All things "bicycle".....

I shower before every ride. I wear only clean high quality bibs. I shower immediately after every ride. Tried different saddles. SSs seem to be my lot in life.

Unless I crash very early on tomorrow's ride, I'll reach 6,000 YTD miles on Labor Day.

 

Probably my bikes are a bit too modern for this thread.....but thought I'd post them anyhow.

I race road and used to race XC.....so they are flat out speed machines rather than some of the more crafted and lugged steel things that are in the thread so far.....

 

I saw this on a bike forum. Looks like your green bike, with a slight frame modification...

 

My knees dont like the look of that

 

No, not at all! Great stuff

I posted my Carbon/Campy Orbeas early on, and several guys posted modern carbon road bikes, as well.

There are several high-end MTB posted, like X's new ride, and I think someone posted a Cervelo just a couple pages ago

What are the components you've got on that road bike?

 

Thats Campy Chorus. Practically the same weight as record for less $$$ And all the same performance as SR.
Bar and stem are Zipp....the Aero 70 bar.

 

I would kill for a donut right now. Haven't had one in forever.

 

Niiice

Love the Campy stuff. Run it myself.

 

The famous "When I was a kid". A bike in the '50's and '60's was kinda spendy. I only had used bikes. That changed. The flood of cheap bikes took over. Riding styles changed and all that. I loved to buy bikes at thrift stores on the cheap. I found a great Trek that I rode for awhile. I bought lots of older school 20in bikes. I had some really cool ones and gave them away to the kids in the 'hood. My bike riding days are way over. I gave away the Trek. I had a Univega that was of no use to me. What to do? There is kinda of a tradition of leaving stuff outside with a "Free" sign posted on it. 3 days passed and the bike was still there. Today, the bike was gone. Happy Trails.

 

Since my last post, Mrs. Ti broke another bike. That’s 3 in less than 2 years. Fortunately this time insurance will cover it as it fell off her car rack.

For me, I’m a day late and a dollar short, but I went over the 7,000 YTD mile mark today. I’m hoping for a big October as we’re doing a cycling vacation in Sicily this month.

 

I've been working in the "bike industry" for so long I'm kinda burnt out on them but I can still managed to have a bit of fun Mtn Biking still
Here's my kid hugging me before some kind of road race a couple/few years ago on my old Canyonsnail

Here's my yellow ancient Ibis and my wife's Di2 XTR bike at the Valmont bike park

 

I went out on flats for the first time today. It was strange not being clipped in. Gotta love Five Ten shoes, super grippy and easy to walk in.

 

Hit some real trails yesterday. Got five miles in before I was done. My ribs and shoulder were screaming at me.

It was awesome!

 

Thinking about getting a road bike. Now, I'm no novice rider, been riding all my life, but haven't done any real serious rides for some time. But just the other day I pulled out a 40km ride in under 90 minutes - on a hybrid. I figure that's not too bad for an out-of-shape dude who's pushing 50, carrying a few extra kilos, and doesn't ride regularly at all, aside from the commute to work and back.

I felt like hell afterwards.

I felt awesome.

It's got me thinking maybe I should go full roadie.

I don't want to spend a whole lot, but luckily the used market here has a good selection. Came across a Colagno A1R 105 ($1500), a Kestrel Talon (105 group, $1350), and a couple of Cannondale CAAD 10's ($1500-$1600). I could also get into a brand-new CAAD-12 at $1900, but that's pushing a fair bit beyond what I'm comfortable spending. I'm leaning toward the Kestrel (mostly because of the price.) Planning to take a look at it next weekend, but I'm not planning on buying the first bike I see.

First question is, aside from looking closely at the frame for obvious cracks, getting the right sizing/fitting, and knowing the components groups - what are some other things I should be considering? What are the pitfalls to watch out for? I haven't bought a bike in nearly ten years, and I'm not at all up to speed on road bikes (see what I did there?) Anyone here familiar with any of the bikes mentioned above, or have any other recommendations?

My other question is, I'm not at all a fan of SPD-type pedals. Tried 'em once years ago and hated them. Hated them. So I'm planning on riding platforms, just like I've been doing for the last 43 years. I know all the "hard-core" roadies (and the wanna-be-hard-core-roadies ) will roll their eyes and come at with all kinds of talk about MORE POWER and GREATER EFFICIENCY and so on and so on.

I don't care. Don't want 'em. Go ahead and get triggered if you want, that's on you.

So my question is, are there many (any?) road riders out there who actually still use platforms? I could possibly see using an old-style toe cage, but that's it.

Any thoughts or recommendations will be appreciated~

 

I ride flats on my mountain bike, no desire for clipless. I do use SPD on my single speed though. I don't see anything wrong with flats at all.

 

I ride SPDs and Lollipops and don't find either of them particularly onerous, all long as they are periodically cleaned and lubed up.

Platforms are fine if you don't want to use half your available leg muscles and energy to help propel on the upstroke.

If you use straps, good luck getting out of those things in an emergency, they are a safety hazard INO.

 

You don't lose half. Too many videos from places like GCN and GMBN that have proven it. You lose some, not half.

 

I agree with BET. I’ve been clipped in (road and mountain bikes) for a long time. It’s a mindless extension of riding a bike.

If you want platforms get platforms. Straps represent the worst of both worlds IMO: not nearly as efficient as SPD’s and significantly more dangerous than SPD’s or platforms.

 

https://www.bikeradar.com/us/mtb/ge...ike-to-ditch-the-clips-for-flat-pedals-45732/