Evil bike..?

[Bluetree]

Nothing there explains why the dike requires such high effort to get the same speed. Curiouser and curiouser....

I'm sure our fellow TE'ers of a different s**ual persuasion would have more input on that one!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Nothing there explains why the dike requires such high effort to get the same speed.

Hmm....so what speed is SHE getting on it??...
(this is getting complicated)

[DebW]

What about the tires, in terms of suppleness, weight, etc? Could you swap wheels between this bike and another one of your bikes and see if that makes it feel any different? There would be a noticable difference, for instance, between 2 wheelsets of the same overall weight but with different weight distributions between hub and rim.

[Tuckervill]

Maybe you're only riding this bike when you're feeling slow and full of lead? Maybe it's not the bike at all.

Karen

[SouthernBelle]

I 2nd a wheel swap for comparison.

[Triskeliongirl]

I third the wheel swap idea. It looks like you have a mountain casette in the rear. I find when I ride the same bike with a 11-34 mountain casette vs 12-27 road casette it feels more sluggish cuz the gears are further apart, although if I am doing it cuz I really need the low gears, I need to do it. Your saddle also looks quite far forward in the pic, so perhaps you aren't in an effeceint pedaling postion. Do your other bikes have drop bars or flat? Could the twtichiness make me feel unstable and hold back on your speed psycologically. I don't understand why it was built with such a short wheelbase. Just some random thoughts. Please try the wheel swap and report back to us.

[Popoki_Nui]

What about the tires, in terms of suppleness, weight, etc? Could you swap wheels between this bike and another one of your bikes and see if that makes it feel any different? There would be a noticable difference, for instance, between 2 wheelsets of the same overall weight but with different weight distributions between hub and rim.

Tires are currently brand new Schwalbe Blizzard Sports. The skins in the photo are Kendas. The Kenda's have a more 'square~ish' profile (bigger footprint on the road); thinking that might be a cause, I switched to the Schwalbes (more rounded profile, higher pressure, smaller footprint). Neither made much diff.
Wheelsets are more of a problem, since I'm short of spare ones. None of the wheels from my other bike have the right spacing; if I get desperate I can fix that and make 'em fit.
Triskeliongirl wondered about the cassette: it's a 14-28 6-speed Shimano 600 road cassette. I do have a few spare cassettes...I'll play around with them and see what happens.
Why did they make such a short wheelbase? Who knows? It's a killer hill-climbing bike, great for sprints and great on the local velodrome. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be a long-haul bike?

[Popoki_Nui]

I'm sure our fellow TE'ers of a different s**ual persuasion would have more input on that one!

....oops!

[Kitsune06]

D'oh! I KNEW it was gonna happen! I've never had the "read thread- spit soda" experience before, but this one got me!

[Triskeliongirl]

Triskeliongirl wondered about the cassette: it's a 14-28 6-speed Shimano 600 road cassette. I do have a few spare cassettes...I'll play around with them and see what happens.

Hmmm. If a 14 is your smallest cog, could that be what its slow on the flats? What is the smallest cog on your other bikes?

[Bike Goddess]

You may have answered your question! You might try Googling the specs for track bikes to see if this bike meets the specs.

Lucky you to have a choice as to which bike to ride! I'd say, enjoy it on hill climbing, sprinting and track riding pursuits and leave it at that! You've done a good job rebuilding it and it should be enjoyed for what it is!

Just my $.02

[gnarwhal]

In response to the lady who asked what happened to me, well my DMR V8's with their lovely spiky grip pegs decided to spikygrip the back of my leg. my chain slipped and my foot went forward sending crank and pedal spinning round into my calf and left me with a bleeding stinging leg...ow!

Here's hoping you get your bike fit thing sorted

[Popoki_Nui]

Hmmm. If a 14 is your smallest cog, could that be what its slow on the flats? What is the smallest cog on your other bikes?

The cogs on my Falcon are 13-23 (52/42 chainrings), and on my Gitane it's a 14-28 cogset (52/39 chainrings).

[Popoki_Nui]

I'd say, enjoy it on hill climbing, sprinting and track riding pursuits and leave it at that! You've done a good job rebuilding it and it should be enjoyed for what it is! Just my $.02

Good suggestion! That's what I might end up doing. I was hoping to use this bike (not dike ) as my winter road bike (I don't ride my Gitane or Falcon in the rainy months); maybe I'll have to find another project bike to use as a winter roadie. Not exactly a bad thing: I love restoring bikes, and one can't have too many bikes in their stable, right?

[Popoki_Nui]

In response to the lady who asked what happened to me, well my DMR V8's with their lovely spiky grip pegs decided to spikygrip the back of my leg. my chain slipped and my foot went forward sending crank and pedal spinning round into my calf and left me with a bleeding stinging leg...ow!

OW! Been there, done that! Hope you heal up soon. :0


~Sherry.