Bicyclettes

[canice]

your front derailleur is misaligned. you can usually fix it by screwing the tension pins until it doesn't do it anymore. down side is, since you generally adjust the front derailleur before the back, it may require you to fiddle with the back one too. it's not hard, really.

http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html#front

that said, if it "re-broke" itself maybe it's happening cause you pedal hard while shifting. don't do that. it's not good for your bike.

[zelah]

well excuse the hell out of me, canice all going pro wrench

[__3xL]

By new york bike shop trackstar in cooperation with daves quality meats aka DQM

[RAISED BY WOLVES]

By new york bike shop trackstar in cooperation with daves quality meats aka DQM

That right there is a laugh and a half.

I remember when trackstar opened, one of my boys who I delivered with was like "yo man, there's this place opening that's like a skate shop but for bikes!" Turned out it was trackstar. I've never been in there, cause i typically hate people who are too cultish about one particular thing, but it seems pretty allright. Cosigning a bike like this is a mistake though.

I built my first track bike when I was a young boy of 15. I did a highschool internship at this place called "recycle-a-bike" in the LES, and one of the guys who worked there helped me build a red Fuji "Finest" into a fixie with the hugest fucking gear ratio I've ever seen. I mashed that thing for three years straight with nothing but a bit of truing, and flat patching. Left it out in Portland with a buddy when I couldn't get the left peddle off to put it in a bike box. Turns out it's getting put to good use out there anyhow.

I now have an old Lotus track frame with a fork in need of a build...Just need to take the next free $300 I get and put it to good use...

[Parker669]

i'm looking to grab a bike for city commuting. don't really care much about the subculture, just want something fun to ride and reasonable. I can get a 2007 schwinn madison for $375. Should i pick it up or go another route?

[polishmike]

I might have one for sale

[Ryan]

i dunno if im just not looking hard enough but i cant find a madison in NYC for the life of me..

i want.

[zelah]

i'm looking to grab a bike for city commuting. don't really care much about the subculture, just want something fun to ride and reasonable. I can get a 2007 schwinn madison for $375. Should i pick it up or go another route?

375 wtf yes buy

i thought they were closer to 500

[Parker669]

they're 535. found a place thats selling em for 375 tho.

[dystaind]

is it online? that's quite the deal.

[mike lowrey]

dear bike fanatics, I'm looking to get a new bike this spring and I'm looking for ideas. something in the $500 range would be good, can be a bit more but depends. for the record I'm really no expert and have looked at bikes for only a shortwhile now.

basically what I'm looking for is something I can find in Europe so smaller US manufacturers etc could be out of the question. I read through the topic and many of the brands were ones I've never heard of, so if any of you have good suggestions on that it would help me start looking. I've ridden different kind of mountain bikes in the past but decided that theres no reason to get a new one because I ride in the city all the time.

[bangbangbang]

Any recs for a helmet (is that unsf?), and since i left my bike lock at my folks' could you suggest a worthy lock?

[Ryan]

what kind of bike are you looking for? track? road? mountain? cyclocross? you should really think about what you are going to use the bike for. for $500 there are some decent choices..

i would suggest also checking out (and supporting) your Local Bike shop and ask them. definitely much better than just reading what people regurgitate what they see on bikeforums or whatever..

anyway, I'm in somwhat of the same boat, my tax return is real nice this year and i want to treat myself to a new bike, and i still have my old fatboy i want to refurb..ugh.

*personally I'm interested in the schwinn madison but im reserving judgement until i actually try one out, otherwise i think itll be a bianchi san jose..

[mike lowrey]

what kind of bike are you looking for? track? road? mountain? cyclocross? you should really think about what you are going to use the bike for. for $500 there are some decent choices..

i would suggest also checking out (and supporting) your Local Bike shop and ask them. definitely much better than just reading what people regurgitate what they see on bikeforums or whatever..

anyway, I'm in somwhat of the same boat, my tax return is real nice this year and i want to treat myself to a new bike, and i still have my old fatboy i want to refurb..ugh.

*personally I'm interested in the schwinn madison but im reserving judgement until i actually try one out, otherwise i think itll be a bianchi san jose..

road definately. I've been looking at some bianchis but the local selection is quite limited. whatever I end up getting theres a chance I might need to order it. I was also thinking of building something but I'm not familiar enough with parts yet, so I'll have to think about it..

[canice]

building is rewarding, but unless you have friends who are knowledgeable and can help you along the way, it's extremely confusing.

things you should ask yourself before you buy a bike:

- how often will i use this?

- will it be for commuting, leisure, exercise?

- what is the terrain like where you are? (lots of hills, flat, cobblestone roads, smooth asphalt?)

- how much maintenence do you want to put into it?

- what you want most from your bike: comfort, speed, aesthetics, ergonomics, reliability, bombproofness?

- and to a lesser extent: do i have to carry this thing around? (ie: on the train, up stairs to your apartment, etc)

as for helmets, i have a bell sweep. it's light as air, well ventilated, and as stylish as a bike helmet gets...

[CaptMomo]

no clue if this is relevant to mikelowrey's inquiry,

but my sister used to ride a raleigh when she was studying in london.

it has pretty decent handling and she got it relatively cheap

perhaps u could consider that brand?

[mike lowrey]

building is rewarding, but unless you have friends who are knowledgeable and can help you along the way, it's extremely confusing.

things you should ask yourself before you buy a bike:

- how often will i use this?

- will it be for commuting, leisure, exercise?

- what is the terrain like where you are? (lots of hills, flat, cobblestone roads, smooth asphalt?)

- how much maintenence do you want to put into it?

- what you want most from your bike: comfort, speed, aesthetics, ergonomics, reliability, bombproofness?

- and to a lesser extent: do i have to carry this thing around? (ie: on the train, up stairs to your apartment, etc)

thanks canice, I'm currently thinking your points over but I guess I could post my thought here too:

bike would probably be used a few times a week, maybe even more if I get back into it more as in recent years I've been a bit lazy. I'll use it for commuting mostly, in the city with pretty good roads, some hills but nothing huge. I can maintain it quite well myself as I've done that in the past.

I'd pretty much want all the things you mentioned, but the most important ones would be that its atleast somwhat light, doesn't have to bee totally featherweight but I'm really tired of the heavyass mountain bike I have. I might carry it up to my apartment but it would fit in the elevator. in addition, of course some comfort and reasonable speed (still for commuting, though), and I'd prefer a nice looking one too.

Momo, thanks, I checked raleigh and they actually have a couple of pretty good looking ones, will keep that in mind.

I was looking through a local bulleting board and noticed someone had a Trek 1500 for sale, any thoughts on Trek or this bike?

[viv1984viv]

Personally I wouldnt touch raleigh with a barge pole, not a great brand, unless you want something cheap and heavy. I dont know about their road range though. I have a mountain bike background.

Dont every buy a BMX, i bought one for commuting and although it improved my skills and looked cool, its really messed my back up.

Trek make nice bikes, you could also look at GT, Giant, Specialised...

[arge]

YO Stuntastic,

Did you get your Pista painted black ? Where and how much ?

[arge]

Also, which year is your Pista ? I'm new to the whole fixed gear scene and looking for my first fixed gear bicycle.

[Dick Danger]

dear bike fanatics, I'm looking to get a new bike this spring and I'm looking for ideas. something in the $500 range would be good, can be a bit more but depends. for the record I'm really no expert and have looked at bikes for only a shortwhile now.

basically what I'm looking for is something I can find in Europe so smaller US manufacturers etc could be out of the question. I read through the topic and many of the brands were ones I've never heard of, so if any of you have good suggestions on that it would help me start looking. I've ridden different kind of mountain bikes in the past but decided that theres no reason to get a new one because I ride in the city all the time.

I know for sure Jamis has a German distributor. I always wanted a yeti or something from santa cruz, but the only time my tires see dirt is when I push it across the lawn. I love my Jamis Coda Sport, but I only ride on streets and bike paths, and I saved $3k.

[canice]

i wouldn't buy anything like a trek 1500 if you were going to use it for daily use. someone will steal it, and the wheels aren't laced well enough for the road.

have you considered used? or maybe a hybrid (flat bars, wider tires, fender clearance, but same geometry as road)

[greentalks43]

My mid to late 80s Bianchi Brava with glow in the dark brake cable. I need to get a new set of cranks as the crank arms and spindle fused together, hopefully a set of vintage dura-ace cranks, if not dura-ace then shimano 105. As well as a new rear wheel, I am thinking Iro Dark Matter (Velocity Fusion) laced to a Phil Wood, I may as well do it right the first time. Oh and a set of pedals with clips and straps.

I have a custom IRO Mark V coming in June, it uses the same material as the EAI Bareknuckle and best of all, its only gonna run me 150+shipping from IRO directly...

[callmecarlito]

I have a custom IRO Mark V coming in June, it uses the same material as the EAI Bareknuckle and best of all, its only gonna run me 150+shipping from IRO directly...

The bfssfg group buy? isn't more of a custom angus rather than the mark v?

I got in on that too. I can't wait to build that up.

[greentalks43]

The bfssfg group buy? isn't more of a custom angus rather than the mark v?

I got in on that too. I can't wait to build that up.

You are totally right, it will be drilled for road calipers like the Mark V

[mike lowrey]

i wouldn't buy anything like a trek 1500 if you were going to use it for daily use. someone will steal it, and the wheels aren't laced well enough for the road.

have you considered used? or maybe a hybrid (flat bars, wider tires, fender clearance, but same geometry as road)

the trek was used, hence why its even close to my initial price range what do you mean about the wheels, though, not sturdy enough? I was wondering because they use the same wheels for the XO1 which is a cyclocross bike.

by the way someone had one of those for sale too, used.

[naturaljax]

I'll admit, I haven't read through this thread very much, so I aplogize in advance if this question has been discussed before.

but what's the best Pist(s?) bike and how much do they usually run?

I'm looking for an alternative to skating around campus and these have caught my eye a bit more than fixeds have, just 'cause riding fixed scares me hahaha

appreciate the help

[greentalks43]

The fixie you are referring to is the Bianchi Pista which runs about 550 new.

[doczein]

I'll admit, I haven't read through this thread very much, so I aplogize in advance if this question has been discussed before.

but what's the best Pist(s?) bike and how much do they usually run?

I'm looking for an alternative to skating around campus and these have caught my eye a bit more than fixeds have, just 'cause riding fixed scares me hahaha

appreciate the help

Pists-- Pistas-- are fixed gear bikes. You can attach a handbrake if you're scared of fixies.

They run for $580 new at the bike store around my way.

[canice]

jesus fucking christ i spent three hours grinding the shit out of my beautiful cinelli bars as i twisted, pulled and pried away at the salsa stem attached to it.

that's the last time i listen to the dude at my shop who said i should put 26.4mm bars on a 25.4 stem masquerading as a 26.0. apsoidfupawj ;kasjd;fk!!!!!!!!!!!

why did i ever buy these obsolete terrible 26.4 bars?

does anyone have a set of 25.4 pursuit or track bars (38cm) they want to sell?