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Last time I was in Maui, I rented. Great way to see the island, but when you're used to good bikes, renting is such a downer.

I did myself a favor last year - hadn't bought a new bike in a couple decades. I have a great old Ritchey that I cracked the top tube on and my 30 year old fillet-brazed Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt was getting pretty long in the tooth. So I bought one of these Specialized Cirrus hybrids

Still use the Rocky for North Shore kinda stuff, but this got 3000 of my 35oo km last year.

 

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I haven't had a nice bike in years. I'm rocking a Canadian Tire special right now, but I'm saving up for a used road bike soon. Something basic - maybe carbon fork, hopefully 105 groupset. It's just this pesky pedal addiction that keeps stealing all my fun money!

SPD or Look?

 

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Schrader or presta valves? I find the smaller tubes in the road-type wheels lose air more quickly with Schraders (the larger valves that are on car tires). The smaller presta valves, with the extra screwed valve, seem to hold high pressure better. And the smaller volume probably makes it seem like the tires are going flat quicker?

Love my Cirrus hybrid.

 

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Well, it seems we'll have more to do than just have coffee and brag about our musical exploits when I come to Vancouver JULY 13 after the Penticton Fondo. A little blast to Horseshoe Bay, up Cypress? See you then.

By the sounds of things, I don't want to go climbing with you - you'll be waiting lots! Same with the musical exploits - my schpiel would be short, but there's probably some crossed paths in there.

But we should work something out. I've got some nice stuff in my neck of the woods, too, if your not a hardcore roadie. Even if you are, lots of pavement and bridges and coffeeshops and stuff out here in the tri-cities.

@Budda Sorry to hear about that. I've had that happen - broke an axle but it was close to home so not much walking. Also, potato chipped a back wheel about 30 minutes into a trail ride. I found out it takes over 2 hours to carry a bike as far as you can ride in 30 minutes.

 

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Hey Larry, GLWS!

Not to worry HD, I always come back for the people I like. We had our group ride this am, 18 people braved the 30-40k south wind for about 46k, a fun time was had by all, especially at coffee afterwards. That's what I do best.

Wind. That's something I don't miss out here. We get a bit, but not like the prairies.

I rode from Calgary to Bragg Creek on day, pushed a big wind all the way there. Hung out a bit, turned around and noticed, on the way back, the wind had completely switched around. Another 45 minute ride turned into 90 minutes. Why couldn't I have had the wind on back both ways?

 

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Here's my main squeeze. It's 15 months old and just over 3600km. And only one crash (bent front disc) so far!

 

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Good time! And a good time, I hope.

Wednesday was our first dry day in a few. I had two flats - TWO!!!! Just barely got out and a previously patched tube let go. Walked a couple blocks home, put a new tube on and started off again. 4k later ........ pppsssssshhhhhhhhl. [email protected]#k! Much longer walk home, pushing a bike (shoulda patched it, but I was pissed off). Paid $10/tube the next day for some good Bontragers. I ain't gonna miss another nice day because of crappy cheap tubes (although, to be fair, that previous tube was in my tool bag under the seat for a year and probably got 'rubbed the wrong way' for too long). So I did a couple 'installation laps' over the weekend, getting confidence in my back tire again.

 

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Been getting a lot of great rides in this season... have had a couple of flats though. Last one was my own fault, went a little to big off a jump to a rocky landing and not only pinch flatted but put a good dent in my rear rim. Spent a few minutes trailside patching the tube while being swarmed by mosquitoes- good times! HAHA

That's what started it with me a month ago. Jumped a curb with these 700cc wheels and got a pinch flat on the year old Specialized tube. Fixed it and it was good for a month. Then last week the patch failed and I had to use a cheap tube. Not worth it, as it turns out.

 

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As a ex racer that has slowed considerably with age. You will notice people will aim to pass you as you no nothing of their approach which is easy to do. Once they pass they say nothing and keep hammering and nine out of ten riders don't even try to hang with them. Myself if I feel up to it I will put the hammer down and hang back 20 meters or so. Eventually they start to fade and you can reel them in. This is usually where they start reaching for a energy bar or any excuse to slow . (ie looking down at their gears or free wheel etc. Something wrong ?) Then you just blow by them and continue with your ride. I call it the Sunday morning slam down in the hills of north Burlington, Hamilton and Milton area. Try it Dave good fun.

LOL I had an older guy (well, older than me) on a fairly upright bike come up on my. I saw him so I upped my pace but he just kept coming and coming. Finally he passed me and I noticed - his back hub was pretty big. And that square pack under the top tube must have been a battery. Fucker! But he sure made me bust a gut for about 10 minutes!

 

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When I did a daily commute years ago, I had a handlebar fail just before going down a long steep hill, with rush hour on one side of me and a steep ditch on the other. Failure 20 seconds later and I would have been happy to be tumbling through the ditch, as compared to eating bumpers.

You can maintain some level of control with a sudden flat (front or back). Suddenly lose half your bars and you are toast. Near as I can tell, there's no graceful exit from that one. And now I know, if I bend a set of bars, I don't just straighten them, I replace them.

 

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I was riding on some grass and unbeknown to me there was a divet in it. I lost control and went for a header right over the handle bars of my bike. I am no worse for wear but now my brakes rub on the left side of my wheel when I turn a corner. How can I adjust my brake caliphers?

There are a few different types of rim brakes, but they usually have two adjustments, one to make the pads wider/narrower and one to center them (rotate the whole assembly left and right). Often the first adjustment is a knurled knob right where the cable feeds into the brake lever. The second one, in my experience, is a little set screw on one of the two brakes themselves (on the fork or seat-stay).

Is it possible you bent the wheel a bit (do you see a wobble when you spin it), and that's causing the rubbing? Adjusting brakes won't fix that, you'll have to get the wheel trued.

 

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As an ex-MTBer, I'm enjoying my hybrid. Basically a road bike without the drop bar. My aluminum Specialized with discs was $1200, but you can get better versions if that's too cheap.

 

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do you guys wear helmets?

Me, 3. ALWAYS!

Even if I just ride the 5 blocks to pick up a DVD or loaf of bread. I suppose the most amusing thing is that I still rent the occasional DVD. LOL

 

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WOW!!! Still have you VHS hooked up "just in case" ?!? Blockbuster called, they want their 90s back.

We still DVDs, but haven't rented one in, forever.

LOL Yea, a few VHS machines that can grind away. You know, for some of my old 'art films'.

And still rent the odd DVD. I've gotten into reading fiction again in the last year and I'm enjoying reading the book and then watching the movie (when applicable). So I'll look at my streaming service (TV provider) or library for the movie, if they don't have it, I will rent it. Worst case scenario, I will even buy it, if it's cheap enough. I know I could stream off of some of those bootleg sites but quite honestly, the quality is so low as to make the films unwatchable most of the time. My two hours is worth more than that to me. And then I start getting all these weird ads on my computer, that kinda go along with my 'art films', I guess????

 

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Hey, I've got all of Formula 1 from about 1985 to 2004 or so on VHS. Because, ya know, some day I'm gonna want to go back and watch those. Mind you, those seasons were a lot better than what's happening now, IMO.

Sporting events are so good if you already know the outcome, right? Not to mention how bad poorly stored video tapes look a few decades later. Perhaps I'm a hoarder?

 

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I, too, am sad to hear of this, @WCGill . I know how much you enjoy riding and what a big part of life it is for your whole family. That just sucks!