Biking: Catch-all

Bought a Garmin Edge 510 yesterday in preparation for my 100km (~62miles) charity ride on Sunday.

Unfortunately my friends have not registered, so i'll be going solo, which makes it hard as hell :/

Oh well!

You know how the moment after you buy something really cool, you keep seeing possibly better deals out there?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/41...

Yeah. Dammit.

In any event, I still think I scored bigtime.

Paleocon wrote:

You know how the moment after you buy something really cool, you keep seeing possibly better deals out there?

Such is the nature of Craigslist! I saw an identical Burley trailer for $50 less than what I paid like a week later.

Smashed my right pinky between my handlebars and a tree on Oct 5th while walking my touring bike down a steep, wet, grassy hill to take shelter from the rain. It kinda hurt and there was a lot of pressure under the nail, so I drilled a hole in the nail to relieve it and didn't think much of it.

Yesterday morning, 9 days later, it hurt like a mofo. Ended up going to the doc who x-rayed it and told me it was broken in 3 places. Oops.

Now I get to wear a splint for the next 2 weeks. Shouldn't interfere with my cycling, although the doc said that my kickboxing classes last week didn't exactly help the situation and suggested I skip the punching for a while

Paleocon wrote:

You know how the moment after you buy something really cool, you keep seeing possibly better deals out there?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/41...

Yeah. Dammit.

In any event, I still think I scored bigtime.

A tri bike is not a good first road bike. (Apologies if this is not your first road bike!!! Perhaps I should just say: A tri bike is not a good road bike.)

You did great.

AP: You'll find a group that is rolling at your pace and get in with them. It'll be fine. Just don't get sucked into blowing yourself up to hang at too fast a pace. DAMHIKT. Have a great ride!

Serengeti: Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Heal quickly.

NakedHavoc wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

You know how the moment after you buy something really cool, you keep seeing possibly better deals out there?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/41...

Yeah. Dammit.

In any event, I still think I scored bigtime.

A tri bike is not a good first road bike. (Apologies if this is not your first road bike!!! Perhaps I should just say: A tri bike is not a good road bike.)

You did great.

Yeah, I know, but all the other swag looks like it is well worth the price. That and Ultegra and better wheels.

Serengeti wrote:

Smashed my right pinky between my handlebars and a tree on Oct 5th while walking my touring bike down a steep, wet, grassy hill to take shelter from the rain. It kinda hurt and there was a lot of pressure under the nail, so I drilled a hole in the nail to relieve it and didn't think much of it.

Yesterday morning, 9 days later, it hurt like a mofo. Ended up going to the doc who x-rayed it and told me it was broken in 3 places. Oops.

Now I get to wear a splint for the next 2 weeks. Shouldn't interfere with my cycling, although the doc said that my kickboxing classes last week didn't exactly help the situation and suggested I skip the punching for a while :-)

Hopefully there's no surgery required. That was suck.

Serengeti wrote:

Smashed my right pinky between my handlebars and a tree on Oct 5th while walking my touring bike down a steep, wet, grassy hill to take shelter from the rain. It kinda hurt and there was a lot of pressure under the nail, so I drilled a hole in the nail to relieve it and didn't think much of it.

OW! That sounds awful.

Glad the doctor set you straight. I rode with a broken pinky for a while, it wasn't a big deal in my case.

gore wrote:

I rode with a broken pinky for a while, it wasn't a big deal in my case.

Ooooo, Gore said Serengeti is a pansy.

Hope it heals up quick! At least you're good to ride so there's that.

My wife is traveling for work the rest of this week and all next week so between single parenting and the weather my riding is going to be limited. I think I might just hit the trainer and weights along with some easy rides with the kids to see if I can go on a PR streak afterwards. I think I'm going to need to gear up too. I seem to be good to about mid to maybe low 40s right now but need to figure out a shell layer.

LiquidMantis wrote:
gore wrote:

I rode with a broken pinky for a while, it wasn't a big deal in my case.

Ooooo, Gore said Serengeti is a pansy.

Hah! Pretty much the opposite, I ran to a doctor as quickly as I could... I'm pretty sure I'd pass out if I tried to drill holes in myself

My roommate dropped not one, but TWO, iron gates on my bike. Mostly resulted in inexpensive if annoying fixes, like re-running all the brake lines and replacing the brake housing.

However, he managed to snap one of my barrel adjusters. Probably one of the only pieces of original parts left on my bike, and I'm having trouble replacing it (my local shop doesn't have any in-stock).

Does anyone know what the technical name for this part is? The adjuster mounts into the top of the brake, the metal part where normally brake hoods would go (I just ride without brake hoods).

IMAGE(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6625218/IMG_20131016_092414.jpg)

Having trouble ordering a replacement online because I don't know the exact term for these type of adjusters.

You can see where the little piece snapped off. That's the part that sits on top of the brake where the brake cable runs inside.

It's called an adjusting barrel. (As opposed to barrel adjuster, which is usually inline.) (I know.)

NakedHavoc wrote:

It's called an adjusting barrel. (As opposed to barrel adjuster, which is usually inline.) (I know.)

Thank you, I kept getting results for the inline stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001C5GB28/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3JC3J6HCMOY9S&coliid=IH3PL6ZVJ62RX

That seems to be close-ish. Maybe if I ever get to cannibalize a vintage bike I'll keep my eye out for a duplicate.

Crossposted from silly purchase thread - bike show plus end of season sale. Went slightly above my budget but I think she's a keeper.

IMAGE(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-P4UT3N7y2vc/Ul8yskWn9CI/AAAAAAAAR5M/TPZI4cYJSX8/s576/IMG_20131016_181844.jpg)

I'm getting very tempted to do the same thing.

My husband did that a couple of years ago, although in our case we have a LBS that has a "Black Friday" sale of last year's stock at 40% off. This is better -- you still have some time suited for bike riding without a lot of cold/wet weather gear. Where are you going to ride it first?

Doing all five days to and from work this week was probably a little ambitious. My legs are mega-tired. It's just so much more appealing than hopping on the subway, I keep forcing myself.

Katy wrote:

My husband did that a couple of years ago, although in our case we have a LBS that has a "Black Friday" sale of last year's stock at 40% off. This is better -- you still have some time suited for bike riding without a lot of cold/wet weather gear. Where are you going to ride it first?

Already did two nights on my trainer at home due to work/pouring rain. Tonight is looking hopeful though.

Question for you folks - aside from an ugly top tube bag, what's a good way to mount my bluetooth speaker so that it's facing me when I'm riding? I'm thinking of getting something to hard-mount it to my bar in front, but don't really know where to start.

The speaker is this one: http://ue.logitech.com/en-us/product...

jollyeskimo wrote:
Katy wrote:

My husband did that a couple of years ago, although in our case we have a LBS that has a "Black Friday" sale of last year's stock at 40% off. This is better -- you still have some time suited for bike riding without a lot of cold/wet weather gear. Where are you going to ride it first?

Already did two nights on my trainer at home due to work/pouring rain. Tonight is looking hopeful though.

Question for you folks - aside from an ugly top tube bag, what's a good way to mount my bluetooth speaker so that it's facing me when I'm riding? I'm thinking of getting something to hard-mount it to my bar in front, but don't really know where to start.

The speaker is this one: http://ue.logitech.com/en-us/product...

This might be something to look into. My coworker just got one, he likes it a lot, though I'm not sure how well a speaker setup would fit in there...

WipEout wrote:

This might be something to look into. My coworker just got one, he likes it a lot, though I'm not sure how well a speaker setup would fit in there...

I'm already doing that on my MTB, speaker in there with the top rolled back... I just don't like it as much, especially now that I'm thinking of putting it on my road bike which is much slimmer.

I'm kinda wishing for a quick-release mount kind of thing like some handlebar bags have, and then I'll rig the mount/connector onto the speaker itself - like this:

IMAGE(http://images.mec.ca/fluid/customers/c822/5026-252/generated/5026-252_BK000-ALT-BIKE_view1_720x720.jpg)

Took the Jamis on its maiden voyage yesterday. Drivers in Cary are dicks. Had fun regardless.

Slumberland wrote:

I snagged some Levis Commuter 511s in my size off Amazon at a good price. Will report back!

Have you had a chance to try these yet? If so, how's the sizing?

I see they have a couple of colors on sale over at the Levi's site right now.

Paleocon wrote:

Took the Jamis on its maiden voyage yesterday. Drivers in Cary are dicks. Had fun regardless.

They are. Get out of town and ride on some country roads! The drivers are still dicks, but there are fewer of them

Been awhile since I was last here but I have a weakness for bike threads. I got lucky on this ride, It's a 2010 I found at my LBS just before xmas of 2011 for $350. My folks got it for me and, after a few tweaks it's become an awesome city-ride bike. I used to ride an OCR but had to sell it a few years back after a shoulder injury, took me a bit to readjust my thinking for a mtn bike... glad I did though

Edit: hrrrm, image isn't posting.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100860281@N03/10351145513/

gore wrote:
Slumberland wrote:

I snagged some Levis Commuter 511s in my size off Amazon at a good price. Will report back!

Have you had a chance to try these yet? If so, how's the sizing?

I see they have a couple of colors on sale over at the Levi's site right now.

Not sure about the Commuters, but 511s are super tight. My legs aren't really as beefy as they used to be, but I still couldn't fit my thighs into the 511s comfortably. They offer regular denim 513s at the store that are "slim straight;" basically the same cut, only with slightly wider leg holes. Maybe the commuter line is a little stretchier, though.

What do you all use to keep your feet warm in the cold winter months?

My new shoes have good ventilation and this also equates to my toes getting numb when I ride to work now.

What are some experiences you've had with foot warmers or toe covers?

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

What do you all use to keep your feet warm in the cold winter months?

My new shoes have good ventilation and this also equates to my toes getting numb when I ride to work now.

What are some experiences you've had with foot warmers or toe covers?

I bought the DZR H2Os for this purpose. I don't know yet how well they work since it's not cold enough, but the fact that they're waterproof certainly implies that they should also be pretty toasty.

Damn the lot of you! Without you I would have probably stuck to taking the tram and bus in the coming months, but now I am going to throw money at people to be able to bike through the winter.