Everybody shootin’ from the hip…

[ornoth_cycling]

So as I was saying, after a very short acceptance test ride, I bought my new bike last Monday.

Of course, it rained Tuesday. And Wednesday. And Thursday and Friday and Saturday, too. But finally it cleared up last night, and stayed clear for half the day today, which was enough to get a 61-mile shakedown cruise in with the Quad Cycles folks.

Mind

Comments

[jtroutman]

sounds like a very nice bike. I have not been riding in years, something that I will fix next spring... with the purchase of a new hybrid.

incidentially, how long are the crank arms on that monster?

[ornoth]

My advice would be to buy a cheap or secondhand bike initially, until you know just how much time you're really going to spend on the bike. Then, once you've figured out if you'll be using it three times a year or three times a week, you can make a more informed decision about how much to put into a new bike.

Cranks... Just about any men's bike is going to come with 175mm cranks. I've given a lot of thought about whether to switch to 180s, but I guess it just doesn't make sense for me. While my legs are long enough that they might be suited to 180s, there's also a drawback. Longer cranks are better for people who prefer to grind out lower cadences, where the added leverage helps. But I've always been a very high cadence but low torque pedaller, and longer cranks don't really help someone who spins rather than mashes.

Or at least that's what I've heard. I've never found a bike shop that was willing to stock 180s so that I could try them out!