CS bicycles and cyclist thread


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Would prefer near YCK, but thanks
What should I be expecting to pay for a 2-3 bike rack these days?
Thule, able to get at Hup Leong.
 

Pierce area, YCK....let em know. I'm around there but need to get my bike first. Getting this coming Sat but still super confuse which model:dunno:
Hope to ride with you guys soon....
 

@petetherock
hey think I can get a decent raleigh hardtail for about 300+ ?
I'm thinking of getting a new bike...
I'm thinking of installing either a dropbar or aerobar in future too.
 

the tyres of my bicycle have been deflated for more than a year already. will there be any problems if i re-inflate them?

i'm afraid that the tyre will go kaboom...
 

Hello guys. I am also a competitive road cyclist.
 

@petetherock
hey think I can get a decent raleigh hardtail for about 300+ ?
I'm thinking of getting a new bike...
I'm thinking of installing either a dropbar or aerobar in future too.

You need to rethink that. Drop bar and Aerobar are used mainly on road bike or bicycle with a certain frame geometry use in sports like Triathalon. A mountain bike frame is not meant for you to stoop your body down so low like what you see Arm Strong does with his road bike or trial bike. There are reasons why one kind of bike sport uses a bike that has a difference geometry from another.

If you want to put on the dropbar or aerobar you are looking at road bikes, hybrids or Cyclo-cross bikes which tend to have geometry more like road bike then a moutain bike. If you look at pictures of the various bikes frame you will know what I mean.
 

I think Sammy is the expert here, but I got my Raleigh for < 300 is cost the only issue.

See the Hiap Guan post, cheers
@petetherock
hey think I can get a decent raleigh hardtail for about 300+ ?
I'm thinking of getting a new bike...
I'm thinking of installing either a dropbar or aerobar in future too.
 

You need to rethink that. Drop bar and Aerobar are used mainly on road bike or bicycle with a certain frame geometry use in sports like Triathalon. A mountain bike frame is not meant for you to stoop your body down so low like what you see Arm Strong does with his road bike or trial bike. There are reasons why one kind of bike sport uses a bike that has a difference geometry from another.

If you want to put on the dropbar or aerobar you are looking at road bikes, hybrids or Cyclo-cross bikes which tend to have geometry more like road bike then a moutain bike. If you look at pictures of the various bikes frame you will know what I mean.

hmmmm.... then i'll have to do more research... I don't really want a mountain bike.. more like hybrid or maybe a road if my budget permits. I hardly go on dirt trails so don't really see the need for a mountain bike.
or should I wait for bikeasia to check out the deals?
 

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hmmmm.... then i'll have to do more research... I don't really want a mountain bike.. more like hybrid or maybe a road if my budget permits. I hardly go on dirt trails so don't really see the need for a mountain bike.
or should I wait for bikeasia to check out the deals?

Mountain bike are more casual and easy to ride, maintain and use in any terrain without almost a care. Wanna whack the trail in Bukit Timah...you can just go for it, wanna hit the pavement, again..no problem...take it on a mix pathway...it can change role without hardly any problem. When you get to the road bike or a hybrid road bike like those uses in cyclo cross or triathlon, you are looking at a difference breed. If you want power riding and long cruising speed on the road, there are nothing better for it then with those bikes. I started off with road bikes eons ago heh.. in fact I started with a Raleigh bike made in UK anbd later upgrade it to a Colnago. They are fast bikes and there are reason why they are design to look that way and why they have curve drop bars and yes some also have the additional aerobar too. The reason for them or even why have that dropbar handle is to help you keep your body lower and almost horizontal to the road. Why? Aerodynamic. With mountain bike the bend over stance is not as acute so there is less strain on your back. The proper way you need to condition your body is to always try to bend at your waist...problem is as we tired, we tend to bend our back too. Riding a road bike will take some getting use to if you are switching over from a MTB.

There is also the thing about fragility of the bike. Unlike a MTB, they are usually made to be lighter and with much slimmer tubings and parts, so knocking it about can casue abit more damages and with thinner wheelset, you get knocks side way, the wheel will collapse alot easier then a MTB knobby wheelset. Sometime just hitting into a pothole can break your wheel and send you flying over your handle bar. Road Bikes are not so much a bike built for sight seeing in my view. Hunch over the handle bar and with minimum gear ( you should not carry too much gear with a road bike as weight is an issue depending on what kind of frame and component you have) and the road bike is built more for speed and pretty straight road or gradual curve lines. If you watch a Tour de France race and you see cyclist do a tight turn on a slippery road or even sandy one...watch then slide and fall. Trust me, you will not want that to happen to you. It is like have sandpaper scrapping your thigh when you slip and meet the ground. Road bike uses thinner smaller tires so GRIP is delicate.

You have to learn how to adapt to it and you might even have to know the road ahead so you know if you should whack hard on the pedal to counter it or slow down or take a foot off the pedal and bring it down on the ground to support your corner.. There are quite a few things to note when you switch from a MTB to a road bike or a hybrid. Aero-bar helps long distance ride to stretch out their body in the low hunch position to spread out the weight more and take some of the strain off your back and yes...help further improve the aero-dynamic. I think road Riding hunch is good as it help you to keep your tummy down hahahah.... if not it can be quite a pain as you crunch at the hip down and squeeze your tummy between your rib cage and your crotch to your saddle. heheh imagine a 137km round island ride in that position heheheh.....

Most road bikes are stiff and strong to some extend ( depending on your how deep your pockets) but they have a weakness. The strength is made to take pressure and strain on forward motion and when you pedal hard on it, it transfer the energy into the wheel heading forward. Problem is anything that is happening side way or falling side way, damages are alot more serious to the bike and you too. Compared to a MTB, you can catch yourself and save yourself abit easier then on a road bike. You can turn a MTB's handle bar alot more acute side to side then a road bike. On an aero bar...that is even worst. You are slump over and stretch out on the bar for only one kind of ride. The Long and straight. The last things you want to do is something happen to you and you need to steer hard and fast. You almost can do so on a aerobar. You actually have to lift your body up, grab your normal drop down handle bar to steel. Imagine doing that in a split second something happens. heheh.. Trust me.. I have been there... it was not a fun day. The fall took me off cycling for 2 months....and a big bill to change my tires, rims, spokes and handle bar. Oh I threw the aerobar into the sea heheheh. It looks really cool I know but well...not for me.

Think carefully about buying a road bike, it is really not for everyone. It distinctively a bike only for those who likes a certain riding style, love speed and does a lot of road riding on straights and gentle curve mainly. As I use to following alot of US MTB races in magazines previously, I know alot of the top MTB racers during their off season or in between training for a race season, they would take to road bike to train for power riding. But for ease of control, finesse and technical ride, MTB type bikes are still the choice. These is just the tip of the iceberg to get you wet on the topic heheh...wanna know more I can give you more details or point you to some sites to learn more about road bikes.

oh and ah....having a mountain bike does not mean you HAVE to go off road. You can still get a mountain bike like a hybrid or free-ride geometry and put slicks on them and use them on the road. Slick tires will make it alot easier to pedal, more efficient use of your pedal power to transfer them to the ground and let you cover longer distance with less strain heheh... choice of tires can make you love your MTB alot more if you are not aware of it by now heh..
 

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wow..... thanks for the advice sammy!
that was really insightful! haha trouble ya to the extent of typing such a long advice. :D after reading all that.... yeah I do see your point. My friend and I often cycle down that long stretch of road behind the airport... So I think maybe I'll get the aerobar but not the dropbar. and maybe slicks also. :D
what kinda accident did you get into to get put out of your activites for 2 months man? If you dun wanna divulge its alright. Just curious. :sweat:
 

thanks for that very informative post sammy888! :) . . . i've changed my tires to slicks, and it really made a lot of difference . . . felt it straight away on my first few pedals even :)

hhmm, so you don't really recommend an aerobar huh? . . . thinking of getting one coz my hands tend to become numb after cycling for a long distance . . . any other suggestions? . . . well, besides resting them once in a while . . heh


anyway, pasir ris rider here folks . . . but kinda stopped riding for a while coz no khakis . . . i feel safer when cycling in groups :) . . . anyone here cycle to work from pasir ris/tampines to shenton way? :D
 

thanks for that very informative post sammy888! :) . . . i've changed my tires to slicks, and it really made a lot of difference . . . felt it straight away on my first few pedals even :)

hhmm, so you don't really recommend an aerobar huh? . . . thinking of getting one coz my hands tend to become numb after cycling for a long distance . . . any other suggestions? . . . well, besides resting them once in a while . . heh


anyway, pasir ris rider here folks . . . but kinda stopped riding for a while coz no khakis . . . i feel safer when cycling in groups :) . . . anyone here cycle to work from pasir ris/tampines to shenton way? :D

I cycle in pasir ris with my friend on weekends :D
from pasir ris to changi to ecp before going to bedok, tampines and back to pasir ris again.
 

wow..... thanks for the advice sammy!
that was really insightful! haha trouble ya to the extent of typing such a long advice. :D after reading all that.... yeah I do see your point. My friend and I often cycle down that long stretch of road behind the airport... So I think maybe I'll get the aerobar but not the dropbar. and maybe slicks also. :D
what kinda accident did you get into to get put out of your activites for 2 months man? If you dun wanna divulge its alright. Just curious. :sweat:

Side swipe on a heavy rainy day by a huge lorry( Road just infront of St Andrew School..riding home from the Police Academy) which almost sucked me under it's back wheel which was rolling dangerously near and "ate abit of my back wheel and gear.

I shouted but he can't heard me, he narrowed me out to the road pavement at 30km per hour, I hit it's side wooden panel hard enough that I push myself off the road kerb...missing the lorry tire at the last minute, minor fracture to my arm, scrapped my legs good with lots of skin scrap, it ruin my wheelset with the crank teeth digging into my ankle, one of the spoke nearly puncture my thigh when the wheel collasped. heheh.. and the lorry did not stop and just carried on going. This is one of those really old lorries...you know those type they use for funeral with the high wheel base.

I saw my whole life flash before me. That was the first of two that almost killed me. But I still riding and ride on the road. That is the place all cyclist should be. I am very against all those riding in place where walking pedestrian walk. Don't even get me bitching about that. heh

The other one...was a simple ride gone wrong unexpectedly. I was riding along Sims Ave on my way to the bike shop (Soon Watt) I saws a bus behind that was going to stop just another 100m ahead of me..so I decided that I will steer left to follow the indent of the shoulder way that the bus would use at the bus stop. But for some reason I did not estimate that the shoulder road and the normal black tar road will have a big difference in height. So was I try to get on the left side bus lane..it restricted my bike from getting on top to the bus lane. The jolt was hard enough to counter steer my handle bar that it twisted my bike from under me and throw me to the floor. By the time I hit the floor and look up and back of me...the bus was almost on top of me. The first thing I did was push my bike away from the bus instead of me heheheheh... *typical mtb nut as some called me* By the time the bus stop, the licence place was near me that I could kiss it just inches away while my legs was under the bus. I guess if I lie down, the bus would have just gone over me but not run me over with the wheels. In any case, I got up, dust off and wipe some of the blood from my elbow and pedal on to the bike shop heheh... Bike was fine! heeee....
 

good info, sammy. how about helmet, and where to get it? TIA
 

good info, sammy. how about helmet, and where to get it? TIA

Hello sammy beside helmet, what other gears we should have?
Thank a lot
 

wahlao your accidents really damn scary haha....
suddenly ur like the god of cyclists here now... everyone shooting questions left right centre.
I happened to encounter a thread in stomp about this cyclist and his friends got trapped in the bus bay by a driver that refused to let them finish passing it. The cyclist posted the article and the poor guy got shot upside down by the public... the comments posted are really disappointing. Seeing how as singapore was voted as one of the better few gracious countries(which I think is a load of BS)
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?commentPageNo=28&id=50169#comment
 

thanks for that very informative post sammy888! :) . . . i've changed my tires to slicks, and it really made a lot of difference . . . felt it straight away on my first few pedals even :)

hhmm, so you don't really recommend an aerobar huh? . . . thinking of getting one coz my hands tend to become numb after cycling for a long distance . . . any other suggestions? . . . well, besides resting them once in a while . . heh


anyway, pasir ris rider here folks . . . but kinda stopped riding for a while coz no khakis . . . i feel safer when cycling in groups :) . . . anyone here cycle to work from pasir ris/tampines to shenton way? :D


Hey man.... ah... I am not saying aerobars are not good. But you have to know why you buy them and know when to use them. I dont find them useful for ME but that is because my riding will not see a huge benefit from it. They are only good for long straight flats. You try to use them on a crowded East Coast park ride and you will be banging people down or falling down yourself heheheh... With the aerobar, you are not suppose to be make a lot of steering movement. You are suppose to be using them to stretch out, arms and elbows close together on the cusps, and doing so you also promote a smooth aerodynamic co efficiency to cut through air resistance. Steering alot left and right is the LAST THING you wanna do hehehehheeh.... How to steer and balance when you are in that position? well when you buy one you will know.

For me, well I understand about the arms being tired especially on long rides. Usually you ride often enough, it will not be that bad. Secondly, that is why I have bar ends installed on my handle bars. Like this:

x_onza_170_top.jpg


They are not there to look nice heheh they serve some very good advantages. Having them there ( you can adjust them either to be more forward or higher..etc..depending on which type you buy as they come in various shapes and length) it allows you to changes the way you hold onto your handle bar for steering. You will be surprise the regular changing of your hand position can ease away the tired and sore you feel on long rides. And like your aerobar, I just grip the horns as far forward as possible and it is almost like have a aerobar on your handle bar but with more control for steering!. That is why I like it over the aero bar. So sometime I put my hands on the handle bar and then I will change to put them on the angle corner of both handlbar to bar end or just hold the bar end entirely. Changing those few position makes all the difference for me. So if I want a more slicker aerodynamic I will hold the ends as far forward and that will stretch out my body and keep it low and on the straight flats, I am cruising man! heheh

Anything use for the bar ends is it help assist you in climbing up hills as you get up to pedal or sit and pedal. The way you get to grip the bar ends in a vertical format as oppose to a horizontal stance when you hold your normal handle bar, makes the difference in making it easier for you to get over the hill. Sometime just simple changes to how you hold will make all the difference in your ride. If you have a chance to try it out on a friend bike...do it. Also...they are alot CHEAPER and LIGHTER then an aero bar!!!!! heheheh...
 

good info, sammy. how about helmet, and where to get it? TIA

hehe if only I still have my old helmet to show you. I threw it way on a ride after an incident with it in Pengerang. If I did not wear one that day, I might not be here talking about it heh..

I am a pro-helmet and glove type of rider. Always have for a long time and Always will. Even before my accident. Some people will call you a wierdo and some will say you trying to be stylo milo... yes..there are alot like that.

If you ride long enough in offroad or even on the road. You can never be sure of what you will see or NOT SEE. You can be a master on the bike and very smart at avoiding others( other bikers or walkers or cars) But others might not be good enough to avoid you. And the last thing you want is to not have taken the necessary steps to keep you from harm or at least minimise it.

Okay case in point my incident. Me and my friends were hammering away in the off trail area, we were darting and bunny hopping all over the kampung trails and some time ducking low over low hanging branches and other stuff. You know...cool stupid stuff that we men sometimes can help by do like idiots that we are ....especially when there are women riders about!!!

Well two of my friend whack through some low branches and scrubs. So I follow through behind, then something hit me on the side of my helmet and almost choke me off my bike since the helmet strap was around my neck. It gave way luckily and I was brought off my bike and falling on the ground. Helmet was still stuckon the branches and loo and behold it was a broken off branch that was snap off leaving a sharp point and hidden by all the leaves on the overhanging branch. It would have easily open up my head and if I was talking maybe jab into my eye or face. What ever it was, it caught the right side of my helmet and rip it open. * My poor GIRO helmet*

Morale of the story..... get a helmet. It does not have to be a fanct cool looking one...any helmet these day that is sold or make in the US, they have passed certain test that makes them good enough for use. Sure it will not save you is the most dangerous of situation but most of the time it will help. I got bumps alot of times when I fall and I roll and I have no control of how my head will reacte to the fall but when I see some scrapping on the helmet instead of my head...I am very thankful.

Another thing to have is glove. I can't stress this enough to most people. Again..they will be the a$$hole that will male fun of you and all that but wait till you get hit by someone who any how ride at East Coast or you have a bad fal as you brake too hard or you just have to hit the ground for one reason or another... you ever try to dig out small stones embedded in the palm of your hands or with a blade for those that got in deeper? Or maybe you fall off the trail and there are sharp stuff on the ground....please...especially if you are riding off road...get a pair of glove. Not those too thin ones.. Get those that has good padding. And a good pair of glove with the gel padding on the palm of your hands is good too for long rides. The gel will soak up some of the vibration from your handlebars too.
 

Hello sammy beside helmet, what other gears we should have?
Thank a lot

For my bike, when I ride, helmet and glove is a must. want to carry a bag, get a good bag that is not sling over you that will move about freely. What you want is a bag that is strapped to your body and restricted on moving about. Especially a heavy bag with camera gears. The weight can work against you sometime as you pedal and it is swing left to right to left. And making sure the weight is well balance too. Even a good pair of MTB wheel tires can punctual when stressed and you carry too heavy a load or you brake to hard and fast too often. Some might wonder how this happen? Well it can happen due to PINCHING of the inner tube. With more pricier wheel set, the tires have special walls to prevent that from happen but with cheap tires and lousy inner tubes...pinching can lead to flat tire. And if you have no repair kit in the wilderness...good luck heheheh...

Pinching is when you hit a kerb or like a root hard, sometime before your front suspension can reacte, the tire would be the first. That means it will flatten itself against the rim of your wheel and this means, the inner tube inside the tire will be squeeze by the impact between the inner wall of the tire and the rim of the wheel. Now if the impact is hard enough, it will burst the inner tube. Thus, you get a flat. No need for a sharp object to give youa flat tire asyou can see. So good tires plays a big path and sometime you need to run your tires with more air if you ride mainly on roads and you want ride with softer pressured tires off road for you want more grip by having more of the tire's surface touching the uneven ground of off road. So this brings me to my next item. Carry a compact tire pump and if you know how to repair basic flat tire...carry a small repair kit. Yes I know alot of people don't trust me I know I have offer these items to those I meet who get stuck on a trial. I also carry a first aid kit but that is just me.

You should also have lights for your bike for night rides. I would choose to have a red blinker for the back and a white blinker for my front. I think most people following this rule universally so you know if the bike in front is coming or going away from you.

Always wear a light coloured shirt. I usually wear white top. I bought 3 piece of the same white Diadora dri-fit shirt heheh... So it is almost now like my uniform.

Try not to listen to ipod while you cycle. It sounds like a good idea but hey...some big vehicle can approach you from the back very quietly these days due to better muffers heheh.. If you want to listen, do it on tracks that excludes you from car lanes. Good example, the PCN bike lane along the Changi coastal road. That stretch is pretty safe for you to listen to music as you ride.

Should also make it a habit to alway be aware of your surrounding in 3D. I do that even when I walk and I know alot of singapore walk like their grandfather road or pavement. Especially those who insist of playing with the !@$!^% ipod, iphone or some mobile phone and expect you to look out for them ( i don't! ) Being mindful of your bike's path and also what is behind as a habit will make you a better rider on the road. That is why I don't fear the road as I get better I am more aware and over time I am just more caution but it becomes so much a part of me it still afford me the chance to appreciate and enjoy my ride without feeling paranoid and worry about the danger around me.

Thus in ending the most important thing to bring with you when you ride is your BRAIN. heheheh... Use it well and you will be just fine.
 

AIR ZOUND FTW!!!


haha later give cyclists a bad name for abusing it.

Ooooh Pengarang.... How safe is the place? I wish to cycle there with a friend/s and my parents were against it as they were worried about robberies and stuff. I'm quite stubborn so I'm kinda contemplating stealing my passport back from them so that I can go cycling there.
 

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