I just got a new bike

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so yesterday i just barely avoided what could have been a very dangerous accident. i was going down a really steep hill downtown, braking to slow down but still going at a good clip, and all of a sudden my handlebars slid down and forward and i lost most of my braking power. there was a car turning right onto a street right in front of me but i just barely managed to turn onto the sidewalk and coast to a stop.

upon inspection of my handlebars i saw that my stem had snapped and was being held on by a small bolt inside, but they couldn't turn and the breaks were weak. i guess 33 years of canadian winters and then heat in the summer, plus stress from riding, eventually just broke the bar.

so today i went with my dad to a bike shop my cousin works at and we bought a bike. it came out to just under $1000 with all the accessories, but my parents are paying $600 of it as an early birthday present since it's my main mode of transportation (i don't have my car right now and the buses don't run at 5am when i'll be going to rowing this summer), and it might be a compound gift from two birthdays lol, but i never know what i want so getting something awesome for this birthday and nothing at my next is perfectly fine with me.

anyways i got a road bike. it's a 4 year old Marin Venezia model but it's never been ridden, so it's essentially brand new with 4 year old technology, which isn't much different from what they've got today. it's got a carbon fibre tail section, which actually made a huge difference in comfort when compared to the aluminum Giant Defy3, another bike i tried out. as for accessories, i just got two small fencers since this is going to be ridden daily, i might as well stay clean, a good bike lock, some clipless pedals and some shoes (since i've never used clipless, i don't have the shoes for it). luckily i got lots of discounts (the bike was down to $699 from over $900 4 years ago) and deals since my cousin works there, which is what kept it under $1000.

so i'm getting the bike on tuesday, when they display their bikes they're only assembled, when they sell them they take them apart, clean everything (since sometimes they've got shavings and things in them from the factory), grease everything up, install accessories, tune it, etc. and i can't wait. it's all i've been thinking about since i bought it.

Congratulations, fellow roadie

You are all set to kick ass now, if you don't already have, get yourself some spandex, and show up to your local bike group rides. If you don't already do group rides, it is way way funner then riding by yourself.
Cheap cycling outfits or whatever can be bought here (about the cheapest anywhere) http://www.performancebike.com/index.cfm
Make sure the shop fits your bike before you leave with it. That means make sure the seat is the right hight with your shoes on, and reach and everything is right. This is way more important then people think.
Also get them to make sure the pedal cleat tension is adjusted to the lightest setting. This is important, you will know why when you first ride it. After you are used to it, turn the tension up. For your first ride just stand there and practice clipping and unclipping your feet for awhile, and then ride around and be prepared to fall down when stopping. I did it, everyone does it, when first learning clipless pedals. And remember to check tire air presure every other day, or if you dont ride it as much, then every time you ride it.

Marin is a good brand, and with your bike, you are ready to race!! !

Also wanted to add, be careful with locking it up, I dont leave my bike out of my site, and when at home it comes into my bedroom with me. I have seen people steal the wheels off of locked up bikes. Criminals have ways around pretty much any lock, and there eyes lite up when they see a good brand. Heck my buddy, they cut his roof rack off of his car to get his road bike, took the rack and all.

yeah, before this one i had a 33 year old peugeot road bike, i got to ride it just outside the shop to try it out and it just soared compared to my old steel frame.
I've got spandex but they're unisuits for rowing, which i'll probably end up wearing while biking to rowing in the morning once it warms up anyways. they'll definitely be fitting my bike to me, and they'll be explaining everything about bike maintenance. i'll be riding this daily to rowing, home, then to work, back home, to rowing, and back during the weekdays, and i'll be going to rowing and back on saturdays, so i'll be using it quite a bit and cleaning/maintaining it weekly (more frequently if it's really dirty and/or wet). i'll be keeping it inside in my basement when i'm at home, and i've got a 6ft long cable that i'll be looping through everything to make sure nothing gets stolen, even if i'm going into a shop for like two minutes. ever since i had a bike stolen out of my friend's back yard when i was 12 i've locked up my bike wherever i go.

and yeah, i expect to forget about clips and fall when i first start, i hear everyone does it, i guess it's just something everyone has to go through when you start.

also i don't think i'll be racing much, if at all, this summer. i'll be pretty busy with rowing, which is my main focus. this will be a bike mainly for getting around the city quickly. my dad is also repairing the old road bike and i'll be using that if it's really dirty and wet, so i don't wear down my components for no reason. i might do a couple of rides, there's a nice one from my city (ottawa) to Kingston, it's about 190km each way. you bike down, sleep there at the university, then bike back. i might think about racing next year when i'm in better shape. i'm still in pretty good shape now, but i'm going to focus on really getting my physical performance up and training before i worry about racing in a second sport. besides, i need some time to rest between practices twice a day, weekly time trials, competitions, and work. god i love summer.

Yeah, it is more embarrassing then anything. I had this moment last season. I was warming up, then road up to the start line of the race, as I was riding up I was looking at the field, I was seeing some world class pros and got all nervous. So I am riding up to the line infront of everyone I stopped and fell over. Talk about embarrassing. Then, I heard a big name pro, say, "did that kid just fall over".

For commuting, what ever you wear is fine, but for a longer ride, like 48km or more, you are going to need cycling shorts. When buying cycling shorts think shammy (the material in the middle of the short). The longer the ride the more important good bike shorts are. The shammy and tight fit stop friction..... The last thing you want is your private parts rubbed raw, or a killer saddle sore. For a longer ride, like 100km, cycling shorts are not enough, you also need shammy cream. You will learn as you go.
Also, yeah it is probably better that you focus on racing in only one sport, your rowing. Racing bikes would take just as much energy training as training for rowing would. You can try bike racing at any time, but I would focus on seeing how far you can go with rowing. You should be shooting for olympics, team, or some big goal for rowing.

ouch that must have hurt your ego a bit

oh i know all about friction, it's even worse in rowing, thank god most of my practices are around 2hrs or less so i don't have problems often, but there have been times where it got pretty bad because my junk wasn't positioned properly and it just kept rubbing and rubbing. I've had one bad experience with friction while biking. it wasn't an extremely long bike ride, about 3hrs, but my choice of clothing definitely wasn't the best. since then i wear my rowing spandex whenever i'm doing long rides, and i'll probably get some good biking clothes if i plan on doing any tours or races.
My main focus will definitely be rowing. i'll play it by ear and see what kind of events are going on around town, i might do one or two races if the timing's right. I'd only really be doing them for fun though, i'm not going to be doing any biking-specific training, i'll just be using my fitness from rowing, which is very leg intensive and it uses very similar leg movements (albeit at a slower rate and in unison rather than out of phase) so there is significant carryover. i'd like to get into racing somewhat regularly eventually, but since my winter training didn't go so well this year i'm not as fit as i'd like and i don't want to take on more than i can handle, overtraining isn't a fun thing. it'd be fun to get into racing more frequently next summer though, i've thought about it for a year or two but i haven't had the time, or the bike, to do it.

Congratulations.
Bike riding is the best thing to ever come my way. When I can't Ride, I think about it. I have met a whole new group of friends, and seems I learn something new about my machine every time I take it out. I drive anyone with more experience than I do crazy with all the questions I ask (not really). Although I'm sure you'll be more than competent physically being in a rowing club and keep up with all the roadies, also look for little informal urban bike crews. I can see you riding with them seeing as how you don't drive your bike anywhere to ride it on a highway access road. It's a great way to meet other commuters, and just about every other type of cyclist who merely would rather just ride their bike to wherever they want. I thought I was bound to ride alone until I could keep up with the spandex club, and since I didn't prattle on and on about how many grams my wheelset weighed, I got bored.
There's a lot you can do with a group of Bikists that you would never convince a cyclist to do. I'm toying with the idea of having some sort of biathalon incorporating a lap race with varying levels of difficulty and shooting down water balloons with a bb gun or blowgun or something. The last thing our group did was had a picnic, kickball game, and really awesome cable tie bike scavenger hunt. There's other crazy after dark stuff that happens, but that's another story.


the FBC is not around here, but is the main inspiration for Amarillo Bike-ism. reading their blog is sometimes good, sometimes a cautionary tale. the posting I put here is sublime.
http://fuckingbikeclub.blogspot.com/search?q=water+park

Then there's Urban Velo:
http://urbanvelo.org/

How to Avoid the bummer life, a group of Cyclocross nuts who also advertise various non-sanctioned events elsewhere:
http://www.swobo.com/htatbl/

and the hilarious bike snob:
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/


I don't really have any other cycling goals except getting faster and losing enough weight to look good with out a shirt on because dude it gets hot enough here in Texas, let alone exerting yourself on a bike and making your shirts all nasty.

Road racer: We FINALLY are having an impromptu criterium in an abandoned parking lot. It's perfect. $5, the place is less than a mile from one of my bases. But, I don't think my knee is back to 100% and I'd rather miss one race and let my knee rest, than race, possibly tear it up, and miss up to a month of pristine riding weather, and maybe missing the 24 hour event we are having in May. I'm still donating the money to the HS team and asking them to let me ride the course for a little while before the race starts. Besides, The only article of clothing I don't have is a jersey and I'd rather ride shirtless in my lycra than wear a cotton t-shirt with bike shorts LOL. I'd be more likely to wear a jersey with hacked off Dickie's knickers.

Let's post our bikes

It's an entry level bike but I'm going to ride it until it's not ridable any more. Anyone who says anything negative about it, I will perforate.
I took the clipless pedals off since I ride more in the city and stop frequently, ride to work, and go places where I'd rather not announce my presence with CLIP CLOP CLIP CLOP of my cleats.


and my off road bike which I will ride until it kills me. Which will probably be soon; Nice knowing you guys.

O, so that is what you think we do, , I dont even know how much my bike weighs, lol. There are the type of roadies who show up on a group ride on there 5 thousand dollar bikes, and average 15mph, and spend most of the time talking about there bike. These are the stuck up kinds that are rich, spend all there time buying the best stuff, but who cant make it up the mountain with out vomiting. They usually have as much leg hair as my head, and still are using the dork disk on there expensive bike. They know more about there bike then how to ride.
Then there are the roadies like me who know it doesnt matter what bike you ride, because the bike does not make you fast, any good or anything. We usually drop those guys on the first hill. We are more into the whole bike culture and having fun.

Anyway, the bike snob is a good site, always makes me laugh
Crits are always hard, especially for a first race. The more turns the harder. But yeah, dont push it if you are not 100%. Usually everyone spends a good while riding the corse before hand to get a feel for it, so you could ride it then. I have done many 'parking lot' crits, lol, pretty fun, but can be pretty tight if you have a big group. They usually call the impromptu races, "training races". They are also lots of fun because you always get a bunch of noobs there, who do things like sprint from the gun.

Really? maybe it is just the whole cycling culture thing is not built up in your area. It sounds like you and your group are trying things and that is good.
Around here, besides your everyday regular races, we have races like the donut derby, the idea of that race is, there are stops along the way and for every donut you eat something like 3 minutes are taken off your time. We also have some crazy cycle cross races, like one where there is a shortcut setup, and inorder to take the shortcut you have to stop and do a shot of alcohol. Also critical mass is always fun.... Then there are always things going on that mix it up, like a bike, canoe (or inflatable raft), obstacle corse type triathlons.

Anyway, here is my bike, nothing special, a cannondale caad 9 frame team edition (I blanked out the team name ) sram force group set, specialized components.

RR: all in jest. The only problem I have with the more proper bike group is that I didn't learn anything pertinent about riding in the city. They were more prone to telling me about heart rate monitors, clipless pedals and the like but nothing about self bike maintenance, flat repairs, which was important because I get at least 2 a month now, tips for riding alone, LIGHTS, street laws, etc.....
I still go out with them but going in a straight line down a highway access road just doesn't do it for me, unless I'm trying to get stuff off of my mind. I do average higher speed alone 18-25+ vs 13-20 depending on my urban route. But that's not that important to me, because I feel myself getting faster. I can keep up up with the local High school age team and their coach for a distance but I hate every second of it. Everyone is so packed together and I get super nervous and almost panic because any minor fluctuation is a major chance for disaster. (I also do it in street clothes; this is a habit needing broken.)
Today that friend I told you about opened his bike and repair shop, which is awesome, as he had a party where someone suggested tournament styledrag races. (2nd btw)
Our little group started out as a critical mass ideal, but so many people, bored with the actual lack of strife in our city tried to cause some, so the main organizer decided to make it more of an urban riding club. We try to do stuff like the donut race, but participation is never predictable, and our town frankly sucks. Hopefully the warmer weather will bring out all the wimps who were scared of the cold.

Well, I was pretty much just saying our clubs around here are NOT like you describe, but I think maybe it is because there are more riders in the PA, NY, MD, mid atlantic states. It is nothing for a popular club ride to have 60 people on it, heck, I have been on club rides with 200 people easy. With a bunch of people you can find people you like to ride with in that group. There are always people there to teach you also, all kinds. If a club ride only has 20 people on it, it can be exactly how you describe, depending on who shows up. I also have nothing against the urban cyclists, I am not strickly urban or roadie or any type of cyclist. This is what I am talking about when I talk about cycling culture, cycling as a lifestyle. Like I said there are the type that just go on the group rides to show off there expensive bikes..... then there are the type that are more likely to get a crankset tattoo on there leg... and everyone in between. I just get the feeling your viewing as your ether urban or roadie, that is perfectly fine if you are pure urban or only roadie, but there are every type of people from one end to the other of the spectrum (sort of like autism ). Dont want anyone to get the wrong idea and think they should only pick one or the other type of group or riding style.
Also a critical mass should be all types of cyclist, the guy down the street with his Huffy, roadies, urban riders, whoever wants to show up to represent cycling in general. It gets a lot of bad press because people see it as a protest, but it is not, and there usually is not a organizer or any type of plan other then 'everyone meet at this place at this time', for a hell of a large bike ride threw town.

Well, I think we have the thread way off topic now, sorry Beef, sorry if this is all hard to understand, you will get a idea of what we are talking about if you get into riding lots, and really non of this is to important anyway.

Beef, let us know about your bike when you get it and your first ride on it!! !!

no it's cool, i loved that bike snob link, it's hilarious. i've got a pretty good idea of what you're talking about. i don't really know what's different between an urban rider and a roadie, i mean i assume one does their riding in town while the other goes on long rides, but other than that i don't really know the difference. and those guys with the expensive bikes who can't bike to save their lives, yeah i know what you're talking about, i've passed plenty of them on my 33 year old bike, i'm sure i'll pass even more with my new, relatively inexpensive (for bikes, not for me) bike.

it should be ready today, i'm about to call the place to see when i can pick it up. i really hope it's ready today, it's going up to 11C and there's not a cloud in the sky, whereas they're calling for rain tomorrow.

we have perfect weather all week

I'm about to get a jersey. $5 to my paypal to NOT show pics of me in my bike gear.
was your peugeot like this?

I have one, I've stripped everything that was decrepit off of it, as it had been sitting in a shed for 25+ years. My uncle, the previous owner, was given it as a gift when my other uncle got it in Germany in the 70's. It's almost a brand new bike. So new, in fact, that once the tubular tires went flat, my uncle decided that tubulars were too much trouble to fix. So new, it still had the original price sticker on it:

LOOK AT THAT HUGE METAL PIE PLATE!
I'm frankly undecided as to what I want to do with it right now, I say I want a fixed/SS, but I feel it wouldn't be doing right by the bike, but then again I already have 2 geared bikes that, despite their modernity and tech, don't have that totally unique flavor that older steel bikes have.

The main differences to me are the bike. I've changed various things because riding around town take its toll on the parts and my patience.
For instance, his wheels are low spoke count with aero spokes. He may even have tubular tires on his (don't know). They are considerably light, strong and pretty high dollar. His geometry is also more crouched over, while mine is more upright.
My back wheel, however, is 36 count with thick spokes on an Ultegra Hub. Inexpensive, not heavy but def not feather weight, but tough and aerodynamic like a brick. Who knows how many railroads, curbs, winos, hard debris, power walkers, etc I have run over at full speed and I haven't had to true them in close to 1000 miles. Mine is also covered with lights, reflective material, and small pieces of memorabilia from various rides and punk shows I've been to.
Don't get me wrong, I still love longer rides in the 50 mile range or so, but time constraints and such keep me from this. I hate having to plan ahead just to ride my bike more than 20 miles a day.

Lol I'm also fat and lazy so I have a triple crank on mine.

well i got my bike today and it was amazing compared to my old one. i'm pretty f*****g hammered right now, i'm surprised i managed to bike home without falling, so i'll talk about it in more detail later, but all i can say is that i think i'm in love (with the bike, not with the girl who's number i somehow managed to get tonight)

Those nights are always awesome.
the phone numbers and surprise myspace friend requests will keep coming.