Best Bicycle for Long Distance ?

[Danneaux]

...a third to a half of humanity cannot wait to give up the bicycle, which they regard as the mark of poverty, for a small car.

Hear, hear! And heartily (but very, very sadly) agreed, Andre.

Here in 'Merka -- at best and by the majority in terms of actual use -- bicycles are widely regarded as expensive toys, many of which are ridden only on sidewalks at the peril of pedestrians.

And, we drive our cars to the gym for "spinning classes" to ride stationary bikes for fitness, then fight each other in traffic on the drive home again, having sweated indoors rather than out. The unattributed graphic attached below sums it up nicely...

Best,

Dan.

[Andybg]

Hobbes comment about bike choice made me think of this:

One thing I thought about while riding was if your bicycle was a car which one would it be? I got thinking about this when I passed someone riding a mountain bike (very slowly) along the road and thought its madness. It was the equivilent of riding a Landrover Defender (Thats a Jeep to you Dan) with Mud plugging tyres on the motorway. It then got me to thinking that carbon race bikes are probably akin to formula one cars.

Trying to think about it this way you get to see the lunacy of many bike choices.

I am keeping my address secret at this point to stop any other form members sending round the little white van.

[il padrone]

And, we drive our cars to the gym for "spinning classes" to ride stationary bikes for fitness, then fight each other in traffic on the drive home again, having sweated indoors rather than out.

 

[jags]

Andy there were many a time in the last few years i was embarrased to be riding my top of the range carbon bike ,who was i trying to kid  the days of me going fast a well and truly gone but i'm not a sad bunny about it as a matter of fact i quiet enjoy going slow ,don't know what my bike's think about it though 

[Danneaux]

I am keeping my address secret at this point to stop any other form members sending round the little white van.

Andy...um, but they time the van rolls 'round your way, we'll all be *in* it! We do have to stop at Bridgwater along the way, however. There's a little shop there we all might enjoy. "And a grand time was had by all" will be the ride report on that one!

Ooh! I love the idea of the bike-to-car analog, and it is one I have often pondered as I rode along myself. No worries coming up with mine:

My bikes are all the equivalent of WRC rally cars. Oh, some are biased more toward RallyCross, and others like the rando bike are akin to the Super1600 class. Something that handles a mix of pavement and dirt, anyway and will go anywhere. Still looking for that "Gruppe B"-equivalent bicycle...hmm. Maybe a Mercury?

Andy there were many a time in the last few years i was embarrased to be riding my top of the range carbon bike ,who was i trying to kid...the days of me going fast a well and truly gone but i'm not a sad bunny about it as a matter of fact i quiet enjoy going slow ,don't know what my bike's think about it though 

No bad rides, jags, either fast or slow! So long as you get out on the bike, its all good no matter the speed. Also, it really helps to shake it up a bit with some variety. Your Look was so different from the Sherpa, and I get the impression it was almost like riding a new bike all over again when you switched between them. The old saying with cars (proven true in my experience) is it's more satisfying to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow in traffic. Not too different with bikes, though you can still enjoy the light, lively feel of a racing bike at any speed -- even just tootling around.

All the best,

Dan. (who -- if he wins the Lottery [hard, 'cos he doesn't play] -- will build a backyard racetrack with shifter-carts and pretend he's Michael Schumacher on his way to an F-1 career)

[NZPeterG]

when i
 was much younger i don't believe i ever seen a hub geared bike except of course for the old black sit up and beg bikes high Nelly   maybe i didn't look hard enough. but would i have bought one in my younger days emm i don't think so.
to me and all my roadie friends  campag and dura ace were the order of the day still are to be honest.
unless i win the lottery (i live in hope or dreamland) i would never afford a rohloff. so to me the derailleur is the dog's regardless of cost or politics.
maybe I'm missing the whole point   but i would never use a hub like the  rohloff on a top end road bike look a bit silly not very  

I just have to say that you are missing the point!
With Derailleur gear changing is too slow? (over half a turn of your crank's to change gear)??
With a Rohloff Speedhub it's 100th of a second to change gear!
Offroad in Mud (yes I know they do not ride in the Mud in the USA)    derailleur gear change do not work BUT a Rohloff will work all day long! in mud, sand or out on the road!
I do know I have got my 2nd Rohloff hub I sold my 1st Rohloff hub off for more then my New one cost! Why did I sell off My 1st Rohloff Hub? because It was a Nutted axle one.
I did ride in Africa with Derailleur's (2000km's in 16 day's) when I get to go back it will be with a Rohloff Hub.

Pete............
 

[jags]

i know pete but i'll just have to grin and bare with it until i can afford the new kid on the block rohloff.

[NZPeterG]

All Good, yes Rohloff's do cost more up front but cost less in the long run.
In New Zealand cycle shop's keep talking People that Rohloff Hub's cost $1000 to $2000 more then the true cost! this is why I Sold my 1st Hub off for more then a new one cost 

Pete.......
 

[triaesthete]

True words Pete,
in the UK too there is a myth that they cost £1000   More like £700 if you know where to look and keep an eye on the exchange rates 
Cheers
Ian

[jags]

would be worth buying a bike from rosebikes with rohloff obviously

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

Judging by the closing prices over the last year, eBay Germany has some remarkable buys in used Rohloff hubs and even entire drivetrains. Lots of bling parts, too, like titanium or colored/anodized bolt sets and various "tuner" grips and shifter sleeves.

There are also a surprising number of good buys in whole Rohloff bikes; buy one, swap the drivetrain to a Thorn frame, and then sell-on the rest to help fund the project. A well-used and nicely maintained Winora Labrador Trekkingrad (touring bike) with Rohloff and Magura brakes recently closed at €622 (equivalent to £502 at current exchange rates). This might make it possible to own a Rohloff Thorn a bit more easily via a frame swap, though eBay.co.uk has some great buys on complete bikes -- often from SJS Cycles.

From what I can see by the descriptions, a lot of even really nice German touring/trekking bikes are being sold on to fund the purchase of e-bike/pedelec replacements. 'Lectrics trump Rohloffs, apparently (the motor-assist gives variable boost-on-demand, neatly splitting the Rohloff gearing and making the wider selection of gears surplus to a degree). The exodus to 'lectric is driving the market prices down. My prediction: This is the future.

Might be worth a look...

Best,

Dan. ("Roll-on with a Rohloff" or "Get Derailed"; I like both!)

[JimK]

The exodus to 'lectric is driving the market prices down. My prediction: This is the future.

A neighbor up the street just bought his second electric bike. I think his wife got the hand-me-down! He commutes on it, so it makes sense for him to get a good one. The first was practically scrap but he got it to work decently enough. He let me take the new bike out on a test ride. Grand fun! And very practical here, apart from the winter months anyway. The hills here are unavoidable and even the small ones will challenge most folks. The electric boost makes bikes work for a huge fraction of the population!

[Danneaux]

The electric boost makes bikes work for a huge fraction of the population!

The large-scale electrification of bicycles is coming, Jim, for all the reasons your neighbor chose one. I think pedelecs may be the one thing that gets middle-America actually riding bicycles more. Pedelecs have taken The Netherlands by storm, and are the one segment of the industry that actually showed growth in an otherwise disastrous year in Europe in general and NL in particular.

My bold prediction (and not for the first time!):  In five years' time, it will be hard to buy a mass-market bicycle that does not have electric assist, and the price of new and used "manual" bikes will fall dramatically as they become yesterday's news.

"Manual" (non-assisted) bikes will be the province of roadies and fitness buffs, and even those will have electrically-aided shifting (think: Di2).

I'm guessing premier touring bikes will also have some sort of electric assist eventually, but it is the commuter market that is poised to explode, and that's happening even now in Europe. Coming soon to the American bike shop near you.

Best,

Dan. (...thinking it won't be long till he needs to create an e-bike child board on the Forum)

[Andre Jute]

Dan. (...thinking it won't be long till he needs to create an e-bike child board on the Forum)

Apply here with any questions about electric bikes.

Electric touring setups are already available in the premium market, with under-pannier twin battery holders. See for instance http://www.utopia-velo.de/relaunch/news_mehr.a4d?seq=1039 where the third pic from the top in the righthand column gives you a good view of how the batteries and panniers share the space either side of the wheel. With 28.2Ah, unless you're storming up an Alp that goes on forever, I reckon you could stretch to a good day's touring. I have 8.8Ah in my bottle battery, and it's probably good for at least 40km of assistive use, so a real tourer would probably have no problem reaching 160km/100m per day in rolling hills, more if a substantial part of the day's ride is flat, less, as I say, if it is an Alp.

Andre "Rider on the Edge" Jute
http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLINGbuildingpedelec1.html

[Andre Jute]

would be worth buying a bike from rosebikes with rohloff obviously

If you're just stripping off the good parts, and don't care if the frame is generic Taiwanese aluminium, German Ebay in the winter is your friend, because surplus stock is sold off cheap, and you can buy bargains in used Rohloff wheels. -- Andre Jute