MR: Bad and Good

Ride-A-Lot wrote:
The good:

I'm in Colorado!


What else do you need to dwell upon?

JD

"Shawn" sdotherecurry@bresnannextdotnet wrote in message
. ..
Mark Hickey wrote:
Ride-A-Lot wrote:


Mark Hickey wrote:


The other thing to think about - if you're riding more than a few
miles a day, you'll want a purpose-built bike for the job. It could
still be a MTB (or not...) but should have tires and gearing
appropriate for the road. And a rack.

I tried out the ride from my apartment to the office today. It took me
about 12 minutes door-to-door. It was about 4 miles because I had to
make a bunch of detours to stay off of the busy streets. It wasn't
smooth, either. The road bike will not last very long on those streets
so I'll either have to use an MTB (slow) or get a cross bike (leaning
towards).


If "roads" includes jeep trails, maybe. If it's paved roads (even if
paved roads in not-so-great condition) a road bike would "last" just
fine, though you would probably need to run tires a bit fatter than
the 23mm "boy racer" size. The current short-reach caliper brakes
limit the size of tire to 25 or 28mm, but this should get you through
anything that would be categorized as a "road". I've done some really
rough, rocky trails on a true road bike with 23mm 120psi tires (not
that I'd want to commute that way every day).

Oh, and if you're doing 4 miles on a MTB through the twists and turns
on "rough" urban/suburban roads in 12 minutes, you should be racing
road bikes anyway. ;-)

That is a brisk pace isn't it? 20 mph down flat wind-less road on a road
bike is no big thing for a fit rider, but in town on a mountain bike...


Shawn

maybe the speedo is off.....and I don't mean his shorts!

I'd be hardpressed to maintain 20mph for four miles with stoplights and
traffic though I've done it on the highway running 2.4 Mutanoraptors at 40
psi, quite the workout.

Gary (maybe my speedo's are off?)

Shawn wrote:
Mark Hickey wrote:

Oh, and if you're doing 4 miles on a MTB through the twists and turns
on "rough" urban/suburban roads in 12 minutes, you should be racing
road bikes anyway. ;-)

That is a brisk pace isn't it? 20 mph down flat wind-less road on a
road bike is no big thing for a fit rider, but in town on a mountain
bike...


Shawn

I can easily do 20 flat out on the road bike. I'll have to give it a
try with the MTB.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

JD wrote:
Ride-A-Lot wrote:
The good:

I'm in Colorado!


What else do you need to dwell upon?

JD


Nodda!



--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot wrote:

Shawn wrote:
Mark Hickey wrote:

Oh, and if you're doing 4 miles on a MTB through the twists and turns
on "rough" urban/suburban roads in 12 minutes, you should be racing
road bikes anyway. ;-)

That is a brisk pace isn't it? 20 mph down flat wind-less road on a
road bike is no big thing for a fit rider, but in town on a mountain
bike...

I can easily do 20 flat out on the road bike. I'll have to give it a
try with the MTB.

Doing 20mph at any given point in time isn't a big deal for an awful
lot of riders. AVERAGING 20mph through stoplights, stop signs,
through and around cars and pedestrians, twisting and turning through
residential and urban streets IS pretty tough.

I used to have a 15 mile urban ride - I once counted the stoplights
and stop signs - it was about 30 total (not that I came to a complete,
put a foot down stop at each of them). I think the best time I ever
did was a 41:30 something, which would have been an average of about
21.7mph (~35km/h), but that was on a road bike without panniers,
without a wind penalty (it was essentially a C-shaped course, so a
strong wind wouldn't help much no matter which way it was blowing),
and most importantly, catching all the lights right.

But it's not something I'd want to have to do to make it to work on
time every morning... ;-)

I'd say my average speed for urban riding on an MTB with panniers
(total of about 15 pounds, with 1.75" semi-slicks) would be in the
17-18mph (27-29km/h) range... and even at that speed no one's catching
me, so I'm guessing a true 20mph average would really stand out.

Note: my "average speeds" are based on total trip time, NOT "rolling
time" like some cycling computers calculate, which is kinda the point.
Sitting at a stoplight for 30 seconds will drop your average speed
like a rock.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Mark Hickey wrote:
Ride-A-Lot wrote:

Shawn wrote:
Mark Hickey wrote:
Oh, and if you're doing 4 miles on a MTB through the twists and turns
on "rough" urban/suburban roads in 12 minutes, you should be racing
road bikes anyway. ;-)
That is a brisk pace isn't it? 20 mph down flat wind-less road on a
road bike is no big thing for a fit rider, but in town on a mountain
bike...
I can easily do 20 flat out on the road bike. I'll have to give it a
try with the MTB.

Doing 20mph at any given point in time isn't a big deal for an awful
lot of riders. AVERAGING 20mph through stoplights, stop signs,
through and around cars and pedestrians, twisting and turning through
residential and urban streets IS pretty tough.

I used to have a 15 mile urban ride - I once counted the stoplights
and stop signs - it was about 30 total (not that I came to a complete,
put a foot down stop at each of them). I think the best time I ever
did was a 41:30 something, which would have been an average of about
21.7mph (~35km/h), but that was on a road bike without panniers,
without a wind penalty (it was essentially a C-shaped course, so a
strong wind wouldn't help much no matter which way it was blowing),
and most importantly, catching all the lights right.

But it's not something I'd want to have to do to make it to work on
time every morning... ;-)

I'd say my average speed for urban riding on an MTB with panniers
(total of about 15 pounds, with 1.75" semi-slicks) would be in the
17-18mph (27-29km/h) range... and even at that speed no one's catching
me, so I'm guessing a true 20mph average would really stand out.

Note: my "average speeds" are based on total trip time, NOT "rolling
time" like some cycling computers calculate, which is kinda the point.
Sitting at a stoplight for 30 seconds will drop your average speed
like a rock.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

OK. I tried again today after coming home from my dirt ride. I did it
on the MTB this time following the bike routes set by Denver gubment.
It was 2.75 miles door to door. Four stoplights and six stop signs. I
made it in 12 minutes going and 15 minutes returning (two climbs). Using
Panaracer 2.1 tires

I still think a cross would be perfect. I don't want to have to change
the tires out on my road bike all the time and there are two wide grassy
areas that I cross over.



--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot wrote:

OK. I tried again today after coming home from my dirt ride. I did it
on the MTB this time following the bike routes set by Denver gubment.
It was 2.75 miles door to door. Four stoplights and six stop signs. I
made it in 12 minutes going and 15 minutes returning (two climbs). Using
Panaracer 2.1 tires

That sounds very reasonable. It would obviously be faster with slicks
(and quieter, too).

I still think a cross would be perfect. I don't want to have to change
the tires out on my road bike all the time and there are two wide grassy
areas that I cross over.

Absolutely - if I could only have one bike (shuuuuudddder) it would be
a 'cross. They're pretty much the ultimate pizza combo of the bike
world - they'll do pretty much anything a "real road bike" will, but
are happy carrying loads or riding fairly technical trails (though you
have to get used to funny looks when you pass MTBers on their favorite
"tough trails"). ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

On Thu, 22 Jun 2006 23:21:16 -0400, Ride-A-Lot wrote:

My oldest dog, Schnapps passed away today. I knew he wasn't going to make
it to Colorado and so I said my good-byes before I left. It doesn't make
it any better, but I knew he was sick and expected it, just not this soon.

Sorry about your pup, RAL.

Constantly arguing with my Dad (I brought him along for company). I just
think he's being negative because he doesn't want us to move away.
:P!!!!!!

(Yeh, I can't touch but I'm not blind)

"Ah'll stop lookin the day they throw 6 feet of dirt in mah face!"

gab