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Electrical tape has always worked for me. I couldn't care less what my bikes look like but they're all steel framed and I'd rather avoid giving water a way into the metal. Clear pads seem like a good choice too.
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Aug 27, 2022 19:29
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Also, get some red reflective tape and stick it on your rack.
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Aug 27, 2022 20:34
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Reflective tape just makes Americans not buy good lights.
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Aug 27, 2022 20:41
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Groda posted:Reflective tape just makes Americans not buy good lights. Why not both!
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Aug 27, 2022 21:42
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oXDemosthenesXo posted:Why not both! Freedom
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Aug 27, 2022 21:48
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Groda posted:Reflective tape just makes Americans not buy good lights. I use both. Need a new head light soon though
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Aug 27, 2022 22:15
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Slow News Day posted:The only one I found that isn't garbage-tier (according to the store reps) is a Kona Dew. Honestly the Dew is a great value and a perfect commuter. If you can get one from a local shop i'd say that's a great choice. Heck, someone else posted theirs on this very page!
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Aug 29, 2022 04:28
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The Wiggly Wizard posted:There might be a way depending on your bike, your locks, and the rack. Could you take a picture? A kickstand, or leaning on your cargo racks or tires instead can help.   Ignore the bad locking technique and garden slippers, I was just popping into the grocery store. Electrical tape is a good shout and will fit nicely with the aesthetics of the used truck cover panniers!
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Aug 31, 2022 08:15
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Hurray for picking up a piece of glass into my tread that would have killed the tire even if it was tubeless. Thank the gods, however, for empty parking lots and CO2 carts. Then again, when you bike commute 5 days a week for a total of 21 miles a day, it's not if but when.
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Sep 3, 2022 13:36
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iospace posted:Hurray for picking up a piece of glass into my tread that would have killed the tire even if it was tubeless. I feel this. My rear tire is swiss cheese. I called the shop on Thursday to order new tires, and they quoted me a very reasonable price for the labor. On Thursday evening, what did I hear? "Pffffftffffftfffftfffftffftfffftffftffff..."
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Sep 3, 2022 15:35
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distortion park posted:
Wow that's a really long u lock. I would lean the front half of the front wheel against the rack (should be tire-only contact). Lock goes through the frame, front wheel, and bike rack, preventing the handlebars from flopping. You might want a cable leash to lock the other wheel, depending on chance of theft.
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Sep 3, 2022 23:39
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frogbs posted:Honestly the Dew is a great value and a perfect commuter. If you can get one from a local shop i'd say that's a great choice. Heck, someone else posted theirs on this very page! I’m three weeks in to commuting on my Kona Dew. My commute is 7.3 miles each way. I jumped from 6ish fairly flat miles on a Brompton to 14.5 with some elevation change on the Dew. Overall, I like it. I kinda wish I had gotten something with drop bars, but the handlebars are comfortable enough. The stock saddle is a bit soft. The rear chainring is a nice spread and the simplicity of having a single shifter is nice, but I can see where the lack of options could become limiting. I can feel where the wide tires add some rolling resistance. But the roads here kinda suck, and we get winter. I think I’ll be happy to have the beefier tires when the weather turns foul.
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Sep 4, 2022 01:22
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Dobbs_Head posted:I’m three weeks in to commuting on my Kona Dew. My commute is 7.3 miles each way. I jumped from 6ish fairly flat miles on a Brompton to 14.5 with some elevation change on the Dew. Don't let your dreams stay dreams.     (Adding drops this way can turn into a money sink real quick but it was my first bike too damnit of course I'm gonna be attached to it. Luckily the geometry has been fine for everything it's been used for, from commuting to loaded touring to cyclocross-ish riding)
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Sep 4, 2022 03:18
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Dobbs_Head posted:I’m three weeks in to commuting on my Kona Dew. My commute is 7.3 miles each way. I jumped from 6ish fairly flat miles on a Brompton to 14.5 with some elevation change on the Dew. Find out where your local bike co-op is and go from there if you want to do a drop bar conversation.
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Sep 4, 2022 12:54
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It's time to retry the Kogswell commuter, Dobbs_head.
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Sep 4, 2022 13:55
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I thought that generally adding drops doesn't work based on the geometry of flat bar bikes I put an aero basebar on my fixie and riding out on them is easily as deep a posture as my road bike drops
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Sep 4, 2022 14:25
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It depends on the frame. Usually you have a way longer top tube on a flat bar bike which means running a shorter stem. On a hybrid the conversion can often be fine but I've seen some rather ridiculously short stems with very interesting handling on drop bar 29er mtb conversions.
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Sep 4, 2022 16:08
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It's only September but winter is coming. I need to replace 3/4 snow tires since they're worn out so I should order those right about now. I've finally tired of cold hands and bought bar mitts after the better part of a decade of winter bike commuting. For now I've solved the bell issue by bying a cheap rechargeable electric horn/bell gizmo with a remote button to have something working at least for trial of the bar mitt concept. I spent some time trying to build a cable actuated mechanical bell but couldn't get it to reliably ring loud enough. The actuator is an old remote fork lockout mechanism that seems fine for the job, so maybe with a different bell I could get it to work. Haven't given up entirely on the idea, but almost.
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Sep 5, 2022 08:44
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My wife wants a laptop bag-pannier that could clip on a shoulder strap. She wants something that clips to the top of the pannier, either leather or waxed canvas that she could put a laptop bag and small change of clothes in that doesn't look clunky or terrible (she could wear it as a bag, but it wouldn't be full time duty as a bag, per se). We're poking around online a bit, but any suggestions from the thread are welcome. There are just so many choices out there for this kind of thing now. Planet X fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Sep 8, 2022 |
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Sep 8, 2022 00:30
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I don't think I'd exactly call it stylish, but this doesn't look that ugly: https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/single-bag-ql3-1 I recommend searching the QL3 bags because they don't have hooks that protrude from the bag. They get in the way when the bag spends much time as a shoulder bag. This one also might fit her needs, but it has the hooks that stick out: https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/twin-city-urban+F8102 I'm intentionally steering clear of recommending the higher volume bags because they tend to be black holes and you can almost guarantee any thing you want is at the very bottom of the bag. There are some cool leather/waxed canvas bags out there, but the clips are usually a little more frustrating. I have a Rando bag and a frame bag made by these people. They do gorgeous work with waxed canvas and do custom orders: http://www.guu-watanabe.com/pagesidebag.html CopperHound fucked around with this message at 01:02 on Sep 8, 2022 |
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Sep 8, 2022 00:58
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Thanks for that, much appreciated.
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Sep 8, 2022 13:34
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CopperHound posted:I don't think I'd exactly call it stylish, but this doesn't look that ugly: I have this zipper on one of my panniers, and while it definitely works, it's not a simple one-handed operation like normal zippers. You really have to pull on it and hold the bag with your other hand. Probably not a huge inconvenience for the purpose, though.
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Sep 8, 2022 20:09
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I got leather bar tape on my commuter and it's fine for grocery store and short trips, but I also like to take this thing out for some casual exercise. After a two hour ride my hands start to get kinda roughed up. I got some pretty worn out padded gloves and I think my hands are getting used to it at this point, but is it worth it to add some padding underneat or just a layer of squishy bartape?
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Sep 9, 2022 03:42
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Alternatively try to get your fit adjusted so you can spend most of your ride with your hands on the hoods.
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Sep 9, 2022 05:34
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Mauser posted:I got leather bar tape on my commuter and it's fine for grocery store and short trips, but I also like to take this thing out for some casual exercise. After a two hour ride my hands start to get kinda roughed up. I got some pretty worn out padded gloves and I think my hands are getting used to it at this point, but is it worth it to add some padding underneat or just a layer of squishy bartape? Buy the one true bar tape, Zipp Service Course CX
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Sep 9, 2022 13:24
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I think I need to adjust the brake lever position up a bit. They're old style and don't really give you a large flat surface to work with
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Sep 9, 2022 15:39
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I dunno. I can definitely appreciate the aesthetics of a pretty bike and my road bike such as it is I try to keep color matched an so forth (blue tires had to go cause they sucked though, there are limits). On my main commuter OTOH I give no fucks. If a component doesn't provide function/comfort/longevity I don't care how good it looks, I just get rid of it.
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Sep 9, 2022 15:44
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I'm procrastinating instead of working and just rotated the whole handlebar upwards a bit because it was kind of sloping down and the hoods are already way more comfy similar to the way it used to feel before I replaced the stem/handlebars. The brake levers just look a little odd pointing up a bit more than seems normal, but it works. I agree that comfort is way more important than looks, but luckily I don't think I need to replace anything else just yet.
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Sep 9, 2022 15:59
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Was this thread that somebody brought a Ride1up Lmt'd or other thread? I think I am ready to sell my current 36v bike and get a Lmt'd.
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Sep 10, 2022 00:15
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Ok, just did a nice long ride and the handlebars were rotating downward, so I tightened that up to the right position and upped the stem a little and it's back to being my fun to ride stupid old bike project again rather than just a project
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Sep 10, 2022 20:52
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I got a cheapo pair of USB head/tail lights when I got my bike (as required for night riding in NYC), but they completely run out of battery after a week of sitting unused. I only bike at night like a couple times a month so I don't think to recharge them often, it's pretty annoying. I got a Planet Bike Grateful Red tail light that just takes AAAs, which I'm excited about, since I can just pack a spare couple batteries in my bag for it and not worry about battery life. However, I can't find any particularly recommended head lights that take AAs or AAAs. Are there any y'all can vouch for? This is for biking in NYC so it just needs to be light enough for cars to see me, not to actually light my path. I was looking at the Planet Bike Beamer 3 (the Beamer 80 is their newer upgrade but apparently has a really common issue where the box just... doesn't contain the light itself, which is a truly astonishing QC fuckup; reviews at both Amazon and REI mention it!). Also would like the ability to quickly remove it from the handlebar mount (again, NYC biking, don't want to leave stuff on my bike when parked if I can help it..).
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Sep 12, 2022 03:01
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abraham linksys posted:I got a cheapo pair of USB head/tail lights when I got my bike (as required for night riding in NYC), but they completely run out of battery after a week of sitting unused. I only bike at night like a couple times a month so I don't think to recharge them often, it's pretty annoying. I just use a Cygolite Metro Pro 1200 USBMetro Pro 1200 USB and Hypershot 250 USB. Both are rechargeable and easily removable for NYC peace of mind. I throw them in my panier where I keep a little power pack to top them off during emergencies.
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Sep 12, 2022 05:00
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abraham linksys posted:I got a cheapo pair of USB head/tail lights when I got my bike (as required for night riding in NYC), but they completely run out of battery after a week of sitting unused. I only bike at night like a couple times a month so I don't think to recharge them often, it's pretty annoying. Cheap dynamo is the best for this use case imo. Never worry about batteries, and securely bolt the whole drat thing to the bike so it isn't easy to steal. If you're deadset on AA life, I really like the B&M Ixon IQ. It has a shaped beam like a dynamo headlight which makes it way more usable for city riding.
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Sep 12, 2022 06:03
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LOL that’s a terrible loving design. I’d just get MTB clear protection film. It’s more money that vinyl tape but looks way nicer on anything but a total beater. i’m also biased since I keep my bike in the house. Invalido posted:I spent some time trying to build a cable actuated mechanical bell but couldn't get it to reliably ring loud enough. The actuator is an old remote fork lockout mechanism that seems fine for the job, so maybe with a different bell I could get it to work. Haven't given up entirely on the idea, but almost.
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Sep 12, 2022 10:50
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Looking for a good rain jacket. Any suggestions?
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Sep 12, 2022 11:51
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evil_bunnY posted:
I might try a different bell. I might also try a two-stage design with a return spring separate from the one in the bell, and a lever arm that makes a faster stroke. I really like the fork lockout actuator, it sits nicely where it needs to sit in relation to everything else. For now I'll try living with the Chinese battery powered signal device i bough for 15 eurobucks though. iospace posted:Looking for a good rain jacket. Any suggestions? What's your budget? High end gore-tex shell jackets are amazing when they're new. Also pricy. Invalido fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Sep 12, 2022 |
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Sep 12, 2022 13:57
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iospace posted:Looking for a good rain jacket. Any suggestions? I just use normal hiking stuff, 3-layer jacket. Just get whatever is on sale. Neoshell is more breathable than Goretex.
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Sep 12, 2022 14:28
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iospace posted:Looking for a good rain jacket. Any suggestions? Packable roadie style for wind and light rain, or bombproof for heavy rain / backpack wearing / commuting / mtb? A 3L shell is unbeatable for the latter, just make sure it has nice big pit zips for venting. Shakedry is amazing, just depends which end of the weather/abuse spectrum you need it for.
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Sep 12, 2022 15:14
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iospace posted:Looking for a good rain jacket. Any suggestions? How far are you riding, how hard are you riding, and do you need to be on work clothes at the other end, or will you shower / change? For city pootling on the flat you can get by with any long coat in light rain / short journeys. Your legs will get soaked in heavier rain If you’re riding hard / far / hills, trying to be waterproof is pointless as you’ll just sweat through everything. I commute through UK winter in bib tights and a soft shell cycling jacket that keeps me comfortable but not exactly bone dry. Then change and dry everything.
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Sep 12, 2022 15:51
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stephenthinkpad posted:I just use normal hiking stuff, 3-layer jacket. Just get whatever is on sale. Neoshell is more breathable than Goretex. the thing to look out for with hiking hackets is to make sure its long enough in the back to keep your rear end covered in an aggressive riding position. cycling-specific jackets will be designed this way by default
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Sep 12, 2022 16:04
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