Its drool worthy but it bothers the heck outta me that the pump isnt parallel with the top tube because of the eased radius of the toptube/steerer tube “joint”
You guys make a cool team. One more into the modern stuff, one more into the old school tried and true (metal!!!) bikes. I fall more into the latter camp, but I think it's cool for people to ride bikes of all sorts - plastic or metal. That looks like a sweet ride.
Plastic indeed. I'm a retired aerospace mechanical inspector. Ive worked in a carbon fab shop and lots of machine shops, all high reliability type industries. Now wrench in a shop in my retirement, just for fun! Nobody's fooling me though. I know exactly what to look for and I've cut apart many crashed plastic frames. They fail quite often compared to metal. It has something to do with minimal weight I think. Haha. I can get plastic bikes at cost and I refuse to buy or ride them. A 'high end' production plastic frame made in Asia costs no more than $400 to produce. Yet they'll charge over $3k for it. Production bike assemblers are paid by the unit, not the hour. What does this tell us about manufacturing quality? Modern materialistic consumers have little idea what they're actually buying. It costs more, it must be better?? I'll buy only new custom metal frames from builders I KNOW personally and can ride with. They're my buddies I trust. I can shake their hands!
@@rollinrat4850 While I don't have your shop experience or knowledge of frame materials, I share your sentiments. I like that metal (steel in particular) is a tried and true bike frame material. It looks awesome, and it's very robust. For over 10 years, I've had only one bike; a hand made (in the USA) Trek 520 (1993 or so). Last year (or so) that they made it with lugs. I love it. Does everything I need it to do, and will probably outlast me. I've zero interest in the carbon. Carbon is undoubtedly the way to go if you want to have a chance at winning races. But that's a different world. Longevity/durability and usefulness are much smaller concerns. Everything is optimized for speed/efficiency. But I don't race, and have zero interest in ever starting (I can enjoy watching some races now and then on youtube, though). I am much more of a Ronny Romance style rider; I ride to get out into the outdoors, to get around (I don't have a car, and don't want one), and to get exercise. A good ol' chromoly steel bike is perfect for me. But again, for folks that enjoy riding the carbon... good for them. As long as people are on a bike instead of in a car, I think it's a total win.
@@nickmasters8474 Same here. I haven't raced since 1994. I just want to spend as much time rolling around on two wheels as possible. Ultra light bikes might cut my rides short.... somehow. LOL. When cost is no object, I'll order a custom titanium frame, perhaps when I sell my house! Back in the day, my race bikes were all Reynolds 531 steel. One was a lugged Trek 670 in fact. The old US made Treks are wonderful bikes! Trek steel touring bikes are even nicer! They're still sought after and valuable. I didn't buy any aluminum frames until the mid '90s. I haven't broken one of these yet either. Japanese keirin track racers still all race on certified steel bikes. Its a requirement that all the bikes are very similar. Lots of betting happens at these races. Big money. Again, it's the rider not the freakin bike. Bike racing has become like Formula One. Lots of these 'high end' plastic race bikes are involved in safety recalls and warranties. Even more job security for bike mechanics like me! Few consumers ever consider (are even aware) the 'ring of death', a quite common failure on plastic fork steerer tubes. Race bikes are built with light weight as the main priority. They're designed for skilled racers who don't weigh much more than 180 lbs. Yeah, pro racers don't care how long their bikes last. They get em free. A car often follows them around with more bikes and they have paid mechanics to service them every day. Fat rich people often buy plastic bikes in an attempt to 'buy fitness and skill'. Personally, I feel far safer sitting in my car. It's why I only ride paved roads to get to dirt or to get somewhere. It's no fun where I live. Paved road riding is now a necessary evil. Cycling is supposed to be a green sport. Steel is recyclable. Carbon scrap simply goes into landfill. When I was building carbon satellite structures, we put lots of carbon dust and scrap in the dumpster with all the rest of the trash. Quite ironic. Nothing can be done with it. People believe Asian manufacturers care much about this planet? In over 50 years of cycling experience, I've seen only a handful of metal frames trashed because they couldn't be repaired. Mostly because they weren't worth the cost of the repair. In just 7 years wrenching in a high end shop, I've seen dozens of overpriced and broken plastic frames relegated to a dumpster.
@@rollinrat4850 Yeah, well said. I think the kind of bikes we like just aren't great business. They last too long, work too well... etc. So they have to push all this marketing stuff - "gravel bikes" and so on. I don't even consider my 520 a "touring bike." It's just a bike. I never toured on it, but I definitely take it on gravel, and all over the place, and ride it hard and fast sometimes. It's a blast. But people act like you can't have fun unless you have the lightest, fanciest plastic. I hate cars/motor vehicles so much. I can't help but think how much better life would be here in the US if people who COULD ride bikes did that instead of using a car... or at least drastically cut down the car usage. We'd be healthier. It would be so much quieter. We'd have less parking lots and asphault. Less pollution. And, of course, it would be so much safer to go out walking or cycling. That's the real greatness of the bike, I think; it is so empowering and so useful. Sport is great, but there should be more focus on cycling as a lifestyle - as a way to get around. To that end, I've NEVER worn lycra, even on 80+ mile rides. Never used clipless pedals. Never worn any fancy gear. I just get on my bike and go, and try to demonstrate that you can be a cyclist without geeking out and doing all the dork stuff. This is one reason I dig Ronnie Romance so much. He definitely is a kindred spirit in that regard. Anyhow, not to shame anyone who does like the bike dork stuff. Anyone who rides a bicycle is an ally. But I do think the geeky racing stuff alienates a lot of would be cyclists. Bikes are for everyone. Not just racers and racer wannabes.
@@nickmasters8474 Idealism is one thing, the shoulda, coulda, woulda thing. But reality is quite different. It simply IS what it is. WE ALL need to deal with reality. History and reality can never be changed. Humanity is obviously devolving and pretty fast the last few years. There are some cyclists out there who make good cyclists look pretty bad. These are never my allies. Lots of motorists hate cyclists in general because of the actions of just a few selfish or ignorant cyclists. While that's not really fair, not to mention a pretty bigoted attitude, it certainly could be better if certain cyclists didn't act like spoiled children. But I realize it goes both ways. There are far more A-hole motorists. Reality tells me cyclists can never ever win in such a confrontation, so using (not so) common sense, we must ere on the side of caution. I believe brakeless fixies on public roads are completely idiotic, ignorant, brainless and selfish. There is no excuse to ignore laws intended for our safety or especially the natural laws of momentum,inertia and gravity. THESE are the laws we cannot break, THEY WILL BREAK YOU! I'll just assume (not so) common sense isn't so common. There are also laws made that are rarely or never enforced, just as a means of job security for politicians. I witnessed an accident in San Francisco where a brakeless fixie rider mowed over an innocent pedestrian. Both left the scene in ambulances. I called 911, made my statement to the police on the scene, gave my info to the victim and even offered my testimony as an expert witness in court. I would do that again too, even spending my own time away from my work. I feel it's my civic duty. There was a very regrettable situation (not an accident) a few years ago on a popular local hilly weekday lunch ride. This large group of roadies completely blocked a one lane road. They wouldn't allow a car to pass. The motorist went crazy and drove into the peloton. Finally the motorist stopped (perhaps he was mentally challenged) and the cyclists got him out of the car and nearly beat him to death before the police arrived. What the motorist did was inexuseable, but If the cyclists would have simply ridden single file, all this could have been avoided. That's a really LOGICAL, simple and peaceful solution. This was all highly publicized. Media didn't put the cyclists in a positive light at all. Everyone involved was at fault! In many third world countries, the largest vehicle on the road has the right of way. On many mtb trails, this has become common courtesy. And it makes quite the (not so) common sense when you stop to think about it. As I cyclist, I never simply assume I have the right of way and move forward without checking to make sure I'm not going to get plowed. I don't enjoy road riding anymore because I always need to look behind me. I don't trust motorists, cyclists of pedestrians when I'm driving my car either. Here in Wackofornia, they'll give driver licenses to any idiot or even illegal aliens! No matter what many folks are actually doing at one moment, their often more interested in their freakin phones. Even when they're either operating or in the presence of 2 ton weapons! I spend some of my spare time maintaining a favorite local mtb trail and see other bikers trashing it up and skidding rear wheels in corners causing more erosion, drainage problems and lots of extra work. None of us who do trail work appreciate such biker behavior. We do it to not only improve trails for bikers but for everyone who uses these trails. They're multi use trails for everyone. I wish to improve the relationship between all trail users. Plenty of MTBers act like they own the trails, just like the hikers and equestrians decades ago. I've been around the scene and involved in trail access for everyone since selfish rich hikers and equestrians were trying to shut bikers out decades ago when MTBs were a very new thing. People were literally booby trapping trails with wires strung across and boards buried with spikes. The legal/political mess was really ugly, when it could be simply so easy just to share, like we should have learned as freakin children! Being 'green' doesn't release anyone from the liabilities of personal responsibility, but most especially when human life is impacted. Speaking of the devolution of society, so many 'mature' adults seek to shirk responsibility for personal actions and decisions.
Digging the frame pump! Its the only sort of portable pump that won't waste your time! Even though we hardly need to use them any longer, they're great to bring along for peace of mind and to discourage angry, territorial dogs. Who did you get to recover your old Flite saddle? I have several old saddles I'd like recovered. Y
@ultraromance Any more deeeeeets on the Light Bicycle wheelset? I'm leaning towards them for a sideset so I can put some ultras on it, canvas probs. :)
Imprecisely molded plastic. You could call it carpet fiber too. Open makes some pretty problematic, poor quality bikes. Very expensive however. This bike costs as much as a pretty nice motorcycle. Check out Hambini's channel or Leucher tech. They're both real engineers, bikes are just a hobby.
@@ultraromance your content is an ad. Don't care how many tattoos you have and how much hard rock you put on as a sound track. Your selling overpriced retro bling to bourgeois douche bags
