You probably have. Start checking whatever the Canadian version of Craigslist is (is it just Craigslist?). In my college town the local police would auction off the abandoned bikes they'd get called to remove from bike racks, etc. Might also be a possibility to find something you could fix up.

yeah, I know. Was looking at one of the big local shops earlier and they are now taking orders for 2023... maybe I just wait another year and fix up the 2 bikes I have in the backyard.  One is heavy & cheap CCM from 30years ago and another is suspiciously devoid of any branding... That one I got off craigslist 12years ago for a cool $100.  Came with free bike lock but no key.  It's got funky rear shocks.  

Does Canyon sell/distribute to/in Canada? Not the cheapest, but they're all good values.

^They do, at least they claim to ship up here. Slightly out of the range I was looking into but not by much. I'll keep it in mind as I navigate my options. I'm not willing to have my bike cost more than my car. 8-)

There is always the infamous Bikes Direct option, if you can assemble and tune a bicycle it's not a bad option.

You haven't lived until you have a bike that costs more than your car. It was just last month that Canyon started shipping to Canada. https://cyclingtips.com/2021/03/canyon-launches-in-canada/

I have purchased and rode a BikesDirect bike and can report that they are fine and a great deal if you have ever built a bike from frame up, but best avoided otherwise. They are not hard to finish assembling and ride, but if you want it to be a good long-term bike, you'll take it apart completely and re-assemble it correctly. Little things like correct lubrication at threads, cable and housing lengths, derailleur tuning, etc will all be just slightly off.

Thanks folks. I have a local Giant shop here but they have no stock, obviously. 

Last night, I took out the 2 beat-up bikes I already own and set up a work bench in the backyard. I took apart cables and breaks and whatnot and determined that one of them is salvageable, for now. I'll wait out the current shortage by replacing parts.

Also, looks like Bikesdirect does not ship up here (http://www.bikesdirect.com/canada/). They suggest canucks set up a US mailing location and drive across to pick up. Not really something that is feasible at this time.

you can also try ChainReactionCycyes.com, shipping/customs is included for anywhere

Speaking of bikes that cost more than your car. Living in Grand Junction, CO mountain biking is a huge deal. An entry level full suspension bike that can handle the technical trails out here start around $3,000. It's not uncommon to see $6-$8K priced bikes out on trail. Nearly every mountain bike shop has a selection of $12K-$15K bikes in their shops.

Wow, '74! I had a '70s Motobecane that my dad handed down to me ca. 1980 when he upgraded - I pounded the hell out of that thing through the '80s.

In my neighborhood, banana seats were second only to sissy-bars in uncoolness - we all saved up our allowances to ditch them and put BMX seats on our Stingrays.

It was the height of fashion in 1979 rural Maine. I'm not sure about earlier or later than that...

Since you posted your banana seat bike below, I'll post mine here--except mine was the Red Fox, not the Silver Fox: 

Hey, a win is still a win ;-)

I'm about to buy a new road bike and all the models I'm looking at take up to 32c tires and have disc brakes. That would have been a full-on CX bike 10,15 years ago. 

I figure I can sell my gravel bike then and replace it with a fast hardtail which will let me shift my main MTB to a full-sus. (Talk about n+1 syndrome.) 32c tires are plenty for anything I'd want to ride on drop bar bike anyways.

No spandex required, but if that’s your thing, I won’t stop you.

I was actually wondering if a Fashion Central thread would get any interest. I have little fashion sense myself but appreciate those who do.

I'd chime in on a Fashion Central thread - my "signature look" is my large collection of paisley shirts.

I have zero fashion sense, and have to rely on my great personality to make up for that.

This pandemic is really encouraging more people to ride bikes to avoid the public commutes. A booming business indeed :)

& yes, the paint job is 90% of the reason I bought it.

First bike I had without training wheels:

100 % paint job the reason I bought mine ...

anyone else have an orange (ish) bike ? ..ha

That is a very sexy paint job luvu

luvu - beautiful Standert, looks fast!

Nice one tduds, I have an AC for one of my bikes and the paint is amazing.

For orange(ish) bikes, I had a Jamis with a copper color scheme...

nice one EA..

You should ask how much axonapoplectic wants for their vintage road bike.

The rad city is a tank (that’s what my wife is riding). So much fun to ride. You’ll love it.

I am really hoping that battery prices continue to drop and by the time the battery wears out on that thing (probably around 4 or 5 years with how much I plan to be riding) it’ll be maybe $200 to replace instead of $450.

Really like that frame.

Me too, love the strength and stability of the frame and the ease of stepping on with a child seat on the back as you can't swing your leg over the seat, as you would normally do, without decapitating the kid...

You need something more upright probably. You should take what you have to a bike fitter, they can make it a lot better swapping some parts like stem, crank length, and seat position, so you are much more efficient as you age.

Yeah, I’m not too old, and in good shape, but the hunching over is so rough on the back. I’ll look into that though. Thanks

Getting set up with a fitter is a good recommendation. Something I probably need to do anyway as I'm always dealing with little annoying pains and stuff.

If you need a new bike, check out the Trek Domane. It's a bit more relaxed and comfortable and has some fancy bits that soften the ride.

If a road-style frame is just too hunched over, try looking at mountain bikes or hybrid/commuters. They'll automatically put you into a more upright position which a lot of people find more comfortable anyway.

Failing that, you could always get bent. By that I mean get a recumbent.

Saw a dude smoking a fat cigar riding a recumbent the other day. I was confused/ impressed. Hope he had a trippel in his bidon to match.

+1 on the Peloton. We got one not that long ago. I was skeptical of the whole thing myself at first. I still find a lot of the "you can do anything" affirmation talk from the instructors a little over the top, but I really like just being able to get on and get a workout done without really needing to think about it. I don't know if I'm addicted to it yet, but I've been pleasantly surprised.

If I went to a Peloton/ Zwift + smart trainer I'd lose the smug superiority of sweating out intervals on my rollers with eurobeats pumping. And there's nothing architects crave more than smug superiority.

my understanding of zwift is that it is better than fentanyl...i'm using the propective cost of a new kickr as my preventive cost hurdle [for the moment i'm not sure you could even get one anyway]...and the seasons are changing

I'll continue down here so as not to disrupt the timeline...

The Peloton was completely for my wife and the price was right (check out The Comeback program they have). I was on the fence about a smart trainer, or a power meter, and doing the Zwift or Trainer Road thing that way. When we found out she was getting the bike, and the subscription would cover the household, I opted for pedal-based power meter so I could put them on the Peloton and use it for training with proper power. My plan was to try the Peloton classes and see if they worked for me. If not, I'd look more seriously at Zwift or TR. So far the Peloton power zone workouts have hit the spot.

I'm also really glad I got the power meter pedals because the power from the Peloton is low. For example: Peloton shows power for my last workout at about 125 W avg, 180 W max. The pedals were showing about 150 W avg, 245 W max. Been trying to figure out if I care enough to try to recalibrate the magnets to the flywheel, or just let it go. Currently I don't really care. I look at the power zone on the Peloton and my Garmin and hit my targets that way and so far it works out. I'm doing the work, just the Peloton thinks my FTP is lower than it actually is.

I don't have any way to measure power on the peloton like your pedals but I can confirm I can put out way more watts with my stages meter on a crank than I can on the peloton. and I don't think that's true, cause you can put way more leverage into the big steel stationary bike. Pelotons power is a calculated simulation, like what strava produces based on speed and some other input, like space of magnets/resistance factor. Basically, I agree it's not accurate, but it makes up for that in consistency so it is effective. Actually way more than my meters on bikes. I can find it really interesting to watch power on a set interval on the peloton. I can usually see a day or two before I get or feel sic k, power drops.

Based on what I've looked into, the output readout on the Peloton screen is simply a calculation of the pedaling cadence and the resistance knob. Pedal at X rpm and Y% resistance and you get Z watts output. The calculation on my bike is correct ... that's all in the software.

My issue is that I think the magnets are closer to the flywheel than they should be. If that's the case, my magnets are creating more resistance than the computer thinks they are. Consequently, the software calculation says I should be putting out like 200 W and that's what shows on the screen ... but I'm actually putting out more because the bike doesn't have anything (i.e. strain gauge) to actually measure output. It doesn't know the magnets are causing more resistance than they should be on the flywheel because they were set up too close. It's like always riding with a brake pad rubbing and then going by the estimated power on Strava. The calculation will always be less than what you were actually putting out because Strava didn't know you had a brake pad rubbing that was constantly working to slow you down.

That being said, I haven't checked the precision of my pedals to know if they are correct. I have no reason to believe they aren't, but as long as I can have consistent numbers from the pedals across my bikes, I'm good.

FWIW, my pedals state they are accurate to +/- 1% from the factory. Peloton says their bikes are accurate to +/- 10% from the factory. I'm trusting my pedals.

JL - funny you say that about throwing weight around on a trainer, I'm a relatively large person and the old-school 'dumb' trainer is the only thing i can fit in the tiny apartment. Due to the lack of extraneous stability i have to keep the body form to a very small window, mostly in the drops. I'd love a setup that was more forgiving, but im pretty hardy for getting outside so its only about 3 months of the year that I actually train indoors. I have to train by HR monitor for zones, but i may convince myself to pick up metered pedals if the right deal comes along.

@Bench - if you are on slightly older rim-brake bikes, I snagged a hub-based power meter built into a clincher wheel for like $125 on ebay not too long ago. Works great for training at least. When combined with a wheel-on trainer or rollers it makes for a very cost-effective winter solution.

AA - thanks for the suggestion, I was not aware those existed. Unfortunately I also train on my secondary track bike setup to the mag-resistance trainer, so the likelihood of compatibility is probably a no-go. Admittedly the nice thing about the pedals would be that they are a solution to both winter training and then for use during racing/training in the summer. And based on EA's comment above, the accuracy is probably unbeatable. I just still can't believe how expensive they are, for an item that seems likely to take a beating.

Ooof, yeah the pedals are so expensive. I use SPD-SL cleats anyways so they were never an option until Garmin's recent release.

$1200 for pedals! I hope those prices come down. I guess you can buy just one side but that feels like I would be disappointed. I have also trashed numerous pedals over the years so I would be hesitant to make them my most expensive component. But the interchangeability is really nice.

Re: one-sided options ... I bought the two sided, and while I am glad I did just to be able to see that I'm not unbalanced ... I also now know that I probably don't need dual sided. YMMV. My recommendation would be just go one-sided unless you have a serious reason to believe that you put out more power with one leg. Alternatively, ask around your friends to see if any of them have dual-sided power you can try out for a week or two to check if you're unbalanced.

Check pricing on the Garmin Vector 3 pedals if you're seriously considering it. The Vector 3 pedals are shipping with all the upgraded bits to correct the battery issues that they had initially ... the same upgraded bits that are being used in the Garmin Rally pedals. Bonus, while the Vector 3 is Look Keo, the new Rally conversion kits to SPD-SL are compatible with Vector 3 pedals so you could change them out if you absolutely needed SPD-SL cleats ($200 just to convert cleats seems steep to me though). I can't tell much of a functional difference between those two cleats myself, so while I have ridden SPD-SLs in the past, I'm also fine with the Keo cleats.

You could also look into the Favero Assioma pedals which have tended to be a little cheaper but still very accurate, and a lot of people are super happy with them. Although I did just check and they appear to be around the same price at the moment as the discounted Garmin pedals. I also don't think they have a SPD-SL conversion kit either, but that may be changing now that Garmin offers one.

Personally, I prefer Speedplay cleats and pedals, but I bought my Vectors before the Wahoo Speedplay announcement for their power meter pedal which still isn't available yet. So far my knees haven't complained too much with the Keo cleats (I need to see a fitter anyway which might solve any little issues I'm seeing with them). In a few more years with a track record behind them, the Wahoo Speedplay POWRLINK Zero pedals might be my next set of pedals.

Thumbs down only because that's a sad story. Been there, done that on the selling bikes before a move. I had an old Pugeot fixie conversion I scraped together that I sold before moving once and I regret it to this day.

Yeah, super bummer. I had a fixie once. Before it was cool. It was the only thing I could do after I mangled a derailer hanger on an old Japanese fuji, Learned the joy of riding fixed. but It was stolen my first day of grad school off a rack right in front of the building in broad daylight. smashed a combination lock. It was too cool for me. I still do double-takes when I see bikes like it. still hurts.

I sold a custom-built single speed Independent Fabrications cross bike for a move. A bike that I still long for to this day...

I had a loaned fixie in lake tahoe, and it was wonderful in steep inclines.

Moving to an area with more steep inclines was actually one of the reasons I decided to sell the fixie. I have to be really creative to find a ride longer than a handful of miles where I don't get over 1000' of elevation gain. I'll hit climbs with double digit grades on just about every ride whether I want to or not. Even then, I still wish I had that bike.

I had a fixie / single speed (idk the term for it.. the rear wheel was flippable & had a cog on both sides) when I lived "downtown", but it was useless for rides outside of the central city grid. Upgraded to real gears when I moved to "the burbs", but I still love that indestructible cheap hunk of steel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-flop_hub

Fixie = no freewheeling, Single speed is the side of the hub that spins freely to coast. The fixy is efficient uphills until it's too much. a workout going down too though. I ride a SSCX bike and if I'm with others is a hilarious leapfrog pursuit of spinning my brains out on descents and flats and then passing them when the grade turns up and they downshift. SS is not for socialization.

I've considered picking up a freewheel cog for the training track bike solely for using on hill-ride training days. A couple friends and i will do routes of about 5000' climbing on fixed without problems going up, its spinning out on the descents that gets truly hairy. Having a freewheel would be great just for getting down... we can smash out pretty heavy gearings going up.

One of my all-time favorite rides was a 40 mile mostly gravel ride I did on my fixed gear with a couple of friends just exploring some back roads. It was absolutely not the right bike for the terrain, but it was all I had that could fit a tire even remotely wide enough (28s) to even attempt to manage the gravel. Walking up the steepest hills because you could not power up the climb without losing traction on the gravel, and then desperately trying to slow down without skidding and losing the rear wheel on the descents. Despite all of that, I'd still do it again in a heartbeat. Maybe with a single speed with proper brakes instead of a fixie though.

Ha, I tend to feel the opposite. Every time I go mountain biking, especially downhill, I hurt myself. It just becomes more and more fun until suddenly it's not.

Yes, chances of going down are way higher on the trails, but there's nothing more terrifying than giant SUV's driving inches away at 50mph. Par for the course in LA.

It's fun to injure yourself, it's not fun for someone else to injure you.

Please yes.

done

I've had reps offer bike rides before (more social than business, but we could talk a little shop if needed). I haven't taken them up on it yet, but I might at some point. One of my supervisors at a previous firm rode quite a bit and we'd sometimes take off a few hours early on a nice day and go for a ride as a "performance review" or "department meeting."

This is actually not uncommon in the PNW.

That's a beercycle, used in Amsterdam for Brits having their bachelor party:

(they are banned now from the city center, too many "accidents")

Did notice at the time, yes. Now I feel it's more common to see a high-end road bike.

Or a Peloton

There's a twitter thread for Peloton placement ... and it's hilarious. https://twitter.com/ClueHeywood/status/1089699762331217920

Nice WG! Hope that awning material is easy to see through.

Thanks! That was the idea, twin-wall polycarbonate. Not my first choice but she provided me with the bike specs and what she had to carry, so I figured the short ride from her coffee shop to the wharf where she would set up would be doable looking through clear-ish plastic. But then her (rented) shop had repeated sewer failures/backups and she had to close the business, so as far as I know the bike never happened.

Update: Change of plans. Didn't do the ride I was thinking of, and they're opening the road to cars this week. Maybe next year.

I used the style of seat that is positioned between the saddle and the handlebars when my kids were little. It felt much safer having them between my arms while riding, and I think it's more enjoyable for them in that position. My 11-year old son is now an MTB fanatic, so maybe this is what sparked his love for it.

I preferred the pull behind trailer when my daughter was little. I felt she was safer there where if I fell over for some reason the trailer was still grounded, or at least she was closer to the ground and might not suffer serious injuries. She quickly outgrew it height-wise, and now we have her on the back of the bike in a seat attached to the bike's rack. I actually prefer her there compared to the trailer, TBH. I can interact more with her on the ride and she can get my attention easier. Plus I'm not worried about the extra length and width of the trailer.

I used a trailer when taking both the kids. It could also carry a bunch of stuff. Great for beach rides/outings. It was too wide and sketchy for LA streets though. Didn't feel good to have the kids in their trailer sticking further into the street than I was.

I wish we took cycling infrastructure more seriously in The States. I'm not sure where your comfort level is Paul, but I'm assuming if there were dedicated, protected bike lanes that connected to an overall grid/network of cycling lanes through the city it would be a different story.

I was fairly limited to our neighborhood's quiet streets and multi-use pathways with the trailer. I did feel like people gave me a little more space with the trailer, but it was always a little nerve-racking.

Totally. LA has a lot of "bike lanes" but they are often half-assed, and a lot of drivers in this city don't respect bike lanes or cyclists. The key word in your comment is "protected" bike lanes. I don't tend to shy away from dangerous activities, but I honestly think riding a bike in LA is one of the riskiest things you can do here. The ghost bike memorials all over the city are a constant reminder.

"Protected" might also need some caveats. This is not "protected" ...

And there's this classic showing the bike lane situation in NYC...

^ ^ This is my everyday nightmare Paul ...

Casey deserves an award.

this is an amazing form of performance art/protest.

You got a patch on the back of that leather jacket Donna ?

where's the firechicken decal? back of helmet hopefully.

TDF tv coverage has evolved over the last 40 years or so / the other grand tours , especially the Giro has been improving a lot. Yeah , La Veulta last stage through Valencia was beautiful ..have you spotted half built Valencia soccer stadium ?

Interesting - I'm currently watching the Vuelta and felt like today's stage is notably dearth of much interest. Its incredibly dry/arid looking without much in the background. Whereas the Tour being in mid-July and at a more temperate climate means the background landscape is much more interesting.

I imagine the focus on a "quaint" France (if thats true) is largely trying to cater to an American audience, where those kinds of historical sites and landscapes would be exotic/foreign images.

TdF viewership numbers for the US are not really all that great. While growing it's just shy of 400,000 viewers these last years.

Compare that to numbers in the millions for other European countries and for France itself ... I doubt the French organizers are trying to cater to an American audience at all.

https://advanced-television.co...

https://www.sportspromedia.com...

But doesnt NBC hold the main/largest broadcast contracts since the Lance days? Seems like that would be the big money maker ... ?

In the Netherlands a talkshow where they simply discuss the Tour has half a million viewers...

NBC does hold the current US broadcast rights contract for the TdF (reportedly valued at $8 million per year) until 2023, but they don't control the race route, or the video footage. ASO the race organizers do and they'll do whatever they want even if NBC's $8 million wants something different to cater to their 400,000 Americans.

I was trying to find a list of the broadcast deals ASO has in place but couldn't quickly find anything. I was seeing that back in 2013 (a year after NBC and ASO completed the current contract) ASO renewed their deal with France TV through 2020 reportedly worth at least €20 million per year. That's like over 3x the value of the US/NBC contract. One of the links I posted earlier above indicated that France TV pulled in over 40 million viewers for the 2020 race so a MUCH larger audience too. 

I couldn't find what the Eurosport contract for the majority of the European broadcast rights is valued at.

I liked that 5 minute long shot of the buzzards on stage 9.

So many views of the Mezquita-Catedral de Cordoba from today's stage.

I was thinking about this the other day and it seems like in Spain they are more likely to have the route go straight through a major city, but in France they usually hit just the outskirts (that or I might be suffering from a selective memory or greater familiarity with cities in Spain compared to France). The obvious exception is Paris as the last stage in the TdF. I'm assuming there is a difference in the local government's willingness to shut down main roads or areas of the cities for the race. Anyone else notice this, or is it just me and my imagination?

Bumping this and adding a link to a 99 Percent Invisible "mini-story" on the background of adding in architectural commentary during the Tour de France stages to fill in the gaps between exciting bits of racing: Tour de Architecture by Emmett FitzGerald

Great find! I seem to have missed this episode, much appreciated

Be sure to visit a bike shop and talk to them. Most bike shop employees are super knowledgeable and helpful. And dont spend too much money on your first bike.

Don’t let them trick you in getting training wheels on your bike though, if you can’t keep your balance you’re not ready to ride.

I have tried a couple times to ride a bike and found that I can (probably) keep my balance well enough to do the two minute bike to work. At worst I can walk, and practice riding after hours. What would be a good amount to spend on a first bike?

I might be too late to the party, but what are the component packages on the frames? I could be happy with any of those frames, but the components is what would sway me toward one or the other.

Ok, so finally settled on the Trek Domane AL3 Disc. Considering that this is my first "real" bike after the older clunker, the Aluminum frame with Carbon fork worked out in my price range. The groupset is a Shimano Sora, but can be upgraded to a Ultegra in the future, hoping the cost works. out. So far, its an amazing bike, and I hope I can do it justice!

They are in stock, but in dealerships way across town but yes, the Canyon does look amazing...

Do it!

& report back here with your thoughts on the new bike

I broke a part on an older Campagnolo derailleur on my really nice road bike a while ago. Thought I'd be able to find a replacement part for less than $100 easily ... nope. Ended up spending much more to replace the entire groupset (Ultegra mechanical), but I'm ok with it because it feels like a brand new bike now.

You might want to get some pedals while you're at it. That probably contributed to the crash. ;)

Nice, this is a classic!

I had an old Peugeot UO10 (I think) that I picked up for a steal back in college. I ended up converting it to a single speed and I loved that thing. Sold it when I moved away from the area and I wish I still had it. Hope you get it fixed up and can enjoy the crap out of that thing.

How do you like the bars on that?

Never been a curved bar fan, or really used them much on my bikes, so still figuring it out. Though I think requires a bit too much hunch for anything beyond short in town jaunts. If I do tweak geometries, them and not seat-stem will probably be first thing to get swapped.

Looks beautiful ... but yes the drop bars may be a bit uncomfortable for commuting...

Seems crazy that Roglic was allegedly still their primary protected GC rider going into Day 1 ... what a change.

Thrilling indeed, There's something about Pogacar that just prevents me from cheering for him. Maybe it's the UAE team or the doubt of dominance in a PED-shaded sport. Wout on the other hand someone make that guy a GC contender!

Loved seeing WVH briefly in the yellow last week ...

Oddly @JonathanLivingston, I was wondering more if they were suppressing a C19 positive from the rest day...but it seems pretty apparent he just had to do a lot of work today without help

Depending on recoveries, it should be interesting if anyone has remaining matches for tomorrow. Pogi will attack if he can, for sure. Jumbo has the team to control if anyone does.

Exciting tour!

Awesome to see racers racing. Not many over the years had the balls to through caution to the wind and just go for it. Inspiring entertainment.