new tires
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12,350 Posts
Those bars look dangerous.
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21,195 Posts
Chi, you have made a 7.5FX (or a 7.6 with the 700x28c tyres)with suspension forks 
and the bars look dangerous one for control and two access to your brakes - if you really got down in the drops and three the bar ends are pointing right back at your rib cage in the event of a fall. You have spent a lot of money making some big changes from the original intent of the bike me thinks If you want to go fast you might have looked at the FX series
and the bars look dangerous one for control and two access to your brakes - if you really got down in the drops and three the bar ends are pointing right back at your rib cage in the event of a fall. You have spent a lot of money making some big changes from the original intent of the bike me thinks If you want to go fast you might have looked at the FX series
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517 Posts
That bike looks confused about what it wants to be.
should i angle my drops differently? I have brakes on the drops. I'm able to control it great, why would controlling it be a problem? it's a hybrid, not confused. Im able to turn on my fork shock when on light trails and lock it when on the road.
i did look at the FX but I didn't like those. My tires are 700x25 by the way. I think the bike is just how I want it for right now. I might change the fork later but I really like how I can just lock this one out if I want and then have the shock going when I want it to. I didn't want to just change the entire handlebar with a road bike handlebar with the drops cause I wanted to have some good grips on the top bar cause I ride on those sometimes and without those grips my hands hurt so I just shortened it and added the drop ends. I suppose these drop ends are a little longer than a lot of road bikes but a lot of people say they like that because they have more bar to put their hands. I've been in the drops before already and I can squeeze the brakes with a finger or two easily.
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517 Posts
I'd be interested to see a better picture of that handlebar setup. I'm trying to figure that out.
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12,350 Posts
Your bars look busy.
yeah but what can i do.... i think i am gonna either shorten my bar another half inch on each side or maybe just get a shorter straight bar cause there's a little room from the middle but i can't move things in anymore cause of the little dip. I think i want my total bar length to be like 18 or 19 in.
I saw a trek 1.5 road bike at the lbs store today for the same price I paid for this bike and i thought oh wow that looks really nice too, it was white and black as well but if I had that I prolly wouldn't enjoy riding on trails as much as I do with this bike I guess the only way to have perfection is to have two bikes but it's not not ideal cause what if i'm out riding one bike and then I wanna go on a different terrain? But I cant get the look of the 1.5 out of my head. I don't really like my chunky looking fork but what can do I about that I guess, cause i like being able to unlock it on the trails. I wonder if I could get a carbon fork that is more like a road bike styple that can take disk brakes that still gives good shock absorption but i wonder if that would even be as good as the fork i have now, i donno i'm so confused. I think I made up my mind to get aero bars for this bike, i'll prolly get some when i get paid in a few days so i'll have to rearrange my stuff a little, do you think i should really get aerobar brake levers? are there such thinks as inline brake levers for those? I may wanna put V brakes on my bike as well and I'd make it so my top bar and drop bar levers work the V brakes and the aero bars work the disk brakes
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1,613 Posts
i found the only bike i own that can go most places (it does not work for all-mountain and freerides) is my cyclocross bike. cross bikes have semi-road geometry and a ridgid front fork. they roll on 700cc tires and you can run disc brakes on them or not if you prefer rim grabbers. you could run both i suppose. they almost always come with drop bars and tires that are wide enough for trail rides and even some singletrack if you ride well enough but they have slim enough rubber to still travel very well on the pavement. most have a fork that can take some bumps but a suspension fork is still ideal for off road travel. while i currently have bikes for everything.... if i had to get rid of all of them but one i would keep my cross bike.
list of my bikes and what they are for
1 Wilier Cento1 2010 road bike Campagnolo Record groupo
2 Cervelo RS 2008 back-up road bike Campagnolo Record groupo
3 Commencal Meta 5.5.2 2009all mountain full suspension SRAM
4 Kona Kula Primo 2007 hardtail cx mtb Shimano xt
5 Specialized Allez Steel 2010 commuter primary transportationCustom
6 Commencal Absolut CG 2010 dirt jump and park ride ss with bb5 brakes
7 Salsa Chili con Crosso 2007 old commuter/ transportation/ light trails/ some road
that is my top 7 (in random order) bikes of the 11 i own...
if i could only keep one the Salsa would be my pick... the Wilier is the nicest but it does not work off road. my Kona Kula Primo needs some upgrades to be my only bike.. and the Meta 5.5.2 is not suitable as my only transportation.
i honestly would never get down to having just one bike but if i did well the Salsa is it... because of versatility... have ridden her to school then to work and she has more road and off road miles on her than any two of my other bikes combined.
i do not think anyone needs this many bikes (including me) by the way. i don't drive or even have a license and love bikes therefore when i see one for sale at a discounted price i usually jump on it. the only bike i own that i paid anywhere close to MSRP on was coincidentally the Salsa.
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517 Posts
I get it now. I don't think I would ever use a setup like that but if it works for you then cool. The way the brake cables are exposed from the road levers to the chicken levers is gross IMO.
yeah i don't really like the look of the short cable going from the brake levers but i can't do anything about that, most people run in under handlebar wrap but i don't want that cause i want more comfortable grips cause I hold onto the top 90 percent of the time when on trails. However, I reciently saw some really thick squishy handle bar grips that are just foam and it would be easy to run the cables under that and they might feel better on my hands but they wouldn't be shaped like the ones i have now and I already spent 30 dollars on these grips not to long ago. I'm still in the process of finding out what I like and don't like so things will be changing til i get it right.
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12,350 Posts
I had a cross bike for a short time. To me, it was slow road bike or an uncomfortable trail bike.
My bike is pretty comfy to me. I'm gonna get a new seat soon, mainly for just a nicer look but it happens to be a lot more squishy and a tiny bit wider in the back so i bet it's gonna feel so good on my butt. I haven't really been able to go fast as i can yet but the last time I rode i was able to easily go 25mph without really trying hard. I'm anxious to get on a track or somewhere i can really give it all i got and see what speeds are really doable for me and the bike.
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