Anyone here a cyclist? | Page 12 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone here a cyclist?

GreyGhost said:
Who wants to drive to Arkansas and pick up a truck load of cool bikes? @FullMotoJacket ?
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Slim pickings. The Erickson is nice, but it's a gate. The stuff on there that catches my eye would be the Mountain Goat (but I sold a Whiskeytown Racer a few weeks ago), The Mantis Pro Floater (already have one), The Klein (no pics of the seat cluster? pass. I already have a broken one in the garage), and the AMP (have 3 already, one built by Jim Best). The Bontragers are "entry level", so no. About the only thing on the page(s) that I'd consider bidding on for myself would be the Boulder Starship.
 
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crankcall said:
Theres a Tomasso in there thats pretty swish, and a nice looking Olmo frame set. Some collector/fixer/flipper can make some great cash at the current bids.

I was at the Toronto biuke show and bought a full carbon Bianchi with introductory Campy stuff and really nice Mavic wheel sets ( its previously loved, in the swap meet) for $300. Some stockbroker was cleaning the garage.
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Crap I did not know they have a swap meet. Otherwise, I refuse to pay a penny for any manufacturer display show.

I am curious do cyclists that work on their bikes have all the fancy tools? Like the million standards for BB press, headset press, extractors, specific wrenches etc. I been thinking to maybe start a rental or just exchange.
 
daught said:
I am curious do cyclists that work on their bikes have all the fancy tools? Like the million standards for BB press, headset press, extractors, specific wrenches etc. I been thinking to maybe start a rental or just exchange.
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I don't have a BB press, simply because I don't have a frame with the standard (yet). Everything else you'd possibly need I have, along with a number of the more common frame straightening tools
 
You will get a lot of beer from me in the future.

I just finished the mid winter overhaul of my jake the snake. I pressed the PF30 BB with a socket. The salt is brutal. I had to lube every thread on the bike. My FD sat in WD40 for 2 days to un-seize it.
 
daught said:
You will get a lot of beer from me in the future.

I just finished the mid winter overhaul of my jake the snake. I pressed the PF30 BB with a socket. The salt is brutal. I had to lube every thread on the bike. My FD sat in WD40 for 2 days to un-seize it.
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I just watched hambini press in BB bearings using a quik-clamp.
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As for tools, I have some to help where you would really struggle with conventional tools(chain breaker, whip, stupid star to unlock cassette, stupid star to preload BB, etc.). I do not have bike specific presses. I try not to have my bikes taken that far apart very often.
 
daught said:
Crap I did not know they have a swap meet. Otherwise, I refuse to pay a penny for any manufacturer display show.

I am curious do cyclists that work on their bikes have all the fancy tools? Like the million standards for BB press, headset press, extractors, specific wrenches etc. I been thinking to maybe start a rental or just exchange.
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Yes... This is my basement bicycle workshop. More tools have been added since the pics. Started doing some wheel building...

I usually buy, make or improvise as I run into each unique tool situation. But blue is always cool...

Threaded rod and some large washers make a fantastic headset or BB press (centre first pic). Beside it is the home made tool to drive out headset races. In the process of modifying a cheap. cheap motorcycle chain tool to use as a cotter press, and on it goes.

BTW that ugly CCM frame hanging in the back of the second pic is my latest project. I need a bike I can lock up and not worry about, ride in the salt, etc... going to add braze-ons to the frame (it has no cable guides at all) for index shifting, cold set the frame, convert it to a 1X10 drivetrain... ugly enough a thief will cut the bike to steel the lock.

Workshop 1.jpgWorkshop 2.jpg
 
At some point, the stars will align and I will find a decent stand for a price I want to pay. Until now, I either find the terrible homeowner version, or people want full pop for the good ones.

That is a cool stool.

March bike show is a great place to pick up preloved bikes. That is where I scored an ~3 year old titus for ~80% off. Still love it. Never planning on selling it.
 
GreyGhost said:
At some point, the stars will align and I will find a decent stand for a price I want to pay. Until now, I either find the terrible homeowner version, or people want full pop for the good ones.

That is a cool stool.

March bike show is a great place to pick up preloved bikes. That is where I scored an ~3 year old titus for ~80% off. Still love it. Never planning on selling it.
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That is actually the last gen Park Home Mechanc (PCS 9 I think) version (their cheap one), bought it new at Browns for around $120 last year (they had them listed on Kijiji), they were clearing them out as there is now a new version (PCS 9.2). It is good but not great, not very portable so it just stays up--but it is blue, needed like I needed a hole in the head, but as said it is blue and was on sale (see next paragraph, I already had a stand).... The new version looks a little more compact/portable.

I also have the Feedback Feedback Sports Sport Mechanic Work Stand | MEC work stand. This one folds up nicely and is better than the Park IMO, I use it as my outdoor/portable stand... I like working on the patio is nice weather... It is also much more stable than my Park stand.

One other difference between the two, when clamping to the frame, the Park clamps top and bottom, the Feedback side to side. It is easier to get the bike in and out of the Park but the Feedback interferes less with top tube cables on mountain bikes. Neither here nor there, I like and hate both for these reasons. Maybe just one more "justification" to have one of each.

In the end the stands are well worth the money as they make your life so much easier. I resisted for a couple of decades, now I am a convert.
 
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GreyGhost said:
Did they get purchased by a bunch of suits/dentists too?
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Not sure. The founder died a couple of years ago.

GreyGhost said:
It's sad to see what has happened to Cervelo.
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Internal chain stay brace I did for the prototype Cervelo P3, back when they were building bikes themselves.

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Changed my single speed from flat bar to road bars. Got some brake levers on the tops and just got myself some new cabling. I just need the pads now and i'll be allllll good.
Although i won't be commuting to work on it anytime soon
 
LePhillou said:
Changed my single speed from flat bar to road bars. Got some brake levers on the tops and just got myself some new cabling. I just need the pads now and i'll be allllll good.
Although i won't be commuting to work on it anytime soon
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What kind of brakes and levers? Some don't play well with others.
 
LePhillou said:
Changed my single speed from flat bar to road bars. Got some brake levers on the tops and just got myself some new cabling. I just need the pads now and i'll be allllll good.
Although i won't be commuting to work on it anytime soon
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FullMotoJacket said:
What kind of brakes and levers? Some don't play well with others.
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As FullMotoJacket noted you need to (should) make sure the flat bar brake levers have the same pull (assuming mechanical cable) as the calipers. Generally... (very generally, anyone please feel free to correct me if I have something off...)

Most road rim calipers (regardless of brand), road mechanical disk and old style mountain cantilever have similar pull (close enough) and are more or less interchangeable, but should not be used with the below.
V-brakes (linear pull) and mountain disk have different pull and they should not be intermixed with the above.

The newest higher end road groupsets from Shimano have a different pull ratios yet, and should not be intermixed....

Changing the pull ratio basically changes the mechanical advantage, when you intermix "incompatible" levers and calipers the brakes will not work as expected (too hard to pull, too sensitive, levers bottoming out unless the pads are very close to the rim, etc.), some do it and get away with it, YMMV. Personally I have experimented with it both ways (intermixing) and find the brakes usually suck, I consider it a safety problem.

They do make flat bar levers that work with most road groupsets, including older mountain levers for cantilever brakes.... they also make devices that change the pull ratio but it is easier and cheaper to use the correct levers.
 
Has anyone looked at childrens bikes? Holy hell, I know they are built to a price point and they want them to be durable, but they are 75% of the kids body weight. I went looking today and I was amazed at how heavy they are (~27-33 lbs for 18" bike). That's a bunch heavier than current off-the-shelf full size mountain bikes. Admittedly, the adult bike is a lot more money, but you would think you could shave 10lbs off the kids bike at a reasonable cost. The damn thing is only knee high.

EDIT:
So it turns out there are a lot of 13 to 18 lb 16" or 20" bikes. Prices are >$500.

18" bikes are a bastard size (my kid is right at the top of 16" bikes and too small to learn on most 20's).
 
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GreyGhost said:
Has anyone looked at childrens bikes? Holy hell, I know they are built to a price point and they want them to be durable, but they are 75% of the kids body weight. I went looking today and I was amazed at how heavy they are (~27-33 lbs for 18" bike). That's a bunch heavier than current off-the-shelf full size mountain bikes. Admittedly, the adult bike is a lot more money, but you would think you could shave 10lbs off the kids bike at a reasonable cost. The damn thing is only knee high.
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I know for our kids, when they were little, I just ended up buying the 1 speed Barbie and Monster High bikes, damn the weight. Basically made almost entirely of steel (maybe just iron or some iron lead alloy...), upside is they went through two of our kids and a few more afterwards, and they are still going. Just keep them oiled.

The weight is not that much of a big deal as they are not going too fast or for too long at that age. Once they got old enough for gears, I got them some decent (but not super high end) bikes. If they really just need a decent riding bike...you can buy used very good 26ers for nothing these days (when they are tall enough of course).
 
GreyGhost said:
Has anyone looked at childrens bikes? Holy hell, I know they are built to a price point and they want them to be durable, but they are 75% of the kids body weight. I went looking today and I was amazed at how heavy they are (~27-33 lbs for 18" bike). That's a bunch heavier than current off-the-shelf full size mountain bikes. Admittedly, the adult bike is a lot more money, but you would think you could shave 10lbs off the kids bike at a reasonable cost. The damn thing is only knee high.

EDIT:
So it turns out there are a lot of 13 to 18 lb 16" or 20" bikes. Prices are >$500.

18" bikes are a bastard size (my kid is right at the top of 16" bikes and too small to learn on most 20's).
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Cheap, light, strong. Pick two.
 
having had kids, just get them a 'basic' learner as a first (or second or third bike) . It will get dropped in the driveway, ridden into ponds, left everywhere and all the maintenence is on you. They are kids.
If they get into it and show some discipline and care, treat them to a better machine. Out of the gate, a used 'ok' bike is the direction I'd go.
 
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