[Tania]

Be interesting to see if the Ocean Prime valet attendants honor the temp no parking signs.

[Tania]

Happy to see the temp bike lane shift (due to construction) they’ve made on G between 14 and 13th NW. G street still sucks, but they’re trying so points for effort.

[Tania]

I’m in the “don’t hate the e-bike, hate the e-bike rider” camp. Most (not all) go way too fast and do stupid, unsafe things on the MUPs. The percentage of those I witness who go too fast and do stupid things is much higher than non-motorized cyclists who go too fast and do stupid things.

[Tania]

@drevil 182535 wrote:

Bonus, they’re much cheaper

Whoa, you ain’t kidding. And if they withstand your bike antics, they’re a steal.

[Tania]

Also, the only time I swap mountain bike tires are when they’re worn so messiness isn’t an issue. I have Nobby Nics on my trail bike and Minions on my enduro bike and love both. I will replace the front Minion for a fatter one come Spring.

[Tania]

@huskerdont 182528 wrote:

Do you happen to remember the model of those bomber crabon wheels that came stock on your trail bike and the mech said a mere 4 spokes breaking wouldn’t be an issue for those wheels at all? Because I like the sound of that.

The mess of tubeless is one of the issues, but I think for MTB might be worth it, and of course I’ll still have my old wheels so will have two sets.

https://www.wtb.com/products/ci31-carbon-rims – sold out now but they seem to have been $599/rim? Which for carbon I guess isn’t too bad.

My spoke is still bent from that big stick I caught. Wheel still seems fine!

[Tania]

@bentbike33 182526 wrote:

Sounds like you don’t have enough wheel sets. Is there an equation for the optimum number of wheel sets one should have as a function of the number of bikes one has?

Generally, my wheel builds cost almost as much as my frames…:cool:

But I see your point. 😮

[Tania]

I’m a tubeless fan. My mountain bikes are all tubeless and my cx bike is tubeless.

Downside – and this is a bit of a big one for me – it’s messy so that means I’m more reticent to swap tires based on need and I need (want) to swap tires pretty often on my gravel bike and cx bikes. I’m learning to live with it – my cx bike has megabites on them right now and I refuse to race cx in the mud so these are fine I guess. I just don’t like not being able to swap out on a whim. My tire pile calls to me.

I could set up my commuter tubeless once it comes off the trainer. But I’ve never (yet) had a flat on it and I don’t need to run it at lower pressures so the mess-to-benefit ratio for me currently is low. So maybe. My gravel bike should be tubeless too I guess but again I’ve never flatted, my Rock and Roads (favorite tire of all time) aren’t technically tubeless compatible and I’m slowly finding that I don’t need lower pressure to feel comfortable on gravel or singletrack.

I guess it’s worth if you flat a lot. I don’t (I’m not very big).

OK, so maybe I’m not really a tubeless fan. It has its application but I don’t feel it’s required in all situations. My $0.02.

[Tania]

@bentbike33 182494 wrote:

You can avoid the bike lanes on Gallows between Cottage and the W&OD by taking Cottage eastbound until it ends, left on Sandburg St., then onto the connector trail between the Sandburg St. dead ends, and Sandburg St. (II) up to the W&OD.

This is what I’ve been doing for a few years now (dkel showed me). But in order to get to Cottage, it’s either take the lane on Gallows (meh…Sunday at 7:30 am isn’t so bad) or ride on the sidewalk.

I’m actually pretty darn comfortable riding in traffic. I will plant my bike just to the left of the middle of the lane so that it’s impossible for a car to pass me without changing lanes. My lane. MINE. But I won’t unless I absolutely have to. But then I also won’t make a left without a left hand turn light and do everything I can to avoid some roads (the SO is still baffled every time I take a Tania-friendly route rather than the most direct). The potential stress of dealing with drivers (on a bike or when I’m driving too) just isn’t worth it to me.

[Tania]

@Steve O 182484 wrote:

I don’t believe I have ever had a driver get angry at me for taking a lane on a road with 2 or more lanes going in my direction.

Come ride on Gallows going in either direction between the Dunn Loring metro at Avenir Place to Cottage Street (no bike lane along this section). They get plenty mad (even at 6am when traffic is relatively light for that stretch of road).

It’s way less stressful (to me) to just hop on the sidewalk here. A walking pace and nod/smile/hello generally makes pedestrians accepting of me. I used to take the lane but it’s just not worth the prayers and hustle during my commute plus it’s only two blocks at the very end or very beginning of my ride. Driver aggression along here is getting worse and worse, I don’t even like using the bike lane.

[Tania]

Tania has also reported this item.

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Quote:

spam advertising

[Tania]

@streetsmarts 181943 wrote:

Thanks! I’ve been using NiteIze since my buddy Bobco introduced me to them on one of my first night rides home from Third Thursday Happy hour about 2 years ago!!

I think he turned me onto them too. I regularly commute on three different bikes so it’s not financially feasible to put monkey lights on all my bikes. The spoke lights work great for me although the ML’s are way cooler.

Speaking of niteize, I see they now have some LED wrist slap bands that come in neon yellow and neon pink. May pick up a set of those.

[Tania]

@streetsmarts 181939 wrote:

Where’d you get your neon blue flex lights to wrap around your arms? Now that i’m mostly riding in the city, I need more lights!

My mom found them in the deep bowels of Amazon – I know she had trouble finding any kind of wearable light that wasn’t red. They came from China as did my rear light (the packaging was in Chinese).

The NiteIze mini spoke lights are much cheaper than the monkey lights. Easier to install and you can quickly swap them from bike to bike.
https://www.niteize.com/product/See-Em.asp

[Tania]

Honestly I wouldn’t care if the blue lights weren’t legal. I don’t leave my rear light on blue but it’s nice to have it when I feel I need it.

The red and blue flashing mode is particularly obnoxious. And eye catching. 😎

[Tania]

When driving I’ve often wondered “bike or car?” when looking at a one light in sea of red lights. They all blend together.

I want to stand out – so I run clip on NiteIze wheel lights in purple, pink, green or blue (often a mix of all) plus my rear light has a blue setting. I have neon blue flexible lights that wrap around my arms. I have neon pink string lights that wrap around my frame. Ankle reflectors. Reflective tape on my back pack and reflective stickers on my helmet.

I want drivers to think “wtf is THAT over there?”

This is so that if I get hit I can argue that there’s absolutely no way they didn’t see me.

[Author]

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