Assembled a bike today that my son had shipped to me as a part of his move to a new city - we're driving it up to him w/some his stuff that we had been storing at our house.
Put on the seat, easy. Front wheel, easy. Attached the handlebars, easy. Wow, this is going fast, only have the pedals left to do. Time to step back and revel in how quickly things are going and the great job I'm doing!
Hmmm....um, wait a minute. Something just doesn't.....look.....right...
WTF...seriously?! Yup, I installed handlebars with fork/steering turned bass-ackwards, as it was stored in the shipping box. Luckily none of family or neighbors were around. If my younger son (bike master mechanic) had seen it he would have confiscated my tools.
Just one of those days, I guess. (And man, there are more and more of them lately.)
@danabw As a mountain biker and former professional bike mechanic, I want to say that pic makes me twitchy AF and I may have to block all posts from you now for fear of seeing another like it...
That is a beaut...wow. You know, I bet you hang out in bike forums like my son does, and you have taught and encouraged my son to spend all of his (read: "my") money on bikes, bike parts, bike tools, bike clothing, bike packs, bike magazines, bike-anythings. I never had more than one bike at a time my entire life. He feels you are "massively unprepared" if you have less than four or five. "Unprepared for what?" I innocently ask. "Unprepared for changes in conditions!!" he almost yells, and then sighs, as if he's exhausted from trying to communicate with an especially unintelligent cherrystone clam.
You can start paying me back monthly, until my retirement fund is replenished.
All carbon Specialized stumpjumper 29er with carbon Lefty fork, carbon bars, carbon brakes, carbon crank... Can't do carbon seat posts, I break them... Tell your son those leftys are only 1800.00 new...Save money up to save weight
I was lucky on the gravel grinder...2100.00 set of Industry 9 custom wheels I got from a rich lawyer friend of mine who moved to 650b and sold them to me for 250.00, they were less than a year old... And if you think my bikes are expensive, have a good buddy of mine who paid 14k for his last mountain bike...
Oh and I hate bike forums...lol Too many douches. I just like to get out and ride and earn my beer...
You have the right friends, clearly. When can I meet them?
My son is actually a retro-bike lover, he's always hunting for an old bike frame to buy and restore/refit. (And then do it again.) So very lucky for me (from the gear you're showing) he isn't a "carbon guy" and spends his time looking for vintage chromoly frames.
Have to admit - that is a nice looking ride. My brother also had some heart issues and has gotten into electric bikes as a result. Really enjoys them, and like any bike there are add-ons, upgrades, additional gear, etc., that makes it fun for him to tinker. It is annoying when we do family rides (three brothers and our wives, and when they are aound, our kids) and he passes me on a difficult hill while saying "See you at the top!"
lol, I did that too much too. Had to get my wife an electric bike. I give her credit though, she peddles more than she uses the throttle. But she says it's 'nice to have' on the hills.
I can't say I've done that, but ... it's because I've never tried--I just let my local bike shop do it all for me. I'd know I'd do far worse. Ha.
My complete lack of skill is almost embarrassing because I'm a year-round commuter cyclist (in the Midwest) and you'd think I'd be able to do something besides change a tube/tire, but that's about where my skills stop. Luckily, that's about 90% of what I actually need to do, and I'm happy to pay them for routine maintenance and whatever else.
So much trail in Western Pa. In Pittsburgh alone we have around 600 miles of single track. We have so much rail trail and adventure biking too. Downhilling at 7 springs, indoor mountain biking downtown. It's such a bike oriented area. Few years back a buddy and his wife decided for giggles to ride from Pittsburgh to DC (all rail trail) in 24 hrs... The missed by 20 mins because of a flat.... Most people take a week to do it... More and more bike lanes going in too...
Didn't even know/think that they made electric mountain bikes, but I guess it makes sense, mountains are hard!! If I told my wife I was buying a bike that cost that much, I'd need a wheel chair more than a bike.
We're going to Zion this year and will probably rent electric bikes one of the days we're there, neighbor did it and said it was really fun to get around that way at the park.
