Welcome guest, is this your first visit? Click the "Create Account" button now to join.

To disable ads, please log-in.

Shop at TeamEstrogen.com for women's cycling apparel.

Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 46 to 60 of 62
  1. #46
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    orygun
    Posts
    1,145

    To disable ads, please log-in.

    Nice!
    Deep red or even a red moving towards purple would look really nice....

    I guess "gulp" means "OMG I hope not!!"" It's not bad in life.
    Discipline is remembering what you want.

  2. #47
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Riding my Luna & Rivendell in the Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,411
    Quote Originally Posted by elk View Post
    Nice!
    Deep red or even a red moving towards purple would look really nice....

    I guess "gulp" means "OMG I hope not!!"" It's not bad in life.
    I do like that soft lemony color, don't get me wrong.
    Lisa
    My mountain dulcimer network...FOTMD.com...and my mountain dulcimer blog
    My personal blog:My blog
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  3. #48
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    2,024
    Lisa, I also thought one needed to go 9spd to use a rear mountain cluster (what I have on my bikes) but if you look at the gearing offered on the new terry isis bikes, the isis sport boasts a 10 spd ultegra group up front, with mountain gearing in back, so check it out. Maybe you want to do something like that on your new bike.

    I like the idea of a dark color. My titanium isis is white with light blue, and while looks pretty she is so hard to keep clean. My steel isis is darker blue fading to silver and much easier to keep clean.

  4. #49
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Riding my Luna & Rivendell in the Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,411
    Quote Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl View Post
    Lisa, I also thought one needed to go 9spd to use a rear mountain cluster (what I have on my bikes) but if you look at the gearing offered on the new terry isis bikes, the isis sport boasts a 10 spd ultegra group up front, with mountain gearing in back, so check it out. Maybe you want to do something like that on your new bike.

    I like the idea of a dark color. My titanium isis is white with light blue, and while looks pretty she is so hard to keep clean. My steel isis is darker blue fading to silver and much easier to keep clean.

    The Terry Isis Sport has 11/34 (10 speed) cassette, and front rings 48/38/26.
    My bike will have a 12/34 (9 speed) cassette and a front 48/36/24. That 24 really gets me up some major hills. I don't have a problem with keeping to a 9 speed....I just love my current setup, the gearing is perfect for me and where we ride, and we already have some of the parts anyway...so we are sticking with that.

    My current bike is a very bright electric medium blue. So I want a softer earthier color. It's almost like our living room beeswax-y color, which I love. I tend to like lighter bikes than darker bikes, and dirt doesn't bother me too much.
    Lisa
    My mountain dulcimer network...FOTMD.com...and my mountain dulcimer blog
    My personal blog:My blog
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  5. #50
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    2,024
    Just so you understand, I am sure you could pair a 48/36/24 with an11/34 as well as with a 12/34 which would give you all the gears you have now plus one higher which you may want on your lighter bike. What is key is that now they make an 11/34 10 spd casette. Before you could only get 11/34 or 12/34 casettes in 9 spd. I only bring this up, cuz while I also like my 9 spd, sometimes when buying wheels and other stuff you can only get 10 spd, so you may have more options for replacement parts w 10 spd. But if you already have 9 spd stuff that you want to use, that is different.

    Will your new bike have 26"/650 or 700 wheels. If the wheels are smaller, they you have to consider that when choosing your gearing (i.e.the gear ratio calculation considers wheel diameter so if you have smaller wheels you'll want larger chain rings in front and smaller in back to get same gearing).



    Quote Originally Posted by Lisa S.H. View Post
    The Terry Isis Sport has 11/34 (10 speed) cassette, and front rings 48/38/26.
    My bike will have a 12/34 (9 speed) cassette and a front 48/36/24. That 24 really gets me up some major hills. I don't have a problem with keeping to a 9 speed....I just love my current setup, the gearing is perfect for me and where we ride, and we already have some of the parts anyway...so we are sticking with that.

    My current bike is a very bright electric medium blue. So I want a softer earthier color. It's almost like our living room beeswax-y color, which I love. I tend to like lighter bikes than darker bikes, and dirt doesn't bother me too much.
    Last edited by Triskeliongirl; 01-14-2008 at 03:50 PM.

  6. #51
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Middle Earth
    Posts
    3,997
    Quote Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl View Post
    I like the idea of a dark color. My titanium isis is white with light blue, and while looks pretty she is so hard to keep clean. My steel isis is darker blue fading to silver and much easier to keep clean.

    My EMC2 road bike is very purrrty in sky blue and white, but I have scuffed the white on the top tube getting off when tired after races, and when there is dirt/wet on the road, my femetape looks REAL grubby.

    LIke you, Triske, my steel grey and blue Giant TCR2 is much easier to keep clean.


    Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying,
    "I will try again tomorrow".


  7. #52
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Riding my Luna & Rivendell in the Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,411
    Quote Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl View Post
    Just so you understand, I am sure you could pair a 48/36/24 with an11/34 as well as with a 12/34 which would give you all the gears you have now plus one higher which you may want on your lighter bike. What is key is that now they make an 11/34 10 spd casette. Before you could only get 11/34 or 12/34 casettes in 9 spd. I only bring this up, cuz while I also like my 9 spd, sometimes when buying wheels and other stuff you can only get 10 spd, so you may have more options for replacement parts w 10 spd. But if you already have 9 spd stuff that you want to use, that is different.

    Will your new bike have 26"/650 or 700 wheels. If the wheels are smaller, they you have to consider that when choosing your gearing (i.e.the gear ratio calculation considers wheel diameter so if you have smaller wheels you'll want larger chain rings in front and smaller in back to get same gearing).
    Yes, I do understand all that about the new gearing availablity on the 10 speed- thanks though for pointing it out.
    I actually tend to change gears about two at a time, and so going to 10 speed would simply be annoying to me and I'd have to change gears sometimes 3 at a time instead. As to the range- I seldom get to go into my high gear now, but expect to use it more on my new bike...but don't really think I'll be needing any higher- we have lots of hills here also and I'm not into racing at all. I mostly want to go faster when climbing (which involves low gears and weight issues, aside from muscle strength of course), going fast on flats and downhills hasn't been a problem- I can go 40mph and routinely hit 36-38 or so . No pedaling at all there! Again, it's those massive long downhills after the climbs...
    Thus, I don't feel I need more gears or wider range gears than I have now. Plus, I have a beautiful Shimano 9 speed DuraAce level cassette with titanium large gears- it will work beautifully in this situation, and is lighter, more durable, and better quality than that Terry cassette. Since i love my current gearing setup, I might as well use this spare cassette on the new bike! It would be easy enough to swithc to 10 speed some day if I wanted to- just change the brifters and cassette.

    My new wheels are 700 like my old wheels, so no recalculating issues there.
    Thanks everyone for your input!

    I love my color that I picked, and today I am working on the tiny honeybee decal that I am having put on each side of the top tube. Bees have always been a theme in my life.
    Lisa
    My mountain dulcimer network...FOTMD.com...and my mountain dulcimer blog
    My personal blog:My blog
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  8. #53
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    2,556
    Quote Originally Posted by Lisa S.H. View Post
    When I see it, at first I'll be shocked because it's not exactly as I pictured it in my mind. Then I'll adjust to how it looks and likely find it just beautiful.
    Then I'll ride it and at first it will feel strange and all wrong (because it won't be at all like my one bike I've been riding for a year now) Then I'll get used to it and marvel at how wonderful it is. Then I'll hopefully be completely happy and excited again.
    Lisa, prepare to find your new custom bike absolutely incredibly perfect from the first ride. That's what happened to me, and I believe to Mimi as well. That's what you get with custom.
    Oil is good, grease is better.

    2007 Peter Mooney w/S&S couplers/Terry Butterfly
    1993 Bridgestone MB-3/Avocet O2 Air 40W
    1980 Columbus Frame with 1970 Campy parts
    1954 Raleigh 3-speed/Brooks B72

  9. #54
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    2,024
    You said your bike will have a 12/34 durace casette. I am not aware of such a casette, I thought durace only went up to 12/27. Perhaps you mean an XTR casette (comparable to durace but a mountain casette).

    I hear you, I love my 9spd gruppo too but I have found it harder to get replacement parts so just thought I'd throw that out there. I do find it surprising you like your bike geared so low, I don't know how I would do without my 50/11 to go fast on a flat (not a descent mind you, but a flat), and I do find my 34/34 takes me up any climb I want. But we are all different so you know what is best for you. The cool thing about gearing is that its easy to change by swapping casettes.

    Enjoy her, I am sure she is going to be beautiful! Perhaps you said earlier, but what steel is she going to be made from. I am sure you said its one of the new light weight alloys. Maybe someday I'll go custom to, but not until my kids finish college and are gainfully employed!

  10. #55
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Riding my Luna & Rivendell in the Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,411
    Quote Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl View Post
    You said your bike will have a 12/34 durace casette. I am not aware of such a casette, I thought durace only went up to 12/27. Perhaps you mean an XTR casette (comparable to durace but a mountain casette).
    Yes, it's the XTR....I said "DuraAce level", meaning it was in the same league as DA.

    I hear you, I love my 9spd gruppo too but I have found it harder to get replacement parts so just thought I'd throw that out there. I do find it surprising you like your bike geared so low, I don't know how I would do without my 50/11 to go fast on a flat (not a descent mind you, but a flat), and I do find my 34/34 takes me up any climb I want. But we are all different so you know what is best for you. The cool thing about gearing is that its easy to change by swapping casettes.
    My DH is pretty adept at finding parts for 9speed.
    You might have more and longer "flats" to gain big-ring speed on over there in Texas than here next to the Berkshires and Catskills- our flats don't last more than maybe 1/2 mile or so, then it's on to the next hill. Some of our hills are pretty steep.
    Maybe also because I am almost 54 and have only been exercising for 3 years now that is part of the reason I need lower gears on steep hills than a younger rider might need? I use my lowest gear combo several times on any given ride, yet I might typically use my highest gear only once briefly on that same ride.
    Maybe a couple years from now I will need to up my gearing if I get stronger. But I sure need those low gears right now!

    Enjoy her, I am sure she is going to be beautiful! Perhaps you said earlier, but what steel is she going to be made from. I am sure you said its one of the new light weight alloys. Maybe someday I'll go custom to, but not until my kids finish college and are gainfully employed!
    I think the steel tubing will be thinner than the tubing on my current Rivendell (which is a production bike and so necessarily made to withstand a +/- 250 lb male rider). I don't know much about alloys, but she said she would use a lighter weight steel tubing based on my weight and riding conditions, maybe that means thinner or alloy I don't know. I should know I guess! The completed bike with components will probably weigh 17-20 lbs.

    And thanks, DebW for the encouragement. I tend to purposely expect less than perfect, that way I'm rarely disappointed!
    Last edited by BleeckerSt_Girl; 01-15-2008 at 02:39 PM.
    Lisa
    My mountain dulcimer network...FOTMD.com...and my mountain dulcimer blog
    My personal blog:My blog
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  11. #56
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    8,548
    Yes, Deb, absolutely, but like Lisa, i think the 10 speed is overkill and really not necessary (and I bought it used so heck, I'm not going to complain TOO much)

    we REALLY don't need all those gears!!!
    Mimi Team TE BIANCHISTA
    for six tanks of gas you could have bought a bike.

  12. #57
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Eastern Indiana
    Posts
    373
    Congrats on the new bike, sounds cool!

    No a big deal going 9 instead of 10 speed, we have both and although I wish everything was 10. 9 speed stuff will still be around, but 10 is fairly standard now. What a 10 gives you over a 9 is tighter gearing, so the gears are spaced closer together. This then lets you stay in the correct gear for you, the type of riding, etc...

    If you are jumping 2+ gears at a time, you are not shifting enough. Maybe because of the bar end shifters that Grant likes to use, but ideally you should shift as need and when needed. I know mashers that will slug up a him in the same gear they started in. I assume you are getting STI shifters, you'll be shifting with ease in no time.

    Enjoy the new bike!

  13. #58
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    2,024
    We have plenty of hills here, I live in the texas hill country, and I have also taken my bike to the spanish pyrenes. I am 50, so only a little bit younger. Perhaps I am more of a masher than you, but what is important is that the gearing we each choose fits our riding styles. I am surprised that with a wide range casette like a 12/34 you are doing double shifts. In fact, I miss the tightness of my 12/27 but prefer the range of my 12/34 paired with my compact double (50/34). Do you climb out of your saddle? Do you take advantage of descents to gain momentum on ascents (on rollers). If not, that may explain why you prefer lower gears than me. I like climbing out of my saddle, not just to get more power, but as one more position variation, especially when cresting a hill.

  14. #59
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Riding my Luna & Rivendell in the Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,411
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. SR500 View Post
    Congrats on the new bike, sounds cool!

    No a big deal going 9 instead of 10 speed, we have both and although I wish everything was 10. 9 speed stuff will still be around, but 10 is fairly standard now. What a 10 gives you over a 9 is tighter gearing, so the gears are spaced closer together. This then lets you stay in the correct gear for you, the type of riding, etc...
    Well that's a nice description, but I am not having any trouble finding or getting into the "correct gear for me" in any given situation with my current 9 speed setup. You may disagree, but I feel I have plenty of gears spaced plenty close together. I'm glad they will continue to make 9 speed- I know other people who prefer them as well.

    If you are jumping 2+ gears at a time, you are not shifting enough. Maybe because of the bar end shifters that Grant likes to use, but ideally you should shift as need and when needed.
    And if you had a 20 speed instead of a 10 speed, would you then be shifting gears in tiny increments twice as frequently as you are now?
    I believe that it is possible to get too hung up on shifting for every little difference (unless one is racing or competing of course). Sometimes I am going on a flat and in the perfect gear, then there's a small short rise followed by another length of flat. I'm not going to shift for that little rise, to me it seems more streamlined and efficient to just push my legs a bit or else stand up for a few strokes to get over the hump rather than be constantly shifting small increments for every temporary change in the road. I actually enjoy using my body to make adjustments if it enables me to shift a tiny bit less often. It's fun. My goal is not to be shifting constantly to find the perfect gear for the moment while riding my bike.
    Mostly I shift one gear, sometimes two, sometimes 3 at a time(!) if the terrain is changing suddenly. Whatever works well.

    I know mashers that will slug up a him in the same gear they started in. I assume you are getting STI shifters, you'll be shifting with ease in no time.
    Enjoy the new bike!
    Thanks, I'm sure I will enjoy it! I know some of those hill mashers too- they seem to have a tendency to get knee problems a lot which then keeps them off their bikes for periods of time.
    I feel I must say that I already am shifting with ease with my bar end shifters.
    Lisa
    My mountain dulcimer network...FOTMD.com...and my mountain dulcimer blog
    My personal blog:My blog
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  15. #60
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Riding my Luna & Rivendell in the Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,411
    Quote Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl View Post
    We have plenty of hills here, I live in the texas hill country, and I have also taken my bike to the spanish pyrenes. I am 50, so only a little bit younger.
    Oh, forgive me, we are more alike than I thought. (except for the Pyrenees part) Good to know others in their 50's here. I forget that there are hills in Texas.

    Perhaps I am more of a masher than you, but what is important is that the gearing we each choose fits our riding styles. I am surprised that with a wide range casette like a 12/34 you are doing double shifts....Do you climb out of your saddle? Do you take advantage of descents to gain momentum on ascents (on rollers). If not, that may explain why you prefer lower gears than me.
    Oh, just realized the difference when you said this about descents- our favorite riding roads here go through lots of rolling hilly farmland that has plenty of turns and woods on both sides. Many times I cannot take advantage of a descent to get up the next hill because the descent ends in a blind curve that would be very foolish to go into at full speed. There are many twisty wooded back roads that we ride here, and many curves in the highways have poor visibility due to high rocky sides or forest on the sides. Many roads also end in a T on a downhill. We have a handful favorite long screaming descents with high visibility that we love, but they are a big exception in our rides. Some of them just end in a T at another highway, so no taking advantage of descent speed to get up the next hill there. Of course if you are talking small descents followed by a hill, then yes absolutely I do take full advantage of that when it is safe to do so.
    I have an inkling that the altitude changes in the roads happen here more quickly back and forth than maybe where you are. (isn't everything bigger in TX?) So two hills that might be the same height could go up and then down in a shorter distance here maybe? Perhaps that's why I need to change gears more rapidly, often 2 at a time.
    There is one hill we go up that branches off the flat highway at a right angle to our right and is so steep immediately that it's a real challenge to shift for. There is no running start, no wide swing turn. And there is no time to shift one gear at a time. My goal there is to shift drastically but as smoothly as I can. I like the challenge, and feel great satisfaction when I do it well and can hear only sweet pretty little metallic clucking sounds even though I'm changing a gazillion gears in the space of a few yards.


    I like climbing out of my saddle, not just to get more power, but as one more position variation, especially when cresting a hill.
    I don't stand in the climbs as much as most riders. I like to do it on the small hills, but not the big long ones. I know I need to stand more, and I am working on that. My legs are getting a bit stronger each month.
    I am hoping my new bike will fix my center of gravity problem and lead to my being able to ride no-handed and feeling better able to stand on the climbs.


    I think this discussion has gotten to be quite interesting in a bigger scope!
    Lisa
    My mountain dulcimer network...FOTMD.com...and my mountain dulcimer blog
    My personal blog:My blog
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

 

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •