Discussion Board

Are there any biking books in particular that anyone recommends? For one thing, I need to know how to maintain my bike since right now I do precious little - and that will need to change if I start riding more. Lots of books on Amazon, but nothing beats some personal recommendations.

Bikes I Own

My first bikes were a series of bikes I had that I mainly rode to school. I have no idea what they were except that they were probably salvaged by my Dad from the local dump and then repaired and painted.

My first serious bike was a Peugeot AO8, bought in 1976. I put a lot of kms on that bike riding it to work and for fun. Sadly this bike died mainly through neglect .

Again many years ago I bought a Graecross Pro-Ten. This bike was a complete and utter pile of rubbish and I was pleased to get rid of it.

My current bikes are:

Bruce - a 2009 Avanti Hammer mountain bike that I use mainly for commuting. Bruce is heavy & slow but robust & reliable and gives me a good workout.

Charlotte - a 1972 Peugeot PR-10, Charlotte is now in semi-retirement and only comes out on the very best of days and for the occasional display. Despite her age she is light and delicate and a really beautiful ride.

Henry - Henry is a 1956 Healing, currently Henry is hanging from the wall inside my garage in an unrestored state. Henry will be a slow, heavy but very comfortable bike.

Kevin - a 2010 Avanti Vivace, Kevin is an alloy framed road bike with Shimano 105 components. Kevin is mainly for fun but does an occasional commute.

Jack - Jack is a bit of a mixed breed, his frame is most likely locally made but I've added components from all over. Jack is a single-speed bike with a flip-flop rear hub so I can ride him as either a free-wheel or as a fixie. Jack gives a brilliant workout and is a faster bike than Bruce. On good days I'm intending to use him as a commuter.

Madeline - She is my latest acquisition and currently is a very sad little Peugeot. I haven't even dated her yet but probably late 1960s to early 1970s. Once she would have been some child's pride and joy. In the future she will provide this fat, bald, grumpy old man with a sense of quiet pride as she regains her previous charm.

Pierre - a 1985 Peugeot PGN. Pierre's frame is made from Reynolds 531 tubing which makes him a beautiful smooth ride. Pierre is also in semi-retirement but is more active than Charlotte.

Today is a lovely day and although I'm feeling a might stiff after going for a fairly long ride on Jack yesterday, I might go for a short one today on Pierre.

This is my current bike collection and so far Mrs Hamster hasn't complained excessively so life is good

I never thought of naming my bikes before. I'll have to think up some for my two.

Michael

I agree some roads are just too dangerous for cycling and some distances are too great. I live in an outer northern suburb about 35 kms from where I work plus the road network in the inner northern suburbs is like spaghetti. My solution was to ride 15 kms to a railway station where I was able to get a bike locker. This gives me 30 kms per day on the bike and most of that is on bike paths.

Well, it looks like those of us in the States are Trek fans! Do you have a special garage just for your stable of bikes, Hamster?

I agree about avoiding dangerous commutes. Tucson and the surrounding area is pretty good about providing bike lanes but that doesn't mean the drivers aren't jerks at times. Texting, IMHO, has made the road far more dangerous for bicyclists! Since I do bike, I always watch with horror when I'm driving behind someone who keeps drifting into the bike lane, thinking about whether they might kill me on another day. Yeah, morbid, huh?

Since my DH built my longtail bike for me (the one with the Xtracycle kit on it), I got to pick the color it would get painted. I opted for bright yellow for visibility and glittery purple for pretty. Wanna see a picture? Go here.

I'm not a Trek fan, it just happens to be the bike I wanted at my local bike shop. I don't think the brand name matters all that much, once the quality is good. It's more a matter of fit and the materials you favor for the frame and fork. I like Trek and think they are fine, but I'm sure there are other brands just as good.

Michael

Okay, okay, I misspoke. How about: interesting how the folks in the States all ended up with Trek bikes....

I had a Trek bike before wasn't my favorite. My bike I have now is my favorite and it's a Townie Electra.

The two Avantis mainly live in the garage. The Peugeots and Jack live in a spare room on a stand I built that allows me to put two bikes on either side and then another two above them.

Some roads are just too dangerous to even consider riding along. If in doubt I’d recommend driving your intended route to check it out first.

The best example of bad driving was a young mother who was driving along, talking on her phone whilst leaning over the seat to spank a misbehaving child on the back seat. How she managed to steer is beyond me, I can only assume she was steering with her knees.

Chili, I’m impressed with your bikes. I’ve never seen that type of configuration before and wow what massive practicality.

You guys and gals are way outta my league! I have my one bike, maybe I will feel like I've made it when I get a roadbike (one of these days). But I do like the idea of going fast, but I also like to view the scenery.
Chile, light up pedals, sounds like all the rage! How cool!

My bike is a cruiser that's why I love it. SMILE. Everyone is always passing me but that's ok I can see what I'm passing.

Visibility is my goal! A friend in town had cool LED lights that attached to the wheel spokes. I think they were a prototype but I don't know if the guy who made them ever got them ready to sell. I'll be seeing her at my old CSA this month when my order of fire-roasted chiles (40 pounds!) comes in, so I'll try to remember to ask.

Chili,

I've seen pretty cheap wheel lights advertised on eBay. I have no idea what the quality is though.

I may take a look. By the way, my name is spelled with an "E" at the end as in I really, really love Mexican fire-roasted green CHILES, much more than I love bean chili stew.

Gears,

Bikes are obviously a highly efficient mode of transport, but let us consider some of the mathematics involved.

My road bike has a 50 tooth chain ring and the smallest gear on the rear cassette has 12 teeth. One turn of the pedals will therefore turn the rear gear through 50/12 (4.17) revolutions. A 700c wheel has a circumference of approx’ 2.1 meters. Therefore a single turn of the pedals will take you forward 4.17 wheel circumferences or 8.7 meters. If you’re turning the pedals with a cadence of say 80 rpm you’ll be doing 696 meters per minute or 41.8 kph (26.1 mph).

If I was then to shift to my smallest chain ring which has 36 teeth then I will be turning the rear wheel 36/12 times for each turn of the cranks and so will be moving forward 6.3 meters. My speed will drop to 30.2 kph (18.9 mph).

With the last example I would have my chain running around the smallest front gear and also the smallest rear gear. Just as an experiment set your bike up with that combination and take a good hard look at the chain. You should see that it is sort of running in a diagonal manner. This is bad because the inside of the chain will be rubbing against the sides of the teeth on the gears. This significantly accelerates the wear on both the chain and the gears.

Now change your set-up to the large chain ring and the largest gear on the rear cassette. The chain should again be running sort of diagonal and again this will be causing excessive wear. The use of these gear combinations should be avoided and certainly not used for extended periods. Chains are fairly inexpensive but the gears can eye-wateringly expensive.