BTWM: My bikes (and the 3 bike rule)
A lot of people have the same response when I tell them I have more than 1 bike. "What? Why do you need 3 bikes?!" It's pretty valid actually. The other thing I ask myself is why not more or less.
When I became a member of Perth Street Bikes, they introduced me to the 3 bike rule. Basically, if you have more than 3 bikes, you're not riding the others enough to justify owning them. It also stops people from just filling their garages with a variety of different motorcycles, a kind if haiku way of living. It's a pretty fair assumption since you can't ride more than 1 bike at any one time, and even 3 bikes means you're probably going to be riding 2 a lot and 1 occasionally. So here's a breakdown of what I have and why I have them.
Bike: Apollo LLC
Classification: Mountain Bike
Special features: front suspension only. Corks in the front suspension tubes :P. Australian style brakes (front brake on the right hand)
The back story: I brought this bike over from Australia. It's barely ever been serviced on some of the major components, but done a lot of miles. Typically on a mountain bike that's ok, and I still like it for getting around short distances.
Why it is being donated to charity: I rode for years on this bike and had no problems. I just wasn't doing distances that would impact me much. Now I am, I noticed that I was getting significant back pain riding it, and after doing some reading and fitting I realised the bike is actually too big for me, and that I'm stretching out which is causing the pain. It also was barely ever serviced in that time, and even with all the tools I have would cost more than the bike's value to repair. So it's going to a cause named The Russian (to get around campus) or bike works (where they teach kids how to fix bikes up).
Bike: Marin Fairfax '08
Classification: ALP - Aerodynamic Lightweight Performance
Special features: new stainless steel headset; new Mavic Speed City rims, 12-24 cassette switched out for a 12-25 cassette. Carbon-fibre forks, aluminium frame with shock absorbing seatpost. Bull horns on the handlebars. Soon to be removed bike rack. Snap on fenders.
Why ride it: This is basically a flat bar bike like a mountain bike, with low end components that would make it a racing bike. It's light, it's fast, but it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. It doesn't exactly have the gear ratios designed to climb Capitol Hill or Queen Anne, but if you're strong enough you can do it. The flat bar gives you much more control and movement over the drop handlebars, and the more upright position means you're not craning your neck as much as on a road bike.
Why not to ride it: The freakin' thing costs me an arm and a leg! It's still cheaper than a car, but all things considered not by a lot. This was my daily commuter until recently, when I realised I was riding in one of two gears for ~90% of my trip. When you ride in all of the gears all the time, you can get away with replacing just the chain and leaving the cassette (rear gears) on at the back. Because almost all of my commuting was done in one or two gears, every 600-1500 mi I would be swapping out both the chain and cassette, which costs a fair bit of money. Lots of maintenance is required to keep the bike in good running order (brakes, drive train, etc.). I would have gotten rid of this bike a long time ago, except that I had no other bike I could keep riding on. Now, as a simple get around bike when my commuter bike won't do the trick (aka there's lots of hills in the way) this is a perfect choice. The flat bar handlebars also make my hands go numb if I ride it more than 2 days a week, which is a sign of poor blood flow and repetitive strain on one part of my hand/wrist/forearm - a bad thing.
Bike: Trek 520
Classification: Touring bike
Special features: Ergonomically perfect; designed for long distances and robustness. 9 speed wide ratio gearing for climbing hills or speed on the flats. Rack for carrying things, front rack points for carrying more things. Heavy steel for robustness, strength and flexibility/comfort. Heavy duty touring rims w/ dual compound touring tires. Heavy duty touring components (previous classification was mountain bike components). Upgraded the brakes to Deore LX brakes (to match the rest of the bike). Snap on fenders.
Why ride it: I wanted a really long distance bike that I could ride for STP, all the other races and do some long distance touring in the meantime. A good road bike would have also been a good choice, but wouldn't have the robustness of the touring bike. I can ride this bike all day, hop off, and not feel sore. The bike's components are such that they can go for miles without maintenance, and if I do have something go wrong, there's a bypass setting. It is simple where it should be simple and well designed elsewhere. It also has a rack with which I can use my saddle bags on, which makes it great for carrying heavy loads. The gearing is perfectly selected for riding with a heavy load; very little effort is required to keep this bike moving at a reasonable speed on any kind of incline. Steel flexes more than Aluminium, which means the ride has less vibration and as a result, no numb feeling in the butt or hands. Steel can also be easily repaired if something goes wrong, although the frame has a lifetime guaranty.
Why not to ride it: Financially, this bike costs more than the Marin to keep running when maintenance is actually required. The snap on fenders are almost useless. It's also really heavy.
Bike: Raleigh One Way
Classification: Single Speed/Fixed gear
Special features: flip-flop hub on the back - it can either be ridden as a fixed gear ("when the wheels are in motion, the pedals are in motion") or as a single speed. Brooks saddle.
Back story: I didn't buy a third bike for the longest time because I was tossing up between what to buy; something robust, something cheap, something reliable, and something easy to fix; basically something to replace the Marin as a day to day bike. Either an internally geared bike or a single speed would be great. Internally geared bikes are almost maintenance free, but suffer from an efficiency loss which makes them slower than regular gearing. They're also heavier - these two reasons are why no race bike has internal gearing. Fixed gears are slightly more efficient, but they only have one gear; you can either climb hills or go fast. Choose A or B, but not both. I tried various different bikes, and checked the designs for what I wanted a bike to do, and generally speaking was not that impressed with what was available on the market. I missed an opportunity to buy a second-hand bike built by an ex-bike shop employee, and after looking around couldn't find anything close to this for what I wanted.
Why ride it:
When I became a member of Perth Street Bikes, they introduced me to the 3 bike rule. Basically, if you have more than 3 bikes, you're not riding the others enough to justify owning them. It also stops people from just filling their garages with a variety of different motorcycles, a kind if haiku way of living. It's a pretty fair assumption since you can't ride more than 1 bike at any one time, and even 3 bikes means you're probably going to be riding 2 a lot and 1 occasionally. So here's a breakdown of what I have and why I have them.
Bike: Apollo LLC
Classification: Mountain Bike
Special features: front suspension only. Corks in the front suspension tubes :P. Australian style brakes (front brake on the right hand)
The back story: I brought this bike over from Australia. It's barely ever been serviced on some of the major components, but done a lot of miles. Typically on a mountain bike that's ok, and I still like it for getting around short distances.
Why it is being donated to charity: I rode for years on this bike and had no problems. I just wasn't doing distances that would impact me much. Now I am, I noticed that I was getting significant back pain riding it, and after doing some reading and fitting I realised the bike is actually too big for me, and that I'm stretching out which is causing the pain. It also was barely ever serviced in that time, and even with all the tools I have would cost more than the bike's value to repair. So it's going to a cause named The Russian (to get around campus) or bike works (where they teach kids how to fix bikes up).
Bike: Marin Fairfax '08
Classification: ALP - Aerodynamic Lightweight Performance
Special features: new stainless steel headset; new Mavic Speed City rims, 12-24 cassette switched out for a 12-25 cassette. Carbon-fibre forks, aluminium frame with shock absorbing seatpost. Bull horns on the handlebars. Soon to be removed bike rack. Snap on fenders.
Why ride it: This is basically a flat bar bike like a mountain bike, with low end components that would make it a racing bike. It's light, it's fast, but it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. It doesn't exactly have the gear ratios designed to climb Capitol Hill or Queen Anne, but if you're strong enough you can do it. The flat bar gives you much more control and movement over the drop handlebars, and the more upright position means you're not craning your neck as much as on a road bike.
Why not to ride it: The freakin' thing costs me an arm and a leg! It's still cheaper than a car, but all things considered not by a lot. This was my daily commuter until recently, when I realised I was riding in one of two gears for ~90% of my trip. When you ride in all of the gears all the time, you can get away with replacing just the chain and leaving the cassette (rear gears) on at the back. Because almost all of my commuting was done in one or two gears, every 600-1500 mi I would be swapping out both the chain and cassette, which costs a fair bit of money. Lots of maintenance is required to keep the bike in good running order (brakes, drive train, etc.). I would have gotten rid of this bike a long time ago, except that I had no other bike I could keep riding on. Now, as a simple get around bike when my commuter bike won't do the trick (aka there's lots of hills in the way) this is a perfect choice. The flat bar handlebars also make my hands go numb if I ride it more than 2 days a week, which is a sign of poor blood flow and repetitive strain on one part of my hand/wrist/forearm - a bad thing.
Bike: Trek 520
Classification: Touring bike
Special features: Ergonomically perfect; designed for long distances and robustness. 9 speed wide ratio gearing for climbing hills or speed on the flats. Rack for carrying things, front rack points for carrying more things. Heavy steel for robustness, strength and flexibility/comfort. Heavy duty touring rims w/ dual compound touring tires. Heavy duty touring components (previous classification was mountain bike components). Upgraded the brakes to Deore LX brakes (to match the rest of the bike). Snap on fenders.
Why ride it: I wanted a really long distance bike that I could ride for STP, all the other races and do some long distance touring in the meantime. A good road bike would have also been a good choice, but wouldn't have the robustness of the touring bike. I can ride this bike all day, hop off, and not feel sore. The bike's components are such that they can go for miles without maintenance, and if I do have something go wrong, there's a bypass setting. It is simple where it should be simple and well designed elsewhere. It also has a rack with which I can use my saddle bags on, which makes it great for carrying heavy loads. The gearing is perfectly selected for riding with a heavy load; very little effort is required to keep this bike moving at a reasonable speed on any kind of incline. Steel flexes more than Aluminium, which means the ride has less vibration and as a result, no numb feeling in the butt or hands. Steel can also be easily repaired if something goes wrong, although the frame has a lifetime guaranty.
Why not to ride it: Financially, this bike costs more than the Marin to keep running when maintenance is actually required. The snap on fenders are almost useless. It's also really heavy.
Bike: Raleigh One Way
Classification: Single Speed/Fixed gear
Special features: flip-flop hub on the back - it can either be ridden as a fixed gear ("when the wheels are in motion, the pedals are in motion") or as a single speed. Brooks saddle.
Back story: I didn't buy a third bike for the longest time because I was tossing up between what to buy; something robust, something cheap, something reliable, and something easy to fix; basically something to replace the Marin as a day to day bike. Either an internally geared bike or a single speed would be great. Internally geared bikes are almost maintenance free, but suffer from an efficiency loss which makes them slower than regular gearing. They're also heavier - these two reasons are why no race bike has internal gearing. Fixed gears are slightly more efficient, but they only have one gear; you can either climb hills or go fast. Choose A or B, but not both. I tried various different bikes, and checked the designs for what I wanted a bike to do, and generally speaking was not that impressed with what was available on the market. I missed an opportunity to buy a second-hand bike built by an ex-bike shop employee, and after looking around couldn't find anything close to this for what I wanted.
Why ride it:
- On the fixed gear, the bike is set up to improve my technique and efficiency. I diagnosed a pedalling efficiency issue I had when I rode a fixed gear at the shop, and as a result became faster and used less energy in one change to how I ride.
- Physically, it requires much more energy to ride than a normal bike because you pedal not only to go fast, but to slow down, so in terms of using it for exercise, it is a much greater workout.
- Because the pedals are in constant motion, as long as I'm clipped in my feet are in constant motion. While this sounds like a bad thing (no coasting, aka no "resting") the constant motion is something that racing cyclists recommend doing as a way to dispel the build up of lactic acid in the muscles. This was an unintended side effect; I noticed this after 2-3 days of riding, and after changing my technique slightly I'm amazed at the reduction of lingering muscular soreness. These changes will translate well to my other bikes, and will help me when riding normally.
- There's reduced wear on the brakes by retarding the motion of the pedals; this in turn leads to reduced maintenance on the brakes.
- The bike has a chain, 1 gear and pedals. It's about as simple as you could get. Maintenance as a result is pretty easy.
- The bike came with radonneuring tires fitted, so the likelihood of getting a flat is really, really low.
- Replacement components are really, really cheap.
- Some techniques, such as track stands, are easier on a fixed gear once you get the hang of it.
- For a much lesser reason, it's actually really fun.
- For an even lesser reason, there's culture associated with it ("Is that a fixie?" is the usual comment - a great ice breaker and conversational piece to anyone that knows bikes. "How do you handle the hills?!" "I walk." etc.)
- The motion of the pedals being constant with the motion of the wheel has two implications: the first is it puts more stress on the drive train, which makes it wear out a little faster (this is a very minor thing in reality, and offset by the much cheaper cost of components).
- The second and more serious issue is that it is possible to tear the ligaments and tendons in the knees on a high speed descent when the pedals would be spinning at a high rate of speed, or on a steep uphill. With time, the body adapts and strengthens these body parts, but that takes time. As such, great care must be taken to not exceed a person's physical limits or serious physical injury could occur. I naturally pedal faster than most people, so my physical limits on my current set up are about 29 mph (46 km/h) on the flats or slight uphills, 25 mph (40 km/h) on a downhill or a 8% uphill because of all the riding I've been doing previously. I can go faster than that on downhills if I unclip my feet first, and hold them off the pedals until I slow down.
- It's gone just one freakin' gear. If the hill is steep, it's time to swallow that pride and walk.
- The top speed is limited by the gear. The bottom speed is limited by how hard you can pedal.
- Occasionally I forget that I'm on a fixed gear; as I swing my leg over to get on the bike, if I'm not careful I could suddenly and unexpectedly slow the bike, lose my balance and pole myself. It's funny until it happens to you. It's really funny when it happens to someone else.
- Because I can't coast, if I lean too far into a corner, or if I ride too close to the kerb, there's no reason that the pedal won't hit the kerb/ground. By design, most fixed gear bikes mount the pedals slightly higher off the ground so this is less of a problem.
- The brakes are kinda crap. They work, but they don't work that well.
- The wheels don't have quick releases. Fixed gears exert a lot of force on to the wheels, and as such retain the classic 15mm bolts. So unless you have a wrench handy, time to walk again when you get a flat.
- While on that note, some idiot put directional tires on a flip-flop wheel. Normally you'd make it so you can just turn the wheel around; I have to remove the whole tire and tube to do that. An unnecessary step, although it is a simple one.
- The culture thing goes both ways: because you have to be batshit crazy to ride something without any brakes, there's a standing reputation of fixed gear riders as being crazy, and driver tolerance is probably lower to cyclists because of it. Car drivers go one of two ways - they either kick em to the kerb, or give a wide berth. Luckily, I've only met the latter kind of driver to date, but it has only been a week.