Your latest bike purchase?

[TwoWheelsDC]

@vvill 84418 wrote:

Maintaining it to be backwards compatible to 9/10 yeah, is simple, but I already have a bunch of 9/10 speed wheels that won’t fit a 11 speed cassette.

Nah, not stupid. Most of my miles in general, and for commutes, have been on my “light” road bike (or nowadays, my other drop bar 700c bikes). It’s more efficient to commute on than a hybrid/MTB, and I think it made me better at learning to spot/react to potholes, bumps, etc. and how to ride in bad weather. Especially after I crashed and broke my elbow.

Agreed. Now that school is wrapping up for the summer and I don’t have to worry about locking my bike up (the bike parking at work is, uh, extremely secure) I’ll probably go back to doing a good amount of commuting on my Cervelo. It’s the fastest and most comfortable (and expensive) bike I own, so it makes sense to get as much use out of it as I can. If I was mostly riding across the city, I’d probably rethink that, but my commute is basically a wide open workout ride, so using a road bike is a good match of tool to task.

[CaseyKane50]

My most recent purchase, somewhat utilitarian and likely geared to a subset of the biking population is a Halo Skull cap.

It provides a sweat band along with a mesh top to help wick moisture away and provide protection from the sun: UPF of 50+.

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I purchased my Halo at REi for $21.95.

[vern]

Nah, not stupid. Most of my miles in general, and for commutes, have been on my “light” road bike (or nowadays, my other drop bar 700c bikes). It’s more efficient to commute on than a hybrid/MTB, and I think it made me better at learning to spot/react to potholes, bumps, etc. and how to ride in bad weather. Especially after I crashed and broke my elbow.

I think that’s true for me, too. Awareness is definitely up, and I’ve found the wooden bridges on the W&OD seem like ice when wet riding the Fuji. I can feel the bike sliding horizontally in those situations, so I’ve started to slow way down when, like this morning, those bridges are wet.

[americancyclo]

@cvcalhoun 84385 wrote:

No recent purchases of a bike as such. But I just got a new InSTEP Ride N Stride Bike Trailer and Stroller, so I can haul my granddaughter around when she’s here.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5461[/ATTACH]

We have one of those. Watch out when folding it up for storage (if you do that) the window plastic on mine has torn where it connects to the fabric and now my daughter likes to stick her hand out of it like an open window.

The rear nylon support in the back also rends to poke through when folded, ripping a small hole in the sleeve.

other than those two complaints (and the weight) it’s done a great job for the past two years!

[hozn]

It’s kinda funny that this thread evolved into “what is your latest cycling-related purchase”. I’m sure it’s fine, as dkel should have all the justification he needs from earlier posts to go out an N+1 with that Straggler.

[cvcalhoun]

Thanks for the warnings! I got mine from Craigslist, and it is already about 10 years old. But I have my granddaughter only rarely (generally on minor Jewish holidays when her daycare is closed, but her parents are still going to work). And she’s never been in a bike trailer before, so I have no idea whether she’ll love it or be terrified by it. So I figured I’d get something very inexpensive to try out, and not worry too much about long-term durability. If I find she likes it and I have her (and/or any future siblings) more often than anticipated, I can always upgrade then.

One question about the pneumatic tires–have you ever had a flat? And how easy is it to get new tubes/tires if that happens? They don’t exactly seem to be a standard size.

@americancyclo 84430 wrote:

We have one of those. Watch out when folding it up for storage (if you do that) the window plastic on mine has torn where it connects to the fabric and now my daughter likes to stick her hand out of it like an open window.

The rear nylon support in the back also rends to poke through when folded, ripping a small hole in the sleeve.

other than those two complaints (and the weight) it’s done a great job for the past two years!

[dasgeh]

@cvcalhoun 84436 wrote:

Thanks for the warnings! I got mine from Craigslist, and it is already about 10 years old. But I have my granddaughter only rarely (generally on minor Jewish holidays when her daycare is closed, but her parents are still going to work). And she’s never been in a bike trailer before, so I have no idea whether she’ll love it or be terrified by it. So I figured I’d get something very inexpensive to try out, and not worry too much about long-term durability. If I find she likes it and I have her (and/or any future siblings) more often than anticipated, I can always upgrade then.

One question about the pneumatic tires–have you ever had a flat? And how easy is it to get new tubes/tires if that happens? They don’t exactly seem to be a standard size.

You should steal her for a Kidical Mass Arlington ride — next one is May 18th riding to Taste of Arlington.

Of course, all are welcome on the ride, kid or no

[cvcalhoun]

Alas, even if I could manage to steal her from her parents (who tend to be picky about that sort of thing!), it is 10 miles just to get to Arlington for me. And bicycling in Virginia is always a bit scary. One of my nightmares is having any kind of accident and ending up in a hospital in a state that would not recognize my wife as my next of kin.

@dasgeh 84438 wrote:

You should steal her for a Kidical Mass Arlington ride — next one is May 18th riding to Taste of Arlington.

Of course, all are welcome on the ride, kid or no

[DismalScientist]

@cvcalhoun 84436 wrote:

One question about the pneumatic tires–have you ever had a flat? And how easy is it to get new tubes/tires if that happens? They don’t exactly seem to be a standard size.

It says it has 20″ wheels. That’s a standard smaller (but not ridiculously small) kid’s bike tire size. Tubes and tires should be easily available. I would avoid getting knobbies though.:rolleyes:

[cvcalhoun]

I think the two side wheels are 20″. However, there is a third wheel that is used in front when the trailer is used as a stroller, which is much smaller. And I want to be able to use the trailer as a stroller, because I really don’t want to have to be carrying a stroller in addition to the trailer if we’re going somewhere that will require a stroller once we get there.

@DismalScientist 84447 wrote:

It says it has 20″ wheels. That’s a standard smaller (but not ridiculously small) kid’s bike tire size. Tubes and tires should be easily available. I would avoid getting knobbies though.:rolleyes:

[hozn]

@cvcalhoun 84449 wrote:

I think the two side wheels are 20″. However, there is a third wheel that is used in front when the trailer is used as a stroller, which is much smaller. And I want to be able to use the trailer as a stroller, because I really don’t want to have to be carrying a stroller in addition to the trailer if we’re going somewhere that will require a stroller once we get there.

If it’s like the Burley the tiny front stroller tire is solid rubber (tubeless!).

I would definitely keep a spare tube in the trailer (and assuming you are carrying tire lever + a pump that accommodates the valve type of your 20″ spare). I’ve had 3 flats in as many months with my Burley trailer. It’s a 2004 model that I bought used and probably this is the first time things are going flat on it. One of those flats was, I’m contending, a contributing factor in rolling the trailer around a corner, so definitely I recommend having whatever you need to fix flats in the trailer tires.

[cvcalhoun]

In this one, the stroller tire is an inflatable one. I always carry a pump. But I’m just not sure how easy it is to find the tubes for this tiny tire.

@hozn 84453 wrote:

If it’s like the Burley the tiny front stroller tire is solid rubber (tubeless!).

I would definitely keep a spare tube in the trailer (and assuming you are carrying tire lever + a pump that accommodates the valve type of your 20″ spare). I’ve had 3 flats in as many months with my Burley trailer. It’s a 2004 model that I bought used and probably this is the first time things are going flat on it. One of those flats was, I’m contending, a contributing factor in rolling the trailer around a corner, so definitely I recommend having whatever you need to fix flats in the trailer tires.

[hozn]

@cvcalhoun 84460 wrote:

In this one, the stroller tire is an inflatable one. I always carry a pump. But I’m just not sure how easy it is to find the tubes for this tiny tire.

Ah, weird/interesting. Well, probably carrying a patch kit (or glueless patches) might be enough. Also, losing functionality of that front tire probably doesn’t prevent you from using the trailer as a stroller — at least on mine you can kinda wheel the trailer around on just the two primary wheels — so it may not be something that needs to be field-repairable ?

[dasgeh]

@cvcalhoun 84441 wrote:

Alas, even if I could manage to steal her from her parents (who tend to be picky about that sort of thing!), it is 10 miles just to get to Arlington for me. And bicycling in Virginia is always a bit scary. One of my nightmares is having any kind of accident and ending up in a hospital in a state that would not recognize my wife as my next of kin.

Yes, VA law is shameful, though the new AG is less so.

Our Kidical Mass rides are very slow and safe, and start/end near easy parking. Lots of people drive to the start, then hop on bikes to join us. Or there’s Kidical Mass DC, which usually starts in NE DC. (I’m not trying to give you the hard sell, just making sure that info is out there).

[DismalScientist]

I have no idea how you could possibly puncture the thing using it as a stroller, but here is a replacement with the curved valve and all:
http://www.harborfreight.com/8-in-Inner-Tube-69533.html

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