• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

The Bicycling thread

... It was a Schwinn with white sidewall tires. It was love at first sight...

Paul, in 2017 we took a little motorcycle tour from San Diego to NY and were in your stomping grounds:

BigBend.jpg

We had a great time, saw a bunch of wonderful places, and met some great folks. But one really interesting stop was in Pittsburg at Bicycle Heaven:

BicycleHeavenOutside.jpg

I have never seen so much bicycle stuff: especially Schwinn related. Something like 3000+ bikes and tons of parts. This is just one of the rooms packed with bike stuff. I bet the bike of your youthful dreams is in here somewhere:

BicycleHeavenInside.jpg
 
Very cool! Trying to remember the pub I was in that the owner had all of his MTN bikes hanging from his racing career. A lot of very cool vintage stuff.
 
I don't have many pictures of us actually riding bicycle but here is one of Michelle on her fat tire bike:

FatTire.jpg

I have one, too, but I don't even have a picture of it. We mostly ride to the local breweries on them.

I'm having fun posting pictures! :beer
 
OK, one more for now. I wanted to be able to ride a bike in San Diego where my family lives but I didn't to deal with the expense and hassle of transport (before I got my packable bike). Last time I flew with a regular bike it was $90 extra to check a bike: EACH WAY. So Michelle came up with a plan: we buy 'cheap' bikes from Nashbar and have them delivered to California. These bikes cost $240 each - shipping and tax included! They are surprisingly decent bikes! We've ridden them for hundreds of miles, to the beach, into the desert, mountain bike trails, to the brewery, etc. The black one was, unfortunately, stolen when my Mom mistakenly left her garage door open over night. Oh well. Good memories. This picture is us using the bikes to drop off a rental car at the airport. We then rode 20 miles to East Lake.

Nashbar.jpg
 
Thank you. I enjoyed your photos earlier in the thread. We really want to do Ragbrai. Next year may be too crazy for us, though.

I really enjoy those week long tours. I do one in Michigan along the Lake Michigan shoreline every year. I'm trying to figure out a way to do Ragbrai but haven't been able to organize any riding partners to join me. I was disappointed to hear it was cancelled. My Michigan tour is scheduled for early August and I hope the smoke has cleared by then.
 
Sorry to the folks from Pittsburgh. My spelling is weak.

Maybe you will overlook it if I add another picture. Last year we were riding through a local park and noticed that there weren't any kids at the skate park. So we took our small wheeled bikes in for some fun. We did manage to get a little air under the wheels. Scared ourselves a little but had big smiles.

SkatePark.jpg
 
Maybe you will overlook it if I add another picture. Last year we were riding through a local park and noticed that there weren't any kids at the skate park. So we took our small wheeled bikes in for some fun. We did manage to get a little air under the wheels. Scared ourselves a little but had big smiles.

View attachment 78139

Are the wheels on the Surley folding bikes larger than other brand folding travel bikes?
Seems like the other folding bikes I've seen the wheels looked pretty small.
 
I don't have many pictures of me on a bike but I do have a lot of me in bike gear tasting beer at breweries. Most of my bike jerseys are brewery themed. Hmmm...

This is at the end of our Erie Canal trip. Every day was in the high 90s and we had a headwind (we went east to west) for the whole ride. That may explain my dazed look.

Kurt.jpg

Resurgence.jpg
 
I have Dahon folding bike I keep in the motorhome. Small(er) wheels but the more upright position is much easier on me.
OM
 
Are the wheels on the Surley folding bikes larger than other brand folding travel bikes?
Seems like the other folding bikes I've seen the wheels looked pretty small.

Lee, the Surly Crosscheck is a cyclocross bike with normal 700c wheels that has really neat couplers on the top tube and down tube that allow the front of the frame to be separated from the rear of the frame. This allows it to be packed into a 26"x26" box which (I think) meets airline checked luggage standards. Hence the name of the bike 'cross' (off road racing on road bikes) and 'check' (luggage). Clever.

The couplers can be added to other steel and titanium frames and customer builders sometimes include them as options. I think the option starts at about $1000, though. There is another frame that uses a similar approach: the Ritchey Breakaway. In that case, the mechanism for separating the pieces is built right into the frame. Those frames look like a 'normal' bike. They break apart at the same place as the coupled bikes.

For travel, if you want to include mixed mode transportation as part of your transit, a folding bike may be better than a coupled bike. Some trains/busses/ferries limit or charge for full size bikes but folding bikes can fit in a bag and may be treated as carry on. We also find it easier to bring the folding bikes into hotels with us compared to a full size bike.

A coupled bike would be great for traveling for an 'event' or training in a distant place. It would just be a bit cheaper to transport.
 
Bike Fit

I have Dahon folding bike I keep in the motorhome. Small(er) wheels but the more upright position is much easier on me.
OM

Folding bikes are great for that. RVs, boats, planes, Miatas, apartment dwellers, etc. The Dahon looks to be a great bike and prices are reasonable. I think the frames are only a single size, though?

Position on the bike is such an individual thing. Over the years I tweaked my position into what works perfectly for me. My drop bar bikes are all set about the same way, and I need a few inches of drop between the seat and handlebar to be comfortable. I have added a mirror to my drops to avoid a lot of neck twisting, though. Compromises due to aging...

At the risk of TMI, here is the system that I've developed to fit my bikes. I build all of my bikes from the frame up so I get exactly the parts and fit that I want. I can get my fit perfect on the first ride if I match these measurements to my older bikes. I have a spreadsheet where I enter in the numbers and it calculates the parameters in the upper right corner. I do have a little different definition of reach and stack than frame manufacturers. I want to know the reach from the bottom bracket to the handlebar (I use the same handlebar measurements and the same saddle on all bikes). Fun, huh?

I really developed my 'system' to fit Michelle. She is very small and I made a LOT of mistakes with her first bike. She got a 'professional' bike fit and it worked great for her. The bike shop owner explained what and why to me so I've just been propagating that fit. We adjust a little bit based on current fitness and flexibility. Seat position relative to the pedals NEVER changes, though. Even a few mm and I can detect discomfort in my knees on long rides.

BikeMeasurement.001.jpg
 
Picture for Lee: Trek 2300

I clicked on this thread and was taken to the first page. I was looking over Steve and Lee's bikes and something clicked when looking at Lee's Trek. In 2001 or 2002, Michelle got a Trek 2300 as her second road bike. This is the one that she was fit on - it is a great bike. This one is a WSD (women specific design) - the biggest difference is that the frame was built around 650C wheels. It also had narrow bars and a special seat. It still isn't perfect: the 10 speed triple front crank has a Q factor that is too wide for her. Also, the new 11 speed compact drivetrains have eliminated the need for the triple. Tires are hard to find in 650C and what you can find are narrow. 650C was a good choice when triathletes were using that size but now that has gone the way of the dinosaur.

This picture also shows our indoor training setup. We get a lot of snow here so we tend to do a lot of training in the basement. The advent of the new 'virtual' riding environments and streaming video/audio has made indoor training bearable - bordering on fun. 20 years ago I would ride on rollers and my only entertainment was watching the clock tick toward the end of the session. Now the bike adjusts to the 'terrain' in the virtual world and I can monitor my heart rate, power output and cadence. I feel like a fully instrumented astronaut!

Thanks for humoring me while I post all of this crap. I'm going a little stir crazy.

Trek2300.jpg
 
Lee, the Surly Crosscheck is a cyclocross bike with normal 700c wheels that has really neat couplers on the top tube and down tube that allow the front of the frame to be separated from the rear of the frame. This allows it to be packed into a 26"x26" box which (I think) meets airline checked luggage standards. Hence the name of the bike 'cross' (off road racing on road bikes) and 'check' (luggage). Clever.

.

:thumb
 
Well you've got a great way of keeping fit during this quarantine.

We are thankful that we have some outlet. Beside the quarantine, we had snow on the ground this morning! We better get back to burning gas because I think global warming is slowing. I joke...

Recently I was riding in the virtual world of 'Watopia' and was passed by Tony Kanaan. Really! If you are into bike racing, all of the pro teams are riding and racing in the virtual worlds now so it isn't unusual to see names that you (may) know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED7bqFYH4MU

I just made a spreadsheet recording all of my motorcycle miles with the starting miles coming from the title certificates. I really am going stir crazy. We have a big outing today. We'll don our masks and 'real' clothes to go to the grocery store.
 
I don't have many pictures of me on a bike but I do have a lot of me in bike gear tasting beer at breweries. Most of my bike jerseys are brewery themed. Hmmm...

This is at the end of our Erie Canal trip. Every day was in the high 90s and we had a headwind (we went east to west) for the whole ride. That may explain my dazed look.

View attachment 78140

View attachment 78141

Reminds me of a funny brewery ending location story from a former annual Century ride from Austin,TX to Shiner... home of the Spoetzl Brewery and Shiner Bock.
One of the first years and logistics were not quite worked out... but on with story...

Headwind for most of SE route and rest stops were not set up before faster groups rolled by. At the end, free beer to all and most got more than their money’s worth. Then the bikes were loaded on box trucks to return to ATX and we boarded college shuttle busses... with no bathroom and a two hour ride. The drivers were allegedly told no stops and that went badly...Funny to see so many rush for the door after a mutiny or bribe... maybe both. Modesty went out the door!
The next few years, we staged a vehicle or mate instead for return!
 
Back
Top