Hey Huub, I got an early birthday present today.

[Cazzie]

My new Cannondale CAAD10 road bike came in. I love this thing. I didn't have time for a long ride after picking up my youngest at school, but I did 18 miles in under an hour and I certainly wasn't trying to race. It has a compact crank with 34/50 gearing and 11-28 on a 10-speed cog in the rear. In my 50-cm frame size, it weight 16.1-lb sans tool bag and water bottle cage w/mini-frame pump. The fork is all carbon fiber, but the frame is very lightweight aluminum. It rides like a carbon frame, not an aluminum. It has some flex and is not stiff like normal aluminum frames. With the 34 front crank, I could scoot up hills today. It is the first road bike since my first that is the true and proper frame size. Both my Bianchi and old Cannondale road bike are too tall. Both are geared too high for me now also. I gave my old Cannondale to my nephew, but it will take a lot of cold hard cash to pry my 1982 Campy Novo Racing Bianchi from me. It is retired now, but I still treasure it. The only two bike races I ever won were on that bike.

I am getting some carbon fiber clipless pedals for it, but they are not due in until 11-15, so I went with some lightweight clip pedals that I shall put on my mt. bike, after I get the clipless pedals. It came with 23-cm tires, but I opted for 25-cm tires as many of our paved roads are rough surface treatment and the slightly larger tires provide a better ride.

Caz

 

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Did you get a tat while you were there?

Nice bike - enjoy the ride!

-Ed-

 

[huub vink]

Great looking bike Caz. Cannondale definitely make very attractive bikes.

You obviously live in a much more hilly environment than I do! A 34 teeth chainwheel is hardly usable here (even a 39 is already quite useless in my very flat country). The bike is extreme light as well! I'm afraid 7.3 kg will not be able to coop with my weight........
When I look at your rims it must even be possible to shave off a few more extra grams!

I'm convinced you will really enjoy the pleasure of having a racing bike in the correct size! It transfers the power from your legs much more effective and you can maintain power much longer. It always amazes me that bikes still improve this much. I can clearly rememeber when I went from steel to carbon/aluminium. I was amazed; No more energy loss because your frame twisted and bended.

Hopefully the weather stays nice so you can make some miles on you new bike and sure to wear this bike in good health!

Huub

 

[Crusader]

Caz , you are my age and I wish I could get involved in something like this . You obviously really enjoy it and you certainly look very physically fit as a result . I have not been on a bike since I was a teenager so I would not know where to start but there is a pretty nice bike shop(privately owned) that's been in business for a number of years and has a pretty good reputation . Great looking bike .
I hope you get many years of enjoyment from it .

Rich

 

[Cazzie]

Caz , you are my age and I wish I could get involved in something like this . You obviously really enjoy it and you certainly look very physically fit as a result . I have not been on a bike since I was a teenager so I would not know where to start but there is a pretty nice bike shop(privately owned) that's been in business for a number of years and has a pretty good reputation . Great looking bike .
I hope you get many years of enjoyment from it .

Rich

Crusader, one thing is you do not want to start with a bike like what I have. I have been riding bikes since 1973. Raced them in the late 70s and early 80s, put more miles on my bikes than on my car.

To get back into it, you would want to seek out a really good hybrid bike (do not go to Wal-Mart and get a cheap bike, you may only ride once and put it away). Go to a good reputable bike shop, spend money locally, it goes back into the local economy and not to some corporate big store. Look for a bike with upright handlebars, preferably 27-30 speeds (3 front chainrings, 9 to 10-speed read cog). First and foremost, make sure the bike fits you, that is make sure you can stand over the bike and not have your crotch hit the top tube. Get a saddle that is comfy for your tushl if you peddle fast, you want a thinner saddle, if you peddle slow, you'd like a slightly broader rear seat. Start with rat trap pedal with no clips or straps, these can come later as you learn your technique. Use lower gears to start and spin at a cadence that is not too high and not too low, your knees will tell you. Spinning is the key element to good cycling, a faster cadence in a low gear is better than trying to strong man a high gear. And when purchasing the bike, get a helmet and cycling gloves to boot. You will not need padded cycling shorts for short rides, but they are more comfortable than your average slacks or shorts. The gloves will help keep your hands from falling asleep, trust me. Find a trail that you can ride that is basically flat and without vehicular traffic other than other bikes or pedestrians. Start with short rides, say 5 to 10 miles, if the terrain is flat, and work your mileage up. You'll be surprised how quick you will get fit if you keep it up just three days a week. You will have a little muscle soreness for the first couple of weeks, but it is the good soreness and tyhe more you ride, the sooner the soreness goes away. But the big plus to good exercise, be it running, cycling, or walking long distances, is that you can eat to your heart's desire without fear of gaining weight as long as you keep up the program.

Caz

 

[huub vink]

Caz, enjoy your 65th birthday!

Crusader I fully agree with Caz. I already cycled when I was a teenager, but when girls became more interesting than cycling I stopped.

When I re-started cycling over 20 years ago, I first bought a high quality, but very old second-hand bike. Here in the Netherlands the value of a high end racing bicycle drops very fast. After a few years I bought another high quality but more recent bicycle. Only six years ago I decided to buy a brand new high-end bike like Cazzie's bicycle on the picture above. To justify the amount of money you should be absolutely sure you like cycling.

Riding a full race bicycle is quite different than riding a normal bicycle or hybrid. Like Caz said, its much easier to start on a hybrid.

Cheers,
Huub

 

[Crusader]

Thanks Caz and Huub for the excellent info above . I'm going to put it to use real soon . You covered a lot of areas that I would not of even thought of . The hardware info will enable me to spec it out the way I want it , not the way or product a salesman wants to sell me . Especially important is the comfort element . If you are uncomfortable each and every time to get on your bike I would almost bet a person would not stick with it on a regular basis .

Thanks again for your replies ,

Rich

 

[jhefner]

I still have the bicycle I rode in the 1970s-1980s -- the infamous Viscount Aerospace GP; though the aluminum "death fork" has been replaced by a steel fork.

It sat unused through most of my married life; and the dog chewed up the saddle, toe clips and tires.

A couple of years ago I saw my need to get some more exercise, and restored it. I have gained 40-50 lbs since I used to ride it, and it is hard to get back down on the drops with my belly now. But, I have managed some 6-7 mile rides at an average speed of 16-17 MPH. It spends the winters in my fluid trainer where you can visually seem the frame flex in the old girl. :mixedsmi:

-James

 

[Cazzie]

I still have the bicycle I rode in the 1970s-1980s -- the infamous Viscount Aerospace GP; though the aluminum "death fork" has been replaced by a steel fork.

It sat unused through most of my married life; and the dog chewed up the saddle, toe clips and tires.

A couple of years ago I saw my need to get some more exercise, and restored it. I have gained 40-50 lbs since I used to ride it, and it is hard to get back down on the drops with my belly now. But, I have managed some 6-7 mile rides at an average speed of 16-17 MPH. It spends the winters in my fluid trainer where you can visually seem the frame flex in the old girl. :mixedsmi:

-James

Wow James, that's a classic and it looks as if it has been kept in a very good condition. I'll have to show that to my bike medic Robbie, he's into purchasing old 70s and 80s era racing bikes. He wants my all Campy Bianchi Nouvo Racing (circa 1982) real bad, offered me the CAAD 10 in swap. But that's just a no go, that is the bike I treasure and have my most fond memories in. I rode across the USA from Seattle to Clover, VA on that bike in 1989. Right now, I can't let it go.

Caz

 

[jhefner]

Wow James, that's a classic and it looks as if it has been kept in a very good condition. I'll have to show that to my bike medic Robbie, he's into purchasing old 70s and 80s era racing bikes. He wants my all Campy Bianchi Nouvo Racing (circa 1982) real bad, offered me the CAAD 10 in swap. But that's just a no go, that is the bike I treasure and have my most fond memories in. I rode across the USA from Seattle to Clover, VA on that bike in 1989. Right now, I can't let it go.

Caz

Caz;

Robbie may remember the Viscounts. Sadly, they were the "Edsels" of their day. They gained a poor reputation because of the aluminum fork.

Someone bought it new before me, and broke the front fork on a curb (probably trying to ride it like a Schwinn Varsity.) I found it in the back of the shop I was working in, still sitting with the broken fork and slightly tweaked frame.

I put a new aluminum fork on it, and rode it for many years that way. I only weighed 130-140 pounds during that time, and was not very strong, so I had no problems with it at all. When Yamaha (which took over the Viscount brand) sent me the Tange steel fork; I went ahead and added it, but that and changing the rims out to clinchers from tubulers (which just didn't work with my commute route) pushed the weight up from 21-22 pounds to 24 pounds. But, it is still fairly light and skittish -- I could ride it hands off when I was young, but really can't now.

The Viscount was Chysler-Shelby pocket racer of it's day. It was built to be an affordable racing bike (they sold for under $500 at a time when good bikes went for $1,000+), and a few racers did take some off the showroom floor and did well against far more expensive Campy equipped bikes. But, they got the price down by making many of their own components; and it was those that give some riders trouble. Besides the front fork, some broke the crank spindle as well. The frame looks like a cheap welded frame, but it was in fact an internally lugged and brazed frame; albeit straight gauge tubing (supposive "aerospace" tubing; hence the name.) Brakes, front chainwheel and cranks, rear dropouts, stem, handlebars, seat and seatpost were all made by Viscount. The hubs and cranks used sealed motorcycle type bearings; the second set it is on got some water in them during the bike's downtime, but I got rolling again and am using them rather than changing them out.

Besides the bike itself; it has other odd features. Notice it still has it's "tire savers" - wire loops that fastened onto the brakes and lightly ride on top of the tires; the idea being they would scrap rocks and bits of glass off before they punctured your tubular tires. It also has the Cannondale bottle that used a cradle lined with velcro rather than a cage. The setup did not work on their mountain bikes - the bottle would keep falling off - so this model disappeared; I glued velco to a regular bottle as a replacement for mine, and that does happen on occasion. A modern seat and cycle computer complete the mix of old/new technology.

I certainly won't ever see another one riding around on it. It is fine for the light riding I do now, as well as on the fluid trainer.

-James

(P.S. check out the classic Learjet in the ads below.)

View attachment 51170 View attachment 51171 View attachment 51172

 

[Cazzie]

Man, it hardly a wonder all the aluminum forks didn't break, look at the curved rake on that sucker!

All new technology feature straight forks with the rake from the head tube. Many, like my CAAD 10, have a longer rake than racing bikes for a better ride, but still retail a racing geometry, i.e. short wheelbase, by angling the dropouts back toward the bottom bracket. Drop handlebars have come a long way too, you do not see anymore of those deep drops any more, aero at the brakes and shallow drops. I remember the Viscounts well, my buddy York had one of the first. I had a heavy Schwinn Continental at the time. I lightened it from its original weight of 36-lb down to 30-lb with lighter weight wheels, light stem and, lighter crank, and adding newer and better brakes. But there was nothing I could do about that heavy steel frame! That frame was a city stomper though, you could drive a car over it I bet.

The 1982 Bianchi was my first really lightweight racing bike, like your Viscount, it weighted in at around 21-lb. It is fill chrome moly and you have to strip it back to the bare metal to appreciate the Italian craftsmanship that went into the frame's construction. LOL, I haven't seen 140-lb since 9th grade! But my riding weight was 155-lb, I am now at 160-lb.

Caz