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Beautiful day and beautiful weather, I am unsure of how much pollen and how many bugs I'm swallowing.
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May 10, 2021 17:40
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learnincurve posted:Thing is though the person who gets off the bike, pulls helmet off and ruffles hair and laughs like they don’t care is always going to come off as more attractive
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May 10, 2021 17:44
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100YrsofAttitude posted:Beautiful day and beautiful weather, I am unsure of how much pollen and how many bugs I'm swallowing. Being used to riding with a mask on has had unexpected benefits in this department.
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May 10, 2021 17:57
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learnincurve posted:Thing is though the person who gets off the bike, pulls helmet off and ruffles hair and laughs like they don’t care is always going to come off as more attractive than the person who scuttles off to a mirror, comb in hand. Yeah, because everyone can show up to work with their hair all hosed up, no problem-o
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May 10, 2021 19:18
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That was An Joke. I know this because no one is going to suggest you roll into work and sit at your desk wearing mud and bug splattered bib shorts either.
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May 10, 2021 19:28
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100YrsofAttitude posted:Beautiful day and beautiful weather, I am unsure of how much pollen and how many bugs I'm swallowing. I am excited for the 17-year cicada swarm to emerge and vastly increase the amount of insect protein I ingest on my rides.
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May 10, 2021 19:40
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learnincurve posted:
Well, I do. I even bring my snow/mud covered bikes with me and just let 'em drip onto the carpet in my cubicle. But my hair is perfectly coiffed
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May 10, 2021 20:51
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Yesterday I dropped in on a colleague, a professor of soil science (can of worms: his research is on cotton in Australia) and happily noted the muddy MTB leaning against the bookshelves in his office (and we talked about camping and fishing). I've seen him on the local trails once or twice, I'm happy to see he's still hitting them. His clothes were clean (and his hair is short enough a helmet does basically nothing) but one of the nice things about academia, especially in a displine that includes Field Work (in literal fields), is I can rock into the office at whatever o'clock wearing pretty much anything and nobody will do more than raise an errant eyebrow. Also, my office is a cave in the basement and I never interact with other humans. I'm so lonely.... **** Busier than normal on the MUP this morning, I passed TWO other bikes. The second one said something at me as I passed, I said "on your right" and passed her on her right. I don't have any idea what she said, she might have been thanking me for the well-timed call, she might have recognised me and said hello, she might have been angry at me for some reason. It's kinda bugging me, I don't want to piss people off but I also don't want to stop to chat with random fellow-users of the path. Pretty much everybody here is friendly and polite. Dog-walkers get their dogs out of the way, small children are gently corralled, joggers and fellow cyclists wave or nod, and pretty much everybody will call a cheery "good morning!" or "how are ya?" as I pass. But it would only take one grumpy person to stick in my mind and maybe ruin my day. ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 01:17 on May 11, 2021 |
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May 11, 2021 01:13
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ExecuDork posted:Also, my office is a cave in the basement and I never interact with other humans. I'm so lonely.... lol same, pal. They should just stop putting basements in academic buildings. One perk though is that I can walk my bike straight to my office!
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May 11, 2021 03:03
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I'm in the market for a commuter bike. I typically like riding flat bars or riser bars, and a lot of my previous commuting (in college has been on a mountain bike. I don't like drop bars as much, but that's probably because I don't have as much riding time on them. Is it the kind of thing that you just sort-of get used to with more experience? I have a couple of decent cheap used options for bikes with drop bars- how much would I end up paying (approximately) to switch it out to flat bars, if i just can't get into the drop bar option?
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May 11, 2021 16:09
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Depends on the bike but a couple hundred? The big issue is parts availability. You'll need road pull brake levers and flat bar shifters for the bike. Road front shifter pull IIRC is always different, rear pull is different in 10 and 11 speed. Ordering these shifters might not even be possible right now. The biggest thing is you'll end up with a very long stem on the bike, road frames are generally shorter than flat bar hybrids. If you can hold out a bit and find a bike that's a factory flat bar hybrid will be cheaper than a road bike to begin with and you won't need to buy anything for it.
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May 11, 2021 16:17
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road potato posted:I have a couple of decent cheap used options for bikes with drop bars- how much would I end up paying (approximately) to switch it out to flat bars, if i just can't get into the drop bar option? You'll be better off buying an old rigid MTB than converting a drop bar bike unless you have access to cheap/free used parts.
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May 11, 2021 18:41
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Depends how much money you want to spend, Cube, Giant and ridgeback make decent flat bar hybrids with various suspension, gearing and carbon options. The hate for hybrids in various SA bike OPs is just weird and out of date in 2021, yes maybe when it was companies slinging flat bars on a heavy cheap frame but we have very much moved on from that. N=1 but I have been using one of the first ridgeback hybrids for 10 years now, was bought second hand as a one winter junker and it’s been absolutely ludicrously rock solid. Edit: I misread the question, take what I’ve said and add look for a second hand flat bar, converting will cost you more than a decent second hand hybrid. learnincurve fucked around with this message at 18:51 on May 11, 2021 |
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May 11, 2021 18:48
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Yeah hybrids are sweet, though I don't own one at present. I'm torn regarding drop bars. There are pros and cons. Biggest con for me at least is the feeling of less control compared to flat. Not sure if true, not sure if wider drop bars would help. On longer rides they're comfy and fast, but not what I would prefer on a commuter that's used a lot in traffic. Trip report: My new-ish waterproof bike bag for the electroTREK is actually waterproof. So is my new-to-me fancy brand rain jacket that I got for cheap since it was slightly used. Last week had a crazy wet day but all my gear held up fine, except for the gloves. I knew that going in though so I brought an extra pair for the trip home. My biggest gripe with the bike is that the fenders are totally incapable of keeping the bike anywhere close to clean. Even the top of the fenders get super muddy. I'm not sure how that's even possible but they keep my clothes reasonably clean from the knee up at least so I guess they're good enough for now, gonna try with some rubber flap extensions maybe. Fat tires and front suspension combined with electric speed makes it super fun to bomb down desire paths and going off road for a bit when the pavement gets crowded, so I guess my riding style might contribute a bit apart from the fender/tire combo being poo poo for cleanliness. Animal Friend posted:Thread title?
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May 11, 2021 19:18
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Invalido posted:Yeah hybrids are sweet, though I don't own one at present. I'm torn regarding drop bars. There are pros and cons. Biggest con for me at least is the feeling of less control compared to flat. Not sure if true, not sure if wider drop bars would help. On longer rides they're comfy and fast, but not what I would prefer on a commuter that's used a lot in traffic. My fairweather commuter is a used cross bike. Having the extra brake levers on top of the bars is very nice for when you want to be a little more upright and in control at slow speeds. Best of both worlds imo.
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May 11, 2021 20:32
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aparmenideanmonad posted:My fairweather commuter is a used cross bike. Having the extra brake levers on top of the bars is very nice for when you want to be a little more upright and in control at slow speeds. Best of both worlds imo. I've never tried that setup for any real length of time but it seems sweet, options is why I like drop bars in the first place. Still it's a really narrow handlebar when using the top brakes which I honestly think is my biggest issue. Wider bars seems to give me more confidence. If it's actually any better for manoeuvring is up for debate, but it sure feels that way to me is all I'm saying.
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May 11, 2021 21:06
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I feel ya. It takes some getting used to if you've only ridden flat bar. Riding non-technical dirt/gravel on it with my kid on his MTB helped me adapt faster. It can clear 42s no problem so it handles roots and rocks just fine while keeping things interesting for both of us.
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May 11, 2021 22:47
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Sooner or later I need to try drop bars, I've never ridden a bike with them but they're the clear choice if I decide I want to go faster. My frankenbike commuter has flat bars and so does my currrent hardtail, but the MTB is really wide. My hands are way out there. When I was riding my frankenbike I always thought the MTBs on the MUP looked rather silly with their wings spread out, but since November that's been me, sailing around with almost-straight elbows and an almost-straight back and just accepting that 30 km/h is my speed. But I'm also trying to improve my skill at very low speeds (like waiting at the point where the path crosses a road) just on general principles and the wide stance is helpful.
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May 12, 2021 01:36
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Content warning for Entropist: I like narrow drops for commuting for when I need to squeeze by a car. Get more options at 40cm than 72cm. ExecuDork posted:I always thought the MTBs on the MUP looked rather silly with their wings spread out, but since November that's been me, sailing around with almost-straight elbows and an almost-straight back and just accepting that 30 km/h is my speed. B If you are on the flat and don't need to brake for anything upcoming, you can put your hands at the center of the bars and tuck down:  Not saying you would do it every time you ride, but it comes in handy as a changeup. Useful if you're facing a brief but brutal headwind. If you just want to tempt fate, you can try: 
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May 12, 2021 03:00
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kimbo305 posted:If you just want to tempt fate, you can try: LOL. I am 100% certain that as soon as I attempt this, I'll eat poo poo hard enough to break my jaw. But yeah, I'll try out the narrower-grip idea sometime.
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May 12, 2021 03:19
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Idk, I squeeze plenty of questionable gaps with 700mm bars* *ignoring all the times I've brushed a mirror
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May 12, 2021 05:09
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road potato posted:I'm in the market for a commuter bike. I typically like riding flat bars or riser bars, and a lot of my previous commuting (in college has been on a mountain bike. I don't like drop bars as much, but that's probably because I don't have as much riding time on them. Is it the kind of thing that you just sort-of get used to with more experience? You can’t easily convert to flat bars, but mustache bars will be cheap and easy.
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May 12, 2021 07:37
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I think it was Chris Boardman who said that with city riding he grabs whatever bike is closest to him because it’s the traffic not the bike or your ability that effects your commute. So ride the bike and wear the clothes you like because that will increase your chances of sticking with it - everyone does that thing anyway where they calculate money saved and buy a winter bike, but the winter bike is nicer than the summer bike so given how much money is still being saved you may as well buy a new summer bike and keep the first bike as spare...
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May 12, 2021 07:54
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Emergency car battery purchase going home from work. More weight than I cared for on the rack but it was alright, I went slow. 
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May 12, 2021 15:12
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Hey, the e-bike thread is thattaway, pal.  I tried to do that with a car tire once. It was far from stable
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May 12, 2021 15:19
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The clear solution to these situations is to just tow your car to the auto parts store with your bike.
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May 12, 2021 15:24
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Got my bike in July 2020 and I've had to change my front inner tube twice and my back one once. When I got out of work 8 hours after getting there it was completely flat. I pumped it back and it got me home but I'm a bit annoyed that this happened again, so now it's 2 all. My partner had a similar problem and bought new treads and says she's been fine since. So I guess I'll just do that. I don't know if I'm using it a lot, I figure 100 km per week is not nothing, but shouldn't inner tubes last longer?
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May 12, 2021 17:17
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A properly installed inner tube shouldn't wear or get damaged at all unless there's tire damage too. Have you done any forensics on them? Pump it up a bit, submerge in water and see where the bubbles come from. If it's on the outside of the tube, you have some foreign object poking through your tire. It can stay there and ruin tube after tube unless you remove it. It can be a tiny little thing, it sometimes gets a bit easier to find if you make note of the position of tire relative the tube before disassembly and can correlate the position of the tube leak with a place in the tire. Usually you can simply (carefully!) run your fingers along the inside of the tire and find whatever's poking through. I've found pieces of glass, sharp edged pebbles, bits of wire, even a thorn - you get the picture. If the leak is on the inside, look for problems with the rim tape, maybe the tube is rubbing on an exposed spoke hole edge or similar. If the valve is leaking (unlikely) you can replace the valve core and keep the tube. Tubes are cheap enough that there's little point in patching them, but I tend to anyway if it's just a little hole in a fixable location. It just seems wasteful not to. Invalido fucked around with this message at 18:28 on May 12, 2021 |
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May 12, 2021 18:26
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If you're doing 100km a week then yes your tires need changing, they wear out. Quicker with terrible OEM tires, but all tires wear out, and when they do there's less rubber between the tube and the sharp nasties on the road. And sometimes you just get flats. Three a week can happen, when they haven't swept the streets in a while. SimonSays fucked around with this message at 23:08 on May 12, 2021 |
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May 12, 2021 23:06
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Quote /= edit
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May 12, 2021 23:07
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Yeah that makes sense. I have some spare inner tubes and we'll change it this weekend. It's tiresome, no pun intended, but that's life! My treads don't seem worn out, like the tracks are still raised, but I'm no expert. Investing in better treads won't be a bad idea anyway. I've only got a few more weeks of class and then I can give it a nice wash and tune up.
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May 12, 2021 23:15
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Invalido posted:Emergency car battery purchase going home from work. More weight than I cared for on the rack but it was alright, I went slow. As someone who has walked home from the auto parts store with a car battery more than once, I think your option would be MUCH more comfortable. Car batteries are loving heavy.
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May 13, 2021 00:59
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100YrsofAttitude posted:My treads don't seem worn out, like the tracks are still raised, but I'm no expert.
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May 13, 2021 01:49
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100YrsofAttitude posted:Got my bike in July 2020 and I've had to change my front inner tube twice and my back one once. When I got out of work 8 hours after getting there it was completely flat. I pumped it back and it got me home but I'm a bit annoyed that this happened again, so now it's 2 all. My partner had a similar problem and bought new treads and says she's been fine since. So I guess I'll just do that. Next time you're changing the tube, check that the wheel's rim doesn't have any spokes or otherwise sharp edges protruding. Sometimes this can happen and its worth checking the rim is properly lined. Also take time (and care) and run your thumb down the inside seem of your tyre to make sure there is nothing sharp caught in it that will be pressing into tube. What tyres are you running? I've tried a few out. I have exceptionally bad luck and once copped 3 flats in a week due to punctures. I've recently (last 4 months, doing about 200km a week) started using Schwalbe Marathon's and I've had no punctures with them- they also grip decently and roll very well. Not too pricey either- would recommend. Animal Friend fucked around with this message at 02:35 on May 13, 2021 |
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May 13, 2021 02:31
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Cotton ball works better than a finger. Look for something that snags the cotton.
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May 13, 2021 03:49
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I second the question what tyres? Also where, mixed surface, nice roads or lovely main roads with debris commute? Check what all the other commuters are using and use those is my advice - Most people use the cheap continental contact 25s on road bikes round here, just because there are several quarries (one is currently being used by Ton Cruise no less) and the crap that accumulates on the side of the roads from the trucks shedding limestone slowly turns it into a gravel ride until the sweepers show up. I did have a evil chuckle as a group of fit young men on a long Derbyshire jolly overtook me and one went “wrong tyres love hahaha” knowing what was coming for them round the next corner.
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May 13, 2021 07:38
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vikingstrike posted:Cotton ball works better than a finger. Look for something that snags the cotton. This is a great idea. As for tires I’d have to check. My bike is a Gitane, and it’s what came with it. I don’t know anything about parts and brands but next time I see it I’ll give it a look (it’s six floors below me so not a quick look-see).
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May 13, 2021 08:57
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vikingstrike posted:Cotton ball works better than a finger. Look for something that snags the cotton. Yeah, I've sliced my finger open finding the glass stuck in my tire. Don't do what Donny Don't does. Use the back side of your glove in a pinch.
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May 13, 2021 14:04
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OK yeah I stand by my advice until I suggested using your thumb, woops. I'm casually careless with that sort of thing. But yes, anything fine that will catch will do. Probably old stockings even?
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May 13, 2021 14:33
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I feel like an idiot, I never even thought about using anything other than fingat. Sliced one a bit on a piece of glass once too doing it. That taught me to be careful, but not to think a step further. 
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May 13, 2021 14:41
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