Cycling Thread 2

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

I bought a Cannondale Synapse Disc Sora today.
I commuted about 18k each way to work last year on my hardtail mountain bike.
I was dying to get a road bike so I could go much faster this year. I was envious of the people flying by me last year on their road bikes. I'm looking forward to the nice weather and am happy I was able to pick up a good bike in my price range, especially with limited pandemic stock.

My previous road bike was a Synapse and I rode it nearly 10years... mix of Dura-Ace and Ultegra. Such a great ride in its' day and this one will do awesome for you. It likely has enough clearance to put some slightly beefier tires (~30-32mm?) which help soften the commuter route bumps heaves and cracks along the paths and roads. If you're looking for a 2nd set of "racier" wheels then for budget hoops look at the Prime wheels from Chain Reaction. Two years back I spent about $700 Cdn on some 50mm dish that included tires and tubes and they've been quite amazing. MUCH MUCH better than my previous racing Mavic's (bladed spokes) in every sense, particularly dealing with crosswinds.

[KTrain]

Wish I had that when my kids were young. It’s be fun to drag them around in the back of that.

Originally Posted by surferguy

I ordered the black rad wagon the other day. A few weeks still before it shows up which is perfect. Looking fwd to hauling my boys around on it and not having to worry about the pesky river valley hills.




I still have to wait for a few of the accessories to become available again but it should be a pretty sweet machine come this summer! Bring on the warm!

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Awesome: I never have to work on that janky 60lb old cargo bike of yours again!


Not awesome: That thing looks like it must weigh even more. Does it come with a service contract?

Don’t say that Fuzz, ole blue can hear you. I am sick of dealing with retrofits and want a bike that Is new and ready to go!

In regards to its weight, yeah I think it’s a bit of a tank, especially when it’s loaded up. That said, the pathway geese might respect me and my family wagon a bit more.

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

Please let me know how this item turns out. I've been eyeing one for a while and almost hit the checkout button every time. Looks like a great grocery store runner etc, plus putting a bench to haul a buddy is pretty fun. (rad lol)

Will do.

Originally Posted by KTrain

Wish I had that when my kids were young. It’s be fun to drag them around in the back of that.

My current set up the boys really enjoy, this will be similar but with the e attachment. a few of the important accessories are still on back order so I hope they are available soon otherwise my 2 year old is going to be undergoing some very important “balance training” on the back seat.

[KTrain]

This could be a fun commuter ebike. Doesn't have huge distance but is light compared to most at at $995US the price is solid.

https://ride1up.com/product/roadster-v2/

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Hey so I bought a little vacation condo. And by little, I do mean little. I may be storing four bikes in the living room during the summers so I need some sort of rack. Ceilings are between 9' and 10' tall so I'm good for height. I was thinking something like this. Anybody know what that chunk of wood is called so I can source it? Like, is that a beam, or a post, or something else? Maybe it's a railway tie, but obviously I don't want nasty creosote or anything in the house. Any thoughts on what kind of wood that would be? I think those are cut railway tracks for supporting the bikes, which looks really cool.

I may have some timbers that big Sliver

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by KTrain

This could be a fun commuter ebike. Doesn't have huge distance but is light compared to most at at $995US the price is solid.

https://ride1up.com/product/roadster-v2/

These don't work very well.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

These don't work very well.

How so? Cold weather? The hub motor?

[stazzy33]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

My previous road bike was a Synapse and I rode it nearly 10years... mix of Dura-Ace and Ultegra. Such a great ride in its' day and this one will do awesome for you. It likely has enough clearance to put some slightly beefier tires (~30-32mm?) which help soften the commuter route bumps heaves and cracks along the paths and roads. If you're looking for a 2nd set of "racier" wheels then for budget hoops look at the Prime wheels from Chain Reaction. Two years back I spent about $700 Cdn on some 50mm dish that included tires and tubes and they've been quite amazing. MUCH MUCH better than my previous racing Mavic's (bladed spokes) in every sense, particularly dealing with crosswinds.

Are these high quality wheels? I am looking for a second set of wheels for my new bike to go with my road tires when I put my gravel tires back on the OEM wheels.

[worth]

Check out Hunt.

https://www.huntbikewheels.com

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by surferguy

I may have some timbers that big Sliver

*zip*

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by stazzy33

Are these high quality wheels? I am looking for a second set of wheels for my new bike to go with my road tires when I put my gravel tires back on the OEM wheels.

I probably have about 5k on them over the last 2 seasons and never had any issues. Generally they seem to get consistently decent reviews online. As always there are a few lemons here and there apparently. As with most products I try to avoid first generations as they've largely ironed out issues by the 2nd and onwards. My riding buddy has basically the same pair as me (but with RAT axles, instead of my QR's) and he's a bit of a bike snob and he has even been impressed. He "saves" his high end Dura-Ace carbon hoops for dry and fast days.

[stazzy33]

I managed to find a pair of lightly used 3T Discus C35 Team wheels. Have to get all the other components, tires, rotors, cassette, but I am pretty stoked to have a second set of wheels now!

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by KTrain

How so? Cold weather? The hub motor?

This motors are extremely weak for a single speed . The battery is really hard to get out and the controllers often go.

The brakes suck as the are side pulls on painted rims . The bike over all just sucks.

[cheevers]

Hi Everyone, I took a quick look but could not find much so apologies if I missed it.

I am looking for a bike rack for my Honda Fit, so it has to work with a hatchback. Just have the one bike so would only want a 2 or 3 bike rack at most. Hoping to find something under $200. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[flylock shox]

You might want to have a look at the Saris Bones, or Swagman's roof racks at that price point.


Personally, I'd always go trunk mount over roof rack, particularly if you go into parkades from time to time...


Edit: actually, it looks like Saris now makes a one-bike rack called the Solo for about a hundred bucks. Didn't know there was such a thing as a one-bike hatch rack, but there you go.


Edit 2: echoing what Fuzz says below, if you play on owning the car for a long time, it's worth getting a hitch installed. Hitch racks are basically the least pain-in-the-butt racks to deal with. Plus, for a small car, you can buy trays that allow you to haul travel bags and boxes around too if you need to.

[Northendzone]

^ a lot will depend on what kind of rack you need/want?

are your bikes such that a plain old trunk mount rack would work? if you have a full suspension mtn bike, then you will have issues that may require creativity

do you have expensive bikes? do you plan to use the rack a lot? to me if the answers are yes, then spend the money and get a good rack. this may require a receiver on your vehicle

keep working facebook/kijiji for used racks. but to me anything good is going to run you $500

Canadian Tire has some lower cost options. I'd suggest getting on it sooner rather than later as once again, i would expect there to cntinue to be a run on most bike related stuff again this spring given that it seems gyms will never be allowed to re-open

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by surferguy

I ordered the black rad wagon the other day. A few weeks still before it shows up which is perfect. Looking fwd to hauling my boys around on it and not having to worry about the pesky river valley hills.



I still have to wait for a few of the accessories to become available again but it should be a pretty sweet machine come this summer! Bring on the warm!

Oh man, that's so awesome. I love the RadWagon.

If you find it underpowered, head over to www.boltonebikes.com. I bought a Bafang 750w motor, controller, brake upgrade and display from them. It's awesome and turned my RadRover into a machine. Really easy to do work on Rad bikes, too, because there are so many YouTube videos. You definitely won't need to do that right away, though. Just if you get used to the power. Also, there is a noticeable difference with just the upgrade kit of the controller and LCD ($219 USD for both), so it's not like the 750w motor is necessary if you're looking for a bump in power.

You're going to have so much fun and the kids will love it. Great purchase.

Originally Posted by surferguy

I may have some timbers that big Sliver

Thanks! I should have my place I'll need a rack for in April and I'm going to get settled to see how much space we'll have. I may hit you up!

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by cheevers

Hi Everyone, I took a quick look but could not find much so apologies if I missed it.

I am looking for a bike rack for my Honda Fit, so it has to work with a hatchback. Just have the one bike so would only want a 2 or 3 bike rack at most. Hoping to find something under $200. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I know it costs more, but the hitch mount ones are so much better, and easier to use, and won't mess up your paint. You should be able to get a hitch for ~$200 installed. Then get this rack, of you don't have a heavy DH or electric bike:


https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5016-6...k?colour=NOC02

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I know it costs more, but the hitch mount ones are so much better, and easier to use, and won't mess up your paint. You should be able to get a hitch for ~$200 installed. Then get this rack, of you don't have a heavy DH or electric bike:
https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5016-6...k?colour=NOC02

So also for big consideration is if you have a smaller vehicle often the ground clearance isn't great. Aftermarket hitches get set below that. So you'll want to look at the hitch rack style (ie straight out, maybe a riser, or even one of those top tube carrier types. Kinda like this:
https://www.saris.com/product/bones-hitch-2
Now... if you want one of the above in a 4-5 bike version... they're brutal to align all the bike parts to avoid rubbing issues. If you get a 5-bike version, remove one of the carriers just to space the bikes out a little better. That's the main reason I got rid of mine. Mind you they're a LOT lighter than the big-@$$ thule 4-bike tray-style which I can hardly move.

[squiggs96]

You know how everyone who rides faster than you on Zwift is cheating? Well now there is proof! German Philipp Diegner was caught manipulating his backup data in a race he finished 39th out of 41 racers. He even manipulated his baseline data.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/02/...tampering.html

I've ridden in enough Group C crit races to know that everyone else can hold 4.5 w/kg, weighs less 135 pounds, and can hold a heart rate of around 140 bpm while doing that, even though group C is supposed to be for those who have an FTP that equates to a 2.4-3.1 w/kg ratio. However, I've never seen anyone cheat and come almost dead last.