[Phatboing]

@dkel 158209 wrote:

I mainly do my commute with small Ortliebs on my front rack, and my rear rack empty. I love that it feels balanced, and for the commute I actually enjoy the steadier steering, particularly for climbs. I hardly ever see anyone out there commuting with front panniers, and I have to wonder if it’s because most frames don’t come with forks that are compatible with front racks, rather than because people like rear bags better.

In my case, my stuff used to fit in a single pannier, and if I’m to have an unbalanced load, I’d rather it be in the rear*.

I’ve done the GAP + C&O with lightly loaded rear panniers, and bags on the handlebar. I’ve also used the Fargo with a front rack, and my backpack strapped to the top. Also schlepped borrowed camping equipment on the front rack. I do like the balance, and the Fargo is gloriously stable even with heavy stuff up front.

*Is what she said.

[Phatboing]

@Steve O 157830 wrote:

Why does everyone else have all the luck? 20 years commuting and the only animals I’ve ever struck are insects and humans.

Don’t forget earthworms! After an early-ride massacre today, I resolved to avoid anything earthwormy-looking. There are now many safe twigs in Seattle.

[Phatboing]

@dasgeh 156026 wrote:

But there are more types of bikes than are dreamt of in your philosophy. There are ebikes that make 10-miles each way easy.

This is true. There were a couple of regulars during summer and fall who would breezily swoosh by me going up the hills. Sometimes they had stuff, sometimes they didn’t, but every time it made me jealous. I’m trying to convince Mrs. Boing to get an e-bike so she could come on longer rides with minimal effort.

[Phatboing]

I’m in the 11-15 (with the occasional 10.5), and it can get get hard in ways that are different from the 600-800 feets of climbing each way:

• It takes an hour-ish each way, which is quite a bite out of the day in the peak of winter.
• Even if there’s just light rain, it’s definitely enough distance to breach at least one piece of gear (I know, I know, better gear, but still)
• If I go to bed late, I pay a high price – I’m sluggish getting to work, and generally slow the rest of the day. And those hills don’t go away…
• I could start in dry weather, and realize as I cross Lake Washington that my workplace is having a rainy day instead.
• If I’m tired, it’s still the same distance. My commute from Falls Church to Tysons could be cut down to 5-ish miles if I wasn’t feeling up to it (or needed to be somewhere)

But I get to see mountains on the clear days, and breaks even with transit, so there’s that.

[Phatboing]

@TwoWheelsDC 155136 wrote:

I dunno…I saw a Soma Wolverine in CX garb (gears, CX tires on H+Son Archetypes, no rack, no fenders) last night and drooled all over myself. Would definitely be my choice if I was looking for a utility/adventure bike.

I have definitely had that reaction (more so because I have a weakness for orange bikes). The Fargo, though, has been mountain biking, long-distancing, gravel-mucking, pavement smashing, and commuting, and is incredibly fun in all these situations.

The only answer is to get both.

[Phatboing]

If your budget permits, I’d also strongly urge you in the direction of the Salsa Fargo (and probably also the Vaya).

By which I mean: GET A FARGO. It is the happiest-making bike in the universe.

[Phatboing]

@cvcalhoun 151443 wrote:

I’m reluctant to do that, because it’s not like Ohio, in which there is a season in which snow is always on the ground. Most times, the extra traction is required only for a week or less at a time, and I don’t want my ride slowed down for months in order to cover isolated weeks.

I think the Slipnots will be my best option. Just keeping my fingers crossed that they will work well with my rim brakes and fenders. (The site says I need only a quarter inch of clearance, and I should have that.)

Did you get the Slipnots and are they good? After this week’s snow and subsequent icy deathtrappings, I’m thinking I might need a pair for the 1 day every 2 years that there’ll be ice on the roads.

[Phatboing]

@TwoWheelsDC 154483 wrote:

Fact check: true.

To be fair, there are hills all over the place. If I tried an incline-avoidy commute (for example, if I don’t want to climb/descend on ice), I could get as far as the exit of my building. I wouldn’t do this even with studded tires, for fear of catching an acute case of the death.

[Phatboing]

I had to take the bus, because it went below freezing overnight, and if you thought Seattleites didn’t know how to drive in snow … well, see them on ice.

[Phatboing]

It snowed multiple inches! In Seattle! It was so pretty.

(I was underprepared, having let my purple snowmonster sit around unmaintained for so long)

I need to draft my justification for obtaining a fatbike now.

[Phatboing]

A squirrel jumped out in front of my bike on the C&O once. It bounced off the front tire. It was hilarious, and the critter was probably fine after, if shaken to its tiny little core. Less hilarious was when I squelched through fresh rat gore on my way home yesterday.

Don’t be the second person to run over a rodent, is what I’m saying I think.

[Phatboing]

Hello!

I live in the Washington That Is A Real State, so you’d have to ride pretty far to see me (though Mrs. Boing’s employer is based in Tysons, and maybe they’ll have her over and maybe I’ll tag along some time).

Random bits about me:

• I LOVE biking in this city. The mountains, the twice-daily lake crossings, the uphill-each-way-and-every-other-way-too, the neighborhoods that change every 10 blocks, all good stuff. Needs more Monday Pancakes though.
• In more than a year of living here, I’ve not given even one of my pennies to Starbucks. And I never will.

[Phatboing]

We meet again, cap’n.

[Phatboing]

I too will bite. 2100. Which thankfully requires no massive additional effort, given that since I last BAFS-ed, my commute alone has nearly doubled in both farness and climbosity.

Strava name: Nimish

[Phatboing]

@bobco85 151071 wrote:

[*]since I will be moving sometime near the end of summer 2017, get immersed in Seattle’s bike culture
[/LIST]

WSGFABR! We have some hills. The legs burn on the way up, the brake pads burn on the way down.

[Author]

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