[CCrew]

Good place for cheap hi-Vis clothing is here:

http://www.alertshirt.com/

No affiliation, just a happy customer. They’re geared toward the industrial/contractor market so you’re not paying the cycling premium that the bike shops seem to demand.

[CCrew]

@eminva 1594 wrote:

No, I’m pretty sure I can’t anticipate someone attacking me by jumping from their bike to mine! I suppose if someone were determined to attack, the best way would be to create an obstacle in the cyclist’s path, so I probably shouldn’t worry so much about someone behind me, huh?

I agree with the obstacle scenario, and that should be a concern. I ride into downtown at around 4am, and I’ve had this attempted on several occasions. Scariest for me was crossing the Key Bridge, where two peds were walking on left and right expecting me to take the center. At the last minute they closed together and attempted to clothesline me off the bike. My reaction? I aimed directly at the larger of the two, and managed to both shoulder check him and keep the bike upright.

Other than that the clearly drunk guy that tried to take me down was more amusing than threatening

As a cyclist concerned about personal safety I’d be most concerned about the ped that only comes in view at the last minute or is even vaguely questionable. In my experience though with 10k miles commuting on the bike this year? The most dangerous are the jogger running in the same direction with the iPod blasting that u-turns without looking, or the ped walking Fifi on the 20′ retractable leash on the other side of the trail.. The Fifi one cost me a shoulder reconstruction and 6 weeks off the bike in May, and not so much as an “I’m sorry” from Fifi’s master.

[CCrew]

@eminva 1471 wrote:

What is the etiquette related to drafting? Thanks very much in advance for any tips. This is a wonderful forum and I appreciate it very much.

You may want to define what you’re calling drafting before everyone piles on.

It’s not drafting if they’re 5-10 feet back. It’s just another bike behind you. You’re really only in someones draft if you’re right off their wheel.

That said, I commute daily on the W&OD. As a 54yo husband and father of three girls I’d be more concerned about any of them riding alone versus in close proximity to another commuter. The old “safety in numbers” adage does indeed apply. Besides, I have yet to see anything about an incident on the W&OD where someone was assaulted because someone flew off one bike onto another at speed.

[CCrew]

Just a FYI… Trikes aren’t allowed on Metro nor will they fit on bus racks. Metro’s regs are 2 wheeled bikes only.

And to Americancyclo, although they’ll probably let you get away with it, regs are also that both wheels must be on the ground at all times.
Gotta love their regs. I got accosted by Metro PD when I shouldered my Cross bike to go down an escalator when a elevator at the station was inoperable! Imagine that.. an elevator/escalator not working at Metro……hee

[CCrew]

@PrintError 1588 wrote:

I thought they left the trails snowy for the x-country skiiers. At least, that’s what I’ve been told about the W&OD.

And your info is correct. Thought is that the trails are used by more than us cyclists, and personally I think sharing is a good thing, especially considering when it comes to snow it’s not all that much time out of the year.

[CCrew]

Not to resurrect an old thread, but found this googling and figured I’d throw in some technical info for the next person.

The reason that Shimano only specs a 28 tooth max on the rear is because at the time that was the biggest they make. Ultegra will happily go to 30, although beyond that is hit or miss.

LX, SLX, XT, or XTR will all work to 36tooth with the difference being the sweep of the derailer. The jockey wheels will work just fine, and the in/out travel is controlled by the limits anyway. Key is to match the cassette spacing, and as someone’s said, the Apex RD will pull differently than Shimano so the RD isn’t compatible. The 10 speed spacing however is the same between Apex and Shimano 10 speed cassettes – so as long as you run the cassette with a Shimano MTB rear derailer you should be golden.

Depending on your crankset you’ll need to go either mid-cage or long cage RD. I run a compact double front and a 11-32 Apex on the rear with an XT derailer on the rear and a 105 on the front – with ST-5700 105 brifters with no issues. I switch to 12-27 for around town. I can go with a mid-cage, but a lot of tourers are running mountain triples in which case you’ll need long cage RD.

Hope that helps someone.

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