This bike shouldn't be slow

Commuting to work regularly for about a year now on my Schwinn Crisscross
(hybrid); it's worked fine for me, really well actually. I make it to work
in about 30 minutes - 7-8 miles depending on my route. I think I'm in
pretty good shape. Recently, a coworker came across an old Peugeot 12 speed
(I think a PG10) with 501 Reynolds tubing and gave it to me. The bike was
in the police impound forever supposedly and although it was covered in a
thick layer of dust, after cleaning it up, the gears & brakes worked
beautifully - no adjusting needed. I had to replace the tires that
dry-rotted. I had the wheels trued at the LBS.

It is very lightweight compared to the Schwinn and so I thought "man, I'm
gonna FLY on this bike." Well, I was wrong. I rode it once on a 15 miler
from my house to the lake and it was awful. Just sluggish and I was truly
struggling. It was windy that day and I attributed the ride that was
supposed to be fun and wasn't to that (although it didn't make sense at the
time that it was rough both ways). A couple of days later I suited up and
decided to make the 7 mile commute to work on it. "I'm gonna FLY!" Again,
just awful. I was huffing the entire way - 48 minutes, what the ?? At one
point I thought I was going to have to get off and walk the bike. What is
the deal!? It does not coast very far when I stop pedalling, hardly at all
compared to my Schwinn. I tossed it off as a couple of bad riding days and
went back to the Schwinn...nope, no problem. I tried it one more time, same
thing.

I've never owned more than one bike at a time. Is it just me adjusting to a
new bike or is there a mechanical problem underlying this? The brake pads
are not rubbing, the chain looks fine. What should I be looking for!?

Cheers!
Duke

On Fri, 01 Apr 2005 09:09:47 -0600, Dukester wrote:


decided to make the 7 mile commute to work on it. "I'm gonna FLY!" Again,
just awful. I was huffing the entire way - 48 minutes, what the ?? At one
point I thought I was going to have to get off and walk the bike. What is
the deal!? It does not coast very far when I stop pedalling, hardly at all
compared to my Schwinn. I tossed it off as a couple of bad riding days and
went back to the Schwinn...nope, no problem. I tried it one more time, same
thing.

I've never owned more than one bike at a time. Is it just me adjusting to a
new bike or is there a mechanical problem underlying this? The brake pads
are not rubbing, the chain looks fine. What should I be looking for!?

When you pick the bike up and spin a wheel with your hand, what happens?
Does the wheel quickly stop? If so, then the bearings are all gummed up
and need re-packing. But I can't imagine the guy at the LBS would not
point that out to you. How about the cranks; do they rotate freely? If
not, same thing.

A bike that has been sitting for years would need to have all the bearings
re-packed. Grease does not evaporate away quickly, but eventually it will
become a hard blob.

Are you sure nothing is rubbing? Those old brakes tend to have a habit of
being inconsistent. Sometimes they will center properly, and other times
they won't.


--

David L. Johnson

__o | You will say Christ saith this and the apostles say this; but
_`\(,_ | what canst thou say? -- George Fox.
(_)/ (_) |

Dukester wrote:
Commuting to work regularly for about a year now on my Schwinn Crisscross
(hybrid); it's worked fine for me, really well actually. I make it to work
in about 30 minutes - 7-8 miles depending on my route. I think I'm in
pretty good shape. Recently, a coworker came across an old Peugeot 12 speed
(I think a PG10) with 501 Reynolds tubing and gave it to me. The bike was
in the police impound forever supposedly and although it was covered in a
thick layer of dust, after cleaning it up, the gears & brakes worked
beautifully - no adjusting needed. I had to replace the tires that
dry-rotted. I had the wheels trued at the LBS.

It is very lightweight compared to the Schwinn and so I thought "man, I'm
gonna FLY on this bike." Well, I was wrong. I rode it once on a 15 miler
from my house to the lake and it was awful. Just sluggish and I was truly
struggling. It was windy that day and I attributed the ride that was
supposed to be fun and wasn't to that (although it didn't make sense at the
time that it was rough both ways). A couple of days later I suited up and
decided to make the 7 mile commute to work on it. "I'm gonna FLY!" Again,
just awful. I was huffing the entire way - 48 minutes, what the ?? At one
point I thought I was going to have to get off and walk the bike. What is
the deal!? It does not coast very far when I stop pedalling, hardly at all
compared to my Schwinn. I tossed it off as a couple of bad riding days and
went back to the Schwinn...nope, no problem. I tried it one more time, same
thing.

I would say not coasting very far is a clue, something is not running
smooth, flip the bike over or mount it in a stand, and try hand turning
the wheels, to see if they are running smooth, maybe a bad or dry
bearing or hub......

W

Dukester wrote:
Commuting to work regularly for about a year now on my Schwinn
Crisscross (hybrid); it's worked fine for me, really well actually.
I make it to work in about 30 minutes - 7-8 miles depending on my
route. I think I'm in pretty good shape. Recently, a coworker came
across an old Peugeot 12 speed (I think a PG10) with 501 Reynolds
tubing and gave it to me. The bike was in the police impound forever
supposedly and although it was covered in a thick layer of dust,
after cleaning it up, the gears & brakes worked beautifully - no
adjusting needed. I had to replace the tires that dry-rotted. I had
the wheels trued at the LBS.

It is very lightweight compared to the Schwinn and so I thought "man,
I'm gonna FLY on this bike." Well, I was wrong. I rode it once on a
15 miler from my house to the lake and it was awful. Just sluggish
and I was truly struggling. It was windy that day and I attributed
the ride that was supposed to be fun and wasn't to that (although it
didn't make sense at the time that it was rough both ways). A couple
of days later I suited up and decided to make the 7 mile commute to
work on it. "I'm gonna FLY!" Again, just awful. I was huffing the
entire way - 48 minutes, what the ?? At one point I thought I was
going to have to get off and walk the bike. What is the deal!? It
does not coast very far when I stop pedalling, hardly at all compared
to my Schwinn. I tossed it off as a couple of bad riding days and
went back to the Schwinn...nope, no problem. I tried it one more
time, same thing.

I've never owned more than one bike at a time. Is it just me
adjusting to a new bike or is there a mechanical problem underlying
this? The brake pads are not rubbing, the chain looks fine. What
should I be looking for!?

Bad hub, bub.

(Fun to say; sad to ride.)

(Looks good; feels bad.)

Yeah, I would guess one or both of the hubs are shot. While you're at
it, you should probably check the bottom bracket and the cranks and
pedals, etc.

-Bill H.

Dukester wrote:
I rode it once on a 15 miler from my house to the lake and it was
awful.
Just sluggish and I was truly struggling.

In addition to what the others have said regarding hubs, note that
perception can really fool you. Are both bikes equipped with
speedometers or are you otherwise carefully tracking your time vs
distance?

RFM

"Fritz M" wrote: (clip) note that perception can really fool you. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Very good point. A friend of mine recently upgraded to a better wood lathe.
He complained that the new lathe lacked power--turned out that it was
quieter.

Fritz M wrote:
Dukester wrote:
I rode it once on a 15 miler from my house to the lake and it was
awful. Just sluggish and I was truly struggling.

In addition to what the others have said regarding hubs, note that
perception can really fool you. Are both bikes equipped with
speedometers or are you otherwise carefully tracking your time vs
distance?

RFM

Note OP's commute times. 30 minutes on hybrid vs 48 minutes on Peugeot.
That seems pretty empirical to me. I'd go with hub/bb/brake diagnosis
first.

Tom

On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 09:09:47 -0600, Dukester wrote:

It is very lightweight compared to the Schwinn and so I thought "man, I'm
gonna FLY on this bike." Well, I was wrong.

Course it's slower - it's much cheaper :-)

--
bpo gallery at http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/mvw1/bpo

"Dukester" wrote in
:

Recently, a coworker came across an old Peugeot 12 speed (I
think a PG10) with 501 Reynolds tubing and gave it to me.


(brevity snips)

I've never owned more than one bike at a time. Is it just me
adjusting to a new bike or is there a mechanical problem
underlying this? The brake pads are not rubbing, the chain
looks fine. What should I be looking for!?

Cheers!
Duke

Others have covered hubs etc...

Does the Pugeot fit? You're used to the Schwinn. That's what
feels right to you. A rough way to gauge differences in
dimensions would be to stand both bikes side by side. Look at
wheel base, reach, and stand over height. Try to replicate your
old setup on the new bike as much as possible. Same reach, same
saddle height. Saddle height and attitude are easiest to tweak.
If reach is the problem then you can modify it with a different
stem. Stem length and angle are the attributes you want to pay
attention to. Crank length can also have a noticable effect on
ride. French parts can be a pain to find in the USA, UK may be
better.

Good luck,
Mike

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