My Bikes

AllezUpdatedMy current ride is a Specialized Allez Elite Compact, 56 cm. Purchased Feb., 2008. Shimano Tiagra front derailleur, Shimano 105 rear derailleur. Carbon fork, seat stays, and seat post. Nine speed cassette.

1128922648_0a39da50a7I started my biking on this 1981 Raleigh Super Record. Ten speed, stem mounted friction shifters, all steel. Probably a little large for me, but I completed my first metric century with it in November, 2007. Prior to resuming biking seriously, we lived in southeastern Minnesota, where we took this bike and my wife’s to the fine rails-to-trails paths in the area. Looking back, I realize that the round trips on those trails were anywhere from 28 to 40 miles. But for us, they were pleasant Sunday afternoons. I still have this thing, and might fix it up someday.

trekAnd then there’s a Trek 4900 mountain bike.  My wife gave it to me for my birthday about five or six years ago.  Frankly, it hasn’t seen much use.  That’s too bad, because it’s a nice bike.  I will probably swap out the knobby tires for some slicks, and use it as my around town errand bike.

6 thoughts on “My Bikes

  1. I noticed that your bike is a 9-speed.

    I’m new to road-biking and am planning to get a 10-speed roadie as I like speed. However a 9-speed is cheaper and easier to come by (second hand).

    I’m curious to know if you run out of gears to change frequently at high speeds? Or is a 9-speed good enough? (I’m on a 7-speed MTB which gives me a max of 35kmh or 21.7mph. wayy too slow)

    • The term, “nine speed cassette” refers to the number of cogs on the rear cassette. Road bikes now typically come with ten (really high-end bikes have 11). Since I have two chainrings on the front, I have 18 different combinations, or gears. The big chainring on your MTB is probably 48-teeth, or even smaller. My Specialized’s is 50 teeth, which will give me a tad higher gearing. The Raleigh has five cogs on the rear cassette, two on the front, for a total of ten gear combinations. The big chainring has 52 teeth. I assume your 21 mph is on a flat surface. A road bike will go faster, but how much faster depends on the rider’s conditioning.

  2. Road bike with cadence of 100 will get you to 37mph with 53×11 gearing or to 32mph with 50×12 gearing. You will not reach either of these speeds without a tailwind gale or downhill grade.

    Go cheap on your first bike.

  3. A nine gear cassette is fine. I have ridden my ’85 Bianchi at over 30 mph in the flats with a 6 gear cassette. The main difference is that there are bigger jumps in the gearing ratios which as a novice you won’t notice.

  4. You can get a ten speed cassette on a cheap bike you just have to replace the 9 speed hub. It also depends on your components/wheels becuase you can’t have a 10 speed shimano hub replace a 9 speed campy hub.
    Just my ten cents,
    Euro-Pro

  5. You should definitely fix up the old raleigh…its a classic! I recently converted an old peugeot into a fixed gear and love riding it. I’m severely tempted to ‘upgrade’ at some point and get another old bike with better quality steel than the pug to ride fixed on in the winter. The steel is so comfortable to ride!

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