Official Road Cycling Thread

[M_Six]

I went into a bike store today to pick up some shoes and Wifey came with me. While I was talking to the sales rep, she was scoping out bikes. Tonight she says, "Some of those bikes were $1500. How much was yours?" I'm like, "Well we talked about this, didn't we? Mine was (mumble, mumble, mumble) around 5 grand." (Ok, that was base price, but whatever.)

Wifey says, "5 grand?!!? Ok, so for my 5 grand I want a vacation to Hawaii this year."

I'm thinking win/win.

[dc503]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I went into a bike store today to pick up some shoes and Wifey came with me. While I was talking to the sales rep, she was scoping out bikes. Tonight she says, "Some of those bikes were $1500. How much was yours?" I'm like, "Well we talked about this, didn't we? Mine was (mumble, mumble, mumble) around 5 grand." (Ok, that was base price, but whatever.)

Wifey says, "5 grand?!!? Ok, so for my 5 grand I want a vacation to Hawaii this year."

I'm thinking win/win.

It certainly could have gone worse haha. Although, I hide even the cost of most of my road shoes too, never mind the cost of the bike!

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by dc503

It certainly could have gone worse haha. Although, I hide even the cost of most of my road shoes too, never mind the cost of the bike!

And bib shorts. She was shocked at the $150 price tag for the bib shorts I wanted. Non-riders don't understand the need for quality gear.

Luckily Wifey is pretty cool with expenditures as long as I don't bug her about her spending and we can pay off the cc every month. She's happy as hell that I've lost a ton of weight because of the cycling, so it's money well spent as far as she's concerned. And a trip to Hawaii? I can do that. No sweat.

[overcoil]

Honing in on a very fast road bike that will be used for a gym commute 5-miles each way, hopefully I’ll be using it in rain and salted roads.

A review for the Trek Madone 9.0 talks about a pressed in bottom bracket that can be high maintenance. I’m o.k. with the pricing but I’m concerned about dirt causing bottom bracket issues, should I consider a different bike ?

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/02/trek...isingly-comfy/

[M_Six]

That review is on the Madone 9.5, which has the Di2 upgrade from the 9.0.

I was considering the 9.0, but I wanted the Di2 set. I couldn't justify the extra cash for the 9.5, so I went with the Domane SL7. Not as sleek looking, but still gets the job done. The Di2 is awesome. The difference between that and the standard cable shifting on my Crossrip is huge.

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by M_Six

That review is on the Madone 9.5, which has the Di2 upgrade from the 9.0.

I was considering the 9.0, but I wanted the Di2 set. I couldn't justify the extra cash for the 9.5, so I went with the Domane SL7. Not as sleek looking, but still gets the job done. The Di2 is awesome. The difference between that and the standard cable shifting on my Crossrip is huge.

What gear components were/are on your Crossrip?
I’m reluctant to go Di2 mainly because I’ve been out of biking for a long time and don’t even know what questions to ask about electro shifting. I need to research the Ultegra groupset.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

I’m reluctant to go Di2 mainly because I’ve been out of biking for a long time and don’t even know what questions to ask about electro shifting.

I hear that! I'm still running downtube shifters. Except for my cross bike which has bar ends.

[The Chaddening]

Question for you guys. My wife and I are moving to Colorado from TN. We recently visited and noticed all the bike paths all over the place and are interested in getting bikes. We would want them for mainly sidewalks and some dirt bike paths (nothing crazy). Online a lot of places said maybe a "gravel/road bike"? Can you get a decent bike for under $500?

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

What gear components were/are on your Crossrip?
I’m reluctant to go Di2 mainly because I’ve been out of biking for a long time and don’t even know what questions to ask about electro shifting. I need to research the Ultegra groupset.

This is the Crossrip I have. Scroll down for the specs.

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...rip-1/p/17334/

The Di2 is completely customizable as far as shifting goes. I have mine set just the away manual shifting works. The switch from manual to electronic was seamless. And the Di2 has a great semi-auto mode that switches the rear gears up or down 2 cogs depending on how I shift the front. If I go from the large ring to the small in front, the rear shifts automatically to put me in the appropriate gear so I'm not suddenly spinning air. It's slick as hell on hills. Well worth the investment.

Take a good look at the Domane SL7. It's not as aero as the Madone, but I think the Di2 will be more beneficial to you than the aerodynamics. And it's still a very light bike.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by DonaldPump

Question for you guys. My wife and I are moving to Colorado from TN. We recently visited and noticed all the bike paths all over the place and are interested in getting bikes. We would want them for mainly sidewalks and some dirt bike paths (nothing crazy). Online a lot of places said maybe a "gravel/road bike"? Can you get a decent bike for under $500?

Lots to consider here. My first bike was a Trek Verve 2.

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...olorCode=black

It was fine for light road work and solid trails, but you wouldn't take it on a mountain bike trail. It's in that price range. It has straight handlebars instead of drops and thumb shifters. I quickly outgrew it and sold it, then bought a Crossrip 1, which was twice the price but more road oriented.

It all depends on your preferences, which may change quickly after you start riding. I wanted to go longer and faster, so I moved up to a more dedicated road bike. Other folks decide they'd rather do more trails, so they switch to mountain bikes. It's really hard to know ahead of time what kind of riding you'll like best sometimes.

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by M_Six

This is the Crossrip I have. Scroll down for the specs.

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...rip-1/p/17334/

The Di2 is completely customizable as far as shifting goes. I have mine set just the away manual shifting works. The switch from manual to electronic was seamless. And the Di2 has a great semi-auto mode that switches the rear gears up or down 2 cogs depending on how I shift the front. If I go from the large ring to the small in front, the rear shifts automatically to put me in the appropriate gear so I'm not suddenly spinning air. It's slick as hell on hills. Well worth the investment.

Take a good look at the Domane SL7. It's not as aero as the Madone, but I think the Di2 will be more beneficial to you than the aerodynamics. And it's still a very light bike.

All day I’ve been looking at the Domane online and am pretty much sold on the Di2.
Thanks for the help.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

All day I’ve been looking at the Domane online and am pretty much sold on the Di2.
Thanks for the help.

Cool. Once you've experienced the Di2, you'll never go back to cable shift.

Also, on the Domane setup with Di2, you have hidden buttons on top of the horns that you can set to shift screens on your Garmin or change gears or whatever. They're very configurable. I have mine set to change Garmin screens.

[overcoil]

Is this just crazy

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.5b52d66501ba

[M_Six]

Strava "Flybys." Anyone else using Strava who crosses your path will show up. But they have to set their profile to Public and both riders have to be using Strava. I pass other riders all the time who don't show up as Flybys because they don't use Strava or they have their profile set to Private.

[m2_wolf]

Ditto on Di2. I have it on all my road bikes since 2010 and would never go back!

I found it a little less awesome on the 1x mtb though.

[M_Six]

Had a pit bull run into my rear wheel at speed today. I don't how I didn't crash because he broke some spokes and skewed my wheel all out of line. That same dog bit another rider earlier today. This has been the fourth incident of dog biting or collisions this week among the group of folks I ride with. It's getting ridiculous. Time to start carrying pepper spray or some sort of lightweight, telescoping rod.

[wdb]

Being 'old school' equipped, I have an air pump on my bike. I've wielded it more than once, even struck the occasional blow.

I once scored a direct hit on a shepherd's schnoz right next to a trailer that had a half dozen Harleys parked in front of it. I was listening for motorcycles the rest of the ride!

We also used to do a lot of riding in 'horse country', expensive rural neighborhoods with lots of gentleman farms and fields where folks did a fair bit of horseback riding. I came up on a dog in that area, reached for the pump and raised it in preparation. To my surprise the dog turned around and ran straight off. I concluded that the poor animal had encountered a few riding crops in the past.

[1MOREMOD]

Think heard a story about cougar killing a mountain bike rider in Issaquah area friday.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

Think heard a story about cougar killing a mountain bike rider in Issaquah area friday.

Yeah, very hungry cougar meets defenseless mountain biker. Wrong place at the wrong time.

[dc503]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

Is this just crazy

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.5b52d66501ba

This actually occurred in my neighborhood! It was interesting to hear a lot of the local chatter on this as it developed. As a sidebar, the whole scenario is actually one of the reasons I dislike multi purpose trails.

[M_Six]

Long, hot ride today. This is a typical road here. Straight as a chalk line and no relief from the wind.

[1MOREMOD]

Where's that