Inspired by one of @Cuddlebus 's post and the Guns and Archery Corner. I thought having another bike topic focused more on general discussion of bikes rather than specific bike questions would be nice.
Just some startup questions :
Has anyone ever tried bike commuting? If so, what is their opinion of it?
What kind of bikes do you guys own/what type of riding do you enjoy?
Any biking stories?
Starting off I have:
Felt Nine 70 mountain bike
Salsa Warbird 2 cyclocross
Masi fixed Special SS
From 86 to 88 I had a specialized road bike and I was based in San Diego. Some of the buses had bike racks so you could get over to North Island. It was amazing.
My office is 26 miles from where I live. Most days I just drive but once a week I try to cycle. I am fortunate that I can cover 15 miles of the journey by train so I do that on the way in and then maybe cycle the whole way home. Most of the route is through rural countryside, villages and small towns. I feel re-engerised on the days I do cycle.
I currently own three bikes;
Giant XTC 29'er
Trek Stache 7 29'er
Trek Madone 4.7 road-bike
I used to cycle alot, and even took a sabatcal from work as a mountain bike guide for around 6 months, great fun.
Now with a young family my time for all day rides and trips to proper mountains are limited... for now.
Cannondale trail 6 29er for my work commute its only 7km
Here is a link to a video made where I worked as a guide. It's not me in the video but just watching it makes me wish I was back there! Many of my best memories are from cycling - racing, guiding, touring, even commuting!
Dust & Summer from Harry Nesbitt on Vimeo.
I'm kinda "forced" to use mountain bikes here because roads can be bumpy at times and my friends broke a rim a couple of times not being careful. Also I like I do jump on and off sidewalks quite often so I better be prepared for that. I don't remember the brainding on mine but it's a 26" allumìnium (yeah, the accents is for you americans out there lol) mountain bike with front suspension, narrow seat, Shimano gears and brakes disk at the front and "standard" (I don't know how it's called) at the back. LED lights for night rides and a narrow bag strapped in the inside of the frame. Still looking for a waterproof phone case to put on the handlebar but didn't find one yet. Also the best part is: a battery powered horn. People inside cars hear me really good when I use it and stare at me when they realize it's me honking at them lol
Here in Columbus I joined the Third Hand Bicycle Co-op. http://www.thirdhand.org/joom/
We are a community bike shop that recycles bikes and there are 8 workstations.
Our deal is if anyone from the community needs a repair, we don't do it... we show them how to use our tools.
I got my bicycle for only $50 + plus some volunteer hours.
Columbus also has the Alum Creek Greenway trail. https://www.columbus.gov/recreationandparks/trails/Alum-Creek-Trail/ When I was searching for how far I rode, i discovered the Parks and Rec dept has YouTube videos of most of the 22 miles.
That's a nice retro bargain you got for yourself there, I like it. I hope you rmembered to connect your brakes up though :-P
I found a nicer TREK bike with a worn out bottom bearing in the trash. It couldn't be fixed so I bought the red one. I then stripped the 2 bikes down to the frame and put all the nicer components off the TREK on to the Specialized. Plus I raided 3rd Hands parts storage bins. The only problem is one shifter does not match. It also has a Kryptonite, panniers, lights and an Avocet mileage computer.
I bike to work a lot. I have a quick 4.5mi trip on a very nice paved bike path. Full time bike commuting is about 255mi/month.
The build --> http://lootb.blogspot.com/2015/12/e-bike.html
My previous ride that I'm selling...
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/5584520788.html
