Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More - View Single Post

05-24-2004, 12:14 PM

In article <40B24517.2030802@mouse-potato.com>, bmcilvan@mouse-
potato.com says...

....

> >I happen to prefer the Maroon and black treatment of the 2003 version,
> >but it's still a great value in a bike!
> >
> Well, after the loss of my Marin hybrid - it was looking too clean and
> sharp

- I want a rather plain looking set of wheels for a low key
> image. Besides, green is my colour.
> I'm riding nearly every day - lately 120 - 200 kms a week, depending.
> Wear and tear is always on my mind. Do you have any durability issues
> with your bike? Does yours have the Tiagra brifters? Any problem witht
> the brakes?

I've only had mine since last September, and have around 1500 miles on
it, but no issues so far with the shifters. At the end of the winter,
it was missing down shifts a lot, but a thorough chain, cassette and
derailleur cleaning took care of that problem.

I really like the brakes, though the pads seem to be rather bad about
picking up grit, which then scrapes the Al wheels and occasionally
leaves Al particles embedded in the pads. Of course, my previous bike
had center-pulls and steel wheels, so any modern brake system would seem
great compared to that setup.

> How bout the tires? Mine came with Hutchinson Globetrotters. They can
> be had online for $9.99 usd so I wonder about the quality. They ride
> fine though.

The 2003 came with Ritchie Tom slicks in 32mm width. They rode nice,
but seemed to have a lot of rolling resistance even when pumped up to
their rated max, so I swapped them out for a set of Conti Sport-1000's
in 25mm, and I really like that combo at around 100psi front/110 rear.
I still have the Ritchie's stored away for future use on rough road,
dirt road, or loaded touring use.

> I think I'd like the bars better if they had a flatter ramp behind the
> hoods to rest my hands on, but maybe that;s just because I haven't

I felt the same way, so I rotated the bars back a bit so the ramp is now
nearly flat out to the hoods. That has the nice (for me) side effect of
slanting the drops a bit down toward the ground, which my wrists prefer
when I have to stay down for an extended time. I also put a set of
cheap aero bars on, which gives me yet another hand position with NO
weight on my hands.

> ridden drop bars in such a long time.
> Overall, I am enjoying the 'road' features. It helps to get down on the
> drops in the headwinds that are part of my daily commute.

Same here.

> Bernie

--
Dave Kerber
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

05-24-2004, 12:14 PM	#37 (permalink)
David Kerber Posts: n/a	Re: Fuji Bikes and Trek In article <40B24517.2030802@mouse-potato.com>, bmcilvan@mouse- potato.com says... .... > >I happen to prefer the Maroon and black treatment of the 2003 version, > >but it's still a great value in a bike! > > > Well, after the loss of my Marin hybrid - it was looking too clean and > sharp - I want a rather plain looking set of wheels for a low key > image. Besides, green is my colour. > I'm riding nearly every day - lately 120 - 200 kms a week, depending. > Wear and tear is always on my mind. Do you have any durability issues > with your bike? Does yours have the Tiagra brifters? Any problem witht > the brakes? I've only had mine since last September, and have around 1500 miles on it, but no issues so far with the shifters. At the end of the winter, it was missing down shifts a lot, but a thorough chain, cassette and derailleur cleaning took care of that problem. I really like the brakes, though the pads seem to be rather bad about picking up grit, which then scrapes the Al wheels and occasionally leaves Al particles embedded in the pads. Of course, my previous bike had center-pulls and steel wheels, so any modern brake system would seem great compared to that setup. > How bout the tires? Mine came with Hutchinson Globetrotters. They can > be had online for $9.99 usd so I wonder about the quality. They ride > fine though. The 2003 came with Ritchie Tom slicks in 32mm width. They rode nice, but seemed to have a lot of rolling resistance even when pumped up to their rated max, so I swapped them out for a set of Conti Sport-1000's in 25mm, and I really like that combo at around 100psi front/110 rear. I still have the Ritchie's stored away for future use on rough road, dirt road, or loaded touring use. > I think I'd like the bars better if they had a flatter ramp behind the > hoods to rest my hands on, but maybe that;s just because I haven't I felt the same way, so I rotated the bars back a bit so the ramp is now nearly flat out to the hoods. That has the nice (for me) side effect of slanting the drops a bit down toward the ground, which my wrists prefer when I have to stay down for an extended time. I also put a set of cheap aero bars on, which gives me yet another hand position with NO weight on my hands. > ridden drop bars in such a long time. > Overall, I am enjoying the 'road' features. It helps to get down on the > drops in the headwinds that are part of my daily commute. Same here. > Bernie -- Dave Kerber Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the newsgroups if possible).