New bikes for spring? - Page 2 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

energy0uth · 02-27-2009, 10:32 PM

rollin' on my FELT bmx bike. gets me around town and air

RobertSmalls · 03-03-2009, 01:26 PM

I'm in the process of moving my saddlebags from my old steel beater to the road bike I used for touring last season. This might impair my ability to keep up with the retirees in the bike club, but so be it.

Anybody selling a cheap hybrid?

NiHaoMike · 03-06-2009, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Anybody selling a cheap hybrid?

Might be cheaper to build one. Just take a normal bike and attach a motor, battery, and controller to it. (Keeping the pedals, of course, or you'll be making a pure electric.) The DIY EV controller somewhere else on this site can be adapted for a bike.

Quote:

Single speeds are awesome for simplicity.

An idea to combine some of the simplicity of a single speed with the flexibility of a CVT would be to attach a generator to the pedals of a hybrid, size the gear ratio for most optimum operation at normal speeds, and add a clutch. You start as a series hybrid, then switch it to a parallel hybrid once you're up to speed.

i_am_socket · 03-06-2009, 11:06 AM

I'm thinking he meant hybrid bike as in mountain bike style frame/handlebars with wide road tires... LINK

RobertSmalls · 03-07-2009, 09:24 PM

Yeah, a hybrid road/mountain bike. Mountain bikes are way too slow for me to commute on, but my road bike has awfully skinny, high-pressure, uncomfortable tires and clipless pedals that require cycling shoes. Still, it's probably cheaper to build one: Buy an old road bike with ~32mm wide tires, fit a straight handlebar and pedals with toe baskets, and there you have it.

dann_04 · 03-26-2009, 04:19 PM

I just bought a Trek 7.2 fx. It's a hybrid bike, and that's what i was looking for. My other bike is a cheapy wlamart "break point" mountain bike. I broke alot of the teeth off of the crank because i ride a little rough, so i decided to get a better quality bike this time. Also the break point was supposed to be aluminum, but the thing weighs about 5 times as much as the Trek. So far i am happy, i just want it to last 5 years as the cheap one lasted about 9 months.

i_am_socket · 03-30-2009, 12:48 PM

Trek makes some good bikes, so I hear.

Just ordered some upgrades to my tri/roadie. Computer mount, forward seatpost, and aerobottle. Once they come in I'll schedule a fitting and maybe i can hold 21+ MPH in my races this year.

Also fixed the computer on my and my fiance's hybrids: apparently the wheel magnets vanished and got misaligned.

Now for some actually warm weather

igo · 03-30-2009, 06:02 PM

I would love to get something a little more usefull then my road bike. A touring bike (with racks/fenders/ 35-40mm tires) would be nice.

But I don't really have room for another bike so there can be only one bike for me right now.

red91sit · 03-31-2009, 12:12 AM

I'm planning on buying whatever craigslist has for sale cheap! My previous ride (no brakes, gear shifters, and an extremely rusty chain that skipped) got hit by snow removal equipment a few weeks back. Apparently they don't expect bicycles to be parked under snow drifts. Oh well.

Bicycle Bob · 03-31-2009, 06:05 PM

For efficiency and comfort, keep the skinny front tire and just use suspension for the handlebars. For more efficiency and comfort, build or buy a recumbent bike. On an upright, I've always found that the classic touring bike to be the best compromise, once I'm fit enough to provide suspension by pedaling harder over bumps, to get some seat clearance. If I take the winter off, I'm too pooped to keep doing that in the spring, and then it gets too hot to ride hard. . .