4 ms·

That's funny. My bike is steel; I got it in college 20 years ago, so it's not new at all. At the time, it was pretty advanced I guess: it's a butted (triple?

That's funny. My bike is steel; I got it in college 20 years ago, so it's not new at all. At the time, it was pretty advanced I guess: it's a butted (triple? not sure) chrome-moly steel road bike by Trek. It's a little over 25 pounds I think, so it's really not that much heavier than comparable aluminum bikes. The frame's still in fantastic shape even though it's been ridden all over and not taken care of particularly well, been rained on a lot, etc. Not long after I got it, it seemed that steel frames became totally passé; everything went to aluminum, titanium, and then carbon fibre. These days, road bikes all seem to be either aluminum or CF. And now history repeats itself... Personally, though, I'm looking forward to ditching it and getting a recumbent trike. I'm getting sick of having a sore neck and shoulders and hands and having my arms go numb on long rides.

noir_lord 10y ago
If the hand numbness is really bad consider switching to a carbon fork if you haven't already, on my old aluminium bike the numbness was pretty bad since I switched to a carbon bike it's largely gone.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  How is having a stiffer front fork going to help? (My front fork is steel; my bike is not stiff.)
  - noir_lord 10y ago
    It's not so much the stiffness that matters but that carbon damps the 'buzz' from the road, Steel is better than Aluminium but Carbon is better than both in my experience. That said if you are having real numbness problems switching up to a 25mm tyre (most road bikes will take them) and running at 80psi vs 23mm at 110psi will make the most difference. It also depends on the surface you ride on, UK roads are not known for been particularly smooth (particularly rural two lanes) so the differences are more marked.
    - Grishnakh 10y ago
      Thanks for the advice; I do believe I have a 25mm tire in front (I'll have to check, but it's not super-thin). But a CF front fork sounds like way more money than I want to spend on fixing up a 20+ year old bike; if I'm going to spend any money, I might as well get a new bike, which is why I'm seriously looking at getting a Catrike: I can get away from the uncomfortable road bike posture altogether that way, get better aerodynamics, avoid crotch pains, etc.
      - noir_lord 10y ago
        Recumbents have a lot to recommend them but I don't like the lack of visibility in traffic, UK drivers aren't that considerate of cyclists generally so I at least like to be visible, that said they do really really move compared to a road bike since the aerodynamic shape helps hugely.
        Grishnakh 10y ago
        I'm in the US, and roads here are really bad for riding bikes on, unless you're in a very small town or something. (Even that isn't a great place; I live in a small town currently and the street in front of my house has a 25mph speed limit, but people are constantly speeding on it, and frequently hitting cats that cross the road near my house.) That's why I simply don't ride on roads with cars if I can help it; I mostly stick to rail-trails or towpaths. I can ride 40 miles on a rail-trail and barely see any cars at all, and frequently not even any humans.

noir_lord 10y ago

If the hand numbness is really bad consider switching to a carbon fork if you haven't already, on my old aluminium bike the numbness was pretty bad since I switched to a carbon bike it's largely gone.

Grishnakh 10y ago
How is having a stiffer front fork going to help? (My front fork is steel; my bike is not stiff.)
- noir_lord 10y ago
  It's not so much the stiffness that matters but that carbon damps the 'buzz' from the road, Steel is better than Aluminium but Carbon is better than both in my experience. That said if you are having real numbness problems switching up to a 25mm tyre (most road bikes will take them) and running at 80psi vs 23mm at 110psi will make the most difference. It also depends on the surface you ride on, UK roads are not known for been particularly smooth (particularly rural two lanes) so the differences are more marked.
  - Grishnakh 10y ago
    Thanks for the advice; I do believe I have a 25mm tire in front (I'll have to check, but it's not super-thin). But a CF front fork sounds like way more money than I want to spend on fixing up a 20+ year old bike; if I'm going to spend any money, I might as well get a new bike, which is why I'm seriously looking at getting a Catrike: I can get away from the uncomfortable road bike posture altogether that way, get better aerodynamics, avoid crotch pains, etc.
    - noir_lord 10y ago
      Recumbents have a lot to recommend them but I don't like the lack of visibility in traffic, UK drivers aren't that considerate of cyclists generally so I at least like to be visible, that said they do really really move compared to a road bike since the aerodynamic shape helps hugely.
      - Grishnakh 10y ago
        I'm in the US, and roads here are really bad for riding bikes on, unless you're in a very small town or something. (Even that isn't a great place; I live in a small town currently and the street in front of my house has a 25mph speed limit, but people are constantly speeding on it, and frequently hitting cats that cross the road near my house.) That's why I simply don't ride on roads with cars if I can help it; I mostly stick to rail-trails or towpaths. I can ride 40 miles on a rail-trail and barely see any cars at all, and frequently not even any humans.