Bicycles

[FastDoc]

Originally Posted by wheelbender6

I haven't ridden in a while due to a cough that just will not go away. However, I made a donation to an MS-150 rider today and that helped my mood. The Houston to Austin MS-150 kicks off this Saturday morning.

I hope that your cough goes away and you feel better very soon. By the way, good on you for your donation to a very worthy cause. Almost as good as writing it yourself. I assume that "MS – 150" stands for multiple sclerosis – 150?

[Bruce's]

My wife has m.s. ,thank you for the donation .

[katoranger]

Originally Posted by FastDoc

Alan, with a little bit of looking, some creativity, and a little patience, you could probably find a wonderful bicycle for less than half of your budget. If you like, we might have some fun going through your local craigslist ads and coming up with some suggestions.

Would you be using it primarily or exclusively on paper roads? On and off pavement? Gravel?

Mostly pavement. Some gravel. Nothing offroad.

I do have a trek mountain frame that I could probably build into a good bike. Need to drag it out of the rafters.

[FastDoc]

Unless you want to spend a ton of time looking for parts, it's and cheaper to buya working bike.

I see nice bikes here all the time for $150 or less.

Mountain bikes are good in the mountains, but pigs on the road. I think road tires would help a lot, but if youremostly paved I'd steer you away from a mountain bike towars a hybrid or a road bike.

A road bike will be more efficent than a hybrid on the road, and could do short runs of smooth and packed dirt/gravel but loose dirt or gravel would do poorly.

It's just like motorcycles. We have dirt and road bikes, which do their respective things well. We also have dual sports (hybrids in thbe bike world) that are OK at both but excellent at neither.

For a casual rider pulling a trailer sometimes on 90% paved a hybrid or a durable road bike would be a good choice.

JMHO ;-)

[FastDoc]

Originally Posted by wheelbender6

"I felt great, but if there is anyone who knows how to get the seat out of my arse please let me know lol."
I just moved forward or aft on the seat a lot FastDoc. I would slide my butt a little forward at the end of a straight, and then slide aft a bit at the end of the next straight to keep circulation down there. I have to do the same while riding my mountain bike on the trails, too.

Update:

I did another long training ride yesterday on the Motobecane.

This time I made an effort to unweight the saddle during descents and to pedal out of the saddle with a few upshifts while climbing every now and then. I also bought some Butt Balm from the LBS and although it sure felt odd (...) my nether regions seemed to be better.

[katoranger]

Originally Posted by FastDoc

Unless you want to spend a ton of time looking for parts, it's and cheaper to buya working bike.

I see nice bikes here all the time for $150 or less.

Mountain bikes are good in the mountains, but pigs on the road. I think road tires would help a lot, but if youremostly paved I'd steer you away from a mountain bike towars a hybrid or a road bike.

A road bike will be more efficent than a hybrid on the road, and could do short runs of smooth and packed dirt/gravel but loose dirt or gravel would do poorly.

It's just like motorcycles. We have dirt and road bikes, which do their respective things well. We also have dual sports (hybrids in thbe bike world) that are OK at both but excellent at neither.

For a casual rider pulling a trailer sometimes on 90% paved a hybrid or a durable road bike would be a good choice.

JMHO ;-)

I would consider a road bike with some lower gearing. Likely will have about 80lbs of trailer behind me.

[cheesy]

Originally Posted by katoranger

I would consider a road bike with some lower gearing. Likely will have about 80lbs of trailer behind me.

Then just about any bike will do. Just stay away from corn cob freewheels/freehubs, tires narrower than 32mm, and turkey wings on the handle bars.

[FastDoc]

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/rover1.htm

I agree.

I think something like this will be ideal. Three front sprockets. Enough gearing range to pull anything. Comfortable seating position, light enough and would do gravel and smooth dirt trails well.

This is an excellent company to deal with BTW.

[katoranger]

That is the price point I was thinking. Well I was hoping for free.

[BillR]

I was having a lot of discomfort riding upright bikes...
finally broke down and got this:
TerraTrike Rambler


Shimano Nexus 8-speed rear with a Schlumph Hi-speed drive in front.
Yes, it's like sitting in your lawn chair peddling down the road. I can ride for a couple of hours again without having a numb nether region when I get home.

BillR

[FastDoc]

Cool trike, Bill! What is a Schlumph?

[cheesy]

Sweet. You had me at Nexus8. Schulmph is just icing on the cake.

Doc, the Schulmph, for lack of a better description, is an internally geared crankset. Or, I know what it is but I don't know how it works.

[katoranger]

Originally Posted by BillR

I was having a lot of discomfort riding upright bikes...
finally broke down and got this:
TerraTrike Rambler


Shimano Nexus 8-speed rear with a Schlumph Hi-speed drive in front.
Yes, it's like sitting in your lawn chair peddling down the road. I can ride for a couple of hours again without having a numb nether region when I get home.

BillR

I was just looking at recumbent bikes. I like the lawn chair position. Still be able to pull the burly.

[BillR]

Originally Posted by FastDoc

Cool trike, Bill! What is a Schlumph?

Schlumpf Drive in Wikipedia
My misspelling orginally. "F" instead of "H" on the end...
As Cheesy said, internally geared crankset. 27 tooth ring, low is 1:1. When you shift to high range it's 2.5:1 and acts like a 67 tooth ring.
There's a button in the spindle you push with your heel to shift from high to low ranges.
With the Nexus in back, low is 17 inches. I haven't even tried to figure out high...it's way more than I care to push, even down hill.
No derailleurs to mess with, fairly quiet, etc.

Kato,
It would be great for a trailer.

BillR

[cheesy]

Kato-Just a heads up. Costco has some decent looking hybrids for under $200. If I wasn't trying to quit n+1*, one would have come home with me.


*I think it was easier to quit smoking.