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@culimerc 96048 wrote:

R.I.P.

Salsa may warranty it if your lucky.

R.I.P. could also stand for “Ride til It asPlodes”

I would just ride them til you start poppin’ spokes. Might get some more life out of them.

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@dplasters 95233 wrote:

I thought we all agreed that if you use panniers your bike is just a unwieldy, overladen misery-mobile!

There, IFTFY.

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@ShawnoftheDread 95177 wrote:

Is that the new Holmes Run crossing at Chambliss?

@cyclingfool 95179 wrote:

I hope so, cuz that looks lovely!

That it is. We live pretty close to this on the Seminary Road side, so we’re really glad this finally happened, opening up the western side of Holmes Run Creek, and the trail to us. It also gives us a family-bikeable route to Columbia Pike within shooting distance to the Harris Teeter / Starbucks / Subway. However, last time I was down that way the Holmes Run Trail up toward Columbia Pike was under construction.

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@GB 94355 wrote:

Great question. I think the future LBS is really a coffee shop / bar that services bikes and showcases gear. People come for the bikes but pay for the food. If Revolution and Java shack were co-located I’d spend more money at both. If Java shack sold beer I’d never leave.

This feels like it should be correct. It is probably the answer I would come up with. Yet experience contradicts this (maybe not always but often). It is what makes this question hard.

Cyclelife tried to marry coffee shop / bar with bike shop. It should have been my favorite place. It is what so many cyclists say they would love; yet the times I went there the bar was always empty, and the staff seemed almost surprised someone wanted to sit and have coffee.

The other thing I would say about this thread in general is that staffing matters. The two things that grate on me most from a shop are attitude from mechanics and lack of knowledge from sales guys. On the other hand the most successful shops I’ve seen have a few factors in common and I think the defining characteristic may be owner presence. This translates into things such as community involvement, social networking, the “theme” or “feel” of the shop, but I think all that boils down to a person or smallish group driving the experience.

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@bikerfactor 93708 wrote:

I check my bike and realize that the wheel isn’t spinning freely – maybe a spoke or something else wrong with the wheel. I was able to get it ride-able by loosing the brakes way up, and then I ask the guy if he has a card with his number on it. He says no. I keep inspecting the bike for other damage, and ask him for his phone number as I pull out my phone to copy it down. This is when things start getting crazy. The guy starts saying he thinks it was just as much my fault as his, or maybe nobody’s fault but definitely not just his. I was truly shocked, so I asked him how it could possibly have been my fault, and he says he was watching that car coming and saw it stop and never looked at me – but I should have been going because the car was stopping.

Ahh. Peloton rules for the MUP.

See, what you haven’t realized is that whether you knew it or not, you were a contestant in a Category 6 race. By stopping suddenly without calling it out to the riders behind you the crash is therefore your fault.

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@83(b) 93567 wrote:

Just….grrrrr….

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/08/cyclists-lets-talk-about-shoaling/379232/

Kriston Capps, Cyclists: Let’s Talk About Shoaling wrote:

So, shoaling: You’re stopped at a red light with a bunch of folks on bikes, when someone who’s just arrived sails past everyone, right to the head of the class. It’s a lot like seeing somebody in the Whole Foods express lane with too many things.

No. And that is obviously the wrong analogy.

I’m taken with Weiss’s vivid term: a shoal, as in a grouping of fish. But it’s plain that he and many more would prefer that bikers moved like a school of fish, in perfect rhythm.

Again, no. That’s not the right definition of “shoal” in this case. I think Capps is writing about a subject he hasn’t bothered to really understand. I need to find out where he shops for groceries so I can butt in line in front of him.

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@Terpfan 93027 wrote:

Enter the dangers of riding in weekend pace lines on highly trafficked areas. The guy should have stopped, but alternatively if he’s able to leap frog the line and has been doing so then his sudden move really isn’t unpredictable and he signaled it. Then again, I’m not a big fan of pace lines because I’ve had them cut me off several times on the MVT because the leader doesn’t want to slow down for a second.

His signal was quick, and was given barely one second before pulling his jackass move. You can see the rider behind him begin to react and allow space, but paceline actions and reactions must be steady and predictable. Also, if I had been the rider behind him it would not have been clear to me exactly what his plan was…to join the paceline…to slowly and cautiously cross it…or to swerve across it like an idiot.

He definitely knew what he had caused. In the video he clearly looks back at the fallen riders. His attitude seems to be, “they didn’t yield fast enough; serves them right”

Also, does his front fork look bent to anyone else?

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@hozn 91433 wrote:

I use helicopter tape (http://www.amazon.com/ISC-Racerstape-com-Paint-surface-guard/dp/B000TPC7HU). It’s definitely more expensive — but it is available 2″ wide which I find works well for chainstay protection. And over time I guess the economics make sense (e.g. 12′ rolls for $25 or 30′ rolls for $40).

Actually that stuff sounds better than the door guard film since it comes in 2″ width. Laying two strips side-by-side seems like it won’t look very good, and grime is bound to make its way into the seam down the middle. I’d rather pay a little more for the right thing.

How is the transparency of the helicopter tape? How is the adhesion? I’ve found that 3M products really do offer better adhesion quality than generics. When I’ve used electric tape to finish bar wrapping I will only use 3M. FWIW now I use hockey tape (friction tape) to finish bar taping. The stuff is rock solid but I’m not necessarily completely sold on the looks. The tackiness goes away with some time and use.

Edit: there is a 30-foot roll of the helicopter tape on Amazon for $50. I have Prime. Anyone interested in splitting an order?

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Slickdeals has an amazon deal on 3M 08582 36″ Door Edge Protection Film. $4.90 for a three-foot roll. You have to follow the deal instructions to get the deal pricing.

I got advice from a mechanic that this stuff makes a great chainstay guard while still remaining transparent. It is also good for spots around the frame that get rubbed by cable housings, etc. The only downside is that this is only 1/2″ wide so you’d have to use two strips side-by-side to really have good coverage on the chainstay.

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@Phatboing 91230 wrote:

Me: tired cyclist executing a dead stop at the W&OD and West St crosswalk in Falls Church.
You: Lady person driving a black refrigerator on West St.

As you went by, you shot me a confused “why didn’t you cross” look, and made a dismissive gesture of some sort.

I feel like I should explain. You see, I stopped dead and didn’t cross because YOU WEREN’T SLOWING DOWN, you preposterously silly person.

I feel this is appropriate at this juncture:

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@dkel 89221 wrote:

At breakfast this morning my family was discussing what bike to ride in different situations, and my older son reopened the topic of how much he wants a drop bar bike. “Drops are essential,” he says (I’m not making this up). So at a yard sale down the street we see this:
He loves it. $150 later he has a bike with “essential” drop bars, and we didn’t spend a fortune on a bike that will be too small for him in a year. I’ll be spending the afternoon cleaning the drivetrain and adjusting the brakes.

Do you think you “dropped by” that yard sale “by chance”, and “by chance” found that bike? On the very same day of that breakfast conversation? Please. Played you like a fiddle he did

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@Emm 89900 wrote:

Fun ride in this morning:

You: jogger right in front of me crossing the at-grade crossing of Washington Blvd and the path that gets you to memorial bridge from 110.
Me: Right behind you, but giving you space since it’s not worth passing 10 ft before this crossing comes up.
2 cars came up to the crossing. One stopped, the other blew through, almost hitting the runner. Runner screams an insult about the driver being a female dog who sleeps with mothers, and gives the middle finger. The next car stopped and the jogger (and me) proceed with our journey.

You: (different) jogger right in front of me crossing the at-grade crossing after memorial bridge on the DC side.
Me: Right behind you, but giving you space since it’s not worth passing right before this crossing either.
Once again, 2 cars came up to the crossing. One stopped, the other blew through, this time accelerating and almost hitting the runner. Runner screams an insult and gives the middle finger. The next car stopped and the jogger (and me) proceed with our journey. This is a totally different jogger than the first one, although they both were male, and probably between 25 and 35 y/o.

Moral: Don’t Fall For Helpy’s Tricks.

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@lordofthemark 89340 wrote:

And meanwhile I was continuing my push to get my less than 5 mile ride to under 30 minutes And came pretty close, made it from the end of the Pentagon Bus station to NJ and M SE in 33 mins, I believe my best time yet.

While waiting for the 29G bus at Heritage I saw a rider in a blue shirt waiting for the light to cross LRT northbound. I called out “Sean!” but not too loudly, in case it was someone else and they might think I’m deranged.

The weather was great. They have restriped Connector Rd where it hits Boundary Channel, I think thats a good thing (I now get into the left turn lane without having to figure out where to shift left, since its just the one lane at the intersection now) Water Street/fish market continues to be a mess.

I found a new reason to take the lane. On 7th from Maine to Eye, I sometimes take the lane, sometimes the sidewalk, depending. This AM there was another cyclist as well as cars in the lane, and the sidewalk looked clear, so I took the sidewalk – well what do I see coming downhill (after I had committed) but a guy on a seque. Not a tour, not a cop, just an old guy on segue. Which, BTW, takes the full width of the sidewalk. Lacking the mountain biking skills to scoot up the grassy hill to the right and with parked cars on the left, I had no choice but to stop till he passed.

I think someone floated out the idea a while back (it might have been me) of a generic forum callout, such as “ELITE!!” that only forum members would recognize and respond to. Other riders would only think you were rightly proclaiming your awesome ELITE status, notifying the mere mortals of the presence of your massive guads dispensing copious amounts of Rule V.

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And I was just starting to like that switchback. Kind of like a challenge. On Saturday I was able to navigate it, down AND up, while towing my daughter on her trail-a-bike. I was rather proud of myself

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@jrenaut 89265 wrote:

Me: slowly climbing one of the hills on 14th St north of Columbia Heights with the kids on the Xtracycle right as it was starting to rain
You: SUV, Maryland plates

Thanks for what sounded like a sincere offer for a ride.

I think we just need a forum abbreviation: SUVMDP

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