What brand, type and or style of bicycle do you ride?

[Velos]

I searched the forum for Bicycles and came up with bike trails and bike racks. I didn't want to narrow my search too much to eliminate some good info so when I did search by brand I had limited success so thought I would start this thread?

 

If you ride a bike:

 

How long have you ridden a bike?

 

Where do you ride?

 

What brand or model do you have?

 

Why did you chose the one you have?

 

If you were to buy another what would you do differently?

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding?

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride?

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link?

 

Do you rent bikes?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kirk W]

I still ride my bike some, although not so much as I used to. I have been riding on and off since I was a kid.

 

I mostly ride now around the neighborhood for exercise. When volunteering somewhere I usually ride it to and from work if more than a short walk from our RV site. Up to about 5 years ago I would also sometimes ride it to see the sights and such.

 

My current bike is from Raleigh and while mine isn't made now (I have had it for almost 10 years) it was the predecessor of the current Venture series of bikes. I'm not likely at my age to buy another but if I did I'd probably look first at the Venture. It is designed to sit in a fairly upright position to be more comfortable and it comes with a large saddle and the seat post contains a shock absorber, as do the front forks. Mine has the full 21 speeds for easy peddling.

 

While I we have been in parks where they had organized group rides, we never have participated in any of them. At one time we used to ride for anywhere from an hour or to to most of the day, if you include breaks and stops. We would ride to a nearby store for a few items or to some attraction to see or participate in it. As the years went by my partner developed arthritis and was not able to do the longer rides and about 10 years ago we sold her bike and got my current one.

 

I do not follow any bicycle forums and it has probably been 20 years since I last rented a bike.

[reed and elaine]

If you ride a bike: We have two recumbent trikes

How long have you ridden a bike? Mountain bikes for 30 years (but turned 70 and wrists, shoulders and back started hurting)

Where do you ride? Wherever we are boondocking and there is a road or trail

What brand or model do you have?

Why did you chose the one you have? They ride and handle beautifully

If you were to buy another what would you do differently? Get the fat tires for gravel, sand and dirt. May get these put on

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding?

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc Probably two to three hours

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? We enjoy riding together

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link?

Do you rent bikes?

we have a trike carrier on back of our 5th wheel.

Reed and Elaine

[cmelkins]

I had a two wheel recumbent that I loved. The reason I don't have it anymore is it was heavy and awkward to lift on the bike rack of the MH. I met people to ride with in parks and sometimes road up to 30 or 40 miles. I now have a Giant mountain bike and I enjoy it but don't ride it as much as I did the recumbent. My husband does not ride and I am not always comfortable riding alone in unfamiliar areas. I try to make sure I have good cell service and if I am riding a good distance I will stop to make sure I haven't lost it.

[hdrider]

How long have you ridden a bike?

 

 

 

Where do you ride? Depends on where we are, sometimes just around the campground and others on designated bike paths.

 

 

 

What brand or model do you have? Giant

 

 

 

Why did you chose the one you have? Well talked about brand and not overly high priced.

 

 

 

If you were to buy another what would you do differently?

 

 

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding? No

 

 

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc. Again it depends. For example where we are now there are 30 or so miles of trails along the river. We will probably ride most if not all of them.

 

 

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? We both do ride, me more than her. She has a knee that goes bad now and again but we are thinking of getter her a Pedego so she can still go with me.

 

 

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link? No

 

 

 

Do you rent bikes? Never have yet.

[Bobi and Dick McKee]

I have been riding road bikes since I was 12 years old. Today I ride a Specialized Roubaix DA Pro on the road and a Specialized Epic Expert Carbon 29r for a mountain bike. Ride time depends mostly on how I feel. I'm almost 69 so I listen to my body. A good road ride is between 50 and 100 miles. (about 6 hrs.) On the Mt bike it is usually time. A good ride for me is 4 hrs. This season traveling I brought the mountain bike. My wife doesn't ride but she is a marathon runner and usually take off on a run when I leave on a ride.

 

As to brands, to me it all depends on what you feel good on. To me size and comfort are the most important items in enjoying a long ride.

 

If you are interested here is a link to my Flickr site with before and after photos of my first 10 speed. I got it new in 1961. It is an Italian Legnano. We had it restored in 2010 to new condition and gave it to our son on the bikes 50 anniversary. He is a 6000 mile a year rider and has it hung on the wall like a piece of art.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/57502433@N03/sets/72157625551798281

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/57502433@N03/sets/72157625552037241

[Vladimir]

I have a ten speed racing (used it for touring) bike, a mountain bike, and a electric bike.

 

I am riding the electric bike more and more these days because it simply makes me 25 again.

 

IF you want to have serious fun riding....get the lightest bike you can find. It will also be the most expensive with the best components.

 

I have always viewed bicycles as a mode of transportation. I do enjoy riding them, but use them somewhere between a hike and a car for distance traveled.

[TXiceman]

I ride when ever we are where the roads are suitable to ride. My ride is a recumbent FX Gekko, folding trike.http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/shopping/preisliste_gekko_fx_e.html

 

I generally ride alone and like to put in 10 to 20 miles when I can.

 

I like the recumbent trike for comfort. No sore butt or hands like on a conventional bike.

 

Ken

[Dennis M]

I searched the forum for Bicycles and came up with bike trails and bike racks. I didn't want to narrow my search too much to eliminate some good info so when I did search by brand I had limited success so thought I would start this thread?

 

If you ride a bike:

 

How long have you ridden a bike? 65 years give or take

 

Where do you ride? at home in sticks & bricks we are 7 blocks of residential street away from bike paths along river that run 30+ miles in each direction

 

What brand or model do you have? mid-range Trek hybrids (21 speed) at home and older Giant hybrids (12 speed) that we carry on the fiver

 

Why did you chose the one you have? quality, dealer, price in that order

 

If you were to buy another what would you do differently? nothing

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding? yes, in the winter we ride weekly with the bike group at Desert Trails

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc usually an hour when together; when I ride alone usually 20 miles

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? yes

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link? nope

 

Do you rent bikes? nope, carry them on the back of the fiver

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AFchap]

How long have you ridden a bike? apx 60 yrs?

Where do you ride? Normally on paved trails

What brand or model do you have? 2-wheel recumbent Nils Palm Gecko (no longer made), and 3-wheel Catrike Expedition

Why did you chose the one you have? Comfort

If you were to buy another what would you do differently? Nothing

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding? No

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc 1 - several hours, normally 15-50 miles

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? We enjoy riding together. No

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link? Used to, but no longer

Do you rent bikes? No

I carry my recumbent(s) in my Honda Odyssey toad.

[Medico]

I searched the forum for Bicycles and came up with bike trails and bike racks. I didn't want to narrow my search too much to eliminate some good info so when I did search by brand I had limited success so thought I would start this thread?

 

If you ride a bike:

 

How long have you ridden a bike? We started back into cycling about 15 years ago

 

Where do you ride? Around the house generally. We need to get a bike rack for new car

 

What brand or model do you have? Both have Trek

 

Why did you chose the one you have? Very highly rated manufacturer.

 

If you were to buy another what would you do differently? nothing

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding? not here

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc Right now not long. When the heat subsides, more. 10 to 20 miles

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? yes

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link? no

 

Do you rent bikes? no

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lappir]

I have an older trek hybrid and a Ran's Stratus Recumbent. Wish I rode more, but don't seem to get around to it. Still working and the commute hasn't been bike friendly. The Rans is almost 8 foot long so hauling it somewhere to ride is a hassle except in the truck.

 

Rod

[dzwiss]

I have a Trek hybrid and ride for at least an hour 4 days a week at a brisk rate.

[Velos]

Thank you all, much food for thought.

 

Safe travels and happy biking...

[griffinmike]

A two wheeled one. DUH.

[Solo18]

I've ridden a bike all my life. My knees are bad, so I gave my old Raleigh away a couple of years ago and bought an electric bike. Since I full time and have no towed vehicle, I use my bike to explore campgrounds and go into nearby towns. It works very well, but I wish it weren't so heavy. I much prefer riding a bike to walking because you get to see more scenery, but I need to ride on paved trails only because gravel is too slick for me. I travel solo, so I ride solo, and occasionally fall off because my balance is not as good as it used to be, but nothing broken so far.

[Al F]

How long have you ridden a bike? Other than as a kid, I have been riding the last 2 years after about a 50 year break.

 

Where do you ride? I prefer scenic trails, paved or unpaved. Also single tracks wherever. I really try to stay away from roads with cars whizzing by.

 

What brand or model do you have? Mongoose, lightweight dual suspension from Walmart.

 

Why did you chose the one you have? Initially I went to a local bike shop and couldn't get a decent answer why I should buy a $600 bike from them rather than a $350-$400 bike from Walmart. So I bought the one from Walmart. I have read in Consumer Reports over the years if you ride more than just around the RV Park you really want to buy a better bike than the ones that cost $100-$150. The lighter weight bike the better. I really didn't realize how hard it is to bike up hills you don't even notice when driving a car.

 

If you were to buy another what would you do differently? Now that I have some experience I would go to bike shops and probably look for a good used bike. I would not buy a bike from a "big box" store. I think my bike is rather low quality. Also Consumer Reports rates the big box store bikes rather low.

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding?

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc Generally 1 to1.5 hours 2-4 days a week. The other days I do a combination of walk/jog for about 1 hour.

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? My wife is not capable of riding.

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link?

 

Do you rent bikes?

[SpaceNorman]

How long have you ridden a bike?

I've been riding for 50 years - and am an avid cyclist. In my younger days - I was a competitive cyclist - with experience in many types of races (point to point road races, criteriums, stage rages - as well as time on the velodrome with experience in mass start events, team and individual pursuit races and well as Madison events. I have a gold, a silver and two bronze medals in US National Championship competition - including the Junior National Road Championship title in 1973 on my cycling resume.

 

Where do you ride?

My favorite places to ride are the paved "rails to trails" bike paths. When not available - I ride on roads, which I select based on automobile traffic (less is better!). I rarely (if ever) ride "trails" that real mountain bike enthusiasts like to ride.

 

What brand or model do you have?

Currently, I have two - when riding paved roads and trails "in season", I ride a Specialized Sirrus Carbon Comp (700 x 25c tires (which are very thin)). When riding dirt roads (or when I'm not sure what the road surfaces will be) - as well as during "off season" (when roads tend to be more pot-holed and covered with debris), I ride a Trek DS 8.2 "crossover" (basically a "hard tail" mountain bike with slightly thinner (700c x 38) tires).

 

Why did you chose the one you have?

I chose my Specialized road bike because I was looking for a bike with upper end road bike characteristics - but with a "flat" handlebar configuration (my days of riding in the drop position are in my rear view mirror). The "flatbar" configuration allows me to have a riding position that is slightly less aggressive than a true road bike - without going to a completely "non aggressive" (upright) position that a cruiser style bike would have. My Specialized was my first experience with hydraulic disc brakes - now that I've ridden them, I'd never go back to "rim" brakes.

I chose my Trek "crossover" because of the blend of frame and component group at the price point (I didn't want to spend crazy money for my "off season" ride). Being that I don't ride real mountain bike trails - I really like the sturdy, but slightly thinner (700 x 38c) wheels and tires. They're "mountain bike" tough - without being unnecessarily wide for the surfaces I ride on (i.e., reduced rolling resistance).

 

If you were to buy another what would you do differently?

Nothing - I'm very satisfied with both my bikes.

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding?

It's extremely rare that I stumble upon anybody whose riding style (distance and speed) are a good fit with mine at RV parks.

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc.

My typical pace on flat paved surfaces as 14-16 mph - depending on which bike I'm riding. My pace on dirt is usually in the 12-14 mph range. Obviously that slows some when hills are involved. My short rides typically range between 12-25 miles (1-2 hours). My middle distance rides are in the 30-60 mile range (2.5 - 4 hours). I typically get a handful of long rides (70-100 miles) every season. In 2014, I pedaled 5,000 miles between March 15th and December 30th - which included 4 "century rides" (100 miles) and DALMAC (a 5 day group ride that covers roughly 365 miles from E. Lansing to Mackinac (Michigan). This season, I'm a little behind last year's pace having only ridden 1,200 miles as of this writing - and expect I'll end up covering somewhere around 3,500 miles total for the year.

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride?

I travel with my wife - who also brings a bike. While we do sometimes ride around the campgrounds together - I don't really count that as part of my riding regime.

 

The vast majority of my real riding is done alone. When riding in unfamiliar locations - I typically plan my routes in advance using a combination of Garmin's "Base Camp" software and Googlemaps (the satellite views are great for assessing road surfaces and whether or not it's a "busy" road in advance of a ride!). Once I've laid out a route of my desired distance/time - I load it onto my Garmin 810 cycling computer (it provides me with "turn by turn" directions throughout my ride). At the start of every ride, I enable Garmin's "LiveTrack" feature - which sends my wife an email with a link to a temporary web site that provides her with a "real time" view of my ride so that she can see where I'm at if/when she gets worried that I've been gone too long.

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link? No

 

Do you rent bikes? No

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mastercraft]

 

 

How long have you ridden a bike? Since the beginning, before parents would be sent to jail if we were out riding alone or after the sun went down. Before helmets were even a thought. Since a cloths pins and playing cards in the spokes were cool. Got scars in the chin from crashes as a kid.....and I don't think CPS interviewed my parents to investigate.

 

Where do you ride? Road

 

What brand or model do you have? Calfee Dragonfly, Calfee Tetra Tandem w/ S&S couplers, Canondale Tandem, Specialized Tarmac SL3, Trek ???, couple of Performance bike (SuperGo) house brands (for the kids)

 

Why did you chose the one you have? The need for speed

 

If you were to buy another what would you do differently? Get a motor

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding? No - But the LBS will always have a list of group rides

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc Longest ride ......prolly 120 miles. Typical ride 50 ish miles. Done a couple 7 day (30 - 60 miles a day) supported bike tours......those don't count because they feed you so much you gain weight on the tour.

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? Yes

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link? No

 

Do you rent bikes? No

[motojavaphil]

I searched the forum for Bicycles and came up with bike trails and bike racks. I didn't want to narrow my search too much to eliminate some good info so when I did search by brand I had limited success so thought I would start this thread?

 

If you ride a bike: Yes

 

How long have you ridden a bike? Off and On over the years

 

Where do you ride? I enjoy it

 

What brand or model do you have? Trek 2300 and Trek EX7 for offroad

 

Why did you chose the one you have? the 2300 was for Triathlons and the EX7 is for fun

 

If you were to buy another what would you do differently? I am happy with what I have

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding? I have ridden with fellow RVers at times

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc 15 miles plus, depends on the terrain

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? Yes

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link? No

 

Do you rent bikes? No

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Keelandb]

If you ride a bike:

 

How long have you ridden a bike? I started riding bikes when I was six year old (about 1959) and have ridden bikes ever since. For many years I rode a mountain bike.

 

Where do you ride? Mostly on city streets and country roads. My son and I used to ride around at Whitman College in Walla Walla Washington (but I nor he were students there - I went to Walla Walla Community College). I've also ridden a lot on trails in National Forests.

 

What brand or model do you have? My wife and I both have CATRIKE recumbent tricycles. Mine a TRAIL and hers a DASH. We have recently added BionX motor and battery to assist in our rides. Neither the CATRIKE or BionX addon are cheap. You will not find them at WalMart or most bike shops, but they are worth the cost. We carry the trikes in the large basement or we could carry them in the back of our pickup toad. If carrying them in the back of the pickup I need a better way of securing them. Perhaps a camper shell would work. Of course most camper shells unlock with the same CH751 lock/key that most RVs use for the basement compartments. After an article in Escapees magazine I switched all of my basement compartment locks to something better than CH751.

 

Why did you chose the one you have? I did not plan on it, but it was just too much fun. My wife got one because of back neck problems. On an ordinary bicycle she could not hold her head up to look forward.

 

If I were to do it differently what would I do? (I accidently hit some key that erased the line I was working on). I would get the trikes much sooner.

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding? Not yet.

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc. Our longest ride on the trikes was about 30 miles. Some time after that my wife fell and broke her back (compressions fracture) so our riding had diminished a lot. Now that we have electric motors we plan to ride more.

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? Yes.

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link? Not yet.

 

Do you rent bikes? Never have.

[halfdimes]

If you ride a bike:

 

How long have you ridden a bike? Since I was a kid.

 

Where do you ride? Now, mostly on bike trails and trails near where we travel. Built my own rack and carry the bikes inside the rig when we're on the move.

 

What brand or model do you have? Tour Easy recumbents by Easy Racer since 2001.

 

Why did you chose the one you have? Comfort

 

If you were to buy another what would you do differently? Nothing. But I do like the Fold Rush by Easy Racer except for the price.

 

Do you find groups in your RV park that go riding? We're not RV park residents. Occasionally ride with a local group.

 

How long are your bike rides? minutes, hours or days etc Haven't been riding much lately. No excuse. Used to routinely ride 30+ miles once or twice a week.

 

If traveling with a partner; do you both ride? Yes but my wife had some back surgery this spring which has slowed us down.

 

Do you follow any bicycle forums? If so what is the link? No.

 

Do you rent bikes? No.

[KodiakJack]

We ride hybrid bikes complete with fenders (don't miss the mud streak up my back one bit) and rear carry racks (DW also has a front basket). We ride a lot more since I installed electric bike kits and find it very nice to be able to hit the button to help with the hills. My guess is we ride more than twice as much since the conversion....18 miles of hills yesterday.

Later,

J