Vintage Road Bikes! Hors Cat Climb! Specialized Allez 3Rensho & Ross Gran Tour XV vs Mt. Hamilton!

Today we take the Ross Super Gran Tour XV and 3Rensho Allez up an Hors Categorie Climb. Mount Hamilton, in San Jose, CA is one of the big climbs in the area and this is the first time we try doing it on the vintage bikes.
Music:
Roundup on the Prairie/Beneath the Moonlight/Saving the World- Aaron Kenny
Joker's Lair- Coyote Hearing
FynstLyk- Noir Et Blanc Vie
Oceanside Bonfire- The Great North Sound Society

[@cecilecorpuz5735]

I from San Jose and lived near White Road and Alum Rock, I've ridden up to Mt. Hamilton several times but I preferred riding to Santa Cruz going over the Santa Cruz mountains, one of my craziest rides was when arriving to the the top of Mt. Hamilton then I looked over to the Santa Cruz Mountains and said what the hell I got some $$$ and a couple of Bananas in my jersey pockets so I'm going for it so off to Santa Cruz I went, that was one crazy and very long ride. BTW: many of my friends called me Banana brain, because where ever I rode I would always have Bananas in in my jersey pockets, of course these were the days when I was much younger and practically lived on my bicycles, lugged steel vintage bicycles, toe clips and friction shifters, those were the days, in fact I'm still riding vintage steel today as they were back then, the most so called modern day component that I will use will be 80's era aero brake levers. Keep the pedal turning.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Hey, Cecil! Holy cow, riding from the top of Hamilton to Santa Cruz is a crazy ride! I don't think you can get much better fuel than a banana and your story proves it! :) Thanks for watching and happy riding!

[@matthewsmith6486]

Wonderful video, super hill climb, very cool vintage bikes, and a great story. However the best part is a couple of brothers being able to get out and enjoy each others company on an epic adventure. Bravo!

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Hey, Matthew! Yep, and I don't take that for granted! Have a great week!

[@douglas1559]

Guys it looked like a hard clime but a lot to see best part of going up, is the efforless fun ride down. O'Yah! Woo Hoo!!😊

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Yep, Douglas- It’s worth it for the views and the descents! :)

[@juliuscaesar4802]

Weird watching this video brings a lot of memories of these hills I grew up in Morgan hill a town south of SJ and didn’t realize I walked by the specialized HQ to get to school I was a teenager at the time but wow I heavily got into road cycling within the last 3 years I’m 25 btw

[@bikestrikesrazors]

I knew someone that lived in Morgan hill back in the 60's and 70's and he said at that time, bull riding was the big thing. Somehow, I don't think there's much bull riding going on in Morgan Hill these days. :)

[@evanking920]

It's great to see you guys back filming. The bottom line....it is all about the motor....and you guys have that area covered...great job.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Hey Evan! I wish we had more time lately to do more videos. Things just keeps getting in the way. Have a great weekend!

[@glenn_r_frank_author]

Wow that is a brutal looking climb!

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Hey Glen! It was worse than I remembered it. :) Next time trikes! :)

[@Olyphoto7]

Great views. When do we go from retro to vintage to antique? 😂 Too bad there aren’t more accommodations for bikes. Have you ever taken the trikes up Mt. Hamilton? I imagine the decent would be quite quick. Glad you’re back. Take care and stay safe.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Please don't make me take the antique bike up this mountain! LOL! Hamilton is the only climb we haven't done on the trikes. Did Mount Diablo and Mount Umunhum. The trikes are definitely more fun coming back down!

[@Olyphoto7]

@@bikestrikesrazors sorry, I should have clarified I meant us people. When do we go from retro to vintage to antique? I wouldn’t ask anyone to ride an antique bike up that road, even with the lemonade coffee tonic 😵.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

LOL! I'd say I'm vintage. I've got a few years left until I'm antique! :) Give me that tonic and I'll get that antique bike up the mountain! I don't think I'd survive the trip down with those brakes, though. :)

[@Olyphoto7]

@@bikestrikesrazors 🤣😆🤣 I declare myself to be retro, with aspirations of my former youth.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Sounds good to me! Retro it is! @@Olyphoto7

[@holdencaulfied7492]

You should have put smaller chainrings on. Riders today aren't used to those taller gears so it's not an apples to apples evaluation. It's much harder on the vintage bikes, not because of technology, but because of the gearing.

[@lucaswalker7664]

Love you videos. What kind of camera and mount do you use? Thanks

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Thanks much! This video was shot with a first generation Osmo Action camera with electronic stabilization switched “on”. Most of it was shot hand-held, but for the descent the camera was clamped to a bike’s handlebars with a typical GoPro type mount. For a relatively inexpensive action type camera, I’ve really been surprised by the quality we’re getting from the Osmo. Thanks for watching!

[@breathestrongcycling3672]

Nice ride, must say that was nowhere near a close call by Asian standards tho....pretty normal really 😆 I have a 6200 on the rear and it just clears a 30t, i'm hoping to get an early deore so I can get up to a 34, I could go compact on the front but compacts on older bikes just don't look right to my eyes. Also I never see those helmets for sale here in the Philippines, if I did I would happly get one and wear it!

[@bikestrikesrazors]

The older helmets are pretty rare here in good condition. I got lucky finding this one like new in the box. What had it been doing since 1985? :)

[@hardrockroffroad]

Guys I have watched all your ice vtx vids. Just got mine. Seems I’m using tons of leg muscles I don’t use on my road bike and extremely slower. Will this change? Or maybe I don’t have it setup right

[@bikestrikesrazors]

You’re exactly correct! You will be using completely different muscle groups with the trike when compared to the road bike. If I recall correctly, it took me maybe three or four months of riding the trike before I had fully built up the specific muscles required, but you should be noticing gradual gains as you go. Also, make sure your boom extension feels natural- Not too cramped up and not too extended. Let me know how it goes!

[@detolerandisstultorum]

Vintage are beautiful to watch but damn hard to ride. No trees there? Great Usa and they cannot plant some damn trees to get some cool?

[@bikestrikesrazors]

There are trees around the road, but when the Sun is directly overhead, unfortunately, there isn't much shade. :) Thanks for watching!

[@20alphabet]

@5:31... "In a few seconds he comes way to close when passing." No, he didn't. I don't know what you were expecting when you chose a one lane road with no shoulder, but the box truck gave you a wide berth, even crossing into oncoming traffic to accommodate your adventure. Love the bikes, and the fact you featured them, but give the truck driver credit and take some responsibility.

[@wismuthennecke1808]

It's verry easy. If the truck does not have enough space, he must stay behind. Whether he wants to overtake an adventurer or anyone else.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

On these mountains, when cyclists are present, drivers are instructed to hang back on the blind curves (like we were approaching when he passed us) and wait for an area where you can see oncoming traffic, so you can give us some space. Because of the railing, we were forced further into the road than normal, and while he was "on the line", there still wasn't enough space to safely pass at that point.

[@glenn_r_frank_author]

It was a very unsafe place for him to lane split and pass them. That blind curve could have been dangerous if someone was coming down the other way and he would have swerved into the bikes pushing them off the edge or running them over. He should have hung back and waited to pass after the curve where he could see oncoming traffic! He would never have done that pass on a blind curve if he was behind a slow moving motor vehicle... why do it when there are cyclists using the road?

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Great point, Glenn! I wondered what would've happened if a car came around that curve. The truck just had two choices, run us off the mountain or go head on with the other vehicle. There are a lot of homes along the road on the first part of this climb and I forgot how bad the traffic can be with those narrow roads. I think that's why it's been so long since we've done that climb. I quickly remembered how bad it was a few minutes into the ride. Once you get about 4 miles in, the traffic ends and its mostly empty roads, but you have to run the "gauntlet" before you get to the nice part of the climb.