not about mountain biking: two new bikes (but it's for charity!)

[Monique Y. Mudama]

There's a guy here in Boulder who takes donated bikes, fixes them up,
and sells them, donating the proceeds to emergency family assistance, a
charity to help families in need in Boulder and Broomfield counties.

Anyway, I paid him a visit, donated a touring bike missing a front
wheel, and left with a beater fully-rigid mountain bike and a hot pink
road bike. The beater has both "diamondback" and "apex" labelling, but
the only web references I find to these are aluminum hardtails; this is
a cro-moly rigid with cantilever brakes. If I understand what
cantilever means. The road bike, um, it looks like a road bike and
stuff. The shifters are on the top tube.

The idea for the beater bike is to be able to pick up small amounts of
groceries and such without feeling like such a gas-hog. To ride any
time I would like to have the luxury of riding my bike without freaking
out if it gets stolen. The idea behind the road bike is to figure out
if I can stomach it before getting an expensive one.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

 

[bomba]

On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 14:25:30 -0600, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

> The beater has both "diamondback" and "apex" labelling, but the only web
> references I find to these are aluminum hardtails; this is a cro-moly
> rigid with cantilever brakes.

A lot of bikes develop over the years whilst maintaining the same name.
Current models may be alu, but 10 or so years ago it may well have been
cro-mo.

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

On 2004-08-09, bomba penned:
> On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 14:25:30 -0600, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>
>> The beater has both "diamondback" and "apex" labelling, but the only
>> web references I find to these are aluminum hardtails; this is a
>> cro-moly rigid with cantilever brakes.
>
> A lot of bikes develop over the years whilst maintaining the same
> name. Current models may be alu, but 10 or so years ago it may well
> have been cro-mo.

*nod* ... just makes it hard to find info on them =) I guess it doesn't
really matter. It is what it is.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

 

[Zilla]

Monique Y. Mudama <[email protected]> wrote:
(snip)
>
> The idea behind the road bike is to
> figure out if I can stomach it before getting an expensive one.
>
> --
> monique
>
> "Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
> -- Mark Twain

Ride with a group for safety, and also for more fun.

--
- Zilla
Cary, NC
(Remove XSPAM)

 

[Zilla]

Monique Y. Mudama <[email protected]> wrote:
(snip)
>
> The idea behind the road bike is to
> figure out if I can stomach it before getting an expensive one.
>
> --
> monique
>
> "Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
> -- Mark Twain

Ride with a group for safety, and also for more fun.

--
- Zilla
Cary, NC
(Remove XSPAM)

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

On 2004-08-09, Zilla penned:
> Monique Y. Mudama <[email protected]> wrote: (snip)
>>
>> The idea behind the road bike is to figure out if I can stomach it
>> before getting an expensive one.
>>
>
> Ride with a group for safety, and also for more fun.

That's part of why I got it -- the Sistahs mtb group is testing the
waters with a road group, as well, but they explicitly disallow mountain
bikes because they say that mtbs just can't keep up.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

 

[BB]

On Mon, 9 Aug 2004 14:25:30 -0600, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

> The road bike, um, it looks like a road bike and stuff.

Excellent description.

--
-BB-
To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

On 2004-08-09, BB penned:
> On Mon, 9 Aug 2004 14:25:30 -0600, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>
>> The road bike, um, it looks like a road bike and stuff.
>
> Excellent description.

That's about all I could tell you about it. That, and it's hot pink.
But really, what else do you need to know?

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

 

[scurry]

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

> On 2004-08-09, BB penned:
>
>>On Mon, 9 Aug 2004 14:25:30 -0600, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>>
>>
>>>The road bike, um, it looks like a road bike and stuff.
>>
>>Excellent description.
>
>
> That's about all I could tell you about it. That, and it's hot pink.
> But really, what else do you need to know?
>
Great! Now go ride to Jamestown for me, see what that thing can do.

Shawn

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

On 2004-08-09, scurry penned:
> Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>
>> That's about all I could tell you about it. That, and it's hot pink.
>> But really, what else do you need to know?
>>
> Great! Now go ride to Jamestown for me, see what that thing can do.
>

Lemme try riding it around the block first. I need to get used to this
whole weird shifters-on-the-tube thing. And only two rings! Indecent!

And after that, just give me the time to buy a spare lung for the trip
....

Er, actually, iirc, there's an *awful* lot of dirt and gravel on the
road to Jamestown at the moment; at least, there was a couple of weeks
ago. Aren't those sorts of materials counter-indicated for road bikes?

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

 

[Zilla]

Monique Y. Mudama <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 2004-08-09, Zilla penned:
>> Monique Y. Mudama <[email protected]> wrote: (snip)
>>>
>>> The idea behind the road bike is to figure out if I can stomach it
>>> before getting an expensive one.
>>>
>>
>> Ride with a group for safety, and also for more fun.
>
> That's part of why I got it -- the Sistahs mtb group is testing the
> waters with a road group, as well, but they explicitly disallow
> mountain bikes because they say that mtbs just can't keep up.
>
> --
> monique
>
> "Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
> -- Mark Twain

They're correct to some extent.

--
- Zilla
Cary, NC
(Remove XSPAM)

 

[Ride-A-Lot]

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
> There's a guy here in Boulder who takes donated bikes, fixes them up,
> and sells them, donating the proceeds to emergency family assistance, a
> charity to help families in need in Boulder and Broomfield counties.
>
> Anyway, I paid him a visit, donated a touring bike missing a front
> wheel, and left with a beater fully-rigid mountain bike and a hot pink
> road bike. The beater has both "diamondback" and "apex" labelling, but
> the only web references I find to these are aluminum hardtails; this is
> a cro-moly rigid with cantilever brakes. If I understand what
> cantilever means. The road bike, um, it looks like a road bike and
> stuff. The shifters are on the top tube.
>
> The idea for the beater bike is to be able to pick up small amounts of
> groceries and such without feeling like such a gas-hog. To ride any
> time I would like to have the luxury of riding my bike without freaking
> out if it gets stolen. The idea behind the road bike is to figure out
> if I can stomach it before getting an expensive one.
>

Yeh, I said I wound never get on a road bike and now I ride one every
night during the week, It's great for a quick nightly ride because you
can get lots of miles in a very short time. You are also able to keep a
steady breathing and heart rate. Good for cardio? There are a few
things I can't stand though:

1. Roadies aren't as nice as MTBer's. They'll give you the cold
shoulder if they don't think you fit in.

2. Some drivers are annoying and find it funny to honk there horns at
you for no apparent reason.

3. Roadie shoes look gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

4. You ride and ride and there are no fun obsticles. Most roadies will
shriek at the existance of gravel on their nice paved road. Me, I just
bunny hop over it. Yeh, I ride my road bike like a MTB. In fact, I
bought a compact frame road bike because the ride is more similar to a MTB.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

 

[Stephen Baker]

scurry says:

>Great! Now go ride to Jamestown for me, see what that thing can do.
>

Hey! We don't want no hot pink GRS **** round hyah. Even if it _does_ have
Monique on it.. ;-)

Steve "which frikkin' Jamestown?"

 

[Jeff C]

"Zilla" <[email protected]> wrote in news:JBTRc.2477$3a4.1799
@bignews1.bellsouth.net:

> Monique Y. Mudama <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On 2004-08-09, Zilla penned:
>>> Monique Y. Mudama <[email protected]> wrote: (snip)
>>>>
>>>> The idea behind the road bike is to figure out if I can stomach it
>>>> before getting an expensive one.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Ride with a group for safety, and also for more fun.
>>
>> That's part of why I got it -- the Sistahs mtb group is testing the
>> waters with a road group, as well, but they explicitly disallow
>> mountain bikes because they say that mtbs just can't keep up.
>>
>> --
>> monique
>>
>
> They're correct to some extent.
>

Are they a hard core road racing group? I've done a pretty good
job maintaining 18 Mph on a mt bike (I was younger then).

wondering if it's a attitude thing?

-jeff c

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

On 2004-08-10, Jeff C penned:
> "Zilla" <[email protected]> wrote in news:JBTRc.2477$3a4.1799
> @bignews1.bellsouth.net:
>
>> Monique Y. Mudama <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> That's part of why I got it -- the Sistahs mtb group is testing the
>>> waters with a road group, as well, but they explicitly disallow
>>> mountain bikes because they say that mtbs just can't keep up.
>>>
>> They're correct to some extent.
>>
>
> Are they a hard core road racing group? I've done a pretty good job
> maintaining 18 Mph on a mt bike (I was younger then).
>
> wondering if it's a attitude thing?

Hah, no! The Singletrack Sistahs' tagline is "If you can't giggle or
gab, you're riding too hard." Not exactly hard core.

Still, it would be rude to ignore their request, and anyway, I'm not in
good enough shape to claim that my might would make up for the effort
involved in roadie-ing my full suspension mtb.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

 

[scurry]

Stephen Baker wrote:
> scurry says:
>
>
>>Great! Now go ride to Jamestown for me, see what that thing can do.
>>
>
>
> Hey! We don't want no hot pink GRS **** round hyah. Even if it _does_ have
> Monique on it.. ;-)
>
> Steve "which frikkin' Jamestown?"

Jamestown is a pleasant, small Colorado mountain town about 20 miles
west and 2000 feet higher than where Monique lives.
If she wants a "Real Fun" road ride she should head in the same general
direction, to Ward. Another 10 miles and 2000 feet. Last 500 feet up
are in the last mile or so, at 9500 feet MSL. "Real Fun".

Shawn

 

[Stephen Baker]

scurry says:

>Jamestown is a pleasant, small Colorado mountain town about 20 miles
>west and 2000 feet higher than where Monique lives.

Too many Jamestowns. Wayyyy too many. Streets&Trips ilsts about 40 in the US
alone, and a couple of foreign ones (you know - Canada....)

Steve

 

[Kamus of Kadizhar]

On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 14:25:30 -0600, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

> The idea behind the road bike is to figure out if I can stomach it
> before getting an expensive one.

If it's an old road bike (and from your description of the shifters, I'm
guessing it's *old*) it won't be any fun to ride. Are the shifters on the
top tube? Clamped on big levers with loopy cables? Or are they on the
downtube, with direct cables to the back?


Think about riding a 20 year old mountain bike.... Ummm... there weren't
any - so think about riding one of those old Shwinn swingsets instead of
your mountain bike.

Not really a fair comparison, is it?

Road bikes have come a long, long way. You probably have a cheap steel
bike, without indexed shifting. Very different from the new 9 and 10
speed indexed STI / Ergo levers, good brakes, etc.

Also, you would be surprised just how much difference a good road bike can
make in speed. I can pick up 2 MPH just by changing wheels.... That's
about 15-20% less effort at speed. And probably 5 MPH from riding a beast
such as you describe. That's a huge difference in the roadie world.

So again, don't get disappointed if the road bike you have turns out to be
a beast....

And the "no MTB on road rides" makes sense, just as you would look at
someone who brought a road bike to the singletrack. There's only 1 guy I
know who could get away with that, and he picked his ancestors right....

--Kamus

 

[Monique Y. Mudama]

On 2004-08-10, Kamus of Kadizhar penned:
> On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 14:25:30 -0600, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>
>> The idea behind the road bike is to figure out if I can stomach it
>> before getting an expensive one.
>
> If it's an old road bike (and from your description of the shifters,
> I'm guessing it's *old*) it won't be any fun to ride. Are the
> shifters on the top tube? Clamped on big levers with loopy cables?
> Or are they on the downtube, with direct cables to the back?

You know, I'm having trouble picturing it right now. What do you mean
by loopy cables?

Regardless ... I'm not spending big bucks on a road bike just to find
out that it sits in the garage collecting rust spots. Of course this
won't be the same experience, but it does allow me to ride on the road
with narrow tires and see if I can stand the aggressive body position.

> Think about riding a 20 year old mountain bike.... Ummm... there
> weren't any - so think about riding one of those old Shwinn swingsets
> instead of your mountain bike.
>
> Not really a fair comparison, is it?

No, but I'm not trying to be fair. I can't afford to buy a real road
bike right now, and if I could, I'd probably spend the money on other
things that I *know* I'd enjoy.

> Road bikes have come a long, long way. You probably have a cheap
> steel bike, without indexed shifting. Very different from the new 9
> and 10 speed indexed STI / Ergo levers, good brakes, etc.

If indexed means that the shifters click, then yes, I have that for the
rear gears. The front is apparently a little more malleable.

> Also, you would be surprised just how much difference a good road bike
> can make in speed. I can pick up 2 MPH just by changing wheels....
> That's about 15-20% less effort at speed. And probably 5 MPH from
> riding a beast such as you describe. That's a huge difference in the
> roadie world.

No, I wouldn't be surprised.

> So again, don't get disappointed if the road bike you have turns out
> to be a beast....

Kamus, you must think I'm really stupid if you think that I equate a
used beater of a pseudo-road-bike to a modern, $3-4K road bike. Of
coure I don't. But it will still ride better on the roads than my
mountain bike, as you point out yourself in the next paragraph. I just
wanted a bike to ride on the roads for days when mountain biking isn't
an option. This hot pink monstrosity is cheaper and less hassle than
buying a set of disc-compatible wheels with slicks so that I could ride
around on the road on my full-suspension bike. Of course, it would be
cheaper still to swap tires every time I wanted to ride on the road, but
I can guarantee you I'd never ride on the road if I had to do that.

> And the "no MTB on road rides" makes sense, just as you would look at
> someone who brought a road bike to the singletrack. There's only 1
> guy I know who could get away with that, and he picked his ancestors
> right....

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

 

[scurry]

Kamus of Kadizhar wrote:
> On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 14:25:30 -0600, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>
>
>>The idea behind the road bike is to figure out if I can stomach it
>>before getting an expensive one.
>
>
> If it's an old road bike (and from your description of the shifters, I'm
> guessing it's *old*) it won't be any fun to ride. Are the shifters on the
> top tube? Clamped on big levers with loopy cables? Or are they on the
> downtube, with direct cables to the back?
>
>
> Think about riding a 20 year old mountain bike.... Ummm... there weren't
> any

Ummm, where've you been? I got my first mountain bike 20 years ago
after waiting a few years for the technology to advance. Saw one for
the first time in 1980.

so think about riding one of those old Shwinn swingsets instead of
> your mountain bike.


>
> Not really a fair comparison, is it?
>
> Road bikes have come a long, long way. You probably have a cheap steel
> bike, without indexed shifting. Very different from the new 9 and 10
> speed indexed STI / Ergo levers, good brakes, etc.

Gee, I wish I had known my road bike didn't have decent brakes before I
started riding in the mountains west of Colorado Springs 25 years ago.
No actually road bikes are almost totally the same. Indexed shifting
showed up about 20 years ago on the road (for high end-their was a low
end push-pull system years before that). Other than indexing, materials
advances, and a few more gears in the back not much has changed in road
bikes in decades.
For example, my first real road bike (bought new in 1980) had a six
speed cluster, Cro-Mo steel frame and weighed 21 lbs. My most recent
road bike (new in 98) has an eight speed cluster (most are 9 or 10 these
days) a Ti frame and weighs 20 lbs. Despite the neat shifters, aero
cable routing, cliples pedals, lots of gears etc. etc. I was a lot
faster on the former.
>
> Also, you would be surprised just how much difference a good road bike can
> make in speed. I can pick up 2 MPH just by changing wheels.... That's
> about 15-20% less effort at speed. And probably 5 MPH from riding a beast
> such as you describe. That's a huge difference in the roadie world.
>
> So again, don't get disappointed if the road bike you have turns out to be
> a beast....

If she has a solid steel Schwinn, then yeah, it'll be a dog, but she can
still put light, fast rolling tires and tubes on almost any road bike
and it will go nearly as fast on the flats as a top end bike. It won't
be as fun in the hills, but again, it'll do fine.

Shawn