this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
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Bicycles

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Moved to a small town that's a lot more bike friendly than the suburban hellscape I previously lived in, and only have one car now. My wife works in the next city over so she gets the car, and I've spent my unemployed time fixing up my neglected relic and turned it into a daily driver. I needed a new derailer, brake housings and bar tape. Got that done and am gonna put some new tires once I start getting some paychecks. Tires are fine for now, but are very narrow and we have a lot of dirt roads and paths and I want some wider tires. Added a bag to the top bar that has a clear slot for a phone so I can nav around while I'm still learning the lay of the land. Also got an under saddle bag for a spare tube, a tire lever and a c02 cart. Got my hand pump attached to the same mount as my bottle. This month I've put 60 miles on it after not riding for at least 4 years and while my cheeks were killing me the first week I'm feeling great now. I thought riding down small roads would be nerve racking, but the roads are so empty people pass with plenty of room and are generally very courteous.

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[–] glibg@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Great bike, beautiful colour. I will always have a soft spot for the downtube shifters as my first "adult" bike had them and it's how I learned to shift. Sadly my current bike has modern brifters which work excellent but... not quite the same

[–] ashenone@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Same, I went from twist shifters on my shitty Walmart bikes to a downtube shifters on my first real bike. I had a Nishiki with stem shifters that I thought I would like but I never got the feel for them, so I went back to downtube

[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

I have downtube shifters on a similar bike, and I like them, but I also have a modern friction shifter on the handlebars of a different bike, and it is incredible. The bike is 1x10, and if can go from top gear to granny gear in a single rotation of the pedals. Since it uses a skinnier chain, there's less adjustment i have to do to keep it noiseless on a gear.

People who have only used indexed shifters are really missing out.

[–] glibg@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago

I think part of the reason they're so fun is because they're friction shifters (vs indexed). You get to FEEL the cable moving the derailleur instead of just a click.