Men!

[Veronica]

Talking about what to name my new bike this morning. Thom suggests Lego-Last. I say, "Oh because it will be the last bike I buy." He says, "No, as in not the first finisher."

Doofus! But it's true. :p

V.

[DDH]

Men!! they have no cooth at all, I swear. Regardless if it is true or not, a little encouragement never hurt. :rolleyes:

[Veronica]

Regardless if it is true or not, a little encouragement never hurt. :rolleyes:

Oh Thom is totally supportive. He's my biggest fan. I couldn't have done the rides I've done this year without his encouragement. That's what makes his snarky humor so amusing. :D Oh... and that it's true.

V

[Tri Girl]

Hee hee. Lego-Last. Kinda funny, but kinda hurty, huh?
They're just good at shooting straight, when we women sometimes need a little soft cushioning of the words. I mostly appreicate their straightforwardness and truth (although sometimes DH can be a bit too truthful :) ).
Can you imagine how weird it would be to hear man conversations that were encouraging and cushy?
man 1: "Man I should've hit that homerun."
man 2:"Oh, it's ok, you did your best and that's what counts. You're a good ball player, and you'll hit one next time."
man 1: "Thanks, you're the best friend a guy could have"
man 2: "It's only because you make me the best"

Weird....:eek:

[mimitabby]

Hee hee. Lego-Last. Kinda funny, but kinda hurty, huh?
They're just good at shooting straight, when we women sometimes need a little soft cushioning of the words. I mostly appreicate their straightforwardness and truth (although sometimes DH can be a bit too truthful :) ).
Can you imagine how weird it would be to hear man conversations that were encouraging and cushy?
man 1: "Man I should've hit that homerun."
man 2:"Oh, it's ok, you did your best and that's what counts. You're a good ball player, and you'll hit one next time."
man 1: "Thanks, you're the best friend a guy could have"
man 2: "It's only because you make me the best"

Weird....:eek:
boy, TriGirl, you pegged it. It's not quite 7am here and i was reading your little dialog thinking, men would never say this... then I reread and realized THAT WAS YOUR POINT. :p

[Bikingmomof3]

This thread is cracking me up. :)

I still need a name for my manbike. DH's response was "coffin nail #1)-as in my hobby is killing him. It was a tongue and cheek answer, as he is the one who go my started. If it had not been for him, I would still to this day be afraid of bikes.

[mimitabby]

coffin nail is also a name for Cigarettes. I think you need a nicer name than that! something that evokes the feeling you have riding.

[Bikingmomof3]

I agree. The first thing I think of when I am on my bike is freedom...maybe a name that has something to do with freedom? I swear it was easier to name my children!

[maillotpois]

So... I guess brevet bikes are the standard 40th birthday present around here.... :cool:

[Veronica]

So... I guess brevet bikes are the standard 40th birthday present around here.... :cool:


Don't call it a brevet bike! LALALALALA I'm not listening. I won't be corrupted. :D

Birthday present? My birthday isn't until December. I'll get something else then.:)

Are you getting a new bike instead of upgrading your current one?

V.

[mimitabby]

I agree. The first thing I think of when I am on my bike is freedom...maybe a name that has something to do with freedom? I swear it was easier to name my children!
my bike's colors remind me of a bumblebee. So I named it bumblebee, but in Italian..

[maillotpois]

Well, you're doing the brevets, right?

Yeah, apparently I am getting a new bike. For me, it will be a brevet bike. I love love my colonago, which is just bulletproof, and I was ready to try to make it work (heck I did a 600k on an aluminum race bike), but the rear triangle is so tight that I can't put fenders on and I question whether the bike would work with a schmidt hub and where we'd put the lights.

[Trekhawk]

Don't call it a brevet bike! LALALALALA I'm not listening. I won't be corrupted. :D

V.

LOL - You know you really want to V and I love reading your ride reports.:)

[Veronica]

Thanks Leslie. I know I want to do the 200 and the 300. It's after that - 400:eek: 600:eek: :eek: 1200:eek: :eek: :eek:And you know here in the Bay Area, they will not be flat rides. And yeah doing PBP would be so cool! Especially if MP and I did together in the same year.

So what bikes are you looking at MP?

V.

[Bad JuJu]

Speaking of men and their irritating habits, DH dogs me all the time about the $$$ I spend on biking, yet HE owns two cars, one motorcycle, plus a bike of his own. Jeez!

But like Veronica's guy, he's just teasing--we keep our discretionary income separate so my biking hasn't cost him a dollar and neither has his collection of vehicles :rolleyes: cost me anything.

[maillotpois]

Well, actually DH happened upon this frame at Gary Hobbs' store (where I got all my bikes, gvhbikes.com - Gary died of leukemia last year and Tom's running the shop now. Amazing how many TNT rides I coached on Gary's bikes and then he goes and dies of the stuff.) I can't get a picture in here that is not HUGE. It's a Jeff Lyon rogue frame, bright blue.

"This is a handmade, fillet brazed frameset with sport/touring geometry, fender braze-ons, and clearance for larger tires."

I am hesitant to do steel here, at the coast, given my clumsiness, etc. But I really can't get a brevet bike with the right geometry in a different frame material that I can afford/justify. The frame's not too heavy - under 4 lbs and the fork is light. So we could probably bring it in around 24 - 25 pounds. The Schmidt hub will add some weight. But it's just the best set up for lights I have seen for long distance riding. The Moab on the helmet was fine for the 600k, but I could see it getting to be dicey at longer distances.

So we're looking at maybe getting Tom to build it up for us. I would put a schmidt hub on it. It's so weird to be looking at buying a bike when I can't even ride for 5 more months. Surreal.

On the brevets -

Everyone tells me the Davis brevet series is the one to do. I would like to throw in an extra 600k, maybe SF's. PBP is out because we will probably do a family trip to France next year and I couldn't go back 3 - 4 weeks later. I heard some amazing stuff this weekend about PBP, and will definitely do it one day. Probably in 2011.

[snapdragen]

2011 - there's your goal date Veronica......

[Lise]

5 months seems like an eternity, but it will pass, soon, MP.

So, tell me, what qualities does a bike need to be a "brevet bike"?

[SadieKate]

I'm trying to talk MP into a Mercian. She started it by sending me this link.

Now I want it in Flamboyant Red.

http://www.merciancycles.com/frame_velocita.asp

[maillotpois]

You are flamboyant.

I'm thinking a little more cost-conscious:

http://www.merciancycles.com/frame_images/comp_audax_complete.jpg

Super nice. Probably available in flamboyant red. But would that clash with my red bar bag? Hmm... :rolleyes:

So it's probably a good thing I am not in a hurry to get a bike. Have some time to shop around.....

[Veronica]

So, tell me, what qualities does a bike need to be a "brevet bike"?

Well... it needs to be comfortable. So more of a touring geometry, rather than a race geometry.

Some examples...

http://www2.trekbikes.com/images/bikes/large/madonesslx_royalblueblack.jpg

The Madonne has more of a racing geometry

http://www2.trekbikes.com/images/bikes/large/pilot59_belizeblue.jpg

The Pilot is more upright, so more of a touring geometry.

You should be able to put fenders on it and maybe even racks. A lot of brevet riders have generator hubs too.

There's probably other stuff that I don't know about.
V.

[maillotpois]

But you don't really "need" a special bike to do brevets. I did the 600 on the race geometry bike, and I don't know that Nanci's Lava is a "brevet" or touring bike - it looked fairly standard but I don't remember thinking about geometry last time I looked at a picture of her bike. (Lava Napping, I believe was the picture!)

I just noticed after a couple hundred miles, I start spending all my time with my hands on the tops of the bars. So I believe that a brevet bike would be better. A bit more upright, maybe cushier.

My bikes have no clearance for fenders, which would be nice to have. At a bit under 20 pounds each, both my bikes are a heck of a lot lighter than a brevet bike, but I am hoping to ultimately keep the weight down on the bike as much as possible. The Schmidt hub will add weight and some drag, but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

[SadieKate]

MP, you think the Davis ultra group will have their act back together next year?

[maillotpois]

Conflicting stores on that one from the folks I talked to at Tam Double. I hope so - heck, it's a PBP year - the brevets will be wildly popular. Doing SF or Santa Rosa would be okay. Davis is supposed to actually have some support.

[Nanci]

Lava's a plain old Trek 2100 WSD. I doubt she'd accomodate fenders. But her big trunk/rack protects my back! I like her...She's got carbon fork, seat stays, seatpost, FWIW. She doesn't want to go to Paris, though, so I'm not going to force her.

[maillotpois]

Lava rocks! She's basically the same set up as my bike. And I don't blame her for not wanting to go to Paris. Making her ride in the cargo hold - inhumane!

[Trekhawk]

A lot of brevet riders have generator hubs too.
There's probably other stuff that I don't know about.
V.

Ok showing my ignorance here. What is a generator hub??

[mimitabby]

It's a gizmo you get put on your hub that generates electricity (for a headlight, for example) by the energy made by your pedalling and on downhills and stuff.

[SadieKate]

A hub that generates power for lights.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/schmidt.asp

[Trekhawk]

It's a gizmo you get put on your hub that generates electricity (for a headlight, for example) by the energy made by your pedalling and on downhills and stuff.

Thanks Mimitabby - see learn something new everyday.