Bikes!

[glatt]

It's interesting, because I was trying to figure out just WTF GMC bikes is. I had seen this GMC bike referred to as a Kent in other locations. The deal is that Kent bikes sells bikes under its own name, and also licenses the names of Jeep, GMC, Razor, Cadillac, and Little Miss Match. They import their bikes from all over the world, but many of them come from China, produced by Shanghai General Sports Co., Ltd.

[Griff]

Yeah, 27 got replaced by 700c back in the nineties on road bikes plus a smaller 650C? size for women's bikes. It became a pain to get 27 tires but when I bought my last touring bike I switched over. Mountain bikes are in upheaval right now wheel wise. 26 was the standard, then they pushed 29s, then 27.5 (650B), and some super wide stuff. They seem to want to maintain them all at this point but I have noticed a reduction in choice for 26". Mountain bikes always seem to be rushing to the next great thing hence my stash of old XT parts. I can't begin to predict if any standard will emerge.

[glatt]

Have you tried one of the fat tire bikes? They look like they would bounce over any little bumps but would be a little soft in the turns.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Griff

Yeah, 27 got replaced by 700c back in the nineties on road bikes plus a smaller 650C? size for women's bikes. It became a pain to get 27 tires but when I bought my last touring bike I switched over. Mountain bikes are in upheaval right now wheel wise. 26 was the standard, then they pushed 29s, then 27.5 (650B), and some super wide stuff. They seem to want to maintain them all at this point but I have noticed a reduction in choice for 26". Mountain bikes always seem to be rushing to the next great thing hence my stash of old XT parts. I can't begin to predict if any standard will emerge.

My touring bike has 27" wheels and my racing bike has 700c tubular rims. I build my own wheels and even after 10K miles on them they are in great shape, I can't really bear to just change them out just because they are out of fashion.

Fashion and consumerism seem to be driving everything these days. I remember in the early 80s that most bikes hadn't had any significant changes in a couple of decades. Shimano led the charge, I believe, when they began changing their components every year; a cable anchor bolt from a 1984 rear derailleur would not fit on a 1985 rear derailleur. Shitty little things like that drove people to need an entire new derailleur when shops couldn't or didn't want to stock 97,000 different bolts, washers, nuts, pulleys, bushings, etc. Parts sales went up, repair revenues went down. Designs and styles also changed, but in terms of actual improvements there were few genuine improvements and a lot of different way to do the same thing.

Which leads me to many of my questions about the changes in today's bikes.

I have to go right now, but I'll continue when I return.

[footfootfoot]

What about how huge the bikes are? My MTN bike frame is a 19 or 20 inch compared to my road frame which is a 24. It is sparrow-like compared to the newer bikes and I felt it was pretty tight on the course I rode the other day. I can't imagine being on one of those behemoths.

The handle bars were at least 8" wider. Also, what's up with the tubes? Do the big rectangular tubes make the bike frame lighter? I note that the manufacturers don't mention weight on their websites, they instead make some specious claim like, "Weights can vary depending on how the bike is set up..."

Yeah, OK but why not just list weights for frame sets by size? Like they used to? Whenever I see shit like that it makes me think they are being intentionally vague in order to hide the truth. If the information was a selling point it would be on their splash page.

Are these big tubes lighter?

Another thing the sales guy told me was that higher end bikes tended to have single chain rings in front and multies in back. Great for climbing (reduction gears) but I'm guessing coasting downhill and or very little movement on the flats- so essentially a specialty bike instead of a bike that could do OK on pavement.

So the trillion gear freewheels seem to be big, but after 6 gears does one need to cut the ratios that finely? It's not like humans are optimized for an extremely narrow range of RPM that we need so much gearing to compensate, or are we? Usually, it was a question of speeding down as fast as possible and then downshifting to the correct gear to power up the other side. I've only had one derailleur in my life that could reliably downshift under power and that was a Huret Duopar Titane. A sad day when that died.

Are new derailleurs better? Can you shift under power?

[Griff]

The bars are wicked wide. That doesn't work for me slaloming trees. The FS bikes do seem bigger to me. The kids are riding downhill pump style so weight and pedaling are generally not part of it. They labor on climbs, burn gas, or push. The gear ratios are pretty good on a 2x10 and maybe even a 1x10 but I'd miss the big chain dump on the front when an unexpected climb pops up or the big ring if you get caught on a road somewhere. It does create a little clearance for log crossing.

I've done some bitching about what's become of one of my favorite trail networks because they won't get off my yard groomed some of the best climbs for high speed downhills then throw the bikes in a shop van for work free cycling. There are some hardcore xc kids out there but the bulk market is for all mountain bikes. The money being spent for a quality xc bike is pretty insane. I've been plotting building up my '92 Jamis as a kickass xc bike but my head tube is not compatible with modern suspension forks.

What brand bikes are you seeing with the rectangular tubing? The bikes I'm seeing tend to be ovalized except for the chain stays which they claim are stiffer.

[Griff]

The derailleurs seem pretty reliable when new but after some wear?


http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb...t-ride-review/

[Griff]

I asked my buddy about his 1x. He misses the big ring except when log crossing

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Griff

The derailleurs seem pretty reliable when new but after some wear?


http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb...t-ride-review/

Damn. Maybe I'll keep my frame and just update the wheels when they finally die. I'm not sure I can get brake pads anymore for my dia comps.

[Griff]

Are they the posts or the threaded. I think you can still get the post type new. You can ebay for NOS (new old stock) to dig up needed parts. They're out there.

If you're comfortable on your old bike I'd say keep her running at least until you know what you want.

[footfootfoot]

Some of the guys I rode with used their big rings to climb over the logs. They'd approach the log, pop the front over and line up their pedals so the left pedal was up and then use the teeth to grip into the log and go over that way.

This was Vermont and we were bike mechanics so parts and repairs were relatively cheap. We customized our bikes for our riding styles. Mostly what we'd do was go out into the woods and see how long we could bike without touching our foot to the ground. It was follow the leader and the leader would choose the course as he went. (no stinky girls allowed!)

One course was about 200 feet of a dry creek bed. Stones the ranging in size from grapefruits to basketballs. No more than one person made it per ride, but eventually all of us had one perfect run, if I recall.

As for the rectangular tubes, the inch tells me they are on Giant bikes.

[footfootfoot]

They're posts for the cantilever brakes. I just checked and it looks like the new pads will fit, I need to check the diameter of the post to be sure.

I'm pretty happy with my bike, my son is badgering me to upgrade. In any event, a new bike is at the end of a long line of expenditures. A very long line.

[Griff]

I just searched your bike on google images, truly old school cool.

[footfootfoot]

I have plastic clip on fenders now, I don't remember what happened to my Bluemels, I also swapped out the steel bull moose handlebars for a straight-ish True Temper CroMo bar, Also swapped out the pedals for Wellgo platform pedals, and of course lost that POS saddle for an Ideale P-39 That just keeps getting better with age. The current tires are MIchelin Country Rock road tires.

I was retro 35 years ago; I was the only guy still wearing wool and chamois cycling shorts, and for the record they are better than lycra *coughemporersnewclothescough* by far.

Mine didn't come with a shoulder strap nor braze-ons to accept one.

http://mombat.org/MOMBAT/BikeHistory.../1184Ross3.jpg

[Griff]

How crazy has mtb gotten about gear?

http://www.evo.com/how-to-choose-a-mountain-bike.aspx