Cycling Thread

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by habernac

The path is never too far away. Keep getting fitter and faster and ride there on the two bikes you can buy for the same money.

I already have a few thousand dollars invested in road and mountain bikes. This is just an additional toy for a different application. You can never buy enough toys before you get married.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

Ya I like the turbo. I have rode one. Its has a nice feel for a p.a.s system. You'll have to make sure if you are In Alberta that you wear a motorcycle helmet on any ebike .
Ya I claim my spelling is bad because A) I do drink to much and I am working on that and B) I never actually pay attention enough to correct my mistakes.

http://www.electricbike.com/specialized_turbo/

I'm curious where you rode this bike. I've been looking at getting one.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I already have a few thousand dollars invested in road and mountain bikes. This is just an additional toy for a different application. You can never buy enough toys before you get married.

Unless you marry a woman who's a bigger bike nerd than you.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

My bike weighs about 55lbs. No way is it light. Light bikes at the speed I can attain would snap as my average speed is well over 40km/H. Alumnnuim frames wouldn't handle pot holes or bumps at that speed as they are to rigid.I only use steel as they have some flex. Its not a road bike either. I have different options of what's a commuter and what's not. My defintion of a commuter is what you use as daily transportation and not a toy.

am i reading this correctly - you average well over 40 kph on a bike that is 55 lbs?

i am assuming that you restrict your riding to downhill, or when the wind is at your back only.......

[kevman]

Can we move on yet?

As for trail conditions, this leads me to believe things will be awfully wet in West Bragg for the better part of the week. I reckon it'll be best to stick to the established rocky/rooty trails that can handle the moisture better than the relatively loamy West Bragg trails.

[Hack&Lube]

There's flood warnings for southern alberta so the wet doesn't surprise me. I really enjoyed the Highwood Pass being closed from vehicle traffic. Any other locations like that?

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

There's flood warnings for southern alberta so the wet doesn't surprise me. I really enjoyed the Highwood Pass being closed from vehicle traffic. Any other locations like that?

The end of 66 is a fun ride. The gate is closed at elbow falls, so it's not a long ride, but you do get the whole road. It opens on May 15th I believe. Also you can ride the going to the sun road before it opens up. Awesome ride. We'd ride from West Glacier until you hit snow.

[bossy22]

Holy crap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI6q...ature=youtu.be

[Northendzone]

^ wow....it would be nice to see his ride line from a different perspective just to get a sense of the drops - that ride is more than I would ever take on.

on a brighter note, today I booked myself a one day guided excursion to go from Bachelor, Or to Bend OR with Cog Wild tours - thier website suggests lots more down that up and ride thru high alpine meadows.......we don't go to Bend until August, but I am looking forward to this vacation......

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by kevman

Can we move on yet?

As for trail conditions, this leads me to believe things will be awfully wet in West Bragg for the better part of the week. I reckon it'll be best to stick to the established rocky/rooty trails that can handle the moisture better than the relatively loamy West Bragg trails.

My first thought was something like readearth trail in Banff might be good to go, I think Lake Minnewanka may be open for a few more days.......check the trail report on Bikepirate.com

[habernac]

enjoy, Bend is supposed to be mind blowing. Gotta get there some day. I did Moab for two weeks, that was fantastic. Loved my time in Rossland, BC doing the 7 Summits. Whistler bike park is a must, don't forget to ride in Pemberton and Squamish as well. So much great riding out there.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by macker

As long as you go before June 15th you won't have any cars on the road so a nice quiet safe ride, although the last few years it has gotten extremely busy on the weekends.

If I was too go this weekend would that be a bad idea? How busy is it out there with cars? Are there enough cyclists out there to keep the motorists honest?

[habernac]

FYI: saw a pic of The Going to the Sun highway yesterday, they weren't able to get to it to plow so I wouldn't be taking a trip there this weekend.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by bossy22

I'm curious where you rode this bike. I've been looking at getting one.

At Interbike in Vegas. If you have any specific questions I'd would be happy to give you some insight. It was not for me because I prefer mid drive setups over smaller hub motors. Mid drives are lighter are usually 5 lbs (depending on the kit) as hub motera are at least 10 lbs. They also can use your whole gear cluster to obtain better hill climbing abilities which is easier for the motor to be more efficient on hills. The less amps the motor pulls the longer your pack is going to last. Hub motors are more efficient on Flats tho. The Hub motors generally are at 80% efficiency. I don't know what your planning on using the bike for tho. It seems they up the battery's size in the 2014 Model but even at 504 wh (36v x 14Ah) your not really going going to be doing any serious commuting. You will be using 20 to 25 wh/km. Although its a better than the dinky 9ah battery on the 2013 I rode. The bike It self does ride nice but way over priced for the distance your going getting out of it. Your better off getting a MAC like A crystalyte . And a rigging up a p.a.s and touque sensor system and Cycle analyst V.3 And a Battery pack from Em3ev and adding it to your favorite bike. It would be a better for overall range and performance as well as cheaper ( depending what bike you throw it on.)





Alternatively you could go for a bafang set up . where the motor is part on the b.b.. Saves weight and space.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by habernac

FYI: saw a pic of The Going to the Sun highway yesterday, they weren't able to get to it to plow so I wouldn't be taking a trip there this weekend.

Yeah. I saw the webcam at whitefish mountain, and it's white.

[Johnny199r]

Next weekend I'm going to Jasper and Golden for mountain biking. It will be my first time in Golden. Looking forward to some great flowly xc with moon raker and then probably a day on kicking horse. Hoping all the grizzly bears that have been making news in Jasper lately will settle down!

[Northendzone]

I have biked in jasper before, it was sweet, don't recall the names of the trails.

I have heard that doing the downhill stuff in golden required pads,.

I look forward to hearing your review of golden

[Reggie Dunlop]

I really enjoy cycling now. A shame that I didn't keep it up all these years, but I guess the infrastructure wasn't there either. So know I'm making up for lost time.

I cycle every day, year-round (except for a weeks in January when the side streets where really bad). Sometimes short distances around home (i.e. the pool or to Safeway), but on nice summer weekends I'm starting to increase the milage.

Anyways, just thought I'd add that. Huge fan of urban cycling for all ages.

I'd like to see an enhanced pathway system for public schools. Get 'em young.

[cracher]

Question for you cyclists:

Have a 4-ish year old lightly-used superfly (which I guess is a hardtail, light-duty mtn bike). I would like to dust it off and use it in the city. Looking at a skinny carbon wheelset. I understand that carbon does not do well going up curbs or on potholes. Does the fact that I have 3" travel in the front fork mitigate some of the risk of snapping the rim?

[Bill Bumface]

Carbon mountain rims are supposed to be stronger than alloy, just the failure mode is a bit more dramatic.