[Dirt]

@StopMeansStop 4144 wrote:

So what do yall suggest for carrying groceries?

Ortlieb Bike Shoppers. Stupidly expensive but they’re cool! The clip to the side of your grocery cart and work like shopping bags. Between the two, they can carry 4 6-packs, a bottle of rum and some munchies for when you wake up after passing out.

[Dirt]

@baiskeli 4140 wrote:

South? That doesn’t make sense. I thought it was keeping cyclists from rushing onto the trail at the crosswalk when coming from the north and sideswiping those who take the trail the whole way. At least, it’s accomplishing that now by slowing and/or discouraging bikes in that part of the parking lot.

I believe the purpose was to slow cars down around the crosswalk.

[Dirt]

@Joe Chapline 4130 wrote:

@Dirt: another great post. Now I want a front rack.

Glad that helped. If you don’t get out of the saddle much, then rear panniers are fine. Any standing on the pedals makes it much better for me to have the weight on the front wheel.

@eminva 4132 wrote:

Dirt, the hipster skidding contest, as well as the sidewalk riding contest, salmon contest and CaBi fashion contest are all right outside my window on L Street, all day, everyday.

Oh SNAP! I didn’t get that memo. They gave Freedom Plaza back to the bootcamp and skateboarders.

Happy Day!

[Dirt]

I like messenger bags better than backpacks. They’re a little more difficult to get positioned perfectly, but they tend to be much easier on my shoulders, which have both been pretty seriously injured in the last decade or two, and I breathe better with them. Belts on backpacks tend to inhibit my breathing when they’re tightened enough to do their job. Everything I just wrote is completely false. I really just like the messenger bag because it makes me feel hip and cool and I desperately need that for my self esteem. Can someone direct me to the location of the next fixie hipster skidding contest???

[Dirt]

In-line with my “I want to be Frank Sinatra when I grow up” mantra, I do things my way. Insert snarky comment here.

Due to some shortcomings of my old fixie commuting bike, I ran for quite a while with a rack on the front and using only one front pannier. On a nErMyL day (that is “normal” for you humans) I would have between 7 and 10 pounds of stuff in the pannier. When I’m working from home and at the office, that weight jumps to almost 30 pounds. It started as a necessity since the old commuter was a super whippy steel frame that could barely handle my weight and pedaling, much less 30 pounds of crap strapped to it. What I found was an amazing ride dynamic.

My biggest complaint about having weight out back is that I easily get into “tail wagging the dog” mode when I get honking up a hill. Basically when I get out of the saddle to sprint up a hill, the rack and panniers have a profound impact on the direction the bicycle goes. The net result being I become a missile with great propulsion, but zero guidance. (That’s not a good thing.)

Having the weight on the front wheel made me aware that it was there when riding…. I needed a bit more care when going into a tight turn… but I should probably have a bit more care there anyways. I found that the bike handled MUCH better when climbing or getting out of the saddle.

Bottom line: It looks silly. I loved the ride. It looks silly.

The stooge-mobile with the bucket panniers packed full of toys going to Toys For Tots before Christmas.

Did I mention that it looks silly?

[Dirt]

@Mark Blacknell 4077 wrote:

Will someone please take the custard font color away from our Most Senior Member?

(And next time I see Dirt rolling for miles on a flat I’m calling Wheel Protective Services on him.)

It’s Lemon Chiffon, you pedestrian! I mean that in the nicest way.

[Dirt]

Interesting, but it makes sense. While DC does sort of keep Roosevelt clear of major debris, I have noticed that they really only do a serious clearing of the bike/pedestrian lane once per year…. usually a few days before Bike To Work Day. It is super nice to ride on right now. It isn’t overgrown. There aren’t any mattresses or car bumpers on it.

[Dirt]

@OneEighth 4054 wrote:

This is where one of two redeeming features of tubulars comes to mind. Unfortunately, we full on into the non-redeeming features for about a day and a half after that…

I’m building a set of carbon tubulars for some fixie centuries this summer. Hopefully I don’t need to take advantage of that feature. On the good side, I found some red, white and blue mud-flap girlie stickers for them. They’re gonna be sexy. (Editor’s note: I’m not gonna say what parts of the sticker are strips and what parts are stripes.)

Back on topic, sort-of: Conti makes Gatorskin tubulars that are FREAKING AWESOME!!!! I’ve got about 1500 creamy, smooth miles on them and they’re still super juicy. I’m one of those weirdos that actually enjoys gluing tubular tires.

[Dirt]

@OneEighth 4055 wrote:

Reminds me of that Monty Python skit with the flying cat.

I was actually thinking of :
KEEPER: What is your favorite color?
GALAHAD: Blue. No yel– Auuuuuuuugh!

PS: While researching this post, I found the entire script for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Dang I love the Interwebs. I also like that “Lemon Chiffon” is a color choice for text on this forum. The world is truly a happy place.

[Dirt]

I’ve had an ongoing e-mail volley with Dottie Marshal, Park Superintendent. She’s been awesome!!! She e-mailed me this morning and said that she’d been out to observe how traffic flows over the speed bump. She agreed that it needs to be moved to the south of that crosswalk area. That was originally where it was supposed to be installed. They’re going to have the contractor move the speed bump as soon as they can.

I had a great exchange with Superintendent Marshall and was impressed with their attention to detail and safety. They’re really trying to do what is best for all users. Sometimes that balance is hard to find.

Happy riding.

Pete

[Dirt]

@SteveTheTech 4038 wrote:

The emphasis on good tire levers sounds like it comes with a really crappy story…I’ve got blue plastic Park Tool ones for both beaded sets of wheels…whether those will work more than once I am not sure…hopefully it will be some time before they get tested.

For most humans, normal tire levers work fine. It is my dumb luck that I find a tire/rim combination that is particularly tight. I put a set of Vittoria touring tires on my fixie wheels (Kind of obscure Eighth Inch Julian rims.) and those suckers were IMPOSSIBLE to get off with normal tire levers. I ended up buying a set of Lyzene aluminum tire levers specifically for those wheels. They were strong enough, but were still not easy to use. The death of that tire/rim combination came on a day where I belatedly found that there was a problem with the rim causing repeated flats. When the tire went flat for the second time that day I was so tired and annoyed that I decided to hammer home with a flat tire. It was only 9 miles home and I’d lost my patience with those tires. The wheels were the ones from my WBUI (Wheels Built Under the Influence) challenge (another long story there) so I didn’t think they’d mind dieing a warrior’s death.

This is me around 6 miles from the house.

When I got home, I realized the fridge was empty, so I got back on the bike and rode 3 miles to my favorite restaurant… back tire still flat. So I ended up with about 15 miles for the day on a flat rear tire.

If you’re really bored, you can read the dramatized version on my much-neglected blog: http://ausoe.blogspot.com/2011/03/air-is-for-wimps.html

I guess the lesson from this story is that you don’t actually need good tire levers. You don’t need tire levers at all.

Pete

PS: Don’t try this at home if you’ve got a front flat. figuring out the handling is hard enough with the back wheel flopping all over the place. Even I’m not stupid enough to hammer 15 miles home and to dinner with a front flat. I’d definitely have to slow down quite a bit.

[Dirt]

@OneEighth 4026 wrote:

Yeah, I’ve always found “need” to be very subjective….

I can stop buying bikes any time I want. *Reflexively scratching my track(bike) marks.*

Pete

Editor’s note: He is not telling the truth. I suspect he’ll have a new bike on the road later this week pending arrival of some wheel parts.

[Dirt]

@Greenbelt 4019 wrote:

Isn’t it awesome to be excited about commuting? I was up early today — couldn’t wait to get out for my morning ride.

It is really funny, but even after many years of commuting I still get excited to ride to work every day. I’m not always happy with the hour that I have to get up every morning. My wife makes fun of me because I’m stoked to ride regardless of weather and have the brainless tendency to announce it. “Cool! It’s raining/snowing/100 (or 0) degrees outside and I get to ride.”

Happy that you’re able to do your commute with your own bike. It makes it even more fun!

PEte

[Dirt]

Steve: You expressed concern about tires and getting flats way out away from the car. There are definitely things you can do to help with that. Flat tires are probably the repair that needs to be done most often with bicycles. It is important that you have the supplies (tube/patch kit), tools (tire levers… GOOD ONES!) and skills to fix a flat. Have a little duct tape around your pump in case you damage the sidewall on your tire. The duct tape goes on the inside and can help you limp home. A dollar bill folded twice works for that too. I once rode home with a $20 poking out the sidewall of the tire for lack of smaller change.

Tire choice can also help. Light-weight racy tires are great, but they are a bit more fragile and wear faster than bomb-proof touring/commuting tires. I love my Continental 4000s and GP’s, but they are not as durable nor as flat resistant as others. I get between 3000 and 5000 miles out of a set of lightweight ubertires.

For commuting and general errand running I use something much more durable. Continental Gatorskins, Specialized Armadillos (the more expensive of the 2 models) and anything in the Schwalbe Marathon series have worked PERFECTLY for me over the year. I got almost 20,000 miles on my last set of Armadillos with ZERO flats. I took them off not because they looked worn out, but because they got to the age where their rolling resistance was noticeably slowing me down. I ran a set of Schwalbe Marathon Extreme on my cargo bike for over 4000 miles last year… many miles were with the bike fully loaded (and a few with the rider fully loaded) and the tires show no wear at all. I got one flat when I pinch-flatted while hopping up a curb while carrying 200 pounds of mulch. Definitely user error.

The commuting/touring tires definitely do not roll as fast as the racing tires. They sometimes weigh twice as much. That trade-off is definitely something worth considering… especially when you own 1 set of wheels.

[Dirt]

I do almost everything myself. I haven’t built any bike frames YET. That will likely happen next year.

Chain wear: Buy yourself a chain wear gauge. It tells you exactly how much life is left in your chain and when you should change it. Park makes a nice one. Many other companies do too. They’re easy to use. If you let your chain go too long the cogs and chainrings will wear in accordance with the stretched chain and then you’ll be forced to replace all three. Change your chain often and you’ll get many more miles out of your cogs and chainrings and save yourself hundreds of dollars.

Buy a bike repair book. Leonard Zinn has two good ones. Go to a book store and start reading and see if it makes sense. Sheldon Brown (may he rest in peace) may be gone, but his web site lives on at http://www.sheldonbrown.com. His web site answers questions you didn’t know exist, as well as a bunch that you probably did.

Lots of things people often overlook: A semi-avid cyclist (someone who rides 3 or more times per week) should change their cable housing AND cables once per year. Having the right housing length is extremely important in getting things to shift correctly. Clean chains help the drivetrain last much longer.

Bike Cleaning: I actually use a bucket of soapy water and Dawn dishwashing soap to clean my drivetrain. Citrus degreaser also helps when they’re really bad. I spray down the bike with a garden hose to knock off the big chunks of dirt. I take a long-handled, soft bristled brush and wash off the bike. I then rinse it with the garden hose. I spray the drivetrain with a bit of degreaser if it is really gunked up. Let it sit a minute or two. I then take a different long-handled brush… one with a little stiffer bristles if possible. and I brush the cogs and chainrings while pedaling backwards. This cleans the chain on both sides as well as the cogs and chainrings. Dip the brush in the soapy water often. After I’m done, I rinse the whole bike from top to bottom and wipe it down with a soft cloth. I wipe down the drivetrain with a shop rag. I take a little household cleaner and spray it on a rag and wipe down the rim surfaces. This cleans off any grease or grit that might have washed onto them while you were cleaning the drivetrain.

I do this every 5-10 rides on my fancy-pants road bikes. Since they only get ridden on Sundays, it isn’t very often. My work-horse bike is an old, fixed-gear bike that gets abused. I lube the chain when it squeaks. I clean it off when it gets disgusting to me or if I have to change the brake pads. That’s it. I ride that bike because it requires very little maintenance.

Things to note about this process:
1) Never spray a hard stream of water on any bearings on the frame. That means the hubs, bottom bracket, derailleurs, etc. Use a gentle misting… just enough force to get the soap and standing grunge off the bike.
2) If you have fancy-pants wheels… with rims made from carbon fiber, clean those separately and very gently. Mild soap on a soft rag is best and then water on a soft rag and then dry them. It is easy to get water into carbon rims and hard to get it out. Aluminum rims are generally a little more forgiving plus they are much less expensive.

Two more general things to note as you work.
1) Modern bikes like torque wrenches. Most parts on a light weight bike will come with torque specs. They are measured in oz/in or newton/meters. Rarely are they measured in foot/pounds. Ritchey makes a 4mm hex key torque wrench set to 5.5nm (a common setting) for about $20. It is awesome. As you know, torque wrenches can be very expensive and are usually as good as their price. Park makes a nice one for bikes. There’s an Italian company that makes a great one specifically for bikes too.
2) kind of related to 1: Don’t force things. Brute force is rarely required with bikes. You know this already ’cause you’re an auto tech and you can tell the difference between what needs muscle and what does not. This is more aimed at others who will read this thread down the road. The day of fixed BB cups and freewheel removal that requires a lot of muscle are gone from the world of modern bikes. If you’re having to exert a lot of force, you’re doing something wrong.
3) Tools help. A good set of cable housing cutters make a huge difference. That’s the tool that I use the most on a bike that I don’t on a car. Bottom brackets cogs have a few specialized tools, too. That’s mostly it for bike-specific tools.
4) Your brake pads have a wear line. Change them often… before they get to that wear line is good. Stopping is important. Don’t postpone that change.

Good luck.

Pete

[Author]

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