Bicycle Thread

[mad082]

most fixies will come with a freewheel option (i know the giant does, as does the subrosa above).

i have ridden a straight fixie (an old road racer from back in the 50's) and it is good for flat or up hill, but sucks arse for down hill (it's ok for the first little bit) or when you want to slow down.

[Gus-]

had a look at a few shops today...im liking the giant brass...

so question...would it be worth spending the extra money to get a alias or a stp2??? cuz im not sure lol.

[Dr Geckalo]

hehehe

Not a bike but i just got a unicycle!!!

Now just to learn how to ride it.

[Mr Eps]

alias brass and stp02 are three completely different bikes for completely different purposes =\

i wouldn't bother with stp02

personal opinion - good for parks and jumps - useless outside of parks and jumps

[Gus-]

u reckon the brass is alright option then??? im thinking id prefer it over the alias cuz its a bit cheaper...

might hit up a test ride tomorrow and see...

[mad082]

hehehe

Not a bike but i just got a unicycle!!!

Now just to learn how to ride it.

to start with forget the tricky start offs and balancing. just start sitting on it near a post or something like that to lean up against. have the seat nice and high so that when the pedal is at it's lowest point your leg is nearly straight (like on a road bike). have the pedals at 45 degrees from horizontal so you get a good push off. relax your legs when you pedal so that all your weight is on the seat. i found that when learning my legs were too tense and i wasn't pedaling smoothly as i was trying to hold myself up and pedal at the same time. onec i started putting all my weight on the seat i was able to ride much better.

what size wheel did you get? 20" seems to be the easiest to learn on. 24" you go too fast when you pedal and 16" you don't go fast enough.

alias brass and stp02 are three completely different bikes for completely different purposes =\

i wouldn't bother with stp02

personal opinion - good for parks and jumps - useless outside of parks and jumps

yeah they are heavy as hell for riding round town.

[Gus-]

got the brass...had a ride of it and the alias and enjoyed it more...plus cheaper...so yeah.

mad

[Mr Eps]

yeah you could bust phat wheelies on it

im getting the bowery tomorrow =)

[Mr Eps]

update on bowery purchase - largest frame they have is 55cm, yet in the USA / uk etc the frames go upto 58.5cm!!!

sooo looking into doing that

but they also had this there - however out of my price range at $1600 for an SS bike

however it was white on white, no grey

[Mohsen]

lol @ purple coloured chain

[Mr Eps]

see for me that's a deal sealer - it's a chain

but

it

is

purple

(fap)

[JAS-25T]

Suits your gheyness

[mad082]

if you want a purple chain i can order you one. can't be used on a geared bike though. can also get red and blue and i'm pretty sure pink too.

[mad082]

update on bowery purchase - largest frame they have is 55cm, yet in the USA / uk etc the frames go upto 58.5cm!!!

sooo looking into doing that

but they also had this there - however out of my price range at $1600 for an SS bike

however it was white on white, no grey

personally i wouldn't go the 58 frame even if you could get one (which they don't actually do in the bowery, they do it in the flat bar road bikes, like the CRX here which is available in a 58.5, but have a different rear end and can't by used as a single speed). you have to remember that where you sit your hands on the bars of a road bike is about 50 to 60mm (or more) further away than where they are on the alias. the top tube of the alias in longer but once you take into account the stem length they are about even but then the handlebars make it further away. also the slightly lower head tube makes it sit lower which will also make it a bit further away.

i used to have a 55cm road bike and i found it long and i'm 6ft 3. the biggest thing is that the longer you go the more of a sore neck you get. the longer it is the more flat your back is and the more you have to lift your head to look ahead so you get a sore neck. i even had my stem flipped over to give more height.

[Mr Eps]

well, the guy rang giant and giant say that in august they're dropping their 2010 range, and they said in that range they're making a new series of single speed roadies, being that giant make wicked coloured bikes and the likes, chances are they'll get a few cool bikes in... so i might just hold off on bowery / mashup and see what giant drop in august...

i personally thought the 55cm was a fine size for me! im about 6"3' also with long arms but it just felt like i could just "throw it around" while riding it, maybe cos of short wheel base?? but i thought it felt ok,

and yeah i know you can get the coloured chains but just "in a shop" it looked awesome - the bowery mashup (flatbar) has a red chain... i love it.. haha, ps - a mate wants to know if that same company makes white chains? if u can get one i'll order it for him - last i checked they only about 20 or so dorra...

a guy in another shop i was looking at was pressure selling me into a tektro lager... that was perhaps the worst bike i've ever seen. heavy as f*ck, and sh*t components.. yet still a hefty price tag!!!

[mad082]

i didn't know tektro even made a bike, LOL. you don't mean the SE lager? ugly red and black thing? or ugly plain white thing?

pretty sure i can get white chains, but again they are only for single speed bikes, not geared bikes. don't think anyone makes a coloured 1/2" x 3/32" chain. 5 to 9 speed geared bikes run 1/2" x 3/32" chains, race bmx/single speeds will sometimes run that size, yet slightly wider (the overall width of the chain is still 3/32" but the width of the pins is skinnier with higher gears and the link bows out between the pins. 3/32" single speed chains and 5, 6 and some 7 speed chains will have straight links with no bow in them), while street bmx and kids bikes run 1/2" x 1/8". 10 speed, as in 10 cogs on the rear, run 1/2" by 11/128" chains. and motorbikes and some stupid bmx bikes run 1/2" x 3/16" chains.

[mad082]

oh and all the 2010 ranges from every brand will be out about august. however at this stage prices are looking to be more than the 2009 range, but i have seen very few prices yet so it is a bit hard to tell. it will also come down to what the dollar is doing at the time the company has to pay for the stock. they don't all pay for them at the same time, so with the dollar fluctuating at the moment there could be pretty large differences in prices caused purely by that. i am supposed to be getting order forms through in the next few days for more of the 2010 range so will be able to give a better idea of what 2010 prices will be like compared to 2009 then. but so far all the ones i have seen so far (only a few smaller brands) have been an increase of about 20%. but it will be late this month, early next month when i go and see the higher end range of bikes when i will get the best indication of what they will be like price wise. the lower end stuff that i have seen so far seems to vary a bit more than the higher end stuff.

but i would say that from the info i have been hearing over the past few months, there may be some large differences in prices from different brands. the main reason for this is that some brands are specing the bikes to be exactly how they want them regardless of price, while others are specing them to a price point. now while you would think that 2 bikes spec'd the same should be similar prices, that is generally true, but some brands will put on cheaper brand parts such as grips, seats, tyres, etc, (which doesn't always mean cheaper quality since so many parts these days are identical and just have a different name stamped on them) which don't really make a difference to the bike quality overall, but can alter the price by a bit due to the fact that they have at least 3 lots of mark-up put on them between the factory floor and the showroom floor and it is all done by percentage amounts not by a fixed dollar amount. so using the mark-ups i do know and guessing on others, a $10 price difference at the factory could work out to anywhere between $50 and $100 dollars difference to the RRP price.

[JAS-25T]

let me know if you get any mega discounts like last time.

[mad082]

will do. they have been specialling out some of the 2009 models that they have plenty of...... but thhe prices have all been higher than what they were when i bought my stock, LOL.

[Mr Eps]

hey sorry to bump up to the top again - but question for marc - i went to the bike shop with my dad on the weekened - the bike i posted earlier - the cannondale capo

is now 30% off, dude to end of fin year / model runout

it's $1600 rrp

%30 off brings it to about 1100... question im asking is - is it a good buy for that price? i've read a few online reviews and they all give the bike 5 stars but claim the componentry is cheap and nasty, however i also think they're being snobs and nitpicking...

question is, marc... can u please check the specs on it and componentry for me - and (ignore the marketing bullcrap) straight shoot me, is it a good purchase at $1100?

or is it just overly marketed rubbish...

help?

edit

42T x 17t?

i thoguht it was a 48 =S

my mate's trek soho-S is a 46 x 17T... giant bowery is 48 x 17T... will 42T mean my legs will need to go skitzo at high speeds? or am i being stupid..

Edited June 22, 2009 by Mr Eps