[Sportsandrec] Another first group ride of the season

[Ron & the bears]

Hi Kelly,

The Duet sounds like a great price! The Rolf wheels alone go for up to, I 
think,  $1,350 w/titanium freehub body. I bought my Rolfs in 2007. I only 
use them for races. They are at least a pound lighter than my everyday 
wheels. The DA drivetrain too, says a lot. Get that bike! I'd keep the 
Flight Deck on it until it fails. To remove it will mean unwrapping your 
bars and possibly removing the shifters. Your pilots will enjoy its 
information.

To measure your Trek, try measuring from the crank spindle bolt to the top 
of the seat tube. That is a small frame, I'd imagine it might be a 16.5" in 
the rear. However, for a stoker, I just put the seat and bars where I like 
'em. What is more important is how the bike fits your pilots. Do you use a 
talking tape measure? My brother likes his.

What year is your Trek? I would think it has 40-spoke wheels, or possibly 
36'ers. To count them, I just count by feel each pair of spokes on one side. 
A 36-er should have nine pairs. When my girl received her Burley, I was 
checking out such details. I wonder if she noticed?:)

What about the Greenway?
Are you signed up with bicyclingblind? blind_cycling at yahoogroups.com?

Best,

Ron & the Dad washed the comforter today bears
Austin, TX
www.bicyclingblind.org


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thornbury, Kelly" <kthornbury at bresnan.net>
To: <sportsandrec at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 6:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Sportsandrec] Another first group ride of the season


: Ron and the others,
:
:
:
: I may have misspoke, or didn't articulate "being dropped" on the descents 
properly.We were actually dropping the group on those descents.
:
:
:
: The "freight train" (a Trek T900) really isn't that heavy, but it isn't a 
7kg single, or even a 12kg Packetta. I've never actually weighed it, but 
between the marshmallow tires, 48-spoke rims, its upright seating positions, 
and granny gearing, it just feels heavy. As for the fit, Trek advertises the 
size as 18.5" in the front and a whopping 14.5" in the rear (I've had my 
tape measure all over the stoker position, and I can't find a 14.5" 
measurement anywhere). I'm an unusual fit normally, with smaller frames and 
taller seat settings (I think my thighs are disproportionately long), but on 
this rig I've got the seat as far back as it will safely go, and I'm still 
trying to slip off the back when really pushing it. I could probably find a 
laid back seat post, but that whole water bottle thing.
:
:
:
: You know, I usually reach for a bottle with my right hand, but for some 
reason I went for the left this time (and the timing chain). The right 
wasn't much better; that's when I got kicked by the captain. The bottle 
mount is really low on the captain's seat tube.
:
:
:
: I'm looking at a Burley Duet (circa 2001). The owner bought it for him and 
his disabled wife, but her condition got worse and they only rode a couple 
hundred miles. He says he hasn't done any upgrades on it, but it has Rolf 
wheels and a Dura Ace drive train?!? He wants a grand for it, which I 
consider reasonable if the drive train and wheels are what he says they are. 
If the purchase goes through, my first change will be to remove the Flight 
Deck computer! They're nice if they work, but that's usually only about 10% 
of the time.
:
:
:
: It sounds like you got in some nice rides out west. I've ridden with a BOB 
trailer a couple times, and a child trailer once. I once saw in Europe a 
bike with four riders and a trailer, on a bike path no less. We followed 
them for miles just to see them negotiate a couple of the switchbacks in the 
path. Let's hear it for "Long Vehicles."
:
:
:
: The Freight Train Stoker
:
: Kelly