warrenf@tekig.UUCP (Warren Finke) (04/05/84)
I wholeheartedly agree, the way to deal with dogs is to run the suckers over with your mountain bike. Same goes for motorists. Seriously, unlike those whimpy looking skinny tired bikes, a mountain bike gets some respect in traffic. I don't know if it's because it looks heavy, or different, or if it's just because you sit more upright and are visible, but I have had far less problems than with my whimpy bike. The nice part about commuting on it is that you can go off the road over curbs, front lawns, whatever to escape the cretin motorists. And if that doesn't work you can use the railroad right of ways, that's right, straight down the ties! Watch out for trains! I bought my fat tired bike last September after several months of looking. It's a Specialized Stumpjumper. I picked it after lots of deliberation of everything from an inexpensive TREK model to a custom RICHEY. It's my opinion that you get about what you pay for and Specialized had the frame durability and sealed bearings I felt I needed for riding year round in Oregon on roads and trails. I use the bike heavily on trails and ride it every day in the rain and mud commuting to work. I have had it on mountain trails you probably wouldn't want to hike on, and on one occasion put it off a narrow bridge into a four foot deep creek, all without damage, at least to the bike. I don't think some of the 'cheap' mountain bikes will hold up to rugged use. They may be O.K. if your're only going to commute on roads. Take a long look at front forks and frame angles and immagine running into a foot diameter log going downhill on a steep trail. If you're going off road get a bike with lots of bottom bracket clearance and a low gearing of something like 26 chainwheel into 28 cluster. This sounds extreme, but you need it for climbing over rocks and bumps on steep grades. Mountain bikes are definately great fun. If you haven't tried one you should. Mountain bikes' greatest thrills: - Having enough uphill traction to go over backwards. - Riding up 10 inch curbs. - Riding down concrete stairways. - Crushing beercans on road shoulders. - Covering 50 miles of trail without ever getting off. - Passing cyclists with skinny tires! Warren Finke @ Tektronix
fred@umcp-cs.UUCP (04/10/84)
From: warrenf@tekig.UUCP
Message-ID: <1919@tekig.UUCP>
. . . you can go off the road over curbs, front lawns,
whatever to escape the cretin motorists. And if that
doesn't work you can use the railroad right of ways, that's
right, straight down the ties! Watch out for trains! . . .
Warren Finke @ Tektronix
Which reminds me of another type of bike I read about once. It
seems that they (*) used to make a bike specially designed to travel
on railroad tracks. It had two doubly-flanged wheels to ride on
a single rail, and a small third wheel on an outrigger which rode
on the opposite rail to keep the bike upright. I suppose that being
unable to steer, it wouldn't be possible to ride on just two wheels.
Anyway, these bikes became very unpopular, because too many people
were killed by trains while riding them. Also, they weren't good
for more conventional riding.
Fred Blonder
harpo!seismo!umcp-cs!fred
(*) ``They'' are a division of ``The Very Big Corporation''.
(Actually, I have no idea who made these bikes.)rdz@ccieng5.UUCP ( Robert D. Zarcone) (08/07/84)
The way I understand it, a mountain bike is basically an "old
fashioned" American frame with ten-speed goodies added.
(Stop reading this now if I am wrong and send me a correction)
If this is so, is there any reason I can't scavange my ten-
speed for parts and put them on an old frame? Does anyone
know of good written information on how to do this?
Please don't flame me if you think these are silly questions.
Remember, we all started with training wheels!
"I don't have to know how to build one of these things to fly it!"
Rob Z.tierney@fortune.UUCP (08/16/84)
#R:ccieng5:-50500:fortune:26500003:000:263 fortune!tierney Aug 16 11:01:00 1984 Old frames are usually the old Schwinn "Big-D" type to me. Mountain Bikes have diamond frams, double-butted, etc. for great strength. Also most frames don not have clearance for wide tires. Some expensive m-bike frames are Chromium-Molybdenum Alloy. charlie
wunder@wdl1.UUCP (wunder ) (08/28/84)
Most balloon tire bombers (Schwinn Breeze, and all those), use an Astabula crank, which is a very large, very heavy single piece of cast iron. They also use coaster brakes. The mountain bikes have a bottom bracket for ten-speed type cranks, braze-ons for cantilever brakes, and so on. The mountain bike is actually descended from ten-speeds by way of the cyclo-cross bike (cross country racing on knobby sew-up tires). Of course, nobody is stopping you from putting knobbies on your bomber and climbing mountains just for fun. w underwood
jbn@wdl1.UUCP (jbn ) (09/08/84)
No, a mountain bike is not basically an old American bike with ten-
speed goodies, although that is how it started up in Marin. Try this test:
1. Go to a bike shop that carries either Richey Mountain Bikes or the
Specialized Stumpjumper. Hold one at arm's length for one minute.
2. Now go to a Schwinn dealer and try that with a Schwinn Heavy Duty.
See the difference?
Nominally, a good mountain bike has about 80% of the efficiency of a
good 10-speed, in return for which you get much greater ruggedness. Or
so I'm told; the distance you can coast on the the flat is far greater on
a good 10-speed than on a good mountain bike. But this may be a bad measure.
What I really like about mountain bikes is that they have decent brakes.
Brakes have always been the weak point of the modern bicycle, and those
big cantilevers feel nice.schwager@uiucdcs.UUCP (09/13/84)
> > What I really like about mountain bikes is that they have decent brakes. > Brakes have always been the weak point of the modern bicycle, and those > big cantilevers feel nice. Hmmm... what kind of bike have you been riding? Maybe it's not the brakes themselves that are giving better performance, but the tires. I know I can put my bike into a two wheel skid any time I please. Not that that is a measure of good braking ability. What one should really look for in a brake is control. That enables you to stop quickly in a panic situation without all of the sudden having the front brake grab, and you go flying headfirst over the handlebars. -mike schwager (...ihnp4!uiucdcs!schwager)
2141smh@aluxe.UUCP (henning) (09/24/84)
**** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA aluxe!2141smh > This is just a small scale instance of the problem caused by > off-road motorized vehicles. Will someone clear up what a "mountain bike is". Some say they are motorized trail bikes and some say they are pedal powered.
cower@garfield.columbia.edu (Rich Cower) (12/06/85)
i'm looking for advice on selecting a mountain bike. i'm currently leaning toward a ritchey, since they seem to be widely available in this area. thanks...rich