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kimbo305 posted:Refreshing and positive thread about someone getting into bike commuting: iirc she does ride a relatively Dutch-style city bike though. Which shows they can be both useful and fun in cities without great cycle infra.
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Feb 14, 2021 14:03
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Al2001 posted:iirc she does ride a relatively Dutch-style city bike though. Which shows they can be both useful and fun in cities without great cycle infra.
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Feb 14, 2021 14:23
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I looked it up and you're right, the posture is not quite omafiets-level. (most Dutch bikes have gears tho)
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Feb 14, 2021 15:48
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Al2001 posted:I looked it up and you're right, the posture is not quite omafiets-level. (most Dutch bikes have gears tho) When I lived there the ratio of SS vs geared was probably 1:1. The bike you pictured is way more generally useful than an omafiets IMO, but also needs more maintenance.
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Feb 14, 2021 16:03
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I had a new and exciting failure mode this morning. The bike became increasingly slow. The problem was masked by going down hill and having an e-bike. By the point it got unrideable it became clear I had a severely dragging rear disc brake. The disc was super hot, the caliper lukewarm. Pumping the brake alone did not free it up, but luckily there was a convenient snow bank nearby, so I packed the whole area with snow and within a minute and a few pumps it freed up and I was off again. When this happens on cars it's usually rusty brake pistons that refuse to retract properly into the caliper bore, but these pistons are plastic so that's hardly the case. Unless someone ITT has some better idea what's going on I'm just gonna assume for now that it was some freak piece of road grit that caused the initial jam and the increasing brake force was caused by thermal expansion. On second thought the pads in the rear are just a few weeks old and I didn't meticulously clean the caliper before replacing them. That could possibly have something to do with it I guess.
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Feb 23, 2021 07:51
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Are they sram? they're semi-infamous for getting stuck. Shimanos are semi-infamous for leaking.
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Feb 23, 2021 11:02
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When I converted to discs I just bought pretty random stuff that was on sale at the usual getting place, guess I'm paying the price for that now. Rear is Shimano MTB BR-MT500 (the one that got stuck) Front is Shimano Deore XT BR-M810 Brake handles are Shimano Deore Trekking BL-T6000 I've had some issues with leaks, or rather air bubbles. Especially up front where the hose connects to the caliper with a banjo fitting that I don't quite trust, though I haven't seen any leaks. Hard to tell during the slushy season. What are good brake components that don't cost a fortune, don't leak and don't get stuck? I'm a hydraulic brake noob. The parts list above might prove this.
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Feb 23, 2021 11:55
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kimbo305 posted:Refreshing and positive thread about someone getting into bike commuting: I can second her point about how road modifications for the pandemic helped a lot. I was already doing a mediocre job commuting by bike before it started, but then we had several months of very depressed car traffic where I was able to get much more comfortable riding on roads. When the cars showed back up I was starting/stopping faster, knew which traffic lights detected bikes, etc. It's a really daunting habit to pick up when you're not good at it, infrastructure doesn't support it, and the road's packed with cars.
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Feb 23, 2021 18:27
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I love all the streets that are closed to traffic to make space for outdoor dining. I hope they never reopen.
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Feb 23, 2021 20:28
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kimbo305 posted:Refreshing and positive thread about someone getting into bike commuting: I've never really considered cycling to be complicated or intimidating, but she brought up some good thoughts in that regard. Growing up in a cycling-positive environment is a privilege. I wonder how much of that feeling of intimidation comes from the greater focus on cycling as a sport in the US and UK, and the associated tendency to perhaps overcomplicate things? Enthusiasts love to geek out, after all. To most people I know, cycling is no more complicated than buying whichever bike appeals to you and just riding it, but the primary mindset associated with cycling has a powerful influence. Anything that makes people more comfortable with cycling is a good thing. XIII posted:I love all the streets that are closed to traffic to make space for outdoor dining. I hope they never reopen. I wish for all streets with multiple lanes to be reduced to one lane in each direction, and a large number of streets reduced to one-way traffic or closed to car traffic, to make more space for pedestrians and cyclists and greenery.
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Feb 23, 2021 20:50
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XIII posted:I love all the streets that are closed to traffic to make space for outdoor dining. I hope they never reopen. Yeah the bike/ped advocacy group i volunteer with has been taking the opportunity to push for as many of these as possible with the hope of showing people how much public space we have surrendered to cars and how nice it can be to take it back
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Feb 23, 2021 20:52
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KozmoNaut posted:I've never really considered cycling to be complicated or intimidating, but she brought up some good thoughts in that regard. Growing up in a cycling-positive environment is a privilege. I think most people are intimidated by how incredibly dangerous it is, plus how strenuous it can be. The thing that scared me the most getting started was the busy street I have to cross to exit my neighborhood that is supposed to be 35 mph but in practice is a free-for-all with very few gaps in traffic. There are also very few level streets here. My whole commute is hills.
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Feb 23, 2021 21:04
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Fitzy Fitz posted:I think most people are intimidated by how incredibly dangerous it is That's the main thing, either actual danger or the very least a very convincing feeling of danger. It really goes to show the difference in how antagonistic drivers can be, I've never experienced anything quite as bad here as what people from the US or even the UK describe, that whole "war on the streets" mentality. Fitzy Fitz posted:plus how strenuous it can be. I ride a 3-speed omafiets in Copenhagen, so...  (I've had upright "standard" bikes, MTBs, city bikes of various models, a friction-shift steel frame minimalist race bike my uncle built for me, I'm no purist) I think e-bikes really are the key to getting more people on bikes, not just the older people who ride most e-bikes around here. You either have to accept getting sweaty and taking a shower at work, or you get a bike that takes some of the strain out of hills. They're still way too expensive, though. KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Feb 23, 2021 |
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Feb 23, 2021 21:31
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I never found biking in the city too intimidating, but I think a lot of that was having spent years with a motorcycle as my only means of transportation back when I lived in Arkansas (where the weather would let you get away with that). They're very different forms of transportation, but the "everyone hates you, no one sees you" mentality is the same.
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Feb 23, 2021 21:53
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American car culture is every bit as psychotic as it sounds. I think one of the reasons people have trouble sharing the road is because their trucks and SUVs are simply too large to pass a bike.
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Feb 23, 2021 22:07
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And if the lane is wide enough, cars take that as a cue to go way over the speed limit 
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Feb 23, 2021 23:46
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I never biked outside of small 5/10 minute rides to close friends houses, when I lived in suburban USA. I'd probably do it more next time I were home, but it's true that the speeds are high for the town, and there's not as much space as you'd like. At least in France, legally, bikes have the right to be in the road, but I can say that at least Paris, people aren't very happy or agreeable to that. People pass way too closely, and I'm happy my commute is 90% bike paths. My partner is pretty much on the road. A car legit tapped her at a light (she and the bike were fine) either out of malice or ignorance, and she so thoroughly dressed him down, he didn't know what to do. I really worry about her, I've done her route a couple of times and it really doesn't feel all that safe.
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Feb 24, 2021 01:44
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Fitzy Fitz posted:I think most people are intimidated by how incredibly dangerous it is You mean perceived danger. Cycling is not dangerous.
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Feb 24, 2021 01:48
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Good point. From what I can tell it's twice as dangerous as a car (https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/166/2/212/98784), and our traffic accident rates are like 6x the rate of a lot of European countries, so maybe not "dangerous" but much worse than it should be? You're at least forced into a lot of unsafe road situations with our lovely road infrastructure.
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Feb 24, 2021 02:52
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Combined with drivers who are either oblivious or downright hostile to cyclists.
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Feb 24, 2021 09:19
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I'm more worried about negligence than aggression. So many people use their phones while driving. Where I live it's not even illegal for drivers over 18 
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Feb 24, 2021 16:22
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Hi thread! I haven't been commuting much by bike because of an annoying stair situation in our apartment which made it near impossible for me to safely get my heavy bike up and down to the street (plus COVID). Even with the solution: which made it easier, it was still hard to get bikes in and out of the apartment. Fortunately, our fixed term lease ran out at the end of January so we got to apartment hunting. EvilJoven posted:Not much of a cyclist if your first rental criteria isn't bike storage. Leng posted:It was a criteria, but unfortunately lower down the list to "budget" and "sufficient space for tiny human and cat". Well, I'm not one to make the same mistake twice! And thanks to the pandemic, the insane Sydney rental market is depressed right now with landlords trying to avoid vacancies and unpaid rent as much as possible. We just moved into our new apartment–it has ground floor access, tiled floors and an entire room for bikes right by the front door which pleases my husband no end:  (I'll be honest, I'm stoked about it too because now all the bikes are out of the way of the main living area which removes the risk of our toddler running into them/knocking them over/pulling them down on top of herself and getting squished by accident) The rent is only $10/week more compared to our old place. It's so much easier to get the bikes in and out that I'm pretty reluctant to commute any other way: - grocery run to pick up a few things for lunch: 4 min ride to shopping center, 15 mins to buy everything, 4 min ride back home for a round trip <25 mins which is officially the fastest I've ever done any grocery run - taking the cat to the vet:   (this being his first bike ride in a while–and on the front rack instead of the rear rack so being subject to a lot more motion as a result–he was pretty unhappy about it, lots of growling and plaintive mewing at all the traffic around us and the bumps in the road/footpath) - dropping our toddler off at daycare - riding over to a friend's house for our regular playdate: we get to ride along a nice wide shared path beside the canal and then through a leafy greenway with lots of birdsong Being able to cycle regularly again has made me so much happier. The only complaint I have is that it's really freaking difficult to try and wrangle the heavy baby hauler through the building's front door which is an old manual door–a pretty minor complaint in the scheme of things. Moral of the story: EvilJoven might have been posting in jest but having lived in an apartment where ingress/egress was bike un-friendly vs an apartment where getting the bikes in and out is a breeze makes a MASSIVE difference in cycling frequency and happiness! Bike storage and access should absolutely be a non-negotiable in apartment hunting.
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Feb 25, 2021 02:49
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Huzzah, congratulations!!
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Feb 25, 2021 03:08
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Leng posted:Bike storage and access should absolutely be a non-negotiable in apartment hunting.
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Feb 25, 2021 11:09
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Fuckin sick. Now ride bikes every day! 
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Feb 25, 2021 13:14
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Leng posted:Bike storage and access should absolutely be a non-negotiable in apartment hunting. I only looked around for apartments with elevators that'd fit my 200 cm long European city bike with panniers, and use it every day. No regrets, and I didn't have to disassemble my couch when I moved in.
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Feb 25, 2021 13:24
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The day I upgraded from a 4th story walk-up to a ground-level walk-in closet right inside my back door was a beautiful day Got to minimize excuses for not riding bikes
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Feb 25, 2021 19:00
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I rent a ground floor outdoor storage closet to store my bikes in and it's basically the best $50/mo expense that I pay for. As a bonus, I can keep repair stands in it, too.
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Feb 25, 2021 19:56
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Yeah, I went for the ground floor apartment so I wouldn't have to lug bikes up/down the stairs anymore (also it's easier on my aging dog). The noise from my upstairs neighbor was a small price that I was willing to pay. I've got a free storage locker on-site, but it's not quite big enough to fit bikes in. I've got my dirt jumper wedged in there, but I have to remove the front wheel and finagle it into place. Also, moving into the new space meant slimming down the bike lineup a bit. Sold the road bike and bmx a few weeks back, since they barely ever got ridden anyway. Last week I decided to sell the fat bike, since it takes up a buncha space and I basically only ride it for snowy commutes (a job that will now fall on my Timberjack). That said, the fat bike probably get replaced by some other silly bike (Surly Lowside?) at some point, so that's a wash. Speaking of snowy commutes, snapped this on the way in today:  Best thing about Denver is the snow'll be gone tomorrow XIII fucked around with this message at 21:44 on Feb 25, 2021 |
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Feb 25, 2021 21:37
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XIII posted:Yeah, I went for the ground floor apartment so I wouldn't have to lug bikes up/down the stairs anymore (also it's easier on my aging dog). The noise from my upstairs neighbor was a small price that I was willing to pay. I've got a free storage locker on-site, but it's not quite big enough to fit bikes in. I've got my dirt jumper wedged in there, but I have to remove the front wheel and finagle it into place. Also, moving into the new space meant slimming down the bike lineup a bit. Sold the road bike and bmx a few weeks back, since they barely ever got ridden anyway. Last week I decided to sell the fat bike, since it takes up a buncha space and I basically only ride it for snowy commutes (a job that will now fall on my Timberjack). That said, the fat bike probably get replaced by some other silly bike (Surly Lowside?) at some point, so that's a wash. That's a good lookin' biek and a good photo.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:23
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XIII posted:I've got a free storage locker on-site, but it's not quite big enough to fit bikes in. Never, ever, ever trust an apartment storage locker. No matter how much they tell you it is secured, other tenants don't give a poo poo about security and management won't give a poo poo when it inevitably gets broken into. Any space in an apartment that is not behind your own unit's locked door is de facto public space no matter what anyone tells you. I've heard countless stories of stolen bikes from "secure" storage lockers, over and over and over. Just don't do it. Guinness fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Feb 25, 2021 |
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Feb 25, 2021 22:46
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Around here keeping a bike in a storage locker outside your unit in any condo/apartment building is tempting fate, even if you're the only one with a key to the locker. They're broken into so very often. The only place that's relatively safe is the inside of your unit.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:47
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Yeah, I'm very aware that it's in no way, shape, or form secure in there. The lockers are all in the laundry room, so there's at least a locked door between them and the world, but I wouldn't put anything in them that I would be overly upset to lose. I got the dj for cheap and rarely ride it, so I'm not losing sleep over it living out there. I'd only ever hoped to stash it and maybe my "spare" fixie in there anyway.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:58
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New electrocommuter of sorts: I bought the bike used and cheap over a year ago intending to put a mid drive motor on it, but being a dumbass I bought a Trek with their special bottom brackets. I could probably have brought it off anyways with tools and material at hand but I'm lovely at TIG-welding thin aluminum and long story short I never got around to doing it. So I just bought a plug-and-play kit with a 500w geared hub rear wheel, battery, controller and everything else and slapped it on. It was a breeze to build apart from needing to fabricate an adapter in order to get the battery where I wanted it and solidly monted. Rack and fenders wasn't bad to mount at all, even though clearance is tight all around. It's early days since I've only got about 200 km on it but so far it's a great bike for my needs. Plenty fast, plenty fun and feels safe at high speeds. With the shock fork and large tires I'm not worried that an inevitable fuckup where I hit a rut or pothole or curb or whatever will send me flying, and I think it will turn out to be good on snow and ice. The best part is probably that something about this bike encourages me to pedal hard, which the electric cargo bike that used to be my main commuter simply doesn't. Also I think it will get me ready for road bike season which usually starts out not only weak legs but also neck and rear end pain. The cable management isn't finalized yet since I'm waiting for lights and a sensor to arrive, and I need to make a bracket for the front light to sit where I want it but all in all I'm really happy with how this has turned out.
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Mar 3, 2021 09:09
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I'm sure it's cool and all, but I can't help but think that says ATREK at first glance 
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Mar 3, 2021 17:12
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I had to look that up on SAclopedia. Wish I hadn't.
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Mar 3, 2021 17:58
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I did a bit of bicycle-related DIY, since I do 99% of my grocery shopping by bike these days. This surplus Russian medic's shoulder bag had been sitting in my closet for a while, after I replaced it with a soft-sided shoulder bag that's larger and more comfortable as a shoulder bag.  The medic's bag has a stiff front and back, and is made from super sturdy cotton canvas, so it's a really good starting point for mounting various fastening hardware. There are a bunch of them for around $40-50 on Etsy and various surplus sites, probably a lot cheaper if you find them in a random brick'n'mortar surplus store. My 14" Thinkpad fits perfectly inside, so I'll also be using it when biking to work, once the pandemic is over. I already had some webbing scraps laying around from a worn-out backpack, plus some elastic cord left over from repairing the elastic in an old jacket. The only components I had to buy were the tarp hooks. The end result is pretty good, I had enough webbing to anchor the elastic cord and have a nice carrying handle. The bottom ring slips over a hook on the bottom of the pannier rack and the heatshrinked tarp hooks sit snugly over the top.  I have another identical bag on the way from a Russian seller on Etsy, so I'll have two identical pannier bags  (Could I have gotten a set of pannier bags for cheap instead? Yeah, but I already had this bag and most of the hardware, so I only had to buy a pack of inexpensive tarp hooks and spend a bit of time on some fun DIY) KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Mar 11, 2021 |
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Mar 11, 2021 18:18
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KozmoNaut posted:(Could I have gotten a set of pannier bags for cheap instead? Yeah, but I already had this bag and most of the hardware, so I only had to buy a pack of inexpensive tarp hooks and spend a bit of time on some fun DIY) They also look insanely cool. --- Finally got hit by my first real rainstorm on the way to work, and arguably the worst overall, though it wasn't so cold so that wasn't an issue. I was so wet the back of my legs were dripping from water my shorts had absorbed from the front, which had seeped to the back. It was intense. But my waterproof socks held up rather well. They got wet, and the inside of my shoes got wet, but I was able to monopolize a radiator at work and drive everything there. On the way back the socks felt damp, but were actually just fine to wear. That was a good investment.
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Mar 11, 2021 19:16
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KozmoNaut posted:I did a bit of bicycle-related DIY, since I do 99% of my grocery shopping by bike these days. This is very cool and very relevant to me and my recently-installed pannier rack. I've just been strapping a gym bag I found at a thrift shop onto it, but bags that hang down the sides would be better. Now I have a real reason to browse Russian Etsy and eBay sellers! EDIT: and it's a Friday with no particular plans, just after payday, so the old standby of a bottle of wine, my credit card, and a bunch of open tabs is looking pretty good. ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Mar 12, 2021 |
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Mar 12, 2021 00:53
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There are lots of good options for pannier bags, I've seen people make them from big kitty litter plastic buckets, too. There are even some surplus bags that can be used just as they are: https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/polish-breadbag-surplus/9250 (Unfortunately they're sold out on that site, but they have the best pictures. I've seen them for sale other places, too) The best bags are the ones with some stiffening built in, either a full wood/plastic board or at least some sturdy leather backing. You don't want a floppy bag going into the spokes. From there, it's mostly just a matter of solve appropriately sized hooks or straps and optionally some elastic with a hook or ring on it. It's a good creative exercise And if you're browsing Russian sellers, get a Telnyashka or two, those striped shirts that Russian sailors and special forces wear. They're inexpensive, comfortable and last much longer than your average t-shirt. Despite my username and proclivities, I'm actually not Russian 
KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Mar 12, 2021 |
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Mar 12, 2021 08:13
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