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Those look sick. I just bought a fishing kayak for my wife and I. It came with a home made dolly I could probably turn into a boat trailer for when I want to take either the kayak or the canoe out. Human powered transport best transport, although just like I'm coming around to ebikes being an awesome solution for riding, especially utility riding, we've got a rad little electric trolling motor for the boats now.
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Oct 12, 2020 17:40
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CopperHound posted:E-braking works really good Before I bought a bakfiets I was seriously considering a motorised trailer for heavy hauling, dreaming of a surge-actuated speed controller if that makes sense. It would be awesome to have a trailer that you never really noticed. Now I'm thinking of building a contraption for hauling a kayak too. It's a pretty long craft so I would be the longest thing on the bike paths by a wide margin but it would allow me to explore more water in less time so I think I'm gonna do it, somehow. Eventually.
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Oct 12, 2020 18:00
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I am really, really happy that I finally got my poo poo together enough to commute by bike. Thanks again to everyone here. In honour of SomethingAwful.com, all the help that goons have given, and because I spend WAY too much time here procrastinating like mad, I picked up some novelty tire-valve caps:  Bike stuff by Martin Brummell, on FlickrAnd I detoured a bit on my morning commute to pick up some cheap gloves and a cheap water bottle with cage at Big W.  Bike stuff by Martin Brummell, on FlickrBig W is a department store. The bike section at the back of the store has mostly children's bikes but a few adult models, too. As is clear from this and several other threads, department-store brand bikes are the ones to avoid. So, I noted that Diamondback, the brand on my gloves, is also the brand of the $320 front-suspension "mountain" bikes at Big W. Shiny, red, disk brakes, but on my "do not buy" list for my plan to look for my next bike in second-hand market (FB and Gumtree).
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Oct 13, 2020 01:00
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ExecuDork posted:So, I noted that Diamondback... on my "do not buy" list for my plan to look for my next bike in second-hand market (FB and Gumtree). e: I just took a peek at their website, it looks like they recently made huge slashes to the number of different models between their brands. CopperHound fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Oct 13, 2020 |
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Oct 13, 2020 08:17
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Good to know, thanks. I've got a fair bit of thinking and planning to do in the next little while. I'm hoping to buy myself a "new to me" bike for a christmas present, but the choices are currently overwhelming. A quick look on Facebook marketplace shows almost nothing local, but possibly plenty of options in the bigger cities of Newcastle (1 million people, 3 hours drive away) and Sydney (5 million, 5 hours). And I don't have a car, complicating go-and-see plans. But I have months to work on this. I *think* I want a hardtail mountain bike, but beyond that I'm still coming up with stupid ideas.
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Oct 14, 2020 00:32
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ExecuDork posted:Good to know, thanks. I've got a fair bit of thinking and planning to do in the next little while. I'm hoping to buy myself a "new to me" bike for a christmas present, but the choices are currently overwhelming. A quick look on Facebook marketplace shows almost nothing local, but possibly plenty of options in the bigger cities of Newcastle (1 million people, 3 hours drive away) and Sydney (5 million, 5 hours). And I don't have a car, complicating go-and-see plans. But I have months to work on this. I *think* I want a hardtail mountain bike, but beyond that I'm still coming up with stupid ideas.
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Oct 14, 2020 09:54
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I'm just starting to explore the local terrain. My commute is mostly on a multi-use path, lots of walkers/runners, dog-walkers, other bikes, etc. But it's pretty short - 6.5 km (about 4 miles) and there are reasonable alternatives on city streets running parallel for anyone wanting to go faster. So far, the drivers here seem pretty good about bikes, and talking with a few people I know who ride regularly, this town's roads are not bad. I've been told about the surroundings. There are some well-known rides in the sort of 40-80km range that are mostly on paved highway with good shoulder (though I've been warned about a hill with no shoulder on a rural highway). And there are several mountain bike trail networks within easy reach, including a little mtb park on campus and the "Pine Forest" about 10km from my house. Further away there's the edge of the New England Tablelands, a complex of national parks covering the complex terrain where this plateau I live on tumbles down towards the coast through temperate rain forest. There are gorges and parks and waterfalls galore within 50 km of me and I know a couple of people who like to tell me stories about eating poo poo on rocky, rooty trails.  Mountain bike trails on campus at UNE. by Martin Brummell, on FlickrThis is about 300m from my office, and seems like a great place to go when I've been spending too much time staring at numbers on my computer screen. So, yes, I want a hardtail for versatility. The less-than-optimal features of a hardtail for an urban-ish commute won't really hamper me on my modest commute, and I'm not planning on jumping into any really gnarly moutain biking any time soon. Plus I've always wanted a bike with compressy-bits on the front. EDIT: I guess the other option I'm considering is a gravel bike, which would do very well (I assume) on the many dirt roads and farm tracks around here but perhaps not so well on the mountain bike trails. Plus a gravel bike seems like the more expensive option, and I don't see many that look like that (drop bars, wide-ish tires) on the used market. One of the two LBS here sells Norco - which I like because I'm a Canadian living in Australia - and I've been eyeing the Norco Storm 5 but that's just a starting point. ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Oct 15, 2020 |
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Oct 15, 2020 02:37
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Coincidentally, there's a milk chain throughout NSW called Norco as well! Have you managed to experience any magpies whilst out riding yet? They're a great, free performance boost! Sadly only available from September to November  For actual content, I did my usual weekend ride on Tuesday, albeit with an eight hour work day in-between segments :I It was amazing doing two of the three worst hills in the way in to work in the morning. Perfect temperature and I got to shower after suffering up them! Then had to endure the worst, rolling 5% hill over ~3km on the way home. I hate it, but I did it. Thankfully it's literally all downhill from there though!
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Oct 15, 2020 05:22
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Yeah, when I googled "Norco" the page was an interesting mix of bikes and dairy. I'll have to see if I can get a Norco (dairy) water-bottle to fit a bike. Or just clean out a chocolate-milk bottle and see if it fits. Y'know, get a bit meta. Magpies: yup! I've only had two interactions with them so far, in a week + 1/2 day of commuting. My first ride, I actually ran into a magpie. A juvenile was on the path, in a part with open-mesh fencing on both sides (the city was apparently doing something to the grass), with a mesh size big enough to allow a magpie through with its wings folded. This juvie didn't know how to smoothly dive through a fence like that and took off kinda slow, right across my path. I was slowing down so my front fork just brushed the tail feathers as it desperately tried to work the complex maneuver of landing on the horizontal wire, folding wings, and passing through. It never seemed to occur to the bird that it might be able to just climb high enough to clear the fence - it was only about a metre tall. The second was a more typical pair of swoops by an adult as I passed through its territory. It did not make contact, got within about 1 metre above me. I was also attacked by a duck. As I passed a family of Pacific Black Ducks the mom charged me, hissing. Again, no contact, no harm no A colleague has given up on riding this spring. She was attacked consistently at four places on her commute, and has decided to stay off the bike until December. I'm not worried, but I'm slightly masochistic when it comes to animal attacks, I'll probably show off with a goofy grin on my face to everyone any injuries I get from magpies. This morning my hatred of the hill was a little more than I expected, given how yesterday was a really good day both directions. Oh well. Metaphorical ups-and-downs are as much a part of my slowly improving fitness as the literal ups-and-downs.
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Oct 16, 2020 06:52
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ExecuDork posted:Yeah, when I googled "Norco" the page was an interesting mix of bikes and dairy. I'll have to see if I can get a Norco (dairy) water-bottle to fit a bike. Or just clean out a chocolate-milk bottle and see if it fits. Y'know, get a bit meta.
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Oct 16, 2020 12:26
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aparmenideanmonad posted:Not to derail, but Norco is also a very commonly prescribed opioid (hydrocodone) in the US, and it weirds me out when I hear the word used outside of that context whether for bikes or anything else. There's a North Coventry township close to me so I see it used by businesses as a portmanteau all the time and it's still weird. Norco is also a city in California.
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Oct 16, 2020 18:45
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McPhearson posted:Norco is also a city in California. And it’s the most bizarre  place I’ve ever seen in my life, the lines on the road are painted red white and blue and instead of paved sidewalks they have loose sandy horse paths.I wish I were making this up. e: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9384949,-117.5391183,3a,75y,280.12h,81.79t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEU10OUHy-abB-_LLVASPrQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 e.pilot fucked around with this message at 23:58 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Oct 16, 2020 23:51
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e.pilot posted:And it’s the most bizarre Whoa https://goo.gl/maps/jpDRavLBoSCurjoE8
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Oct 17, 2020 00:50
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It is an absurd place you’d think was satire if someone told you about it.
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Oct 17, 2020 00:58
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ExecuDork posted:I was also attacked by a duck. As I passed a family of Pacific Black Ducks the mom charged me, hissing. Again, no contact, no harm no
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Oct 19, 2020 09:56
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Hello fellow bikers! My old beater I rescued from the side of the road is starting to wear out and I'm finally in a position where I can look at buying something new instead of trying to repair it and keep it limping along. She's been a faithful old steed. I have more money to play with than I've ever had in my life. I'd like something with click-shifters and drop-bars and lighter and faster than a rusted road bike from the 70s. I'm honestly not too picky about the rest. Are disc brakes a good idea? I don't know! It doesn't rain much here. I'm very open to any suggestions. Location: Phoenix, Arizona Height: 6 feet Inseam: 30 inches Budget: up to $3000 (if the extra money makes a big difference, I'm also ok getting something for like $1000 or something because I'm just going to commute and bike around for fun, I don't need something for cross-country journeys or racing) Length of commute: 5 miles if using the metro, 20 miles by bike alone Terrain: roads and dirt/gravel bike trails
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Oct 20, 2020 03:25
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Does your budget include accessories like fenders and lights? Depending on what your lockup situation is like at work going with the lower end of your budget isn't such a bad idea, you can get a pretty decent modern-ish commuter in the cheaper end of your budget and spend the extra on kit that makes the commute easier and/or more fun. Disc brakes are cool and good, especially if you're getting something new. Mechanical discs are only preferred for niche situations that you're not likely to find yourself in, so go with proper hydraulics.
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Oct 20, 2020 03:58
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Zonko_T.M. posted:Terrain: roads and dirt/gravel bike trails https://cycletraveloverload.com/best-gravel-bikes-under-1000-for-2021-budget-gravel-bikes/ First hit from a google search for "$1000 gravel bike disk brakes" Maybe that's a place to start? **** In other animal-attack news, I have now been swooped by magpies on two occassions. It feels like an Australian rite of passage. And that same momma duck charged me again but got nowhere near.
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Oct 20, 2020 04:10
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Zonko_T.M. posted:I have more money to play with than I've ever had in my life. I'd like something with click-shifters and drop-bars and lighter and faster than a rusted road bike from the 70s. I'm honestly not too picky about the rest. Are disc brakes a good idea? I don't know! It doesn't rain much here. I'm very open to any suggestions. At least take a look at the Jamis Renegade line, it's one of the ones I always go back to when I think about retiring my crosscheck, and it sounds like we do relatively similar riding. It's a full range so take your pick on the price point. I've done a couple test rides on them and was pretty pleased. TBH the only reason I haven't bought one is because I'll inevitably build up from a frame to suit my stupid idiosyncratic taste in bikes.
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Oct 20, 2020 07:27
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Zonko_T.M. posted:Hello fellow bikers! My old beater I rescued from the side of the road is starting to wear out and I'm finally in a position where I can look at buying something new instead of trying to repair it and keep it limping along. https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/priority-apollo
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Oct 20, 2020 09:22
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This morning was the first commute of the season below freezing. Like a total noob I had neglected to displace the water in my shifter cable and was stuck in first gear for 18 km. Electricity got me to work almost in time but I got really cold and bored since I couldn't pedal in any meaningful way. My colleague who has a similar bike was worse off though since he has cable brakes that were both frozen solid.
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Oct 20, 2020 10:15
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Invalido posted:This morning was the first commute of the season below freezing. Like a total noob I had neglected to displace the water in my shifter cable and was stuck in first gear for 18 km. Electricity got me to work almost in time but I got really cold and bored since I couldn't pedal in any meaningful way. My colleague who has a similar bike was worse off though since he has cable brakes that were both frozen solid. ...how much below?
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Oct 20, 2020 11:12
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100YrsofAttitude posted:...how much below? Just a few degrees, but enough to turn water solid. The bike is parked outside so it doesn't really matter as long as it's negative centigrade.
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Oct 20, 2020 11:27
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How is there that much water in your housing?
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Oct 20, 2020 12:13
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Invalido posted:Just a few degrees, but enough to turn water solid. The bike is parked outside so it doesn't really matter as long as it's negative centigrade. True enough. Our basement hasn't got any heating structures in it, aside from being underground, and it's wear we keep our bikes. I hope that won't prove to be an issue for us. It rarely gets below freezing here anyway, but oof, riding in that weather isn't ideal. I used to do that a lot back in college but the trips were definitely far far shorter, 15 minutes tops.
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Oct 20, 2020 12:36
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Literally Lewis Hamilton posted:How is there that much water in your housing? I don't think it's necessaily a lot, but there's a huge surface area between the wire and the sheath, so I'd imagine a very small amount would be enough. I have a purpose made T-peice installed in the middle of the housing so it's an easy matter to spray some WD-40 or similar in there and push the water out the ends, but I neglected to do so all summer. Depending on how much the bike gets rained on I have to repeat this procedure a few times per winter. Replacing the cable entirely only helps for a while until it gets freeze-prone again and that gets tedious and expensive so I'd rather just keep spraying it when it becomes sticky (I usually get some warning with an increasingly sticky cable before it freezes solid). I have the option to take the bike inside both at home and at work but it's big and heavy and I usually can't be bothered unless I need to thaw it out for maintenance or something or I know it's worth it because of incoming snow/freezing rain. Also at home I can only store it inside in a poorly insulated shed I'd rather keep cold for economic reasons. But yes, winter riding in Stockholm kind of sucks, but it's manageable and preferable to the alternatives. The city is excellent at clearing snow and ice on most of my commute path which is nice. My biggest problem is cold, rain and darkness combined. I need goggles for the cold, and rain drops on those make a lot of glare from headlights and streetlights. I bought some rain repellant windsceen product last winter which helped a little but visibility can still be problematic. A nice thing is that Schwalbe has upgraded their studded tires with puncture protection. I have a new set of those waiting for weather that warrants their use. Hopefully I don't need to fix any flats this winter, but we shall see. Roadside repairs always suck but much more so when it's cold and dark.
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Oct 20, 2020 13:12
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It's not even officially fall yet and it's cold as poo poo I got snowed on at work the marshes are freezing over I just put the studded tires back in my bike and bought a second set of cobra fist pogies for my commuter because gently caress winter aaaaaagh. Time for winter commuting 
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Oct 21, 2020 03:19
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EvilJoven posted:It's not even officially fall yet and it's cold as poo poo I got snowed on at work the marshes are freezing over I just put the studded tires back in my bike and bought a second set of cobra fist pogies for my commuter because gently caress winter aaaaaagh. It's the same in Saskatoon, the leaves on the aspens and poplars turn yellow but they don't fall off until they're falling on snow, or if it hasn't snowed yet, falling into frozen puddles or onto frost-covered dead grass. Spring is worse, though. Just find some other place to be in April, the whole month is nothing but brown and grey and dogshit. EDIT: fall in northern Manitoba is just the afternoon of the Saturday of the second weekend in September. Sunday morning it's Early Winter. Further north, fall doesn't exist. It's just summer (12 C, sunny) directly to Early Winter (-5 C, cloudy). ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Oct 21, 2020 |
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Oct 21, 2020 04:03
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Welp for some reason I was remembering the fall equinox as Oct 22 not Sept 22. Still, it's so loving cold when we put our canoe into the creek last Sunday it made a crunching noise.
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Oct 21, 2020 04:08
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I dont think ill have to commute again until spring at the earliest. I'll pour a little cocoa out thinking about yalls winter rides
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Oct 21, 2020 04:51
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DeesGrandpa posted:I dont think ill have to commute again until spring at the earliest. I'll pour a little cocoa out thinking about yalls winter rides I'm jealous. I'm still grinding it out every day. Despite the shorter, colder days and the entire goddamn state being on fire, it still beats driving.
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Oct 21, 2020 05:13
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I've got a week long assignment in the suburbs, so I have to take public transportation 2 h each day, instead of cycling. Commuting by bike all these years has probably made my immune system atrophy down to Cancer Boy levels. RIP me
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Oct 21, 2020 05:35
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Zonko_T.M. posted:I have more money to play with than I've ever had in my life. I'd like something with click-shifters and drop-bars and lighter and faster than a rusted road bike from the 70s. I'm honestly not too picky about the rest. Are disc brakes a good idea? I don't know! It doesn't rain much here. I'm very open to any suggestions. quote:Height: 6 feet Depending on when you need the bike, check out the $1400 State Black Label All-road: https://www.statebicycle.com/collections/gravel-all-road-cross-off-road That may or may not restock some time soon.
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Oct 21, 2020 06:01
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With the shorter days and colder wetter weather it's been a struggle to get much good evening/weekend ride time in so I've been trying to force myself on a 30 min lunch ride most days and it's been real good so far. I don't terribly miss the office but I do miss having that bike/walk commute time baked in to most days' schedule.
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Oct 21, 2020 06:29
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kimbo305 posted:
Or double-check their height. Last time someone claimed to be 5'11" and ended up being 5'9"
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Oct 21, 2020 08:54
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Groda posted:Commuting by bike all these years has probably made my immune system atrophy down to Cancer Boy levels. RIP me Really? I’d say it’s the opposite. I almost always get colds or sore throats as the weather changes and so far I’ve been managing fine despite the cool weather and rain. I feel like my body has become more resistant to small things like that in fact.
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Oct 21, 2020 08:59
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Entropist posted:Well, it did take at least 2 years of getting shat on every time I made a post here to arrive to this particular way of presenting my perspective. But it's a pretty genuine perspective, you'll find similar ideas expressed by well put together channels like Bicycle Dutch and Not Just Bikes. I'm not sure what else I can say about it that hasn't already been said by them or that I haven't already tried to express in the past here. But if there's anything you want to know about bike commuting in a culture where it is normalized and well-supported by infrastructure, feel free to ask! im also dutch, i commute 50k by bike three times a week, and i also commuted by bike in tokyo for 2 years and this is entirely correct, cycling in tokyo is fine by comparison to many western cities, mostly because there are a lot of quiet side roads, but it's chaotic and people treat cycling as just "walking but with wheels", you are expected to behave like a pedestrian on steroids, not obeying right of way and giving way to cars and pedestrians at all times, riding on the wrong side of the road etc. it's better than, say, thailand though, and probably better than the us ive also commuted in the uk for about a year, ive seen plenty of people decked in full gear on racing bikes, often swerving around cars instead of just obeying the rules of the road and taking it easy, seen several near-misses happen like this. to a dutch person this looks insane and while i don't agree with the "second class citizen" stuff or whatever this poster is correct about cycling, and most western countries get cycling wrong completely. it will never become a widespread practice if you keep treating it like a specialist activity for which you need to buy loads of gear and go at high speeds. it will need to become a widespread practice to enable high density living in cities while sparing the environment, so i would say promoting bike commuting is pretty important so in short, those of who you dunked on this guy are wrong, at least about this topic
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Oct 21, 2020 09:28
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Shibawanko posted:to a dutch person this looks insane and while i don't agree with the "second class citizen" stuff or whatever this poster is correct about cycling, and most western countries get cycling wrong completely. it will never become a widespread practice if you keep treating it like a specialist activity for which you need to buy loads of gear and go at high speeds. it will need to become a widespread practice to enable high density living in cities while sparing the environment, so i would say promoting bike commuting is pretty important That many countries' cycling infrastructure is bad/insane should not prevent people from bike commuting despite the conditions. It's reasonable to discuss cycling in these environments but also to have totally different goals in bike advocacy. We can ask our cities to make separated bike roads that would let us ride at <10mph with masses of other cyclists. And yet still pull onto a tiny paint-demarcated bike lane for every commute until that infrastructure comes around. I don't see this as some form of selling out.
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Oct 21, 2020 10:09
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All I want from cyclists here is to not crib the worst aspects of Parisian driving culture. Everyone's constantly jockeying for position, it's really bad. People pass on the right or right into incoming traffic, ride in the wrong direction on bike lanes, and never heed pedestrians. If they can't pass you they will curse at you, non-stop ring their bells or something. Sometimes it's just easiest to go on the road with the cars despite them also being butts. There's usually just enough traffic that they can't be major assholes. What bugs me is the perception people make of me. I don't wear "gear" but I'm in athletic shorts for the most part even in rain, which makes people think I'm a fully geared jerk. It means people will actually move out of my way if I'm closing in from behind, even if I never pass people unless there's the proper space and time for it. It makes me feel super bad too. I've tried to offer people my bike pump to pump visibly deflated tires when stopped at a light, for their first very snappy response to an "Excuse me Sir/Ma'am" being "I can't go because of light!" It's not the worst, but it feels really toxic around here.
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Oct 21, 2020 10:56
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TobinHatesYou posted:Or double-check their height. Last time someone claimed to be 5'11" and ended up being 5'9" Vin Diesel posts ITT? Content: I just picked up some studded tires for winter. Think I’ll put them on my SS. Doubtful I’ll be going anywhere besides the grocery store and the post office until WFH stops, which I don’t see happening anytime soon.
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Oct 21, 2020 12:16
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