Bike Commuting: pickin' and flickin' to keep it clean

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Bike Commuting: pickin' and flickin' to keep it clean

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

bicievino posted:

A helmet is yet another item to accessorize with.

My helmet looks rad as gently caress.

This. It also keeps offers moderate protection against silly mishaps. Don't wear a helmet if you have to go out of your way to do it, but otherwise put that poo poo on your skull.

Sure, a helmet won't protect you against a sociopath in an F150 hitting you dead-on at 60 MPH and we need to destroy car culture, but overreacting to the bad faith arguments of the anti-bike crowd and going full "HELMETS ARE INSTRUMENTS OF OPPRESSION AND SHOULDN'T BE RECOMMENDED" is just bizarre to me.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2020 06:31

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 14:16

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

Work has announced plans to move back to an office-centric work culture and even announced subsidies equivalent to $850 for people coming back. The catch? It's in the form of free car parking for paid spots—the many, many employees who walk, bike, or bus get squat.

I've had someone argue that they wanted to give people a grace period to see whether they still want to have the spot, but all the garages have months long waiting periods. If someone isn't sure they want the spot anymore, they should pay for it while deliberating.

# ¿ May 9, 2021 15:56

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

Getting my Marathon Pluses on was a loving nightmare. On the plus side, I've never had a flat despite biking frequently around the city.

# ¿ May 15, 2021 19:10

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

The most recent episode of the War on Cars was focused on the lack of bike lanes in Lego City sets. The proposal in Lego Ideas is actually really neat!

# ¿ Jun 13, 2021 04:11

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

I've used my 2014 Sirrus Sport for a good bit of commuting and I liked it. Yikes at the current prices, though. Latest model is $400 some more than what I paid.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2021 19:31

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

While we're on the subject of panniers, I'm curious what folks use for groceries. I picked up these a couple years back and they work great (albeit less so for 12-packs of soda), except the S hook is too small for the girth of the rack on my new Allant. I've seen trailers in use that would probably be a little more viable for large grocery runs, though now that the rack has proven unusable for these and not great for another pannier I've got, I'm worried I'll wind up buying and returninga bunch of stuff.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2021 16:22

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

Thanks for all the recs! I do like the look of the Blackburn bags.

wooger posted:

Is the s hook not swappable for something that fits?
Or moddable?
Post a photo of it.

I just use the same Ortlieb panniers for groceries as I do for commuting etc.

Could potentially add a second, larger one or try bending this one a little wider (though I assume that risks weakening the hook?)?

leftist heap posted:

I bought a cargo trailer and never looked back personally. One of my best purchases.

A trailer would probably best fit my soda-hauling needs, though need to look into finding one that's sufficiently collapsible for my limited storage space.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2021 02:00

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

Hooboy. Just ~~biked~~ walked home with two 24 packs of soda in my paniers. Two 12 packs have never been a real problem, but I rapidly realized that the doubled amount would leave me tipped over somewhere, likely drenched in a fountain of exploded soda. Just walking the bike home turned out a little problematic as the weight constantly shifted.

Definitely think I'll pick up the Burly Nomad before I give it another shot.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2021 19:15

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

Animal Friend posted:

Maybe just drink less soda

never

# ¿ Aug 2, 2021 01:02

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

Mauser posted:

48 cans of soda is about 38lbs, plus a bit for the aluminum. That's pretty doable on a rear rack! It's definitely gonna be pretty squirrely to get started from a stop though

Yeah, I was also an idiot who didn't secure them, so they were loose in the panniers and shifted back and forth in a way the 12-packs hadn't. I'd have probably been fine if I'd just laid the boxes on top of the rack and bungied them securely. Or if I'd has a chance to practice on something other than hilly urban streets :shrug:

# ¿ Aug 2, 2021 18:36

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

kimbo305 posted:

What's the challenge, balancing side to side? It's an ebike, right? Does taking off from a standstill present an issue?

Side to side, yeah. I didn't really try again after the initial trouble, so might have found it wasn't as bad as initially perceived, but didn't want to make a giant spectacle if I hosed it up. I've still been using my old Specialized Sirrus for grocery runs due to pannier compatibility issues mentioned above, so didn't get the nice boost of the assist to kick me off from a standstill.

Planning to pick up the thru-axle for the Burley Nomad I'm going to buy to make it work with the ebike, just need to get around to measuring the current one to determine which length I'll need.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2021 19:39

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

learnincurve posted:

I am about to pay £85 with a £15 deposit for a bike locker in town and am not happy about the price of it.

It’s a work thing where the bike has to be parked in town overnight so it’s the only way

lol, what's the equivalent car parking fee? I'm gonna guess free

# ¿ Nov 4, 2021 16:14

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

actionjackson posted:

in terms of security, I'm fine going overkill for peace of mind, can anything beat u-lock+cable (like how it's done in OP)+sherlock? my understanding is that the sherlock app will buzz or whatever on your phone if someone tries to move your bike. It would be rare for me to have my bike parked outside for more than an hour.

I've never had to deal with it, but you can also consider carrying acetone and cotton swabs on you for counteracting any prospective thief putting super glue into the locking mechanism with the intent of returning at their leisure. Also good for drenching cars parked in the bike lane and setting them on fire!

Various forms of insurance also theoretically cover bike theft, but I've never dealt with them and have no idea how screwy they might be on trying to get an actual payout. Might be the kind of thing where they want actual evidence it was properly locked, video of someone cutting the lock and taking the bike, or even an actual police report.

To avoid leaving a bike unattended, you can also order pickup, which many stores offer these days (to varying degrees of efficacy). Picked up groceries this morning and had to deal with mounds of wet leaves all throughout the bike lane and a car parking in the bike lane to do a food pickup.

Still better than doing it by car, with cars racing to reach red stoplights when the road was open and me catching back up with them at the next light or them hitting congestion.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2021 17:00

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

Strategic Tea posted:

The best theft countermeasure is to commute on an ordinary bike and not a �2,000 rich man's monstrosity IMO. Make them nick the bike next to yours instead.

Or we could reduce bike theft across the board so that no one has to suffer a poo poo bird making off with their bike :shrug:

$1k-3k ebikes are seeing a surge in popularity and could meaningfully replace auto-ownership entirely for a broad swathe of the urban-dwelling public. Next to piss-poor bike infrastructure, the specter of theft is one of the biggest deterrents to uptake. Driving down theft makes it a lot less risky for someone in poverty to take the brand new, eco-friendly ebike over the same-priced, 20-year-old, 200k-mile clunker of an auto they'd likely otherwise go with (and find themselves burdened with gas, maintenance, and other expenses).

# ¿ Nov 14, 2021 22:58

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 14:16

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

100YrsofAttitude posted:

Glad to know that mechanical bikes can be called acoustics. That’s what I use. I sort of want an electric to not have to bother with sweat but I appreciate the sport and ability to not have think twice about what I eat.

I first heard "acoustic bike" from a non-goon and the term appears to be immediately comprehensible to folks, so don't hesitate to spread it!

You can always turn the assist off, too, if you want the exercise. Will generally be even better exercise as you'll be pushing a heavier bike.

Anyone have a recommended commuter bike helmet with built-in light? I've got a Thousand helmet right now and I like the look and the loop for the lock, just curious for lighted options.

# ¿ May 22, 2022 20:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Bike Commuting: pickin' and flickin' to keep it clean