Hank Wirtz wrote:
> "NYC XYZ" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> >
> >
> > Interesting -- a $900 bike that seems like the Mongoose cromos in the
> > LBS for $300?? Looks like it uses old cantilever brakes, too!
>
> I think it was Richard Schwinn who said "If bikes had always been made
> from Aluminum, Carbon Fiber or Titanium, and they introduced chromoly
> steel, it would be hailed as a miracle."
ROTFL! Who said the truth has to hurt?
Still...a lighter weight seems an inherent, unarugable good.
> The cheapo steel bikes that are labelled as "chromoly" are usually a mix
> of chromoly and high-tensile steel. Back in the day, you may have had
> chromoly main tubes and High-ten stays, but I've heard of bikes in the
> last 15 years having only a chromoly head tube, which is the shortest
> one on the bike.
>
> This bike is 100% chromoly, and has an intelligent design for a
> bombproof, comfortable road bike. Shallow angles and long chainstays
> give a comfortable ride that can better handle uneven pavement.
Don't know about the long chainstay, but the "angles" seem the same....
> It has
> clearance for fenders and wide tires.
Don't need fenders and wider tires -- like riding in the rain well
enough, but I don't consciously seek it, and I'm willing to trade in
the comfort of fat tires for some speed.
Curious, though...what do you think of the $900 front suspension
mountain bike with dual hydraulic disc brakes
(
http://www.airborne.net/eready/janette/store/05LB-special.asp)?
> And cantilever brakes stop great. They're better-suited to a road bike
> than v-brakes because road levers (except a pricey set of Dia-Compe
> 287s) don't pull enough cable. Cantilevers are also better suited to
> this bike than sidepulls because they have great clearance for wide
> tires and fenders.
I don't get it...my experience with V-brakes has always been that they
stop quicker and more powerfully than cantilevers.
> Yes, fat tires do make for a more comfortable ride. As does relaxed
> frame geometry. 72 degrees vs. 73 degrees on the size 58, which would be
> about right for a guy who's 5'11". Wheelbase is longer on the Surly,
> too.
>
> It's one thing to not know how such things affect handling and comfort,
> and to ask to have them explained, but here you're just mocking what
> anybody who knows this stuff takes for granted.
Not mocking -- just amused at the idea, that's all! Fat saddles don't
make for comfy rides, necessarily, but fat tires do...an upright
posture is comfortable and uncomfortable in different ways, and so too
the hunched-over one...it's all quite funny to me as a noob who
basically thought of bikes as, as I keep saying, some simple
pick-up-and-go affair.
Don't be put-off...I was this same way upon learning that there were
different sneakers for different tasks -- walking, running, tennis,
basketball, etc. Just chuckling here at how "complicated" such
seemingly "simple" things are!
> 20 and 24 spokes for a rider weighing 230lbs? Yes, flimsy. Mega-flimsy.
> Those wheels are designed for racing, where whether they last longer
> than that race day isn't much of a consideration. I'm about your size,
> and I prefer 36-spoke wheels, because I'd just as soon not have to true
> them after every ride.
OMG...this is bad news....
Just curious...what rider weight would you recommend for a 20 and
24-spoke wheelset?
> I've been giving you the benefit of the doubt, but you're looking more
> and more trollish to me.
Trollish schmollish.
I'm sorry you feel that way, but people are just touchy, and I've
learned to live with it. As I'd explained to the Goose Rider, I'm just
asking questions...folks ought to learn to separate the idea from the
person. Presumably you frequent these NGs 'cause you're into bikes,
and you post based on that interest -- not whether someone here is
"attractive" to you for whatever reason.
Note also that it's taken all this time to finally get to something
dealing most directly with the point of my initial post, when I'd first
asked about components and specs...only now do I see that the wheels
won't be supporting my weight!
What else have y'all been holding back from me? <INSERT SMILELY>