Show "Bicycle"

Other thing I can get us to spend any $ on these days is cross bike stuff to a limited degree, and mountain biking, because the wife kinda fell in love with it this year, once we found her the right kind of trails.
With your wife's experience riding that big steel bike and her cx riding, I'm betting she can already put many men to shame on the single track. I for one suck at climbing in general, and especially technical stuff.
 
Today I went riding with my kids around the Pasadena Rose Bowl. My daughter is now riding my old 90s Haro mountain bike. She had an unexpected growth spurt in 2020, so I'm not exactly sure how tall she'll get? I'm holding off any bike purchases until she stops growing! Regarding the bike, it was actually sitting outside my yard for a year completely exposed to the elements! It's an aluminum frame and luckily there was barely any rust. I cleaned up an re-greased everything. Unfortunately I have a stripped bolt in one of the water bottle screw holes, I'll need to pick up a screw extractor one if these days! It's also been repurposed as an at-home pedal bike. I swapped out the knobby treads for some cheap touring tires for LA streets; picked up a shorter 60mm stem (original was a Ritchey 90mm or 100mm stem) and swapped in the saddle from the one that came with my single speed gravel bike!

On my current bike I picked up a new saddle bag and portable bike pump attached to the fork!

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Bicycling around the Rose Bowl - Pasadena - Los Angeles, California USA
by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Bicycling around the Rose Bowl - Pasadena - Los Angeles, California USA
by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Bicycling around the Rose Bowl - Pasadena - Los Angeles, California USA
by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

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Bicycling around the Rose Bowl - Pasadena - Los Angeles, California USA
by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr
 
It's funny, we spent money on the cargo / ebike stuff, because it does indeed replace the car for many trips. Car is an 88 4Runner with 260k or so on it.... so it needs all the rest it can get.
Very inspiring, and great that it's a whole-family activity; definitely prioritizing for a healthy life. And, there's that unspoken rule that any self-respecting bicyclist (or photographer) would never spend more on a car than on their best gear :)
 
Hey everyone, I was thinking of adding a gravel geared bike! It's slightly smaller than what I ride (2cm smaller than my normal ride size), but I figure I could raise the seat, adjust the spacers and/or swap out the stem cheaply. I read it's easier to adjust with a smaller bike versus a larger bike. It's slightly used, but it's only $300 USD and it'll give me another bike configuration to ride, especially hill climbs. I still want to keep my single speed as my low maintenance daily rider, but a cheap gravel gear bike would also be nice to have in the collection! Thanks for any opinions!
 
As for "2cm smaller than current ride" that's a good starting point, but as you may already know, geometry can be VERY different between different models and makers. I agree that something a hair smaller is likely going to be fine, just try to hold off on pulling the trigger til you throw a leg over it, ideally.

$300 is pretty cheap, so it's either something old, or something budgety (less than $1k new 3 or 4 years ago). Or, they have no idea what they should be charging. You can get some very light road bikes for $300 these days, if you're ok with super thin tires (25c max.... yikes) and rim brakes. But "gravel" means something you can fit at LEAST 35s on, ideally 40+. It also usually means a more upright position, higher head tube vs. the seat position, shorter reach to the bars, lower bottom bracket. I'd love to see what you're pondering picking up so I can get specific.

OH - and that Haro had to be a high end model to come with discs back then, not unlike my 99/2000 Mt. Tam.
 
As for "2cm smaller than current ride" that's a good starting point, but as you may already know, geometry can be VERY different between different models and makers. I agree that something a hair smaller is likely going to be fine, just try to hold off on pulling the trigger til you throw a leg over it, ideally.

$300 is pretty cheap, so it's either something old, or something budgety (less than $1k new 3 or 4 years ago). Or, they have no idea what they should be charging. You can get some very light road bikes for $300 these days, if you're ok with super thin tires (25c max.... yikes) and rim brakes. But "gravel" means something you can fit at LEAST 35s on, ideally 40+. It also usually means a more upright position, higher head tube vs. the seat position, shorter reach to the bars, lower bottom bracket. I'd love to see what you're pondering picking up so I can get specific.

OH - and that Haro had to be a high end model to come with discs back then, not unlike my 99/2000 Mt. Tam.
I usually ride a 52cm and the next step down is a 49cm. It's an older return bike. It's actually a cyclocross bike, with rim brakes and fits 32c tires. It's a 7005 aluminum frame with chromoly fork and it's a mix of Shimano tiagra/sora components with a 9 speed SRAM cassette. Here's the specs:


I used to work at adidas and at the time, Haro was a sponsor bike company, so we got a pretty big discount buying bikes as a corporate employee. Looking back though I should of spent the extra money for the top tier bike they had the time! Actually I'm pretty amazed, even after all these years the Avid disc brakes have plenty of bite.
 
I usually ride a 52cm and the next step down is a 49cm. It's an older return bike. It's actually a cyclocross bike, with rim brakes and fits 32c tires. It's a 7005 aluminum frame with chromoly fork and it's a mix of Shimano tiagra/sora components with a 9 speed SRAM cassette. Here's the specs:


I used to work at adidas and at the time, Haro was a sponsor bike company, so we got a pretty big discount buying bikes as a corporate employee. Looking back though I should of spent the extra money for the top tier bike they had the time! Actually I'm pretty amazed, even after all these years the Avid disc brakes have plenty of bite.
Never mind, I just bought a fairly clean 21 speed road bike with chromoly steel frame and fork for $200! I figure even if the components suck, the frame should be fairly decent for building up down the road!
 
Guys, just a question: I'm as guilty as the next man of "just" discussing bikes in this thread, but may I suggest a discussion thread? I'll be happy to provide one and als move some posts there. I think it's advisable not to clog image threads with too much words ... but I may be wrong. Any thoughts?

M.
 
Guys, just a question: I'm as guilty as the next man of "just" discussing bikes in this thread, but may I suggest a discussion thread? I'll be happy to provide one and als move some posts there. I think it's advisable not to clog image threads with too much words ... but I may be wrong. Any thoughts?

M.
I apologize if I veered off-topic! Feel free to move any of my wayward discussions to another thread. Maybe a thread about bikes and photography combined? There's some interesting discussion on here regarding bags, camera equipment and the bikes themselves! Even the way framing photos (while riding) differs somewhat from normal street photography. 👍
 
@Jonathan F/2 Not wayward at all - on the contrary! It's just that this is declared to be an image thread. If someone drops by looking for images at the moment, he or she might feel a bit ... I don't know ... baffled, perhaps? But I confess I really enjoyed reading all this, so ... If everyone's fine with it, we'll leave the thread as it is.

However, I'll look into this "Biking and Photography" idea anyway - sounds very promising to me! Besides, you're very welcome to start such a thread yourself - Tony and you have done the most postings about this in the last couple of months as far as I recall (Kyle was most prominent in the past - though I hope we'll see more from him again (y)), so it's only fitting the thread should be started by one of you two, not by me who is a bystander at best ...

I'll provide a suitable place for discussion - somewhere down at the Watering Hole ;)

M.
 
@Jonathan F/2 Not wayward at all - on the contrary! It's just that this is declared to be an image thread. If someone drops by looking for images at the moment, he or she might feel a bit ... I don't know ... baffled, perhaps? But I confess I really enjoyed reading all this, so ... If everyone's fine with it, we'll leave the thread as it is.

However, I'll look into this "Biking and Photography" idea anyway - sounds very promising to me! Besides, you're very welcome to start such a thread yourself - Tony and you have done the most postings about this in the last couple of months as far as I recall (Kyle was most prominent in the past - though I hope we'll see more from him again (y)), so it's only fitting the thread should be started by one of you two, not by me who is a bystander at best ...

I'll provide a suitable place for discussion - somewhere down at the Watering Hole ;)

M.
Hmm, now I need a catchy title for a bicycle thread!

In the meantime, here's a shot of another empty parking lot in Los Angeles turned race track for my kids. My youngest really pedals hard on his small bike and gets in an aero position, maybe he'll end up on a velodrome in the future? My daughter seems to prefer mountain bikes...a downhill racer perhaps? ;)

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LA Bike Ride - Los Angeles, California USA
by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr
 
Also, I can't imagine that if there were a discussion-only bike thread, people would be able to resist showing photos of whyat they're talking about. I think "bikes" as a photo topic just comes with more chatting baked in....
 
Also, I can't imagine that if there were a discussion-only bike thread, people would be able to resist showing photos of whyat they're talking about. I think "bikes" as a photo topic just comes with more chatting baked in....
On a side note, my neighborhood is littered with thorny balls dropped from the trees lining the sidewalks. It's causing me way too many flats. Any opinions or tips going tubeless or perhaps switch out tires for something thorn resistant? I'll post photos of my new tire setup to keep the images rolling! :D
 
On a side note, my neighborhood is littered with thorny balls dropped from the trees lining the sidewalks. It's causing me way too many flats. Any opinions or tips going tubeless or perhaps switch out tires for something thorn resistant? I'll post photos of my new tire setup to keep the images rolling! :D
My opinion, probably disputed by many, is for carefree pavement riding to go with a good belted tire like the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme. They're not cheap and not particularly lightweight, but last a long time and virtually never get flats. For skinnier tires (25-32mm) I like Continental brand; Gatorskins for flat protection and GP 5000s for lighter weight.

I have tubeless setups (well...down to just one) and they're great for off road where you can run low pressures without fear of pinch flats, and you can also run light weight beltless tires like Rene Herse brand. They are very good where goatheads or other thorns are a problem. But there are drawbacks. Tubeless can be hard to install (getting the tires to seat without high pressure), messier (get a serious puncture without fenders and spray sealant everywhere - happened to me twice), and IMO generally 'fiddlier' (dried sealant clogging valve cores).

So it depends on your 'hassle tolerance'. Tubeless for better performance over a variety of conditions but more maintenance, or a tubed & belted tire if like to ignore your tires, save for adding air every couple of weeks.
 
My opinion, probably disputed by many, is for carefree pavement riding to go with a good belted tire like the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme. They're not cheap and not particularly lightweight, but last a long time and virtually never get flats. For skinnier tires (25-32mm) I like Continental brand; Gatorskins for flat protection and GP 5000s for lighter weight.

I have tubeless setups (well...down to just one) and they're great for off road where you can run low pressures without fear of pinch flats, and you can also run light weight beltless tires like Rene Herse brand. They are very good where goatheads or other thorns are a problem. But there are drawbacks. Tubeless can be hard to install (getting the tires to seat without high pressure), messier (get a serious puncture without fenders and spray sealant everywhere - happened to me twice), and IMO generally 'fiddlier' (dried sealant clogging valve cores).

So it depends on your 'hassle tolerance'. Tubeless for better performance over a variety of conditions but more maintenance, or a tubed & belted tire if like to ignore your tires, save for adding air every couple of weeks.
So I have a geared road bike arriving and I also have a tire inflator on the way if and when I go tubeless. I'm thinking going Gatorskins on the road bike, but I'm debating going full tubeless on my single speed gravel. I consider my ss bike more of my commuter urban ride and I only bought this upcoming geared bike to hit the long tarmac loops and to ride with one of my buddies who usually puts in 20 miles a day.

I didn't realize how annoying these spiky thorn balls would be living in my neighborhood until I started cycling more! Even if I try to avoid the trees, those little thorns are hard as needles and everywhere!
 
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