Mike Martin

[mikemartin88]

New to road biking, but not to bicycling. Raced BMX as a kid and mountain bikes in my 30s. Heard about the Monument to Monument (M2M) ride from a friend who did it last year and decided to buy an older, used road bike to see if I like it or not, and if so, start training for the M2M next September. Really appreciated all the great articles on bikegremlin.net as I was researching and eventually inspecting and test riding used bikes. Looking forward to being part of the community and continuing to utilize all the great resources here.

 

[BikeGremlin]

Hi Mike,

Welcome to BikeGremlin forum.

I remember the "BMX craze" in my city when I was a kid, in the '80s.

Ride down the memory lane...
Locally sold BMX bikes had really underwhelming rim brakes, and that was a no-go for me - I loved locking and sliding the rear wheel when stopping (90 to 180 degrees ) and even cornering (mostly for show, but not always). My first ride on a borrowed BMX was on a technical course and I crashed spectacularly - the brakes didn't perform as I had expected them to. The good lesson from that was to never presume how a bicycle brakes and handles. The wrong lesson was my total dismissal of BMX bikes (all the kids wanted and eventually got one, while I was adamantly "stuck" with my coaster brake single speed ).
Fortunately, my father didn't mind (re)welding that frame, so I could keep up with my BMX friends (my frame was originally a step-through single speed, but it got a DIY top tube for increased strength and rigidity ).

Relja

 

[mikemartin88]

Hi Mike,

Welcome to BikeGremlin forum.

I remember the "BMX craze" in my city when I was a kid, in the '80s.

Ride down the memory lane...
Locally sold BMX bikes had really underwhelming rim brakes, and that was a no-go for me - I loved locking and sliding the rear wheel when stopping (90 to 180 degrees ) and even cornering (mostly for show, but not always). My first ride on a borrowed BMX was on a technical course and I crashed spectacularly - the brakes didn't perform as I had expected them to. The good lesson from that was to never presume how a bicycle brakes and handles. The wrong lesson was my total dismissal of BMX bikes (all the kids wanted and eventually got one, while I was adamantly "stuck" with my coaster brake single speed ).
Fortunately, my father didn't mind (re)welding that frame, so I could keep up with my BMX friends (my frame was originally a step-through single speed, but it got a DIY top tube for increased strength and rigidity ).

Relja

I remember my first few races in the 16 novice class - everyone pedaling like crazy off the line to get to the first turn, then half the pack crashing into each other. I started hanging back a bit then picking my way through the carnage. Also remember wanting really strong braking, and cleaning the sides of my rims with acetone to improve the braking of the rim brakes. Is that still a thing with road bikes? Thanks for the forum and the reply, really appreciate all the great info here.

Mike

 

[BikeGremlin]

I remember my first few races in the 16 novice class - everyone pedaling like crazy off the line to get to the first turn, then half the pack crashing into each other. I started hanging back a bit then picking my way through the carnage. Also remember wanting really strong braking, and cleaning the sides of my rims with acetone to improve the braking of the rim brakes. Is that still a thing with road bikes? Thanks for the forum and the reply, really appreciate all the great info here.

Mike

Even road bikes are moving to disc brakes (and it's practically impossible to find a mid to high level trekking or MTB without disc brakes).

Though alcohol wiping, sanding, and getting softer, better brake pads is still a thing, for those still with rim brakes (I prefer them).

Relja

 

[mikemartin88]

Even road bikes are moving to disc brakes (and it's practically impossible to find a mid to high level trekking or MTB without disc brakes).

Though alcohol wiping, sanding, and getting softer, better brake pads is still a thing, for those still with rim brakes (I prefer them).

Relja

Thanks! For my first foray into road biking I bought a used Trek Madone 5.2. Pretty old, but carbon fiber frame and fork, brifters, all Ultegra components and rim brakes. After my first 20 mile ride, so far so good.

 

[it's_a_wonderful_world]

New to road biking, but not to bicycling. Raced BMX as a kid and mountain bikes in my 30s. Heard about the Monument to Monument (M2M) ride from a friend who did it last year and decided to buy an older, used road bike to see if I like it or not, and if so, start training for the M2M next September. Really appreciated all the great articles on bikegremlin.net as I was researching and eventually inspecting and test riding used bikes. Looking forward to being part of the community and continuing to utilize all the great resources here.

Good luck with your M2M training. I had never heard of it, but I just googled it and it would be an impressive achievement!