Your latest bike purchase?

[EasyRider]

Happy New Bike Day for Ms. EasyRider! It’s a 2021 Jamis Coda step-over from Bikenetic. We saw it on the website, asked about it, and they built it up toot-sweet from the box. She went over for a test ride last night and loved it, especially the bottle cage. She’s been bike-less for a few years, since donating her Trek 800 to Phoenix.

I was surprised to find a sub-$500 bike in 2020, especially one with a metal headbadge, mid-fork rack mounts, fender mounts and a full crmo frame. The tires are 700×40 and 700×42 knobbies would easily fit. The components are nothing to write home about, but the lack of gaudy branding is a plus. The paint reminds me of a 2001 Bianchi Pista. It’s a great bike!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21793[/ATTACH]

[KWL]

I was able to find a Surly Midnight Special in stock in my size! If I want to ride the Fallon Park cyclocross course I think I may want to find more appropriate tires. As it is, the gravel alleys around Roanoke’s old neighborhoods are great fun on this bike.

[rcannon100]

@KWL 202883 wrote:

I was able to find a Surly Midnight Special

Dude. Nice bike!

[AliasXIII]

I was always hesitant to leave my bike out while at concerts and such. Which often meant getting kinda stuck at the Anthem.
So this is my new, much cheaper, bike for going to concerts. Someday there will be concerts again.
In the meantime I have to struggle against making too many upgrades to this thing, because that would kinda defeat the purpose.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21803[/ATTACH]

[drevil]

I got a custom half frame bag from Rogue Panda. It’s a design I created for one of my club’s bike jerseys a few years ago. I sent slightly modified Illustrator files to Rogue Panda, and they printed it on the material for the bag.

Rogue Panda Custom Frame Bag by bikecentric, on Flickr

[dkel]

@dkel 202703 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21765[/ATTACH]

Time for a makeover!

Got the rest of the components for the makeover:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]21878[/ATTACH]

There’s also a tool in there to facilitate future hub service.

[Boo Boo]

Sunrise bars for my 1×1 – arrived yesterday.

Huge upgrade over the old bars I had on there.

[img]https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/136134486_10224995320291646_885506356384421961_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=RrxAxgUgKcEAX_MF2xc&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=f0276c258aaf06e467ae1518754910ad&oe=60189B41[/img]

[img]https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/133861702_10224949745832313_4239909629711946582_o.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=2&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=ClntjZhVMOcAX_Qtll3&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=92b078f6c25eae4060ba94a886759794&oe=6018D921[/img]

[Boo Boo]

New shoes (700×50 Clemente X’Plor MSOs vs the stock 700×42 Terrevails) for the Stormchaser:

[img]https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/136437906_10225048227294288_5711458567629967455_o.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=2&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=ab2tF1VurzAAX-AtTaC&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=4599e020fd8af930df8c260be2e83f5a&oe=6022C766[/img]

[img]https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/135856128_10225048225214236_551358873596578577_o.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=2&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=u1DMF0u_WzwAX88eWkf&_nc_oc=AQn-BkqRCcDWTcaWW0UWZUJ9GHSMtQerRwLNmbfPoJ7xavoSQlI3QEYpsgv_OjqnTCcEOmD1Pz9qwGocMrbCFUDq&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=c1e08675d0cc982b7f8837993bcebad1&oe=6020F8E0[/img]

[img]https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/135533132_10225048221774150_3391405157123962037_o.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=2&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=wgJWkpsUNDUAX8Jk1Rz&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=1757789c090b93ac62d44b9a8fb5a10f&oe=60216779[/img]

[img]https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/136139465_10225048225854252_5783196939503748150_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=2&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=4w2kJfVJdjQAX_5VeWC&_nc_oc=AQnCXoKycxEylCzeMUdPSufe4FEVX6DfGHYTOkyDnMsyZsRYGZ7gDFok1MeycxNxHEC3V_CDdKZSkWYzAnoAVqRl&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=f98435a0929aec410dee5873c661b084&oe=60231EF4[/img]

[LhasaCM]

To help keep me biking and able to get around town for appointments during my current “low energy” phase, I went ahead and bought myself an eBike on a bit of a whim. It’s a Priority Current (size medium). Got a pretty good deal between being a previous customer (bought my daughter’s last two bikes from them) and a review site’s discount code.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]23756[/ATTACH]

The good:

1. It was in stock and shipped the next day (and arrived a day later from the warehouse in PA).
2. Very torque-y mid-drive motor.
3. Came with fenders, plus integrated lights. And rack mounts.
4. Belt drive!!!!! With 5-speed Shimano IGH.
5. Tektro dual piston hydraulic disc brakes
6. User configurable to set the speed at which the pedal assist cuts out. (Set to 20mph by default, which is where I’ll keep it given my normal MBT usage/DC laws/etc., but nice to have the option to make it a class 3 bike if I wanted/were appropriate)

The not-so-good:

1. Front wheel was jammed into the crank arm for shipping, helping to result in a very untrue wheel upon arrival. Nothing the Daily Rider couldn’t fix, though of course that added to the cost. (I could’ve had it shipped to a LBS like City Bikes, Spokes, or Bikenetic for them to assemble at a very reasonable price, but I was impatient and wanted it ASAP.)
2. The “brains” of the system is with the display, and the display is non-detachable. Not ideal for city-usage; not sure what it means if someone cuts the wires and steals it.
3. Personal complaint, but it uses Schrader valves on the tubes, with 650b wheels. This means it matches none of the family’s other bikes (my wife’s eBike uses 700c Schrader valve tubes, and my other two bikes are 650b Presta tubeless or 700c Presta tubeless).
4. Unclear what the origin of the motor is: rebadged name brand or no-name generic? What’s the longevity going to be like?

I’ll be slowly working to get back some stamina and ability (and desire) to get around. For today’s ride, I decided to push it and myself while enjoying the maximum assist level. Went around 17 miles and had ~20% battery life left based on the number of bars. Seems to be slightly less than the quoted “30-60 miles depending on assist level” but I’ll see how that evolves as the bike is broken in.

I did swap out the supplied pedals with some larger Stamp 3 flat pedals that I’m more used to, and also replaced the seat post/saddle with my beloved Shockstop suspension seatpost and Infinity saddle combination. I also added an Abus frame lock for the rear wheel to use with a chain to lock it when out an about.

On the “to do” list will be to see if I also want to swap in a Shockstop suspension stem like I have on my other bikes, decide if the Infinity saddle makes sense with the more upright position or if I want to do something else, and also switch the “Ergon-like” supplied grips with actual “Ergon” GP1 grips.

All in all – I’m “happy but not over the moon thrilled” with the purchase.

[jrenaut]

Sorry, bumped the dislike and can’t seem to undo

[Tania]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]24378[/ATTACH]

New grocery-getter/townie bike. I’ve got a rack on the back and I’m thinking of putting grocery panniers on it. SteveO recommended Arkel’s and then Banjo Brothers has some that are significantly cheaper. My issue is that my canvas grocery tote bags are wider/longer than standard grocery bags so I’m not sure how easy it will be to drop my canvas bag into the pannier. I kinda want to quickly plop my reusable canvas bags onto the bike/into a basket/pannier/whatever and then pedal off. I don’t want to have to fight with fasteners or roll tops or flaps or wedging my too-big bags into panniers. It’s a half mile to the store, it’s not like it needs to be secure and waterproof.

May try the folding Ward side basket panniers instead – anyone have them? If so, do they rattle? Can I put them them on and take them off pretty easily like with a standard pannier?

A Surly 24-pack front rack is going on tomorrow and then I have to figure out what I’m doing with it. I’ll probably just zip tie a milk crate to it initially.

Open to recommendations for sure.

[n18]

I have these Panniers, which can carry a standard grocery bag in each Pannier. They cost $70 but that’s for a pair of two, so they are $35/Each. I have a rebranded version of it called JANND that you can see here. Mine has a footprint of 12″x9″, but the description on Amazon says 14″x9″, maybe they have changed it? Mine can hold a Whole Food bag, or two gallons of milk side by side. Please see customer images below:

https://www.amazon.com/Bushwhacker-Omaha-Bicycle-Grocery-Accessories/dp/B00B4ZKZK0/

They are kind of awkward to carry while shopping unless you put them on a grocery cart. They have a carrying handle, see the 3rd product picture.

Removing them from a rack can be easy or hard depending on the type of rack. I had two bikes with two different racks. Axiom racks were the best. They have an angled bracket that the bottom hook attaches to. See this picture. The other rack didn’t have that, just a hole and it was a struggle to get the pannier in and out.

Here are Axiom racks:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=axiom+rack&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
https://www.axiomgear.com/products/racks/streamliner-racks/streamliner-disc-dlx/

I bought the rack from Bikenetic, but I don’t know if they have the Disc compatible version.

[Sunyata]

@Tania 208475 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]24378[/ATTACH]

New grocery-getter/townie bike. I’ve got a rack on the back and I’m thinking of putting grocery panniers on it. SteveO recommended Arkel’s and then Banjo Brothers has some that are significantly cheaper. My issue is that my canvas grocery tote bags are wider/longer than standard grocery bags so I’m not sure how easy it will be to drop my canvas bag into the pannier. I kinda want to quickly plop my reusable canvas bags onto the bike/into a basket/pannier/whatever and then pedal off. I don’t want to have to fight with fasteners or roll tops or flaps or wedging my too-big bags into panniers. It’s a half mile to the store, it’s not like it needs to be secure and waterproof.

May try the folding Ward side basket panniers instead – anyone have them? If so, do they rattle? Can I put them them on and take them off pretty easily like with a standard pannier?

A Surly 24-pack front rack is going on tomorrow and then I have to figure out what I’m doing with it. I’ll probably just zip tie a milk crate to it initially.

Open to recommendations for sure.

I have Basil rear baskets for grocery getting. I love them and my canvas bags fit with minimal readjusting (they are about twice the size of regular paper grocery bags). Bonus: Bikenetic carries them.

[n18]

From my notes: Whole Foods grocery bag size : 12″ W x 7″ D x 16.5″ H. Gallon of Milk footprint: 6.0″ x 6.0″.

[Tania]

@n18 208492 wrote:

I have these Panniers, which can carry a standard grocery bag in each Pannier. They cost $70 but that’s for a pair of two, so they are $35/Each. I have a rebranded version of it called JANND that you can see here. Mine has a footprint of 12″x9″, but the description on Amazon says 14″x9″, maybe they have changed it? Mine can hold a Whole Food bag, or two gallons of milk side by side. Please see customer images below:

https://www.amazon.com/Bushwhacker-Omaha-Bicycle-Grocery-Accessories/dp/B00B4ZKZK0/

The bushwhacker panniers are the closest to what I had in my mind’s eye and so far they are the widest at the bottom. My bags are long (16″ wide at the narrowest part and I have at least four of them so I’d like to be able to use them and have the option of really stuffing them once and a while).

Sunyata – no basil memories in stock (at least not last night or not with the other baskets). They’re getting in the Banjo Bros grocery panniers so I can see them in person.

[Author]

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