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Official OGBoards Cycling Thread

Having not ridden a bike in 15 years, I did pretty well. It was a great leisurely ride, and I love the explosiveness of the 29" wheels.
 
MORE FEELINGS ABOUT BIKES BEING THE BEST.

This past weekend I participated in/spectated the Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championship, which was held here in Portland for the first time in a number of years. I cannot even begin to explain the mayhem that took place over the course of two days, but these photos from yesterday's final event capture some of the craziness (I don't know the person who took these, but he got some good shots):

https://goo.gl/photos/sYhDZFpcx1oJr1Ud9

One of the COOLEST things about the weekend is that Sven Nys showed up to participate. For context, this is the equivalent of Michael Jordan strolling up and asking if he can join your pick-up game, or Stan Lee walking into Comic con (comicon?), or Michael Phelps showing up to a local swim meet. Really and truly, the only person in the world I think I'd be more excited to meet is Michelle Obama (and that's only because I've already met Chrissie Wellington). Anyway, nobody except maybe 4 people knew that Sven was coming - but he was there, participated in everything (including having huge exercise balls thrown at his head in the 'ball pit' on course), took lots of photos, and seemingly had a great time with the festivities. Since retiring, he's using his fame to promote the sport as much as possible; apparently someone jokingly asked him if he wanted to come participate and without hesitation he said, "yes, absolutely." So that was that.

Anyway, I am basically sitting in my chair this morning with a huge grin on my face, and randomly laughing to myself as I remember a particular aspect of the course or event.
Highlights include:
-A Le Mans style start, in which you put your bike down, then go back to the start line and at the gun you have to sprint for your bike and grab it/start from there. The catch was we put our bikes on the opposite side of a corn field and had to plow through that to get to our bikes.
-a stripper bus shortcut, in which you paid a dollar, someone took your bike and moved it down course for you, and you ran through a school bus with real strippers inside - effectively cutting off a little out-and-back section of the course.
-the "jump the shark" ramp into a pond, complete with inflatable shark. If you didn't take the jump, you still had to ride through the pond.
-a dual-slalom downhill dirt course, in which there were two bermed lines side-by-side and you picked the one you included as part of your lap.
-The Ball Pit. You rode through about 20 exercise balls as spectators kicked and threw them at you.
-Hand-ups on course: By the time the race ended I had effectively drank two beers, had a powdered donut, and taken a shot of whiskey, just from stopping to drink what was being held out for me.

Oh, and you're doing all of this in costume/ridiculous attire, so I was wearing a sequined dress that basically made me a human disco ball.

Add to this that all of my best Portland friends were out there doing it, too (including Pizza Man), the sun was out/it wasn't raining, and every single person was having the time of their lives... it was the perfect combination of all of my favorite things.


Amazing. Just amazing.
 
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So this is how I'm going to be staying in shape this winter ... #gofasturnleft

(gotta love Vienna, it's like 50 euros for the year to have access to a real Olympic class velodrome)

 
track scares me. good for you, though!

Also- Vad: SVEN.
 
lbE08 said:
MORE FEELINGS ABOUT BIKES BEING THE BEST.

This past weekend I participated in/spectated the Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championship, which was held here in Portland for the first time in a number of years. I cannot even begin to explain the mayhem that took place over the course of two days, but these photos from yesterday's final event capture some of the craziness (I don't know the person who took these, but he got some good shots):

https://goo.gl/photos/sYhDZFpcx1oJr1Ud9

One of the COOLEST things about the weekend is that Sven Nys showed up to participate. For context, this is the equivalent of Michael Jordan strolling up and asking if he can join your pick-up game, or Stan Lee walking into Comic con (comicon?), or Michael Phelps showing up to a local swim meet. Really and truly, the only person in the world I think I'd be more excited to meet is Michelle Obama (and that's only because I've already met Chrissie Wellington). Anyway, nobody except maybe 4 people knew that Sven was coming - but he was there, participated in everything (including having huge exercise balls thrown at his head in the 'ball pit' on course), took lots of photos, and seemingly had a great time with the festivities. Since retiring, he's using his fame to promote the sport as much as possible; apparently someone jokingly asked him if he wanted to come participate and without hesitation he said, "yes, absolutely." So that was that.

Anyway, I am basically sitting in my chair this morning with a huge grin on my face, and randomly laughing to myself as I remember a particular aspect of the course or event.
Highlights include:
-A Le Mans style start, in which you put your bike down, then go back to the start line and at the gun you have to sprint for your bike and grab it/start from there. The catch was we put our bikes on the opposite side of a corn field and had to plow through that to get to our bikes.
-a stripper bus shortcut, in which you paid a dollar, someone took your bike and moved it down course for you, and you ran through a school bus with real strippers inside - effectively cutting off a little out-and-back section of the course.
-the "jump the shark" ramp into a pond, complete with inflatable shark. If you didn't take the jump, you still had to ride through the pond.
-a dual-slalom downhill dirt course, in which there were two bermed lines side-by-side and you picked the one you included as part of your lap.
-The Ball Pit. You rode through about 20 exercise balls as spectators kicked and threw them at you.
-Hand-ups on course: By the time the race ended I had effectively drank two beers, had a powdered donut, and taken a shot of whiskey, just from stopping to drink what was being held out for me.

Oh, and you're doing all of this in costume/ridiculous attire, so I was wearing a sequined dress that basically made me a human disco ball.

Add to this that all of my best Portland friends were out there doing it, too (including Pizza Man), the sun was out/it wasn't raining, and every single person was having the time of their lives... it was the perfect combination of all of my favorite things.


Amazing. Just amazing.
Click to expand...

This is truly glorious. The cyclocross is MUCH too serious in most places these days.

If I'm going to put my heartrate within a gnat's ass of it's max and then hold it there for 45 minutes while riding a highly inappropriate bike across mud and water, there better effing be cold beer hand-ups and highly inappropriate attire encouraged.
 
b45aa82a-2f95-40e9-8bb7-9da9457003f0_zps1miwt7ue.jpg
 
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That's an outstanding photo, leebs. The guy on the right is in awe of your awesomeness...
 
Dkin said:
That's an outstanding photo, leebs. The guy on the right is in awe of your awesomeness...
Click to expand...

hahaha, that's a friend of mine, he was heckling the sh!t out of me.
 
I have a dilemma regarding my bike that I thought I might get some advice about from the cyclists who follow this thread.

I "raced" (C and D level) for the WFU club team in 07 and 08, but now I'm exclusively recreational. My bike was a 2005 Specialized Transitions Multi-Sport, which was the bottom-end tri bike that Specialized made in those days. Basically, road bike geometry with some aerodynamic shaping to the fork and tubes (and therefore a little heavier) and clip-on aero bars. I set it up like a road bike, never used the aero bars; took them off the day after I got it home. I only got it in the first place because it was "last year's" model (i.e., heavily discounted) and had a good component set (Shimano 105, pretty good for an entry level bike), and because the geometry and such was that it was passable as a road bike.

Fast forward to 2016. The frame gets a crack in it, I don't feel safe riding it anymore. Not really with the disposable income right now (because kids), I resigned myself to doing without for a while. My wife, as a Christmas surprise, took the frame to Cycles d'Oro in Greensboro, to see if they could repair the frame. Turns out, they can replace it under warranty, replacing some minor components and getting basically a new frame to set up with my old components, all for very little $$. Yay!

Problem: they don't make the Transition line anymore, and certainly not the Multi-Sport, so the frame they sent to replace the old multi-sport is a Transition Pro, all carbon but most definitely a time-trial/triathlon bike. It must date from 2011 or 2012 at the latest, because I think that's the last time they made it.

I'm not really interested in having a triathlon bike, even if they do set it up like a road bike (with my old handlebars, for example). I will feel stupid, for one, but really the geometry is all wrong, I will feel too high and too far forward, and the handling will be off. The only reason I know about it is that my wife was savvy enough to realize that the photo they sent of the replacement frame wasn't what I had in mind, and clued me in.

So, any suggestions? My thought is that if Specialized doesn't make what was under warranty anymore, then they should give me a range of choices to best suit my needs, right? Anybody know how this works? Or should I just keep the frame and try to sell/flip it? Is there a market for that frame? I don't want to piss off the Cycles d'Oro guy (anybody know Dale?), but also don't really want a bike I don't need. I think if I could pick a frame based on my needs, it would be an Allez DSW SL Comp.

Anybody who has experience dealing with warranty claims and/or the inner workings of the dealer/bike shop dynamic that could give some insight/suggestions would be really welcome. Thanks, all.
 
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Hope I'm doing this right: here's a picture that was sent to my wife of the new frame.

IMG_0019.jpg
 
johnny miles said:
I have a dilemma regarding my bike that I thought I might get some advice about from the cyclists who follow this thread.

Anybody who has experience dealing with warranty claims and/or the inner workings of the dealer/bike shop dynamic that could give some insight/suggestions would be really welcome. Thanks, all.
Click to expand...

I've gone through the warranty cycle with Trek a few times. Went pretty much same as you. I'd simply go see Dale and tell him that you're wanting to ride road only and ask him what he'd recommend. He resells used frames in house. He understands cyclist's preferences change/move.

Last thought, I routinely go on long group rides with folks on an aero bike and it's fine. Just don't put huge Zipp 808's on there and ride in a group. So.. you could always just keep the bike you've got and go ride.
 
New Bike Day!

Just picked up a Ghost Nila Carbon LC 5.
Carbon hardtail, 27.5 wheels, fox fork with 100mm tires, 2x11 XT.
 
WhatUTalkinBout Willis said:
I've gone through the warranty cycle with Trek a few times. Went pretty much same as you. I'd simply go see Dale and tell him that you're wanting to ride road only and ask him what he'd recommend. He resells used frames in house. He understands cyclist's preferences change/move.

Last thought, I routinely go on long group rides with folks on an aero bike and it's fine. Just don't put huge Zipp 808's on there and ride in a group. So.. you could always just keep the bike you've got and go ride.
Click to expand...

I'm presently going through this with a Scott Foil. I've had two crack in the very same spot after about 7,000 miles of riding. The first time took a really long time to sort out; this time was relatively painless and I should be up and riding in a week or so. As suggested above, I'd go talk it out with the shop. Make sure they know you were using the old bike primarily as a regular road bike. If you end up with the TT bike and take it on group rides, I'd recommend just staying in the back of the group and not getting mixed up in the middle or front. Good luck!
 
What's the problem with TT bikes in group rides? I've heard they're often not allowed.
 
bym051d said:
What's the problem with TT bikes in group rides? I've heard they're often not allowed.
Click to expand...

This is the feedback I've heard from people and experienced in others after leading multiple group rides from a triathlon shop in which TT bikes WERE allowed:
1. If you're riding in aero or ever tempted to, your hands are no longer at the brakes and you can't react. Bad things can happen.
2. ...so the natural solution is "don't ride in aero" but then the geometry of the bike makes you really twitchy/not very fluid in your handling, which is also dangerous in a group setting.
3. "Triathletes and TT cyclists are used to riding alone and suck at riding in groups." (this was what one road team had to say about triathletes in general, even on road bikes, in group riding situations... sadly, it's often true).

Obviously you can successfully ride a TT bike in a group ride, but for the most part it makes others really nervous for the aforementioned things. Many groups have a blanket "no tt bikes allowed on group rides" or if you have aero bars you're just not allowed to ride in them. Either way, I hate riding my TT bike as a road bike because the geometry/handling sucks (compared to my road/cross bikes).
 
Thanks for the reflections. The bike shop owner basically says there is no getting Specialized to budge on which frame they send as a replacement, which is frustrating, and that they'll get my position replicated on the new bike pretty well. I suppose I'll give it a few rides, but if the handling/positioning doesn't feel right, I think my only option will be to try to sell the frame and get a road frame instead. Which is a hassle for me that I wish Specialized had the flexibility to take care of. I would've gladly accepted a less "nice" or valuable frame that better suits my needs (i.e., something from the Allez line) than to have to go through this.
 
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