So we get stiff once in a while. So we have a little fun. What’s wrong with that? This is a free country, isn’t it? I can take my panda any place I want to. And if I wanna buy it a drink, that’s my business.
These P1s I just got are my first Keo cleat. I've always been an SPD (MTB, commuter, and work shoes) and SPD-SL (road) guy.
Well, technically these aren't 100% Look Keo cleats but they're something like a licensed version of them? They look really, really similar but the flat bearing surface looks slightly different. My friends' Keo cleats seem to clip into the P1s just fine. I'm wondering if PowerTap changed the flat for some technical reason (had to relocate the plate a little bit to fit their electronic guts inside, etc.) or if they just wanted a recurring revenue stream from the replacement cleats. They're $20 a set and have the same reported durability as Keos, though, so it's no skin off my nose.
With only a handful of rides in on these I'm not in a position to judge the clip mechanics yet; I've hardly worn the flash off the cleats. I'm hoping the feel cleans up a bit.
So we get stiff once in a while. So we have a little fun. What’s wrong with that? This is a free country, isn’t it? I can take my panda any place I want to. And if I wanna buy it a drink, that’s my business.
So I did a 36mi ride yesterday morning at a work sponsored event. I learned 2 things from that experience:
1. My bike is awesome, even with the road bar on it, it's still a great ride, no matter what anyone says about the "geometry."
2. I hate hate HATE riding on public roads, especially two lane roads without a bike lane. People got close enough to me that I could have reached out and touched them if it wasn't for the fact that they were ripping by me at like 45mph.
So we get stiff once in a while. So we have a little fun. What’s wrong with that? This is a free country, isn’t it? I can take my panda any place I want to. And if I wanna buy it a drink, that’s my business.
So I did a 36mi ride yesterday morning at a work sponsored event. I learned 2 things from that experience:
1. My bike is awesome, even with the road bar on it, it's still a great ride, no matter what anyone says about the "geometry."
2. I hate hate HATE riding on public roads, especially two lane roads without a bike lane. People got close enough to me that I could have reached out and touched them if it wasn't for the fact that they were ripping by me at like 45mph.
Yep, there's a reason why my road bike is mostly used on my trainer these days...
If you're willing to give it another go, I'll pass along the best suggestion I've ever gotten in my road-riding career: strongly consider taking the lane. Be like a car/motorcycle/horse/tractor in that you don't give drivers enough room to brush by you: they either fully commit to entering to other lane to go around or they stay behind you. None of this "I can squeeze by" driver nonsense.
(I don't know if this is legal in your locality. Here in Virginia we are required to ride as far to the right "as safely practicable." Since we have a three-foot-clearance passing law, I broadly interpret that to allow me to ride a good third of the way into the lane when there isn't a safe shoulder with three feet of passing clearance. It works really well for us.)
If you're willing to give it another go, I'll pass along the best suggestion I've ever gotten in my road-riding career: strongly consider taking the lane. Be like a car/motorcycle/horse/tractor in that you don't give drivers enough room to brush by you: they either fully commit to entering to other lane to go around or they stay behind you. None of this "I can squeeze by" driver nonsense.
(I don't know if this is legal in your locality. Here in Virginia we are required to ride as far to the right "as safely practicable." Since we have a three-foot-clearance passing law, I broadly interpret that to allow me to ride a good third of the way into the lane when there isn't a safe shoulder with three feet of passing clearance. It works really well for us.)
I've done this plenty, didn't save me from getting hit by a car. While great advice in theory, personal safety does enter into it if you're in an area with lots of trucks/SUV's and few cyclists.
I've always wondered to what extent that tactic is fully or partially offset by increased driver irritation and anger. I haven't been able to find anything on that, because I'm sure it's really hard to measure.
It depends on the speeds and roads as well but I've found on 30mph town/city streets that you get as much room as you give yourself to a certain extent (there are always some geese that buck the trend). I find the more space I put between me and the kerb the more space drivers tend to leave between me and them almost irrespective of the actual road/lane width.
Or at least I found that. Having only managed 22 miles this year, and that on Jan 2nd, I'm not sure I'm actually a cyclist anymore :?
It depends on the speeds and roads as well but I've found on 30mph town/city streets that you get as much room as you give yourself to a certain extent (there are always some geese that buck the trend). I find the more space I put between me and the kerb the more space drivers tend to leave between me and them almost irrespective of the actual road/lane width.
Or at least I found that. Having only managed 22 miles this year, and that on Jan 2nd, I'm not sure I'm actually a cyclist anymore :?
I think it's due to the fact that if you're hugging the edge of the road, most car drivers think of you as little more than an obstacle to swerve around, like a pothole or piece of debris that fell off a vehicle, whereas if/when you take the lane you are forcing a driver to gauge you as another vehicle on the road.
Yeah, you have to ride how you ride. Everyone has different experiences, environments, etc. What works for me here today might not be good for you. I tried to pick my words carefully without writing a giant disclaimer but I screwed it up. I'm sorry.
On more positive news: the local bike club had its first Sunday Social Ride of the year. We only had six people show up, but two of those were new to the area (and I don't think we scared them away?) and there was gender parity (we're normally at about 60/40). Yay for group rides!
Decided that it's now biking season. 65km ride on Saturday, 80km ride on Sunday. Rainy and cold for both. Had to ride with numb feet for about an hour on the Saturday, corrected the next day by wearing two layers of booties.
If I am headed to the local bike shop, what's a good ballpark for a bike that could do roads and trails? Probably not a daily rider, but I'm hoping to use it lots on the weekends.
Broadly speaking, you get what you pay for. Sounds like you're looking for a hybrid bike. They are capable of doing road riding and light trails. You probably wouldn't want to do legit, middle-of-nowhere mountain routes, but your typical city or state park with well-established hiking trails will be fine. Such bikes have price points all over the place, but I'd recommend seriously considering something in the roughly $500 range if that's doable. Absolutely ask about used bikes (some shops sell them, others don't), and they'll also likely have one or two bikes from last year's model for a decent discount.
That's not to say a cheaper bike is a terrible buy. You just don't want to get a Walmart-grade Huffy for a hundo that literally shakes itself apart over the next six months.
When you say "trails" do you mean dirt trails with some mud and rocks and stuff? Or do you mean like dirt roads, rails-to-trails packed cinders, and gravel tracks? (The worst surface that you plan to ride basically dictates the bike type. I'm not taking a road bike on a forest climb but I'll totally take a cyclocross bike on a ride that's 10% forest climb and 90% perfect road.)
Are you planning on hauling groceries around town or anything like that?
For fun let's pick a big-name bike manufacturer like Trek and look at their basic and mid-tier offerings.
Hardtails:
Their most cheap-ass hardtail mountain bike with real cheap components is $400. It will work but be slightly crappy.
Their average basic hardtail mountain bike is $800. You're not going to bomb down a ski slope on it but it'll work well for dirt roads and require little attention.
Full suspension:
Their entry-level full-suspension (front and rear shocks) mountain bike is $2000. By virtue of the price point you're going to get relatively decent components that work well but it's not going to be crazy light or anything like that.
Their mid-tier nice full-suspension mountain bike is going to be $3000-ish.
Cyclocross style:
Entry-level is $2000. You get perfectly decent mid-tier components and fairly crappy disc brakes.
Mid-tier is $3000ish. Decent components all around.
Gravel style:
Entry-level is $1000. It'll work but be slightly crappy.
Mid-tier is $2100. Perfectly decent mid-tier components and decent discs.
If I am headed to the local bike shop, what's a good ballpark for a bike that could do roads and trails? Probably not a daily rider, but I'm hoping to use it lots on the weekends.
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Trek make great bikes. I will say however, that my partner had a $1000 entry-level Trek hardtail. Two years later when it was time to replace it (she'd put 10,000+ commuter miles on it and been hit by a car on two separate occasions in that two years), she bought a Giant for $600 that eclipses it in pretty much every way. It's very difficult to outprice Giant, especially at the lower end of the market.
i love my Specialized, but I do wish I could have justified the budget for the full carbon Bianchi my sister has. I ride hers when I'm in australia, and it's dreamy.
For many people it's going to come down to "what's the good local bike shop(s) stock?" If that's Giant, Trek, Specialized, or Canondale it doesn't matter too much unless you're at the edges of the business: there's definitely a best deal on the lowest end or the lightest thing, etc. Giant has an advantage in that they're about twice Trek's size so can negotiate better deals with component vendors. For the most part those price differences are hard to spot amidst the noise.
If I am headed to the local bike shop, what's a good ballpark for a bike that could do roads and trails? Probably not a daily rider, but I'm hoping to use it lots on the weekends.
I will not commute with it.
How many miles, and what kind of trails?
Let's say 20-30 miles a week, for six months
Less than 600 miles a year
Dirt roads with pot holes bordering on craters, paved roads with lots of potholes, rails to trails gravel trails, maybe a good paved path every once in a while
In case this helps: generally the lowest-tier shifters, derailleurs, and brakes are slightly crappy. They'll work but they're at the price point where the manufacturers are killing themselves to shave a dollar off the cost. For rim brakes most everything works well; for disc brakes the bottom tiers can often be really crappy. For shifters and derailleurs the difference between "bottom tier" and "next-to-bottom tier" is often huge. Shimano's Sora shifters, for example, totally work but if you compare them to even the next tier's Tiagra shifters the Soras feel so much more sloppy and loose. Same with SRAM's Apex and Rival.
Short version:
find a local bike shop you can trust
buy something from a reasonably big name manufacturer
try to avoid buying the lowest-tier shifters and derailleurs
if buying disc brakes, try to avoid buying the lowest tier of those, too
if you have to buy lowest-tier stuff, buy Shimano or SRAM because even their lowest-tier stuff is still totally serviceable
If I am headed to the local bike shop, what's a good ballpark for a bike that could do roads and trails? Probably not a daily rider, but I'm hoping to use it lots on the weekends.
I will not commute with it.
How many miles, and what kind of trails?
Let's say 20-30 miles a week, for six months
Less than 600 miles a year
Dirt roads with pot holes bordering on craters, paved roads with lots of potholes, rails to trails gravel trails, maybe a good paved path every once in a while
Go for a cross-country bike. 700c hybrid bikes are okay, but a modern hardtail cross-country bike is going to be much more sure-footed and comfortable in the rougher stuff, but light enough and easy-rolling enough that you won't notice a difference in effort to cover mileage. Shimano 365 and 395 hydraulic disk brakes are really quite nice (avoid mechanical disc brakes like the plague), and as others have said, avoid bargain-basement geartrains.
Would a trek or giant bike under $1000 have garbage components that I should look out for? Aren't those sorts of bikes fully assembled at a factory somewhere?
If I am headed to the local bike shop, what's a good ballpark for a bike that could do roads and trails? Probably not a daily rider, but I'm hoping to use it lots on the weekends.
I will not commute with it.
How many miles, and what kind of trails?
Let's say 20-30 miles a week, for six months
Less than 600 miles a year
Dirt roads with pot holes bordering on craters, paved roads with lots of potholes, rails to trails gravel trails, maybe a good paved path every once in a while
Go for a cross-country bike. 700c hybrid bikes are okay, but a modern hardtail cross-country bike is going to be much more sure-footed and comfortable in the rougher stuff, but light enough and easy-rolling enough that you won't notice a difference in effort to cover mileage. Shimano 365 and 395 hydraulic disk brakes are really quite nice (avoid mechanical disc brakes like the plague), and as others have said, avoid bargain-basement geartrains.
I'll disagree and say cyclocross or "gravel grinder" type, as those trails will be largely smooth and it's about mileage burn/speed. Mountain bikes are great at rough terrain, but suck out loud at long distances on dirt roads.
Posts
Well, technically these aren't 100% Look Keo cleats but they're something like a licensed version of them? They look really, really similar but the flat bearing surface looks slightly different. My friends' Keo cleats seem to clip into the P1s just fine. I'm wondering if PowerTap changed the flat for some technical reason (had to relocate the plate a little bit to fit their electronic guts inside, etc.) or if they just wanted a recurring revenue stream from the replacement cleats. They're $20 a set and have the same reported durability as Keos, though, so it's no skin off my nose.
With only a handful of rides in on these I'm not in a position to judge the clip mechanics yet; I've hardly worn the flash off the cleats. I'm hoping the feel cleans up a bit.
1. My bike is awesome, even with the road bar on it, it's still a great ride, no matter what anyone says about the "geometry."
2. I hate hate HATE riding on public roads, especially two lane roads without a bike lane. People got close enough to me that I could have reached out and touched them if it wasn't for the fact that they were ripping by me at like 45mph.
Yep, there's a reason why my road bike is mostly used on my trainer these days...
(I don't know if this is legal in your locality. Here in Virginia we are required to ride as far to the right "as safely practicable." Since we have a three-foot-clearance passing law, I broadly interpret that to allow me to ride a good third of the way into the lane when there isn't a safe shoulder with three feet of passing clearance. It works really well for us.)
I've done this plenty, didn't save me from getting hit by a car. While great advice in theory, personal safety does enter into it if you're in an area with lots of trucks/SUV's and few cyclists.
Or at least I found that. Having only managed 22 miles this year, and that on Jan 2nd, I'm not sure I'm actually a cyclist anymore :?
I think it's due to the fact that if you're hugging the edge of the road, most car drivers think of you as little more than an obstacle to swerve around, like a pothole or piece of debris that fell off a vehicle, whereas if/when you take the lane you are forcing a driver to gauge you as another vehicle on the road.
On more positive news: the local bike club had its first Sunday Social Ride of the year.
PSN: Robo_Wizard1
But I only went a few miles and at sausage gravy at the farmers market...
Don't feel bad. Beef Avenger covering 145 km (90 miles) in two days is approximately one hundred times more riding than I do.
New bike with new neighborhood to ride in will hopefully remove all excuses. It's definitely better suited for me with wider tires and relaxed ride.
(wooooooo bikes)
i hate everybody who has sun right now.
So much better than the old one, really looking forward to getting back into riding.
I will not commute with it.
but I ain't stopping to hell with the bus
That's not to say a cheaper bike is a terrible buy. You just don't want to get a Walmart-grade Huffy for a hundo that literally shakes itself apart over the next six months.
Are you planning on hauling groceries around town or anything like that?
For fun let's pick a big-name bike manufacturer like Trek and look at their basic and mid-tier offerings.
Hardtails:
Their most cheap-ass hardtail mountain bike with real cheap components is $400. It will work but be slightly crappy.
Their average basic hardtail mountain bike is $800. You're not going to bomb down a ski slope on it but it'll work well for dirt roads and require little attention.
Full suspension:
Their entry-level full-suspension (front and rear shocks) mountain bike is $2000. By virtue of the price point you're going to get relatively decent components that work well but it's not going to be crazy light or anything like that.
Their mid-tier nice full-suspension mountain bike is going to be $3000-ish.
Cyclocross style:
Entry-level is $2000. You get perfectly decent mid-tier components and fairly crappy disc brakes.
Mid-tier is $3000ish. Decent components all around.
Gravel style:
Entry-level is $1000. It'll work but be slightly crappy.
Mid-tier is $2100. Perfectly decent mid-tier components and decent discs.
I'm actually looking at bikes on treks website
The Marlin 7 looks very nice
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/mountain-bikes/c/B300/?sort=price-asc&pageSize=24&q=:relevance:facetCategoryDisplay:Cross+Country+mountain+bikes:facetGender:facetGender1#
How many miles, and what kind of trails?
Let's say 20-30 miles a week, for six months
Less than 600 miles a year
Dirt roads with pot holes bordering on craters, paved roads with lots of potholes, rails to trails gravel trails, maybe a good paved path every once in a while
Short version:
Go for a cross-country bike. 700c hybrid bikes are okay, but a modern hardtail cross-country bike is going to be much more sure-footed and comfortable in the rougher stuff, but light enough and easy-rolling enough that you won't notice a difference in effort to cover mileage. Shimano 365 and 395 hydraulic disk brakes are really quite nice (avoid mechanical disc brakes like the plague), and as others have said, avoid bargain-basement geartrains.
If you're actually fooling yourself and are going to ride it 500 miles at most then leave it in the closet forever, just get something cheap at $500.
I'll disagree and say cyclocross or "gravel grinder" type, as those trails will be largely smooth and it's about mileage burn/speed. Mountain bikes are great at rough terrain, but suck out loud at long distances on dirt roads.
If you do go MTB, make sure you get a hardtail.
I would like to ride lots, but I don't know if I can justify spending over $1000
My parents have mentioned pitching in, as a birthday present, but I don't want to take advantage of them.