What happened to the Grassroots Pedalsports thread?

Checking back in, is the thread gone for good?

I received some helpful advice on the old Pedalsports thread and wanted to tune back in and say "thanks."  I can't remember who made the recommendation...but i rebuilt my front fork and it rides much better.

I bought a gasket kit, new dust seals, and foam rings (the old foam rings were were 95% deteriorated).  The gaskets looked pretty good but I replaced them  all.  The thing that made me laugh the most was the part of the instructions that said "make sure  you do this over a bucket because oil will leak out everywhere."  There was no oil in the fork.  Zero.  At least the fork tubes looked pretty good.

I probably could have just refilled the thing (+100ml on the damper and 10ml on the spring side, if I remember correctly) and it would have worked a lot better.   I've never taken a bicycle fork apart, so it was pretty interesting and relatively simple. 

1988RedT2 said:

dxman92 said:

It has seemed to pedal off into obscurity. 

Probably for the best.  It was a poopstorm waiting to happen.  Two opposing factions--one lunatic bunch of head-banging mountain-bikers riding full suspensions and disk brakes, the other sensible, tea-drinking traditionalists riding proper road bikes consisting of little more than a frame, two wheels, and rudimentary rim brakes that might actually stop the bike, but not if they happened to get wet. 

You put two diametrically opposed groups like that in a room together, and they'll be at each others throats inside of five minutes.

I'll have you know that I am a head banging tea drinker and my ride of choice is a proper mountain bike consisting of little more than a frame, two wheels, and cantilever brakes, because if you didn't fail high school trig you can set them up to be way better than anything else.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I got A's in high school Trig, but college Calculus kicked my butt.

And you sir, are seriously confused, because disk brakes are used on every high-end oxcart manufactured today, in spite of your glorious cantilevers.

GameboyRMH said:

Checking back in, is the thread gone for good?

no?  I haven't heard an updated ETA.  but, you know, things

and, afaik, we can't merge threads. So, you're free to start afresh here... or wait it out?

I'm guessing the old thread is gone now.

Still waiting for parts to show up for my green Goose.

Haven't been on either bike in about a week after I had a scary moment. I got back for a ride, and I was out of breath. I have asthma, but I didn't bring my inhaler, because I haven't needed it since I started riding again. Made it back to the house, and in the middle of using it, I collapsed in the kitchen. I got light-headed and went down like a ton of bricks. I am fine, but yeah, I'll be bringing that thing every ride from now on. Once the parts show up to do the shifter/V-Brake conversion, I'll start riding again.

Well I'm still pretty bummed by the loss of the old thread, but I've been riding the bike on parks and trails around town fairly regularly, the tubeless tires have been flawless since I re-did the rear. Here you can see my new dollar store seat, which is actually more comfortable than the original one, and my new custom-painted underslung cargo bottle using a NLA Bell Clinch 650 expandable mount:

(That's a tree stump in the grass to the right, not a discarded pistol)

I've actually made some good use of the dropper seatpost. Some custom under-downtube graphics:

And most recently, a super rare Lanji BS05 laser taillight, LIGHTCYCLE ENGAGE PEW PEW PEW!*

*Laser taillight is actually a Class 3R laser, do not look at laser taillight emitter with remaining eye.

There's only one problem, the bottom bracket bearing is eating itself rapidly, I've had to tighten it multiple times and I'll soon run out of threads to tighten it further. Nearby bike shops have a waiting list of 1~3 months for repairs so I'll either have to do it myself, hope it makes it until winter, or get it done by a big chain store.

I haven't been back on a bike since about a month ago when I collapsed after a ride. I've been a little gun shy about riding since that happened. I really need to get back on the bike and get over the mental block, and be more careful. 

Still want to get a newer bike as well. Since bikes are STILL sold out forever, that will definitely have to wait. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Yea I had been considering selling my mountain bike and my single speed and using the money for a decent hardtail but at this point if I sell both I won't have a bike until ????? 

I sold off two bikes I wasn't riding pretty quickly - probably could have listed them higher and held out for more desperate buyers, but not worth the time for a few measly dollars. Market around here still seems pretty active.

Stripping down my junkyard Giant MTB (ATX 760, I think?) for a badly needed repaint and general overhaul. Wanted to get a sealed bottom bracket for it but I can't find a 73x122 square taper in stock anywhere. Oh well - the old one is fine, just needs cleaning and new grease.

Got in a couple rides this week, taking advantage of the lower temps - riding when it's in the 90s is a no go. Did 28 pleasantly temperate miles today.

I've been riding this one too work a few times a week, technically the frames too long for me with the banana seat but it rides fantastic and I get excersize! 

I recently purchased a Santa Cruz Chameleon for the MTB park nearby.  And I have the scrapes and bruises to prove it.

Ha!  Just got back from my 12-mile ride on what is forecast to be the hottest day of the year.  I left the house around 9am.  Temp was 79 degrees.  I got back just before 10am.  Temp was 88 degrees.  Humidity?  Yes!

Supposed to top out just over 100 today.  That's a tad warm.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go peel off this dripping wet shirt.  Stay hydrated, folks!

I haz a sad.



The head tube on my green Mongoose is cracked in several places. Glad I didn't take it off any sweet jumps. I will be retiring this bike and keeping the search up for a newer, modern one when things are back in stock. 

8 years after losing my spleen on this very bike, Betty is mine again.
(forgive the potato photo)

I love my old Treck oclv 9800, but the rim brakes are a serious drag.  Anybody ever upgrade an older bike to discs?

In reply to mad_machine (Forum Supporter) :

The hard part is that that you need mounts on the frame to bolt the calipers to.  The mounts are threaded bosses welded into the frame, I've never seen add-on mounts. I suspect the forces involved make it a bad idea. You can always swap the fork to one that has disc mounts but disc only on the front is a bad idea. Even if you could make the mounts you'd need the brake system front and rear, and new wheels. All of that probably makes it cheaper to find a used disc bike anyway. 
I would look into upgrading the rim brakes and pads for more grip. I'm a big guy and although disc are stronger, the rim brakes I ran were always enough. What kind of problems are you having?

There were a couple of disc brake conversion set-ups back in the day, but they are rare today. 

Hope in the UK made a rear caliper that clamped around the rear axle with a torque link to the canti mount, but it was not cheap, required using a special Hope rear hub (Hope hubs are high end/very expensive) and the components have been out of production for about 20 years.  And it was not really popular back when it was new (it was pricey), so on the used market they are kinda rare.

A company called Brake Therapy made an adapter set up similar to the Hope system but used regular calipers. Google: "Brake Therapy adapter" and you'll get more info.

I noticed  this:

But I would be VERY conservative about how the bike was ridden if using one these. The adapter will put a lot of stress on the seat stay tube in a spot it was not really designed to take forces like that.  But for general cruising around town (assuming your town doesn't have a lot of hills), it would probably be fine.  It certainly is cheap enough at $3. 

Keep in mind, you'll also need a new rear wheel.  Unless you stumble across one for really cheap, the whole project can get expensive rather quickly for little benefit.

Just drinking my tea and putting in the miles.  Today's ride puts me 4 miles short of 1000 for Trek's century Strava challenge.

Love that last shot!

I'm 10 days past a double hernia repair surgery, which means I'm about 3-5 weeks from being back on my bike. Before surgery the pain has had me off the bike since beginning of april.  Sadly, riding was the ONE thing I did that caused immediate hurt.

I'm missing riding like crazy. Going through the second half of my quarantine and then back to work without having that pressure relief valve has been hard.  Doc originally said his concern about riding was the potential for crashes or sudden core movement to catch myself, not the actual pedaling. I've got a follow up in a week, hopefully he'll let me get back on the trainer and start spinning my legs up since the bike's locked down and i can't fall over. 

I may put all my bikes through clean and tune this week just to be doing something bike related. If I do I can post a tour of each bike, parts and setup if you guys are interested. Not that they are super special, but we all know bike nerds love gear tours.

So, I'm shopping new bikes again, now that my green Mongoose is flat-out unsafe to ride (see my previous post). My black Mongoose is a fun cruiser, but it's not so much fun on the route I usually take, and I want something more modern. Last time I shopped new bikes, there were tons of them available. That was pre-COVID. Now, it's slim pickings.

I know I want to stay in the $400-600 range, and I'm looking for a hardtail MTB that wouldn't be too bad on the street. I like the idea of a 1x drivetrain, and I am willing to try out a 29er. I haven't ruled out a 27.5, either.

Right now, I'm looking at a few bikes, but these are the ones I like:

Schwinn Axum (or Axum DP)




Yeah, a Walmart bike, I know. But I've heard GREAT things about this one. it's a large size 29er with mid-fat tires and a 1x8 cassette. It's also a great platform for upgrades, and a lot of the Youtubers I follow are going nuts over these. You can get them with or without a dropper post $398 or $498 respectively). Some cheap upgrades and it would be a nice bike. They pop in and out of stock, so catching one in stock takes some waiting.

Trek Marlin 5

These seem to be sold out everywhere right now, but I'm keeping watch. They retail for about $550, and are an entry-level local bike shop bike. It's probably a solid bike, but not too exciting. I like the looks and it would be familiar enough to what I'm currently used to.

Gravity HD27.5 Plus Boost



The Wild Card. This is a "Mid-Fat" bike from BikesDirect.com that caught my eye. Good components, a 2x8 drivetrain, lockout forks with a thru-axle, hydraulic discs, and more. But it's a 'Mid-fat" with 27.5 x 2.8" tires, which I'm on the fence with. Would that be too much of a departure from the old 26 x 2.1 stuff I've been riding? This one goes for $599. Availability seems to be the best of the three, but I don't want to get something just because it's available.


Thoughts?

Of the three I would personally go with the Trek.  Nothing to do with the bike itself, but rather that it will come from a local bike shop, has a solid warranty on the frame and any Bontrager branded components, and won't have been assembled by a Walmart tech necessitating complete reassembly at your house. 

I have a friend who bought the next Marlin up the line and he has been very happy with it as an occasional use bike on the family camping trips.

Big tires are great off road and on single track trails, you can drop the pressure extra low (15-20 psi) and enjoy great grip on roots, rocks and corners floating over smaller stuff as the tires conform around them. These are entry level bikes though so the wheels and tires are going to be heavy and the tires not very supple, that adds up to a bike that is harder to get rolling and eats more energy to keep rolling. For riding bike paths and double tracks the larger volume tires will probably just slow you down. On the other hand if you have a more capable bike for the trails gets you out on the trails exploring areas you would otherwise avoid then that could be a bonus and open up a whole new way of riding to you.

In reply to travellering :

If I went with the Schwinn, I would be doing the assembly. They don't stock that one in stores anyway, and I won't ever buy a big box bike assembled by them (been down that road before). I forgot to mention, I will most likely be putting together the bike myself, no matter what I end up with. I have just about all the tools needed to do it, save for a truing stand. Anything beyond my capability will get farmed out to the LBS. 

Turns out all three of these are sold out. I tried buying that Gravity bike, and yeah, sold out just like everything else. None of my LBS's have anything in stock under $2k and won't for some time. Looking at other options as well. 

Took a MTB riding clinic on the weekend.  I learned an awful lot about "crouch climbing" -- and we put it to good use yesterday on the trails.