I hate my ScanGauge!!!

[2TonJellyBean]

Well okay, I'm shooting the messenger but I hate seeing that I'm slurping back gas at the rate of 18 - 20 LHK coming home from the train station - 2? mile trip. That's 11.7 - 13 MPG and about twice the consumption of what I can do with a fully warmed up engine in a 50 KPH speed zone.

Winter sucks!!!

[2TonJellyBean]

It's sad/pathetic... I'm an avid cyclist that can't effectively work cycling into my commute!

[Erdrick]

... which is why I say that everyone gets a Wii. Move around while gaming. Well, for some games anyways.

I have already seen my mpgs starting to fall off, and I just see my changes tank to tank. When I put on my obligatory studless tires I will be sure to experience drastic drops in FE. If there was no such thing as snow, then winter would be the most worthless season ever.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by theclencher

yeah i need to fix up a mountain bike for winter

Sand too. There's a speed hit compared to slicks but it's better than walking the bike.

[Erdrick]

See, I hate mountain bikes. To me they are the SUV of the bike world. Seriously, think about it. Who actually rides their mountain bike in the mountains? Who actually does a lot of off-side-walking on their mountain bike? Not a whole lot of people. Who REALLY needs 38 (or however many they have now) gears? Just more things to break if you ask me.

Now you have Japanese bikes. Perfect shape to where you are sitting up straight and there is no fatigue like when you are hunched over on a mountain bike. Oh, and get this, they have SPLASH GUARDS BUILT IN! I paid a lot of money for some back in America, to add to my old Schwinn, and damn those pieces of plastic are expensive. Oh, and they don't even work worth a damn!! You still get wet with the things. Riding a Japanese bike through standing water, the only thing you will notice is that your speed takes a hit. No water flying up to greet you. Oh, and can we talk about utility? Great shaped baskets for your groceries are built into the bike. Trust me, these things come in handy ALL THE TIME. When night time comes, your mountain bike isn't going to help light the way... but you guessed it, a Japanese bike will! Almost all bikes (as in about 98%) come with a light attached to the wheel, and the friction between them makes light. Genius. Crappy mountain bike seats that go up your arse hole are a thing of the past when you get onto your nice Japanese bike. I am probably forgetting some things, but you get the overall picture. Oh, the icing on the cake is that a Japanese bike will cost you about $100 out the door. I laugh at people who spend five and six hundred dollars on their mountain bikes.

[brucepick]

Erdrick, can you post a pic of a Japanese mountain bike?

[DarbyWalters]

I was thinking that a real "warming up" in extreme cold climates might actually be advantageous. I know most here will say idiling is a bad thing all the time, but a warm up might save more fuel in the first 3 miles than idiling wastes.

Maybe give it a try and see what your ScanGuage reports.


As for spending $500-$800 on a good component mountain bike...It will probably last for at least ten years so $50-$80/year is cheap. As for "too many gears" that is just crazy talk. The rest of your commentary about "mountain bikes" is just garbage.

[oneinchsidehop]

Originally Posted by Erdrick

See, I hate mountain bikes. To me they are the SUV of the bike world. Seriously, think about it. Who actually rides their mountain bike in the mountains? Who actually does a lot of off-side-walking on their mountain bike? Not a whole lot of people. Who REALLY needs 38 (or however many they have now) gears? Just more things to break if you ask me.

Now you have Japanese bikes. Perfect shape to where you are sitting up straight and there is no fatigue like when you are hunched over on a mountain bike. Oh, and get this, they have SPLASH GUARDS BUILT IN! I paid a lot of money for some back in America, to add to my old Schwinn, and damn those pieces of plastic are expensive. Oh, and they don't even work worth a damn!! You still get wet with the things. Riding a Japanese bike through standing water, the only thing you will notice is that your speed takes a hit. No water flying up to greet you. Oh, and can we talk about utility? Great shaped baskets for your groceries are built into the bike. Trust me, these things come in handy ALL THE TIME. When night time comes, your mountain bike isn't going to help light the way... but you guessed it, a Japanese bike will! Almost all bikes (as in about 98%) come with a light attached to the wheel, and the friction between them makes light. Genius. Crappy mountain bike seats that go up your arse hole are a thing of the past when you get onto your nice Japanese bike. I am probably forgetting some things, but you get the overall picture. Oh, the icing on the cake is that a Japanese bike will cost you about $100 out the door. I laugh at people who spend five and six hundred dollars on their mountain bikes.

Me! Riding off road and especially bike trials (one inch side hop, get it?) are one of my great loves. I commuted to work (at Colorado Cyclist, cork sniffer bikes sold to Doctors and Lawyers who have a titanium fetish) on and off road, year round, when I was in Colorado Springs. Long before that I was a bike messenger. For aggressive riders (read: maniacs) Mountain bikes are a God send. I love 'em.

The Japanese bikes your describing are AWSOME. They are the best townies ever, and I love townies.

You really want to understand the importance of tire pressure? Ride a mountain bike on the road with soft tires for 10-20 miles. Then stop at a small locally owned bike shop , and have them put on set of these at about 80psi.

You will feel like someone put jetfuel in your feed bag.

[GasSavers_BIBI]

Bike and snow, hum maybe in city where the snowplower is making this possible, but you aint gonna make it far in 30inch of snow in rural zone...

[2TonJellyBean]

I was thinking that a real "warming up" in extreme cold climates might actually be advantageous. I know most here will say idiling is a bad thing all the time, but a warm up might save more fuel in the first 3 miles than idiling wastes.

Maybe give it a try and see what your ScanGuage reports.

Darby, my commute is really short.

2.2 miles coming home (can't plug in at the train station)

1.6 + 3.6 miles in the morning (EBH really helps there)

I actually couldn't imagine anything worse than idling. The engine throws all kinds of gas at the engine to warm it up because the engine itself is doing so little. Best thing to do is to actually give it some load.

Dead cold, my idle is over 5 LPH (1 and 1/3 GPH) vs 1.3 LPH (1/3 GPH) once warmed up. By my rough calculations, 3 minutes idling would decrease the mileage for that 2.2 mile trip from 13 to 9.4 mpg. Ouch! (0.234 gallons vs 0.17) I'll leave the idling for those wonderful evenings when everything is caked in snow and ice and I'm doing the 360 with the scraper and brush.