|
OC chat: I carry POM pepper spray daily and usually while riding as well. I like the pocket clip version and you can even match your jersey/bike colors if you want. Gels have a bit better range and are less affected by wind but you need to be more accurate, sprays also absorb faster and are less easily wiped off. Sort of a pick your battles thing but I feel confident with the spray. https://pompepperspray.com/
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2023 19:50
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 21, 2024 05:55 |
|
|
I think food and hydration can be pretty rider and location dependent. Personally, as a 250-290 pound cyclist (depending on how well I've maintained fitness from one year into the next) I've come to figure out that I need to consume roughly 250-300 calories per hour if I'm riding more than 25 miles or so and hydration is a big factor, too. In the winter it's less of an issue but in the hot and humid summers in Chicago if I go out for a long ride I take two 24oz bottles with me and make sure I've got somewhere to refill them if I'm going to be out for more than two hours. Any longer/less water and I'm going to be in trouble quick. For reference, a 100km/62 mile ride for me would mean probably ~4.5 hours in the saddle at my current abilities, so needing ~1200 calories and probably 100oz of water/mix in the warmer months at minimum to keep from bonking. I go back and forth between being able to tolerate gels and needing real food. I usually bring something approaching moderately real like a couple bars of some sort, Uncrustables, etc. and a couple of gels if I'm starting to feel like I'm going to crash and need a bit extra energy. I've done rides on purely gels and usually feel pretty gross afterwards but sometimes I just need the compact carb shot from some Gu Roctane to keep moving. The terrain also makes a big difference for me as well, if I'm riding roads or paved path then I don't need as much fuel as if I'm riding gravel or mixed surfaces. In those cases distance is less of a factor than time/effort and being able to keep track of some level of output whether it's with a power meter or HR monitor is pretty helpful. charliebravo77 fucked around with this message at 09:23 on Feb 17, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Feb 17, 2023 09:02
|
|
|
EvilJoven posted:Too bad Shimano doesn't have electronic reels so fishermen can have slap fights about electronic components as well. Just gotta look at the JDM options. https://fish.shimano.com/ja-JP/prod...min=&price_max= Cycling related: Holy piss I finally found a cycling jacket/jersey that will work for spring or layered for winter riding. I've been trying to find something that's DWR/windproof without just being a rain shell that fits my fat rear end. I have a long sleeve jersey that's fine but lol Windy City and sometimes it just doesn't cut it, it's also too heavy to wear above like 45 or so if there's not much wind. This should work - https://www.rei.com/product/157089/rei-co-op-junction-hybrid-cycling-jacket-mens My only complaint is the baggy unstructured sleeve openings, but that is my complaint with so many long sleeve items these days. What is with that?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 19, 2023 05:02
|
|
|
EvilJoven posted:A good compromise would be a velcro strap like on a lot of hiking rain jackets. Maybe cost prohibitive for that price point? My kingdom for a velcro strap. Gonna just order some velcro cable ties I think. The infuriating thing is the description even says, "Shaped, adjustable cuffs with knit binding form a weather seal over your gloves."
|
|
#
¿
Feb 19, 2023 06:29
|
|
|
evil_bunnY posted:The Ortlieb stuff I have has been *ridiculously* durable I've only used it once really, but I got almost the whole ortlieb bikepacking setup and it's awesome. Super well designed and quality materials.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2023 17:55
|
|
|
McCracAttack posted:This might be more gizmo than you're after but I got an older version of these Garmin Varia tail lights and I love it. When a car is coming it makes my bike computer beep and I get a little indicator of how far behind me it is. It can even see multiple cars in most cases. Definitely makes me more confident out on the road. I've been riding with one of these for a couple months now and I'll never go back to riding on the road without radar.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2023 21:18
|
|
|
Serendipitaet posted:What glasses do you people like? I have a decent pair with variochromatic and polarized lenses, which is great in very bright sunlight and riding through woods and tunnels. I have a few pairs of Tifosis, including a Crit Fototec, Dolomite 2.0 and an Davos set. I use the Davos most frequently, with the Clarion Blue lenses during the day. If I'm going out after sunset I'll swap to the clear lenses. If I'm leaving at dusk I'll use the Crits with the Fototec lenses, or maybe even the Davos clears if it's overcast. Swapping lenses mid-ride does not appeal to me at all unless I'm doing a bikepacking trip or something. I did get a pair of Smith Pivlock Leadouts recently that might be a little more conducive to that type of thing but I haven't tried them on the bike yet.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 21, 2023 00:58
|
|
|
After my first real deal holy poo poo I might actually get hit by this car event in over a decade of riding on the road I'm starting to think about cameras. Any suggestions for a bike/dash cam that'll run for at least 4 hours without having to connect a separate battery?
|
|
#
¿
May 7, 2023 03:28
|
|
|
A baby ate my dingo posted:The Garmin Varia radar has model with a camera that activates as cars get close/go past. They claim 6 hours of battery life. I’d imagine it’s a lot more expensive than a camera only set up though. Yeah, I've got the Varia taillight and I'm sorta regretting not getting the camera version.
|
|
#
¿
May 7, 2023 04:56
|
|
|
I've been trying to diagnose a near constant clicking on the downstroke seemingly coming from my bottom bracket. After two different park tools bearing extractors and a bunch of fuss I finally got it apart.   Yeah, that's probably the problem.  Mystery finally solved as to what is actually installed on this bike. 8 years of gravel, lovely roads and a few water crossings was a good run I guess.
|
|
#
¿
May 9, 2023 19:38
|
|
|
Anyone have a Canyon Grand Canyon 5? Feeling the mtb itch and it seems like a hell of a deal compared to other entry level models like the Salsa Rangefinder. I'd probably add a dropper seat post to it but otherwise the poo poo I'd be riding around IL/WI isn't exactly demanding.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 1, 2023 22:36
|
|
|
Project M.A.M.I.L. posted:Depends on the poo poo. If it's an animal that eats grass, so horse cow sheep etc, it doesn't smell that bad although it can be sticky. Something like dog or cat though, that stuff is horrible if you accidentally ride through it. I learned that the mud on a local sorta MTB trail is probably 50% dog poo poo by weight based on the smell of my tires afterwards.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 16, 2023 02:43
|
|
|
Project M.A.M.I.L. posted:Eww, I hope you ride to the you the trail so you don't have to put your bike in your car after. I drove there, but one of the benefits of having a Tacoma is the bed for dirty/smelly stuff.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 17, 2023 22:40
|
|
|
brand engager posted:These little radar things are pretty neat, now if garmin would fix the sensors dropping on the *40 series computers. I only had it happen a couple of times in my 1040 at first then never again.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 12, 2023 02:05
|
|
|
Dog Case posted:If nobody saw you eat poo poo it doesn't count. It's the emotional injury that makes you a real bikecyclist Last Sunday, getting ready to leave a coffee shop mid-ride. Minor brain fart while getting on the bike. Clipped in both feet then realized my partner wasn't ready to leave let. "oh I need to unclip. Wait I'm horizontal. Oh no" Crash down, bike in the air as I'm still attached and rolling around like a fat turtle on its back. Group of other cyclists: "are you hurt?" "just my pride" Laughter erupts
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2023 15:03
|
|
|
corona familiar posted:after getting trainer-pilled I've got a few things on my mind now: Check out Stages refurb/blemished and see if they have a left side crank option that works for you. I just ordered one for my bike for $209. https://stagescycling.com/en_us/product/power-meters/recycled
|
|
#
¿
Aug 8, 2023 22:56
|
|
|
tarlibone posted:
Bit of a hike for you but the apple cider century in MI is a good time. It's Sep 24 and what I'm currently training for. Doing a metric tomorrow, hopefully.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 13, 2023 03:39
|
|
|
It's more about time and intensity than distance for me, if I'm going out for more than an hour and it's not just a leisurely ride I will always bring at least a gel or something, just in case. I have started using Tailwinds powder in my bottles for longer rides so I'm constantly fueling, but also bring a few gels or other energy sources with me too. My Garmin prompts me to eat 100 calories for every 300 I burn and if I'm going for a longer ride I generally will follow that advice.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 25, 2023 15:54
|
|
|
Awkward Davies posted:I don't have a reliable way to measure zones and heart rate at the moment (not sure if I want to spend the money for a smart watch or whatever). However, I ride to get a good workout and I tend to get kind of locked in to pushing myself as much as I can. In general I feel like if I'm not pushing myself on a ride, I'm failing (this is a personal problem). The more you ride the more you'll get a feeling for how much you've got left in the tank but HR/power can help inform that too. Weather, elevation, hydration, sleep, etc. can have a big impact too. Gels are light and compact so tossing one or two in your jersey as a little insurance is never a bad idea.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 25, 2023 18:28
|
|
|
Krogort posted:On newer garmin there is a "stamina" feature that tend to estimate that for you, it decrease in 2 ways: one you can recover during the ride as you go easier and one that keeps going down untill you actualy rest. It even tell you how long you can go based on recent average power. Huh. I've got a 1040 and had seen the stamina stats come through on Garmin Connect but didn't think about throwing it on a data screen. I'll have to play with that next ride and see how accurate it feels.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 25, 2023 19:50
|
|
|
Oldstench posted:I'm going to vent for a moment. I'm a big dude now - 6'6", 395lbs. Quitting alcohol and dealing with serious mental health issues was the trigger for me ballooning to my current lovely state. It's my fault that I cross-addicted to food, so I'm not trying to push blame anywhere. I'm finally ready to get back out on the bike as it's the only exercise I can actually stand to do. Unfortunately, there are no road bikes that will support my fat rear end that I can find. Sure, I can probably get someone to custom make a frame, but that's gonna be $$$$ that I can't afford, and that would just be the frame. I honestly don't even know if they make tubeless slicks that would support me. The other option seems to be high-end touring ebikes. Those are way outside of my price range and I don't want an ebike. I'm not quite as big as you (5'10") but earlier this year I was about 310 and have been 285+ for like 8 years now. I ride a Giant TCX cross bike with 700x32s on the road and have had it also for about 8 years. I've put it through a fair bit between gravel and road riding (I've got two wheelsets to easily swap road/gravel) totaling 4,352.2 mi and aside from pretty routine maintenance I haven't had any issues. I can't find an exact weight limit for the newer Revolt gravel bike from Giant but most road/gravel/cross bikes seem to be an official limit of ~260-280lbs give or take - in aluminum anyway. Sample size of one but I have definitely exceeded that for quite some time. The other consideration is that potentially something more upright vs a true road bike may be more comfortable anyway until you shed some weight. My gut makes aero positions difficult for more than a minute or three and I usually am up on the hoods most of my ride. No drops and it's a fair bit pricier than entry-mid level road bikes but rated for 550lbs https://zizebikes.com/product/the-yonder-bike/. Stock tires aren't exactly road tires but you could probably find something slicker and narrower that fits, depending on rim size. The more I look at it the more it just seems like a fat bike, though. I definitely feel for you though. Cycling poo poo is largely designed with a sub-6ft 140lb dude in mind and trying to find kit and bikes and poo poo for someone 275lbs+ is a pain in the rear end. You're right though, it's the only serious cardio aside from ellipticals I can do without destroying my joints and it's hard to find the right gear sometimes. If you haven't come across them, Aero Tech Designs makes a lot of big and tall specific bibs and jerseys. Word of warning though, some of their stuff is sized all over the place. I ordered a high vis winter jacket from them and the measurements indicated something silly like 5x was what I needed but it's giant on me, kind of as I expected. It was on clearance for like $15 so maybe that was the reason. https://aerotechdesigns.com/ charliebravo77 fucked around with this message at 02:48 on Sep 11, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2023 01:13
|
|
|
Oldstench posted:
The Revolt is about $1300 msrp in their lower trim, so a bit out of that $1k range but there will probably be some sales soon and a glut of used bikes out there as people get bored with their covid-fueled activities. Just something to consider but if it's a $1k hard cap then I get it.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2023 14:47
|
|
|
Residency Evil posted:When do we typically see the lowest prices on bikes? Looking for a gravel bike and I'm curious how long to wait. When next year's models are announced and (location dependent) over the winter I tend to see stuff drop a bit.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2023 16:29
|
|
|
I run a Garmin Varia radar/tail light and Ravemen TR200 in the rear and a Ravemen FR160 for visibility and an Outbound Detour up front for navigation. Great combos and I ride with both tail lights and the FR160 even during daytime rides for visibility on the road and trails as people are idiots.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2023 18:19
|
|
|
resident posted:What rear light lasts 7+ hours? I have a NiteRider that’s only good for 3 that I’ve been meaning to replace My Ravemen TR200 will do 18 on low https://shop.ravemen.com/collections/brake-sensor/products/tr200 The bigger TR500 will do 7.5 on mid and 10 on slow flash https://shop.ravemen.com/collections/brake-sensor/products/tr500 Edit: actually the TR350 will do even better on runtime than the TR500, probably less powerful but same battery size https://shop.ravemen.com/collections/brake-sensor/products/tr350
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2023 00:30
|
|
|
I'm a fan of either sale priced Smiths or Tifosi for cycling, but good lenses are really noticeable for vision intensive activities like fly fishing/sight fishing where it really pays to upgrade to Costas or higher tier Smiths.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2023 03:18
|
|
|
Mauser posted:One of these threads was talking about rider weight and I got a buddy that's about 260lbs that was looking for a bike, probably steel or aluminum and nothing too fancy. Is that in the territory where he might need to worry about what he's looking at? He's interested in something more upright with flat handlebars, so I had mentioned he go try out the Trek FX2 and also just mention the weight thing while he was at the shop. I touched on it a bit a ways back in this thread, here's my experience: charliebravo77 posted:I'm not quite as big as you (5'10") but earlier this year I was about 310 and have been 285+ for like 8 years now. I ride a Giant TCX cross bike with 700x32s on the road and have had it also for about 8 years. I've put it through a fair bit between gravel and road riding (I've got two wheelsets to easily swap road/gravel) totaling 4,352.2 mi and aside from pretty routine maintenance I haven't had any issues. I can't find an exact weight limit for the newer Revolt gravel bike from Giant but most road/gravel/cross bikes seem to be an official limit of ~260-280lbs give or take - in aluminum anyway. Sample size of one but I have definitely exceeded that for quite some time.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 25, 2023 15:15
|
|
|
I've tried like a half dozen different saddles over the years and for my road/gravel bike I picked up one of these a couple months ago and it has been amazing. https://sellesanmarco.com/shortfit-2-0-comfort-dynamic/
|
|
#
¿
Nov 1, 2023 02:03
|
|
|
KDdidit posted:Thanks for the replies. Oh hey, I've ridden (the west side) Paul Douglas a few times and a LOT of other (below) trails/paths in the area. You could do a lot of the mtb routes with a gravel bike or hybrid with plush tires if you really wanted to but it wouldn't be a great time. It's not particularly rough/challenging but there's enough roots and rocks and things that at least having a hardtail is sorta the idea, not to mention the traction benefits of wider and knobbier tires. From what I have seen on YouTube/heard a lot of Palos is the same if not more mtb focused. If you don't want to ride actual mtb trails I would suggest the Des Plaines River Trail, Fox River Trail, Great Western Trail and the Prairie Path for crushed limestone you could do on just about any bike save for the skinniest road bike tires, depending on the day.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2024 06:42
|
|
|
amenenema posted:This is Midwest gravel, might as well be pavement in a lot of areas. Sure there's some sandy bits, and more rock strewn stuff, but most of the time you could get by with a 32c GP5000. The last race was 70 percent gravel, 20 percent road or so. I don't have much insight to offer, but whereabouts midwest? I'm in Chicagoland and always looking for more places to ride, particularly gravel stuff as it tends to be a little more scenic.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2024 21:59
|
|
|
amenenema posted:I'm in Grand Rapids, MI. The recent race was Melting Mann, the opener for the Michigan Gravel Race Series (https://www.michigangravelraceseries.com/) and it was out of Jones, MI just a bit south of Kalamazoo. Awesome, I attempted Barry-Roubaix like 8 years ago (on a road bike with rim brakes and lovely tires and a real loving muddy course) and DNF'd and did like 80 miles worth of the Apple Cider Century last year and have wanted to do more riding over in MI. Maybe get a buddy to do a weekend trip and log some miles.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2024 22:16
|
|
|
dema posted:I've been using https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004Y8DF for mid ride stops where the bike might be out of sight for a few minute or two. Or otherwise not right at hand. code:That Abus linked above probably has a slightly better lock core, at least.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 16, 2024 23:01
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 21, 2024 05:55 |
|
|
I'm a fat rear end cyclist so my calorie/carb needs may vary, but for any ride under 90 mins I will generally just bring plain water and an emergency Gu, SIS, Maurten or other gel/chew or two just in case I end up needing it, but won't generally use them. Over 90 mins I will put 60g of Tailwind into each 30oz bottle I bring and consume that as primary ride fuel. If it's a particularly long or tough ride I will bring a few gels/chews in addition to the 1-2 emergency gels. Last longer ride I did was about 2.5 hours and I consumed about 100g of carbs from the Tailwind and then I think I had another 40g from a gel. Total calorie burn according to Garmin was a hair under 1400 calories. The Tailwind stuff has been kind of a game changer. I don't need to make a conscious effort to suck down a gel or eat chews or gummy bears or baguettes or whatever. Just hydrate as normal and the carbs come with it. Waaaay easier on the stomach than a bunch of Gu gels or whatever too.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 18, 2024 19:55
|
|