Comments on: Consumer: Know Thyself

By: psu

psu — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 02:37:26 +0000

I don’t ride in the rain anymore, remember?

By: bhudson

bhudson — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 02:29:37 +0000

Have you tried disc brakes? I’ve had other brakes be noticeably weaker in the rain (which just meant I had to squeeze harder), but my disc brakes are essentially unaffected.

By: psu

psu — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 03:21:05 +0000

I admit to being neurotic about the brakes. I’ve never had brakes not stop my bike. I just like the ergonomics of the Shimano.

I may at some point consider rebuilding the Surly while I have the new toy to ride … it’s a pretty bike.

By: bhudson

bhudson — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 03:18:36 +0000

The bike store I went to here basically told me that the Surly frames are great, but you have to replace all the components because they’re all crap.

Then they measured me every which way and made sure the bike fit me in all those ways, down to replacing the stem with the longest one on the market (they swallowed the cost). They looked things up in big tables, but that was just for the initial guess and then they fiddled endlessly until it was just perfect. My previous two bikes, they looked at me, guessed what size I needed, and it was miserable. The only issue: I spent about 5h in the shop over three visits before finally walking out with my wheels.

I’ve never had trouble with the brakes on any bike, except when riding my hipstermobile with the super-crappy V brakes in the snow.

By: Connie

Connie — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:42:59 +0000

Of course you didn’t like the bike you bought last year. It’s called ‘surly’. How could it leave you anything but bad tempered?

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:28:20 +0000

I have the same problem when shopping for bras & running shoes.