All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

what the standover height is on your motobecane?
After spending a week scourering marketplace, i've probably looked at over 100 bikes. There are thousands to choose from around that $200 mark. I think bumping my budget up a bit brings me into a little better class of bike, that had a better lift it seems. Most around my mark look like they have spent there life outside.

I talked with her today and her only preference is she wants a men's bike if it fits her. She wants something we both can ride, i don't really care either way.

 

im going against the grain, I bought a Thule T2 from facebook marketplace with zero issues for over the years. Super easy to just throw the bike on and slide the clamp on top of the front tire with a little strap on the back. Plus you can find them used for 400-500 on market place.

1up is nice but can be pricey (even used). Ive also ran across accidental issues with bikes not fitting due to lack of tools to adjust the tire size bar on those racks. Not a deal breaker, just carry tools or remember if they were adjusted for kids bikes lol.

 

RockyMounts BackStage! I use the swing away feature all the time

 

I've still got a Thule T2 with a 2-bike extension. People seem to look down on them now because they look heavy and clunky. But I've had a couple of them over the last 15 years and they have been solid. Got the most recent one for $250 including the extension 5-6 years ago.

I got a single tray 1up as well as I wanted something low profile that I can plug into the back of my moto carrier. I do like it, but damn they are expensive.

 

One thing that sets 1Up above the rest...they sell every single piece of the rack separately. Backed into a pole? No problem - replace a few parts and your rack is good as new. Unfortunately, I have experience with this.

 

I'll be honest I don't even know what size it is. If I had to guess from feel it's the 20", but I can actually measure it tonight.




Eventually you just have to pull the trigger on something that fits. When I was looking at FBM for road bikes, I had a huge range of options to pick from but almost everything was XL or S, I guess the M - L bikes are the popular sizes so they don't stick around long! I went new but my budget was different/what I needed was different. But for a general hobbyist bike, you can be a little bit more flexible - I was in the road bike market where size is important, and the groupsets I was looking to are pretty well defined and set up by price brackets.

Outdoor bikes are fine. New chain and some elbow grease and it's good as new if she's rusty. Otherwise it's not a big deal to be wet, people seem to shy away from being aggressive when cleaning bikes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv9KMTaEgS8

^^^ That's about my go to about twice a year for my road bike but I don't ride in the slop. Commuter bike gets that more often in the winter, whenever it's warm enough to basically, and then maybe once in the middle of the summer when there's less salt/grime on the roads anyway.

Really the only thing would maybe be a narrower bar, but way less of an issue on a flat bar - sorry I had road bikes on the mind.

 

Dayumn! that takes some serious effort to make that happen! lol. dd is deifnitely my preferred but if not, then i have to go exo+ but never exo. if i somehow get an exo on there, i get back home and replace it asap.

+1 on the 1up again. the only complaint i have is that on rough roads, there is quite a lot of movement at the pivot point because of the design. and if you put 4 bikes on there, it REALLY sticks out and REALLY likes to move. but for every other reason, it's still #1 to me. user replaceable parts has actually come in handy for me as i've had to fix a few things here and there as people have hit it or something. also, the glide bar is EASILY replaceable which i've also done.

 

What are people's thoughts on motor size for e-MTB's?
A couple of the guys I ride with recently bought Trek Fuel bikes, which have the 250W, 50Nm (TQ HPR50) motors.
They're happy with them, but I'm heavier and slower than both of them, so I'm pretty sure I'll want something a bit more beefy.
(I'm 5'11", ~240# -- but hoping to get back down closer to 200# once I retire in a few months and make more effort to get on the bike.)

The Trek Powerfly uses the Bosch CX, which has plenty of oomph, but is also a fair amount heavier.

YT seems to be popular around here, and they mostly use the SHIMANO EP801, which has higher torque (85Nm, but still only 250W)

I've been a mtb'er for almost 40 years, but at a moderate level, and at 62 I'm hoping to get into better shape than I have been in the last few years, but I'll never be out there doing anything wild.
I'm generally at the back of the pack, even though most of the guys I ride with are my age or older. Would be nice to see some of the good crashes instead of just coming up on the aftermath.

 

I was just shopping around for an e-bike and went with a trek rail. I’m around the same size as you. Just some thoughts I’ve had after owning one for a couple weeks (about 50 miles of riding)

-battery size is key. I got in 20 miles with just under 3k ft of climbing and had about 32% battery according to the app. Me and a buddy had photo gear with us, his bike had a shimano motor and was similar with a slightly smaller battery

-full power feels like cheating, it took us like 20 minutes to climb like 800 feet on turbo mode on the way back to the trucks. You can just plow through rock gardens at any speed too. With steeper seat tube angles, the power is totally manageable on steep climbs. Never felt like the front end was gonna pop a wheelie when I didn’t want it to

-I think the weight is totally manageable. I can bunny hop just fine. Bump over smaller logs fine, haven’t tried a bigger log yet but imagine I can get over decent size stuff. It also helps carry momentum on downhill sections even with the motor off. With that said, I give priority to strength training, especially when I’m not training for a race, which I think helps a ton.

-double check cable routing. The gen 4 trek rail is internally routed but it’s terribly done and rattles so bad.

-with how good suspension is, I’d go for more travel over less but that also depends on your trails.

I’ve also ridden the pivot shuttle slam which is a great bike with the less powerful motor. I got in like a 1000ft of climbing and went through maybe 1-2 bars or 30-40% of the battery. That felt plenty power but I’d be curious how it compares on long sustained climbs.

I’d consider a propain if I were you. My buddy has one on order that should be ready next week. I’ll let you know how he likes it if you’re curious haha.
https://www.propain-bikes.com/us/product/bikes/trail/sresh-cf/

 

Two or three of those links are sold...fyi.

I'd stay away from the Schwinns for that price range...you'll thank me later.

The first GT isn't bad, and the TREK hybrids look decent so long as the drivetrains (chain, front chain rings, cassettes) aren't clapped. Very common in this price range. If you don't already have one, grab a chain checker tool and learn the basics. It'll save you some $$$ when shopping the used bike market.

Fit tip - overall height and inseam come in handy with bike fits in this range. Yes, reach, chainstay length too, but for these bikes...not so much.

Use a curtain rod or wood dowel with a bubble level (taped to one end) to check for your SO's "anatomic inseam." Place the rod between her legs (insert sophomoric joke HERE) and level...measure from the floor to the bottom of the rod. That is her standover height. The demo simulates the top tube of any bike she will be riding, and with her overall height calc'ed in...should get you in a ballpark range of a "bike fit."

26" wheels, and 27.5 inch wheels will give a more favorable standover...most of those TREKs look like 700c/29er sized wheelsets. I think the GT is either 26 or 27.5.

Good luck.

 

What's yalls bike shop look like?

I had a recent downsizing, so here's mine now

 

And before

 

Mine is a mess and will not be sharing photos of how bad the workbench and shelves are…luckily my wife doesn’t go down there too often haha

 

I was at coopers creek 2 weekends ago. I admit I'm pretty new to river fishing. Was able to get 4 trout that made a good meal. One of my last fish I caught was super small. Like the size of a chewy granola bar but it was the same type of fish in your first fish pic. What kind of fish is that?

 

Those are some good lookin hardtails. Need to post a pic of them in my Hardtails only pic thread.

 

probably the best reason I have heard to get faster

Don't underestimate this. I recently bought a new road bike, I don't have rattling happening but the internal routing is silly.

This is what I went from (Giant contend 3, mine was the 2020 but the cables looked similar, tucked and tight).



To this shenanigans:


(neither are my pictures)

So, it's the small things, but keep an eye on them for sure

Unless you're hucking it in the woods, 26" is fine. I rode 27.5 MTB, I'm used to the 20" wheels of my BMX days, 29 is just a traildozer and I prefered the twitchy technical feels of a 26 or 27.5.

Ever seen the show "Hoarders" and think "WOW that garage is chaos!"




...THAT'S ME!

Getting better, once I sell off some old bikes and clean up and organize the camping stuff I'll have a better idea of how I want the garage layout to work.

 

Spent the weekend riding my gravel bike on the road for a good cause. Completed the Pan Mass Challenge which is 190 miles plus some additional ‘commuting’ miles over 2 days (110 miles day 1, 80 miles day 2). I threw some ‘slicks’ on my I9 wheels and sent it. No mechanicals, no bonks, no crashes so I’m very happy!
The bike, Poseidon Redwood

Starting line at 5:30 AM, Saturday

About 4:45 AM Sunday, sunrise along the canal.

Day 1 finish line, Day 2 finish was too hectic, I didn’t get a photo op.

Great event, they raise a shit load of money for Dana Farber. I’m not a roadie but will ride on the road for good causes!

 

At least its not internally routed through the headset. My Fezzari Shafer gravel bike is headset routed and while I love the clean look of the cockpit, its going to be a pain in the ass for simple maintenance when the time comes.

 

Another bike thread! Please point me to it!

 

I have a Pivot Shuttle AM with the previous gen Bosch CX motor. It has the 750w battery. I just did a single ride of 16 miles with a little over 2k vert and just got into the 3rd of 5 battery bars. I am normally in eco mode unless going up a fire road. Over the week I was in VA I did 63 miles, 5-6k vert and probably only needed to charge 1 time. I charged more than that because that is a lot of bike to pedal without the motor but only needed the one charge. I don’t have any issues hopping over small/medium downed trees/logs, or getting as much air as I want over jumps. I am not a big jumper though. It just takes a little getting used to the weight. I second the idea of getting longer travel. Unless you just absolutely know you don’t need it, it doesn’t hurt to have. The motor will take care of the extra suspension weight.