Do You Road Bike?

[MrCrash]

Some photos of my roadbike ride this morning. Just under 13 miles out and back with 1,600 feet of climbing.

The roadbiking here in San Luis Obispo is nice, but a lot of it takes you on some pretty big roads with some fast traffic on it. The shoulders on those roads are wide, but I'm hoping to find some routes that are less traveled. One local who swerves into the shoulder playing with her phone / CD player and I'm a hood ornament at 70 mph - I'd like to minimize the chances of that happening.

 

[DucatiHoney]

Which Fuji did you have (spec)? Which Trek did you replace it with? I looked at Trek's line and must admit - I really like them (I have an '08 Fuel EX8), but could not justify the $$ they want for their OCLV 105/Ultegra bike - specially since I am not a full-fledged roadie geek. But my Taiwan-made (90% of carbon bikes are sourced from China or Taiwan), full-carbon, well spec'd bike came in at a price I could live with. Though it seems a lot of guys/gals are racing the Fuji C10/7/4 framed bikes out of the box.

So what are you on again?

Pay no attention to Mikey.

I can't tell you exactly what I had. I believe there's actually a picture of it posted in this thread somewhere. I think it was something really similar to Roxy's road bike. I didn't have it very long. I paid around $500 for it before sending it back to the store. It was a decent bicycle apparently, but it and I did NOT see eye to eye. I felt like the components were a little flimsy and that I was fighting the geometry of it.

The instant I got on the Trek 1200 it just felt like an extension of me. I haven't done one thing to it since I got it except change tires and toss on some used pedals. I paid about $500 for it as well. It's been a good investment. I do maybe 60 miles on my longer rides and generally go out a couple times a month. I can toss it on the front of the bus or take it to a trackday without freakin' out, ya know.

I see LOTS of Fujis out there on the road. I'm sure it's not because people hate them or that it's a lousy product.

 

[Killroy1999]

Your time on the road bike will pay off on the trails

Mountain biking and motorcycling aids road biking. I find most road bikers even in Alto Velo, slow on the descents, afraid of rough conditions and paralyzed on any dirt.

I may not be the fastest up hills, but on the down hills. I am always out front. 84, Pescadaro, and Kings Mountain are fun to descend.

 

[MrCrash]

Mountain biking and motorcycling aids road biking. I find most road bikers even in Alto Velo, slow on the descents, afraid of rough conditions and paralyzed on any dirt.

I may not be the fastest up hills, but on the down hills. I am always out front. 84, Pescadaro, and Kings Mountain are fun to descend.

Interesting. I wouldn't have guessed the Alto Velo guys take it easy downhill.

When I'm riding with other triathletes, I'm generally out in front on descents. I'm not sure if that's because of my bike handling skills, or if it's because triathletes ride that way. With anywhere from 6.2 to 26.2 miles of running to follow a bike ride in an event, it only makes sense to recover and cruise as much as possible

When I'm riding roadies, I'm at the back of the pack. 50-55 mph descents are a bit much when I'm not wearing leather, body armor, or a full face helmet!

 

[Rick T.]

no experience with fuji, but post up photos of it when you get her done.

Will do. So far:
1. Ritchey WCS Logic Bars
2. Ritchey WCS 4-Axis Stem
3. FSA SL-K Carbon Seatpost
4. Crank Brothers Eggbeater Pedals (mtb specific)
5. Reynolds Light Weight Skewers
6. Cinelli Cork Tape
7. Cat-Eye Strada Wireless Comp w/ Cadence
8. Fuji Carbon Bottle Cage
9. Topeak Carbon Micro Pump
10. Timbuk2 Seat Bag

The STOCK seat is a Selle San Marco Ponza (their lower line). Nice materials, but at 235g could be a bit lighter - but more importanly, it is not comfortable due to a slight hump where a hump should not be. So I will be hunting for a seat to replace it with.

I'm thinking the WTB Shadow Team (like on my MTB hardtail) - light (205g), cheap and comfortable...

 

[Rick T.]

The roadbiking here in San Luis Obispo is nice, but a lot of it takes you on some pretty big roads with some fast traffic on it. The shoulders on those roads are wide, but I'm hoping to find some routes that are less traveled. One local who swerves into the shoulder playing with her phone / CD player and I'm a hood ornament at 70 mph - I'd like to minimize the chances of that happening.

Too bad you can't ride on Vandenberg AFB. We use to churn a quick 32 miler from the hospital to Point Sal and back... NO CARS - AND... we are treated to a nice view of the whales as they pass the point. Ahhhh... the Central Coast is beautiful.

 

[ericm]

Interesting. I wouldn't have guessed the Alto Velo guys take it easy downhill.

There's like 400 people in AV. Like any large group, there's some AV riders who are super fast descenders, and some who are more cautious. Many of the better descenders also have motorcycle experience.

I'm faster down hill than most recreational riders and middle of the pack down hills in races. The steeper and more technical, the better I do. I really suck at shallow straight descents- I'm tall but light so my aerodynamic drag vs weight is high.

 

[DeathB4mullets]

I recently bought a Fuji Cross Pro. I know it's not a road bike, but it's pretty darn close when i put slicks on for longer road rides. What sold me on it was the components that it came out of the box with. It's a pretty solid ride, pretty light, and handles great off road. Like I said, it's not too bad on road rides with slicks, either.

Has a nice carbon fork, with front and rear mounts for switching to a disc brake system

Dura Ace dérailleurs/105 shifters
Ritchie Pro stem and seatpost *replaced with PLT Pro and Thompson
Ritchie Comp bars *replaced with PLT Carbon composite bars
Formula hubs
bla bla bla

Any of you guys/gals have any experience with Fuji's line of bikes?

http://www.fujibikes.com/2008/bikes.asp?id=394

 

[cheezy]

There's like 400 people in AV. Like any large group, there's some AV riders who are super fast descenders, and some who are more cautious. Many of the better descenders also have motorcycle experience.

I'm faster down hill than most recreational riders and middle of the pack down hills in races. The steeper and more technical, the better I do. I really suck at shallow straight descents- I'm tall but light so my aerodynamic drag vs weight is high.

DucatiHoney beat me to the top of Mt. Diablo, but I spanked her on the way down.

 

[bicyclemech1]

I've been on a ride with Heather

She usually spanks everyone to the top of anything I remember her being pretty quick on the way down too.

 

[cheezy]

Not quick enough!

 

[MrCrash]

I recently bought a Fuji Cross Pro. I know it's not a road bike, but it's pretty darn close when i put slicks on for longer road rides. What sold me on it was the components that it came out of the box with. It's a pretty solid ride, pretty light, and handles great off road. Like I said, it's not too bad on road rides with slicks, either.

Nice rig Will! That would be perfect for the one road around here that doesn't have heavy traffic on it. I could make a nice 20 mile loop of it if my bike could handle the 1 mile of paved firetrail in the middle of it. Instead, I'm forced to do a 6 mile out-and-back.

She usually spanks everyone to the top of anything I remember her being pretty quick on the way down too.

I remember descending Diablo with Heather. It was as though I was on a Hayabusa, while Heather was on more of a lightweight 600. She was getting into and out of corners faster than I was - I kept looking for short straights that would let me stretch my legs.

It was a fun ride! She kicked my ass, and I have no problem admitting it, as I'm not the only one she has left in the dust

Pay no attention to Mikey.

I can't tell you exactly what I had. I believe there's actually a picture of it posted in this thread somewhere. I think it was something really similar to Roxy's road bike. I didn't have it very long. I paid around $500 for it before sending it back to the store. It was a decent bicycle apparently, but it and I did NOT see eye to eye. I felt like the components were a little flimsy and that I was fighting the geometry of it.

I remember you saying something about the shifting being clunky, and the bike just not working as well as the Trek. You got a screaming deal on the Trek - Elaine / smallnfast told us about it just a few days after Heather picked up the Fuji. Thank goodness for Performance's 100% Satisfaction guarantee!

 

[Rick T.]

Thank goodness for Performance's 100% Satisfaction guarantee!

Yeah - I was wondering how, after 30 days, Heather was able to do that. Yay Performance!

I may be able to spin a bit this weekend, but I'm incredibly frustrated at how "slowly" I seem to be recovering from the jab to my ribs 2 weeks ago. It still hurt getting in and out of my car!

Anyhow, we will be at Performance in Berkeley this Friday for more ummmm... shopping (right Marilou?). Lunch anyone?

 

[Go2Trackdays]

I didn't find too many posts about brake/derailleur cable systems -

I just got a relatively cheepo Trek 1000, and the shifting is not great

I was thinking to try upgrading the cables rather than the components first

I've seen ads for Gore Ride On cables, wow $50 per set (brake/derailleur) and there are
quite a few other brands - Shimano, Jagwire, Avid, Delta, Aztec... etc

Any comments? Are they only a 5% improvement in operation of the brakes/shifters compared to standard $5 cables?

 

[Rick T.]

I didn't find too many posts about brake/derailleur cable systems -

I just got a relatively cheepo Trek 1000, and the shifting is not great

I was thinking to try upgrading the cables rather than the components first

I've seen ads for Gore Ride On cables, wow $50 per set (brake/derailleur) and there are
quite a few other brands - Shimano, Jagwire, Avid, Delta, Aztec... etc

Any comments? Are they only a 5% improvement in operation of the brakes/shifters compared to standard $5 cables?

I'm guessing you have Shimano Sora shifters? If so, they are not very good at all - as you are probably experienceing. Maybe hit Ebay or Craigslist for a set of 105 shifters? I'm sure you can find an affordable set...

 

[Killroy1999]

I didn't find too many posts about brake/derailleur cable systems -

I just got a relatively cheepo Trek 1000, and the shifting is not great

I was thinking to try upgrading the cables rather than the components first

I've seen ads for Gore Ride On cables, wow $50 per set (brake/derailleur) and there are
quite a few other brands - Shimano, Jagwire, Avid, Delta, Aztec... etc

Any comments? Are they only a 5% improvement in operation of the brakes/shifters compared to standard $5 cables?

I worked as a bike mechanic for a couple of summers of College and I found that a lot can be done by simply cleaning and lubing the drive train and cables and small adjustments before you have to result in replacing cables.

I could also get the ceaptest of bikes shift nearly as good a Dura Ace. Once in a while I would have problems with Bontroger cranks and that shifting would require more finesse. Since then I always shoot for Shimano cranks only.

Conventional cables work fine. Gore are a little overkill and I think they wear-out quickly.

 

[bicyclemech1]

Bring it by my garage.

I can get the shifting dialed in fast and for free.

 

[Go2Trackdays]

Thanks for the offer, bikemech - it's not tooo likely I'd be in the Concord area but who knows.

I just looked at the rear derailleur, it's a Tiagra (8 spd cass), the triple chainring (I know, newbie style) shifter is a FD 2203

 

[Killroy1999]

Thanks for the offer, bikemech - it's not tooo likely I'd be in the Concord area but who knows.

I just looked at the rear derailleur, it's a Tiagra (8 spd cass), the triple chainring (I know, newbie style) shifter is a FD 2203

Tripples can be a little harder to deal with on a road bike. You can bring it buy my garage and I will fix it. Bring it clean and oiled. Im in Campbell.

 

[PhaTeLeSS]

I didn't find too many posts about brake/derailleur cable systems -

I just got a relatively cheepo Trek 1000, and the shifting is not great

I was thinking to try upgrading the cables rather than the components first

I've seen ads for Gore Ride On cables, wow $50 per set (brake/derailleur) and there are
quite a few other brands - Shimano, Jagwire, Avid, Delta, Aztec... etc

Any comments? Are they only a 5% improvement in operation of the brakes/shifters compared to standard $5 cables?

Have the derailleur hanger aligned by a shop. Yeah I know it's probably one of those aluminum bolt-on ones, and every shop will tell you it's straight out of the box, and if not, to replace it, but they're wrong.

I worked in shops for 9 years, and on all new bikes, even aluminum ones, I would always pull out the alignment tool, and those things were always off by a couple degrees. You can bend aluminum that little to straighten it without causing any damage and the shifting will be incredible afterward. I got $500 trek 6500s to shift like absolute butter by doing that.

Also, make sure the cassette is tight, make sure the cables under the ferrules are cut nice and clean, make sure the cable itself has been stretched, and put a COUPLE drops of tri-flow down the end of each housing before you install the cables.

Gore ride-on cables are a waste of money, imo.

EDIT - it's not your shifters. If everything is adjusted correctly and the derailleur hanger is PERFECTLY parallel to the cassette on a 360 degree plane, even low-end componentry will shift beautifully. It's just more delicate than the high-end stuff is all and will require adjustment more frequently in the long-run. Also put only a few drops of tri-flow on the chain, even though it's new. New bikes come with a heavy wax on the chain that looks good and is quiet, but doesn't offer the best lubrication. No need to clean the wax, just let the tri-flow mix in with it.