OneEighth
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OneEighthParticipant
Sidi’s winter road boots work have worked very well for me. No need to switch from your road pedal this way either. They do run a bit big—I am a 1/2 size and wish I had rounded down rather than up even with heavy socks—and, if its pouring rain, odds are, the water will work its way in through the top of the boot. Other than that, they are well worth it and are significantly warmer than just toesties over road shoes.
OneEighthParticipantThe Light and Motion Stella is a decent headlight. Unless you’ve got lots of clutter on your bar and stem, you should be able to mount the battery to the stem and the light just off center of the handlebar. Works on a helmet, too, as it is relatively light. The light swivels left to right on its base and has three settings: flashing, low, and high.
OneEighthParticipantThe trail South from the 14th Street Bridge past National, along 4-Mile Run and down to where it meets up with the Custis was clear. And salty.
OneEighthParticipantLiz,
As far as safety goes, the best defense is to be constantly aware of your surroundings and to buddy-up if you know you are going to be out during non-daylight/non-peak hours. Maybe set up a phone list of riders you know you can tap if you need to work late and want company on the ride home.
I’ve seen sketchy individuals on both the Custis and the W&OD, but there are a couple of areas along 4-mile run that seem to attract drunk loiterers (I’m thinking of the underpasses in particular). I think this forum is a good place to post warnings, and, honestly, I wouldn’t hesitate to contact Arlington PD if you see someone who appears potentially threatening.As for the trail-etiquette questions that have been kicked around on this thread—the last few years the trails have reminded me of the first couple of weeks in the gym after New Year’s—lots of clueless but well-intentioned folks with lousy manners. Trust that most of them act out of ignorance rather than malice, lead by example, and give the occasional friendly suggestion—most of them will figure it out.
Just keep anticipating those who don’t.
Cheers.
Tom
OneEighthParticipantLiz,
I rode the Custis trail this morning and it was clear of snow and ice, but very, very salty. Frankly, the road didn’t look any less gritty. Either way, you’ll definitely want to wipe the bike down and clean your chain and gears at the end of the week if not at the end of the day. The trail along the Parkway from Key Bridge to the 14th Street Bridge was completely clear as well.
Cheers.
TomOneEighthParticipantSeriously, if you are going with Shimano don’t go below 105. Honestly, I wouldn’t go below Ultegra and after a season with Ultegra STI’s and derailleurs that I had installed new, I switched them out for my old, high-mileage Dura Ace. The cassette remains Ultegra, however. Why? Because I find that level of STI and derailleur shift smoother and more reliably—not because I’m being a weight weenie. Not saying I’m not a weight weenie…nothing wrong with that… The cassette is a replacement cost issue—performance was fine.
My wife has Apex and likes them just fine. Most of the reviews I’ve read speak highly of them.
Based on her experience buying a new bike, I would probably opt for SRAM over Shimano in a new bike—nice product at a better price.OneEighthParticipantJustin,
Personally, I prefer good used components over new, not-so-good components, so I would look to buy as much as possible used. If you have loads of time, you could probably piecemeal a decent bike on that budget through ebay, craigslist, and this forum. I’ll bet there are plenty of folks on here who compulsively upgrade their bikes and also hoard all their used but still very serviceable components.
I would definitely not scrimp on the saddle or the pedals. Given that most bikes now have carbon forks (or at least fork legs) and that carbon seat posts are a dime a dozen, you could go with an aluminum frame (that’ll probably reduce price in addition to reducing any worries about the condition of the frame) and still have a smooth ride.
Narrow down the frame you like best with some test-rides and go from there.
Good luck.
Tom
OneEighthParticipantVittoria Cross XN Pros work great, too. Enough tread for snow and mud and fast on hard surfaces. Can be inflated to 6 bar. You can ride these year-round, frankly.
OneEighthParticipantNice summation.
I would add that maintaining a very smooth and steady cadence also helps a lot. Which leads me to thought number two—if you are riding a geared-bike make sure you shift into the proper gear early so that you can maintain a steady cadence, don’t have to get out of the saddle, and have time to deal with any snow/ice/mud-related derailleur issues. Definitely shift down if you decide to hop off the trail to go around any really slick spots or you’ll bog.
As an aside, I actually had much better control in the snow yesterday on my winter fixie than on my cx-rig last year. And clean up was ridiculously fast and easy. Might have to put the cx-rig out to pasture.
Good luck out there, everyone.
OneEighthParticipantWhen I rode down 15th Street around 2300 this evening, I noticed that there are now reflective pylons segregating the bike lanes from the car lanes between roughly F Street and where the lanes end at Pennsylvania. So, it looks like this is still very much a work in progress.
OneEighthParticipantYou make an important point, Joe.
This is a public forum and can be accessed by anyone—including those who are vehemently opposed to cycling initiatives.
What we say and how we say it will go a long way to defining how the public perceives cyclists.
Having to defend against negative stereotyping is a distraction from the issues we want at the center of the debate—safety, access, sustainability, etc.
Keep it clean, keep it on point, keep it logical.OneEighthParticipantJust in case folks haven’t read today’s editorial in the Washington Post that touches on cycling in DC: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/13/AR2010121304925.html
OneEighthParticipantThankfully, they stopped painting them. The paint ony made it worse. Probably not a bad idea to write to the National Park Service when Spring gets here to remind them not to do any more painting unless they are going to add sand to the paint or use a product that has a no-slip finish.
Not that they’ve got the budget to do anything anyway…so this may just be a moot point.OneEighthParticipantI don’t think the bike lanes extend below Pennsylvania Avenue. Sort of an odd transition with the southbound lane being normally taken by vendors and—if I remember correctly—the sidewalk being officially off-limits to bicyclists from there all the way down to the Jefferson Memorial. Not sure that prohibition is enforced much. Only heard from one cyclist who was told not to ride on the sidewalk where the path dumps off the bridge by the Jefferson Memorial. But, after all, that’s just another excuse to bang a left and do a loop around the point and that’s a good thing.
Regarding tires, I have ridden Vittoria Cross XN Pros for the last couple of winters and have found them to roll fast than my Kendas and to be stickier in the wet. They also did fine in the snow.
Looking forward to the pix of the snow angel and sincerely hoping not to make my own…
OneEighthParticipantOne more reason to ride a fixie….but seriously, your question actually got me to go look at my geared bike. I think the barrel adjuster on the dura ace is removable—the bigger question is where are you going to find just a barrel adjuster to replace the broken one. The other question being how you safely remove the bits still in there…
Honestly, I’d probably just start buttering up St. Nick and save this project for my spare time.
Good luck. -
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