[mello yello]

you could even re-build as a fixed gear with these wheels (no affiliation) – bianchi track hubs to match!
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/3830121786.html

or go cyclocross with these – which I’d referenced earlier (no affiliation) w/ tires
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/bik/3826750646.html

[mello yello]

Years ago I had a ’70s Fuji road bike, which I’d gotten for about $30 at a yard sale, stolen from in front of the university library. I left it there for a weekend with only a cable lock.
I was volunteering at the time for a community bike workshop – was supposed to be a honor system free bike share – “yellow bikes” – sort of like a free CaBi, but by the time I was there it was sort of like a bike co-op, but with a lot of donated or dumpster saved frames. I put in hours in exchange for another bike – a similar vintage Raleigh. A couple of months after the Fuji was stolen, I was volunteering at the community bike workshop and a teenager brought it in – had been stripped, someone tried to scratch the name off, and the kid said the guy who sold it to him came back the next day and stole the wheels off it. Since I’d already lined up the replacement, and the guy really looked ashamed when I told him that it was stolen I helped the kid fix it up again. It needed wheels, brakes, and a saddle… I don’t know what the other stuff went to.

So… found, but not recovered. I’ve been fortunate to never have had my bike stolen in DC, but I’ve pretty much always just commuted – it’s either in my cubicle or in my garage.

[mello yello]

Got cheered on by a pedestrian this morning, while bombing down a very steep hill “You go Red!”
Startled a pedestrian while cutting through PG Community Center, apologized. Can’t wait to get back to having a bell – carries much further than my voice.
Have been carrying a camelback because of lack of both water bottles and cages – works much better than a nalgene in a backpack, but still leaves a big sweaty spot.
Got a “nice bike” from a whole family who was walking to the Metro, exchanged good mornings.

Oh, and stopped by UPS to pick up a mystery package they would not leave on my porch – twas a 16gb iPad that came from Solar City as part of a promo deal for putting solar on my house… It’d been so long I’d completely forgotten about it – I was worried when I picked it up that my Amazon had been hacked or something. What a nice surprise!

All told, an excellent commute.

[mello yello]

@DismalScientist 55808 wrote:

Go to VeloCity or feed some fellow forum members beer and you will have all the help you would ever need.

I hear Bicycle Space is a good option too?

It’s really not too bad building up a bike… the most expensive pieces are going to be the wheels, br/shifters, and derailleurs, in that order.
There’s someone on CL selling wheels/tires taken off a 2012 Volpe, that look worth the money. Ebay is good for marked-up components, although some fall through the cracks. You might be able to stop at Pheonix and see if they have anything in the way of take-off components that would work.

I do have a selection of aluminum drops and a seat I can throw in for a little ($15?) extra.

It’d be some work to get it polished up, or a whole ton of work to strip and repaint to make it look stunning. I took some CLR on a rag and some of the rust stains started to lighten up, I think some more / soaking would help.

[mello yello]

I love it when I pull up at a stop light and there’s little kids staring at me from their car seat, I always wave at them, sometimes I get a wave back. This has happened at least once on about half of my limited number of commutes since BTWD. The pedestrians I don’t wave at, although if I ride on the sidewalk I’ll say thanks if they stop or move to the side.

I “wave” my fingers without removing my hand from the handlebar, will head-nod and make eye contact with bikes and cars, and will actually say ‘hey how’s it goin’, ‘morning’, etc after I call out ‘on your left’ if we’re riding the same direction. There are really very few bikes, I can afford to.

When I used to ride the MVT, however… that becomes like a mini freeway during commute times and no way was I ever acknowledging everyone. Some, sure… but pretty low key.

[mello yello]

@americancyclo 55151 wrote:

a few nice ones in there!

No kidding… at the prices people are asking for on craigslist this spring – like 250-300 for anything rolling, or 100 for the cheap Chinese Wal-mart bikes, you could spend a grand or fifteen hundred on that lot, and sell all but the Bianchi for a free high quality road bike! … or sell everything and make (or double) your money.

[mello yello]

The Trek should support your weight… but if things are snapping I’d have a wheel builder take a look at your wheels to make sure they’re properly tensioned and assembled.
I’ve never broken a seatpost, it sounds like a defect to me… which shouldn’t happen.

On the other hand…

My Bianchi Volpe has served me very well (of course, I bought it without the brifters working and converted it to fixed… so that may not be the best resume). I love the geometry, and all the bosses and rack attachments… which is why I chose a very similar (ss specific) frame to replace it with. It’s only sort of a ‘cross bike… it’s also quite the tourer – there are three water bottle cage bosses, one underneath. It fits 32’s and fenders easily with the canti’s. There’s even bosses for a front rack halfway up the fork.

If you want the Volpe frame(+) to build up I’m in the process of cleaning it up to put it on CL. 58cm.

[mello yello]

It’s been one week since my little fall, and my first morning commute since. My left side is still a bit sore, but the road rash has scabbed over. I enjoyed my 10 miles of sunshine and happiness. I pushed a little harder this morning, but it’s hard to ride for exercise when there’s a bunch of turns, speed bumps, and broken glass. Took 10 minutes off my time though. Out the door to changed and at my desk is an hour.

Looking forward to building up my commuting rig so that i can have water bottle bosses & rack. my ancient jansport soft briefcase isn’t cutting it as a mess bag.

[mello yello]

Back when I first moved to the area there was a group of fixed gear riders called DC Pirates on Bike Forums, which stopped using that name shortly after (2007 or so?)

Anyway, they migrated to their own forum, dcfixed.com, but the forum isn’t quite as active as it used to be, with DC’s high turnover it’s hard to keep a core group… it’s pretty much turned into DC’s bicycle polo forum (polo is fun, but dangerous). They’re pretty into bicycling, lots of fixed riders… but everyone rides everything, yeah?

Owner of the forum is John (spud), who also works at the Bike Rack in NW, and there’s a contingent that’s associated with the shop. BR sponsored a CX team… i raced a race fixed once, that was fun.
edit: ss. No way I did that fixed. But I did do it on my commuting rig. Have to get that built back up… I’m down to one bike now!

Anyway, I know they did some races back in the day, the Easter egg hunt alleycat was the most fun one I participated in. They used to go ride Hains point pretty regularly.

Or you can look up the DC critical mass, which was never my thing. I think they organize through facebook?

edit: or- https://www.facebook.com/pages/DC-alley-cats-Polo-events/

[mello yello]

anyone heard of these guys? I know it’s a kickstarter-type operation, and they need to get the molds together, then outsource the manufacturing.
All said, it seemed like a good price, and very reflective, if you don’t need them until October.

bikesoles .com

On the other hand, why do this instead of Schwalbe Marathons, Vittoria Randonneurs, Flack Jacket, or other reflective sidewall tires (28mm)?

[mello yello]

This morning was a gorgeous morning. I got up early and didn’t forget shoes or belt this time.

But… I lost a pedal at mile 5. I don’t know how it backed out, I’d felt a little squirrelly, like riding on a low tire, but they were inflated.
So, it let go on me with no warning, pushing into a corner, and I overbalanced and went down hard. I hit all the hard bones except my hip (landed on my bag) on my left hand side – ankle, knee, elbow, head (helmets work!). So, I collected some bruises and bloodstains and a little road rash, then had to re-attach my pedal with the allen set and ride another 5 miles. Grrr. Way to ruin a great ride.

No other cyclists, but a nice lady in a car stopped to ask if I was OK.

I’d switched the clips to a clipless/platform combo pedal for BTWD, and really had to crank on the old ones with a big cheater bar to get them loose, and I thought I cranked the new ones in well enough, but I guess not.

[mello yello]

The weather yesterday made me regret not riding (had after-work errands to do)
This morning was a glorious day, I was really enjoying my trip in…

until I was pedaling hard around a corner and my left pedal fell off. I was standing on it and when it went my weight shifted suddenly and over I went, sort of on my side and back… it felt like slow motion, but I felt the helmet bounce harder than I expected. I hit the hard points on the pavement; elbow, ankle, knee, (helmet). I landed on my bag of clothes so that kept my hip from hitting too. Ouch! I re-attached the pedal (how did that work loose?), and put some band-aids on when I got to work. I’m realizing that I usually rest my elbows on the chair armrests, so it’s a bit awkward keeping it raised.

Anyway, valuable lesson: check your equipment before heading out. I only checked my tires.

[mello yello]

@rcannon100 53006 wrote:

Want people to not cut through neighborhoods – build roads that dont go anywhere and then install speed bumps when you have to.

Architecture matters. We will not solve the U turns on PA Ave until the architecture changes. Arlington has become a wonderful walkable, bikeable community because of what has happened to the architecture.

Point 1. This is a valid strategy to limit CAR trips to the RESIDENTS of said neighborhoods. But this is also counter-productive for bicyclists and pedestrians because it then forces both groups to main arteries with all of the cars, and causes cars that were going from one residential section to another to use the arteries as well.
PG county inside the beltway has many of these neighborhood enclaves (and creeks)… and it royally jacks up my commute, virtually forcing me to take a major artery (MD 704 / MLK Jr Highway) for the better part of 3 miles. I’ve found a way to do about a million turns and cut through a distribution warehouse parking lot to avoid two miles of this mess, but it’s still bad architecture. If these residential neighborhoods were connected with trails for non-motorized vehicles, well, that would be a different story.

Point 2. I agree that architecture totally matters. Livable, walk-able communities are absolutely vital, and beginning to become a new buzzword (a certain DC Mayoral campaign may be using this exact line). I live near PA Ave (SE) and there have been lots of traffic calming measures both on PA (installed ctr median and trees), and there have been some on Branch too. This had the immediate effect of routing commuter buses and cut-through traffic down my street, but adding and enforcing “no buses” on these streets has improved this. I think the plan is to get the through traffic to use the ‘parkways’ to get them to the interstate / 295/695/395, once they’ve finally figured out that mess.
However, no amount of traffic calming is going to reduce the number of people that need to travel into the city. The number of cars can be reduced by better alternative transportation methods, but realistically the only long term solution is much denser mixed use development, that has the effect of bringing lots of people close together, along with the goods and services that they use, as well as (hopefully) making housing more available and more affordable. This is going to mean that a lot of people are going to have to give up the “american dream” of 4 bedroom house on 1/2 acre and a white picket fence. I’m quite attached to having a backyard, and I can’t imagine giving it up, but it’s something you have to pay for either in dollars or level of convenience.

[mello yello]

I enjoyed the new route that I found on BTWD, which took me either off the major roads or onto the sidewalks, so I did it again this morning.
A bit muggy but still not bad temperature wise. Traffic was a little heavier today than last Friday, so it wasn’t quite as fun. Saw an accident that had just happened on Central Ave near Cap Hgts Metro, low-speed T-bone, and the response got there just after I passed them.

Also, last Friday I forgot my belt for my work clothes… today I forgot my shoes, so I’m walking around in my very ratty old mtb (commuting) shoes, and business casual everything else. Got to stash some at work if I’m going to get back into commuting regularly.

While not as exhilarating as my first commute (crisp, cool air and sunshine, vs. overcast and humid) this one also felt good. Hopefully more next week, the rest of this week is going to get sucked up prepping / getting out of town for Mem Day Weekend.

[mello yello]

check out http://bicyclewheels.com/

Not much of a website, but one of the cheapest out there. Prices range 105-150, $25 shipping CONUS via
they use formula hubs.
I’ve used the weinmann DP18 36h set for 5 years before shelving my bike… 1/16″ of separation of the braking surface, but have remained true and round with minimal adjustment and maximum abuse. I also recommend 25’s instead of 23’s if they’re going on the street. I have Panaracer Tserv 28’s on there now and love them.

That said, there are certainly lighter wheels out there, sometimes I get a little sick of the high rolling mass, but I’m usually commuting with so much … that it doesn’t matter how heavy the bike is. (that is, when I used to commute)

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