jeff fox wrote: Mon Oct 21, 2024 9:32 pm Anyone have experience with those Polygon bikes they’re pushing hard on social media? The reviews are great and the prices are reasonable. If I can ever justify owning a dual suspension trail bike it’s definitely something to consider.
Also gonna be selling my road bike because I’d rather ride my steel touring bike 100% of the time. It’s a cannondale six13. Carbon tubes with aluminum joints. Full dura ace. 58cm. Hit me up if you’re interested and in Chicago.

I don't follow social media but I bought two Polygons for the kids during the 'rona as there was nothing else to be had and they were at peak bike/kid moment. They were about $400-500 each, small mountain frames with a front shock. I found them to be good quality entry level MTBs and excellent value. Came with Microshift derailleurs as Shimano was having a shortage, and these too have functioned flawlessly. Disc brakes. Packaging was top shelf - I believe shipped from Indonesia? Not shilling, but I would have no hesitation about ordering from them again in the same situation. Personally I like to buy from a shop but I get that can't work for all.

Cycling technology pushes forward, whether or not we like it. One of the perks of this is that I can find great deals on top of the line parts that aren't really that old. So on this week's episode of "Ben fucks with shit on his bike", I'll install a 5 year old Ultegra electronic on my steel frame road bike.

When I got my Milwaukee, I was very insistent on keeping everything mechanical. I know how to work on all of that stuff, and I can do it quickly and easily. Plus it's very inexpensive on the used market. Then a guy on a bike forum that I know was selling a rim break Shimano Ultegra Di2 group for a very low price. I have SRAM electronic shifting on my gravel bike and it's great. The word on the street is that Shimano electronic is even better. I couldn't help myself.

After I bought it, I had a pretty dumb realization. Shimano Di2 is a wired electronic groupset. This means that the shifters, the two derailleurs, and the battery all have to be strung together with wires. Current carbon and aluminum bikes, and even modern steel and titanium are all designed to internally route these wires and mount the battery inside the frame. Old steel frames have no way to get inside to route cables. Who the hell would do that?

I've heard of people drilling their steel frames, but I really don't want to do that unless I know I really want to stick with this setup. So, what now? The solution I came up with was pretty straighforward; zip tire the wires to the frame, and then put the battery, junction bok, and all the excess cabling into an old water bottle on the seat tube. Surprisingly, this works great and set up super quickly. It's pretty ugly, and one of my bottle cages is in use, so it's not going to be permanent. It's just to test it out.

So, i've only done a couple rides, but holy shit, the performance is fantastic. I think I like it more than my electronic SRAM on my gravel bike. To be fair, the gravel bike is a 1x bike, which means a large rear cassette, and the larger the cassette, the worse the shifting. The Ultegra 2x on the road bike just feels fast and precise, moreso than any other shifting group that I've used.

So, the next step is to find a small case or bag where I can shove all the wires, and then mount it to the bike in an attractive way. This will probably be under the downtube or in the lower cornet of the main frame triangle, under the water bottles. Then I'll just ride. After a while it will just become normal, or I'll miss the direct functionality of cable shifting and switch to something else. But damn, it seems nice now.

A large front rack should arrive tomorrow or Friday. The plan is to attach a bag to it for binoculars and snacks and a birding guide. I'm not a very knowledgeable bird person, but we have levee trails by the SF Bay here and there are lots of egrets and pelicans and ducks and things to see. My favorites may be the various raptors that hover and dive after their food.

Been alternating gravel and MTB for the last year and a half. Also riding the indoor fake bike (Nordic s22i "Poor Man's Pelotón") during the week.

The MTB is a Giant Trance II, full suspension thing. It's like riding a tractor. There's a set of particularly brutal trails really close to the house. Many a collarbone has gone to the gods there. The main loop is about nine miles with just under 900 ft of climbing. It's rooted, rocky, and rutted. It doesn't flow. No jumps. The whole trail system was cut in like 1993, before people understood that trail riding could be fun.

I've probably ridden there 400 times, not exaggerating. It's just really close to the house.

After doing a bunch of interval rides this week on the Fake Bike, I did the big loop yesterday. My legs were already gassed before the third climb and a smart man would've bailed. I just slowed down and grinded through it. At times I was climbing so slowly that I occasionally stalled out on a root as thick as my thigh. Mostly it's was the rear shock going "ffft" instead of "boing." I kind of miss the responsiveness of the hardtail, I think.

I'm wondering if I should sell the Trance and get a used hardtail or get a hardtail frame and move all the components over from the Trance. Will the frame geometry line up?

Many questions.

eephus wrote: Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:13 am Selling my 2015 Kona Humuhumu, which is a very cool sort of klunker/cruiser/giant BMX thing. Single speed, 29" wheels. Has a rack and decent flat pedals and a water bottle holder. LMK if you are interested.

$400 now, fyi. It's a 20" (large). This guy.

Just did the summer century that I do every July. It was actually quite fun. I had a group of music-nerd friend who have also gotten the cycling bug. It's nice to have a crew. I sometimes feel like the cycling pals have take over the itch that was scratched by touring. Instead of driving for four hours, playing for 40 minutes to almost no one, and then driving 4 hours home, it's like this; we just ride for 4-8 hours, we have all the same fun we'd have in a van, we don't have to load anything, we lose less money, and we get some necessary exercise.

My Salsa Warbird was flawless. I got some nasty sunburns on my legs, even thought I had multiple re-applications of sunscreen. I think I'll need to do sun-leg-sleeves for all day rides from now on.

In bike wrenching news, I've had the Di2, electronic group-set grafted to the outside of my classic, steel frame bike. It works fantastically well, but it still feels like a hack. I also missed a great deal on a Campagnolo group-set at a recent swap-meet, and I'm kicking myself. I realized that I've never tried Campagnolo. They always seemed like the PRS or Mercedes of group-sets. They are definitely nice, but in the USA they are also tools for conspicuous consumption. People who use them often are theay type of people who want to show you what they can afford, or people who use their wealth and financial success to differentiate themselves. Campagnolo is Italian, they are generally more money that competitors, and they use their own standards that make it so you have to go all-in, or not at all. I've had no reason to check them out.

However, a lot of super-bike-nerds and bike shop lifers will run Campy stuff. And now, the retro tech from about 10 years ago that works on my retro bike from about 10 years ago is actually quite affordable on the used market, or is being sold at clearance prices. And ever since I missed that killer deal, I've had that itch to try it out. Is it really the high-end experience that people claim? Do I want my bike to be set up and running as intended with a glassing component set rather than a kludge setup like now? Why can't I just be happy with a very good, populist Shimano setup? I think it's the curiosity of the unknown. Am I willing to possibly lose some money just to see if I can go from an A to an A+ experience?

benadrian wrote: Mon Jul 14, 2025 5:27 pm Just did the summer century that I do every July. It was actually quite fun. I had a group of music-nerd friend who have also gotten the cycling bug. It's nice to have a crew. I sometimes feel like the cycling pals have take over the itch that was scratched by touring. Instead of driving for four hours, playing for 40 minutes to almost no one, and then driving 4 hours home, it's like this; we just ride for 4-8 hours, we have all the same fun we'd have in a van, we don't have to load anything, we lose less money, and we get some necessary exercise.

My Salsa Warbird was flawless. I got some nasty sunburns on my legs, even thought I had multiple re-applications of sunscreen. I think I'll need to do sun-leg-sleeves for all day rides from now on.

In bike wrenching news, I've had the Di2, electronic group-set grafted to the outside of my classic, steel frame bike. It works fantastically well, but it still feels like a hack. I also missed a great deal on a Campagnolo group-set at a recent swap-meet, and I'm kicking myself. I realized that I've never tried Campagnolo. They always seemed like the PRS or Mercedes of group-sets. They are definitely nice, but in the USA they are also tools for conspicuous consumption. People who use them often are theay type of people who want to show you what they can afford, or people who use their wealth and financial success to differentiate themselves. Campagnolo is Italian, they are generally more money that competitors, and they use their own standards that make it so you have to go all-in, or not at all. I've had no reason to check them out.

However, a lot of super-bike-nerds and bike shop lifers will run Campy stuff. And now, the retro tech from about 10 years ago that works on my retro bike from about 10 years ago is actually quite affordable on the used market, or is being sold at clearance prices. And ever since I missed that killer deal, I've had that itch to try it out. Is it really the high-end experience that people claim? Do I want my bike to be set up and running as intended with a glassing component set rather than a kludge setup like now? Why can't I just be happy with a very good, populist Shimano setup? I think it's the curiosity of the unknown. Am I willing to possibly lose some money just to see if I can go from an A to an A+ experience?

Hmmmm dunno. I'm all for indulging irrational desires when it comes to cycling gear (Did I leap at some Paul brakes when they were briefly available in green? Reader, I did..) but I've become a real Microshift fan. I guess if I played guitar I'd be a Fender Squier guy who also used sassy green cables that were made in Chico.

I'm starting to shop around for a zippy, more "road leaning" gravel bike. Basically, I want a fast bike without such hunched over geometry, and slightly wider tires (32ish) to handle beat up city streets (and maybe occasionally take it out on dirt paths). I don't know if I have the budget to go full carbon, but I've only ridden steel bikes so basically anything else will feel light to me.

benadrian wrote: Mon Jul 14, 2025 5:27 pm Just did the summer century that I do every July. It was actually quite fun. I had a group of music-nerd friend who have also gotten the cycling bug. It's nice to have a crew. I sometimes feel like the cycling pals have take over the itch that was scratched by touring. Instead of driving for four hours, playing for 40 minutes to almost no one, and then driving 4 hours home, it's like this; we just ride for 4-8 hours, we have all the same fun we'd have in a van, we don't have to load anything, we lose less money, and we get some necessary exercise.

My Salsa Warbird was flawless. I got some nasty sunburns on my legs, even thought I had multiple re-applications of sunscreen. I think I'll need to do sun-leg-sleeves for all day rides from now on.

Love this. I try to do one on my birthday every year (late-Sept.). Last year was a weird one: Got the century in, went home to shower and eat and all that, and then started feeling this unusual pain in my left...uh...nutsack? Testicle? It persisted for a couple weeks, so I made got into first the doctor, then the urologist. One million tests later, exactly zero in terms of 'what was going on down there', even as the symptoms persisted (basically it felt like one of the balls was sorta being sucked up into my body, and that came with pain). Didn't ride my bike for a LONG time (months and months), and started up again in April. Haven't had an issues since, but a little worried about doing a century again. Longest ride so far this year was like 30 miles.

I didn't wear bike shorts for that last century, so I'll make sure to do so next time.

penningtron wrote: Tue Jul 15, 2025 7:41 am I'm starting to shop around for a zippy, more "road leaning" gravel bike. Basically, I want a fast bike without such hunched over geometry, and slightly wider tires (32ish) to handle beat up city streets (and maybe occasionally take it out on dirt paths). I don't know if I have the budget to go full carbon, but I've only ridden steel bikes so basically anything else will feel light to me.

Check out the Salsa Jouryner/Journeyman. It's a more-upright road/gravel bike that can fit wide tires. Aluminum. Everything is a common standard, so upgrades and parts replacement is easy. Reasonable price, especially used. My pal Eric did the century ride on one this past weekend.

But there are so many excellent bikes out there nowadays. Ask here if you have any questions!