buying a bike

I have ended up compromising AGAIN and settling for a Dura-ace groupset with compact chainrings. Less stylin', but £100 cheaper and I'm so hacked off with the entire process I don't care any more

Rev, will you post pictures of yr new bike? I'm not purely asking that to give me an excuse to post pics of mine :)

Mine's black. Not sure how I feel about that.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m134/johnjusten/rcstcat.gif

Sorry sorry, I am very bored at work (you may have guessed)

Bike might arrive tomorrow! (but more likely early next week)

Next week it is, then.

Bugger, make shure you check it over carefully when it arrives.

I will, as carefully as I know how, in any case! Want to give me some pointers, assuming that I am one step up from absolute noob?

clean the grease off the chain and lube it up... shimano chains ship with this horrible grease on them- it gets everywhere, and after a few weeks, it's like tar on your chain. (otherwise, dura-ace is tits, and don't let any campy fanatics tell you it ain't.)

invest in a torque wrench, and check the torque on seat post and stem bolts if you're using carbon parts.

make sure the rim strip is covering all the holes.

make sure the two bolts holding the non-drive side crankarm onto the spindle are tightened evenly (and if you ever take the crankarm off, loosen them by alternating half turns for the first few turns).

ride it a few weeks, and then reindex the rear derailleur, and then give the cables a shot of lube after a couple months once everything has settled in.

sorry if you know this stuff already- some people call themselves noobs and end up having better wrenching chops than i do.

Jordan I could barely follow the above! But thanks, that's priceless info. Do I reindex the rear derailleur myself or do I need to get a non-noob to do it? Also, how does one lube a cable?

Thanks again!

Bike is HERE. Woohoo! It's pretty, though more carbon-looking than I anticipated (I thought the primary frame colour was black, but it's actually a thick carbon weave effect). Seems weird that I'm only 6 foot and yet it's classed as an XL (58cm) frame, but I think it's a wee bit more compact than my Trek. The tyres (Schwalbe Ultremos) look terrifyingly slick but apparently they do have excellent grip. Very excited about riding home now!

I was thinking more along the lines of a very close inspection of the frame for any damage, especially as it is carbon.

Are we talking visual damage, or are there other ways of checking?

It's all set up now - eggbeaters are attached, handlebars sorted, cleats fixed to shoes etc. I may have to adjust the height of the saddle a touch but that can wait till I get it downstairs I think. Am a bit nervous about using a new clipless system in rush-hour London traffic but I'll be ultra-careful.

Just visual damage, scratches, nicks etc. Carbon is much more sensitive than metal to these and your frame should be send back if it has the slightest hint of these.

HI DERE

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/biondino/focus1.jpg

I know that's not a great pic - I'll take some more soon and post some better angles.

sweeet

nice

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/1382/bicicletasf6.jpg

i think i could bite through that lock

WITH SEXY RESULTS

Sorry. I only came here to post another picture of the machine, a better one. I'll stop after this.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/biondino/focus100608.jpg

Ledge, I know. That one came w/ the bike. It's not gonna stop anyone who really wants the to take it, but at least no one's gonna just walk away with it cause they can. I did get a better lock from the bike shop, but I haven't gotten around to depackaging it.

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/

i just bought a tern gsd electric cargo bike.

any tips? (especially looking for advice about how to deal with all the people who are going to want to do it with me now that i've got a bright yellow cargo bike with a child seat.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx4ctRpjEjM

Read something once that said something like "I assume every door I ride past is going to be flung open by an opera singer about to belt out an aria" - the one time I got doored was turning a corner, those can be tricky.

Have fun!

i've done tons of city riding, but never with a bike that weighed 75lb (with a 30lb child on the back), and also never in los angeles, where the people/roads are bad.

luckily most of our daycare commute is going to be along a bike path by the river. just one insanely dicey intersection to start the day haha good times.

Ah okay. Yeah no special wisdom to share, I am just constantly paranoid and always expanding my library of threat models. I actually sort of enjoy that part of riding.

not dead yet. having a great time. we now go passed a park every day and my son has hidden a stick that we have to check on each afternoon. without that it would probably be a little faster than the car.

I bought a half decent bike! A late 90s Marin Pine Mountain rigid. Almost all my riding will be on streets & in alleys, with maybe a few city trails here & there, seems like a good all-rounder. It’s a damn sight lighter than anything I’ve owned before & is kind of a joy to ride.

It’ll replace the shitty shitty Schwinn I bought last year & have never enjoyed riding (& so, of course, I rarely rode it), which in turn replaced the $50 Peugeot I rode for years but which was stripped to the frame when my daughter borrowed it & left it at the train station inadequately secured.

I wasn’t looking for a bike but it was right there in an antiques/junk shop & it called to me. $300, which seems ok (esp as there’s a bike shortage cuz everyone & their new Covid dog wants one)

just put the 2000th mile on the GSD (used for an 8 mile round trip 3-4 times a week). been carrying two kids on it for maybe a year.

around about 6 months ago we reached the point here where people with kids on e-bikes stopped waving and nodding to each other because there are so many of them.