecane Cafe Sprint in December. It goes on sale every December for $400. I rationalized that I needed a snow bike intermediate between a Nashbar Steel Touring bike and my post-apocalypse 1990 GT Karakorum MTB with studded tires. This way, I could put studded tires on the hybrid and leave slicks on the touring bike so I didn’t have to switch wheelsets. Plus, Rod told me that hybrids are the best bike out there.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@vvill 83783 wrote:

Steeper/longer downhills, pedal strike on turns, and riding over bumps/bridge joints/potholes/etc. I do often wonder (and ask) other FG riders about how they handle those things. How are they for you? I noticed you took to FG like a duck to water!

I think if I just commit to riding a few days in a row on FG I’d feel more comfortable overall, but when I need to brake suddenly (a situation I encounter more often than I’d like on my commutes), my natural reaction is to stop pedaling and concentrate on handling the bike and braking (with brake levers). I do love the ability to modulate speed with your legs though. Rim brakes feel so clumsy after a FG ride (and coasting almost feels like some part of the bike fell apart).

I am planning to switch out my stock dropbars for a more compact set, and probably the stock 23mm tires as well. I’m sure I’ll try FG again after I get those set up right, at some point.

I find I’m getting better at dealing with the drawbacks, like riding over potholes and bumps, and taking corners at speed (although I’ll probably go with 165mm cranks on my next build). Since my commute is pretty open and doesn’t involve the complications of riding in the city, I’ve had time to get the fundamentals down without constantly worrying about obstacles and such. I do use my brake pretty liberally, but mostly that’s because I have quite a few hills to go down and relying solely on backpedaling just seems crazy. I also have a hard time adjusting to my geared bikes now, since I don’t ride them very often at all…coming to stoplights is the most awkward, since I keep trying to backpedal and time my stop to sync with the correct spot in my pedal rotation, which is totally unnecessary with a freewheel.

I’m planning to do the Cap2Cap century on my FG, since the ride is pretty flat and boring/easy on a geared bike…so we’ll see if I have the legs for a fixie century. I’ve been riding my FG so much, but not over long distances, that I don’t have a good idea of my current long-distance endurance. But I do almost as much climbing in one day of commuting than the entire Cap2Cap ride, so I think I’ll be okay. I put drops/hoods on the FG for that ride, as bullhorns seemed silly for that distance…not sure if I’ll leave them on permanently, but the bike does feel a bit more “performance-y” with them.

[dkel]

@TwoWheelsDC 83796 wrote:

…coming to stoplights is the most awkward, since I keep trying to backpedal and time my stop to sync with the correct spot in my pedal rotation, which is totally unnecessary with a freewheel.

Track stand?

[krazygl00]

@hozn 83775 wrote:

The reasons *I* would want a tapered HT (may be the same as vvill, we often agree) is that almost all of the full-carbon disc-brake forks out there are for (1.125-1.5) tapered head tubes. The exceptions are the Spot fork and the new/upcoming (maybe released now?) Ritchey WCS fork. The tapered HT is especially a requirement if you want a thru-axle fork.

I don’t know if I can feel the difference in tapered HT alone. Certainly my new bike has a much stiffer frontend than previous (Enve 2.0 straight-steerer fork), but it’s a completely different frame/fork with different wheels (45mm 28-spoke vs previous 50mm 20-spoke), so hard to know what is the making it feel different.

That makes total sense. My own carbon (with al. steerer) disc fork is 1.125/1.125 so it didn’t occur to me that this configuration would become scarce. I’m trying out a 2007 Kona Major Major to replace my 2004 JTS with cracked frame. It is an awesome frame but I’m considering two factors that may be at end-of-life, the first being the non-tapered head tube and the second being the 130mm dropout spacing with disc brake option.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@dkel 83801 wrote:

Track stand?

I wish. I’m terrible at track stands…skidz too. Thankfully, neither is an essential skill.

[Author]

Posts