buying a bike

wow mark- i dig the fat carbon weave... kinda looks like a scott. how's the ride?

rev you have actually scored upon a pretty sweet frame I fink

what are those cranks?

I heard from a dude who knows stuff that nobody does the fork tube joists anymore like they did on those old schwinns

actually you can see it on the bottom bracket joists as well

i have never irl seen anyone use those eggbeater pedals on a roadbike. Is the cleat (or whatev) chunky??

xposts

I use them on my road bike and the cleat is wee.

Mark can you do a photo so we can see the gruppo?

The cleat is wee, almost exactly the same size and similar shape to an SPD cleat. I use mtb shoes as I am more than happy to add 100g if it means I can actually walk in them.

Jordan, I don't have a lot to compare it to, but the ride is pretty cool. It really is a lot lighter than my Trek - 18lb rather than 24lb - and with quite decent quality wheels it moves beautifully. The difference in climbing a hill is just ridiculous. There is a fundamental difference in dampening between the aluminium Trek and the carbon Focus - less high end jarring, perhaps?

When I rode it home from work the other day (so I've only actually done 7 miles on it so far - would have ridden it today but it was raining, and quite glad I chose the Trek as it started hailing (?!) 10 minutes into my ride) the setup wasn't quite right, so I've tweaked the handlebar angle (and might have to again) and the seat angle (it was giving me lower backache) and might adjust the seat position slightly if backache persists. The biggest difference was when I stood up and, as you do, compensated with my upper body for the pedal pressure and almost toppled over, the bike was so light!

There are a couple of odd things that I will ask about when I give it its 100km service - the freewheel noise isn't uniform, it gets higher and louder for half a rev, then quieter and lower for the other half. Any idea why, and whether this is a problem? I am also slightly concerned that the angle of the rear derailleur wheels is a bit off (pointing inwards, rather than parallel to the chain), perhaps it got banged in transit - it seems to work fine but I haven't yet tested the whole gear range so I don't really know.

The gruppo is Ultegra front mech, Dura-ace rear mech, FSA Gossamer chainset, Dura-ace shifters, cassette and chain unknown. I'll try and do some photos soon.

fork(?) tube...joists(?)

If only I spoke bicyclish.

Here's a cycling glossary that will help with the terminology. It was put together by the late and great bicycle guru Sheldon Brown.

http://sheldonbrown.com/glossary.html

Is a "joist" what we call a stay in the states?

http://science.howstuffworks.com/bicycle1.htm

I say joist because I consider a "joint" to be something where one or both parts are mobile - thus the architectural term (I figure. probably it's just because I'm an idiot)

howstuffworks is a fucking awesome site regardless

Assembling the bits for my girlfriend's new bike has been fun, also it gives me a chance to acquire some new tools. I now have vernier calipers, I have always wanted an excuse to get vernier calipers.

hello bicycle peoples, i wish to obtain bicycle

so for my first real bike, which i would like to evetually use for a 9 mile work commute & transport around the city, do you think i should invest the $$ in a new machine? only reluctant because new bikes be spendy

Where are you elmo?

city of providence, state of rhode island and providence plantations, united states of america

Second hand would be fine if you have got someone who can look it over for you. If there is a second hand bike coop that rehabilitates old bikes then this is probaly the best option (see the excellent Recycle-a-bike in NYC that laurel works for).

Try starting here:

http://www.recycleabike.org/

"works for" is extremely generous -- more like "lets use their tools on the pretext that she's volunteering her time". But yeah, they're awesome!

so for my first real bike, which i would like to eventually use for a 9 mile work commute & transport around the city, do you think i should invest the $$ in a new machine?

On the one hand, 9 miles is a good bit of riding on a daily basis, and you'd want a capable and reliable bike for that. On the other hand, you haven't been riding enough to know what you really want or know how much you would put a nice bike to good use. So I would consider buying used or getting a cheaper new bike with the idea that you can invest in a nicer bike down the road (so to speak). You could also just get a nice bike now.

Do you have any notion of what kind of bike you want? Start with materials: aluminum or steel? Do you want something that can handle trails and light off-road or a true road bike? Do you want a more upright riding position or something more aero? What's your general budget?

Give us more to work with.

i'm not sure what material would be best, as i don't really know the advantages or disadvantages of either. whichever is more durable, i suppose. ideally i would be using the bike around the city, commuting to work on back roads, and weekend recreational use on bike paths etc. i won't be taking it off-road but it should be able to handle the occasional rough patch of pavement and smaller potholes.

i probably won't be commuting on bike every day, at least not right away -- i'll probably have to work up to it, physically -- but my eventual goal would be to cycle to work at least half the time from spring through fall. i don't need a bike to be particularly fast or agile, but i do want it to be durable and reliable.

budget -- I have about $350+ that i can spend right now -- which is basically 5 tanks of gas for me these days, hence the interest -- but I could probably augment that as needed, either by saving up for a little while, or soliciting bike fund donations for my approaching brithday.

i'd like to have a rack so i can port some stuff around, and maybe add fenders, but these are less than essential. it would nice if the bike looked cool, too.

I think a rack is essential for the sort of use you want to do, it makes popping to the store or bringing stuff to and from work easier. (Rack haters - I can get more six packs and potatoes home in panniers) But you can add this later. I think a flat-bar road or tourer would be ideal or a cross bike that will take a rack (like a kona jake, for example).

i'll admit i'm a bit intimidated by bike culture because i know next to nothing about it -- if i'm buying a new bike i just want to have a clear idea of what i am looking for. the employees at the local bike place i'd go to are (allegedly) pretty snotty / haughty to the uninitiated, so i want to have at least a basic vocabulary in place so they don't mark me for a sucker and try to sell me shit i don't need.

These could be some ideas:

http://providencebicycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=575
http://providencebicycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=747
http://providencebicycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=640
http://providencebicycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=640
http://providencebicycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=564

Ed, you are a treat!

i will definitely be stopping by prov bike after work -- the other shop i'm more familiar with is quite a bit higher end / specialty

http://www.thehubprovidence.com/

From their selection take a look at the Jamis Coda, KHS Urban XPress and Surly cross check and long haul trucker (the last two or probably out of your price range but I ride a cross check and it is a great bike).

The Hub carries Jamis, and I've heard a lot of good things about the Jamis Coda line. You should check into that.

I think you should tell the shop guy that you're looking for a hybrid or cyclocross bike. Explain that you want something closer to "road geometry" and you don't want a suspension fork. By saying those two things, I think you'll get more respect and can skip all the granny bikes.

The Bianchi Volpe and Surly Cross Check are both awesome, but totally out of your price range.

yeah! you guys are great

Thinking about buying this thing (will prob be commuting more if/when change job)

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii129/Eunimave/IMG_0089.jpg

It looks pretty fucking sweet imo

It's 56cm, my road bike is 58.

My first decent road bike was a 56cm alu Bianchi thing (rip ;_;) which I just scraped in with wrt height.

bought a bike!! -- or committed to buy, picking it up tomorrow

jamis coda sport

shop owner initially directed me towards the jamis coda and was selling it really hard but of course he didn't have my size / could get more -- so i went for the coda sport. shop owner is including a rack & a helmet to help offset the price diff.

excited

That's a great bike, and Jamis is a nifty company. Congrats!

Lovely! Is it this one:

http://capitolhillbikes.com/images/library/large/jamis_coda_sport_08_m.jpg

I love the blue.

that is it!

I might reverse my stem tonight for that important 1/2 inch reduction in reach. I have basically decided my bike is a wee bit too big for me but I don't really want to have to buy a new stem.

So I reversed my stem, apparently successfully, but I am now convinced there is some play in my headset that wasn't there before. Possible? Everything seems appropriately tightened, and my bike didn't fall apart when I rode in today, but I'm panicking about every little noise and vibration right now. I guess it'll have its 100-mile service in the next week or two so they can tell me if anything's wrong.

do you get any knocking or play if you hold the front brake tight and gently rock the bike back and forth?

A tiny bit, if I remember rightly. Should a headset be absolutely rigid (while still turning, obviously)? I also haven't figured out how much of the noise/rattling is the cable hitting the tubes - carbon is more echoey than aluminium, it seems.

it should be rigid, yeah. but the above test is not foolproof, it's possible the play is in the brakes not the headset. you did tighten the top cap and then the stem bolts, right?

I have only just realised what you mean by reversing the stem, for some reason I thought seat post. I am unsure as to whether this is that great an idea you will have changed the loading on the fork, steerer, headset and head tube quite dramatically. I'd worry more on a carbon frame as well as they are optimised for certain loadings

It seems to be a standard thing to do, Ed - certainly loads of people seem to recommend it as a simple way of changing your riding position and, indeed, my stem actually has "+/- 6 degrees" written on it - I am pretty sure it's part of the selling point.

I might undo the various bolts and re-tighten them, see if it makes a difference.

Ah, I understand further now, I though you had flipped it as in running it backwards over the cross bar.

YOu should tighten the bolt on the headset cap first I think, before doing the ones on the steerer clamp.

Wow, backwards would be a radically different riding position!

Yeah, I might give it another go. I have also convinced myself that the stem is now a 1/10th of a degree off centre, so that needs sorting too! I definitely prefer the position now - more sportive than race :)

if you have an expander in yr steerer (for carbon steerer) instead of a starnut, its a fussy adjustment. you need to load topcap enough to eliminate play, but the bars should turn freely and throughout range. then gradually tighten the stem bolts, alternating bolts. if you have a carbon steerer, its also fussy because the steerer may deform a bit. for this reason, you sometimes see guys with a spacer on top of the stem. this allows the stem to "grip" lower on the steerer, less deformation. stems in the past 5 years are better designed and its not such an issue. on my bike tho, i HAVE to have this arrangement, my steerer is just too soft.

one of my mates insisted on removing the topcap/expander wedge from his steerer after tightening stem to save 20g.

I have I think 5 spacers, then stem, the 2 spaces, then topcap. I hope I haven't deformed my steerer! I have to admit I have no idea what a starnut or an expander is.

Take off the topcap and look down the steerer and all will be revealed.

oh, you wont permanently deform it. it just flexes a bit. dont worry.

if you take off the cap and a plug comes with it, its an expander. if its just a bolt, then as ed says you can look into the steerer and see a "star-fangled nut" wedged up in there. 'course, after you tighten the stem, the cap and the wedge/expander serve no real function.