Biking: Catch-all

Bike Porn revival! (as I don't feel like posting this in new thread)
I just got into my first accident on my road bike and it was... well, sort of awesome
It all happened as I was riding home (from a trip to my grandma) through suburbs, and car before me was keeping a very slow speed (around 20 mph), when all of a sudden driver took a turn right, to stop by some shop, and didn't even took a glance to see if there's someone behind him. Just before I hit his passenger door I threw my body right (to avoid launching forward and landing on my head). I almost bounced off and landed on sidewalk on my right arm, trying to ease up initial impact. I ended up with few bruises and bleeding all over my arm, but no broken or fractured bones. In fact, I felt really... normal, because as I kid I kept getting those small bruises on a bike all the time, but the driver was scared to death. I told him we weren't going to call a police because it wasn't a big deal and I was alright. My bike looked alright too.
Not only guy did help me did driver patch me and drove me home, but he also left me with 300 USD (which is something like one-third of average monthly salary where I live and translates to 300 litres of good beer).
But most importantly I'm really happy that I didn't kill myself ;]

You have to love inattentive drivers. Glad you made it through relatively unscathed.

On one of my regular routes, I've gotten used to drivers pulling out in front of me at red lights. You learn how to swerve a bike really well in those situations.

Another thing to watch out for is newly installed bike paths. You know, the ones where the concrete is a couple inches higher than the dirt/grass next to it? Yeah, that's just enough to redirect your wheel when you try to roll through the grass and onto the path. Bike turns sharply, and you continue in a straight line at the 20+ mph you were going down the hill.

I did get lucky with that one though. The bike landed in the grass, so it was fine.

I figure there's enough bike traffic lately that we brothers (and sisters) of saddle and pedals can use a catch-all, especially since we're taking over the silly purchase thread and while they can be silly, bikes are never a silly purchase.

My latest ride, a Turner 5 Spot:
IMAGE(http://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/500/Spot_small.jpg)

As I said in the silly purchase thread, that's the original owner's pic. I'm moving over the components from my other bike then I'll post an updated pic that shows the color of the frame better. It's a deeper red than it appears in that pic. Right now I'm trying to track down a dropper seatpost in a 27.2 and then this will be an amazing change from my old Fuel.

I'll show you mine. Ofcourse it's not my commuter bike (I bike to work every morning*), but my racer...

IMAGE(http://upload.estor.nl/caad9-1.jpg)
This picture is a few months old; I replaced the saddle for a more minimalistic one, lowered the stem, attached my aerobars and removed the stickers from the wheels. It's a '10 Cannondale CAAD9, custom built.

And here's me using it.
IMAGE(http://upload.estor.nl/rbr-groningen-2011-1.png)

*: very common in the netherlands, 15min ride to the office on a sturdy, comfortable bike, very upright position, no need to wear special clothes/shoes/helmet. (Businesspeople in suits do this too.)

How did I miss this thread the first time around?!

I have two bikes as of September. A Surly Steamroller (no pics of my own, yet). I swap out the slicks for cross tires when I want to ride in the mud or snow (or both). And my custom Jamis Quest that I built only weeks before moving to Chicago last spring.

I want this bike: http://www.hover-bike.com/

They forgot "fighting crime whilst wearing a cape" under applications.

I'm surrounded by roadies.

Ordered a new XTR derailleur today for the new bike.

If it's any consolation, Liquid, I ride my Steamroller as a cyclocross bike every chance I get.

I've got a Surly LHT. My husband has a Raleigh Sojourn plus a Specalized Secteur which I ride occasionally. He's only about an inch taller than I am, so adjusting the seat post is all I need to do to make it fit.

The kids each have a seven-speed 24" Specialized Hotrock, though we're looking for a not-too-expensive road/touring bike for the 10 year old, since he's getting close to outgrowing it, and near to growing enough to fit a small adult frame.

LiquidMantis wrote:

I'm surrounded by roadies. :(

There are lots of nice rail-trails and canal paths around here, which is where I do most of my riding with the kids.

I have a 100km route on the road over rolling hills in store for me this weekend, though.

LiquidMantis wrote:

I'm surrounded by roadies. :(

Can't find a pic of the bike itself, but here's me on my Knolly V-Tach up at Whistler. I suppose I could ride it on the road, but it's pushing 50 pounds and wouldn't be much fun.

IMAGE(http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/atomic_dog/whistler.jpg)

Anyone else ride with GPS? It might be fun to start a RideWithGPS.com group to compare mileage and vertical totals.

I ride with my iPhone. Strava allows unlimited uploads from their iPhone app now, so I generally record using that.

LiquidMantis wrote:

I'm surrounded by roadies.

Ordered a new XTR derailleur today for the new bike.

My only bike is a Trek mountain.

Here is my Tri-bike which has a lot of miles on it. Going to buy a road bike as well, as this thing is crappy for climbing and I'm getting old.
IMAGE(http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/9193/img0954vq.jpg)

LiquidMantis wrote:

Anyone else ride with GPS? It might be fun to start a RideWithGPS.com group to compare mileage and vertical totals.

If you wanted to support the Buy Minarchist a GPS Fund, we can talk.

Minarchist wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:

Anyone else ride with GPS? It might be fun to start a RideWithGPS.com group to compare mileage and vertical totals.

If you wanted to support the Buy Minarchist a GPS Fund, we can talk. :D

I got mine from Verizon for 20 bucks a month.

Does ridewithgps work with iphone or android? Or does it require a garmin-style device?

I use my iPhone and Runkeeper and I'm not setting any records except personal ones. But this rainy May (that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it), I rode 150 miles with about 7000 ft of climbing.

Some of those are very suspect miles in a couple of spin classes, and not nearly enough of them are the ride to school with the kids. (4 miles round trip, with a 200' elevation gain. Some days I am not fond of the hill we live at the bottom of.)

Minarchist wrote:

Does ridewithgps work with iphone or android? Or does it require a garmin-style device?

Anything that can upload a GPX track, so Android would work with MyTracks for example. While there might be some third party apps that upload to RWG, I don't think they make any mobile apps. Like I said though, anything that can save as a GPX file would work though.

the bike I just got has an aluminum frame and I noticed that it makes a lot more noise than I am used to. Its all metal sounding noises Id normally expect form metal contracting and expanding with temperature. Its darn weird. I've only owned steel frames up until now, any one else have experience with aluminum frames?

LiquidMantis wrote:

I figure there's enough bike traffic lately that we brothers (and sisters) of saddle and pedals can use a catch-all, especially since we're taking over the silly purchase thread and while they can be silly, bikes are never a silly purchase.

Aww, I feel bad now. I totally didn't mind it, and the comment came from me not being able to see what page I was on(I had probably two dozen tabs open) and had to scroll up to see, since I'd just read through a bunch of posts about bikes and had forgotten what thread I was in.

Personally, I don't have any pics of my bike here, but it's totally a piece of garbage. I've got a Trek 7.2FX back home that I really like though. I picked it up for $400 new a couple years ago to ride to and from work, and let it get a bit worn down while I was in TX due to a lack of care. So, when I come back from where I'm at, I'll be finding a good LBS around Dayton. I don't see an issue finding one, given that the Wright Brothers were kind of a big deal when it comes to cycling ~100 years ago I figure it'll need a full set of cables at the least, and I'll probably upgrade shifters and derailleurs while I'm at it so I can start biking to and from work a few days out of the week.

AnimeJ wrote:

Aww, I feel bad now.

No, don't! I branched over so we could talk about bikes without completely derailleuring (hah!) the Silly Purchase thread. This was we can talk about bikes without someone constantly needing to buy one too, as fun as that might be.

Blotto The Clown wrote:

the bike I just got has an aluminum frame and I noticed that it makes a lot more noise than I am used to.

Yeah, I'm experienced both with aluminum frames and chasing phantom noises. There's no reason an aluminum frame shouldn't be silent like a steel one, but the light, thin walls can make noises more apparent than a dampening steel frame. What kind of sound is it? I'm guessing it's a typical creaking noise. Used frame or new? Full suspension? Anyway, it's a process of elimination, so here are candidates:
* Seatpost: grease it. Generally this would be noticed when seated, but not while standing.
* Bottom bracket: grease cups and check for tightness. This would make noise while on pedals, probably not while holding legs out and coasting.
* Chainring bolts: tighten. Same elimination as BB above.
* Rear derailleur hanger: if it's a removable RD hanger, put a dab of grease between hanger and dropouts.
* Dropouts: If you can make it creak on demand, see if it creaks with the rear quick release open. Put a dab of grease between the dropouts and wheel axle where it contacts the frame.
* Suspension pivots: grease and check for tightness if on a full suspension.
* Headset: Hold the front brake and rock the bike forward and back to see if the headset is tight or shifting/ticking slightly.
* Pedal axles: check for tightness, grease.

Basically anything that threads in or moves can be causing noise. Check for tightness and grease.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Check for tightness and grease.

Here's a photo of my cubicle cruiser. I don't seem to get out to the trails much these days, so it's seeing a lot more action than the MTB. The office here is pretty bike friendly, so I keep it by my desk when I ride to work. If I had to chain it up I'd ride a commuter bike instead.

IMAGE(http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv294/complexmath/cubecruiser_small.jpg)

With my garage full of touring bikes, my initial thought on looking at your wheels is that you must be missing some spokes.

Katy wrote:

With my garage full of touring bikes, my initial thought on looking at your wheels is that you must be missing some spokes.

I feel kind of the same when I see wheels like this:

IMAGE(http://www.fa-technik.adfc.de/Hersteller/Shimano/I/WH-7701-R.jpg)

This is going to be my next wheelset, probably one of my next upgrades actually. I want to be able to switch between my trail tires and some semi-slicks. Unfortunately I can't run my newish Crossmax STs because my new bike has a 20mm through-axle and my STs only work on 15mm.

IMAGE(http://bikesandmoore.com/images/library/large/cbros_cobalt3_29_whlset_red_11_m.jpg)

I used to think I knew how to ride a bike, then I started keeping up with this thread and now I'm not sure I even know what a bike is anymore.