Bicyclettes

[canice]

those paul cranks are really nice looking, but the cranks and chainring are a dedicated set (ie: not the typical 130/144 bcd 5-armed spider cranks).

iros are great bang for buck. but the mark v is plain 4130 steel, which i have discovered on my own frame..... is a bit of a fucking tank.

[stuntastic]

Thats why I havent bought/looked for that crank set... Some day...

IROs are nice. A couple of buddies of mine ride em, they really love em.

I actually thought about getting riser bars... PASS...

[UCD]

Yeah that's a pretty clean chain ring.

http://velospace.org/node/522

I remember seeing that chain ring on that bike!

Anyway's, I hear good things about those IRO's as well, there's a guy from Davis riding a Jamie Roy, white frame with black components, sick lookin thing.

As for I, I'm going to hook up my pista with an ultegra front brake. Just gotta find the right brake lever that I can put on the top of my drops and have it pull enough cable for a road calliper. Gotta preserve my health ya know? Hahaha.

Hey Stunt, did you have Nitto 021 on your bike? I was thinking about those but with the stock bianchi stem, it seems like its gona fuck with my reach on the bike.

[goldengloves]

Yea I have heard good things from the IRO's as well.

The 4130 is why I am not going to go with the Mark V, I figure for the extra money I can go for the Angus frame and get the Reynolds 631.

Also, anyone familar with the phil hubs? I have had good experience with Surly, but wondering why the phil's are so much more?

[stuntastic]

HAPPY DAYS.

UCD

The Nitto Pursuit bullhorns? I had those on my bike. The reach wasnt too bad with the Pista stem. Im extremely used to it. Been wanting to get a shorter stem for a while, finally got it. And the ride feels completely different. Aside that its a different bike, of course

Anyways.

First thing I did wen I got up, was call the bike shop locally, and see if they carried bottom brackets for Pistas. They told me they did, got there... No go...

Pissed off, and in desperate need to ride... I bought MORE fuckin parts... Was it worth it? Yes... But my pockets are hurtin...

Got a Shimano bottom bracket, and a black Shimano crank set. The chain ring it came with (53t) was too big. They were able to use mine from my Pista. Looks real clean.

Also got some cheapo Riser bars. Dude wouldnt cut them any shorter, so gonna get them chopped off again later.

Anyways...

PICS! or pic.

Detailed pics later. Ima go ride

Rain stopped for a bit.

Edit* Nevermind. Its raining. Taking detailed pics now.

[goldengloves]

Lovin' the bike stunt. Some ourlys would look good on those riser bars. Glad to see it didn't take you too long to get back riding.

[stuntastic]

Thanks. I plan on getting some Ourys for some drop downs.

I really need to get the barts chopped some more, it feels and looks weird with them being so far out.

It felt weird to ride tho... I couldnt ride as fast as before, my muscles have been on a break... Too long of a break. And I havent tried to skid on this bike yet. When I came out of the shop, the seat was pushed forward a lot, but comfortable. Hopefully the rain stops soon.

[MilSpex]

2007: fixies = razor scooters..?

[stuntastic]

The first razor or the upgraded ones? I really didnt kno the difference, but if there is one, no one wouldve really noticed.

[Ryan]

happy days indeed! nice bike

[canice]

2007: fixies = razor scooters..?

mil, i thought you were interested in buying a fixed gear bike... always gotta be the grouch, don't ya?

[stuntastic]

Thanks Ryan.

Just got the bars chopped off more.

I cant wait for the rain to go away...

[MilSpex]

mil, i thought you were interested in buying a fixed gear bike... always gotta be the grouch, don't ya?

I definately am considering it. It looks just plain fun. One thing I`m considering is being late to the party. My friends ride and is it gonna be like I get one and then they all stop because its not `cool` anymore? I`m pretty sure everyone in Japan only rides coz HF does anyway...

[canice]

i think fixed gear is headed the way of skateboarding (ie: mass popularity and commercial exploitation) but that shouldn't be a deterrent. it's just a mode of transportation, but it's more fun getting there, you know?

personally i hope lots of people in japan stop riding, sell their njs-approved bikes on ebay, so the prices will finally depreciate, and i can purchase a keirin frame.

[UCD]

lol. fixies are a fun and intense ride i must say. no emissions and it makes ya feel good, can't complain about that. perfect for me to get around town and to campus. gears are still cool though, i was riding an old '75-'77 raleigh grand prix, tons of fun, nice and heavy, the only thing's the frame's to big for me...

nice bike stuntastic. hope to hear it how it's ride compares with the pista. how much did the pake + components set you back? i know the pake's sort of a budget frame.

goldengloves, don't know why phil hubs are a bit more expensive but i think you can get some decent shimano hubs or whatever your heart may desire and not have to worry too much about it. bike components can be a whole load of bullshit sometimes... once you get into that dura-ace stuff, you just might be paying for the weight difference (though you may be into that) and not necessarily a quality/performance difference. shimano's got so much to their component lines... sora, tiagra, 105, ultegra, dura ace where does it end? haha. keep us posted on that IRO though!

[canice]

WTF? if there's anything you should invest in on a bike, it's your hubs.

bearings are small, and may look the same to the naked eye, but the quality makes all the difference in the world. my quando hub feels like the bearings are made mashed together shavings of scrap metal, but i've ridden on miche primatos, campy pista, dura-ace and all sorts of other bikes way better than mine, and you can feel it the second you start pedaling. even turning the cranks by hand, you feel less resistance and smoother rolling.

i've also ridden geared road bikes with a sora/tiagra gruppo vs full ultegra. the main difference is weight, but also response and smoothness, no hesitating your pedals while your rear derailleur shifts.

[UCD]

WTF? if there's anything you should invest in on a bike, it's your hubs.

bearings are small, and may look the same to the naked eye, but the quality makes all the difference in the world. my quando hub feels like the bearings are made mashed together shavings of scrap metal, but i've ridden on miche primatos, campy pista, dura-ace and all sorts of other bikes way better than mine, and you can feel it the second you start pedaling. even turning the cranks by hand, you feel less resistance and smoother rolling.

i've also ridden geared road bikes with a sora/tiagra gruppo vs full ultegra. the main difference is weight, but also response and smoothness, no hesitating your pedals while your rear derailleur shifts.

yeah, agreed. i'm not familiar with phil hubs in particular, but in all practicality theres no reason to be running dura-ace/record hubs which will set you back a ton when you can get quality hubs for a lot less -- unless your lance, serious about racing, or serious about having a bike that has full dura-ace/record.

shit hubs are shit hubs, but i think goldenglove will be golden with some IRO hubs.

maybe ill grab a dura ace chain to say i got dura ace, haha.

[blank]

ive always ridden a regular bike throughout the city but i'm thinking of switching to a single speed. not a fixed gear, but a single speed, maybe a specialized langster.

thoughts on the transition? thoughts on riding a single speed in the city?

[goldengloves]

Canice-thanks for the input. Same thing is true with skateboarding, better bearings certainly do make up a big difference. I'm sure I'll be set with the IRO hubs, but if I get the itch I might try and go for something like a phil or Surly, that's more or less why I was wondering what the big price difference is. It's almost $200 seperating the two!

I'm also going to be looking into making my own hub. I have all the access to cnc machines, anodizing, and bearings so I'll check up on that sometime next week. I'll have to order a phil or campy to see what makes those tick and then I'll work on the CAD file.

[UCD]

Canice-thanks for the input. Same thing is true with skateboarding, better bearings certainly do make up a big difference. I'm sure I'll be set with the IRO hubs, but if I get the itch I might try and go for something like a phil or Surly, that's more or less why I was wondering what the big price difference is. It's almost $200 seperating the two!

I'm also going to be looking into making my own hub. I have all the access to cnc machines, anodizing, and bearings so I'll check up on that sometime next week. I'll have to order a phil or campy to see what makes those tick and then I'll work on the CAD file.

200 is quite the price jump!

makin your own hubs?! that is awesome, then you can hook it up with some goldenglove hubs, haha.

[canice]

i don't mean going all out for a full DA bike for the name's sake. chains and hubs are apples and oranges! there is a greater chance of snapping your chain than snapping a flange off your hub. but a hub is ridden day in/day out, and since it's attached to your rims in a wheelbuild and can be transferred between bikes, you may as well make it last. did i mention that a good hub is smooth like butter?

other considerations like:

- thread quality (so you don't strip the damn thing when you skid/skip, or even putting on a new cog)

- axles (so they don't bend under the torque of wrenching, skidding, back pressure)

- lockrings (same deal)

- locknuts (don't slip under the high torque of a sudden sprint)

- flanges (holds your whole wheel together)

- sealed construction (so shit won't sneak in and erode your hub from the inside out... like salt)

mean you can ride a quando hub for 2 months, and ride a phil wood for 20 years.

the only ones to stay far far away from are no names from taiwan, suzue jr. (tho the higher end suzue pro max are great) and quando. reasonably priced hubs like iro, surly and formula have pretty good reputations.

it's not like riding a bad hub feels like you're putting your life in your wheel's hands, but when you're not wasting energy just to put friction between your bearings in your goddamn quando hub (the way i feel sometimes), you spend more time enjoying the ride and being fast. basically, don't buy a shitty hub. i'm a relative noob to fixed gear riding, and i can already tell my hub sucks.

[goldengloves]

Great, thanks again Canice. So does this mean you are going to invest in a new hub soon?

[canice]

oh, the day when this bastard dies can't come fast enough... then i'm buying either miches or phils to open pros.

[stuntastic]

UCD

This whole replacement bike ran me around $800ish. Give or take.

It was a bitch. Fun... but a bitch...

My CC companies love me now... But, hopefully the money from the guy who hit me, will compensate.

Dunno if I stated in the thread already, but I got the bars chopped off some more. So a total of about 3 inches off each side. If the weather is decent (pleeeeeeeeeease) then I'll be riding tmrw. and get a feel of my bike.

The geometry of the PAKE is soo much different than my Pista. It feels smaller, making me think its gonna be a trip to skid. I tried to skid earlier today, but the bars were out there... Wasnt cool.

Shoes, Jeans, and bikes... WTF... I gotta get rid of the internet... Making my life so much harder, yet so much more fun.

[goldengloves]

Shoes, Jeans, and bikes... WTF... I gotta get rid of the internet... Making my life so much harder, yet so much more fun.

Haha, yea, if it's not one thing, it's the other. It's all so addicting that's for sure and I wish I had the patience and funds to build a custom......ahhh, maybe some day.

[UCD]

good points on the hubs.

just from a practical standpoint i always like to point out the way bike components are marketed. after a certain point you merely pay for weight differences instead of quality/performance. a 105 or ultegra brake calliper is going to stop a bike just as well as a dura-ace calliper, yet you pay the price premium because you save 20+/- grams on the dura-ace.

you'll definitely notice differences between hubs and i do agree there are definite quality diferences -- again from a practical standpoint and my own opinion, i would not pay 400+ for a set of hubs to put on a bike i'm running on in the street and not on a track/timetrial/whatever when there are excellent quality/performance hubs at much more reasonable prices. on the same note, you're right! you definitely don't want to skip out on the hubs to the point your struggling on rollin around!

i hope you didn't think the chain statement was a little attack on you. me and my buddy are always joking that we'd throw dura-ace chains on our bikes so we can 'gloat' with all the dura-ace snobs that we're running DA as well, haha. chains are most definitely different than hubs!

stunt, cool set up you got going on there man. interesting to note that PAKE feels smaller than your pista cause the pista's got track geometry. maybe the PAKE is closer to road geometry?

you thinkin of gettin rid of your bullhorns?

[@work]

Stuntastic - Just read what happened, glad to hear you're okay. Good luck with the Pake.

Here's my Iro Jamie Roy. Stock except for the Nitto Bullhorns.

[goldengloves]

@work-The white/black combo is killer man, very clean looking bike. How do you like the IRO?

[stuntastic]

maybe the PAKE is closer to road geometry?

It isnt. It wasnt able to hold the Shimano road cranks. Gotta do some homework. Wish I can do it today... Bay Area got some craaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy high winds right now...

[@work]

@work-The white/black combo is killer man, very clean looking bike. How do you like the IRO?

Love the bike and taking the longer route to work. Couldn't be happier. Thinking of copping a Ritchey Carbon Fiber fork and a new stem next month.