Help buying a new bike

On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 10:07:43 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
wrote:


::
:: Last June I bought a Trek 7100 for around $300. I use it for
:: commuting from Flushing to Chelsea three or four times a week. Right
:: through the winter. 12.2 miles each way. Maybe 3000 miles so far?
:: More?
::
:: I leave it outside at work so I didn't want to buy something that
:: would really **** me off if it got stolen. I've had very few problems
:: with the bike. I also prefer flat handlebars because being hunched
:: over while biking through the city is not my idea of a good time.

Flat handlebars don't keep you from being hunched over.....think about it.

::

No, I like the flat handle bars (as opposed to the road kind that bend
down) because I don't have to hunch over. Having to look up to keep an
eye on traffic is a neck killer. Great if you're just flying down the
open road.

dgk wrote:
:: On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 10:07:43 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
:: wrote:
::
::
:::::
::::: Last June I bought a Trek 7100 for around $300. I use it for
::::: commuting from Flushing to Chelsea three or four times a week.
::::: Right through the winter. 12.2 miles each way. Maybe 3000 miles
::::: so far? More?
:::::
::::: I leave it outside at work so I didn't want to buy something that
::::: would really **** me off if it got stolen. I've had very few
::::: problems with the bike. I also prefer flat handlebars because
::::: being hunched over while biking through the city is not my idea
::::: of a good time.
:::
::: Flat handlebars don't keep you from being hunched over.....think
::: about it.
:::
:::::
::
:: No, I like the flat handle bars (as opposed to the road kind that
:: bend down) because I don't have to hunch over. Having to look up to
:: keep an eye on traffic is a neck killer. Great if you're just flying
:: down the open road.

Think about it....the ones that bend down (the road kind)...you don't have
to put your hands in the drops...just put them on the top of the bar or on
the hoods above the shifter/brakes levels...bottom line, you can adjust the
handlebar height to suit your flexibility. just because you have drops
doesn't mean you must use them....I use mine only rarely. The flat bars
actually give you fewer options unless you add bar ends...

dgk wrote:
I also prefer flat handlebars because being hunched
over while biking through the city is not my idea of a good time.

As if those were the only true alternatives.

Bike companies are cashing in on this myth that "flat bars = upright,
drop bars = hunched over." Yet on my road bikes, the tops of the bars
are higher, relative to the saddle, than on many mountain bikes with
flat bars.

The height of the bars is a product of how the bike is set up, not of
the type of bars. With the tops of your drop bars at saddle height you
can sit upright and relax, you can lean forward and ride on the hoods
for cranking out the miles, you can get into the drops for beating
headwinds.

Misconceptions about drop bars lead buyers away from the most versatile
bikes on the market -- touring bikes, cyclocross bikes, and similar
"all-around" designs -- and bike companies don't mind because flat-bar
bikes are cheaper to make, while bike shops benefit from their being
easier to fit and set up. They're an easier sell to the "returning
cyclist" market.

I commute 26 miles rt in and out of downtown Philadelphia, and while
I've done it on a flat-bar bike I vastly prefer my drop-bar bikes.
There's no difference in terms of seeing and being seen, but the drop
bars are narrower (easier to fit through narrow spaces, like car and
curb), the multiple grip positions eliminate hand fatigue, and being
able to get in t an aero position on a certain bridge where the wind
seems to always be 30 mph into my face is very welcome.

Plus, the same bikes are ever more ideal when I do long rural rides on
the weekends.

RichC






I'm thinking now that I might want a better one but this one is doing
ok. Perhaps I'll just upgrade the parts. I'm going to need new wheels
soon. I seem to be wearing grooves in the rim from the brakes.

On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 10:41:02 -0400, dgk
wrote:

Flat handlebars don't keep you from being hunched over.....think about it.

::

No, I like the flat handle bars (as opposed to the road kind that bend
down) because I don't have to hunch over. Having to look up to keep an
eye on traffic is a neck killer. Great if you're just flying down the
open road.

Hey man, great to hear about you going clipless.

Also wrt to 'flat handle bars', I think you're totally, er wron...uh,
confused.

When I'm holding my drop bars on the tops (close to the stem) I'm sitting
up almost more than when I was riding my hybrid. Think about it:

--/-------|--------\-- ----hands on a typical flat bar bike - spaced far
apart. (straight line is the stem). In addition your wrists may be canted
outward too much. Think of the regular keyboard vs the ergo-keyboard.

./,,,|,,,\, ---hands on 'flats' of road bike - much closer together.
( )

That means in theory, I'm sitting very tall (almost uncomfortably so) in
that position on my roadbike. (think of close hands pushups, versus wide
hands pushups) I rarely use this hands on top position, though, like you,
at first I wanted to sit upright.

You just need to get fitted on a road bike with a slightly longer 'stem'.
However maybe it's not your 'time' to come to this realization. That's ok,
just keep it in mind down the road, haha, so to speak.

Even on the 'hoods', with a slight bend in my arms, I'm sitting much too
'high' for my liking and I can see perfectly. However by bending my arms
more (making the forearms more parallel to the ground) I can easily adjust
my the angle and thus my height.

Not trying to antagonise you, just being an enthusiastic supporter of the
many good features in having drop bars.

Now the solution may -not- be to go have the LBS cut your straight bar h/b
shorter! If you do that you'll be sitting more upright, but you'll probably
find the bike is now too short! g

jj

jj wrote in message ...

Not trying to antagonise you, just being an enthusiastic supporter of the
many good features in having drop bars.

At the risk of breaching netiquette, I will have to add "me too". I am
pretty much in the "sit-up-and-beg" position on my new bike when my hands
are on the tops of the drop bars. Most of the time I'm with my hands on the
hoods, which is nice and comfy, not "hunched". I'm typically only in the
drops on descents, or where I really need good leverage on the brakes.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referr*al/Cpetersky

In article ,
"Roger Zoul" wrote:

snip

Think about it....the ones that bend down (the road kind)...you don't have
to put your hands in the drops...just put them on the top of the bar or on
the hoods above the shifter/brakes levels...bottom line, you can adjust the
handlebar height to suit your flexibility. just because you have drops
doesn't mean you must use them....I use mine only rarely. The flat bars
actually give you fewer options unless you add bar ends...

I own bikes with both flat bars and drop bars.

As in anything bicycle, FIT, FIT, FIT is most important

I have bar ends on the flatbar and Shimano flatbar shifters for a
52-39-30 front set-up. The bars are near 3 1/2 in. below saddle height.

My drop bar bike's bars are 5 inches below saddle height ( for the tops )

Both bikes are very comfortable for me at least.

I am an olde farte and I am as fast as "a slug on a fresh lettuce leaf".
I rode the flatbar bike coast to coast and pulled a trailer too.

Read Rogers last two sentences several times.

Ride what you like!


HAND

On 13 Jun 2005 07:53:12 -0700, "rdclark" wrote:

Bike companies are cashing in on this myth that "flat bars = upright,
drop bars = hunched over." Yet on my road bikes, the tops of the bars
are higher, relative to the saddle, than on many mountain bikes with
flat bars.

When I was in the LBS weekend before last I looked at the bikes that were
in for repair and at all the bikes for sale.

Hundreds of straight bar bikes with hyoouge knobby tires and low seats in
the repair area. Hundreds of shiny, new straight bar and fully-suspended
bikes with hyoouge knobbies on the tires.

I started thinking - dayum, there's gotta be a community of mutants that
are riding these things. Bikes weighing 35lbs, the resistance of knobby
tires, and cheapo-full-suspension rigs that are bottoming out on jumps.

There's no way I'd have the horsepower to ride those bikes - just looking
at the knobby tires and imagining riding those on the street or even packed
dirt roads - trying to imagine riding at even 15mph was making me feel
tired. LOL.

I keep expecting to see a group of gigantic-thighed "Gimli"s with 35"
quads, and short stubby bodies doing a group ride on those in the hills
around here, lol.

jj

jj wrote:
:: On 13 Jun 2005 07:53:12 -0700, "rdclark"
:: wrote:
::
::: Bike companies are cashing in on this myth that "flat bars =
::: upright, drop bars = hunched over." Yet on my road bikes, the tops
::: of the bars are higher, relative to the saddle, than on many
::: mountain bikes with flat bars.
::
:: When I was in the LBS weekend before last I looked at the bikes that
:: were in for repair and at all the bikes for sale.
::
:: Hundreds of straight bar bikes with hyoouge knobby tires and low
:: seats in the repair area. Hundreds of shiny, new straight bar and
:: fully-suspended bikes with hyoouge knobbies on the tires.
::
:: I started thinking - dayum, there's gotta be a community of mutants
:: that are riding these things. Bikes weighing 35lbs, the resistance
:: of knobby tires, and cheapo-full-suspension rigs that are bottoming
:: out on jumps.

On university campuses, students ride those kinds of bike all over....and
seeing them do it makes me want to do it too.

::
:: There's no way I'd have the horsepower to ride those bikes - just
:: looking at the knobby tires and imagining riding those on the street
:: or even packed dirt roads - trying to imagine riding at even 15mph
:: was making me feel tired. LOL.

I think it may be a way to get some good exercise without riding far and
long!

::
:: I keep expecting to see a group of gigantic-thighed "Gimli"s with 35"
:: quads, and short stubby bodies doing a group ride on those in the
:: hills around here, lol.

Plenty of hills around here. I see little girls (as in of the 90 lb
variety) flying up the hills...none have big thighs, but they are quite
shapely!

Roger Zoul wrote:
jj wrote:
:: I started thinking - dayum, there's gotta be a community of mutants
:: that are riding these things. Bikes weighing 35lbs, the resistance
:: of knobby tires, and cheapo-full-suspension rigs that are bottoming
:: out on jumps.
[...]
:: I keep expecting to see a group of gigantic-thighed "Gimli"s with 35"
:: quads, and short stubby bodies doing a group ride on those in the
:: hills around here, lol.

Plenty of hills around here. I see little girls (as in of the 90 lb
variety) flying up the hills...none have big thighs, but they are quite
shapely!

I spend part of the year in Hong Kong, and I'm familiar with being
passed on climbs by sub-100-lb women. The ones that have done this
weren't riding 35 lb bikes, however.

Riding a bike which weighs more than a third of your body weight is
a pretty significant penalty when climbing.

Dennis Ferguson

On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 12:20:38 -0400, "Roger Zoul"
wrote:

:: I started thinking - dayum, there's gotta be a community of mutants
:: that are riding these things. Bikes weighing 35lbs, the resistance
:: of knobby tires, and cheapo-full-suspension rigs that are bottoming
:: out on jumps.

On university campuses, students ride those kinds of bike all over....and
seeing them do it makes me want to do it too.

You're twisted. g

:: There's no way I'd have the horsepower to ride those bikes - just
:: looking at the knobby tires and imagining riding those on the street
:: or even packed dirt roads - trying to imagine riding at even 15mph
:: was making me feel tired. LOL.

I think it may be a way to get some good exercise without riding far and
long!

Exercise? For what? Did you even -read- Andy Coggin's paper. (teasing ya).

:: I keep expecting to see a group of gigantic-thighed "Gimli"s with 35"
:: quads, and short stubby bodies doing a group ride on those in the
:: hills around here, lol.

Plenty of hills around here. I see little girls (as in of the 90 lb
variety) flying up the hills...none have big thighs, but they are quite
shapely!

Did I mention you're twisted(*)?

Sadly, I was hoping to make you laugh, but since you're being Mister
Analytical, I must have failed miserably, lol.

jj
(*)(but in a good way...I think)