Thread: Wot's yer ride?

Not much flex if you pick it up by the seat as the scotch ply has minimal flex, scotch ply has many industrial applications including use in railroad tracks so it is strong.
So minimal flexing and no folding, except once the hinge snaps and then it flops around like a dead fish - this has happened once only
It is not the cable stretching which gives suspension as the cable is stainless steel and swage (correct spelling) rolled, the same application is used for yachts.
How the suspension works is that the hinge flexes which causes the cable to compress or release the coil spring located below the head tube.
The front forks have 100mm of travel.

Nice R1200gs

Originally Posted by pawnhead

A plumber mate of mine has got one of those. He's had it worked over so it's apparently really quick.
Looks a bit like this;



The front half does anyway.

He must be saving-up for the rest?

She's finished



For those interested in digging through a lot of bumph, I ran a build thread about her over on my cycling forum - Jamis Build Thread

Basically, I bought the Jamis frame, brand new and unbuilt, but a 2002 model, over ebay from a bloke in the USA. I bought a pair of new Ultegra hubs and new Velocity DeepV rims and built the wheels myself, then raided the Trek520 for the rest of the bits.

Jamis Ventura all steel frame - Reynolds520 butted tubing.
Ultegra shifters
Ultegra crankset - 52, 40, 26 chainrings
105 front derailleur
DeoreLX rear derailleur
SRAM 11-32 rear cassette
Ultegra hubs
Velocity DeepV rims
Nitto Noodle 46cm bars
Shimano600 dual pivot brakes front and rear
Maxiss Detonator 28mm tyres
Brooks B17 saddle, nicely broken in from her previous home on the Trek

And a lot of bits and pieces - still some to be finalised, like those silver spacers on the headstem.

You'll note she's of 'traditional' styling and sizing. The lads at Rivendell would have been impressed (especially with the build cost, only a little more than the postage for one of their frames to me)

Yes, the nose of the saddle does seem to need to be that high. Mind you, she's still wearing a cheap seat post and that is a nightmare to set. When I get the good one, I hope to be able to make finer movements and lower the nose a bit, though not much as that leads to sliding forwards off the seat. Surprisingly, that amount of nose up is quite comfortable - common with the Brooks leather saddles. The seat could also lift a little, but again, I'll fuss with that when I get the good seat post (and fussing is all that's needed).

But how does she ride?
Beautifully

I did the school run with my son and his cobber yesterday (first real ride), then continued on to Glenelg ie, down the Expressway, across to the beach, along the beach front, back up the Sturt River Linear Park, back up the Expressway and home. 46km

She's a lovely ride. Smooth. Secure. Stable but with a very fast change of direction. Seems to be rather fast too ... in an upright stance sort of way.

The brakes are so good they're bloody frightening - three lockups on the rear today and that's from someone used to moderating his brakes. Yes, I backed them off as soon as I got home.

The wheels chatted and discussed life for the first km or so, then were dead silent from then on. This thing is a real stealth bomber. The front wheel had developed a slight wiggle when the tyres went up to full pressure but a few kms on the road removed that (obviously the tyre) - the mould release feather in the centre of the wheel spins dead true. First retrue is scheduled for a couple of hundred km down the track unless I find a reason to do so before then (was half expecting to have to do it after the first ride).

Climb? It's like a cat up a tree. Higher gears used all round. I did consider lifting the low granny to 30 teeth, but it doesn't hurt to have it there and while loafing up Expressway Hill (a 140m climb in 3 km) with my HR in the mid to low 150's, I thought to myself - 'climbing hills doesn't have to be hard, why make it so?'

Along the beach front. Dead flat. Wind on my shoulder so probably some assistance there. I was cruising with my hands on the tops. Heart rate in the mid 130s. Cadence in the low to mid 80's. 43km/hr on the speedo.

Comfort wise? Pretty darned good ... once I got the Brooks at the right angle. No problems at all in my left hand. My right hand (which has a diccy shoulder) went numb at one point but no-where near as bad as life on the Trek520 which used to send both hands numb after 10km. Excellent set up methinks with some fine tuning to come. She rides the rough really well too - a very comfy bike.

One of the joys of a high top tube is waiting at the lights, one foot on the ground, other foot clipped in, thigh leaning on the top tube - very relaxing.

Thanks to a blustery head wind at times (in all directions dammit), I spent a lot of time down on the drops. No problems there - it isn't my preferred position but I can ride them comfortably for wind cheating aerodynamics.

All in all, a very promising shake down. The project has delivered all I asked it to

Coming home, the mind kept saying "let's go further, let's go further" ... and the body kept grumbling "sod off and try doing some of the hard work for a change"

Richard

I'm happy to heep this post alive.
I bought a Peugeot road bike in 1976 for $100 and have ridden it ever since. My nephew rode it twice Sydney to Canberra with his school.
Recently SWMBO picked up a Hybrid for Christmas and the Peugeot has been getting a real work out. Too much of a workout. The plastic components and the alloy is breaking down to the point that the brakes are no longer adjustable and it only runs in one crank gear.

Well that's my justification for buying a new GT (brand) flat bar road bike. SWMBO wants to know who stole the side stand but it's a few Ks lighter than the Peugeot and it feels marvellous.

CP

Some great bikes on here. Here's mine!

The 'Shopping Trolley' for around town and wet weather rides, and 'The Whippet' for sheer speed, adrenalin and connection wtih the environment. Fun!

got a Viventte Novara (flat-bar roadbike) at the beginning of the year and i love it

well i finally got my Raleigh into a rideable state and here it is in one piece

PBR all carbon road bike, SRAM force gears.
Sinjin.

My single speed conversion -

Old MTB - $800 years and years ago
Single speed cog and spacers - $30 at local bike shop
A couple of beers in the garage - $10
Not needing a chain tensioner - PRICELESS

Hey Richard, your Europa looks a million bucks! I have a nice steel repco monaco that I'm contemplating turning into a single speed.

One year on from buying a flat bar road bike (which will now become a wide-tyred weekend bike) we now have a dedicated road bike.
Bianchi, alloy frame with Chorus gear and Zonda wheels.
Very happy after the ride home. Seemed to go up the hills by itself.

From the colours, can you guess which team will win the AFL flag this year?

Graham

looks tasty! I have aquired a GT roadie with Tiagra gear and carbon forks. It too seems to do the work by itself I'm at Sturt full time this year so maybe I'll see ya flying by!

Originally Posted by ficfac

looks tasty! I have aquired a GT roadie with Tiagra gear and carbon forks. It too seems to do the work by itself I'm at Sturt full time this year so maybe I'll see ya flying by!

Lucky boy to be doing Sturt. One member's wife paid for him- is that you? Give me a call (nearly said bell) when you start and i'll drop in to check your progress!!!!!!!

Graham

Graham, tomorrow begins the third week! Look forward to meeting you. Cheers, Josh. ps: My wife is supporting us this year so it could be me