Bicycles
 

This might belong in The Back Page, but that board seems to be focused more on professional sports, so...

My dad is a total bike fanatic. He's almost 60 years old, but he still goes on 50+ mile rides with people half his age, and keeps up with them just fine too. He rides around on a top of the line Colnago that's at least as old as I am...it's a really pretty bike, painted in the colors of the Italian flag, and modified with all sorts of really expensive extra parts. Even the tires on it were special-ordered...he wanted them to be in the colors of the Italian flag to match the frame. His secondary bike? A carbon-fiber Specialized that's still worth more than a lot of nice used cars.

The scariest thing about all of his bike fanaticism is...it's starting to rub off on me. Eep!

Right now, I'm using a beat-up old Schwinn Sprint as my main mode of transportation. It was a freebie, and it's not too bad, but it has a lot of problems that make it annoying to rely on. It's a guy's frame, and I'm pretty tall (about 5'9"), so it's actually a bit small for my body. The chain's fallen off of the front and rear gears twice in the past two weeks...having to stop for a couple of minutes while rushing between classes and getting your hands covered in nasty black grease is so annoying! It's not really safe to ride, either. It rained all last night, and while I was riding to class this morning, the brakes just kind of quit working while I was rolling towards an intersection. I managed to kind of slide to a stop, but I almost had a heart attack...not to mention a few broken bones and a trip to the hospital!

After that near-accident, I'm quite interested in buying a good-quality new bicycle, and I'd be happy to pay for something that'll last as long as my dad's Colnago has...but I'm not sure what kind of bike to buy, though. I really love flying around on race bikes, but I wouldn't mind a hybrid bike...one of those would probably be more comfortable and practical for carrying around groceries and stuff, anyways. If anyone here knows a lot about bikes, I'd really love to hear some suggestions or ideas on what I should be looking for!

...by the way, just what is the difference between men's and women's bikes? I've apparently been riding around on guy's bikes for my whole life...?

I've been told that the difference is a male's bike has a horizontal crotch bar thing, while the female version is slanted down.

As far as I can tell, the only real point of the "barless" women's bike is to prevent scandalous upskirt shots when you swing your leg over it to get on. I guess if you're riding arounnd in a skirt or dress that might be a concern, but personally I'd like to have something to keep me from dropping towards the ground should I crash and slide forward off the seat, even if that something is going to impact my groin.

I hate urban bicyclists. They think they're completely entitled to clog up lanes and when cars try to pass them, they get all angry and shit like you're trying to kill them. Which is probably true, I constantly have this inane urge to run them over.

They're like cockroaches, except slower.

Yeah and I liked to bike when I was a kid but I lived in the suburbs so it's was more endearing.

Eh? Why? Almost everyone here stays on the sidewalks most of the time anyways, and it's not really hard to pass a bicycle...I've never seen a bicyclist who tries to block traffic, and I don't think they'd last long versus a Hummer if they tried!

I can see why something like Critical Mass would be so annoying, though. That seems really silly (and kind of dumb) to me...how is annoying everyone on the road, including other bicyclists who are trying to get to work, class, or the store going to make people support bicyclists' rights at all?

So doesn't he know? Or have bike-crazy friends who know?

If you go into a professional, specialist bike store, you could ask the clerks for help. Know what you're going to be using it for and that determines the quality, tire thickness, etc. you need. You could also see how much it would cost to get your current bike repaired - if it's just the chain and rusted parts it might be salvageable.

If you just wanted to drive around for fun, personally I'd buy a good quality mountain bike from a garage sale, make repairs, and use that. Won't give you top performance but it'll be ok and grass-ready. If you're serious, or have a long commute, then obviously you gotta step up the quality and consider a different bike-type.

How cute, you live in a city with sidewalks. Unfortunately, San Francisco sidewalks are for pedistrians and drivers have to wrestle the already crowded streets with the multitude of bike freaks.

The thing about bicyclists is that they know you wouldn't dare run them over and kill them so they take their sweet time in the middle of the traffic lane.

Yeah, well better than CLOGGING UP THE ATMOSPHERE

WITH FUMES


High-five, my green friends, am I right?

Oh, I have a bike question. What's with the various wheel/frame sizes, and what should I be looking at at 5'7''?

It's so that horny boys can't sneak a peek up girls's skirts when they mount.

I use a mountain/city hybrid to cruise around campus. Which is a blast by the way. A great way to wake up on the way to class is weaving in and out of rivers of pedestrians. (the only ones who get hit are the pedestrians who se you and stop in the middle of walking) But, I'd get a race bike if I actually wanted to do anything competitive or ride for exercise.

Ah, I'm definitely dragging him along if I buy something...he knows the owners of almost every bike store within 50 miles, so he could probably even get me a discount at some shops! The only problem is that he'll probably spend hours in back chatting with the mechanics...or that he'll buy some terrifyingly expensive bike while he's there.

I would get my current bike fixed up, but a full tune-up (new brakes, new chain, possibly new wheels and shifters) would cost more than half of what a basic aluminum Trek hybrid bike costs...and the Trek would be lighter and a lot nicer to ride.