Bicycle riding

[ShockTalk]

So is that a real bike path, or a neighborhood walking path?

Neighborhood. Those are the fun paths to try and locate.

Yes, that's my neighborhood. JVShocker , you were lucky this morning. It was still blocked off as of yesterday as we re-built one of the bridges over the creek. There was a bridge between the pond and creek, but they rebuilt to be able to pave where the bridge was. The 2 remaining bridges were rebuilt by some residents a number of years ago. Don't know if those will get replaced yet, but I really like the new bridge.

You would have hated the 2 bridges taken out as they looked good, but not very functional for walkers or bikes. They were basically half circles with railing. They had grit on the planks, but several had still slipped on them.

I did 6.2 miles yesterday (walked, haven't been on a bike in years) and noticed Andover has built a new road and sidewalk system starting on the east side of Andover Park called Yorktown Rd. The side walk is double wide, named Yorktown Trail, and the sign says it's 4.4 miles.

My claim to (little) fame was many, many years ago, riding my 3 speed Schwinn to Hutch one day and riding back the next along with my ex-brother-in-law. He had a much better bike than I, but I kept up.

[ShockTalk]

Mentioning my Schwinn brought back old memories and I decided to lookup their bikes. Of note, out of 50 Road, Mountain, Cruisers, and Commuters, they were sold out of 42.

[MadDog]

Thanks for the info JV. In the response I wrote that Shockernet lost, I noted that I only had one requirement for the bike, and that is that it not be flat back because that’s the color of my current bike and I don’t want two black bikes. I could walk in and pick up a black one at BP right now, but’s that not what I want. I had BP check all the stores within the maximum distance their app allows (200 miles), but none available. Where they screwed up IMO is when they placed the initial order for my bike. We ordered a size 58 in yellow knowing it didn’t really fit. They didn’t have a 56 for me to try. They ordered three Sports, the 58 yellow and two 56 in black. Then they put together one of the 56’s and had me test it, and that is the right size for me. Had BP ordered one of the 56’s in yellow, knowing that 58 didn’t really fit me, I would have had the bike the first of July. They didn’t, and I had to start from scratch on the order and go to the back of the line. Even so, I was still supposed to get it Aug 1. Now it’s dellvery is showing January. And yeah I am thinking about scratching the order altogether and starting over.

[JVShocker]

Thanks for the info JV. In the response I wrote that Shockernet lost, I noted that I only had one requirement for the bike, and that is that it not be flat back because that’s the color of my current bike and I don’t want two black bikes. I could walk in and pick up a black one at BP right now, but’s that not what I want. I had BP check all the stores within the maximum distance their app allows (200 miles), but none available. Where they screwed up IMO is when they placed the initial order for my bike. We ordered a size 58 in yellow knowing it didn’t really fit. They didn’t have a 56 for me to try. They ordered three Sports, the 58 yellow and two 56 in black. Then they put together one of the 56’s and had me test it, and that is the right size for me. Had BP ordered one of the 56’s in yellow, knowing that 58 didn’t really fit me, I would have had the bike the first of July. They didn’t, and I had to start from scratch on the order and go to the back of the line. Even so, I was still supposed to get it Aug 1. Now it’s dellvery is showing January. And yeah I am thinking about scratching the order altogether and starting over.

They had yellow available at the Boulder store. The Leawood store had the Metallic Ice blue one according to website. It still looks kind of black to me.

[MadDog]

Specialized has several colors in the Sport model, but to me, they all look flat black except the yellow one. I think I’ll pay BP a visit and see if they can work a transfer for the yellow one in Boulder. Thanks for the tip!

[JVShocker]

Sitting at work wondering if any of the Wichita cyclists got caught out in the rain/storms this morning.....

[revenge_of_shocka_khan]

The store we bought the bike from is a Trek store. I dont think Trek owns the store, but it seems almost like a franchise. The only bikes they sell are Trek, the only accessories are Bontraeger. All branding in the Store is Trek. Everyone working is wearing matching Trek gear. You can buy Trek and Bontraeger elsewhere, but this is the only bike store I go to that only has one manufacturer. It may also be why they have some bikes. Not a lot of bikes, but some.

Trek bought Bontrager years ago, IIRC. At the very least, Bontrager has not been active in the company for years. My first nice bike was a Gary Fisher Hoo-Koo-E-Koo. It had Bontrager rims when they were a big deal. I would prefer the 'old' Bontrager stuff, but I've also heard it's good level equipment.

[revenge_of_shocka_khan]

Thanks for the info JV. In the response I wrote that Shockernet lost, I noted that I only had one requirement for the bike, and that is that it not be flat back because that’s the color of my current bike and I don’t want two black bikes. I could walk in and pick up a black one at BP right now, but’s that not what I want. I had BP check all the stores within the maximum distance their app allows (200 miles), but none available. Where they screwed up IMO is when they placed the initial order for my bike. We ordered a size 58 in yellow knowing it didn’t really fit. They didn’t have a 56 for me to try. They ordered three Sports, the 58 yellow and two 56 in black. Then they put together one of the 56’s and had me test it, and that is the right size for me. Had BP ordered one of the 56’s in yellow, knowing that 58 didn’t really fit me, I would have had the bike the first of July. They didn’t, and I had to start from scratch on the order and go to the back of the line. Even so, I was still supposed to get it Aug 1. Now it’s dellvery is showing January. And yeah I am thinking about scratching the order altogether and starting over.

You and I are about the same size, IIRC. I have a 30" inseam and I know that's one of the key measures. I believe I am a 54 or a 56.

[MoValley John]

Trek bought Bontrager years ago, IIRC. At the very least, Bontrager has not been active in the company for years. My first nice bike was a Gary Fisher Hoo-Koo-E-Koo. It had Bontrager rims when they were a big deal. I would prefer the 'old' Bontrager stuff, but I've also heard it's good level equipment.

Yeah, I know Trek and Bontraeger are synonymous. This store to me is odd because there are two or three LBS Trek dealers in town, but they sell a couple of different brands. Greenstreet Cycle, The local Specialized store, sell Cervelli, Colnago and a couple others. The Bike Rack sells just about everything including Trek. Every LBS sells different brands- except this particular Trek Store. I'm almost positive it's not a company owned store, Omaha is too small of a market for that. But the store does everything possible to make you think it's a Trek owned company store.

Edit.... I dug in their website. It is a company owned store, not a LBS. Weird. I just dont see Omaha selling enough bikes to justify.

[JVShocker]

Waht do you do when you get home from work and the radar looks like this?




You go out bicycling very fast and get in a quick 15 miles before the rain hits. Made it back OK. Went by WSU on the way back. A fair amount of activity on campus tonight. Good to see, even if the odds of getting basketball are slim to none. Taking advice from MVJ, picked up a USB rechargeable light and am hoping to go out some evening at dusk. Last time I went bicycling at night was about 30 years ago along the downtown bike path with a friend at about 11pm at night.

At the very least, I wont have to give up cycling weeknights for a month and a half this winter when the clocks fall back an hour.

[MadDog]

Shaka, I’m 5’11”. According to the Specialized web site, if you are 5’9” - 5’11” you would get a size 56. If 5’11” - 6’2” you would get size 58, so for someone my size you could in theory go either way. I test rode a 2020 model Diverge Sport in size 58 and it felt great (and was even a good color

[MadDog]

Once again, half my post disappears. Apparently if you put an emoji in the text, Shockernet drops everything after the emoji. Live and learn I guess.

[MadDog]

JV, when I saw that radar tonight, I went golfing. Somehow missed all the rain.

[MoValley John]

Shaka, I’m 5’11”. According to the Specialized web site, if you are 5’9” - 5’11” you would get a size 56. If 5’11” - 6’2” you would get size 58, so for someone my size you could in theory go either way. I test rode a 2020 model Diverge Sport in size 58 and it felt great (and was even a good color

This is exactly my dilemma.

[MadDog]

Yeah, MVJ, I’m just not sure how you buy a bike without test riding it first. A size 58 in the 2020 model fit great. The size 58 in the 2021 model is too long for me after Specialized changed the geometry. A 56 in the 2021 model came in with the 58 I ordered and I took a test ride and it fit great, so we scrapped the 58 order, and reordered a 56 which sent me to the back of the line.