They sit on top of a rack rather than attaching to the side like a pannier
The Topeak bags can also use a kind of sliding rack mount to clip on and off quickly
I have one of those with the sliding rack mount. Great for a change of clothes and other small items when commuting. My only problem was I could never fit my laptop in it, but that was years ago and laptops were huge.
You look like kind of a weirdo carrying it around off the bike though.
On the subject of steel bikes for commuting, Breezer's Downtown looks like it would be comfy to ride and fairly practical -- 1x8, chainguard, mudguards, kickstand, rack, checks a lot of the boxes for practically getting around. Downside is v-brakes rather than disks, though I'm still not convinced that disk brakes are actually _easier_ to use, they just work better once all the fiddling around is done. (as long as it's not cold or wet, that is). (also, quill stem, which is older tech but gives you more scope to adjust it)
Steel bike that I want but can't afford is a Rivendell Gus Boots Willsen, because come on, just look at it, this is a bike that you get on, think "I want to ride to [destination]", and it will take you there pretty much no matter what you encounter along the way, and do so in comfort (and in style, though I appreciate there's some room for debate there):
Surprised to hear Dj's comment about the cold and wet, my impression was that discs were supposed to be better than V's in those cases. It wasn't super steep in chapel hill, but there were more than a few times my V-brakes did little to nothing because it was wet. I'm really just wanting to be sure I can crash myself well before traffic vs needing steep descents, so its the supposed weather reliability that appeals to me. I guess thinking about it the disc probably slips too, just maybe not as much?
Are disk brakes really necessary if you're not bombing down hills? I Live in the flat lands and never felt like I was lacking braking power.
For me it's more of a control and quality of life thing
You can feather a hydro disc on a loaded up wheel in a way that you can't with a rim brake
Also my experience of discs is that they're maintenance free. I had the same set of Avid elixirs on my mountain bike for more that twelve years before they needed maintenance beyond (tool free) swapping out of pads
I regret getting rim brakes on my road bike and wouldn't do it again
Surprised to hear Dj's comment about the cold and wet, my impression was that discs were supposed to be better than V's in those cases
That's what I'd expected too, but the thing is (and these were hydraulic brakes, too), the way they stop working is a lot more dramatic than rim brakes. Through maybe half of last winter, when I tried to brake, they just did nothing except for make a _tremendous_ squeal and shuddering at the front of the bike -- I eventually learned that I had to ride a couple of blocks using the brakes very gently just to get them to warm up, and after that they were okay, but if I didn't use them for too long then they'd get cold again and I'd try to stop the bike when I got home and have it screech and wail and not slow down at all.
Rain when it was warm wasn't as much of a problem, to be fair, but snowy conditions were pretty awkward a lot of the time; I'd ridden cantis, v-brakes, rim brakes, and u-brakes through winter and sure, if I ride through snow or slush then things could get clogged up, but all it ever took was one revolution to clear the snow off and they'd be fine, there was never the sense of having to 'convince' the brakes to start working.
Now, possibly I should switch out the brake pads for winter brake pads or something, but I did replace the pad, I took the rotors off and cleaned them, I checked the clearance and centering, I adjusted the position of the caliper and everything, and I still had a heck of a time getting disks to reliably work in winter. Weirdly, the cable disk brakes on my fatbike didn't have the same problem, though maybe that's because they weren't as strong overall, I dunno.
In the dry / mud / summer, disks are definitely better, there's no doubt about that, but when disks don't work they really just don't work and there wasn't much I could do about them, whereas non-disks would work less well but at least still give me _something_ to slow down.
Surprised to hear Dj's comment about the cold and wet, my impression was that discs were supposed to be better than V's in those cases
That's what I'd expected too, but the thing is (and these were hydraulic brakes, too), the way they stop working is a lot more dramatic than rim brakes. Through maybe half of last winter, when I tried to brake, they just did nothing except for make a _tremendous_ squeal and shuddering at the front of the bike -- I eventually learned that I had to ride a couple of blocks using the brakes very gently just to get them to warm up, and after that they were okay, but if I didn't use them for too long then they'd get cold again and I'd try to stop the bike when I got home and have it screech and wail and not slow down at all.
Rain when it was warm wasn't as much of a problem, to be fair, but snowy conditions were pretty awkward a lot of the time; I'd ridden cantis, v-brakes, rim brakes, and u-brakes through winter and sure, if I ride through snow or slush then things could get clogged up, but all it ever took was one revolution to clear the snow off and they'd be fine, there was never the sense of having to 'convince' the brakes to start working.
Now, possibly I should switch out the brake pads for winter brake pads or something, but I did replace the pad, I took the rotors off and cleaned them, I checked the clearance and centering, I adjusted the position of the caliper and everything, and I still had a heck of a time getting disks to reliably work in winter. Weirdly, the cable disk brakes on my fatbike didn't have the same problem, though maybe that's because they weren't as strong overall, I dunno.
In the dry / mud / summer, disks are definitely better, there's no doubt about that, but when disks don't work they really just don't work and there wasn't much I could do about them, whereas non-disks would work less well but at least still give me _something_ to slow down.
Obviously do whatever works, from my zero bike expertise but small amount of material sci...sounds like winter pads may be a good option if they make them, sounds like yours didn't get grippy till they got warm, and there are often softer compounds that would nearly melt in the summer but are grippy all winter.
Either way happy to report im posting from the work loo, which means the test ride was a success and I now have no excuse to not be a bike commuter, at least most of the year. Bunch of trail that will be terrible in the rain sadly.
Only biting when hot is a characteristic of sintered/metallic pads (as opposed to "organic" compound pads), but I've never heard of an experience as bad as yours.
The pads I use are sintered (made by EBC), and being in the UK dry weather riding is the exception rather than the rule. I use them mostly because I don't chew through them as quickly when the disc get coated with mud, snow, or road salt.
Yeah, I mean disk brakes are so much better when they're working properly, I just had a heck of a time of it in winter. I'm not the,only person,with this,sort of problem,either, and the general answer definitely seems to be "warm them up enough to get the water / snow off and then they're good", and I 100% agree with the sentiment of not wanting to brake because the noise is so bad:
Got old school Avid elixirs on my 907. They squeal so loud I'd rather ditch the bike in a snow bank than pull the levers.
both front and back brakes (so, one with brand-new pads, one with older) have developed a periodic once-a-pedal-cycle squeak... but only when it's cold out (roughly, freezing or under).
The brakes are fine on the final descent where enough heat is generated to shut them up.
It’s all the little bits in between where they are cold the howling noise is beginning to really wind me up.
The difference is when your disc rotors stop squealing it’s because they’ve warmed up enough to melt off any snow.
I have heard setting up your bb7's so the drag just a little bit will genterate enough heat to keep them from yelling. I have no first hand experience.
I personally am so annoyed by the brakes that I do my best to not use them. Makes me a better rider I guess.
So excited. Ended up on a cannondale due to wait times on other things but I've never heard bad things about them so it's go time. Also I figure all bikes at this rough price from reputable makers are basically fine.
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Tynnanseldom correct, never unsureRegistered Userregular
Cannondale, Giant, Specialized, and Trek all make good bikes
Pic soon, but funnily enough I rented a bike, tested the commute and found it good. Came back, said I wanted to buy something "oh good! well...wait, you don't hope for one like you rode right? Those we will have again in....october." Or I could wait 2 weeks on a similar mens cannondale in black... but they had a womens (not like I could tell except for the seat and a sliiight extra tilt to the tube) in carolina blue ready to go out the door! I mean really why not, and beats the shit out of black for me. I'll always take the most obnoxious and noticeable color. I'm a short/small dude that rides light anyway and I can get the seat height to a good place so I really have no idea why they even have a separate women's line except people expect it I guess. I'm sure there are bikes where it could matter more, but not at this low end, and at that point you are more looking at custom fit for anyone anyway.
Funnily enough, they said that for the "mens" bikes you have to go up a few tiers before you even get that blue option, while women have it on the lower models. I get the limited color options for production, but making the non-boring colors the higher tier option for men is lameeee.]
Or if I'm totes wrong and the geometry is really all different let me know.
Also mech disc brakes so uh, if you have hot tips that I wouldn't get from a couple youtube videos hit that up too.
Nah it's usually just about leg/torso length and ratio, which is gonna be different for everyone anyway. Sometimes they change the frame angle for women's models (cause ladies be skirt wearing, am I rite?) but afaik as long as you get the right frame size there should be no difference.
Although its kind of weird that the seat was different because actually one of the big problems with women's cycling is that they don't really make seats for lady bits and I know one of the top world cyclists has had to have labia reconstruction because of it. But maybe that's just at the racing level. Idk, I just ride on a dude seat and have no issues. Could probably keep a role of quarters in the channel or something I guess.
I've not regularly ridden a rim brake bike in a while, but I've had plenty of headaches from my disc brakes, mostly in getting them aligned after taking a wheel off on a quick-release axle, but most recently I had brand new disc brakes with contamination, and then the brand (organic) new rotor+pads were squealing awfully and continue to do so after being sanded/conditioned twice. Maybe the rim brakes would take more regular attention, but the cost of tweaking the alignment of the brakes or replacing those pads would be miniscule compared to disc.
I'm about two months late on this, but New(old) Bike Day!
This is my personal car replacement(still have one car) midtail cargo e-bike. It'll haul around 350 pounds, and most importantly has room for bags in the rear while my son is on it. It's mostly fully kitted out, but I need a serious Kryptonite chain lock, and even beyond that I'm considering replacing some key bolts with the kind that needs a specialized tool to remove them because I'm still fairly worried about theft.
Here's my Surly Straggler meant for exercising and hopefully bikepacking soon. It wasn't my top pick, and it's not an ideal fit, but it's close enough and I didn't want to wait months for the ideal bike.
They sit on top of a rack rather than attaching to the side like a pannier
The Topeak bags can also use a kind of sliding rack mount to clip on and off quickly
This is pretty much just what I was looking for, thank you!
Seems like you've got the answer here but for anyone else looking for bike bags, I can recommend a few brands who have signed Radical Adventure Riders' CIP (Cycling Industry Pledge):
Signing the Cycling Industry Pledge means being a part of a conscious collective dedicated to positive social change in the cycling community. When you join the CIP Network, you are holding yourself accountable, and asking the cycling community to help you hold yourself to a higher standard of inclusion.
The CIP Network aims to foster empathy, understanding, and eagerness for the growth necessary to make progress toward true equity in cycling spaces. By signing CIP, your shop or organization is taking an active role in that progress. You join a network that cheers each other on, holds each other accountable, shares information and education, and reminds one another of why we are all here.
All of these are really well-reviewed for bikepacking wear and tear and have waterproofing options if that's a concern.
Hmm, should I be worried that it's fairly common for me to have neck discomfort within the first 5-8 miles of a ride on my new bike? It usually doesn't last long after the ride is over, but it feels like that's a bit soon to feel it. I don't necessarily have any worse issues when I've done a 25 mile ride, but I've got a 40 mile ride coming up that'll be a good test.
I already raised the stem length and rise, and I do try keep my neck as inline with my back as possible but I have to balance that with seeing the road ahead of me.
That was definitely a problem I had with my old bike. One of the reasons I never felt any compulsion to try and ride in speed position, it doesn't take much of scrunching my neck to see to bother my arthritis.
...speaking of old bikes, I just got my new one. Ended up getting a Trek Verve 2 Disc, based on what was available. It was also honestly the first one that looked really good to me when I started looking around, and that feeling never went away.
God it just....glides along. It's also a much more comfortable riding position for me. It's like a dream in comparison.
Are disk brakes really necessary if you're not bombing down hills? I Live in the flat lands and never felt like I was lacking braking power.
One bike I had these
I sarcastically called that bike the suicide as brakes were a joke even after I adjusted them. One run I was going down the hill and just leapt off the bike rather than wreck on it. I think I was going at least 40mph down that hill so I will not recomend what I did
The bike I got that was stolen on my very bad day had disc brakes and would stop on a dime the current bike brakes stop but not as smooth. I still have the bike with the questionable brakes as I broke the shifters early last year so I am debating about replacing both the shifters and brakes
I just use my old 3 day pack for grocery runs since it can hold 3 to 6 weeks of food depending on what I get [this is like a ton of meat or such} My brother has been pushing for a wrack and bags to increase what we can get rather than do infrequent runs
I just had baby's first bikepacking/ touring/rackpacking trip. It was already going to be small scale, about 40 miles each way with panniers, but also a fair bit of the weight being offloaded to my friend who was driving to the campsite, and then I decided to get a bit of a car-assisted headstart on Saturday and got a ride back on Sunday because of the day-long threat of thunderstorms. Still, it was good to see that it was not challenging to carry a lot of weight on a 36 mile trip and to go camping for the first time in 15 years.
I definitely want a lighter mattress, and lighter tent and/or hammock. But as I wait months for state park camping sites to open up, I may try to do a hotel overnighter to avoid sleeping in sweat and open up more route options.
I cannot buy a (drop bar, road, preferably with 105) bike because they do not exist and that makes me sad.
I am going on a group ride tonight anyway with my existing bike and that makes me happy.
Seriously I have been trolling fb and cl for months now, and local shops have nothing, and even if I wanted to have one shipped for too much money, everyone seems to be backed up til September.
I think I'm suffering from the same problem I ma with looking for a car in that none of the cars I want are available in the US because all anyone wants is an SUV. LBS has tons of stock. It's all e-bikes and the occasional mountain or gravel.
The whole bike industry, and bike parts supply, is well out of whack at the moment. Between Covid and Evergreen/given (and here in the dumb UK - Brexit) things are bananas. Bananas!!
I'm 6'3'' riding a 58cm bike(could be adjusted, but feels too small) I bought in February because it's what I could get. It's been so frustrating. I'm betting there's some smaller companies that don't ship to stores that I could buy from but I don't want to run the risk of getting the wrong fit again.
I'm still enamored of the promise of allroad bikes, ideally for not more than 2,000.
I do think some combination of longer seat post, setting the seat further back, and raising my stem(again) might do it, I am hoping to get a bike fit soon depending on what they can provide me. If I can get a good range of measurements to help guide future purchases, rather than just fitting this bike, I think it's probably worth it.
Speaking of seat posts, I've been noticing I've had to readjust my seat upwards after nearly every ride lately as it seems to be drooping (I have a quick-release lever on the seat post clamp). Is this just a case of I need to re-tighten the bolt on the seat post clamp, or a sign of it needing some further maintenance?
Posts
I have one of those with the sliding rack mount. Great for a change of clothes and other small items when commuting. My only problem was I could never fit my laptop in it, but that was years ago and laptops were huge.
You look like kind of a weirdo carrying it around off the bike though.
Steel bike that I want but can't afford is a Rivendell Gus Boots Willsen, because come on, just look at it, this is a bike that you get on, think "I want to ride to [destination]", and it will take you there pretty much no matter what you encounter along the way, and do so in comfort (and in style, though I appreciate there's some room for debate there):
For me it's more of a control and quality of life thing
You can feather a hydro disc on a loaded up wheel in a way that you can't with a rim brake
Also my experience of discs is that they're maintenance free. I had the same set of Avid elixirs on my mountain bike for more that twelve years before they needed maintenance beyond (tool free) swapping out of pads
I regret getting rim brakes on my road bike and wouldn't do it again
That's what I'd expected too, but the thing is (and these were hydraulic brakes, too), the way they stop working is a lot more dramatic than rim brakes. Through maybe half of last winter, when I tried to brake, they just did nothing except for make a _tremendous_ squeal and shuddering at the front of the bike -- I eventually learned that I had to ride a couple of blocks using the brakes very gently just to get them to warm up, and after that they were okay, but if I didn't use them for too long then they'd get cold again and I'd try to stop the bike when I got home and have it screech and wail and not slow down at all.
Rain when it was warm wasn't as much of a problem, to be fair, but snowy conditions were pretty awkward a lot of the time; I'd ridden cantis, v-brakes, rim brakes, and u-brakes through winter and sure, if I ride through snow or slush then things could get clogged up, but all it ever took was one revolution to clear the snow off and they'd be fine, there was never the sense of having to 'convince' the brakes to start working.
Now, possibly I should switch out the brake pads for winter brake pads or something, but I did replace the pad, I took the rotors off and cleaned them, I checked the clearance and centering, I adjusted the position of the caliper and everything, and I still had a heck of a time getting disks to reliably work in winter. Weirdly, the cable disk brakes on my fatbike didn't have the same problem, though maybe that's because they weren't as strong overall, I dunno.
In the dry / mud / summer, disks are definitely better, there's no doubt about that, but when disks don't work they really just don't work and there wasn't much I could do about them, whereas non-disks would work less well but at least still give me _something_ to slow down.
Obviously do whatever works, from my zero bike expertise but small amount of material sci...sounds like winter pads may be a good option if they make them, sounds like yours didn't get grippy till they got warm, and there are often softer compounds that would nearly melt in the summer but are grippy all winter.
Either way happy to report im posting from the work loo, which means the test ride was a success and I now have no excuse to not be a bike commuter, at least most of the year. Bunch of trail that will be terrible in the rain sadly.
The pads I use are sintered (made by EBC), and being in the UK dry weather riding is the exception rather than the rule. I use them mostly because I don't chew through them as quickly when the disc get coated with mud, snow, or road salt.
So excited. Ended up on a cannondale due to wait times on other things but I've never heard bad things about them so it's go time. Also I figure all bikes at this rough price from reputable makers are basically fine.
Yeah, it's honestly hard to buy a bad bike these days.
Funnily enough, they said that for the "mens" bikes you have to go up a few tiers before you even get that blue option, while women have it on the lower models. I get the limited color options for production, but making the non-boring colors the higher tier option for men is lameeee.]
Or if I'm totes wrong and the geometry is really all different let me know.
Also mech disc brakes so uh, if you have hot tips that I wouldn't get from a couple youtube videos hit that up too.
Although its kind of weird that the seat was different because actually one of the big problems with women's cycling is that they don't really make seats for lady bits and I know one of the top world cyclists has had to have labia reconstruction because of it. But maybe that's just at the racing level. Idk, I just ride on a dude seat and have no issues. Could probably keep a role of quarters in the channel or something I guess.
This is pretty much just what I was looking for, thank you!
I'm about two months late on this, but New(old) Bike Day!
This is my personal car replacement(still have one car) midtail cargo e-bike. It'll haul around 350 pounds, and most importantly has room for bags in the rear while my son is on it. It's mostly fully kitted out, but I need a serious Kryptonite chain lock, and even beyond that I'm considering replacing some key bolts with the kind that needs a specialized tool to remove them because I'm still fairly worried about theft.
For my wheels I use these
https://nutlock.co/
Seems like you've got the answer here but for anyone else looking for bike bags, I can recommend a few brands who have signed Radical Adventure Riders' CIP (Cycling Industry Pledge):
All of these are really well-reviewed for bikepacking wear and tear and have waterproofing options if that's a concern.
Swift Industries
Revelate
Rockgeist
Roadrunner
"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
I already raised the stem length and rise, and I do try keep my neck as inline with my back as possible but I have to balance that with seeing the road ahead of me.
...speaking of old bikes, I just got my new one. Ended up getting a Trek Verve 2 Disc, based on what was available. It was also honestly the first one that looked really good to me when I started looking around, and that feeling never went away.
God it just....glides along. It's also a much more comfortable riding position for me. It's like a dream in comparison.
One bike I had these
I sarcastically called that bike the suicide as brakes were a joke even after I adjusted them. One run I was going down the hill and just leapt off the bike rather than wreck on it. I think I was going at least 40mph down that hill so I will not recomend what I did
The bike I got that was stolen on my very bad day had disc brakes and would stop on a dime the current bike brakes stop but not as smooth. I still have the bike with the questionable brakes as I broke the shifters early last year so I am debating about replacing both the shifters and brakes
I just use my old 3 day pack for grocery runs since it can hold 3 to 6 weeks of food depending on what I get [this is like a ton of meat or such} My brother has been pushing for a wrack and bags to increase what we can get rather than do infrequent runs
J.F.C that Inventory page.
I genuinely love this and I love that Evil Knievel-ass bike on their page
you know what it reminds me of actually, is Rock Lobster's website
Love that dude's frames for real
"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
So fresh and so cleaaan
"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
What do you call something that's black and redin' all over? This bike:
I got a nice brother. (Pics once I get it this Friday.)
I definitely want a lighter mattress, and lighter tent and/or hammock. But as I wait months for state park camping sites to open up, I may try to do a hotel overnighter to avoid sleeping in sweat and open up more route options.
It's got disc breaks! I've never had disc breaks before.
I am going on a group ride tonight anyway with my existing bike and that makes me happy.
Seriously I have been trolling fb and cl for months now, and local shops have nothing, and even if I wanted to have one shipped for too much money, everyone seems to be backed up til September.
I think I'm suffering from the same problem I ma with looking for a car in that none of the cars I want are available in the US because all anyone wants is an SUV. LBS has tons of stock. It's all e-bikes and the occasional mountain or gravel.
Also you could try putting in a longer seat post
I do think some combination of longer seat post, setting the seat further back, and raising my stem(again) might do it, I am hoping to get a bike fit soon depending on what they can provide me. If I can get a good range of measurements to help guide future purchases, rather than just fitting this bike, I think it's probably worth it.