#91
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Evaulating a bike
On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 09:25:26 -0600, Paul Cassel
wrote: Having had that experience in one sport, and when reading bicycling magazines I note most of the talk is about equipment (as opposed to skills) I reasoned that the key to this sport is equipment - or it could be. Oh, it matters a little -- there's a big difference between a $50 bike and a $525 bike, just as there was a big difference between your $10 secondhand ski gear and brand-new good stuff. The difference between 525 and 1000 is much smaller. The difference beyond that gets progressively smaller and smaller. Imagine that, on your current $10k motorcycles that are as good as a competitive racing bike in the 80s, the engine and brakes were currently just as good as they were then (or the other way around), and the difference is only in the gearbox, ABS, and all the fancy little gizmos. That's about where bicycles are -- sure, there's a difference between old and new, but it doesn't affect your actual performance all that much. Jasper |
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#92
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Evaulating a bike
On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 09:39:19 -0600, Paul Cassel
wrote: I figured you put your big bucks where the interfaces are so the road interface is the wheels. I also figured the guy who sold the bike to my buddy took off great wheels which is why the ones on it aren't any good. They are true (I trued them). I don't know what makes them bad. The interface isn't the wheels -- it's the tyres. And since those are consumables, you won't be able to spend hundreds on 'em. The tyres and the gearbox are probably the most important bits for performance, plus the brakes for safety. Jasper |
#93
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Evaulating a bike
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#94
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Evaulating a bike
On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 15:50:42 -0600, Paul Cassel
wrote: I plan to and also ride some more to see if I'll stick with it. I know many folks who have spend $5k and up for a new bike which, at its retirement, had 50 miles on it. So find one of those which fits you and buy it for a pittance. Jasper (always the practical one) |
#95
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Evaulating a bike
On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 09:49:15 -0600, Paul Cassel
wrote: You are in line with the general concensus which is why I'm sticking if he'll sell. Also, and this probably sounds stupid, but I've grown to LIKE this bike over the miles "we've" covered. It's like the bike and I have grown to be friends. There is a definite bond there that at least I feel. Now you've got your laugh for a day, but I do have an attachment for this machine. No, this is exactly the reason why many people will spend as much to maintain an old bike (or to buy it some fancy new bit of gear) when they might be cheaper off buying something new sometime. Hell, a '63 'Vette or a Jaguar E-Type are many times more expensive in purchase and maintenance and not nearly as fast as a new Mitsubishi Evo 8 -- but do you laugh at people with an E-type? Jasper |
#96
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Evaulating a bike
On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 16:34:10 -0600, Paul Cassel
wrote: I'm surprised, given that experts throw so much money at this hobby, that nobody has manufactured tubeless tires to be mounted on carbon rims/wheels. It'd be expensive, but given that I've seen folks in eBay offering $800 wheelsets cheaply and only ridden a few miles because they *upgraded* them right off that there is a market. Oh, but they do offer them. Tubeless tyres are doing fairly well in their niche, carbon rims, not so much. As long as you want to brake on your rims, carbon ain't the material for them. But the thing is, tubeless doesn't offer much of an advantage. In car and motorbike tyres, tubes routinely get (got) so hot just from rolling friction that they'd melt on to the rims and the tyres. Bad. Bicycles don't have any real problems using tubes -- the only possible advantage is weight, and the changes to other gear (including the tyre itself) you need to make offset that weight gain. Jasper |
#97
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Evaulating a bike
On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 09:57:54 -0600, Paul Cassel
wrote: If a person can buy a bike for $6,000, the tech may not help him, but if it pumps up his mentals, he WILL do much better on it than he would on his previous ride. So while I can't discuss bikes at your level, I can make an arguement for the new fancy equipment - if it does have a positive mental effect on the rider. Also known as the placebo effect. If I can achieve the same thing by injecting the guy with sugar water (instead of anabolic steroids), it's not a real effect Jasper |
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