[Mikey]

@rcannon100 28287 wrote:

krazygl00 is right. And I can show you thursday night. If you feel comfortable turning your bike upsidedown, or whatever, get the tire to spin. Now stare at the gap between your brake pads and your tire. Is it consistent or does it wobble. Now do it again, looking at the top of the tire – and some mark – might be your fork or some spot on the tire. You can also just put your finger across the top of the tire. Does the height of the tire change? Does the tire seem to have an egg bump to it.

If yes, get it trued. Its very important. A trued tire will brake better. And you will have better control of your bike.

That said, I HATE truing tires. Done wrong, and you can just make it worse and worse and worse – and poof – you now have a scrap heap of rubber and steal. It is an Art.

[video=youtube_share;rf9q_jqcG9w]http://youtu.be/rf9q_jqcG9w[/video]

I love truing wheels, I hate truing my only wheel. If you have to get going, you will feel rushed, and you will f-uck it up, guarenteed. If you have a few hours, you can gnat’sass it and all is right in the world.

[Mikey]

@KelOnWheels 28272 wrote:

So here’s a dumb question, how do you tell if a wheel needs truing? If my wheel’s wobbly I just assume I didn’t get it back in the dropouts straight (a theory that frequently proves to be true, possibly unlike the wheel.)

When it is shushin you, you know, shh . . . shh . . . shh . . . (i.e. rubbing on the rim breaks), also if you feel a little (more) unstable when turning, or when you look down at it while riding. Rim breaks make a great free truing stand, turn the bike upside down and spin the wheel while looking at the break clearance. Adjust to ballance, if you are brave. Remember righty-tighty, lefty-loosy only works if you have the tire off and you are turning the nipple (a fun sentance no?), otherwise you turning the bottom part of the nipple (upside down) so righty-loosy, lefty-tighty, sort of?.

[Mikey]

@ShawnoftheDread 28271 wrote:

Or get a baby, put him/her in your pannier . . .

That’s how I plan to explain the birds and the bees to the kids. . .”Dirt flies around at night and places babies into expecting parent’s panniers.”

[Mikey]

@Certifried 28267 wrote:

. . .
I’m going to risk the 3.5 mile ride to the bowie park-n-ride lot, it’s a flat-ish ride with really wide shoulders for cycling/parking. Pretty low volume of traffic too. Then from New Carrollton I’ll have to Metro bus home or wait until 7pm to ride the trains (stupid metro, anyone have a folding bike for trade? I have a cool clown costume)

Nah, just get yourself a baby stroller, disconnect both bike wheels and tie them to the frame and place them in the stroller. If anyone gives you crap just say he has his mother’s eyes. No rules about strollers on trains.

[Mikey]

one broken spoke should not completely strand you. If you can get yourself to a nearby bike shop they should be able to repair it in about 10 minutes. Riding on a broken spoke is not great, but it usually only results in a second broken spoke (opposite the original broken one). Keep your speed down and you should be fine. If you have a spoke wrench with you, you can usually adjust the surrounding spokes to take up some of the slack so that you can turn a left/right wobble into a less noticable up/down wobble. Once you get home or safe to a bike shop, and get it fixed you may want to invest in a few tools (spoke wrench if you don’t have one, a cassette tool and 1 inch box wrench, and chain whip, this will allow you to change any broken spokes by yourself (tools pay for themselves by the 3rd or 4th spoke).

Spokes tend to break at the head (mushroom end), rarely at the threads, and even rarer still mid gauge (all though I’ve had all three happen). If the spoke breaks at the head, remove the wheel (usually the back wheel, which carries most of your weight), unscrew what’s left of the spoke fish in a new one, being careful to match the under/under/over, or over/over/under pattern, and tighten it up with the wrench (spoke will seem reversed threaded but really it’s just upside down).

If the spoke is on the cassette side, you need to have tools to remove it prior to fishing through the spoke, since the gears are in the way. Talk to your LBS mechanic for what tools to get for your hub.

Lastly, if you start noticing your wheel breaking a lot of spokes it may be time to get a new wheel. Keep the old one for spare spokes and carry a few with you in your bag/flat kit, or afix them to your frame.

Hope this helps.

[Mikey]

I found this one lurking around on my now ignored blog:

http://www.mikesbike2work.blogspot.com/2010/06/may-24-25-two-meetings-out-in-chantilly.html

there is a picture of the FFX co parkway crossing though.

[Mikey]

Lake Accotink park, under the CSX/VRE Rail line.

Nice photo.

[Mikey]

so sorry I missed this morning. I need to get back into the Swings of FCC. (sorry bad pun).

[Mikey]

Pathelete (n): An ELITE poseur, who rides slow, shoals at lights, and generally blocks access to the path, except during specific, imaginary start and finish lines (known only to the Pathelete) where his or her (always his) primary goal is to display his or her (again always his) supremacy in breaking away. See Leap-Frogger.

[Mikey]

September 22 is car free day, normally this could be another bike to work day like event, but this year it falls on a Saturday, so not too good for commuters.

I doubt that there is enough time to pull tother sponsors etc for a full blown B2WD but I would be willing to help spread the word.

[Mikey]

@Dirt 27806 wrote:

I’m planning a 370-mile, 2-day, fixie pansy tour for this fall. Any other pansies that want to join me are welcome. Oh yeah… the whole route is on dirt trails. I might wimp out and make it 2 1/2 days.

My family and I are doing our annual “tour” from FFX to Lock house 6 on the C&O on Saturday and Monday of Labor Day weekend, you are welcome to visit the Lockhouse our paths cross.

[Mikey]

We need another happy hour so we can come and sign your “cast”.

[Mikey]

@ShawnoftheDread 27663 wrote:

New forum readers come all the time, so a continuing dialogue is helpful. I wore earbuds my first two months of commuting (though not loudly), until being convinced through this forum that it wasn’t a good idea.

Taboo! – 2 pts me!

[Mikey]

As a general rule can we make it a forum foul to mention the word earbuds, helmet, scofflaw, or other such triggers of conversations that have been beat to death. It’ll be fun, like the on-line version of Taboo the board game. i.e.

you – “Blah, Blah, Blah, ya-da, yada, blah, earbud, blah. . .”
Me – “TABOO!”
you – “good form, 2 points”

[Mikey]

@bobco85 27386 wrote:

To the mother who saw me fixing a flat (thanks Fairfax County for having a 4 inch lip between Braddock Road and Columbia Road, another flat from riding in Fairfax for me) on Columbia Road at 11 at night, turned around (which actually scared me because you don’t know who is going to do what at night), asked me if I was okay, and then said, “My son is a cyclist. I live near here and will send him out to help you if you’re still here.”:

Thank you. That was probably the nicest thing I’ve ever had someone do to a cyclist, especially considering it was 11 pm.

Additional thanks go to her (teenage?) son, who did come by with a flashlight (I had my bike lights, but it did help to have another angle) and offered to bring a pump, spare tube, etc. if I needed them. I was prepared and was able to change the tube out, but did appreciate the concern. Also, if I were still alone at that point I’d be dropping f-bombs and such.

I was able to make it back home without any trouble afterwards, but felt it was definitely worth mentioning the acts of kindness I received last night.

Did he lift your wallet when you weren’t looking?

[Author]

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