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Hengelo

Hengelo

Cleared for Takeoff
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Aug 31, 2021
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Display Name
Hengelo
Thought this might deserve it's own thread.

What are you riding, what rides are you doing, what races are you watching, what shiny carbon tidbits are you pondering... you know the drill.
 
Wilier Astan w/Ultegra DI2. Mostly do 50-100mi/week on local rides and stretch to 50mi courses for local charity rides. Did the LB100 last month, have Tour de Boerne next month, and the Austing Beer & Bikes ride in the fall. I haven’t really filled in the rest because I’m waiting on news for this year’s Real Ale ride.

Missed most of Giro d’Italia, but with Cavendish retired, I’m having a hard time finding a team/rider to follow. I’ll likely catch the daily updates for TDF. I’ve been to both GdI and TDF as a spectator and that’s been fun.

Reformed triathlete so I ride & swim since giving up running. Started as a cyclist in the late 80s and moved to Tris in 1997 and did that solidly for about 15 years; peaked as a middling regional age grouper, then life happened and had to give up running shortly after retiring from the Air Force.
 
Nice to meet you :)
Another reformed triathlete here; ain’t nobody with kids got time for that lol.

Switched to road racing for a decade or so before discovering cx; there was no looking back after that.

Sadly I don’t live near that scene anymore so it is a steady diet of gravel with a little mtn from time to time.

Women’s pro racing is absolutely lit right now/ mtn/cx/road are all fantastic to watch.
 
My goal most of the year is 300mi/mo. I ride a Giant Contend, all aluminum, with the stock Shimano components, except for Garmin S3 pedals. Y'all's derailleurs probably are worth more than my bike. :D I finally upgraded to this one from my thirty-year-old MTB when I decided to ride HTH100 three years ago. I've been considering upgrading to carbon, but I've ridden several 100km rides and RAGBRAI with this one, in addition to HTH, and I just can't think of a good reason to replace it.
 
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I like biking. And flying. And want to do more of both! Next goals on the short list are to ride the whole Maah Daah Hey (MTB), Beartooth Pass to Cooke City and back from Red Lodge (road), and the Natchez Trace Parkway (road)

Mountain bike: Pivot Mach 4 SL
Road Bike: Scott Addict RC15
Fat Bike: Otso Voytek

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My daily rider is a Cervelo 22 Caledonia, with DI2 Ultegra. My backup (old bike) is a Specialized Tarmac Mid Compact with a SRAM groupset. It's basically the entry level Tarmac. I usually average about 3,000 miles a year.
 
I’m cheap. Zizzo Urbano folding bike that fits in the car or the plane. I used to own a Jamis hybrid, but the Zizzo is so comfortable that I ditched the hybrid and now just ride the folding bike. I wouldn’t do 100 miles on it, but my rides are generally around town or less than 30 miles.
 
Pictures of bikes please, I’d like to get back into cycling. I had a trek hybrid bicycle before. Now wanting a road bike but need somewhere to ride without the potholes.
 
mandm said:
Pictures of bikes please, I’d like to get back into cycling. I had a trek hybrid bicycle before. Now wanting a road bike but need somewhere to ride without the potholes.
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Only change has been to swap out to a Selle SMP saddle.
 
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AlleyCat67 said:
I’m cheap...
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I put 100 miles/week for 10 years or so on a $150 bike from Costco. I bike into work when the weather is okay so I put in a lot of miles. A cheap bike is partially because I'm cheap, but also because I park it in downtown Charlotte where theft is possible, which happened last year with the bike that replaced my Costco wonder machine.
 
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Hmm, ok.

Bike 1 is a Specialized Crux 10R that started life as a bottom of the line Crux Comp. After 2500mi, it was apparent that a 1x drivetrain and tractor tires weren’t going to cut it with the roadies I was trying to keep up with, so at that time I rebuilt the bike. I went with a full SRAM Force AXS ETAP 2x drivetrain, Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels, and Continental 5000 S TR tubeless tires. 10,000mi later, this bike is still smooth and fast, a great endurance bike.

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Bike 2 is my rain/gravel/travel/backup bike, a Lynskey GR300 (yes, another gravel frame), and it’s a very low spec price point bike. I do run the Rene Herse Snoqualmie Pass 44mm smoothies on it, they roll well enough to keep up with the roadies yet also do well on gravel.

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Bike 3 is a Public D8i, basically an American take on a Dutch style commuter bike. We live in a city and we use our city bikes to ride to bars, restaurants, music venues, and the grocery stores, It’s bulletproof wheels have survived more pothole encounters than I care to admit.

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My goals this year are 100mi/wk min, athough 150 is better, and 350,000ft elevation for the year. Right now I’m at 2488mi and 135,100ft elevation for the year. Big rides planned for this year: Triple Bypass, RAGBRAI, and BRAT.

I rode a lot in my late 20’s and early 30’s, then job, wife, house, family, we all knowthe story. I got back into riding about three years ago and am having a blast!
 
A recent project has been restoring a Cannondale I assembled from a frameset in the early 1980's. It was by daily rider for years, and carried me on a long ride from S FL to Washington, D.C.

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Here's a list of the original components - many a blast from the past, ordered mostly from Bike Nashbar and Performance:

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It still carries many of those components: TA Triple crankset, Campy seat post, Cinelli bars, and Modolo Brakeset for example. The original Duopar rear derailleur, saddle and pedals were long ago updated.

I recently got it out of storage and put on fresh tires and tubes, a new saddle and SPD pedals:

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My first attempt at a test ride failed when the front derailleur cable snapped on my first shift. It had rusted through inside its outer sheath. Installed a fresh cable today and will try again in the next day or so.

My newer Cannondale is a 2013 Synapse, which is still a joy to ride:

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If anyone else is going to RAGBRAI, we should have a POA meet up in one of the overnight towns.
 
Love those bikes!
@Adventure I've been wondering if I'd be able to shoehorn a bike into the back of a small plane - you've inspired me!
@FastEddieB I'm not sure there is anything cooler than a 1980's era ride like that - unless you go looking into the Eroica

Bike and Planes... so much awesome.
 
Fuji Transonic 2.5LE. Kind of not quite a good race bike, but good enough. I've built up some nice wheels for it and have Carbon for racing. Not riding anywhere near enough though. Waiting to age up for 70+. In the senior ranks you win the year you age up.
Working on my golf handicap, trying to stay in single digits. Tennis three to four times a week. Also want to fly the plane once in a while as well. Retirement is hard work. A neighbor is a hard core senior track racer and just got a new Canyon road bike. Really would like to have that or a Tarmac SL7.
 
Bikes I've owned:

2023 Cervelo 22 Caledonia (above)

Currently pushing 9K. Love this bike. The DT Swiss wheels are good enough I don't feel the need to upgrade, although some carbon options would have been nice. Issues: 1. The non-drive side crank broke after about 7K miles. Unfortunately, out of warranty. 2. The front derailleur wire connector came loose somehow. Maybe when I was cleaning the chain. I was able to get it back in and working, but it doesn't seem to be a very solid connection. Ultegra DI2 wireless 12 speed groupset.

2012 Specialized Tarmac mid compact (backup)

My first carbon bike. It's basically the entry level Tarmac of the time. It's not exactly light - it's about as tanky as you can get in carbon. Ergos were... let's just say it doesn't get ridden much anymore. I upgraded the stock DT Swiss loose bearing wheels with a nice set of Ebay Mavic Ksyriums. I was less than happy when a rear drivetrain spoke broke and found out that those particular spokes were not made anymore and are unobtainium in the bike shops and online. I am not real happy with the overpriced used beater Mavic replacement wheels the classic LBS shop hooked me up with, but it is what it is. They work. I put nearly 35K on that bike, up until the wheel broke.

1998 Raleigh M600 MTB

I really liked it, but was less than happy when the aluminum frame cracked at the headstock (2012.) Sold it for parts. If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten a steel framed MTB like a Diamondback. I'd probably still have it if I did. I can't bring myself to spring for the current generation of tanklike enormous tired full suspension MTB's.

1981 Schwinn Traveler

Post high school ride. I wish I still kept it. The ride was very nice. It wasn't particularly light but the triple crankset allowed me to tackle some steep Napa hills. The rear axle snapped. The frame was decent quality, and the Suntour groupset was reasonable quality for the time as well.

1970's Schwinn LeTour 10 spd (hand me down)

Had this for a while for college commute. It rode like a tank, and weighed like a tank. If it got hit by a car, the car would probably lose.

1977 Huffy 10 spd road bike.

High school ride. This was an exercise in how absolutely atrocious of quality a bike can be made and still function. The frame was made of formed sheet metal tubes, spot welded to the connectors. Even the derailleurs were made entirely from stampings. Think low quality backyard swing set construction but with smaller tubes. It wasn't heavy, that was a plus. After four years in a salty Caribbean environment, it pretty much ended up as a bucket of rust. For what it cost, it was all in all a decent value.

1970's Gitane youth road bike (650 mm wheels)

Jr. high ride. Great quality frame. The groupset was a bit lacking (Simplex? Some cheap French brand with a reinforced plastic rear derailleur.) It worked okay except when a pulley wheel broke. I used pops' lathe to machine a new pair out of steel and they worked fine. I also drilled out the rims to take Shrader valve tubes since Prestas were not readily available.
 
Mongoose folding bike use it on the boat. Won’t fit in the 150
 
I have a whole bunch of bikes- road, gravel, mountain. Mostly spend time on my Canyon carbon road bike, avg ~7000 miles/yr on that one alone. Amazing mtb trails where we live in northern NY state. I want to ride offroad more this year because people are crazier than ever, and road biking has gotten scary. I live in the Adirondacks, in a little town with about 457 people, and the tourons in their campers and bro-dozers hauling apartment building-sized camp trailers has become less enjoyable as I get older. I wanna keep gettin' older, if you know what I'm sayin'.
 
100%
I miss the velvet surfaces of well paved roads, but not the close passes!
 
The blue is my wife’s Trek Fuel Exe5. I always make fun of her seat! The red is my Trek Fuel EXe 9.8 carbon. The one in the back is my Fuel EX8. I alternate between the analog and the e bike. Our typical ride is 15 miles with 2500ft ish of elevation gain. I’d love to ride out west!
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Here's the bikes I ride. LOL Now I have 3 air dynns, one at home , one at the hangar and one at work. I make sure I ride one of them 6 days a week.
Then I keep the other schwinns at the hangar also. On many warm days I will ride around the neighborhood near the airport. No racing for me.
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Bikes are like cameras in that way; the one you use is the best one :)
 
Mahneuvers said:
I bike into work when the weather is okay so I put in a lot of miles.
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I tried that a bit, to save money on gas... I spent more money on calories than it ever cost me in gas. I could eat one of everything in the 7-11 next to the office when I got to work. So hungry after that ride.
 
Fiveslide said:
I tried that a bit, to save money on gas... I spent more money on calories than it ever cost me in gas. I could eat one of everything in the 7-11 next to the office when I got to work. So hungry after that ride.
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When we were stationed at Eglin and in Italy I rode to the squadron and back several times a week. I wish I could do it here, but only about half the route would be safe to do.
 
I commuted to work and back in New York for a couple of years (Brooklyn to Manhattan) because the subway was horrible. I didn’t save or lose any time, and kept wondering what the health tradeoff was between exercise and exhaust inhalation… let me tell you though the freedom I felt on a Friday afternoon watch the seething masses trapped in their cars was, as the kids say “chef’s kiss”
 
TCABM said:
When we were stationed at Eglin and in Italy I rode to the squadron and back several times a week. I wish I could do it here, but only about half the route would be safe to do.
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We were in East Beach Norfolk at the time and I worked near Town Center Va Beach. It was a horrible ride.

My job at the time was to immediately get in my company truck and be standing or walking on commercial properties in various stages of design and construction for 8-10 hours a day, then ride home. I wish I was in the same shape and had that stamina now. I didn't ride to work and then get to sit down.

It didn't take long for me to give it up and start using the car again. Then I only did it when my wife needed the car, which wasn't often.
 
Bike commuting to work in Italy sounds pretty dope, so long as you stay off the A1...
 
Fiveslide said:
I tried that a bit, to save money on gas... I spent more money on calories than it ever cost me in gas. I could eat one of everything in the 7-11 next to the office when I got to work. So hungry after that ride.
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lol! Don't forget parking is a couple hundred a month which can buy quite a few Slurpees! Most of the year my home brew hobby calorie intake more than outpaces my biking calorie burn :lol: But I hear you. Sometimes I train 15-20 hours/week and can eat whatever I want -- it's nice not having to worry. It would be almost impossible for me to get that many training hours in w/o substituting some car commute for workout time.

The other aspect I enjoy about commuting is the fact I finish ~1 audio book/week. I just finished Walter Isaacson's book on Elon Musk. I need to dig up the thread from a while back where someone said Musk is more of a Henry Ford than an Edison. Not sure I agree w/ that assertion.
 
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Hengelo said:
...let me tell you though the freedom I felt on a Friday afternoon watch the seething masses trapped in their cars was, as the kids say “chef’s kiss”
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100% agree. I absolutely love it when there's traffic. I pick out a couple cars and see how often we leap frog each other. It's a great feeling being able to make it out of town nearly as fast!
 
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TCABM said:
...only about half the route would be safe to do.
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A safe route is absolutely paramount. I have a horrible story in this regard. A guy who worked in my building introduced himself to me once as I used to park my bike in my office. He was an avid rider but felt he didn't have a safe route. He would stop by my office every now and then to talk bike stuff. One day, he came in with a map and said he thought he found a safe route and was going to give it a try. Horribly, he was killed on his very first attempt. I remember being in a hurry, glancing at the newspaper, seeing the headline that a bicyclist was killed and relaying that information to my wife (who worries enough already and so I should probably be smart enough to avoid the topic). Later in the day I had time to sit down and read the paper. It was literally a breath exhaling gut punch when I read his name. Will never forget that. A couple years later, another friend was killed not far from my route. Safe route, head on a swivel and expect cars to do the stupidest thing possible is essential.
 
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Mahneuvers said:
A safe route is absolutely paramount. … Will never forget that. A couple years later, another friend was killed not far from my route. Safe route, head on a swivel and expect cars to do the stupidest thing possible is essential.
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Horrible. A couple months back, my wife and I were riding one of our normal routes to breakfast and came across a cyclist down in the middle of the road. No cars, no damage to the bike, no visible sign of traumatic injury except his being unconscious with blood leaking out his ear. MIPS helmet, no ID, an old iphone with no ICE info. We stayed until he was loaded up and gave the fire/rescue guys everything we knew.

Ran into the fire crew a week later at the grocery store and they had nothing to positive to report; they took the bike back to the fire station and it still sits there, entirely ridable today.
 
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