Bikes for adults (not necessarily for traveling)

[jcl]

Originally Posted by Belbein

I'm also going to look for "Gravel bikes." A customer service/tech rep at Nashbar suggested it because the bars are lower because they're made for people who are always getting on and off (I suspect that's a nice way of saying "falling off".)

The search goes on.

Look back to post #3. The first photo is a sport road bike. The second photo is a gravel bike, in this case a Sequoia set up for adventure touring. You can see the difference in the top bars.

[Life is a Highway]

Are they the fold up’s 49 lbs $3400 is that right? Might as well buy as Vespa 50 cc? Thats 100 lbs on the rear carrier its more than that rack system is spec’s for.

Originally Posted by waninae39

we have two TERN s10 Vicktron ebike.

they fold up nicely. we get over 100 km on a single charge

on the road, we store then on the back bumper using the FIAMMA special AS bike rack

[Hittenstiehl]

Really

If you can't get on a big boy bike anymore and refuse to ride a girly bike then get a step thru (mature in age, agility, and enlightenment) bike. That's what all the Europeand ride.

[Belbein]

OK, Krikati, let's think this through. Let's say you're on your girls bike and you pull up for a cold one at 142 Bar & Grill , which is described as "Great little biker bar, cold beer, reasonable priced food and lots of great company. Always a bunch of bikes out front. Wednesday night is bike night and they typically have some kind of entertainment."

Who becomes the "entertainment"?*

---
*I don't drink much. I never go to biker bars. I've never been to a bar in N. GA. I'm obviously pulling your leg.

[Belbein]

Hittensteil: Love it! Well done.

[Belbein]

Originally Posted by JunkYard

My dad had a cruiser looking one with a real swept top bar so it was almost step through like a girls bike, but manly.

There's a thought. Take a girls bike and bling it up. Like add to it the swept handlebars and from the seat hang a pair of ... uh ... dice.

[Belbein]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

mature in age, agility, and enlightenment

Anyway, I never claimed to be anything but mature IN AGE.

[Belbein]

Originally Posted by ALUMINUMINUM

Manly bike on Craigslist


https://www.craigslist.org/about/bes...765370039.html

I'm both laughing and blushing. But it did make me want to see a picture of the bike ...

[Belbein]

Thanks everyone. You have both entertained and enlightened me. With the benefit of your thoughts, I'm thinking about the last bike ride I went on with my father. We were riding on the bayou in Houston. We got to the end and stopped for a few minutes before we turned around. He went to get back on his bike, threw his leg over the seat to mount ... and fell on the ground. I don't see myself as old as my father, but I'm clearly there. And just like I thought he was being silly not accepting his limitations, I'm clearly my father's son. So I'm going to look at the bikeFriday and similar bikes. It's hard to accept spending $3500 on a bike with only 8 speeds and no "Cannondale" or "Specialized" label, but ... well, now that I'm enlightened I guess I accept it. Thanks everyone.

[GettinAway]

Originally Posted by Belbein

Thanks everyone for the Bike Friday suggestions. They are really cool ideas.

I'm also going to look for "Gravel bikes." A customer service/tech rep at Nashbar suggested it because the bars are lower because they're made for people who are always getting on and off (I suspect that's a nice way of saying "falling off".)

The search goes on. (But no girls bikes. No no no.)

Belbein, I have a Raleigh gravel bike. Have been riding quite a bit lately. I don’t think the crossbar is any lower on it than on my Specialized mountain bike. I’m certainly not as flexible at 65, as I was even a few years ago. I do as others have stated, tilt the bike a bit when mounting and dismounting. I ride a lot of gravel (rails to trails) roads. The larger, softer tires help smooth out the bumps.

[Belbein]

Actually, I did try that today. Maybe it will work for me, too.

[Belbein]

Originally Posted by Ken J

I was having trouble getting over the bar - have been doing regular stretching of those muscles and has really helped

Ken: what exercises have you been doing? I'll try them.

[tbashin]

How about a 20" men's bike. https://www.bikeberry.com/20-micargi...iABEgJBefD_BwE

[JunkYard]

Have you seen a mountain bike dropper post. Could really help with getting on and off and starting and stopping.

[Ken J]

Originally Posted by Belbein

Ken: what exercises have you been doing? I'll try them.

I just sit on the floor with my feet together and spread my legs as much as I can - grab ankles and pull up as much as I can - have no problems getting over the bike now - I had back pain a while back and do other stretches as well three times a week - I hate it but it does work :-)

[GettinAway]

Correction for my previous post. Got a long (35 mi) ride in yesterday on my gravel bike. The center cross bar is lowered more than I thought. I still have to tilt the bike some to get a leg over. The longer the trip, the more difficult it becomes.

[Belbein]

So, first of all, I have been filling my wife in on my odyssey with the bike. She is very understanding and sympathetic, even of my not wanting a "girl's bike." Or, so I thought. Then yesterday, I got all dressed up to go for a ride and canned it because it was raining. She said: "Oh, the big macho guy who doesn't want a girls bike is afraid of a little rain?" She must have been talking to you guys. (My route requires very sharp, criterium-like u-turns, so I didn't want to do it on wet pavement.)


Today I decided to try that "leaning the bike over" thing. It worked fine. Thanks for the advice. Decision to get a lower bar put off indefinitely. I wonder if that's what getting older means: always looking for a lower bar?



So when the tilt-the-bike thing worked, when I came back from my ride, I said to my wife, "Hey, I just saved $3500 in not having to buy a Bike Friday. I wonder what I can do with the money?"


And she said ...

[Belbein]

When we lived in Dallas, our rear neighbors across the alley used to go out on weekends and ride their Harleys for a weekend off. I was often in the back yard when they got back. Watching these two old fogies (I mean, I was 10+ years younger than now and they were both in their 60s then) peel themselves off their bikes and stagger into their garage was kind of funny. Very nice people, but after a ride walked like ruptured ducks.

[GettinAway]

Saved $3500! That’s a good day! I wanted to ride to Prudhoe Bay AK before I turned 60. So at 59 I took off. I only had 2 week vacation time. Ended up riding my bike (bmw motorcycle) 10,000 miles in 15 days. When I got back I was walking kind of funny..

[Denny Arnold]

they call them "low liftovers" , not girls bikes. Townie, made by Electra (not electric) makes some

They call them "flatfoot" you can sit on the seat and have your feet flat on the ground, while at a stoplight.