This reminds me of a mentos commercial.

Hello everyone!

I'm not new to cycling, but I am new to teamestrogen.com and so I felt this was the best place to introduce myself.

I'm very excited to find a women's cycling forum. It's like a breath of fresh air. The venerable bikeforums.net is a great source of information, but for a woman it can make for a disappointing community. So I'm looking forward to the comradery this community seems to have and the things I'll be able to learn and share with other women interested in an activing/hobby/sport I love dearly.

About me: I'm located in the Bull City (Durham), North Cack (NC) and work at Duke. My commute is 3 miles by car and 4-6 by bike, depending on if I take the cemetery (the longer, but more worthwhile route).

I got my first bike (as an adult) in 2003, a Giant Boulder, and I used it mainly for mountain biking and the occasional MUP. I started commuting to work in 2005 (on the Giant) in response to the Smart Commute Challenge. I very quickly upgraded to a Gary Fisher Big Sur that I scored off Craigslist for a cool $300 and over the span of a few months modified it to be a lean mean commuting machine. Just this week, I made another Craigslist purchase, a 1980 steel Raleigh Sprite, and it's gotten me in the "wanna chat about it" mode, just like I was in 2005. The Sprite is a totally different riding experience. I find myself going slower and being less aggressive on the road. Maybe that will change as I get used to the friction shifting.

I'm also a bike mechanic wanna-be and finally have my own repair stand, which really should've been the first thing I bought. For repairs that HAD to have a stand, I would bungee/rope my bikes to the front porch railing!

(I know I'm being awfully chatty, but I'm just excited to be in a place where my words will be heard and not one-up'd, please bear with me!)

And last thing, a dozen of my close friends (all women) are gearing up to group train for a 50 miler in the fall. We're starting our training rides in June. Several of these folks don't even have bikes yet! I'm so excited that so many people I care about are taking on this challenging goal and making biking part of their lives.

Thanks to Team Estrogen for working for a great cause and providing a space for us to play.

I love my bike!
Beck

Hi there 10ch, and welcome to TE.

Like you, I really relished finding a womens forum - the guys ones were interesting but here just feels different, and it is home to a HUGE and diverse range of cycling interests, abilities, bicycle types, roadies to mountain bikers and everything in between... its really a great thing to have discovered.

I only just got my first bike as an adult at the end of 2004... and I will be 42 this year... there are quite a number of TEers who have come back to bicycling having not ridden for years and years since we were kids.

Enjoy poking around the place - I guess two of the features I really enjoy about TE is that women here discuss anything, and I mean anything (yay for moon cups!) - and you don't get that in a male dominated forum. And the other thing is that even the experts in their field here get excited by those just learning how to stay on a bike - and its genuine pleasure we all take in everyone's successes.

I say again, enjoy :D

Welcome on board!!!
You have great bikes and the Raleigh looks really neat and classy. TE is great, unbelievable how gals here support each other.
Many safe miles to you on your new bike.

FN

Man, I like that Raleigh. Very classy machine. Nice site w/ some nice pics too.

You've got a gorgeous collection of bikes, there!

Welcome to TE. You're lucky to have friends who want to take up the sport. I haven't been so lucky, grrr. I'm still working on them, though.

Thanks for the welcome, ya'll.

I spent yesterday out with friends looking at (used) bikes for the 50-miler. My buddy found a been-ridden-three-times-and-stored-in-the-attic-ever-since hybrid for $60, great deal! And I fixed up my Giant, which was wheel-less and dirty for another friend. I'm glad it'll be back on the road.

Today will be my first cable replacement. Zinn's says it's a regular maintenance tasks and not a repair task and that you should just have cables around for swapping regularly. That makes it feel a little less intimidating. Wish me luck!

And to those who commented on the Raleigh, let me say it's my new favorite thing! Yesterday I did a back-to-back test ride with the Gary Fisher, Raleigh and Giant and the geometry on the Raleigh feels so much better that I've decided to invest in upgrading parts (lighter, alloy rims that brake better are up first) and making it my Official Commuter and then converting the Gary Fisher into the badass mtn bike it is at heart. It'll be really neat to be able to go mountain biking whenever I want -- switching tires is a pain, especially with those Nimbus flak jackets. They are a bear to pull over rims.

Happy Sunday everyone, let me know if you have derailleur cable replacing advice!
Beck

10ch

welcome to TE...this is a great place to get info and talk. no hardcore advice for replacing cables except: be patient with yourself. I enjoy working on my bike(s)...I've got an old batavus bike (made in holland in the early 1970's). put racks on it like your raleigh has, fenders and am converting it to a single speed/fixed. Some stuff I got through yard saling...

I checked out your raleigh...sweet ride! don't get rid of that brooks saddle! those saddles are awesome!

it sounds like you've got a good group of friends you way to ride with.

what do you do at Duke?

Welcome! I love your excitement! I'm kind of in that excited, giddy, silly, obsessed spot too. Even though I've always been riding bikes, this is my first foray into road bikes and mega-commuting on it.

I look forward to you sharing all your knowledge in reparing bikes! :D