Honda/Toyota of Mountain Bikes?

drphoto · « **Reply #40 on:** 14 Jul 2016, 01:47 am »

I swear. the internet is just creepy sometimes. Here, we were talking bikes and then I go to CNN and this pops up on an ad

https://www.speedx.com/en/leopardal/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=D-SpeedX-LeopardAL-Lead-i

It does look interesting for a beginner. Drop handles, narrow saddle...check. But fat tires like he wants. Not sure what they mean by affordable.

Sorry a little off topic, but back in the day when I was a hardcore roadie, I always wanted the skinny HP tires that would go fast. I always longed for tubular glue on's 'cause that's what the pros used, but even back in the 90's the clinchers were getting good. And light once they got Kevlar beads. I think I ran Specialized, but that was a long time ago.??

drphoto · « **Reply #41 on:** 14 Jul 2016, 01:54 am »

Sorry OP this is way off post but funny (maybe) bike story. Long time ago I was on a group ride. I was maybe 20 mi out from home. Went around a corner and ran over broken glass. I shredded both tires and ended up in a ditch. I got sorta banged up but nothing serious. Between all of us we did not have enough patch kits to fix all the punctures. So I started walking. In cleated shoes. Not fun. I got maybe 5 miles. I swallowed my pride and went to a strangers house and asked them to call my then girlfriend who lived in the area to come pick me up. Nice folks to help me out.

*Scotty* · « **Reply #42 on:** 14 Jul 2016, 02:39 am »

Which brings up the subject of air. I always bring two inner tubes with me and one of these,
Innovations Air Chuck Elite Inflator

and some of these

Saves a lot of aggravation, if there is anything left of the tire, you will be able to finish the ride.
Beats the hell out one of the those frame pumps which is worthless for a MTB tire flat anyway.
Scotty

Doublej · « **Reply #43 on:** 14 Jul 2016, 10:29 am »

This looks promising.

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/mountain/kuma-291-deorealivio-3x9/

drphoto · « **Reply #44 on:** 14 Jul 2016, 10:35 am »

oh, the crash was on road. And obviously back in the the day before cell phones were common. I think I had one, but it was one of those motorola brick things that was the size of a WW2 walkie talkie!

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #45 on:** 14 Jul 2016, 04:15 pm »

Quote from: Doublej on 14 Jul 2016, 10:29 am

This looks promising.

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/mountain/kuma-291-deorealivio-3x9/

That looks a like a good buy with good equipment, but it is not a good cruising bike. The 40T crankset is a drawback for riding on the street due to the marked increase in RPM's for cruising and worse for speed. You could always upgrade it to a hybrid crankset with a 48T or 44T 9 speed Acera or Alivio crank in the future for about $30-$50.

Also, the frame may be small if you are 5'11" or taller, although MTN bike frames tend to be smaller.

REI has a few nice bikes-

https://www.rei.com/product/875011/novara-buzz-x-bike-2016

https://www.rei.com/product/883667/ghost-panamao-x-4-bike-2016

And here is a really nice fast, light weight (21lbs) upright bike with good components for comparison. The carbon fork will help with vibration. Put on a suspension seat post and 32c tires for more comfort. It would be a great cruiser. The first one is an excellent buy and better than the second one. Both have road bike gearing. The light weight will make it more enjoyable to ride.

https://www.rei.com/product/891909/cannondale-quick-speed-3-bike

and another

https://www.rei.com/product/892503/cannondale-quick-speed-2-disc-bike-2016

Doublej · « **Reply #46 on:** 14 Jul 2016, 11:31 pm »

Which raises a question for the ignorant (e.g me). How to does on compare the gearing on one bike to the gearing on another bike?

Today I have a bike with 26" wheels, 46/36/24T on the front and 13/15/17/19/21/28T on the freewheel. If I want the equivalent range on a 27.5 or 29 what's the math? Does crank length enter into the equation?

Folsom · « **Reply #47 on:** 14 Jul 2016, 11:49 pm »

Forget about it. It's trivial when you have that many gears. The lowest will be too low and the highest too high 99.9% of the time.

*Scotty* · « **Reply #48 on:** 15 Jul 2016, 12:51 am »

If you remember "ten speeds", some of the industry's newer MTBs are 11 or 12 speed rear cassettes and a single chain ring. This saves weight and results in a better chain line than a double or triple chain ring.
I am looking forward to converting my triple chain ring grupo to an 11 speed SRAM setup later this year.
Scotty

DaveC113 · « **Reply #49 on:** 15 Jul 2016, 12:59 am »

Quote from: *Scotty* on 15 Jul 2016, 12:51 am

If you remember "ten speeds", some of the industry's newer MTBs are 11 or 12 speed rear cassettes and a single chain ring. This saves weight and results in a better chain line than a double or triple chain ring.
I am looking forward to converting my triple chain ring grupo to an 11 speed SRAM setup later this year.
Scotty

SRAM 1x11 is great, got the whole XX1 setup when it came out... luckily I got a pretty major industry discount as it was a $1600 drivetrain. The new XX1 12sp is just out this year, but I'll stick to my 11sp as I no longer get the discount.

The billet cromo steel cassettes are pretty amazing.

Folsom · « **Reply #50 on:** 15 Jul 2016, 01:22 am »

This is pretty cool, http://www.whiteind.com/double-double

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #51 on:** 15 Jul 2016, 02:43 pm »

Quote from: Doublej on 14 Jul 2016, 11:31 pm

Which raises a question for the ignorant (e.g me). How to does on compare the gearing on one bike to the gearing on another bike?

Today I have a bike with 26" wheels, 46/36/24T on the front and 13/15/17/19/21/28T on the freewheel. If I want the equivalent range on a 27.5 or 29 what's the math? Does crank length enter into the equation?

I would not worry too much about equivalent gearing. A bike with 700c wheels is going to be faster than one with 26" wheels. Most bikes have a rear cassette ranging from 11-34 and anywhere in between with the smallest gear being 11,12 or 13T and the largest 26,28, 30, 32 and 34 with the larger numbers being used for hills. Also, I find triple cranks to be useless unless you will be doing steep hills or mountain biking. You can use a double crank and a wide range cassette like an 12-30, 32 or 34T.

Crank length comes into play with the height of the person and size of the bike. It does somewhat affect gearing. Most women's bikes have 165mm-170mm crank arm lengths. And mens range from 170-180mm.

This might help-

http://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/components/what-you-need-to-know-about-crankarm-length

https://www.google.com/search?q=crank+length+chart&espv=2&biw=1242&bih=606&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwithv2S2fXNAhVY8mMKHeZkDUgQsAQIKA&dpr=1.1

And this Sheldon Brown web site listed below has a lot of articles about gearing, sizing and bike parts. It is a great resource to learn about bikes-

http://sheldonbrown.com/bicycleGears.html

SoCalWJS · « **Reply #52 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 07:08 pm »

Quote from: SoCalWJS on 13 Jul 2016, 12:40 am

I'm following this thread with some interest.

I need desperately to start doing something to get a bit of exercise, and I keep thinking of getting a bicycle and giving it a shot. I rode quite a bit when I was a kid and a teen, but stopped after that. I bought a cheapo Mountain bike from Costco many years ago, but didn't like it very much - I lived out in the sticks and there was no place to ride. Now I live in a nice little community with great weather and planty of places to bike. I thought about a road bike, but yikes - $$$$$$.

I finally figured out you could get a Mountain bike and put some more street friendly tires on (I would be doing 95% of my riding on pavement), but even a used decent Mountain bike seems to cost a fortune. (I've checked the local CL, and a decent used bike goes for north of $1k)

I'll keep checking out this thread and see what comes out.

Quick update:

After reading through responses and some research, decided a Hybrid was the way to go. Looked at a Trek Allant at one shop, then a Cannondale Quick 5 at another. Did some more research.

Just bought a Trex FX 7.2 20" frame this morning, now heading back to pick it up after kickstand and water bottle added (was in my little car this morning - no easy way of bringing it back after the Costco run had filled it)

Hope I can stick to it. I've been enjoying retirement/easy life for too long. I love my BBQ, and it's starting to show.

Early B. · « **Reply #53 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 07:37 pm »

I just bought an ultra cheap Nishiki 7-speed mountain bike strictly for exercise. I wanted to go cheap just to see if I'd like it. I haven't been on a bike in over 30 years. Gonna ride it around the neighborhood and on some nearby trails. The bike hasn't even arrived yet and I've already bought a bigger seat for it.

stlrman · « **Reply #54 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 09:52 pm »

I'm not a huge guy by any means , but I found a seat like this way more comfy for riding trails.:

The small little ones hurt my ass after ten minutes.

Oh and there are cool phone apps to gage your distance , map your ride etc. you can then post it to Facebook,
Joe Smow just rode 5.8 miles, and it shows a map of the ride I believe.

Congrats on the new bike!!

charmerci · « **Reply #55 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 09:58 pm »

Quote from: stlrman on 19 Jul 2016, 09:52 pm

I'm not a huge guy by any means , but I found a seat like this way more comfy for riding trails.:

The small little ones hurt my ass after ten minutes.

Congrats on the new bike!!

I'm glad you found something that you like, however, it's not for everyone. They have seats in all sizes. I personally could never use something like that. (I spin too fast so there would be too much rubbing.) To each their own!

Folsom · « **Reply #56 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 10:44 pm »

Looks like a dead prostate to me.

RDavidson · « **Reply #57 on:** 20 Jul 2016, 01:53 am »

Quote from: *Scotty* on 15 Jul 2016, 12:51 am

If you remember "ten speeds", some of the industry's newer MTBs are 11 or 12 speed rear cassettes and a single chain ring. This saves weight and results in a better chain line than a double or triple chain ring.
I am looking forward to converting my triple chain ring grupo to an 11 speed SRAM setup later this year.
Scotty

That's cool. I might have to do the same at some point. I find myself sticking to a single chain ring for practically all my riding, even though I have 3 chain rings to work with (if I want to use them). Right now they're nothing but added weight and complexity.

Doublej · « **Reply #58 on:** 20 Jul 2016, 10:34 am »

When people tell me they want a lighter bike I say, then why don't you lose 10 pounds?

JohnR · « **Reply #59 on:** 20 Jul 2016, 10:40 am »

Logic. The pest of true enthusiasts.