Bike Questions.....Upgrade? Replace? Build?

[TECH]

Originally Posted by SonomaZ

Heard all the horror stories about carbon framed bikes and catostrophic failures/breakage. I'd still own one if the right opportunity presented itself.

check this from Aegis , nice but $$$.

[Dr. Nate]

You'll notice a difference, 22 lbs. isn't all that light.

Supposedly there is a nice difference between aluminum forks and carbon forks. I can tell you that there was one ride in particular that beat Duane, two other friends, and I. Duane and Will were on steel forks, Greg and I were on carbon forks. I think they suffered far worse then Greg or I did, but it still sucked.

It seems like they put carbon in the right places, which not only cuts rotating mass on the crank arms, but also ads more rigidity. You'll notice that, more so when you stand up to climb.

Honestly if you want to get into cycling further I can make some training suggestions. Do you have a gym membership?

-Nate

[2kwik4u]

I'm certainly hoping that the carbon bits here and there will smooth things out just a little. That ride in Austin was brutal, and the local rides are a bit rough from time to time. Considering I have some prelimenary plans to due 7 centuries in 7 days next summer (Long story I'll explain when the times right), if I can get a bike that rides a bit smoother, it'll do nothing but help!

I do have a gym membership. I do spinning classes 4 days a week during the off season. M-W-F-Sat. I also lift weights and hit the treadmill on off days. Typically at 5:30am on the weekdays, and around 9am on the weekends. At least that was last years schedule, not sure if I'm going to due it this year or not. I've done one round of P90X without the recommended dieting. I'm thinking of doing another round, but dieting properly this time. I think either of those will do me good. Especially considering the time I'm not on the bike, I'll be on a wakeboard. An equally challenging task, but with a significantly different set of skills and muscles involved.

[Dr. Nate]

The spin classes are great, but also try to get some long steady paced ride time in. Try and do at least one decently long ride a week if you can. The best thing you could do is get a trainer to use at home with your current bike so you're closer to actually riding.

Also I would include some aquatics into your training. Your gym should have a "water jogger" if they have a pool. If not they are like $30 at Walmart I think. Basically it is a foam belt that will keep you balanced so you can jog in the water. It takes the resistance off your legs and lets you work the lactic acid out of your legs. It'll come in handy the more you push your body.

-Nate

[chevy42083]

I think steal and carbon are supposed to be similar in resonant resistivity (do I sound engineerish ), or maybe it's just that both blow aluminum out of the water.

Originally Posted by 2kwik4u

Yea, I have a "light" bike now. It's just shy of 22lbs. The new one is just over 16lbs.

Huh.... I woulda thunk it lower. Using the weigh myself holding the bike, then weigh myself without the bike (on a digital scale) showed my '83 Bianchi at just a HAIR over 23lbs.... with lights and an uncut Brooks Saddle.... not sure if the seatbag with tubes/patches/tire levers/multi-tool was on, but I doubt it. Guess the old "high-end" stuff wasn't so bad

I haven't weighed my '08 Pista yet. I can't comment on the feel anyways, cause the Pista's gear is much taller than I would start out in on the '83 Bianchi Roadie.


I guess I do have the unfair advantage of riding 51-53 sized bikes.

[2kwik4u]

Here's an update for those keeping track at home.

I put togethor a spreadsheet with all of the components I need to BUILD a bike from scratch. Everything from frameset to chainlube. I spec'd it with the EXACT same components that could be had if I bought a brand new fully built CAAD9-1. I was quoted $2,300 for the fully built unit. My spreadsheet came out to around $2,950 or so. Looks like it's FAR FAR cheaper to buy than build. Same thing happened when I compared a build sheet of parts to match the CAAD9-5. I came out about $50 ahead of MSRP, and I know the bike shop will knock a few bucks off the overall price. About the only benefits of building the bike over buying it seem to be fairly small. I can control the specs more, and get nicer parts here or there without a huge penalty in price. The other benefit is controlling the cashflow. Instead of one huge $3k purchase (with tax, and all the other crap I'll end up buying at the shop), I can spread that out into 10 $300 purchases. Might be worth something, I dunno, might not.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO......Looks like I'm going to be BUYING the bike instead of building it.

I still need to do some test rides to confirm it's the bike I want, but I'm 99% certain it's the one. I REALLY enjoy my current ride, and aside from wheelbase, all of the measurements on the new bike match up within a mm or two of my current bike. It should fit really similarly to my existing bike, and that's a big plus for me considering my entire bicycling life has been on this one bike.

I've also had the thought of picking up the bike with the lower component group for cheap (well cheaper, at $1,700 or so), and then slowly upgrading items here and there. But that was only a fleeting thought, as then it would almost be as though I was always tearing something down, and always having the bike apart. I must be getting older (or maybe wiser!?!?) and thinking that it's worth the money up front to just go ahead and get what I want, and then not have to mess with it. Maybe it's my busy schedule, maybe it's my lack of good workspace for anything messy, who knows. The idea of "modding" my bike though just doesn't seem to hold a ton of interest for me.......wierd, eh??

I am however going to have the bikeshop due one thing for me when they build the bike. I want the rear cassette swapped out to an 11-27 unit from the 12-25 unit that it's spec'd out to. After doing lots of math, and generally giving myself a headache, I've decided I want the one higher gear of the 53/11 combination. I'm already a bit unhappy that my 50/11 won't crank me any higher than 34.2mph (at 115 cadence), and I can hit that on my flat sections of the ride. I'm not saying I do it often, but at least once a ride I sprint HARD on the flats to see if my top speed has increased or decreased, using it as sort of a litmus test for how I'm doing that day. I've been running out of gear for the last month or so, although I didn't realize that until my riding buddy asked why I was always complaining of not having enough gear. If I drop to a 53/12 combo, I'll actually run out of gear a little sooner than I do now. That 53/11 will give me some room to keep growing. The 27 big cog in the back will hopefully allow me to slow down on some of the bigger hills around here when riding with Shelly. Right now my 38/24 will only let me slow down so far with a super low climbing cadence. I almost have to stop pedaling to not run away from her on the uphills because she has a 12-27 rear cassette with a TRIPLE chainring on her hybrid bike. SO she can really drop down and spin her way up about any hill out there. I'll have more available ratios overall, and widening the gap between them (as compared to the 12-25 anyway) will be an easy transition for me, I think, considering what I currently ride.

That leaves me with one "very important" decision......Black or white

Here's the "BBQ" version.....I like it, but am afraid that the white seat and bar tape will get dirty quick. Anyone else run light colored tape/seat? I know I can swap the tape fairly easily.....Thoughts?!??!


Here's the "WHT" scheme.....I initially thought this was FAR to hard to keep clean, but it's been growing on me a little here and there. I have a feeling I'll be taking at least a little better care of this one in terms of wiping it down after each ride, but I dunno. Anyone have any thoughts on this one?!?!?


Now, it's just a matter of sitting around and saving the cash up, getting the bike, and then waiting for springtime. With any luck I'll be riding again in March, so that gives me a good 3-1/2 months to same my pennies.....Just think, that's only $700/mo to save for the bike+tax

[2kwik4u]

Originally Posted by chevy42083

I think steal and carbon are supposed to be similar in resonant resistivity (do I sound engineerish ), or maybe it's just that both blow aluminum out of the water.

I have heard that Steel and Carbon are VERY similar. My riding buddy built a Soma Smoothie at the beginning of the year. Very neat bike overall, but a bit on the heavy side of things. He built it as a "bomb proof" commuter, with a rack, so it makes sense that it's a bit heavy. He then proceeded to buy his Specialized S-Works Roubaix. REALLY freaking cool looking bike. Has a very prototype look to it with the raw carbon finish. He says that the both ride amazingly similar (despite the carbon bike costing almost 3 times as much!). Where he notices the biggest difference is in the weight, and the geometry. The S-Works, has a more "race" geometry, while the Soma a more "relaxed" setup. So, it handles and rides in general a bit different. Of course the S-works is a full 8lbs lighter than the Soma, and he says he notices from the first pedal stroke.

Originally Posted by chevy42083

Huh.... I woulda thunk it lower. Using the weigh myself holding the bike, then weigh myself without the bike (on a digital scale) showed my '83 Bianchi at just a HAIR over 23lbs.... with lights and an uncut Brooks Saddle.... not sure if the seatbag with tubes/patches/tire levers/multi-tool was on, but I doubt it. Guess the old "high-end" stuff wasn't so bad

Yea, my bike has "middle road" gear on it currently. It also had some HEAVY wheels on it from the factory. I need to weigh it again without water bottles, or saddle bag on it. It might be lighter than I think, but the last time it was on a scale a few years ago, it was 21.8lbs I think. I've since swapped to a new wheelset, as well as aluminum chainrings, new cables/housing, and new bar tape. I've also ditched the crapola plastic bottle cages in favor of some nicer metal ones. Not sure what all that swaping has done to the weight. Maybe I'm closer to 21 flat now?!?! I'll try to weigh it here soon to see.

Originally Posted by chevy42083

I haven't weighed my '08 Pista yet. I can't comment on the feel anyways, cause the Pista's gear is much taller than I would start out in on the '83 Bianchi Roadie.


I guess I do have the unfair advantage of riding 51-53 sized bikes.

Dang short kids, and your 50-53 bikes. I ride a 58cm which seems to be on the high end of "normal" in a sport geared towards short/light people. My riding buddy and his brother both ride somewhere around a 61cm frame. Jeff is closer to a 63 than a 61, but it seems they don't make a lot of those. Bryan said the hell with it, and had a custom Ti frame built. His fits better than everyone elses (for obvious reasons).

[SonomaZ]

Dunno about practicality, but from an aesthetic standpoint I'm really digging the "WHT" scheme.
I'd bet a white frame is easier to keep clean than a white seat and tape. You gotta wipe it down either way right? Sweet looking bike either way.

[Dr. Nate]

Wow you're putting entirely way to much thought into buying a bicycle.

-Nate

[SonomaZ]

Exactly.
I know when I spend $2K on anything I want it to be based entirely on emotion.
Impulse buy FTW!