How Do These Airborne Specs Look?

In article .com,
says...
-
See, this is what I don't understand...ALL bikes are inherently
uncomfortable to me -- it's just a terrible position; I'm sure I've got
a lot of nerve damage in the crotch already! =( And my back is ALWAYS
worse off after extended riding. I take it like a running injury --
can't be eliminated, even if minimized.

You really should get sized for a good fit. It's worth paying for the service.
You will be a much happier rider.
------------------
Alex

In article .com,
says...

LOL -- actually, I simply have no idea what it means to be "fit to a
bike"...what, they take out the tape measure like at the tailor's?

Yes. That's exactly it.

Overly padded bike saddles are generally not
comfortable on longer rides. Another thing, two brands of bike with
the same size listing, may be very different. Geometry and where they
measure, affects this.

Wow, this is worse than buying clothes and shoes!

No, it's very similar. Just like clothes, it is best to try it on and see
how it fits when you use it.

33, very fit (cardio and anaerobic), been riding since like 13, commute
two hours four days a week and/or ride for six hours on the weekend
exploring the NYC area. I don't wear padded shorts.

Padded shorts would help in the comfort area. Get a decent pair.

Sorry, biking alway's been a "pick-up-and-go" affair for me...never
imagined it's can be such a science for amateurs!

A little effort up front will pay off for a long time afterwards. It is not
really that complicated.
-----------------
Alex

I submit that on or about 22 Jul 2005 20:56:55 -0700, the person known
to the court as "NYC XYZ" made a statement
s.com in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

As for the seat, I've never known a bike seat to be "comfortable," so
anything the least bit ergonomic gets my attention.

I have.

http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/web/...optima_stinger

But I have also known saddles to be comfortable (admittedly I rarely
ride more than 100 miles in a day). The Brooks B17N works for me.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote in message
...
I submit that on or about 22 Jul 2005 20:56:55 -0700, the person known
to the court as "NYC XYZ" made a statement
s.com in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

As for the seat, I've never known a bike seat to be "comfortable," so
anything the least bit ergonomic gets my attention.

I have.

http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/web/...optima_stinger

But I have also known saddles to be comfortable (admittedly I rarely
ride more than 100 miles in a day). The Brooks B17N works for me.

Guy

The Terry's Liberator TiLite on Gino saw me trundle a fully loaded touring
bike around Bordeaux last summer in comfort.

Cheers, helen s

In article ,
"Gooserider" wrote:

To be fair, Airborne does appear to have a pretty detailed online fit
program. Whether a buyer will end up with a racer-type fit or a real
world comfortable fit is unclear, but they do measure inseam, torso
length, and arm extension.

One of my most comfortable bikes is a "racer type fit." I've ridden up
to 125 miles in a day on it perfectly happily. Another really
comfortable bike is a Rivendell set up for brevets. Also really
comfortable.

IME there is not one perfect fit.

"Tim McNamara" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Gooserider" wrote:

To be fair, Airborne does appear to have a pretty detailed online fit
program. Whether a buyer will end up with a racer-type fit or a real
world comfortable fit is unclear, but they do measure inseam, torso
length, and arm extension.

One of my most comfortable bikes is a "racer type fit." I've ridden up
to 125 miles in a day on it perfectly happily. Another really
comfortable bike is a Rivendell set up for brevets. Also really
comfortable.

IME there is not one perfect fit.

I'm very sensitive to bearing too much weight on my hands, so I need a more
Rivendellish fit. The higher the bars the better for me. :-)

In article ,
"Gooserider" writes:

"Tim McNamara" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Gooserider" wrote:

To be fair, Airborne does appear to have a pretty detailed online fit
program. Whether a buyer will end up with a racer-type fit or a real
world comfortable fit is unclear, but they do measure inseam, torso
length, and arm extension.

One of my most comfortable bikes is a "racer type fit." I've ridden up
to 125 miles in a day on it perfectly happily. Another really
comfortable bike is a Rivendell set up for brevets. Also really
comfortable.

IME there is not one perfect fit.

I'm very sensitive to bearing too much weight on my hands, so I need a more
Rivendellish fit. The higher the bars the better for me. :-)

I was just gawking at the picture of Sheldon Brown's Thorn Raven,
c/w *two* (not one, but *two*) handlebars. Interesting ...

I don't have the link handy (I'm offline as I write this) but
if you'd like to take a look, just Google on:
Sheldon Brown Thorn Raven
and the URL should be there.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

David Damerell wrote:

Quoting Mark Hickey :
David Damerell wrote:
You cannot have more braking than that, so the theoretical brake "power"
(which tandems find out, with surprising results) is quite irrelevant.
An interesting (to me, at least...) data point is that I designed my
new tandem around regular road caliper brakes, never having been
really happy with the performance of canti brakes on my previous
tandem.

Certainly plain ordinary calipers can work just fine, but did you try
fiddling with the straddle cable? I've got it as high as will just permit
me to bottom out the lever (higher, and you're just getting lower
mechanical advantage; lower, and the input force is lower, as I'm sure you
know) with maximum grip, and the front brake is certainly good enough to
produce an alarming DOING sensation from the front fork...

I've set up the rear canti brake on my old Santana many times, looking
for adequate braking. As you mention, the "sweet spot" is with the
straddle low enough to produce good mechanical advantage, but not TOO
low. Going to the DiaCompe 287 T (?) lever (slightly longer pull)
helped a bit, but the real improvement came with a set of solid
straddles. There's just not enough extra pull in a typical road brake
lever to overcome even a little straddle "give".

But even so, the caliper brakes I'm running now (Campy Centaur dual
pivots) are head and shoulders better than I ever got the cantis...

[The back brake's a Suntour self-energiser, so I've no idea how well a
conventional canti works on a tandem.]

That's probably the one place that self-energizing brake makes sense
(since the back end of a tandem never gets TOO light under braking -
I've yet to see anyone do a nose wheelie on one). ;-)

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

NYC XYZ wrote:
Gooserider wrote:


Ah, the wonders of free trade. How many American Ti fabricators could be
employed if those bikes were made here?

I imagine the American companies do high-end Ti work -- M1 Abrams Main
Battle Tanks, for example.


Some of the best ti welding is from the former Sovietr Union. They were
the only welders skilled enough to do a double walled titanium hulled
sub, The Alpha, for instance.

one impressive sell job-the lemond big sky-see the photo on the web
bicycle mag in "the new yorker goes touring" sez-'wow'-so off to the
photo and itsa knock out. ceptin' those wheels over the dirt roads of
east whaooo?
then i read in the paper whereas trek welds lemonds.
but the lead up and photo is outasight