Cycling thread

I free-camped a fair amount in northern and eastern Europe. The funniest moment was in Poland where I woke up to the sight of a bunch of women getting off a bus to pee in the forest. I don't think they ever saw me in my tent in the background. I had a self-designed tent that used my bike as the support, so that no one could steal my bike without waking me up.

One of the other long-distance cyclists I met was free-camping just 50-100 yards away from me in Norway. I was completely unaware of his presence until we were both hitting the road again in the morning. We ended up cycling together for a while. Two very different styles of cycling though. He would cycle at a faster pace but take breaks. I, on the other hand, preferred to cycle a straight four hours at a more leisurely pace before taking a break. So we would meet up for lunch and at the end of the day.

Great shots Tristan, you definitely have a talent for it!
 
Great stories and pics guys!

So the ride through the Ardennes went great, its kind of surprising how much easier hilly rides are vs. the flat stuff I'm used to. Some of the small country road surfaces were not in the best shape when your cruising downhill at 50km/hr though/.

Anyway I think I need to do a little more riding down that way instead of only doing my local commutes. I think I'd like road riding a lot more.
 
Well I didn't get any cycling in at all last week, time was short due to nightshifts and I am shifting back to running more since I have an 18 mile race in August and marathon in the fall. I did however start wrenching on a bike project. Doing my first bike build... have an old frame I am going to update with some more modern components. 1988 Schwinn Tempo, originally equipped with all Shimano 105 components. They worked ok but some parts were pretty worn and needed replaced and everything needed stripped and deep cleaned anyhow (it was very grimy - I got it for cheap). I'm just learning the mechanics as I go, never done this kind of work before. I've got a couple other vintage restoration/builds in mind too, so I am buying all the tools I need and learning to do it myself.

The plan is a mix of components, so besides being my first bike build it is also a bit of experiment... going to adapt Campagnolo ergopower brifters to a Shimano drivetrain, Using Campy Veloce 10 speed brifters and Dura Ace 7800 crank and rear derailleur (with a Jtek shiftmate adapter). Also experimenting on a 1x10 road setup, using a narrow-wide 44t chainring up front, and a nice wide 11-36 cassette out back with a WolfTooth roadlink adapter that should allow the RD to handle the big 36t cog. Newer 10 speed compatible Mavic wheels. Also going to try out Velo Orange Grand Cru Course bars.

Got the frame stripped, paint touched up, new cassette on wheel, RD installed, crankset installed. Fork had some issues though. When I went to put on new headset I found out the hard way that Japanese forks have a very slightly different crown race seat diameter. Had to take that one to a shop to have milled down to standard size, now I'm just waiting for some free time to get the race put on the fork, and assemble fork and headset.
 
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I've dusted off the cobwebs from my 25 year old Bianchi and am now cycling while recovering from my knee replacements. Getting in about 40-50 miles a week. Took about 2 weeks though to get my butt used to cycling. I am heading out to bike store though looking for barefoot pedals and some cables which seemed to be frozen and snapped while riding. Of course I was in a big gear and heading into a pretty big head wind. Talk about a workout, but am enjoying riding again.


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I've dusted off the cobwebs from my 25 year old Bianchi and am now cycling while recovering from my knee replacements. Getting in about 40-50 miles a week. Took about 2 weeks though to get my butt used to cycling. I am heading out to bike store though looking for barefoot pedals and some cables which seemed to be frozen and snapped while riding. Of course I was in a big gear and heading into a pretty big head wind. Talk about a workout, but am enjoying riding again.


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Sorry Dutchie, been out of touch. I had no idea about the knee replacements. Hope the recovery is going well!

For barefoot pedals, I've been very happy with the Ergon PC2 pedals (https://www.rei.com/product/830494/ergon-pc2-pedals).
 
Haven't done much riding the last couple weeks but have made some progress on my '88 Tempo project.

Here is the bike all original except someone threw on a big padded giant seat on it...

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Actually it doesn't look half bad from 10 feet away and compressed with software lol. But it's definitely rough around the edges, and all the mechanicals looked pretty grimy and unmaintained. The original Shimano 105 6-speed drivetrain wasn't much to right home about anyhow, but the frame was in fine shape (aside from some paint scratches) and I like how it felt and handled. I didn't like the bars though, and the brake hoods were actually worn all the way through to metal in a few spots so I was going to replace everything above the headtube.

Stripped the bike down to bare frame... first time I've ever done that and took a few specialty tools. Got it degreased, and touched up the paint here and there with similar colored nail polish.

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Most of the old components that I won't be re-using.

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A lot of the new parts put on...

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Newer but used Mavic lightweight wheels, used Dura-Ace 7800 derailleur, new Shimano XT 11-36 10 spd cassette.

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Used Dura-Ace 7800 crankset with new 9000 bottom bracket, and Wolf Tooth narrow-wide single chainring. Wish the chainring was silver, but I couldn't find a silver narrow-wide chainring anywhere. I even though about removing the black anodizing and polishing. But being that this is an experiment to see if I like a 1x10 gearing, I'll try it first as is.

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I didn't realize it but this Japanese-built Schwinn used a different size seat for the fork crown race. It takes standard 1" threaded headset, but the bearing seats are different. I'd probably consider getting the appropriate sized headset but I had already pressed the cups into the head tube and would rather use the nice Stronglight cartridge bearing headset that I had instead of the open ball bearing older design. So I took this fork to a shop and had em machine the race seat down to ISO size so it takes a standard headset now.

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Installing the headset and fork.

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Headset tightened down.

Next step install stem and new handlebars, and get this thing cabled up! Hope to have it done in a couple days...
 
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Well I was really busy and didn't get as much finished on my 2 days off this week but at least made some progress. I ran into some questions running cable that took me a while to research the answers.

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New bars installed, Velo Orange's Grand Cru Course bars. And Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed Ergopower brake/shifters.

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Campagnolo Veloce brakes. I was debating on DA7800 to match the rear components but eventually decided on Campy to match the levers.

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Getting ready to route and hook up all the cables and housings, what a mess.
 
A few more build pics...
IMG_0774-720.JPG Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL wheelset. It was used for a decent price, lightweight, and mostly silver so thought I'd give it a try. I kind of liked the look of the wide bladed spokes but I'm already wondering if I should of went with a more standard type wheelset with universal spokes.

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New Dura-Ace 9000 bottom bracket. Wish it was silver but I guess I am ending up with black trim here and there anyhow. KMC X10 EL silver chain, pretty light weight and uses KMC's reusable master links for easy removal and reinstall. BTW this frame features Columbus Tenax tubing, not the lightest tubing set of its day but a pretty good quality tube.

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Prepping for bar tape. This will be the first time I've done this. I also used gel bar padding underneath the tape. In hindsight it was probably unnecessary and made the installing more difficult - the bar tape I had was already pretty thick with a gel backing. Well it's super lush now, but made some of the spots a little awkward around the brifters.

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Bar tape done, plus I swapped the black brifter hoods to white ones. Yeah it's going to be hard to keep clean. Hope I didn't make a mistake with white, but I loved how the original looked in all white, along with the blue and white frame. I also have a blue and white '88 LeTour with white tape and hoods too that I really like.

I put some cheap pedals on it and took it for a cruise, feels fantastic! Got to work on fine tuning the shifters, but they work good enough even how they are now, just some slow shifts, etc. Got to make some more adjustments, get the white seat on it, and take a final pic. I think this one will be a keeper. :)
 
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So in the last 2 weeks I put on a modest amount of miles on the new Tempo, maybe 5 or 6 rides longest being 20-some miles. Today I had it out for a true test... my first ever group ride. I signed up for a group ride from an organization the works on improving the great rail to trail projects going on here in Ohio. I opted for the 63 mile ride. I might have considered the 105 but it was suppose to be mid 90's with a heat index of 101F today. Not to mention there was a grey area about being on call still overnight, slight chance I could have got called in for a 12hr shift at 6pm. So I settled for the 63. And boy was it hot, and not even in the hot part of the day. It was very humid was the problem, combined with full direct sun. But I've had plenty of heat training this summer so it didn't phase me, other than every time I stopped at a water/snack stop my pores leaked like a sieve without the wind. With sweaty hands the nice flat top of the VO Course bars and flat Campy hoods made it easy to hold on without any extra grip or pressure. The polished pedals were a bad choice though, and I meant to swap em for the Ergons before the ride but forgot. Still though while my feet did slide a bit on sweaty polished metal I never had a problem loosing my footing. The bike has proven to be nice and comfortable and while I have a minor bug in the shifting it still works super.

Considering the length of the ride and the heat, I averaged a lot faster than I thought I would so I am happy about that.
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Going to cook myself a gigantic cheeseburger for dinner and beer. Can't wait!

And some pics of the finished bike:

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That sunset was on the very evening I finished assembling the bike. Just had to try and use it for a shot!

The finished build resulted in a net loss of a couple pounds too!
 
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Just thought I'd chime in since I've passed my 2015 mileage total, I did a little over 1,100 miles last year cycling, and this year I'm currently at 1,200. Probably won't be getting to many more miles in though, with the marathon in one month and mostly running now, then things turn cold after that.

Just picked up another couple nice old bikes, an early 90's carbon bike - and very rare - Schwinn Paramount 9c. It's just a frame set so will be playing with building it over the winter perhaps. Also picked up this lovely all chrome 1981 Schwinn Voyageur 11.8 which appears in good working shape. It's not museum quality but very fine quality none the less and I won't touch it other than perhaps some new cables and bar wrap, perhaps new tires.

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I like the scalloped lugs!

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Figured I'd revive this thread, I am officially planning a couple bike touring trips in 2017.

I am going to try to get a quick trip down the coast to Bruges and back to start working up some longer distances.
http://www.holland-cycling.com/wher...cle-network/lf1-north-sea-route-noordzeeroute
Then
http://bikepacker.com/bikepacking-capital-trail/
and
http://www.bikepacking.com/routes/cycling-the-gr5-belgian-ardennes/

I added a luggage rack to my mountain bike and so I have more off road ability. I'll put up a pic or two of it soon.
 
Sounds great @Abide those trails look wonderful I especially like the capital trail since its a loop. Wish I had more ability to get away for longer all day rides and tours. Maybe I'll get something in for '17 but no plans really. Nothing terribly scenic around here either except the usual countryside.

Throw up some pics if you get a chance, would love to see the setup. As for me I've done some work to a couple bikes in the last few months. I threw a small bag and rack on my Super Sport, and also a handlebar bag on the chrome Voyageur, along with some new more comfortable brake levers, bar wrap, and a different but still vintage seat. Also put some new rubber on it, 27x 1 3/8 tanwall Swift Tires. I'm still not sure about the looks of the tan colored brake hoods, but I had em already and this bike was probably the best bet to try em on. In anycase they work a little better and much more comfortable to reach and use, these ones you can actually ride on the hoods versus the old metal non ergonomic ones. They are TRP Retro brake levers. Plus those brakes route the cables under the bar wrap so they aren't in the way of the bag. The Carradice handlebar bag is just big enough to fit my nice slr along with the basic bike tools and maybe some other small items like snacks, perfect for the day trip. It's on a nice quick release too so comes right off with the push of 1 button, and I also bought a second quick release mount for it I put on my Super Sport. It barely fits within the stock bar though, I might upgrade to a tad larger bar later since I can barely fit my hands in there.

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I think I took a few pics of the Super Sport with some of the work I did to it, will have to dig them up later.
 
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That is a nice bike Tristan. I do like the tan brake covers.

Actually the Fall/Winter riding pushed me into getting a mountain bike. I kept sliding out on the wet leaves and frosty roads and had been thinking about picking up a hardtail 29er. Anyway here is a pic of the mostly finished product. I have a blue otlieb bag I bungy to the rack that works way better than a backpack.

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Coincidence; went into our local bike shop to order wheels for my winter tires. Tired of taking tires off the same rims. Might be especially handy during the transitional weeks between fall and winter and winter and spring.

Nice trails Abide!

Nice bike Tristan!
Thanks, I've been debating on winter tires... I've even read some use studded winter tires. Knowing nothing about these tires are they actually metal studs like in vehicle tires? What do you use in the winter since you mention you use separate ones? I usually cycle mainly for fun and fitness I tend to just put the bikes up for the winter and stick to running. I do some indoor workouts on the rollers just to maintain a base through winter but that's about it. However I did pick up a mountain bike this year, that might be a bit more useful if I'm ever tempted to ride on the white stuff. I've not really rode the mountain bike much so it might be nice to use it a few times over the winter if it's not too nasty out.

Looks nice there @Abide should do well. Interesting, I don't think I've seen many mountain bikes with Brooks saddles, but maybe it's more common than I realize.
 
Thanks, I've been debating on winter tires... I've even read some use studded winter tires. Knowing nothing about these tires are they actually metal studs like in vehicle tires? What do you use in the winter since you mention you use separate ones? I usually cycle mainly for fun and fitness I tend to just put the bikes up for the winter and stick to running. I do some indoor workouts on the rollers just to maintain a base through winter but that's about it. However I did pick up a mountain bike this year, that might be a bit more useful if I'm ever tempted to ride on the white stuff. I've not really rode the mountain bike much so it might be nice to use it a few times over the winter if it's not too nasty out.

Looks nice there @Abide should do well. Interesting, I don't think I've seen many mountain bikes with Brooks saddles, but maybe it's more common than I realize.

I have never seen a brooks leather one on a mountain bike either. Not really sure why, but probably has something to do with the weight. I find them extremely comfortable for rides though and the typical lighter gel type seats very uncomfortable for me. I have a lot of road riding in the near future before I start some of the long distance off-road trails so the seat and fenders are perfect for that. When I get off road I might ditch the fenders at least.

I don't have to deal with snow/ice too much but the mountain bike tires work fine in snow. Nothing really works well on ice though, maybe those studs help some?
 
Lovely bikes Tristan. You've made the blue one well nice. And some great photography also - thanks for sharing.

As it's now winter and miserable outside i'm now on the Turbo Muin so don't have any of my own adventures to mention until next year. Just signed up to 'Zwift' and that makes turbo training a lot more enjoyable.
 
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Very nice bike trips and fantastic pictures in this cycling thread. The silver Schwinn is a real beauty.

Apart from using the bike for my daily commute, my cycling during the last years has been reduced to some few MTB tours.
Previously I often took my race bike or MTB for a ride. Then I started barefoot running and barefoot hiking and more end more neglected cycling. ...until this year, when I had the chance to take some weeks off and rode by bike from Munich to Valencia.

Below a picture taken in region Valencia. I am cycling on the "Via Verde de Ojos Negros", a former rail track where it is going down from ca. 1.200 m altitude to nearly sea level. Dozens of tunnels and bidges. Outside of the tunnels no shadow - so despite only rolling downwards this hot day I sweated more than e.g. when I cycled uphill the passes of the Pyrenees.

The bike I used is nothing special. Bought it second-hand many years ago and over the years changed nearly every part except frame and mudguard. But: no flat tyre or any defect on the 2.600 km to Spain.

<foto upload doesn´t work, maybe next time...)
 
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Well it's a couple months late but I finally got out the rollers out of the closet. My Super Sport is my only bike with a wheel tracking computer so I use that indoors (I just use app on my phone for outdoor rides but that wont work stationary of course). I took the old dingy wheels that were originally on my Tempo and put some cheapie tires on em for indoors this winter. I still need a wall to lean on if I need to so setup in the narrow hallway, not comfortable without something nearby to grab even though I usually balance fine on the rollers. I really wanted to build a stand of sorts so I can have it where I can watch the big TV but don't think I'll get around to building anything this winter, maybe next. For now I'll just rig up my phone in front of me and watch TV that way while on the rollers.

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This will help on those nasty winter days to get at least some exercise in, and keep my butt conditioned over the winter when I'm not riding otherwise. I'm just a fair weather cyclist lol.
 
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