Should I bother with a rain bike?

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message link.net...
Why can't you ride your existing bike in the rain?

Personally, I don't want to have a rain bike. I want one, all-purpose,
ride-to-work, ride club rides, ride a century bike. I want this bike to be
as functional in a November downpour as a sunny Sunday in July. I want it to
be able to accomodate a rack and fenders. I want it to be light, reliable,
and to fit.

I'm begining to think the only place I can get such a bike is to go
custom -- why don't they seem to make these bikes?

Claire and Preston,

The philosophy at Rivendell sounds much like what you are both saying
- an all-around bike that can go touring, commuting, rain, centuries,
is light and fits. Their whole thing is comfort and functionality.
Preston, you might be interested in their whole article section on
handlebar height and reach, where they talk about getting the
handlebars up to seat height to be more comfortable for 'normal'
people (at the second link below).

http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/
http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/htm...eopinions.html

Sarah

On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 18:33:11 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
wrote:

snippity do-dah
|| http://www.cookiehookup.com/album/im...mmit2surf1.jpg
||

Boy...that's a nice looking mountain peak behind you two....where is that?
Looks like some lovely riding material round abouts.

Looks like Mt. Hood (Oregon).

Ken

"Per Elmsäter" wrote in message
...
Claire Petersky wrote:
Why can't you ride your existing bike in the rain?

Personally, I don't want to have a rain bike. I want one, all-purpose,
ride-to-work, ride club rides, ride a century bike. I want this bike
to be as functional in a November downpour as a sunny Sunday in July.
I want it to be able to accomodate a rack and fenders. I want it to
be light, reliable, and to fit.

I'm begining to think the only place I can get such a bike is to go
custom -- why don't they seem to make these bikes?

Maybe you're looking for a touring frame? I know a lot of the Randonneurs in
( Paris-Brest-Paris type of riders) our club go for touring bikes. A little
wider tires, 25-30 mm. Room for fenders and whatever it's called when you
need to fasten luggage on the frame.
The bikes are light enough for them to use on clubrides and century rides.

Exactly right. Just get a touring bike & "accessorize" it. Touring frames have
all the right clearances and fittings, the lower BB makes them ideal in stop &
go urban riding, and beefier rims/spoke counts handle road hazards better. I
don't think there's a better candidate for an "all 'round" bike. I've never
understood the popularity of cross bikes for other than cross riding.

"Preston Crawford" wrote in message
...

But here in Portland, I
guess I've always assumed that was a bad idea. The idea being that the
wheels, gears, etc. would be ground down by the rain and grit as quickly
on a $600 bike as on a $1000 bike. So might as well buy the $600 bike
since its parts would be cheaper to replace.

Fenders go a long way in reducing the amount of grit thrown on the bike
components (and rider). Rim wear is still an issue, but hard pads (KoolStop
salmon colored) really make a huge difference. With those modifications,
riding in the rain doesn't really wear out a bike any faster. Good seals on
hubs, BB's and headsets are helpful (require less frequent repacking). The
modern components, especially those adapted from mountain bikes, are really
much better. I ride all seasons here in Boston, where sanding and salting the
roads in winter can make for pretty harsh conditions. Stuff wears out, but I
get very good service from Shimano cartridge BB's, MTB hubs, and touring or
MTB rims. I don't think it's so much a matter of cheap vs. expensive parts so
much as getting the right parts for a "climate tolerant" bike. Rugged
components are often cheaper, but I think that's only because the MTB stuff is
cheaper (due to volume, I guess) than "road" stuff. It's actually quite easy
these days to spec a really durable bike for low $$.

"Peter Cole" wrote in message
news:z1Z%c.62192$3l3.49981@attbi_s03...
"Per Elmsäter" wrote in message
...
Claire Petersky wrote:
Why can't you ride your existing bike in the rain?

Personally, I don't want to have a rain bike. I want one, all-purpose,
ride-to-work, ride club rides, ride a century bike. I want this bike
to be as functional in a November downpour as a sunny Sunday in July.
I want it to be able to accomodate a rack and fenders. I want it to
be light, reliable, and to fit.

I'm begining to think the only place I can get such a bike is to go
custom -- why don't they seem to make these bikes?

Maybe you're looking for a touring frame?

The bikes are light enough for them to use on clubrides and century
rides.

Exactly right. Just get a touring bike & "accessorize" it. Touring frames
have
all the right clearances and fittings, the lower BB makes them ideal in
stop &
go urban riding, and beefier rims/spoke counts handle road hazards better.
I
don't think there's a better candidate for an "all 'round" bike.

Are my girl friends still going to whoop my ass when we ride a century? They
are kindly now claiming the reason why they are so much faster is that it is
all about the bike.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
nk.net...
"Peter Cole" wrote

Exactly right. Just get a touring bike & "accessorize" it. Touring frames
have
all the right clearances and fittings, the lower BB makes them ideal in
stop &
go urban riding, and beefier rims/spoke counts handle road hazards better.
I
don't think there's a better candidate for an "all 'round" bike.

Are my girl friends still going to whoop my ass when we ride a century? They
are kindly now claiming the reason why they are so much faster is that it is
all about the bike.

They may still whoop your ass, but it won't be because of the bike. A good
touring frame is only slightly heavier, not enough to make a difference in
practice. A few extra ounces on the rims and spokes make a much stronger
wheel. I've heard silly things from people who should know better, like a just
a rear rack will make you 1 mph slower, or that fenders create a lot of drag.
I do fast club rides every week with the same bunch for years now, there are
no secrets, we all know who's faster & by how much. New bikes come & go, I've
yet to see them change anything. I used to switch to a lighter wheel set and
remove my fenders when the weather turned good, now I don't bother; it hasn't
changed my relative speed an iota. Touring bikes are a lot like racing bikes
used to be, before they adopted all kinds of gratuitous stylizations.