The Bicycle Thread

Assembled The Walmart Fixie flip flop rear hub bike that I paid less than what it sells for now (Just checked). I paid 86 bucks plus Texas sales Tax at 8.25 of 86 bucks which still kept it under a 100 bucks.

http://i.imgur.com/LEYvQNk.jpg

It will fit you Habitual (6'4") . It fit me OK (6'7" 270 lbs) and rides fine. The spokes are true and it is a smooth ride. Rolls easy and not too shabby for a Walmart Chinese import (it's from china). Tires and tubes are Schrader valve and replacements I can get locally instead of off of ebay or out of town like my wife bought me in Austin Texas for the other 2 bikes.

Repeat Link with the elevated price tag since I ordered mine in post 13 on 05-31-15.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/700c-Thrus...-Blue/36782378

Lucked out on fit and and glad I did what I did on impulse.
Sometimes the windsheild. Sometimes the bug. Whew.

I found the KHS brand/lines to be of good quality at a reasonable price.
IDK where KHS is made and I don't care, as I like the brand. They are durable.
I generally shrug off the Big Box Stores selection of bikes.

You check out http://atomiczombie.com/ ?

You check out http://atomiczombie.com/ ?

Sure did. Unfortunately. My priorities and how I handle my time and funds is so half hazard.

No telling what I may do a few months from now.
Right now it is just whipping my body into shape and learning new doggy tricks.

I like the Big Box reference. One of the Appliance stores in Midland TX use it as a advertising hook
when barking their products.

Durable is always good. Cheap and durable is even better.

Originally Posted by rokytnji Cheap and durable is even better.

Seems their pricing has gone through the roof!
Well, it was pre-2008 (online catalog only went back that far). Sorry about that.

http://atomiczombie.com/ was for inspiration since you mention busting out welders and other assorted stuff to
Frankenstein something together.

Fair to Midland!

Frankenstein something together

This is not mine. Just eyecandy.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oFrinfF9_o...ycle_bx8to.jpg


Wait till you see my lawnmower bike work station/stand. It is 1/2 way done. It is going to have one computer part (IBM) on it.
Disclaimer: it will be ugly.

I wouldn't like to try pedalling that 'tree bike' in sandy soil!

I'm guessing IBM in this instance stands for 'I Build Mad(ly)'.

Originally Posted by rokytnji http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oFrinfF9_o...ycle_bx8to.jpg

Looks like something straight from Burning Man, or HR PufnStuf.

Fuji bikes are awesome.

I know that I do love to ride my Fuji Sports 10. And it doesn't like to go slow.

Here is the bike work stand I built.
Poles are from old chain link fence.
Base is old craftsman lawnmower.
Engine hole in base is covered with a IBM M41 desktop side cover.
Wings came from a wrecked Yamaha 850 with a shaft drive triple cylinder motor. Wings were on sissy bar.
Told ya it was ugly.
But I like it.

https://i.imgur.com/K3gRaOr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8senN8Q.jpg

Built cheap. No costs to me ( I have a small scrap yard). Red neck engineering at it's finest.

Like it! Saved yourself money that can be spent on N+1.

Yesterday I (with 20 000 other people) completed a charity bike ride from London to Brighton (54 miles). It took me 4hours and 45 minutes. I am quite happy with myself as cycling is a relatively new thing to me. I only had to get off my bike at traffic lights and after 46 miles there's an infamous hill (Ditchling Beacon) which normally would not cause that many problems but after 46 miles your legs are far from fresh so halfway through the hill going upwards I got cramps in my legs and had to stop and stretch for a few minutes. Then I just walked for another 300 yards to the top of the hill.


Great experience.

You don't even get a chance to ride up Ditchling Beacon with all the people walking up, I used to ride that area (& Worthing) quite often, it isn't too bad if you have the road to yourself. How did you like Turners Hill?

rokytnji, Thanks so much for starting this thread. We have a stable of bikes in the garage, but I got out of the habit of riding them. I forgot I actually like riding (once I can get away from car traffic). Y'all reminded me.

Originally Posted by vmccord rokytnji, Thanks so much for starting this thread. We have a stable of bikes in the garage, but I got out of the habit of riding them. I forgot I actually like riding (once I can get away from car traffic). Y'all reminded me.

Yeah. I know what you mean. When I lived in El Paso. People were running me over on my motorcycle.
Out here in Pecos. Things are more sparse and slower living. I can ride through town without getting
ran over.

I watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn6ie1zCkZU . It makes me appreciate where I get to ride.
It helped me decide to start riding bicycles again also.

Bike Basket Options

Bucket Saddlebag

My 10 mile ride to work, three or four days per week recently, has been pretty pleasant because I start between 4:30 and 5:00AM and there is very little traffic.

The ride home in the afternoon is a very different story. Multiple times in each such ride some driver does something unreasonable to make the bike ride more difficult and/or more dangerous.

Friday, I left work later than usual and traffic, even for that hour, was a lot worse. So if I had gone by car, it would have taken longer and been a lot more frustrating. Many times, on the bicycle, I passed on the right side of a long line of stopped cars. But three times a car passed me approaching such a line of stopped cars and then cut hard to the right and stopped in a position blocking the break down lane, so I couldn't get by on the right edge of the road. They had zero reason to do that other than stopping me from getting by. Twice it happened where there were sidewalks, so after checking for pedestrians I went around them on the sidewalk (which I generally avoid doing). Once I had the same long wait as the cars, followed by the more common abusive driving situation: When the car that forced me to stop started up again, I accelerated hard to stay very tight behind it. So the pickup truck behind me went over the double yellow to pull up on my left, then cut to the right forcing me off the road. Cars are very hard to share the road with when they are moving.