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I need a recommendation for new rain pants. My old cheap set is wearing out in the crotch so it looks like I wet myself after I ride in moderate rain. Specially I'm looking for over pants, and they don't need to be super breathable because I mostly ride my ebike on my commute. Durability is important as I'd like to get a pair that lasts quite awhile. Ankle cinches are also important. I did some light searching and the selection of there is pretty bad. It's Showers Pass the only dedicated rain gear manufacturer? Their stuff looks good although I see mixed reviews about fits and sizing.
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Mar 14, 2022 20:03
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 17:15 |
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Sounds like I need to just rebuy some cheap pants. This last pair made it 5 years so I doubt I'll beat that. Cape and ponchos and shorts-only aren't really options for the weather here or the way I ride.
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Mar 15, 2022 05:09
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At least its not some English bullshit from the 70s. I have an old bike that has a derailleur mount that's threaded something like 12mm x 15 threads per inch. I tried every metric and inch bolt that exists before I looked it up and figured out why none of them fit. Solved the issue by using a IGH. 
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Apr 2, 2022 03:42
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I was in that exact situation recently and was very glad I replaced the tire too. Mine was a puncture flat in large part because the remaining tread was so thin. Thin tread also has MUCH less grip and when I saw how thin it was I was a little terrified I'd been riding hard on it. Highly recommend replacing the tire too, or at least swap the current front to the rear and get a new front. Assuming the rear is more worn which it typically is.
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May 11, 2022 03:08
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stephenthinkpad posted:If the internal hub can drop down to lowest gear automatically at red light it's still a great commute feature. I've been daily driving an IGH for years and I still downshift before I stop out of habit lol. The best feature for me is the low maintenance. Other than adjusting the shifter cable, I've used mine for like 5 years year round with zero real maintenance. And that's with a motor pushing 500-1000W through it all the time.
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May 25, 2022 07:04
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A brand new bike might be cheaper than that laundry list of parts but I'm not going to judge if you keep the frankenbike thing going. I've gone through half a dozen bikes that are all cobbled together like that. Either get a brand new one or do everything on that list and post it.
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Jun 2, 2022 01:51
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Anyone have a recommendation for a horn? Ideally it would be a generic electric one so I can wire it into the existing ebike system but I'm open to suggestions. I get cut off on the street by drivers, dipshit cyclists, and oblivious pedestrians daily and I have to choose between my little bell and yelling at them. People seem to get upset when I yell at them for trying to kill me so I figure I'll try a horn for awhile.
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Jun 5, 2022 01:54
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SimonSays posted:Yeah drivers are much more accommodating when you honk at them. It's the accepted way to get someone's attention on the road so there's at least a chance it won't make people angry. Yelling guarantees the driver will get angry. I'm not looking to rampage around town honking at people, I just need a better option to help avoid getting put in as many dangerous situations. That and chirp at people staring at their phones while the light's green.
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Jun 5, 2022 03:35
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Thanks guys that's exactly what I was looking for. Your uses cases are pretty much mine as well. Drivers merging into my space, parked in the bike lane, etc. I'll keep the little bell for the trails so I don't scare the hell out of dog walkers. Now if there was just a good way to communicate "take your right-of-way and stop yielding to me for no reason".
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Jun 5, 2022 18:06
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SimonSays posted:Given that the seller listed the frame material as aluminium, I'm not sure the measurement was done that carefully. If that skinny tube frame was actually aluminum it should be in a museum so no one ever has to risk death by riding it.
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Jun 8, 2022 22:57
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TobinHatesYou posted:Maybe the wall thickness is 2mm, pal. The diameter of the tube is at least if not more important than the wall thickness for increasing stiffness. Early aluminum bikes were reportedly super soft and terrifying to ride because of this.
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Jun 9, 2022 00:49
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Because aluminum can take very little deformation before it fails, so flexy often means likely to break. Add the fatigue from riding like kimbo mentioned, and tubes in that geometry aren't going to be very durable. Modern aluminum frames are designed to be very stiff to avoid deforming the metal to help avoid this problem.
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Jun 9, 2022 07:36
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Animal Friend posted:any ideas as to how i keep throwing spokes? How many spokes are on your wheel? Are they well tensioned? I'm about the same weight as you with a heavy bike and I only break about one spoke a year riding daily on terrible streets. My rear wheel is 36 spokes I think.
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Jun 19, 2022 07:16
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When you say "throwing spokes" do you mean they broke? And was this hand tensioned at some point or are you using it straight out of the box?
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Jun 20, 2022 00:00
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iospace posted:Hey all, I might be commuting to downtown soon, and was wondering what locks you'd recommend? It's gonna be a relatively high traffic area (not that that means much), and I already have a Kryptonite Evolution Standard, but was thinking of getting a second one to lock my bike to a post and use the older one to secure my front tire. As always Sheldon Brown has you covered. https://sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html
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Jun 29, 2022 18:59
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Under 200bux for a rideable bike seems very reasonable. I've paid more than that for half decent wheels. It's also peak selling season so you'll pay a little more. Swapping the chainring is very straightforward. You can do it with a couple bike specific tools or have a shop do it in ten minutes. That ratio does look pretty harsh but then again my knees are borked.
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Jul 7, 2022 21:56
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As far as I know all chains can be shortened. One of those special tools is a 'chain breaker' which is a little clamp and screw to force a chain pin out, removing any links to one side of the removed pin. Reconnecting the chain will depend on the brand. They typically have a special removable link but the details vary. If not, the mechanic can just force a pin back in in the right position. Every shop should be able to handle this no problem.
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Jul 7, 2022 22:29
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Oh we're doing aesthetics? Stem is gross, wheels are mismatched, chain is loose, front wheel is on backwards and the quick release should point backwards. Bar grips aren't my jam but they're like the socks and ties of bikes, it's your chance to show some personality. But none of that actually matters so enjoy riding it! (Tighten the chain at least)
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Jul 8, 2022 00:40
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To tighten the chain you loosen both the nuts on the axle, then pull the whole wheel backwards and retighten. Make sure the wheel is straight. It's only slightly loose so if you don't feel it while riding and the chain isn't skipping you could just leave it.
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Jul 8, 2022 01:34
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actionjackson posted:
Yeah the lever typically goes on the left unless you have disc brakes. I doubt it actually matters much. The bearings and rim don't care which way they spin and even though tires are sometimes marked which way is forward, I've installed them backwards with no noticeable difference many times. That and if you really feel like it you can swap the quick release around separately from the wheel.
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Jul 8, 2022 02:47
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The first one you linked is a mid drive setup. The motor turns the crank in parallel with the pedals and all the power goes through the chain and gears. This setup is more efficient because of the gearing and if it's tuned right can provide both higher torque at the wheel and a higher top speed. It also has better weight distribution.The downside is that the drivetrain takes a beating and you'll need to do more maintenance on the gears and replacing sprockets and chains alot. I have a mid drive kit on one of my bikes and I like it alot. The second one is a hub drive. It has the motor inside the rear wheel hub and the power goes straight to the axle. The upside is is dirt simple and durable. The downside is lower efficiency and likely either lower top speed or lower hill climbing ability. Also that heavy motor on the rear wheel can impact the handling badly. The two bikes are also very different geometries and so will ride very different. It sounds like you have enough experience with bikes to have an idea how different they can feel. You should definitely do some test rides if you can. Ebikes feel way, way different from normal bikes and there's a huge variety of them.
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Jul 11, 2022 01:15
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Oldsrocket_27 posted:Took a little low-speed spill on the way home from work. A car with the right of way waited when I stopped at a 4-way stop, and then gave it a little jump when I got in front of them in the intersection. They've been chip-sealing roads all week and there's pebbles and grit everywhere, so my front tire slipped out when I swerved away from the now-moving vehicle. What the gently caress is wrong with people? I'm pretty much unscathed at least, all my weight came down on my hip, which will probably bruise, and otherwise I just scraped my hand a bit. I've had similar situations come up before and now I refuse to go out of order. First stare at them, then put both feet on the ground, then take hands off the bars, then if all else fails point at the stop sign looking impatient. At that point I've always had drivers go first but sometimes they look mad at me for insisting they take their right of way.
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Jul 24, 2022 04:06
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I recently discovered there's a co-op style place within walking distance of me! It took a couple emails (lol volunteer run) to get on their volunteer mechanic list but it's been great so far. They have a weekend walk-in thing where we help people fix or build bikes that I've been volunteering for. They also organize group rides and stuff but I crashed recently and hosed up my shoulder so I haven't done any of those yet. If you're in the Seattle area and interested PM me.
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Aug 5, 2022 01:51
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I've encountered all of those people on my commute regularly and I 100% would rather be on a bike so I can have a human interaction. I can say hi, ask politely if I can get by, smile and wave at terrified pedestrians so they realize I'm not going to run them down like most riders, etc. I've also found that I can ride practically anywhere without trouble as long as I'm patient and not a dick. Closed roads, construction sites, paths, sidewalks, parking garages, parks. Nobody bats an eye when Some Guy on a ratty looking bike and a cheap backpack rides through. That's partly why I never bother cleaning up my commuting bike or go out of my way to make it look nice. The best time for this was early in the covid lockdowns. The streets were empty and I could ride straight down the middle of 4 lane roads in industrial areas that would normally be deathtraps. I had a great time exploring parts of the city I wouldn't dare ride through normally.
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Aug 7, 2022 20:07
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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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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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Pretty sure I asked this the last time I needed gloves, but: Does anyone have recommendations for very warm and waterproof gloves that will last more than a couple years? I've been using ski gloves but their insulation wears out like clockwork at about the 2 year mark. It's frustrating because the shell is usually fine. I usually don't notice as they fail during the previous spring, then about now I start to need them again and my hands are freezing.
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Nov 8, 2022 04:57
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Does anyone have a recommendation for a helmet with integrated lights? Are there any that are worth using? I need a new helmet anyway and I've seen some of those setups around town that look useful. Currently I've got a removable light mounted to my standard helmet but it's really clunky.
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Dec 13, 2022 19:21
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They don't come with adjustmentable lights? My add-on helmet light has a nice pivot feature and I regularly check to make sure I'm not blinding drivers.
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Dec 14, 2022 17:29
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Oldsrocket_27 posted:If you're ever wondering "Do they make clothes for commuting in this cold? Could I commute in the winter where I live?" the answer is yes, buy ski clothes. It was -35 F wind chill this morning and -25 home, and with ski coat, ski socks, long johns, and ski buff, helmet, and goggles it was entirely fine for a 20 minute commute. Getting to work I felt a little chill by the end in my fingertips and toes, and I was warm enough to be sweating heading home. No exposed skin and no loose fitting cuffs/waistbands so cold can't sneak in. Which reminds me I really need new gloves...
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Dec 24, 2022 04:25
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Invalido posted:
Do those come from some magical hardware store local to you? I know where to get all that in the US market online but I've never seen selection like that in person.
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Feb 3, 2023 19:41
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Invalido posted:pretty much a local magical store, yeah. It's simply a store that only sells threaded fasteners and nothing else. OK not entirely true I saw some screwdrivers and a neat little flashlight and some work gloves by the checkout but 98% of the store is screws/nuts/washers. There's only one of these stores in Sweden AFAIK so not part of a chain, that by happenstance is close to my place of work. This is fortunate because it's only open weekdays during normal tradespeople hours. (there are chains geared towards professionals like Würth of course but their selection is nowhere near as focused or fine-grained). I don't shop at this place often but when I do it's always a nice experience and I've never left without exactly what I needed. The time before today it was new screws for my motorcycle mirrors and before that it was some nuts and bolts for mounting a trailer hitch to a car. Everything is available online of course (these guys have started doing e-commerce recently too) but today I went there with some component like a hinge and the holder for my U-lock as well as some vernier calipers and it's real nice to see and measure which fasteners are actually the best fit IRL. Well now I'm even more jealous. I have access to all of that stuff one way or another, but nothing replaces looking around in person.
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Feb 4, 2023 21:20
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raggedphoto posted:Do auto high-beams work on cars traveling at slower speeds, I thought there was a limiter on when they would come on? I've been blinded several times in the past couple weeks by cars turning on their high-beams when I am clearly in front of them only to have them turn them off when I have to shield my loving face. It's been happening when I am walking my dog at night too, the same stupid Mach-E flies down my street with it's brights on to the point where it feels almost intentional that he's trying to blind everyone. A combination of car lights getting MUCH brighter over the last few years plus the eternal problem of morons not keeping their lights alligned properly means like a third of the cars on the road appear to have their brights on.
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Feb 18, 2023 00:22
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Albinator posted:I feel like bike lights on the MUP have also got unreasonably bright and poorly aimed in the last couple of years. Maybe it's just my eyes getting older, but those low-mounted ones seem brighter than stadium floodlights. Absolutely. I regularly tell people to aim their lights down and it's 50/50 they ignore me or give some bullshit excuse about wanting to be seen better. LEDs are amazing but if people don't have critical thinking skills they can be a curse.
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Feb 18, 2023 01:00
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raggedphoto posted:It can be hard to tell sometimes but what I experiencing is the headlights going from normal to blinding while I am in front of them going the opposite direction. Apparently this is a unique problem i experience… Are the cars hitting bumps? Even a small bump or the rebound after a dip will change the angle of the car and its lights. If the main beam is on the edge of hitting your eyes already that small change will put it right in your face. I live in a really hilly area so this happens constantly to me.
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Feb 18, 2023 19:31
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Mauser posted:Part of the trail my friend and I were riding through in Virginia had some construction on it and a temporary detour path was made using sand. Even slowing way the hell down and trying to prepare for that entry onto the sand and then a turn did zero and I went down immediately Some well meaning but less than thoughtful person sanded a paved bike path I used to use when we got some rare snow one winter. They took special care to hit the tight downhill S corner that can only be taken at 5-10mph in the dry. The sand didn't help at all with the snow and ice, then stuck around for months since bike tires don't disperse it well. That tight corner was a death trap until it finally cleared out.
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Feb 21, 2023 20:27
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Ok Comboomer posted:is it feasible to convert a singlespeed/fixed gear to Shimano Alfine? As always the answer is maybe, and how much work do you want to do. The first thing to check is the O.L.D. (Over Locknut Distance), which is the distance between the inside of the dropouts where the axle bolts in. Many singlespeeds have narrower hubs and therefore smaller O.L.D. The Alfine Di2 appears to have an O.L.D. of 135mm which one of the wider standards used on street bikes. If you have an aluminum or carbon frame and the O.L.D.'s don't match, then its basically impossible to use the wrong sized hub. Both of those materials are very likely to snap if you try to bend them more than a tiny amount. If it's a steel frame and the O.L.D. is within about 5mm, you can often just shove the hub in and let the frame bend slightly. I've done with with an old 10 speed that I wanted to put a 2x7 drivetrain on. Can you post a picture of the bike you want to use? edit - found this nice set of pictures describing the OLD: https://www.halowheels.com/frame-spacing-hub-o-l-d-information/
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Feb 26, 2023 05:34
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Ok Comboomer posted:It's 120mm, which would be way too small....but it's steel and could arguably probably be modified without much difficulty, which is why I'm having doubts in both directions. 120->135 is alot and there's a good chance you'll have to permanently bend the frame to get the bigger hub in there. If it's not a special frame or something I'd just go find a new one, 135mm OLD bikes aren't hard to find these days.
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Feb 26, 2023 05:59
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Ok Comboomer posted:well yeah, I assumed it'd be a permanent conversion. It's not a particularly valuable frame "cold setting" is just bikespeak for bending it far enough that the deformation is permanent. Asymmetrically bending the chain/seatstays is what they mean by out of alignment. I'd be more worried about messing up the handling more than clipping the chainwheel unless you're running giant gearing. Not saying you can't do this successfully, but it seems risky. If you really don't care about the frame and don't mind chucking it if it goes wrong, go for it. wooger posted:It’s one of those a cases where the money you “save” by using any part of your existing bike is about negative $1000, if it’s possible. But also this. If you want to do this for the fun of the build I get it. I regularly do weird bike builds just to see if I can do it. But if all you want is a practical commuter then this isn't the best path to get there.
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Feb 26, 2023 18:41
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 17:15 |
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OMGVBFLOL posted:oh, no other cyclists wouldn't be much of a concern. this area is squarely in the "only children and poor people ride bikes" suburbanite frame of mind. which is why this road between towns has no shoulder. Lights bright enough to blind oncoming cyclists are going to blind oncoming drivers just as much.
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Feb 28, 2023 22:39
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