The only times I've ever had an issue was when I cranked down on the little nut on the valve stem, then when it loosened up, I'd tighten it again, and eventually it'd pull the valve right through the hole in the rim. So, don't do that. Finger tight and leave it alone. It won't come loose on its own.
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Double Bass DB bicycle thread
- Thread starter unbrokenchain
- Start date
We've got a junior high at the end of our block. As the weather has warmed, each day I see quite a few kids riding their bikes to school. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of them has their seats set WAY too low. They are all riding various versions of hybrids.
Does anyone know whether this is a modern "style"? Do people think it looks "cool"? Or is every single one of these kids - and presumably their parents - complete idiots? Because I can't recall a time that I was too young to know that the leg should be slightly bent on the down pedal...
Does anyone know whether this is a modern "style"? Do people think it looks "cool"? Or is every single one of these kids - and presumably their parents - complete idiots? Because I can't recall a time that I was too young to know that the leg should be slightly bent on the down pedal...
Riders who do tricks and trials and all that slam the seat down.
They may just be imitating them.
Are they idiots?
Probably not.
They probably all grew six inches during the winter.
And people don't know how to turn a wrench any more.
I got my CF cyclocross bike all 100% for the season. Good times. I know James is always saying “who says you can only have one?” but I gave away my other bikes to friends in need and, like basses, feel real good about putting all my energy eggs into just this one basket. It was too much trying to maintain a road bike, mountain bike, and cyclocross. “Keep it simple, stupid.” Looking forward to hitting the trails with the kids this season!
Thanks! Just like anything you sacrifice a little edge of specificity by choosing the “one ring to rule them all” option.
The knobby tires and geometry aren’t ideal for the road, but we make it work just fine since it can handle any trails Memphis’ flat arse can throw at it. Just like my new Kay with guts isn’t ideal for arco, but we make it work just fine ‘cause there’s no place that thing can’t travel pizz.
This bike started as a Kona Jake the snake 20 years ago and has stone-soup evolved into this Chinese CF frame’d parts-caster as parts have crapped out over the years. I should maybe invest in something modern with disc breaks, but I’m yet to meet a local obstacle this thing can’t overcome.
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Still loving my Orbea hybrid, riding mostly on paved paths, walking trails, local parks, cemeteries, etc. Really enjoying the noseless saddle, too. I have an upright handlebar, but have seem other bikes with attachments on the ends of the bars that stick up, which lets the rider change hand positions and sometimes be more upright. Does anybody have any experience with these?
IMHO, just like bass anything that adds weight, be them handlebar extensions or bow quivers, affects the performance. Whether that matters or not is personal preference. I used to love handlebar extensions on my trail bike until I got one in the rib on a crash on a downhill bit 20 years ago. “Never again” I said, lol. Full disclosure, I used to not ever wear a helmut before that crash either because I was young and dumb
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When choosing a road or cross bike, I always refuse disc brakes. Rim brakes are lighter, work with radial spokes, rest on the strongest points of the frame and are symmetrical along the axis of the bike. With disc brakes there is more q-factor and more difficult footwork. Of course, this is not a reason for controversy, this is just my opinion.
I hear you! None of that is an issue for me at this point. I ride where there are no cars, almost always paved or flat trails that would be wheelchair accessible, and the only performance I’m interested in is cruising and enjoying being on a bike in a safe and hopefully picturesque environment. I haven’t come off a bike in decades, and plan to hopefully keep it that way by riding carefully.
This makes so much sense to me - thanks for taking the time to explain! Always a victory when another unmet lusty desire is squashed.
I remember being a kid similarly GAS yernin’ for a full suspension bike until I actually rode one and felt how inefficient they are for my riding.
oh yeah, you’ll love em then. I’d spring for titanium or CF for extra ‘warmth’ of tone if it were me, but I’m sure you can’t go wrong with any modern option.
Well, it's a 15 minute job to take off the knobby tires and put some road tires.
I don't know what you mean about the geometry not being ideal for the road, but if by "for the road" you mean "so close-coupled and twitchy that you take your life in your hand if you take one hand off the bars", I'll point out that something like my Cross-Check, currently sold as "relaxed geometry with slack tube angles and long chainstays" has damn near the IDENTICAL geometry of my early 80s Raleigh Professional, which was sold as a high end road racing bike with sensitive responsive geometry. The redefinition of road bike design to be so twitchy and hard riding that you've GOT to be a 140 pound whippet that trains 200 miles a week is an historical anomaly.
Many many many criteriums in the 1970s were ridden on the Raleigh Super Course which today's plastic-bike crowd would deride as an old man's bike.
I'll leave you with one more point - if disk brakes are so good (except, of course, for that tendency to yank the front wheel out of the dropouts - oops!) and we all know a larger disk is better - well, rim brakes ARE disk brakes! They're disk brakes with a 25" diameter disk! They're also lighter, simple as a stone axe, and almost anything that goes wrong with a disk brake can be fixed by the side of the road with a couple small tools. Obviously disks have their place, like when your rims are going to be constantly submerged in mud; but I'd submit that for 90+% of ordinary riding by ordinary riders the rim brake is a better choice.
I love love love my disc brakes. They are a revelation to me after all those years of rim brakes. Of course, I also loved the really old school brakes on my single speed Schwann when I was a kid where you had to pedal backward to apply them, so maybe I’m weird.
I still own a 1983 Raleigh Super Course and I am an Old Man.
Nailed it! Nicely done!
You kidz get your plastics off my lawn!
“I used to love handlebar extensions on my trail bike until I got one in the rib on a crash on a downhill bit 20 years ago. “Never again” I said, lol”
With that mentality I’d be trying to ride without pedals. I’ve got permanent scars on my shins from all the times I’ve caught a pedal during a stumble or sudden dismount.
I also took the end my handlebar in the chest last year. Rode into some deep sand and the bike stalled and fell over. I got my feet down, but my momentum pitched me forward and I fell on top of the handlebar (which was pointing straight up). Handlebar extensions would have made that much less painful. Luckily I didn’t break a rib.
With that mentality I’d be trying to ride without pedals. I’ve got permanent scars on my shins from all the times I’ve caught a pedal during a stumble or sudden dismount.
I also took the end my handlebar in the chest last year. Rode into some deep sand and the bike stalled and fell over. I got my feet down, but my momentum pitched me forward and I fell on top of the handlebar (which was pointing straight up). Handlebar extensions would have made that much less painful. Luckily I didn’t break a rib.
