The Road Bike thread

[BLachance75]

Id like to get to 20 miles daily but have time constraints at the moment which only allows for about 70 to 75 minutes of riding before I got to get ready for work. Eventually I want to hit longer rides on the weekends. I hate/love riding....

Free time during daylight is why I ride on Zwift. I work a 10 hour day and have an hour commute each way so my free daylight hours are 0 most day. Zwift allows me to ride at night and for as long as I want. I do try to get out 1 day a week and do a longer road ride but with so much going on in the summer free time is at a premium.

[Tugboater203]

I ride a 2015 Diamondback Line mountain bike with road tires. I do a 15 mile circuit Monday to Friday. The Diamondback is not even remotely adequate for the roadwork I am putting it through but its what I have. Its a 9 speed meant for climbing and bombing down hill trails, not long road riding. I am saving up to get an endurance bike. Id like to get to 20 miles daily but have time constraints at the moment which only allows for about 70 to 75 minutes of riding before I got to get ready for work. Eventually I want to hit longer rides on the weekends. I hate/love riding....

One you get a bike designed for road work, you'll be doing 20 miles in that amount of time

[ramagupa]

couldnt find an appropriate section in off topic… but this ebike is used for my commute to school, and then on the off-weekend to the field a few miles down the road…

getting to school with my art portfolio is no problem, its loading up 1.5 peoples’ worth of gear to the field. It takes a 55L filled to the brim to bring 2 markers and my gear

Just bought a rear rack, and am wondering if there are any suggestions for American made pannier bags or saddle bags in the budget of 50-150 for a pair

hoping for 20L minimum per bag.


and heres my whip

[martix_agent]

I have had this for years and never really rode it. I got it when I was delivering food on a bicycle and a rode a TON. My delivery bike was stolen and i got this to replace it. I liked my first bike 1000% better than this one. This particular bike isn't set up great for me and makes my hands numb really fast and is generally uncomfortable
Turns out I have 0 fun riding on roads if I'm not on a mission and playing around in traffic.
I think I'm gonna sell it.

[ramagupa]

i had a hard tail stolen from me that fit and felt pretty well… had nice parts added to it by a coworker who sold it pretty cheap..

1 week later i got to see the thief ride away on it
right in front of my face.

now i have an airtag, and a “good” set of kryptonite lock and cable. hopefully the three will stop a thief

[BLachance75]

I broke my chain last week so I took the opportunity to try out using a waxed chain. I went back and forth with hot waxing or using a drip wax and decided to go with Silca Super Secret drip wax. I fully cleaned my drive train and did 3 applications of drip wax per Silca recommendation and I'm very impressed so far. The drivetrain is noticeably quieter and smoother.

I was shocked at how much grime was in my old chain and derailleur pulleys considering I fully cleaned it all before putting it on the trainer for the winter. The pulleys were caked with grime and I didn't realize how loud they were until they were cleaned. The Muc-Off dry lube was caking up around the pulleys and attracting dirt and dust which made the loud and not roll smoothly.

[Tugboater203]

I broke my chain last week so I took the opportunity to try out using a waxed chain. I went back and forth with hot waxing or using a drip wax and decided to go with Silca Super Secret drip wax. I fully cleaned my drive train and did 3 applications of drip wax per Silca recommendation and I'm very impressed so far. The drivetrain is noticeably quieter and smoother.

I was shocked at how much grime was in my old chain and derailleur pulleys considering I fully cleaned it all before putting it on the trainer for the winter. The pulleys were caked with grime and I didn't realize how loud they were until they were cleaned. The Muc-Off dry lube was caking up around the pulleys and attracting dirt and dust which made the loud and not roll smoothly.

Did you clean your cassette too? I don't follow bike stuff much so I haven't heard of a waxed chain. How does it do with road grime and stuff?

[BLachance75]

Did you clean your cassette too? I don't follow bike stuff much so I haven't heard of a waxed chain. How does it do with road grime and stuff?

The bike is on a trainer now and the trainer only has a single speed cassette but I did clean that. I will clean the cassette on my wheel before I put it in the bike.

A waxed claim is supposed to be better if you’re riding in dry conditions. The chain is dry to the touch so road grime shouldn’t stick to it. After riding you can quickly wipe it down and you’re good to go. If you did get it wet and dirty you clean it then dry it.

[Tugboater203]

Sounds neat, I get so much grit in mine.

[Tracker]

i tend to use dry formulation chain lubes, currently im using some stuff from muc-off. but ive also used Dumonde for years, and as long as you remember to wipe your chain with something every few rides, and lube it when you can "hear" the chain you should be fine
a properly lubed bike with the shifters aligned SHOULD be silent while pedaling (unless you got the BB creaks, then it just is what it is).. if you can hear the chain rattling around, it either needs to be wiped, lubed, or cleaned and lubed..