Weight of a mtb compared to a Trek hybrid

[Zen]

It's not so much size as it is tread.
32's should be fine.

[pardes]

Zen, how much would the extra tread slow me down? In other words would the difference be enough to not consider using the extra tread tires year round? Speed isn't the issue for slowpoke me but road resistance that makes it harder to bike is.

[Miranda]

Hmm, how much more does the mtb type tread slow you down (and also jarring with suspension w/o a lock out option)...

A guy in a lbs finally described what I wanted to say about this very thing to a dear GF who wants me to do paved bike paths with her using my mtb...

"I feel like I'm going no where fast".

I told the shop guy he nailed it right on the head of how I felt about it too.

For a mtb I own a Trek wsd 4500 hard trail (only front end suspension and no disc brakes--good stopping power in wet conditions, but heavier brakes).

About this time last year I think, there was a lovely thread of someone's beautiful "slush queen" bike a lbs built for the gal. She got much "oooo & ahhhh" and was said to be too beautiful for slush. But, her owner said it was her destiny... so be it. I might dig around for the thread. Can you tell she left quite an impression on me as well? Thinking... maybe it would give you some ideas for modifications on how to make what you have work better or something.

I was thinking you could fix up a cheap beater bike as suggested with those tires. I have a 25yr+ bike in my garage that would make a nice beater bike. But, she's steele... and if you load her on the bus as posted, that could really start to sux pretty quick (she's soooo heavy, much more than my current mtb). Going to search for the "slush queen"...

EDIT: Below is the link to the thread with the "slush kicker" she was called, not queen... I was pretty close on the wording...

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ighlight=slush

[sundial]

Miranda, thanks for that link.

I'm currently outfitting my '05 Sequoia with a mountain cassette, derailer and bigger tires for my off season riding. I think it's a great idea to have an older bike as a back-up bike for rainy days and such. I hope others enjoy theirs too.

[Zen]

I bought my FX specifically to use on the C&O Canal.
If most of my riding was on pavement I wouldn't want these tires year round.
I rode 20 paved miles of the WMRT and i was working it to maintain a 13mph average.

If you ride slower or shorter distances it would probably be fine.

[Miranda]

Miranda, thanks for that link.

It's such a lovely bike... I could see the pics of it perfectly in my mind before I even found the thread.

[pardes]

Yes, thanks so much for the link. Now that I have Firefox I won't lose the link as I have been doing recently.

Zen, I'm going to track down your tires. (What an odd sentence that is....I think I've had too much coffee and too many websites. Everything is beginning to look a little odd.)

A slight digression.....
I've read that one of the first signs of dementia is that things begin to look a little odd. And then even a little more odd......
I was visiting a nursing home with Magdalene. We were blithely walking down the hall to my Mom's room. Another resident tied in her wheelchair reached out her hand to Magdalene so I stopped of course. It generally took me half an hour from the front door to Mom's room because everyone wanted to pet Magdalene.
As the woman reached out just to about touch Magdalene's paw, she pulled back her hand and screamed, "Get that panther away from me."
I'm not sure who was more startled by the moment: the woman, Magdalene, or me. I think we all peed our pants. I know Magdalene did.
After that incident, I learned that if you take things very, very, very gradually with dementia patients, sometimes you can reach them without startling them. Magdalene became the best at this. She would sit with her back to the patients as if they weren't even there until they approached her.

[IMG][/IMG]

Magdalene's panther paws at 8 weeks of age.

Sorry for the digression. I need more coffee.....more websites.......

[bmccasland]

Truely vicious looking dog you've got there Pardes. 1 L of dog!