Road Bike Selection and Purchase 101Written by Matt Russ
Road bikes will range in price from $500 to over $5000, and vary greatly in design, materials, and performance. The first decision you need to make is road bike or tri set up. What type of riding are you going to be doing? Are you purchasing bike for multi-sport competition or strictly for road riding, training, and / or racing? A tri bike is used in triathlons and other multi sport events, has aero bars and a more forward (less comfortable) position, can be slightly heavier than a road bike, and is generally less comfortable. The position puts your body more forward over front wheel and has your torso almost parallel to ground. The more forward position makes bike less stable and harder to handle. On some tri handlebars your hands are far from brakes, and handling is quick and less controllable. I do not recommend this type of bike for beginner riders. You may sacrifice a bit of weight for aerodynamics, but unless you are moving pretty quickly, aerodynamics will not pay off much... About 80% of your resistance while cycling comes from air around you, but you must be moving above 20 mph to gain full advantage. If you are a slower beginning cyclist more aerodynamic position is not as much of a factor. I would start off with a road bike. Second decision; recreation or competition? This is really more about your budget and how competitive you are. A $500 road bike can actually be pretty reliable, but is heavier, requires more maintenance, is not as ergonomic, and parts wear out faster. There is a trickle down in technology from top of line road bikes, and an entry level bike can be of surprisingly good quality. Furthermore some entry level bikes can be easily upgraded to make them perform better. An example of an upgrade would be switching to a better wheel set, which perhaps will have biggest effect on increased speed. Competition level bikes usually start at around $1000. Competition level bikes usually start with a Shimano 105 component group or better. Shimano 105 has all features of more expensive groups (Ultegra and Durace), is fully race able and durable, but is a little heavier. Campagnolo also makes excellent bicycle components, but they are usually found on more expensive European models. I have had 105 bikes and full race Durace bikes. The differences are definitely there, but will not be significant to newer rider. If you are just getting into sport, an entry level bike may be good enough for you. But if you think you are going to stick with it, and want to be competitive, you should spend extra money. Third decision; frame type and material. I believe your best value is aluminum. Aluminum is extremely light, stiff, and relatively inexpensive compared with titanium and carbon fiber. Some complain that aluminum transmits road vibration more than other materials, but manufacturers have gotten much better with this. Carbon fiber is more expensive, but will dampen road vibration over long rides. Titanium is even more expensive, and is no longer lightest most exotic material. If you buy a ti frame you are buying a long term investment. I prefer latest technology (I buy a bike every 2 years). Aluminum is going to give you most bang for buck. Manufacturers are starting to use a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber in their frame sets. Another consideration is geometry- compact or traditional. The industry has moved towards (sometimes) lighter compact frames. These frames have a sloping top tube and look smaller. There advantage is quicker more precise handling, but you do not want to take your hands off bars. The disadvantage can be that they often do not come in as many sizes, and can be more challenging to fit. My preference is a compact, but I am a smaller rider and I find a good fit with these bikes.
| | Aging Whitetail Deer At Various StagesWritten by David Selman, Tracker-Outdoors.com
Aging a Yearling DeerYearling deer can be easily aged by examining third tooth back on either side of jaw. This tooth is called third premolar. If this tooth has three cusps, deer is 1 1/2 years old. If third premolar has only two cusps, deer is 1 year and seven months old or older. 75% of deer harvested in U.S. are yearling deer. Telling Age of a Whitetail Buck In December of 1998, Field and Stream magazine had an article that I found interesting about a method for aging deer in field. Here is my short version; The twisting and turning of a deer's ears results in permanent creases in hair and skin around base of ears. Deer 2 1/2 years or younger seldom have ear creases. But by 3 1/2 years hair has thickened and taken on at least one crease. A two crease deer is a mature animal and is usually between 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 years old. If a deer has three creases at base of ears, it is likely about 7 1/2 years old give or take a year. If a deer has 4 ear creases, it is likely more than 8 years old.
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