• H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

Biking Nerds Unite

damn, that’s cold. i’ve only been biking for transportation as of late. it’s easier to dress appropriate for that.

i changed a flat for the first time today. on my rear wheel. was feeling accomplished until i put the wheel back on. for some reason the back breaks are now severely fucked. after messing around with it for a bit, i’ve solved nothing. was getting so mad it felt like i was about to have an aneurism. i’m stepping away and will approach it fresh tomorrow.

There's a bunch of how to's on Youtube.
 
i’ll have to check this youtube thing out. tomorrow.

crossed 1,000 miles on my trek 700. flat tire was the celebration.
 
returning that new hybrid was a mistake. this 700 is a piece of garbage money pit. every time i touch it, it turns to shit. fucking hate it. i can't get anywhere because it's always fucking broken.
 
returning that new hybrid was a mistake. this 700 is a piece of garbage money pit. every time i touch it, it turns to shit. fucking hate it. i can't get anywhere because it's always fucking broken.

Can't you just get something in between? I mean not a pos but not break the bank? lol
 
Been biking less and less as its getting colder, but trying to keep to keep it at 3 miles atleast every other day. Started walking recently to replace biking with.
 
just getting into biking these past few months.. was really loving it until the chain came off and I got violated by the bike seat. I know I should face my offender but still a bit squeamish. 😢
 
just getting into biking these past few months.. was really loving it until the chain came off and I got violated by the bike seat. I know I should face my offender but still a bit squeamish. 😢

Lol... It's also really fun if your foot slips the pedal and the pedal spkes smash into your shin.
 
Lol... It's also really fun if your foot slips the pedal and the pedal spkes smash into your shin.
haven't had the joy of that, but I did have the pedal slip and nutted it on the bar so hard I fell over. Luckily there was a guy 15ft away to laugh at my pain. Must have looked hilarious cuz dude about died.
 
i have what is starting to look like a permanent scare on my shin from that putting too much sudden pressure on the pedal and the chain slipping several cassette rings at once. happened when i was trying to quickly do something i shouldn't, and my shoe came off in the intersections. between seeing the blood dropping onto the pavement and the pain like fire in my shine, i thought i has a compound fracture and was walking around in the middle of the street in shock Saving Private Ryan style. not that bad, but involved its fair share of pain and embarrassment.

after i learned to tune my rear cassette and derailleur. if you have that thing set perfect, click through gears is a joy. i hate cranksets. just bought a fx 4 with a 2x because i didn't love the cannondale quick frame with the 1x. some day. all these hydroformed aluminum bike frames look terrible. i'm not as cool looking out there as i was on my 700. oh well. the ride is worth it.

took it city joy riding tonight. that's usually against my principels, using the roadways for recreation. couldn't help myself. was careful. feels so good to ride.

quick photoshoot at the pink bike rack picking up the dispensary for the first time yesterday ...

20670

love it. 30 pounds with the accessories. aluminum tank. purchased only as a commuter, despite trek throwing "sport" in the name.

see those fenders? those are a novel luxury in my world. showing up everywhere with my ass still dry. almost installed them my self, but at the last second i was like, "na, i wanna have a good day." they're on they're perfect. not rubbing against the wheel or anything like had i done it. negotiating the free instillation was a breeze having just bought the bike.

not having fenders is cool. i'm not cool. not anymore.

edit:
oh yeah, i went back and bought that commuter i'd returned. it's how i get where i'm going; need to be reliable. easier to justify a bicycle price tag when it's in lieu of a car. don't think i'm hypomanic right now, but if i am fuck it i got a new bike now.
 
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Like a damn obstacle course today... Motherfuckers need to learn how to use the bike path and stay on the right. Oh yeah, and not camp IN the bike path. Somewhat frequently having to slow down for homeless people.
 
were you commuting? that would be exiting. if so, to where?

snow storm right now, but i rode to an appointment earlier today. had to get off and walk my bike on part of lakefront trail because it flooded and then turned to ice.
 
i'm beginning to accumulate bikes ...

bikeinlivingsoace.jpg


'19 trek fx sport 4, '92 trek 700, '07 jamis ventura race

i've got the 700 listed, but selling a bike in january isn't ideal. it's a solid city commuter with a lot of cool. it's very alive in that has been being ridden, and tuned, broken, and replaced. it's well taken care of and has little touches like the slick 28mm tires. not at all stale. steel soul. makes me sad how much cooler it is than my fx 4. the 700 rolls with style and precision. the fx moves with a consistent, powerful push in the desired direction.

outfitted ..
- fx sport 4 weighs 29.6lbs
-700 weighs about 33lbs

not a huge difference. both were weighed with the u-bolt lock included. the fx has fenders and the 700 doesn't. when you look at them, the 700 seems much more bare and raw than accounted for in fenders. it looks like it could weigh only a few pounds more despite being made of steel.


the jamis on the right there is shaking like a jungle cat. pent up in the corner. weighs 22.3 pounds with everything, which is two lights and the garmin. thought i'd ride for exercise through winter but i had no idea how absurd of an idea that was. i got off my bike on lakefront twice today because waves had turned to ice all the way across the asphalt.

soon as autumn comes, the jamis will be back out. not rolling or pushing, but cutting through the trail. no frills. no kickstand. not even a lock. stacking miles at astounding weekly averages. setting strava records every single time it hits pavement. tire pressure fine tuned before each ride. then immediately brought back inside to rest for the next day's hunt.
 
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were you commuting? that would be exiting. if so, to where?

snow storm right now, but i rode to an appointment earlier today. had to get off and walk my bike on part of lakefront trail because it flooded and then turned to ice.

Not commuting, just trying to ride on the bike trail here. There's a big problem here with the homeless so there's often people wandering around and yes, one time camping ON the bike trail under one of the overpasses. Not like with a tent, but blocking one of the "lanes" with their shit. It's annoying.
 
check out the newest thing-o on my bike ...



that taillight has three modes: all on, all flashing in unison, all flashing in a row (as seen). well, four modes if you count off. it runs on disposable batteries, which maybe sucks depending on how long they last.

couldn't help it. when i saw the rear fender had a proprietary notch to attach some gadget, i had to put a gadget there. you can never have too many lights. especially taillights. got three on this bike now.
 
Any tips for a beginning cyclist, or things you wish you knew? Mainly as a commuter, though I know of a few good trails nearby.

With a new position I'll finally be close enough to some sites (~3 and perhaps 5 miles with a path to another, probably not the 12 mile) with clean showers. Also a good deal safer. Won't be averaging 50+ miles driving any more.

I also have a friend who wants me to try out a road bike and plan to take a 250 mile or something trip already in the summer. Apparently he now has a fear of dogs on routes.

I'm a little wary as I was in a car accident the past Summer, thinking about what would have happened on a bike. Lot of clowns out there. Had enough close calls.
 
as a commuter? the biggest piece of advice i can give is ride in a predictable line. make that line just far away enough from parallel parked cars that if a door suddenly flies open -- which can happen at any time, not only immediately after a car parks; people often sit in their cars on their phone for any amount of time before opening their door -- it is not in your line. do not exit your line because you're bored. cars behind you expect you to maintain the line you are riding. make sense?

so you are as far to the right or left as possible (depends what side of the road they drive on in your country) but still a full open door's distance from cars parked on the side of the road. you don't suddenly swerve out of your line, or cars behind you will suddenly be directly behind you.

get a real helmet. you don't have to buy some ultra-light, ultra-expensive racing helmet. but you don't want to use some 30-year-old deteriorating piece of styrofoam you found in your garage. mine was $60 usd. it's comfortable. it has mips. it correctly fits me and i correctly wear it anytime i'm on my bike no matter how short a drive. which doesn't guarantee i won't sustain a head injury in a crash, but it reduces my chances for of a serious head injury. that's worth 60 bucks.

if you ride at night, you need more than one pair of lights. if your headlight or taillight runs out of batteries mid ride, you need to have another to click on. you only need to have a light die on your way home once to realize how unacceptable and dangerous that is. on my commuter, i have two headlights and three taillights. one of those headlights and one of the taillights remains off, even during night riding. they are there as a backups. i'd only turn one of them on if one of my main lights ran out of batteries mid ride (most main headlights and taillights are rechargeable and few have a reliable power remaining indicator). you should also have reflectors. if you don't, you can get a pack of them for $10 or less and clip them onto your bike yourself. a reflector in a car's headlight is very bright.

have your cellphone with you and charged. especially until you know how to replace a tube on the side of the road. even then, you need a phone just like a 16-year-old kid needs a phone when they drive a car. if something happens, you need to be able to easily make a phone call.

be aware of left and more importantly right hooks. what this means is, if you are riding next to a car and are going straight through an intersection, you cannot know the car is doing the same because it is not using a blinker to indicate otherwise. bikes don't make much noise. the car may not know it is sharing the road with you, and may turn without blinking because it thinks there's no one to blink for. this collision is called a right hook, and it often kills the cyclist. yes you are allowed to ride beside cars. not being in the wrong won't prevent internal bleeding. pay attention to the possibility that cars around you are going to make mistakes. as a new bicycle commuter, you are going to make mistakes. so it's not about the blame game. it's about staying alive.
 
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Thanks!

Yeah, it seems predictability and visability are key.

Yeah, my helmet is a no-go and is on the shopping list. Probably the plasticizers or whatever have all degraded, amazing how some things wear down. Come to think of it I probably need a new ski helmet.

More reflectors and proper lights as well. I have some from running and the past, but need to update and get the right range.

I'm in New England and probably will hold off for a bit with plows and such. Guess I'll have to learn to pay attention to the weather more as well.

New project for the year.
 
awesome project! excited to hear about its development. may i ask what bicycle you currently have? even better, could we see a pic? i love bikes. and love seeing what people ride.
 
Well, that's actually a work in progress. I was cleaning out yesterday and did find my old black Schwinn...something. Something low end, was going to tune up some on Thursday and perhaps visit a bike store.

However, talking about it with my cousin, he has an older road bike which he mentioned about taking a look at. Some Trek. Same with my friend with the road trip- he was going to visit from NY in March and thought of bringing his old or wife's old road bike. Trading some computer parts.

I was also looking at new options like a Brooklyn lorimer or some Raleigh bike, but there is a lot out there at so many price points. I'm wary of over committing pricewise but hate buying low then high too much.

Gonna just try a few test runs.
 
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