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#1 2003-01-03 2:47 pm
- SwisSlesS
- Member

- From: Home of the Massholes
- Registered: 2002-06-19
- Posts: 8307
Bikes
The topic says it all. This is a thread about bikes. I have noticed that there are a fair number of bikers here, so I figured we should have a place to hang out. Please ask any and all questions and make comments on bike designs and technologies. I'll start with this, what kind of bike do you ride?
I have a DBR freeride bike with Marzocchi Z1 Bam fork. A kinesis trials bike with Judy SL. A Diamondback 24" BMX. And a Benotto track bike with Superbe cranks and bottom bracket.
I'm a dog, spelled backwards.
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#2 2003-01-03 4:38 pm
- thekingalrock
- Please tell me what the hell is going on

- From: MA
- Registered: 2001-04-01
- Posts: 5072
Re: Bikes
I ride a Surly Steamroller track bike and a Bianchi DISS single-speed mountain bike. I love 'em.
I still wanna hit up those Fenway dirt jumps.
It places the lotion in the basket
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#3 2003-01-03 4:52 pm
- SwisSlesS
- Member

- From: Home of the Massholes
- Registered: 2002-06-19
- Posts: 8307
Re: Bikes
Yeah, I definitely want to try some dirt jumping. I mean, I see myself easily getting very bashed, but I'd still like to give it a try anyway. It's worth the risk I think.
I'm a dog, spelled backwards.
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#4 2003-01-03 5:03 pm
- registered_user
- bulletproof
- From: padding: zero-pixels;
- Registered: 2000-12-19
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Re: Bikes
I have a cannondale CAD3 frame with a DD50 HeadShok and mostly XT adn XTR components. I haven't ridden seriously in a few years though. 
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#5 2003-01-03 5:23 pm
- SwisSlesS
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- From: Home of the Massholes
- Registered: 2002-06-19
- Posts: 8307
Re: Bikes
I have a cannondale CAD3 frame with a DD50 HeadShok and mostly XT adn XTR components. I haven't ridden seriously in a few years though.
That would be CAAD3
. Those are some pretty nice parts you have on it. Did you ever used to race or anything?
I'm a dog, spelled backwards.
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#6 2003-01-03 6:30 pm
- watchout
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- Registered: 2002-12-25
- Posts: 678
Re: Bikes
As I've said in the frame thread, I have a Gary Fisher Sugar 2+ Disc coming my way this year. XTR/XT mix with Fox front and rear. For the last two summers, I've been riding a Fisher Big Sur (LX/Deore, Marzocchi Bomber, Bontrager Superstock radially-laced wheels). I also own an old (~93) cheap mountain bike equipped with a really weird mix of components, not all stock (some Altus, some Acera X, some Alivio, some STX, some Promax...) Eventually, I wanna get some flavor of road bike, perhaps more on the touring side of things.
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#7 2003-01-03 6:47 pm
- Robert B.
- Reality Deficient

- From: The pit of despair
- Registered: 1999-03-09
- Posts: 10268
Re: Bikes
I ride a GT iDrive 4.0. I changed out the front v-brakes for an Avid mechanical disk brake. Just got Eggbeater pedals for Christmas. Teflon cables for the sex appeal. I just ordered some XT front and rear derailleurs that I should be getting any day now. Over the next few months, I'd like to change out and upgrade the cranks, chainrings, cassette and convert the rear to a disk brake as well.
"Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb."
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#8 2003-01-03 7:17 pm
- registered_user
- bulletproof
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Re: Bikes
I have a cannondale CAD3 frame with a DD50 HeadShok and mostly XT adn XTR components. I haven't ridden seriously in a few years though.
That would be CAAD3
. Those are some pretty nice parts you have on it. Did you ever used to race or anything?
Indeed, it would be a CAAD3. It was a stock F700 when I bought it (the last year they made the F700 with the CAAD3). I had ridden a rigid-fork Trek 850 the summer before, and I needed more bike. So a friend got to the notion that if sells his Trek (he had the same bike), used his tax return and threw in a little extra cash, he could get a nice bike, especially if it's a last year's leftover. I followed suit.
I would have left the bike stock at that point, but I used to spend an inordinate amount of time at my local BikeLine. That includes being a nuisance in the workshop, helping customers out when it was busy, and drinking beer in the warehouse after the shop closed while riding the current "frankenbike" (whatever cheap extra parts fit together) around the warehouse through an impromptu obsacle course or smash derby. Anyway, to make a long story short, having an "in" at the shop meant I could get parts for cheap or less. I got 4 arm XT cranks when the stock CODA ones crapped out (that wasn't long). Then I got some XT levers and Avid V brakes (when SD01's [or whatever they were] were new before disc brakes popped up everywhere). Then I wracked my rear derailleur and got hooked up with a XTR medium cage instead. I paid store cost or less for all that stuff. I got a few other goodies like RideOn cables, tubes, a tire (yeah just one because I actually had to pay retail -- the manager was moody), and a pair of Sliders too. I even got an XTR seat post. I got that because it was in the parts bin for weeks and it didn't fit anyone else's bike.
I felt like King Arthur of the seat post.
The funny thing about it is, there were several of us that just hung out at the shop, and we all got stuff. And the manager from that shop never once got fired or questioned about it. So it was really a cool thing.
Anyway, I rode 4-5 times a week back then. I never raced, but we rode a lot. Then I moved out of state, and apart from the first season away, I haven't really ridden since. The bike hangs in my basement, and I dust it from time to time.
I really do miss it. Actually, I sort of feel like a poser now. I've got a whole lot of bike, and when I take it out, it's for about a mile on pavement (mostly) and it winds me. Whereas I used to trail ride to work.
Oh well. It's winter. There's freezing rain falling outside, so maybe in the Spring I'll motivate my neighbor and we'll both go trail-bombing on weekends. Or, maybe I'll put it on ebay when the ride bug starts nipping at other people this spring. Of course, I've said that the last two years, and I can never bring myself to do it. Who knows.
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#9 2003-01-03 7:17 pm
- SwisSlesS
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- From: Home of the Massholes
- Registered: 2002-06-19
- Posts: 8307
Re: Bikes
watchout: is there a particular reason that you stay with Gary Fisher, or do you just like the company?
Robert B.: would you be converting the rear to Avid mechanical aswell?
I'm a dog, spelled backwards.
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#11 2003-01-03 7:24 pm
- SwisSlesS
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- From: Home of the Massholes
- Registered: 2002-06-19
- Posts: 8307
Re: Bikes
Actually, I sort of feel like a poser now.
Yeah, I kind of feel like a poser also. I've got two really nice mountain bikes, and I never actually go out mountain biking. I haven't ridden my freeride bike since the summer, and I've only done urban stuff on the Kinesis trials thing. The bike I ride the most is my Diamondback BMX because that's what I ride to school. Hopefully, when the weather gets nicer, I'll actually start mountain biking again. But then again, that's what I said last year, and it didn't really happen.
I'm a dog, spelled backwards.
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#12 2003-01-03 7:31 pm
- watchout
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- Registered: 2002-12-25
- Posts: 678
Re: Bikes
watchout: is there a particular reason that you stay with Gary Fisher, or do you just like the company?
I do like the company, but I buy Fisher because it's the only decent brand we sell (I work in a shop). If I didn't work in a shop, or if mine had a wider selection, I would probably have something like a Santa Cruz with a selfmade X3.1/Chris King/Wheelsmith wheelset (where's the drooling emoticon?). But I really do like the Fishers however, as good or better than all of my friends' bikes I have tried. I like the longer top tube.
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#13 2003-01-03 7:36 pm
- Robert B.
- Reality Deficient

- From: The pit of despair
- Registered: 1999-03-09
- Posts: 10268
Re: Bikes
Robert B.: would you be converting the rear to Avid mechanical aswell?
Yeah, I try to keep my components similar.
"Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb."
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#14 2003-01-03 7:37 pm
- Grumpy
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- Registered: 1999-06-25
- Posts: 479
Re: Bikes
Hi all. I ride a GT Aggressor 3.0
Shimano Deore LX V-brakes, shifters and 9 speed drive train.
Race Face stem, Race Face north shore cranks.
Rock shox Judy TT fork.
I ride Kenda tires on Mavic 221 rims.
Specialized body comp saddle.
Redline BMX platform pedals for trail, Shimano M515 clipless when commuting.
I caught a pedal on a tree stump this past summer.
It launched me over my bars into a tree. I hit the tree sideways in the middle of my back. My Hydropack was still full. I think that is what saved me from seriously injuring myself. It exploded on impact. Not a bad thing to have as light body armor.
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#15 2003-01-03 7:46 pm
- registered_user
- bulletproof
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Re: Bikes
I caught a pedal on a tree stump this past summer.
It launched me over my bars into a tree. I hit the tree sideways in the middle of my back. My Hydropack was still full. I think that is what saved me from seriously injuring myself. It exploded on impact. Not a bad thing to have as light body armor.
LOL! I've always thought of it as armor, but mine has never exploded! Now I've eaten my fair share of dirt, and I've torn clothing, and I've had a hard time getting up before, but you must have hit HARD to have your water blow up. 
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#16 2003-01-03 7:47 pm
- watchout
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- Registered: 2002-12-25
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Re: Bikes
Shimano Deore LX V-brakes
Race Face north shore cranks.
Rock shox Judy TT fork.
You got LX levers with those brakes? How do you like them? Cause I can't stand LX levers...
And that is weird. Your crank is worth more than your fork! But it seems like a cool bike. What year is it?
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#17 2003-01-03 7:49 pm
- SwisSlesS
- Member

- From: Home of the Massholes
- Registered: 2002-06-19
- Posts: 8307
Re: Bikes
I work in a shop
Oh yeah? I work in a shop too. What do you do in your shop? I'm a mechanic.
I'm a dog, spelled backwards.
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#18 2003-01-03 7:52 pm
- SwisSlesS
- Member

- From: Home of the Massholes
- Registered: 2002-06-19
- Posts: 8307
Re: Bikes
Yeah, Hydrobaks are your friend. Although I'm more of a Camelbak fan
. That sounds like a pretty scary accident. The worst I've had was when I was downhill biking, and there was this like, root drop, with a rock at the bottom. I was going too slow though so I hit my front wheel on the rock and went over the bars. I landed right on my head. Lucky thing I was wearing that helmet. I was fine after the crash, hardly a scratch on me.
I'm a dog, spelled backwards.
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#19 2003-01-03 7:53 pm
- registered_user
- bulletproof
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Re: Bikes
I work in a shop
Oh yeah? I work in a shop too. What do you do in your shop? I'm a mechanic.
The kind of shop with shenanigans and free parts? We're not that far apart 
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#20 2003-01-03 7:54 pm
- watchout
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- Registered: 2002-12-25
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Re: Bikes
I work in a shop
Oh yeah? I work in a shop too. What do you do in your shop? I'm a mechanic.
I'm a mechanic/salesman, depending on the day and time 
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#21 2003-01-03 8:00 pm
- watchout
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- Registered: 2002-12-25
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Re: Bikes
I was going too slow
You must be like me and only crash when going slow...
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#22 2003-01-03 8:04 pm
- registered_user
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Re: Bikes
I'll never forget the day I switched to clipless pedals.
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#23 2003-01-03 8:07 pm
- watchout
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- Registered: 2002-12-25
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Re: Bikes
I'll never forget the day I switched to clipless pedals.
So true... By the way, I am a Time fan.
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#24 2003-01-03 9:11 pm
- Robert B.
- Reality Deficient

- From: The pit of despair
- Registered: 1999-03-09
- Posts: 10268
Re: Bikes
Well, the worst wreck I've had so far (knock on wood) was about a month ago. I was riding an un familiar trail, feeling cocky and taking the bumps a little too enthusiastically. I took a jump over a slight hill and landed half-off the trail, planted the front wheel into soft dirt and went over the bars, the pedals still attached to my feet. I tried to roll it but it wouldn't go, too much momentum on me and none on the bike. I landed on my head, skidded on my face at the base of a bush. Came away with scratches, a shiner, a chipped tooth, wrenched my neck (it still hurts today), and cut my knee. And we were only 20 minutes into the ride.
"Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb."
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#25 2003-01-03 9:40 pm
- pottymouth
- Uncreative
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- From: JP, MA
- Registered: 2002-02-06
- Posts: 17406
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Re: Bikes
I've got a Gary Fisher Paragon. I rode it hard for the first two years but really slacked this summer. I did a nice face slide at the end of last season and kinda lost my nerve. That and I was working way too much. Yeah, that's my excuse. Working too much.
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