The Bicycle Thread

[fargin]

Speaking of the Tour, I had been meaning to ask all of you in the last few days: What do you guys think about Lance? Like what's your take on his 7 titles?

-foe

I'm not sure, if anti-doping is about a clean sport or just the perception of a clean sport. Based on sports journalists and the athletes themselves, the sin doesn't seems to be the doping itself, but rather getting caught. The Tour is full of former riders, who after retirement fessed up to sell their riding memoirs and they are welcomed back as sports directors or analysts, as long as they limit their confessions to themselves and not indict the whole sport.

I assume, there's no clean people on the podium.

 

[kdawg]

Yeah, for that era I’m totally conflicted. He cheated but I don’t think he did more than others. He’s the scapegoat for a generation but calling it the most sophisticated doping regime of all time is ludicrous - US athletics or the Soviet Union were much more organised than a few guys in a trailer.
You have to go a long way down the list to find a guy who was probably clean and finished the race.

Same with other years - they stripped Lance but left Pantani, Ullrich and Riis (who is even called Mr 60% for how thick his blood was).

I loved watching Indurain too - he’s a nice guy and has kept his mouth shut so everyone loves him - but he was clearly doped and Lemond has insinuated that - he turned up in great shape one year and got shelled on the first decent climb by guys he used to leave behind.

The bigger problem with Lance is that he was such a jerk about it - he ruined a couple of people and he’s never really come clean (at least publicly) about that.

I do enjoy his podcast though!

 

[darthska]

I assume, there's no clean people on the podium.

Nnnnnope.

-foe

 

[IATT]

a lot of parallels could be drawn with Barry bonds

I mean I don’t have the depth of knowledge to talk about lance to that degree.. but he obviously wasn’t the only one

but Barry was one of the best (if not the best) ever before he even started doping but people obviously got up in the sole sosa and McGuire thing.. then dude went god mood when he got on vitamin S

 

[darthska]

The bigger problem with Lance is that he was such a jerk about it

Agreed, and that's my biggest problem with people who have a problem with him. He won those titles, and the fact that he was a jerk about it doesn't take that away. It's just like Barry Bonds. 'He's an a-hole, so his cheating is worse than someone else's cheating.' No, it's not.

*edit: And I'm good with both Barry and Lance, BTW. I think Barry was roided up, and Lance has already admitted to doping… and I am OK with it on both fronts. Everyone was at that time in both sports.

-foe

 

[crumps brother]

The fixie craze was definitely raging back then. I remember not really caring about it as I knew it would die someday and it sort of did. Shops in SF and the general Bay Area at the time all carried fixie accessories but now, you would hardly see any of that stuff. There was even a local shop in Oakland that was near me that had the hardest time and closed right before COVID hit. I bet if they stayed open a month or so longer, they would have made a ton of money.

I actually had a cheap fixie which was in my parents garage since I bought my house 11 years ago

went in there to look for stuff a few times recently and it's gone as far as I can tell

I think maybe my brother sold it

 

[Fong$tarr]

Thankfully I wasn't into cycling back when Lance was killing it so I honestly don't care but with Bonds and being an SF Giants fan, it was just unfortunate cause his homerun record brought a lot of attention to the Bay Area when the Giants were just crap. Thankfully they won championships afterwards but Bonds was the first to really bring that team some life in a long time.

 

[MakeNTGreatAgain]

okay so far I have purchased
120mm RockShox tapered forks for 185 shipped
A Shimano zee groupset 1x9 for 180 - I feel its not the best price but idk
i need some bb30 compatible cranks that im still looking for
Making a deal for some wheels hopefully he can ship by monday
still havent even gotten to the brakes, bars headset

 

[MakeNTGreatAgain]

should i get 31 or 35 mm handle bars?

 

[darthska]

I'd go 35.

-foe

 

[Fong$tarr]

Here’s a dumb question for you guys. I bought new Continental Gaterskins for my fixie. I put them on and put air in it but just never ridden it. I just check my tires and they are both flat. I’ve actually had this issue even prior to these new tires. Does that mean my tubes are bad? Or is this just a common thing? My road bike has never had these issues so far but wonder if they just are setup differently.

 

[darthska]

Here’s a dumb question for you guys. I bought new Continental Gaterskins for my fixie. I put them on and put air in it but just never ridden it. I just check my tires and they are both flat. I’ve actually had this issue even prior to these new tires. Does that mean my tubes are bad? Or is this just a common thing? My road bike has never had these issues so far but wonder if they just are setup differently.

How long of a time are we talking about? From the time you installed them and then set it on the ground to the time you realized they're flat, how long was that?

-foe

 

[Fong$tarr]

How long of a time are we talking about? From the time you installed them and then set it on the ground to the time you realized they're flat, how long was that?

-foe

I would say 2 weeks tops. I mean they aren't totally flat but I would have to pump them in order for me to ride them. Just sort of annoying if any but it's doable.

 

[Liquid Swords]

Did you tighten the presta valve? The dust cap maybe letting the air out
Or might be time to swap the tubes

 

[Fong$tarr]

Did you tighten the presta valve? The dust cap maybe letting the air out
Or might be time to swap the tubes

I do tighten the valves. One has a dust cap but the other doesn’t but both go flat regardless.

I guess I’ll just get new tubes. It’s cheap enough to see if that’s the issue. I’ve had those tubes for like 7 years so perhaps they are punctured.

 

[darthska]

I’ve had those tubes for like 7 years

Ummm, yeah, it's time.

-foe

 

[Fong$tarr]

Ummm, yeah, it's time.

To be frank though, I had the bike, fixed it up but didn't ride it for like 5 years. It just sat in my apartment for ages and I'd take it out once or twice a year. So I figured they were still good but who knows. I got the cheapest tires and tubes possible so perhaps they just aren't good anymore.

 

[Thierry Henry]

Lurked thru this thread for a while, put together my fixed gear bike a couple weeks ago and just been riding around my neighborhood. Def miss riding, need to get used to it again.

I see you got Omniums on there...can we get a components list?

Speaking of the Tour, I had been meaning to ask all of you in the last few days: What do you guys think about Lance? Like what's your take on his 7 titles?

-foe

to be honest, i don't GAF about Lance or road racing

 

[steeeeeeven]

I’m clueless about bikes so looking for a suggestion.
what’s a good starter bike for maybe $200-300. I’d probably be going on mild hour long rides
TIA

 

[Ritchie X Rich]

Anybody have any idea how I can fix/touch this up? It's a Carbon Seatpost, It got a little chippy and flaky like the paint surface of the carbon flaked off. At first I read about nail polish? then some saying nail polish isn't good. Then I heard people say use a clear coat? But a car paint type of clear coat? Looking to just dab something quickly on it.....or maybe I should leave
it alone..
.

 

[Fong$tarr]

I just used some Bianchi touch up paint for my bike that i crashed and even though I got authentic paint from Bianchi, the color match wasn’t even close. Granted it looks better than it was but I read online that this paint was a hit and miss. I heard people taking fine sand paper and sanding it down too but I am just going to leave it as is and get over it.

Bored tonight so tried to shoot my bike with some LED lights. Need a better backdrop and perhaps not shoot wide angle but it was a test for the most part.

 

[Thierry Henry]

I just used some Bianchi touch up paint for my bike that i crashed and even though I got authentic paint from Bianchi, the color match wasn’t even close. Granted it looks better than it was but I read online that this paint was a hit and miss. I heard people taking fine sand paper and sanding it down too but I am just going to leave it as is and get over it.

Bored tonight so tried to shoot my bike with some LED lights. Need a better backdrop and perhaps not shoot wide angle but it was a test for the most part.

Sugino 75 cranks with a Sugino Zen chainring? Niiceeee

What's the wheelset you're running?







Watching this last night got me hype to go visit fam back in NYC just so i can rip thru them Bronx streets

 

[Fong$tarr]

Sugino 75 cranks with a Sugino Zen chainring? Niiceeee

What's the wheelset you're running?







Watching this last night got me hype to go visit fam back in NYC just so i can rip thru them Bronx streets

Just some cheap wheelset. I bought the frame at the time new back in the days for $700 on Craigslist. After buying everything else, I just bought some cheap tires and rims to finish it off. I wouldn’t mind getting new ones but a good set would cost me about the same as the whole bike. So I just have this as my heavy cruiser bike but I still check Craigslist to see any steals.

 

[Chao321988]

How do y’all feel about this? I’m trying to be stylish while i ride.

 

[kdawg]

Aren’t those indoor cycling shoes - ie for spin classes?

They won’t be durable and I don’t think the cleats are recessed.

If you need them for spds you’re better with decent mtb shoes. I have a pair of bmx style ones that I wear if I’m going to need to walkin them. Stuff enough for riding but they just look like chunky sneakers and the cleats are recessed so you can walk easily.

I had Nike shoes years ago - they were the mtb version of the ones Lance Armstrong was wearing at the time. They were really good but they got out the market pretty soon after. I liked their bib shorts too.