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Bicycle Thread Is Coming Your Way
UnbrokenEva
HIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
HIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
So forget all your duties oh yeah
Bikes are cool, unless you ride like an asshole, or are around drivers who drive like assholes but like to blame others*
faster than walking, cheaper than driving, and there's that whole exercise thing that people are always recommending
I had been thinking about getting a bike to take to and from work instead of taking the bus every day, maybe get in better shape, have a way to run small errands when my wife has the truck, that sort of thing. I didn't want it to be like a gym membership that never gets used but takes up space in my shed, so I borrowed a bike from my parents for a couple months to see if I'd stick with riding to and from work at least a few times a week. That worked well, so I just went out and picked up this beauty today:
It turns out bikes have changed a bit in the over 15 years since I last bought one. That or Canadian Tire was somewhat behind the times on bicycle trends? Probably both. I knew about mountain bikes, and I knew about road bikes and racing bikes, but when I was researching what to buy now I learned that there's a new type called "hybrid bikes", so named because they have a frame and upright riding stance similar to a mountain bike, but have narrower tires like a road bike, and the end result is something that's fairly comfortable for commuting, which sounded like exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.
After 2 months riding a mountain bike with a stainless steel frame that was a bit too small for me, a properly sized aluminium hybrid bike feels like a whole new world, let me tell you. This bike has both front suspension (which the borrowed bike had, and took some getting used to), and seat suspension, which is entirely new and feels really weird so far (but I like it)
Do you like bikes, SE++? Are you a weekend rider, daily commuter, or do you partake in underground bicycle street races? (if that last one isn't really a thing, please don't tell me. I want to believe.) Do you have any tips for new riders or advice for managing the driver/cyclist relationship? favourite biking stories?
*= So far I've only had one unpleasant encounter with a driver while biking to/from work, and strangely enough it happened while I was walking the bike through an intersection as an entirely law abiding pedestrian. The driver was turning right and was apparently under the impression that a flashing hand sign meant "teleport immediately out of the intersection, it's car time" rather than "don't start crossing, finish crossing if already underway" and honked their horn to express their displeasure that I'd delayed their commute by the roughly 3 seconds it took for me to cross the lane.
Bikes are cool, unless you ride like an asshole, or are around drivers who drive like assholes but like to blame others*
faster than walking, cheaper than driving, and there's that whole exercise thing that people are always recommending
I had been thinking about getting a bike to take to and from work instead of taking the bus every day, maybe get in better shape, have a way to run small errands when my wife has the truck, that sort of thing. I didn't want it to be like a gym membership that never gets used but takes up space in my shed, so I borrowed a bike from my parents for a couple months to see if I'd stick with riding to and from work at least a few times a week. That worked well, so I just went out and picked up this beauty today:
It turns out bikes have changed a bit in the over 15 years since I last bought one. That or Canadian Tire was somewhat behind the times on bicycle trends? Probably both. I knew about mountain bikes, and I knew about road bikes and racing bikes, but when I was researching what to buy now I learned that there's a new type called "hybrid bikes", so named because they have a frame and upright riding stance similar to a mountain bike, but have narrower tires like a road bike, and the end result is something that's fairly comfortable for commuting, which sounded like exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.
After 2 months riding a mountain bike with a stainless steel frame that was a bit too small for me, a properly sized aluminium hybrid bike feels like a whole new world, let me tell you. This bike has both front suspension (which the borrowed bike had, and took some getting used to), and seat suspension, which is entirely new and feels really weird so far (but I like it)
Do you like bikes, SE++? Are you a weekend rider, daily commuter, or do you partake in underground bicycle street races? (if that last one isn't really a thing, please don't tell me. I want to believe.) Do you have any tips for new riders or advice for managing the driver/cyclist relationship? favourite biking stories?
*= So far I've only had one unpleasant encounter with a driver while biking to/from work, and strangely enough it happened while I was walking the bike through an intersection as an entirely law abiding pedestrian. The driver was turning right and was apparently under the impression that a flashing hand sign meant "teleport immediately out of the intersection, it's car time" rather than "don't start crossing, finish crossing if already underway" and honked their horn to express their displeasure that I'd delayed their commute by the roughly 3 seconds it took for me to cross the lane.
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But the stress of riding a road bike in a small town with fucked up roads and even more fucked up drivers can take it's toll when I'm riding day to day.
I've had my bike for years now and never really done any maintenance on it, and I don't know much about that kind of thing. It looks ok and sounds mostly fine, and I do stuff like keeping the tires well inflated, but i'm expecting at some point for it to just fall apart while i'm out on the trail or something.
I never did much to take care of my old bike, but I plan to be a bit more on top of the maintenance with this one. Looking at the manual that came with it I think the main thing that could hurt the bike's longevity to skip is oiling the chain from time to time.
My bike is falling apart though, front brakes don't work the back wheel has a detached spoke and the brake handles are loose on the handlebars
but I am super suspicious of bike places working on it and I lack the proper tools for fixing most of the problems, so who knows when these things will be fixed
It's decent enough.
I'd cross somewhere else but there literally is no other place I could cross this highway without annoying someone
Yaaaay bikes!
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
for example, this is my route home (at least until the bike lane is back on the bridge), it really is almost entirely uphill as I thought (the long flat part at the start is the harbour crossing)
I love bicycling. I usually get to ride four or five times a week, a couple of those with the local bicycle club.
My trusty steed for the last few years:
(the one at the bottom, of course!)
(I promise I won't spam the thread. I'm just excited for a bicycle thread.)
Semi-cleaned, and re-inflated. Ready to start trying to do my work commute again. The biggest inconvenience for me, aside from drivers and the shitty roads, is having to change clothes.
The gear's don't work all too well, the main one doesn't seem to go into the 3rd gear
Satans..... hints.....
There's lots of trails around here that we can ride on. Admittedly starting this in the middle of the summer heat isn't the best idea, but we're enjoying them. We have a trailer on the bikes we can put the kiddos in and haul them around too. Really sweet setup.
The one thing I wish is that I could bike from my house to work, but there's a section that I have no clue how to get a bike through without extreme danger, and even my brother in law (who thinks nothing of biking 100 miles on the weekend) agrees with that.
"he took the seat off his own bike because the way that it felt"
Been a long time since I've ridden a bike, needed something cheap to see if biking was something i wanted to get back into... I'm looking at upgrading to a semi-decent road bike by next spring, I've got the need for speed
So far I just map out rides in my area with ridewithgps, but I joined a bike club this morning and I'd like to work my way up with them.
god, the difference in feel between a borrowed mountain bike that was a bit too small for me and a hybrid/road bike that is sized properly is amazing. I took used it to go to the grocery store today just because I could.
I've had to put my bike in storage and it's made me genuinely anxious. I hope it doesn't get lonely.
Satans..... hints.....
Sydney is also an incredibly hilly place to cycle, and where I lived had far too many narrow roads that encouraged cars to quickly change lane.
It's a pity, because it was actually pretty good while it lasted.
Steam // Secret Satan