Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 436
Loc: Orange County California
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I was flying down a steep hill when I swerved through a flock of rocks. My front tire kicked up a rock and shot it, at high speed, back backwards right into the left side of my shiny new crank with enough force to shatter the rock.
Well, I realize that a bike is suppose to be a tool and nicks, dents and scratches shouldn't matter, but in reality it does matter.
Should I attempt to polish these nicks out so they at least look better, or just leave them alone? I am concerned that polishing on them might make them look worse.
Bruce
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 436
Loc: Orange County California
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My apologies for showing my fanaticism about my Calfee, but I do not own any other objects that have captured my attention and enthusiasm the same was as my road bike including a Harley Davidson I have owned for 25 years. I think it is because I have seen a dramatic improvement in the way that I feel physically as a result of riding everyday; and, because my job performance and income have also increased since I started riding everyday.
I am sure that I will have more dings, dents and scratches in the future so I will just accept them as I curse under my breath.
Bruce
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cccyclist
journeyman
Reged: 09/27/05
Posts: 83
Loc: Central California
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Everytime I put a new crank on a bike, I look at it and appreciate the perfection of it. Then fairly quickly I get the shoe marks across the face and general nicks and chips from riding. I just have to not focus on that part of my bike.
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Mike
contributor
Reged: 12/25/03
Posts: 101
Loc: Oregon
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A good way to deal with this issue is to get yourself a fairly inexpensive bike for everyday riding, and keep one high end bike to be fanatical about. Ride the beater eveyday, and save the nice bike for special occasions
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cccyclist
journeyman
Reged: 09/27/05
Posts: 83
Loc: Central California
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I have a Merlin for the rainy season (Ti, no paint). And a Waterford for more variety in the nicer months (and to ride while I send the Calfee back for paint).
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 436
Loc: Orange County California
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Yes, a beater bike is a good idea. I had originally planned on buying a 2nd bike anyway. I would like for my next bike to be made from Ti, possibly a Seven. Also, because Shimano is cheaper than Campy, which is what I have now, I might put Dura Ace on it. However, I am a little concerned that jumping between Campy and Shimano might be a little dangerous, like going from driving in the US to driving in the UK.
Bruce
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Nev
captain
Reged: 05/03/04
Posts: 375
Loc: Never where I want to be
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Quote:
Mike wrote:
Ride the beater eveyday, and save the nice bike for special occasions
Ick.
That feels exceptionally backwards to me. Why not just hang it on the wall indoors for even more appreciation?
A beater's a good idea, for sure. I have a few. But they're best reserved for the special occasions: exceptionally bad conditions, tooling around, coffee/beer runs, chasing down the dog, grab-n-go rides, etc.
Otherwise, enjoy the experience of that nice bike every chancy you get, that's what it's for, no?
A nice bike with a few nicks and worn tires says a bunch.
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 436
Loc: Orange County California
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Quote:
Nev wrote:
Quote:
Mike wrote:
Ride the beater eveyday, and save the nice bike for special occasions
Ick.
That feels exceptionally backwards to me. Why not just hang it on the wall indoors for even more appreciation?
A beater's a good idea, for sure. I have a few. But they're best reserved for the special occasions: exceptionally bad conditions, tooling around, coffee/beer runs, chasing down the dog, grab-n-go rides, etc.
Otherwise, enjoy the experience of that nice bike every chancy you get, that's what it's for, no?
A nice bike with a few nicks and worn tires says a bunch.
Eventually I plan on buying a new Calfee and then build up a beater bike from parts on my current Luna Pro. I would like to have a Ti bike because of they are rugged. I thought about a Seven or a Moots, etc and then came across this bike.
www.habcycles.com
All of the reviews seem good and the price is hard to beat. Anyone heard of this brand?
Bruce
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skuke
captain
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 323
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Quote:
Darby wrote:
Eventually I plan on buying a new Calfee and then build up a beater bike from parts on my current Luna Pro. I would like to have a Ti bike because of they are rugged. I thought about a Seven or a Moots, etc and then came across this bike.
www.habcycles.com
All of the reviews seem good and the price is hard to beat. Anyone heard of this brand?
Bruce
If you want a true "beater", buy a steel frame. They're much easier and cheaper to repair. IMHO, it should also be cheap to buy since your primary objective is to beat the thing and very little concern should go into the bike. ...who really cares if it's stolen, crashed, scratched... Steel is also, arguably, more durable and rugged than Ti, rust notwithstanding.
Um, why not use the Luna for a beater? Sacrilege to some, but as you've said previously: "Well, I realize that a bike is suppose to be a tool..."
Habanero makes a great Ti frame, for the money. I don't know anyone who owns one, but have spoken with a few owners on the road during my travels. They seemed content. How do I quantify "for the money"? I can't. I am just a victim of marketing forces with some real world economics thrown in. I was a R&D machinist for over 24 years and something I always told the engineers was that they could have their parts "cheap, fast or accurate" and they could choose any two of the three. I believe the same basic philosophy applies.
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Skuke
95 Carbonframes Tetra Pro
92 Bridgestone MB-1
90 Moser 51.151
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cccyclist
journeyman
Reged: 09/27/05
Posts: 83
Loc: Central California
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Someone in my ring group has one. It is a good mid level Ti frame. Like was said above, good for the money.
I chose the route of getting a better quality frame used. Brushed Ti are a good used buy, since you can make them look like new again. I bought a 2000 Merlin Road (before the buyout). I bought it 3 years ago. I love it and it looks like a new bike.
Edited by cccyclist (08/06/07 03:04 PM)
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Marshall
new member
Reged: 06/25/07
Posts: 8
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Happy Habanero customer/rider here, bought bikes from Mark for wife and self a couple of years ago, high-end Dura-Ace/Easton build on mine for about $3k, Ultegra for wife at about $2k, my 64cm bike is just under 20 lbs, rides and looks great. Mark did the builds and did a really nice job, and is generally a pleasure to deal with.
My tri bike a Tetra Custom, little hard to compare to the Habaneros because geometry is quite different, carbon is a bit smoother, but the Habanero tis are maybe a bit more bulletproof.
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Nev
captain
Reged: 05/03/04
Posts: 375
Loc: Never where I want to be
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Quote:
skuke wrote:
Quote:
Darby wrote:
Eventually I plan on buying a new Calfee and then build up a beater bike from parts on my current Luna Pro. I would like to have a Ti bike because of they are rugged. I thought about a Seven or a Moots, etc and then came across this bike.
www.habcycles.com
All of the reviews seem good and the price is hard to beat. Anyone heard of this brand?
Bruce
If you want a true "beater", buy a steel frame. They're much easier and cheaper to repair.
For a mere $555 more, you can have a custom build, custom steel blend frame from none other than Carl Strong himself.
Careful though, you might just start to see a dust film settle on that Calfee. Oh, and please tell him Nev sent ya.
I have a 6/4 ti road bike.
I commute on a steel frame/fork over a very varied terrain -- you'll be surprised how nice the ride is.
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 436
Loc: Orange County California
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For a mere $555 more, you can have a custom build, custom steel blend frame from none other than Carl Strong himself.
Careful though, you might just start to see a dust film settle on that Calfee. Oh, and please tell him Nev sent ya.
I have a 6/4 ti road bike.
I commute on a steel frame/fork over a very varied terrain -- you'll be surprised how nice the ride is.
I visited Carl Strong's website and they make a nice looking bike. I haven't ridden a steel bike in a long time, but have heard that they can have a very comfortable ride. I didn't look at steel when I started shopping for a bike and bought my Calfee because of the uncomfortable ride from my last bike purchase which was a steel Panasonic in 1978. I now know better. The Panasonic had a harsh ride because of bad geometry not because the bike was made of steel.
I would certainly be open to buying a steel bike again, but it would have to be really impressive for me to park my Calfee and let dust collect on it.
By the way, are steel frames much heavier than Ti?
Bruce
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skuke
captain
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 323
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Quote:
Darby wrote:
...my last bike purchase which was a steel Panasonic in 1978. I now know better. The Panasonic had a harsh ride because of bad geometry not because the bike was made of steel.
Bad geometry is part of the equation. Frame material is part. Era of design/build, tires, wheels, etc. are all part of a bike's ride, handling, comfort, stability, tracking... qualities.
I rode steel for many years before my Tetra Pro. The bike immediately before my Calfee was a top shelf Bianchi steel (one of the best of that era) with road geometry. It was GREAT! It rode very comfortably for 6+ hour fast rides, tracked/cornered like it was on rails. It was nimble (not "crit" quick), and stable without any wobbles down 45+mph downhills.
Then I got a carbon fiber bike. My Calfee certainly had many of the same attributes as the above Bianchi. It probably cornered a bit quicker due to the geometry and shorter wheel base. It certainly climbed better due to the lesser weight and maybe shorter wheel base. It may have accelerated better due to the stiffer bottom bracket area. But the biggest surprise to me was not learned until my first long ride (more than ~60 miles.)
I had the Calfee about 6 weeks and took it to the Solvang Century in the early spring. Prior to the century, my longest ride on the Calfee had been maybe 50ish miles. I went to Solvang expecting to "feel" a certain way at the finish based on my training. I had done that ride several times previously so I knew the roads and area. I expected to be sore, and tired since I had only done a moderate amount of training.
Surprise surprise! At the end of the ride, my first long ride on the Calfee, I felt great! At time, I described it as not feeling "beat up". I didn't feel abused. In the subsequent months, I learned that rides below about 40 miles didn't make any difference to how I felt regardless if I rode the Bianchi of Calfee. But on rides more than about 60 miles, I always felt better and fresher on the Calfee.
I don't notice that feeling anymore since I sold the Bianchi long ago and forgot my point of reference. Maybe new steel/Ti/Al is much better, but I have not heard that. And, I gotta wonder why so many manufacturers of top of the line steel/Ti/Al now include carbon fiber in their frames.
I do still ride my steel Moser, but its my beater bike and only used for short rides.
Quote:
Darby wrote:
By the way, are steel frames much heavier than Ti?
They can be lighter! I'm sure there are some carbon fiber bikes out there that are heavier than my late 80's steel Bianchi.
--------------------
Skuke
95 Carbonframes Tetra Pro
92 Bridgestone MB-1
90 Moser 51.151
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cccyclist
journeyman
Reged: 09/27/05
Posts: 83
Loc: Central California
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My steel Waterford 2200 and my Ti Merlin Road (both built in 2000 are within 4 oz of each other in wt, with similar components. The ride of my Tetra Pro is only slightly better than the Waterford and the Merlin is slightly less comfortable than the Waterford. All 3 have very similar geometries.
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RogerJ
new member
Reged: 08/08/07
Posts: 6
Loc: Portland, OR
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Adding to the ride feel factor anecdotes.
I remember having a Specialized Epic from early 90's. It was fast but a bit harsh. I was riding really hard 20mm tires. Someone told me to get 23's. I did and you would have thought that I was on a different bike.
-r
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