Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

Damnit, that's what I expected.. I must say I've been wondering about getting lenses for a while now, would be so damn practical in summer time with sunglasses and all that, so maybe I'll just have to go for it. Goggles would be the second most important safety feature as there just isn't much you can do when the **** hits the fan and you get dirt in the eye mid-way up a jump.

 

Looks nice that, got the euro race look going without taking it too far . I've been looking at CX bikes at the moment too, either a Cannondale CaadX 105 or Genesis Day One Alfine 11. Either should be a good combo for commute\road & light offroad raz\lightweight touring. My workmate had a big CX bike urge over the past couple of weeks so ordered a Cannondale SuperX Ultegra, it's really nice, got my CX bike envy going

 

Spiffy! Word of warning though: those wheels are utter toss, so expect to be replacing spokes on them quite regularly Most all of Easton's stuff is quite nice, but they just totally dropped the ball when it comes to their road wheels (particularly the higher end ones). The last shop I worked at got in quite a large number of Easton wheels for suspiciously cheap, so I did some digging and after reading through several hundred reviews from a mishmash of sources I found there to be scant few good reviews of any of their nicer wheels to the point where most reviewers were recommending much cheaper wheels simply to avoid the hassle of dealing with the Easton's. This rather low opinion wasn't helped by the fact that every single wheelset sold from that store came back within a month (usually less) of sale requiring multiple spoke replacements.

Thus I would recommend you tearing them off the bike once you get it and selling them on as soon as possible, getting another comparable wheelset (Mavic are nice overall, but I'm not a big fan of their proprietary spokes). Or just build yourself up a nice bespoke wheelset - nothing like doing it yourself!

 

I'll see how I get on with them, I'm rather light on the bike and have never snapped a spoke or buckled a wheel ever. My current pair of handbuilt Mavic 717's on Hope Pro 2 hubs have never had a spoke key taken to them in probably close to 5yr though this could be because they were well built by a friend.

The building wheel part is an issue as it's not something I've ever really had the chance to do properly, though it is something I would love to learn. In the past I did but a pair of basic Maciv 321 rims and Deore hubs with the intension to learn, but never really had the time to get past lacing it up. Fingers crossed with this new job there will be time to learn.

 

Definitely do your best to learn how to build a wheel, as it'll not only make you well more valuable to your employers, but it is one of the most enjoyable things I feel a mechanic can do in this industry. I would actually go so far as to call it therapeutic when done right; it is not altogether uncommon for me to just rebuild a wheel for the simple joy of it.

 

Can you guys recommend a decent set of pedals for my racer? I had an old school pair with a metallic toe clips but one of them have broken off and left me with probably the most useless pedal to date. Also, the bearings are borked on one of them.

Sendt fra min HTC Desire med Tapatalk2

 

I apologise for the following, but I need to rant and the context is well within the theme of this thread. Plus you lot are always a receptive bunch...

Why is it that people feel the need to stray out of their side of the pathway, straight into oncoming, very quickly moving traffic?! What is the motivation behind such actions? Do motorists commonly drive into oncoming traffic?

It seriously angers my blood when I see it happening and I'm forced to put on the clampers in a rather abrupt way, but when it happens and I'm forced to take drastic action to prevent me from hitting you at 40+Kph because you just simply cannot stay to one side of a massive pathway system (seriously, this stretch is wider than a 2-lane road) then it gets me more than angry and I will generally bark my rear tyre and snarl at the offender in lieu of resorting to violence. Today this happened again, somebody veering into the wrong side of the pathway directly in-front of me, except it was on a tight corner directly at the top of a brief incline, with a sharp decline which starts right at the apex of the corner. This meant that I had to take a drastic, sharp turn into the corner hitting my front brake harder than I am comfortable with given the circumstances, which caused the front to lock when it met with an uneven expansion joint.

Normally I can deal with a situation like this without too much issue by just pulsing the rear wheel, lifting the front up, and repositioning it back where it needs to be. Unfortunately the wheel slipped out from under me a second time when I tried this, falling out to my left. Once more I lifted and repositioned, but it was in vain as my front tyre slid out to my right hand side anyway, causing me to embrace the pavement for a good 20 or so feet. After I came to a halt I stood up immediately and started looking for the moron who cut me off, only to find that he didn't even notice the noise (or didn't care) and was nowhere to be seen.

Though in my typical fashion I did manage to yell "Wee!" as I was sliding along the pavement. Gotta have fun somehow...

At the moment I am in quite rather a lot more pain than I am typically comfortable with, have a large bit of road rash on my left elbow and knee, have some quite bad bruising and swelling on my left thigh (with a good bit of blood coming out of it), and I'm hoping that my shoes and bike weren't too badly damaged (I'm too sore to actually get up and look). Mercifully my rather expensive helmet (S-Works Prevail - look it up if you want to weep) didn't sustain any hits, so I'm happy about that.

In other news: once I get time (and don't hurt quite so much) I have many pictures to post from last weeks ride that I'm sure you'll all enjoy It was a terrible weekend, and I have some rather amusing stories.



@Picarro: what type of pedals are you looking for? Cages? Flats? Clipless? If you're just wanting a good set of cages to replace what you've got I'd recommend a set of MKS quill pedals with matching cages and straps, as they're well nice and come in a couple different colours. For the price it's hard to beat them.

 

Gents, I am in need of your help.

A friend at work is looking for a hybrid bike for ~£450, he's looking at the Boardman Performance Hybrid from Halfords, available for £450. To a casual glance the spec looks alright, not fantastic, but a decent starting point with non-cheapo brands for most of the kit (i.e. no Tektro discs etc) what do you folks reckon?

Normally I'd tell him to go to a bike shop, but the peace of mind from a national chain that he can pitch up to with any problems is very appealing for him.

 

If he could go and visit a more specialised bike shop I would go there. Bike shops tend to have the knowledge to give good advice and will often go that extra mile. Going to halfords is the equivalent of going to PC world for a 'puter if you get me drift.

As for the bike you listed, it's not to bad but there are much better bikes out there. I would avoid mechanical disk brakes as they don't work as well as a normal rim brake. If he's after a hybrid rim brakes will be fine or go for hydraulic disk brakes as there is usually the same bike speced with hydraulic brakes for a little bit more.

At this budget, hybrids tend to be mountain bikes with a ridged fork and different gearing and road tyres. So don't be afraid to take a look at some hard tail mountain bikes. If he bought a mountain bike, there is nothing stopping him for buying road tyres for it. Take a look at this site for some background as well. http://www.bikeradar.com/commuting

If he wants the peace of mind of a large shop can i suggest something like this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/crosstrail-sport-2012-hybrid-bike-ec030144#features.

 

Well we popped down to the local Halfords at lunchtime for a look, and he was convinced that one is too much like a road bike for him. Most of his riding is, apparently, on canal tow-paths etc with the occasional jolly across fields. He's settled on going down to his local bike shop who recommended one of these for £450 all built up etc, which sounds pretty good with hydraulic discs rather than cable (they were my sticking point), half decent drivetrain and a lockable fork.

Thanks Rev.

 

Sorry to hear about your accident, hope you're not too hurt.

I'm a little interested by a couple of things though. Is there a an actual side of the pathway that walkers are meant to walk on in Canada? Or is it a split walkway with one side meant for pedestrians and the other for bikes? In Britain people don't stick to one side or the other of a pathway or pavement, and there's no requirement to do so. I was taught in school to always walk on the left though.

It's also illegal for a bike to be on a pavement, unless there is a specific bike lane present (as there is throughout much of where I currently live in Lincoln), although this doesn't stop the majority of people cycling on pavements and almost knocking me over on a consistent basis. Just interested to hear if it's the same in Canada.

 

Today I bought this



(sorry for phone pic)




Its a nice bike (though I know very little about bikes). I have just been up to the track at the park quite near me and done a few laps (to get a feel for it). the bars are too narrow for me, so I need to get some new bars, and, the gear ratio is crazy, I imagine fantastic for hills as there seems to be loads of low gears and not many high gears.

What do you think bike folk?

 

Did a lovely 60mi/100km ride on saterday! Love my new bike!

 

I'mm considering getting a road bike for going to uni and back next year, as well as going oout on the roads when its wet.

I have an 8(?) year old trek fuel 90, which was and still is a pretty good mountain bike. I spoke to my housemate who works in a bikeshop and reckons I'd need to spend about £700 to get something worthwhile.

The ride would be involving a climb from 30m above sea level to 190..... plus a shorther hill in the opposite directio at the other end

 

It might just be the angle of the pic, but it looks like the front chainrings are much smaller than you would normally find on road bikes, hence the low gearing.

 

I'd have to question whether spending £700 on a bike to take to university is worthwhile. What are the bike facilities like at uni? Are there covered areas to chain your bike while you're in lectures? Are they under constant camera surveillance?

I took my bike to university the first time, and it was stolen within the month. There are organised groups of thieves in many cities who target universities due to the nice bikes students have. This was the case in Leicester, because despite CCTV, my bike was stolen in minutes. My current university (Lincoln) are only now installing covers to all the bike locking areas, so last year my bike was being left out in the rain on the days the weather was bad. Not sure I'd want to leave a brand new £700 bike out in the rain for hours on end.

That's why this time I've kept the cost much lower (~£300), by using an old but quality Kona frame, and keeping the components simple (singlespeed). This means I can leave my bike with less chance of it being stolen (people see a bike with no suspension and gears and think it's not worth anything). I also wouldn't be distraught if it were stolen. The lower value keeps insurance low. With little space for maintenance, having a singlspeed makes a lot of sense, although you may well be put off the idea of a bike with no gears due to the climb you have to uni.

If using an old mountain bike is of interest, I'd advise slapping on a pair of fat slick tires (I think mine are 2.3" wide), as these make it so comfy (the tires absorb all the road bumps), and fast.

Edit. Oops, I was meant to edit that into my previous post.

 

hello really well informed bike people!

thanks to my new job I should be able to get a bike on the ride to work scheme - and as my 8 year old 500euro german hybrid bike is costing me more and more in parts to keep it running (a couple of weeks cycling round ireland with mates last summer didn't help!)

so here's the million dollar question - what is a good starting point for lets say an £800 hybrid bike. if you reckon its better to get a mtb, and just change the tyres I would be happy to do that - but as far as I understand it hybrids use mtb frames anyway. hardtail is a must, front suspension would be ok as long as I can lock it.

anything that I can buy from evans would be nice (shame they don't sell marin's as I quite like riding the one's I have tested!)

 

Aside from the obvious physical pains and wounds (my elbow shouldn't have that large of a protrusion coming from it), I feel quite sick - slight nausea, loss of appetite, issues focusing, and hot-flashes. Didn't hit my head, but yet I'm experiencing issues like one would expect with a concussion. But nothing seems broken or out of place, so I'm well enough I guess (and I've already been back out on the bike a few times, in spite of the pain). Wasn't pleasant at work today due to my focusing issues, but I got through by keeping my blood sugar high enough to where I just didn't care!

Ah well, so it goes. To your question: children up to a certain age can ride a bike on a pedestrian-only pavement, but beyond that bicycles are only allowed on the roadway (in general-use traffic lanes or specially marked bicycle lanes) and marked "multi-use" pathways. It was the latter that I crashed on, because somebody veered across, and directly into my path of travel. Insofar as side goes, "lanes" are specifically marked on most of these pathways, and it is posted and loosely enforced for people using all methods of allowed transport to keep to the right, allowing for a smoother flow of traffic.

To further flesh out what happened (and to give a better demonstration of the pathway system in this city), below is a picture I've prepared earlier of where I fell.


1: Where I was cut off whilst going in a left-to-right direction - or as most would call it, East (the peak of the "hill" there is just at the apex of the turn right below the arrow - it was just after this that I fell, and stopped sliding near to where the path meets the roadway).

2: This is the normal route for this pathway, but due to the river flooding all pathway users are forced to go across a couple lanes of traffic to get from one side of the bridge to another (it is a multi-level bridge). Due to the narrowing of the pathway most users generally will stay to a side allowing others to pass, which is in stark contrast to the much wider pathway on either side.

3: This is the typical width of the pathway system elsewhere in the city. Think of just how far one would have to go out of their way to block oncoming traffic on the much wider pathway to the north. This is why my hackles are up over this sort of behaviour.

 

Cheers for the explanation. Appears to be very similar laws to here. It is very annoying when pedestrians don't look before veering across a multi-use pathway. I've experienced it myself, but only at low speeds whilst on a ride with my gf (who just poddles along at a leisurely pace). I also find that pedestrians don't keep to the correct marked side of a multi-use pathway, which can get annoying when you have 3 or 4 people walking side by side and no room to pass. I can't bring myself to fit a bell to my bike, so I try to be pleasant and say 'excuse me' politely.

I've had pedestrians step out onto the road without looking as well, forcing me to swerve around them. It's obvious some people rely heavily on their hearing when crossing a road, which isn't good with nigh on silent electric cars, such as the Tiota Prius becoming more and more popular.

 

Could I ask for your help again please gentlemen, and ladies of course? I am looking into cycle computers at the moment and could do with some advice. I am currently on a calorie controlled diet to loose weight while also trying to improve my fitness. The diet is going well and I use a fitbit to monitor my exercise levels, provide motivation and provide a calorie adjustment to help me hit my calorie targets. It's great for walking and running but obviously can't cope with cycling so I'm looking for a heart rate monitor that can more accurately calculate how many calories i'm burning on the bike. My main worry is the exercise i'm doing on the bike is much more intensive than anything else I do and i'm not eating enough to compensate.

The bike computers with heart rate monitoring also seem to do cadence etc. Is that ott for a recreational mountain biker and would I better getting something like a Polar watch?