Motorbikes and pushbikes

[Coyote]

Hmmm, my point was more that it appeared to me that riding a motorcycle has fucked my pushbike habits... It just felt all wrong.

Sorry, kinda overtook your thread

I didn't have very good habits to begin with. They've only been made better since I see more idiots on the road going further/faster on the motorbike so I know to be even more careful. Only problem is I've become less fit being on a motorbike

As with everything though, if you've been off it a while, you'll be a bit shakey coming back to it. Give cycling a week and you should be sweet again. 6 months is a fair while

[Coyote]

Oh man, you gotta go singlespeed. It forces you to think about lines through corners and carrying speed, I guarantee it'll improve your motorbike handling...

Bit like my old RG, try to carry corner speed cause you're not going to go any faster out of the corner

Don't like the idea of my trying to do more daring things in hopes of keeping pace and running in front of a car though

[Rosie]

Hmmm, my point was more that it appeared to me that riding a motorcycle has fucked my pushbike habits... It just felt all wrong.

I found the opposite; learning to ride the motorbike really helped me on the mountain bike, and now I've started riding on gravel and a bit of off road, the mountain bike skills are really helping me on the motorbike.
But I have three different pushies and ride them all fairly frequently, so I'm used to switching between different 2 wheeled vehicles.

[jrandom]

I'll look for cheapies on trademe. Any brands or features to look out for?

A lot of great road bikes with very little wear tend to pop up on TardMe. Keep your eyes open and you'll easily find one to suit you. Feel free to PM me for comments on anything you're looking at.

If you can stretch your budget from $300 to $600 or so, you'll have a lot more luck. It'll take a while to find something decent at the $300 price point. You have to be realistic about the fact that you're not buying shit from the Warehouse - the engineering and materials that go into bicycle frames and drivetrains is up there with what you'll find on a modern high-performance motorcycle. The starting price for the kind of bike that'd suit you, retail, would be around $1,500.

Go to a bike shop first, though, and get measured for the frame size for each manufacturer you're considering. Riding on the wrong frame size will fuck you right from the start and there's little you can do to mitigate it.

Look for Shimano 105 or Campagnolo Chorus running gear and an aluminium alloy or steel frame, as well as standard two-ring 53/39 front gearing (triple cranks simply don't work well). Eight/nine/ten speed won't matter to you at this stage - buy a bike with an older eight-speed shifter and cassette if you can save money that way.

Try and budget for a pair of cycling shoes that can take cleats. Clipless pedals give you a huge advantage, even more so on the road than off. I recommend either Look or the NZ-designed Keywin pedal systems; consider flogging or throwing away your pedals and buying new ones if the bike you find comes with SPDs.

Once you're on your bike, take the tyres off and throw them away, and put Continental GP4000s (or another tyre of similar quality and focus - Michelin make good road bike tyres too) on.

Then go and find a good saddle. Selle Italia and Fizik are the brands you should look at. The Fizik Arione seems to be almost universally well-regarded these days.

Trust me, if you can manage to stretch your budget over time and attend to such bits and pieces, it'll be the difference between loving your road bike and hating it.

Last thing - you'll need proper cycling shorts.

[gijoe1313]

Wheres McJim? He also used to race these things for fun! Thought he'd be pissing all over this thread now with his Scottish 'umour!

[bungbung]

I disagree; I think the key with road bikes is that they are ultra sensitive to setup. A millimetre here or there in bar and seat height and rotation makes the difference between agony and comfort over hours in the saddle. Once you find the perfect fit for you (and it's a very personal thing) a road bike just becomes an extension of your body.

Sure road bikes can be comfortable, just no substitute for cubic inches (of air).
My last road bike was of the age when rigid was good and more rigid was better. The hutt-welli commute has lots of bumps.

In saying that, it's like sprot bike vs cruisers. Some find the speed and handling of a road bike outweighs the blah blah

[disenfranchised]

Hmmm, my point was more that it appeared to me that riding a motorcycle has fucked my pushbike habits... It just felt all wrong.

I know exactly what you mean.
I used to take my mountain bike to woodhill, do jumps etc....

Now if I get on it, I feel scared...
It's so thin...and high seeming....seems like it might just collapse, or fall over.

Lowering the seat right down helped a bit.
I should start using it again....I reckon if I can get my confidence up on the mountain bike, cornering on the motorbike should seem safe and easy.

[Coyote]

A lot of great road bikes with very little wear tend to pop up on TardMe. Keep your eyes open and you'll easily find one to suit you. Feel free to PM me for comments on anything you're looking at.

If you can stretch your budget from $300 to $600 or so, you'll have a lot more luck. It'll take a while to find something decent at the $300 price point. You have to be realistic about the fact that you're not buying shit from the Warehouse - the engineering and materials that go into bicycle frames and drivetrains is up there with what you'll find on a modern high-performance motorcycle. The starting price for the kind of bike that'd suit you, retail, would be around $1,500.

Go to a bike shop first, though, and get measured for the frame size for each manufacturer you're considering. Riding on the wrong frame size will fuck you right from the start and there's little you can do to mitigate it.

Look for Shimano 105 or Campagnolo Chorus running gear and an aluminium alloy or steel frame, as well as standard two-ring 53/39 front gearing (triple cranks simply don't work well). Eight/nine/ten speed won't matter to you at this stage - buy a bike with an older eight-speed shifter and cassette if you can save money that way.

Try and budget for a pair of cycling shoes that can take cleats. Clipless pedals give you a huge advantage, even more so on the road than off. I recommend either Look or the NZ-designed Keywin pedal systems; consider flogging or throwing away your pedals and buying new ones if the bike you find comes with SPDs.

Once you're on your bike, take the tyres off and throw them away, and put Continental GP4000s (or another tyre of similar quality and focus - Michelin make good road bike tyres too) on.

Then go and find a good saddle. Selle Italia and Fizik are the brands you should look at. The Fizik Arione seems to be almost universally well-regarded these days.

Trust me, if you can manage to stretch your budget over time and attend to such bits and pieces, it'll be the difference between loving your road bike and hating it.

Last thing - you'll need proper cycling shorts.

$600 will be hard to find, especially with the VFR keen to take whatever I have, chew it up and spit it out and demand more.

I knew they were going to be pricey since a lot of technology goes into them (I've heard of mountain bike tech going into MX). Since I've left school but I'm still at home hopefully I'll make a bit of cash next year to buy a bike despite the VFR.

A lot of that sounds like gibberish to me (exaggerating a bit) but I'll research into everything more.

Cycling pants were the real reason why I wanted to get one of course

[MisterD]

I reckon if I can get my confidence up on the mountain bike, cornering on the motorbike should seem safe and easy.

It's deffo the best way to get used to the feeling of wheels sliding around under you...and by far the best place to get all of your falling off out of the way.

[madbikeboy]

Depends on the motor, doesn't it...I average about 27kph on my own, 30-35 in a bunch and max out at about 65 on the flat (sprinting)

Before the last knee reconstruction, I could hit 72 kph on the flat, but I once managed 103 downhill behind a SUV. I have witnesses! Been cycling and riding motorcycles since I was really little, have 12 bikes, 2 motorcycles - the car was a grudge purchase.

[quickbuck]

A lot of great road bikes with very little wear tend to pop up on TardMe. Keep your eyes open and you'll easily find one to suit you. Feel free to PM me for comments on anything you're looking at.

If you can stretch your budget from $300 to $600 or so, you'll have a lot more luck. It'll take a while to find something decent at the $300 price point. You have to be realistic about the fact that you're not buying shit from the Warehouse - the engineering and materials that go into bicycle frames and drivetrains is up there with what you'll find on a modern high-performance motorcycle. The starting price for the kind of bike that'd suit you, retail, would be around $1,500.

Go to a bike shop first, though, and get measured for the frame size for each manufacturer you're considering. Riding on the wrong frame size will fuck you right from the start and there's little you can do to mitigate it.

Look for Shimano 105 or Campagnolo Chorus running gear and an aluminium alloy or steel frame, as well as standard two-ring 53/39 front gearing (triple cranks simply don't work well). Eight/nine/ten speed won't matter to you at this stage - buy a bike with an older eight-speed shifter and cassette if you can save money that way.

Try and budget for a pair of cycling shoes that can take cleats. Clipless pedals give you a huge advantage, even more so on the road than off. I recommend either Look or the NZ-designed Keywin pedal systems; consider flogging or throwing away your pedals and buying new ones if the bike you find comes with SPDs.

Once you're on your bike, take the tyres off and throw them away, and put Continental GP4000s (or another tyre of similar quality and focus - Michelin make good road bike tyres too) on.

Then go and find a good saddle. Selle Italia and Fizik are the brands you should look at. The Fizik Arione seems to be almost universally well-regarded these days.

Trust me, if you can manage to stretch your budget over time and attend to such bits and pieces, it'll be the difference between loving your road bike and hating it.

Last thing - you'll need proper cycling shorts.

All good advise there, but I'd put the shorts at the top of the list! Seriously.

Just a couple of points
Shimano pedals are worth a look too, though.

Agree Shimano 105 or better. Ultegra is better again, then there is the Durace (if you really want to shell out money).

Two ring crank set YES! If it has a compact (36/50) on it, don't worry. You will most likely find the little sprocket is an 11 tooth. If a "ten speed" This gives a 122 inch gear! Very tall!
Note: 10 speed these days means 10 sprockets on the cluster! So, in theory 20 speed. In practice 18, but we need not go there.

[quickbuck]

MisterD did Taupo in 5hrs 33mins and is over the moon for the lads, Brian.

Nice work. I did 5:45... with an air retention issue in my tyre a couple of times.

While you are checking out the results, have a look at Aaron Slight from Marsterton.
I know he is fit, but bloody hell, he beat Bevin Docherty's time!

[slopster]

Before the last knee reconstruction, I could hit 72 kph on the flat, .

I'm calling BS on that one. Only the best sprinters in the world could do that and only on a velodrome. 103kmh drafting a suv downhill is quite realistic though.

[McJim]

I prefer Campagnolo...but then I prefer Ducati....and Chianti....and spaghetti.

I haven't ridden a bike properly since June 2003 (London to Brighton). Have entered in the Motutapu down this end of the country in March. Need to lose 30kgs to get back to race weight.

Cycling is good for you. With cycling you really do get what you pay for. Trick bits of Titanium, carbon fibre, CNC machined bits etc. Fucken expensive and then you have to supply the horsepower yourself.

Very satisfying. Good luck.

[jrandom]

I'm calling BS on that one.

Thank you.

I didn't want to make a fuss, but... yes.

For someone at the 'casual rider' level, sprinting to 55 on the flat, alone, and holding it for a few hundred metres is doing very well.