Biking Nerds Unite

[koneko]

...
Where do you ride keoneko?

And hello!����

Hello beagleboy.

I mostly ride to do my shopping and errands, hence the baskets front and back lol. We have great bike tracks along the coastal paths here, pretty flat in some places. The seaside is my favourite place to cycle.

I'm definitely not a performance cyclist lol - if that Scottish hill is too steep I get off and walk 8)

You'd likely enjoy the off road cycling in Scotland, it get's pretty extreme. Never mind the weather!

Great thread, hopefully us slow / moderate cyclists are welcome too. Oh, I never seem to have any problems with my bike on the road, though it's well looked after and maintained by Felix.

 

[beagleboy]

^"Never mind the weather",

That's my kind of cyclist!

 

[JahSEEuS]

Does anyone have presta rims and tubes ( the smaller skinny valve stem ) but found themselves wanting schrader valves because the tubes are more popular and the gas station pumps won't fit presta valves? Below shows you how to drill out your rim.

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5FYWdrSiZaU[/video]

My bike was originally presta, but the og owner drilled out for schraders. Works fine. I accidentally bought presta tubes one time, and had to get an adapter, but it worked well..

 

[Squizz1985]

I wish I could afford a nice Cervello, or something of that nature. I had a really nice DeVinci, but it got stolen. I locked it with two locks, as well. Last summer I was crushing miles on a beat up SuperCycle. I must have put 2000miles on that thing! The freakin' pedals kept breaking though.

 

[assclass]

The plastic pedals that come with cheap bikes are not really intended for sustained hard riding.

No need to drop 100$ on solid block machined pedals just get decent aluminum ones.

 

[JahSEEuS]

you can get v good pair with toe clips / straps for under $20

 

[koneko]

^"Never mind the weather",

That's my kind of cyclist!

The weather in the west coast of Scotland is incredibly variable. From glorious sunshine to snow, wind and rain all often within a day! I struggle cycling in strong winds, especially up hill It's the worst bitch ever...Rain is just a fact of life here

Most who cycle here don't blink an eyelid at rain!




ps: thanks for being so kind to let this noob participate in your thread xxx

 

[JahSEEuS]

What amazing bike porn in this thread.

I'm likely letting the side down posting this, but it's my baby and does it for me I my bike X

NSFW:

mah baby

 

[beagleboy]

Wow.
I didn't notice the first time you run shrader valves.
Sweeet jah! Anyone ever give comments on wheel mod irl?

 

[beagleboy]

Belligerent drunk....
I almost forgot to tell you the philosophy behind the design of the wheel lock.

I think it's used on a cities "fleet of bikes" because they usually are very heavy and cumbersome.

Exactly like this:


Does that make sense? That to steal this bike from your own city would be trouble as its heavy and noticable?

 

[JahSEEuS]

Wow.
I didn't notice the first time you run shrader valves.
Sweeet jah! Anyone ever give comments on wheel mod irl?

not really, guy @ community bike workshop noticed, one person asked if it was difficult. But I didn't actual drill hole, I got it like that so I duno. But it runs fine.

 

[beagleboy]

Anyone shop in tha past at Pricepoint.com?
They went out of buisness last week. One of my fav online retailers for biking stuff.
Too bad.
Rip pp.

 

[beagleboy]

Someone post some bike porn.
Post your ride shim.

 

[beagleboy]

hahah...I'm okay now (sort of...I just had to get stitches following an MBT accident ). This is stupid and gross, but I learned that it is absolutely essential to bike only in clean shorts and to change out of them and shower directly following riding.



ebola

Good advice

 

[JahSEEuS]

Very solid advice. I've had some prettty nasty rashes from taking a nap directly after a good long ride / not wearing new undershorts before a long ride ;x ...

Beagle, are you still in Central NY?

 

[beagleboy]

Functiong bike lock and helmet rack. I got used and unused 26in street and dirt tires hung on my bedrooms walls. I gotta do more biking. I want to build a bike like yours when I lose some weight.

 

[assclass]

hahah...I'm okay now (sort of...I just had to get stitches following an MBT accident ). This is stupid and gross, but I learned that it is absolutely essential to bike only in clean shorts and to change out of them and shower directly following riding.

ebola

you talking about lycra spandexy shorts?

fucking nylon sucks when it melts into your skin.

when I got hit, i had on a headband and it friction burned into my forehead (54km/h wipeout on payment). it fucking sucked pulling fibers out of my face. and i think there are a few still stuck in there

 

[custard]

Got a question for fellow bikers:

So I'm thinking of buying either a back basket or a saddle bag to help carry groceries. I found a grocery store about 3K away that's way cheaper than the one closer to me, but carrying all that weight on my back majorly sucks. I've never had either on my bike before, so I'm not sure which is better - pros/cons - or if it doesn't really matter much either way.

The only difference I can think of is that the saddle bag doesn't have as much surface area so you couldn't really put a big backpack in there, and because you need to distribute the weight evenly, you couldn't put one singular heavy thing on one side. I'd want to make sure that however I carry my groceries it's stable and secure enough to do a reasonable-sized shop of about 8 items or so. I'm also curious if one requires more effort than the other to carry the weight, or if it's the same. Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[beagleboy]

Got a question for fellow bikers:

So I'm thinking of buying either a back basket or a saddle bag to help carry groceries. I found a grocery store about 3K away that's way cheaper than the one closer to me, but carrying all that weight on my back majorly sucks. I've never had either on my bike before, so I'm not sure which is better - pros/cons - or if it doesn't really matter much either way.

The only difference I can think of is that the saddle bag doesn't have as much surface area so you couldn't really put a big backpack in there, and because you need to distribute the weight evenly, you couldn't put one singular heavy thing on one side. I'd want to make sure that however I carry my groceries it's stable and secure enough to do a reasonable-sized shop of about 8 items or so. I'm also curious if one requires more effort than the other to carry the weight, or if it's the same. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Here's a solution for grabbin groceries. Read the link below, print the plans out and ask your local bike shops if they could help you. If not an ad on Craigslist might go well. I've never actually had bike panniers.
http://http://bikecart.pedalpeople.coop

*Custard, I would like to help you but am very tired right now. Keep checking this thread, and/or I'll pm you soon.

 

[beagleboy]

Custard,
Saddlebags are sometimes called panniers.
A front bike basket is actually really really dangerous for more than a six pack.

A three wheeled bike with rear huge basket....hmmm. Jk lol. My grandma used to haul her cat in a carrier in back along with her mini poodle 3 miles one way into town. Idk.

Saddlebags are not always easily removable from bike to bring into store when shopping to avoid theft. Is this stores location in a high crime area?

Answer these questions
-What make, model, year, and frame size is your bike?
-What size are the rims ( 26 inch, 700c, 27 inch, 29 inch )?
-what size are the rubber tires? There should be 2 numbers on the sidewall. Like 26x2.35 for example.
-how much money can you spend total? $25, $50, unlimited.
-3k is the equivelat of 1.8 miles. That's a very short distance. Have you given thought to making more than one trip?

Other creative solutions to hauling groceries
Have you considered buying a used "wheeled child carrier" off craigslist? It's a three or two wheeled cart that is towed behind your bike and usually attatches to seat post. Kids outgrow these things at like 5 years old. A 5 year old boy is like 55 lbs. that's a lot of kibble.

Let's talk custard.
Have you looked online for saddlebags yet? What did you like/dislike?

Besides the pedal people carts, ( the link I posted ) I would go with a used set of saddlebags.