the bicycle thread. version 2.

[Charlie]

The technical trail I was referring to was Ringwood State Park. I guess it's not really off Rte. 17, just up north. A former co-worker of mine from Cranford mentioned Chimney Rock as one of the trails he frequented. He also mentioned Allaire State Park down the shore. I rarely venture to South Jersey but it seems like there's a bunch of good trails I'm missing out on. For the last couple years, most of my riding has centered around the Fort Lee and NYC area. I'd ride from my office in Englewood Cliffs to Piermont and back on 9W. I'd also ride from the GWB to Battery Park and back. This is why the slicks never leave my bike as most of the riding I do nowadays is on the pavement.

I am all too familiar with flying over the handle bars in my experiences on the trails. I've learned to lean back putting most of my weight on the back tire when charging down a bumpy hill. I learned my lesson the hard way.

[premium]

so, yeah, i'm scrapping the cracked frame and building a single speed with the parts and the old frame i had in the basement.

turns out it's not a Trek frame it's an old Giant ATX 740 frame.

23" from the crank to the seat. friggin' big frame, which i need.

frames that size are so rare, it's frustrating.

got the brakes on yesterday and transferred the head stem, handlebar, rims and tires also.

gonna swap over the cranks and hopefully the bottom bracket also. i hope it's the same size. everything else has been.

[premium]

this looks like a great deal on a conversion kit:

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...Combo+Kit.aspx

i've found the individual parts cheaper though.

my biggest concern at this point is how the front cog is supposed to be set up.

right now it has three crank rings, but i'm only going to use one.

hopefully the solution becomes obvious once i have the cranks off of the bike and i can examine the rings more closely.

also, i'm stumped as to what size seat tube this Giant frame is supposed to use.

it's thick, and none of the tubes i have will fit.

[golivar]

Originally posted by Charlie
I'd ride from my office in Englewood Cliffs to Piermont and back on 9W. I'd also ride from the GWB to Battery Park and back. This is why the slicks never leave my bike as most of the riding I do nowadays is on the pavement.

you're in englewood cliffs? you should check out highbridge park in manhattan. i don't know, is there a bike route a rider can take that goes over the gwb and follows the cross bronx expwy? seems like that would be a cool ride. the parks dept and nycmtb.org worked together to build a trail and a dirt jumping park at highbridge. the city and the state put up something like $100 grand to build it. i haven't ridden it yet, but from what i hear it's pretty nice. IMBA helped design it, and it's supposedly fun and technical despite only being about 3 miles.

http://www.nycmtb.org/rideguide.html

[golivar]

Originally posted by premium
this looks like a great deal on a conversion kit:

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...Combo+Kit.aspx

i've found the individual parts cheaper though.

my biggest concern at this point is how the front cog is supposed to be set up.

right now it has three crank rings, but i'm only going to use one.

hopefully the solution becomes obvious once i have the cranks off of the bike and i can examine the rings more closely.

also, i'm stumped as to what size seat tube this Giant frame is supposed to use.

it's thick, and none of the tubes i have will fit.

i found this via google, maybe it will help you out.

http://barq.org/blog/?page_id=19

and sheldon brown has a whole mess of info on it. probably a little too much info.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html

[premium]

the sheldon brown stuff goes over my head.

mtbr.com has been very helpful though.

i've yet to find a site that just has pictures and straight up instruction (your link excluded).

i'll figger it out!

bike looks slick so far, i'm looking forward to riding it.

i'll post some pics when i'm done.

[premium]

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?sku=23062


i considered doing the PVC trick to keep the rear cog in position, but man, $18 is really cheap.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by golivar


you're in englewood cliffs? you should check out highbridge park in manhattan. i don't know, is there a bike route a rider can take that goes over the gwb and follows the cross bronx expwy? seems like that would be a cool ride. the parks dept and nycmtb.org worked together to build a trail and a dirt jumping park at highbridge. the city and the state put up something like $100 grand to build it. i haven't ridden it yet, but from what i hear it's pretty nice. IMBA helped design it, and it's supposedly fun and technical despite only being about 3 miles.

http://www.nycmtb.org/rideguide.html

Good looks on the park info. I had no idea NYC had something like that. I checked out the map on the link and Highbridge Park is located just past Fort Tryon Park and the Cloisters. I never go north of the GWB though. When I cross the bridge, I head south on Riverside Drive. There's always a steady stream of cyclists and joggers going back and forth on the GWB. It's definitely a scenic ride but it can get scary with the cars zooming past you and the bridge rumbling, not to mention the huge drop to the Hudson River.

I'll have to check out Highbridge Park in a couple months when the weather is warmer and when I put the MTB tires back on my bike.

[premium]

anyone doing the Lake Tahoe Muscular Sclerosis benefit ride this year?

i'm thinkin' 'bout it.

[premium]

just noticed the frame i'm working with is an ATX 760, not a 740.

i don't know where i got 740.

google search is a BIT more PRODUCTIVE now, lol.

[premium]

a nice reference for old bikes

http://www.bikepedia.com/

[fad3r]

I'm thinking of getting the Trek Soho. It looks cool and can get a discount on it. Anyone have one or tried it out? How crappy is it?

[premium]

chain guard looks troublesome, but nice looking clean bike.

how much of a discount can you get?

that's a $1000+ bike right?

for the money, i'd get something with a suspension.

but that's just me, and i don't know shit.

[premium]

http://www.productwiki.com/trek-soho/

[premium]

so far, $50 investment on my bike.

i'll have it done here in a couple of hours.

pix to come.