Cycling Thread 2

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Reneeee

What kind of bike and how much?

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it was giant fastroad commuter - listed it for $475 - sold it for $425. Wish i would have listed it at $625.

frames had some scars, but brakes, crankset and rear mech were all upgraded over past two or so years

[KTrain]

I carry a basic multitool, compressed air/inflator, tube, tire levers and a patch. Sometimes I'll bring a small pump too if I know I don't have someone to call-of-shame at home to pick me up.

I don't like riding with a pack either so I use a saddle bag.

I dress like I'm off to the Tour but I do like jerseys for the pockets in the back for my phone, keys and some food. The padded shorts (lycra or baggy) will make for a much more enjoyable ride.

This route is 38km and 250m elevation but is a combination of highway with good shoulders and quiet side roads. Takes you up to Dewinton and back from the centre of Okotoks. Unfortunately, if you're going anywhere but south of Okotoks you're going to have a hill to climb to get anywhere.

https://www.strava.com/routes/26258927

[Reneeee]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

it was giant fastroad commuter - listed it for $475 - sold it for $425. Wish i would have listed it at $625.



frames had some scars, but brakes, crankset and rear mech were all upgraded over past two or so years

Ahh so not quite $1500 like id probably end up listing for. curious how quick 2 year old carbon would sell for.

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[Northendzone]

i am mote a baggy t and shorts guy. maybe if i was about 60 lbs lighter......but i am more about mtn biking anywyas.

in addition to the above, i carry a small spoke wrench, co2 cartridges, pair of rubber gloves, spare quick link, tire levers. for my mtn bike i add in some other critical aprts like a rear mech hanger, some brake bits etc.

on both my bikes i have a saddle bag. on my mtn bike i have a fanny pack with a bladder, or a full on kit for a big ride.

i carry a whole bunch of ger and tools in an organized hockey bag, that i take with me on every mtn bike ride that stays in my vehicle. just easier to keep it together

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Dusted off the roadbike and took it for a 20K rip this AM. Actually felt pretty good for not being on one for almost a decade.

I live out in Okotoks, is there any good rides out here that a) are on a road with a decent shoulder and b) aren't ridiculously challenging? Something 20-30k?

What do you guys carry for tools? Basic multi with a patch kit? Carry it in a Camelbak? Seat post bag? Any suggestions?

What about riding in town or on secondary hiways? Ride close to the shoulder as possible on the hiways and let cars figure it out? When I lived in Calgary I used to ride in the middle of the lane in town, and ride the shoulder on faster roadways. Just wondering if that's still the way to go? Not to open a can of worms.....but I'm curious what people think here.

And do I really HAVE to wear gear that makes it look like I just came off the Tour?

Same for tools as the others. I wear kit, but it was a gradual thing. Started with more normal shorts over padded cycling shorts, then eventually went full tight kit as I started to care and realized the aero loss it was causing (more work for less speed).

As for roads, usually you have 2 options; busier roads with bigger shoulders, or quieter roads with small or no shoulder. I have decided I far prefer the latter. The experience overall is so much more enjoyable when you don’t have traffic flying by you, even if you have a few feet of buffer area.

And I will say, for the occasional horror stories about inconsiderate drivers, by and large I find most drivers to be very accommodating and try to give you lots of room.

Either way I like having a flashing rear light from a safety aspect.

Have fun!

[Reneeee]

That was a glorious wind this evening. 3rd time riding a segment and set a KOM. 5 seconds faster than 2nd place.

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[squiggs96]

I used to have a saddle bag and a snack pouch and carry stuff. Now, I ride with tubeless tires and the only things I carry are 2 CO2 cartridges, driver’s license, credit card, phone, gels, and chewies. It all goes in my pockets on my jersey and/or vest, depending on the weather. I’ll never carry tubes or tools again, and I have left all saddle bags and snack pouches off. I only ride on roads so I’m not on trails or gravel.

Even when I had tubes I’d never patch them. It’s much easier to just replace them and tubes are cheap. If I shred my tire enough that I can’t ride it home I’ll just call a cab. I’d rather do that a limited amount of times than carry all the excessive accessories each ride.

For those that haven’t ridden much a properly fitting chamois and chamois cream are essential for every ride.

[Reneeee]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

I used to have a saddle bag and a snack pouch and carry stuff. Now, I ride with tubeless tires and the only things I carry are 2 CO2 cartridges, driver’s license, credit card, phone, gels, and chewies. It all goes in my pockets on my jersey and/or vest, depending on the weather. I’ll never carry tubes or tools again, and I have left all saddle bags and snack pouches off. I only ride on roads so I’m not on trails or gravel.



Even when I had tubes I’d never patch them. It’s much easier to just replace them and tubes are cheap. If I shred my tire enough that I can’t ride it home I’ll just call a cab. I’d rather do that a limited amount of times than carry all the excessive accessories each ride.



For those that haven’t ridden much a properly fitting chamois and chamois cream are essential for every ride.

Do tubeless tires seal well and deflate often compared to tubes?

I ride 3-6 k a season depending on weather and have only popped one tube in 5 years. I bring a spare tube just in case but the only time I needed to replace it was because the tire was shredded so a new tube wouldn't have even made a difference.

In terms of tools I have a saddle bag filled with levers, 1 co2 cartridge, a patch kit and 1 tube.

I never really felt like a good pair of bib shorts and jersey mattered. On a short commuting ride (15 km or less I will just wear regular clothes for the most part with a pair of padded baselayers under my shorts. And just a regular dryfit shirt.

I've noticed on the 25-75 km rides the bib shorts and jersey do make a difference. I found regular shorts tended to get caught on the seat and I tore a hole through a pair or two of shorts a season. The Jersey also helps with any sort of drag with headwinds.

Sorry if this post was a bit tldr.

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[Fuzz]

The patch kit is really only a last resort, I'll never do that over a new tube. The kit is tiny, so not a big deal. Can't remember the last time I actually patched a tube.

[Northendzone]

i am sure the frame itself was 5 or so years old and I want to say I paid around $1,500 new for it. Strava tells me it had at least 10,000k on it and i rode for a while without strava.

It was a composite frame. Over the past two/maybe three years I upgraded the brakes to Deore, the rear mech broke, so it had deore put on there and last year, i discovered that what i thought was a creaky bottom bracket was really a cracked crank arm so that was a new crankset and BB and two weeks ago i put a new rear tire on it - in retrospect maybe i should have listed it for $750 or so and then see what happened - but I wanted to get rid of it and that was the price I had in mind.

On the flip side, I feel like there was a little play in the front wheel and it likely needed some bearings and a brake bleed as well as some wheel truing.

Originally Posted by Reneeee

Ahh so not quite $1500 like id probably end up listing for. curious how quick 2 year old carbon would sell for.

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[Reneeee]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

i am sure the frame itself was 5 or so years old and I want to say I paid around $1,500 new for it. Strava tells me it had at least 10,000k on it and i rode for a while without strava.



It was a composite frame. Over the past two/maybe three years I upgraded the brakes to Deore, the rear mech broke, so it had deore put on there and last year, i discovered that what i thought was a creaky bottom bracket was really a cracked crank arm so that was a new crankset and BB and two weeks ago i put a new rear tire on it - in retrospect maybe i should have listed it for $750 or so and then see what happened - but I wanted to get rid of it and that was the price I had in mind.



On the flip side, I feel like there was a little play in the front wheel and it likely needed some bearings and a brake bleed as well as some wheel truing.

But for a normal person those would be issued they wouldn't know to address in the slightest. Great insight. I see stores have no bikes on the shelves at the moment. What did you replace with?

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[stone hands]

i carry:


tire levers
spare tube
patch kit
small pump
multitool


i wrap them with elastic and throw it in my middle jersey pocket


I just throw a patch on when i take the old tube out when i get a flat, a patch kit costs like 5 bucks and ive had the same 2 tubes for like 5 years, full of patches lol

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by stone hands

i carry:


tire levers
spare tube
patch kit
small pump
multitool


i wrap them with elastic and throw it in my middle jersey pocket


I just throw a patch on when i take the old tube out when i get a flat, a patch kit costs like 5 bucks and ive had the same 2 tubes for like 5 years, full of patches lol

I used to ride with pump or cell in my middle back pocket.... then I heard of several crash incidences where those hard objects caused spinal injuries. Sure the odds are exceptionally low... but since then only soft goods in the middle and harder on the outer two pockets. Sometimes it's hard to balance and so it feels lopsided.



Now I just use a seat bag cinched down real tight to carry my repair stuff for road riding, and my pockets for food, vest/armwarmers, phone. If mountain biking then sometimes a waist belt (more capacity) rather than a backpack.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Reneeee

Do tubeless tires seal well and deflate often compared to tubes?

I ride 3-6 k a season depending on weather and have only popped one tube in 5 years. I bring a spare tube just in case but the only time I needed to replace it was because the tire was shredded so a new tube wouldn't have even made a difference.

In terms of tools I have a saddle bag filled with levers, 1 co2 cartridge, a patch kit and 1 tube.

I never really felt like a good pair of bib shorts and jersey mattered. On a short commuting ride (15 km or less I will just wear regular clothes for the most part with a pair of padded baselayers under my shorts. And just a regular dryfit shirt.

I've noticed on the 25-75 km rides the bib shorts and jersey do make a difference. I found regular shorts tended to get caught on the seat and I tore a hole through a pair or two of shorts a season. The Jersey also helps with any sort of drag with headwinds.

I switched to tubeless last year when I bought two new bikes. Prior to that I rode on 700 * 23 mm tires, and usually pumped them to 110 PSI. Now I ride on 700 * 25 Continental 5000 tubeless that are inflated to 80 PSI on the front and 85 PSI on the rear. I usually pump them up every second day and find they've dropped to around 70-75 PSI.


I've only had a hole in my tire once. I think the sealant kind of worked. I was riding back to Vancouver from Whistler the day after the Granfondo and I think I ran over some glass. There was a gash in the wall of my tire. It would hold about 50 PSI, so I could still ride, but when the pressure got higher it would let it out. I stopped in Squamish and paid for a tube installation to get me home. I bought a new tire the next day. Both my new bikes have the same tire set up, but the wheels are different models.


If I'm riding to one of my offices, and it's 5km. I'll still have on bib shorts, or something with a chamois in it. If I'm riding for an hour or more I'll apply chamois cream. If I'm commuting or to dinner I likely just have a t shirt on, but for any other ride I'll for sure have a jersey and/or vest. They fit properly, and they have pockets.

[GomerPile]

I am just wondering if anyone else is seeing an uptick in verbal "attacks" while you are riding out there. I have been using a bit more roads this spring, given the social distancing measures, trying to let family bikers, and walkers own the pathways. Many of the roads have a painted bicycle lane or at least two lanes for each way of traffic. I find more people than ever honking or yelling f-you as they pass me, often in another lane. Maybe its just spring or people have more going on than normal. My wife actually had a lady clip her on Elbow Drive in a school zone where she was keeping up with traffic, and told her it was intentional, and she "knew she wasn't going to hurt her"

Just wondering what you are all experiencing out there. We cycle a lot, a lot on city roads and follow the protocols of "being in traffic". People just seem more on edge.

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by GomerPile

I am just wondering if anyone else is seeing an uptick in verbal "attacks" while you are riding out there. I have been using a bit more roads this spring, given the social distancing measures, trying to let family bikers, and walkers own the pathways. Many of the roads have a painted bicycle lane or at least two lanes for each way of traffic. I find more people than ever honking or yelling f-you as they pass me, often in another lane. Maybe its just spring or people have more going on than normal. My wife actually had a lady clip her on Elbow Drive in a school zone where she was keeping up with traffic, and told her it was intentional, and she "knew she wasn't going to hurt her"

Just wondering what you are all experiencing out there. We cycle a lot, a lot on city roads and follow the protocols of "being in traffic". People just seem more on edge.

I hope you reported the lady on Elbow Drive to the police.

[GomerPile]

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot she could do. She was pretty upset and didn’t grab the plate number.

[Tron_fdc]

If someone clips me on purpose they are going to get a cleat across their door. That's ridiculous.

I had a bunch of buddies way back in the day who were bike couriers that carried U-locks for such occasions. Not sure if they ever got used and were just for show, but if someone hits me on purpose I likely wouldn't think twice about smashing their windows.

People need to chill the F out. It's not like we have traffic issues right now.

[KTrain]

I've had a few close passes already this year but I try not to let it bother me too much. It's frustrating the level of impatience some drivers have.

When I get into a conversation with a non-cyclist friend who gets annoyed by cyclists I ask them how much time they're actually inconvenienced by cyclists. 5-10 seconds at a light? Maybe the same if they have to slow to wait for space to pass? Even the moron cyclists who don't ride in single file, they're making you slow for another 5-10 seconds? It's not that big a deal.

I have a GoPro/Wahoo mount on the front and usually keep it on when I'm riding in the city. Not that it's going to help too much if they clip me.

[Northendzone]

went with a trek checkpoint alr5 - a gravel grinder. this exact one:

https://images.app.goo.gl/a7eeRqta7m78LHuE8

Originally Posted by Reneeee

But for a normal person those would be issued they wouldn't know to address in the slightest. Great insight. I see stores have no bikes on the shelves at the moment. What did you replace with?

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