Cycling bikes

I have a couple of cat eye rechargeable lights that are pretty rad. Charges last a long time since I don't cycle at night that often. The headlight almost seems dangerously bright (like brighter than most car lights)

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-zecto-drive-light-set-y9/

I know it's a bit over your budget, but for both a back and front light you'll be looking at roughly £50 I think. If there's an Evans Cycles where you are it might be worth popping in. They have their own brand lights which are a bit cheaper and charge via USB. My front one is their brand and it works well.

Actually if you're thinking more to be visible, than actually illuminating the road you might be able to shave a few quid off. You just want something that can flash, but I recommend the ones linked.

here's mine, def not a looker but I've grown very fond of it over the last summer. bought used for 300 eur, added swift saddle + marathon supreme tires so it's now ~500 eur.

in the pic my friend Phil and I used it as a mule for audio and laser equipment, it's the same laser I used to engrave contact details into the saddle (see GIF).

it's a stiff yet smooth ride, I like it that way. not the lightest bike around at all but can take a beating and is relatively quick for what it is. In the city I'll overtake most cyclists especially uphill.

front light got stolen recently which sucks.

TIL in Berlin & Brandenburg when cycling:

- sand everywhere:

the whole north eastern part of Germany is apparently sand, who knew? when there's not pavement there's sand, and it grinds down chains & gears quickly.

- certain car drivers are very aggressive. once had a taxi(!) sneak up on me (hybrid drive) and try to push me off the road. was contemplating investing into a GoPro for documenting city commutes, but apparently doing this is not really legal here.

I had a Hertz van almost crush me into the sidewalk on the way to work today.

Also, I noticed today that I've worn down my rear tire in certain areas where you can see the underlying mesh framework. Hope they don't pop in the next two weeks

Between the moron screaming at me in traffic to get out of the way so that he can take a right turn down a one-way street going the wrong way and the schmuck that almost crushed me between his truck and the L Taraval train, now must be the best time to get a GoPro.

At least when I'm killed by a negligent motorist, the police will have a chance of identifying the driver.

Do any of you guys record your rides?

i have a few times with a xiaomi yi (chicon gopro knock off). you're not gonna want a gopro though, you'll want something with loop recording so that it'll just overwrite itself without needing to be hooked up to something to clear up memory if you're commuting often because you'll end up filling it up quick and often. that way you only need to charge it and mess with the videos if there's an incident. i've not personally used one but have heard only positive things about the fly6/fly12 (but they're expensive). https://cycliq.com/products

they're bike camera/lights and have a bunch of frufru bike centric features.

btw since i last posted in this thread i picked up an 85 pink trek that i had converted to single speed as my day to day commuter. nearly 2k miles on the pink pony

I have cycliq front and back. I was pretty happy with them today, until I realized the audio is shit. On my way home, a woman rolled through a stop sign to cut in front of me, missing me by like 6 inches. I yelled and she screamed that "I'll run you over with my car!"

Went home and listened to the video... can't hear her at all.. just me retorting "fuck you!" I would have submitted it to the police if she was audible.

looks like fun!

I’m constantly torn between upgrading parts (nicer wheelsets, stems, seats, etc.) & worrying more about my baby getting vivisected while locked up somewhere. So I still roll the same shitty stock wheels & blister my butt on a sub-par seat; at least that way I can leave it outside while I’m at work or whatever.

mountain biking has taken a lead over road due to f wit imbeciles that don't leave any room when passing...it's like when they see a bike they either a) think it's a space ship and can't believe it or b) oh its a human on a bike, I'm in a car...I'm better than them...f them, they can die for all i care or c) it doesn't even register in their consciousness...

cycled from newcastle to edinburgh last summer...was ace...BRITISHHHHH

cycling in london is mental and fun

used to do a city every weekend ages ago...kicking off from london....cambridge, brighton, southampton, canterbury, oxford, coventry, salisbury etc...fun...crazy...dangerous

Used to cycle in the city every day but quit for obvious reasons... went over a hood, got doored while in the bike lane... Ugh I miss it but shit ain't worth it. Now I just walk everywhere and stare at my Bianchi forlornly. One of these days bb...

That's pretty shit if you guys are having trouble with traffic that's putting you off getting out on the bike, I guess some cities are set up for cyclists better than others. I'm out pretty much every day on the bike for the last 15 years and haven't had any problem, don't even bother with a helmet most of the time. I just try to stick as close to the kerb as possible and follow the highway code. And use bike paths to get from A to B whenever possible.

The cyclo road bike I got 18 months ago has been excellent. So low maintenance / fuss. All I've needed to buy for it is a new shimano rear mech and chain and a new back tyre.

As a result the MTB has been getting neglected, gonna give it some TLC this week and put it into the shop for a fork service and rear suspension service then try and do the rest myself. When I was using this thing regularly off road it was costing me more than to run a car. But I do miss trail riding so it gotta be done.

Wear a hat man! Just not worth the potential vegetative state resulting from face curbing

I don't know if I ever posted in this thread... anyway, I fucking love biking. Bought a bike about 2 years ago and I've never looked back. Taking public transportation SUCKS whereas jumping on your bike and just go is awesome and I must have saved so much money by now.

Unfortunately, ever since I quit my job 2 months ago and started freelancing I haven't really been that active. 

You have way more rights than you think you do. 

  On 4/25/2017 at 7:59 AM, doorjamb said:

 

btw since i last posted in this thread i picked up an 85 pink trek that i had converted to single speed as my day to day commuter. nearly 2k miles on the pink pony

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

looks like fun!

 

I’m constantly torn between upgrading parts (nicer wheelsets, stems, seats, etc.) & worrying more about my baby getting vivisected while locked up somewhere. So I still roll the same shitty stock wheels & blister my butt on a sub-par seat; at least that way I can leave it outside while I’m at work or whatever.

 

i guess it just depends on where you are. i've never really worried about my stuff if it's locked up. used to be a ulock but i recently got one of those abus bordo folding locks (the heaviest duty one that was like $120). i think it's good that my ss looks like a beater but it's got some nice stuff mixed in (namely the pedals and the heat treated nitto bars). 

  On 4/25/2017 at 2:46 PM, ladalaika said:

Used to cycle in the city every day but quit for obvious reasons... went over a hood, got doored while in the bike lane... Ugh I miss it but shit ain't worth it. Now I just walk everywhere and stare at my Bianchi forlornly. One of these days bb...

that sucks. i only got hit once (tboned at low speed) but my back is still super fucked from it but i couldn't let those fuckers win. my mum/wife all hated that i went right back to it. i have sooooo many near misses though but i'm pretty aware and usually account for everyone in their car being an absolute dipshit on their cellphone. 

  On 4/25/2017 at 11:16 PM, Schlitze said:

That's pretty shit if you guys are having trouble with traffic that's putting you off getting out on the bike, I guess some cities are set up for cyclists better than others. I'm out pretty much every day on the bike for the last 15 years and haven't had any problem, don't even bother with a helmet most of the time. I just try to stick as close to the kerb as possible and follow the highway code. And use bike paths to get from A to B whenever possible.

The cyclo road bike I got 18 months ago has been excellent. So low maintenance / fuss. All I've needed to buy for it is a new shimano rear mech and chain and a new back tyre.

As a result the MTB has been getting neglected, gonna give it some TLC this week and put it into the shop for a fork service and rear suspension service then try and do the rest myself. When I was using this thing regularly off road it was costing me more than to run a car. But I do miss trail riding so it gotta be done.

fuck riding the curb (imho) that's just where they put all the nails and garbage. there's several places in my work route that have bike lanes right up along parallel parking spaces and i just take the lane then too because fuck getting doored. 

  On 4/26/2017 at 10:34 AM, bendish said:

You have way more rights than you think you do. 

very yes (of course i very rarely get passed with the full 3 feet of clearance -_-)

i  sometimes (probably more often than is healthy) have daydreams of getting into a confrontation with a driver and just pulling out my folding lock like a 5 pound steel whip and beating the ever living shit out of a car.

  On 4/25/2017 at 5:41 AM, Kcinsu said:

I have cycliq front and back. I was pretty happy with them today, until I realized the audio is shit. On my way home, a woman rolled through a stop sign to cut in front of me, missing me by like 6 inches. I yelled and she screamed that "I'll run you over with my car!"

 

Went home and listened to the video... can't hear her at all.. just me retorting "fuck you!" I would have submitted it to the police if she was audible.

That sucks. Some people are really worked up about traffic for absolutely no reason.

The audio on the Hero5 Session is supposed to be really good. Of course your ears are always going to be better than whatever mic they put on these things. It probably won't pick up some shithead yelling from inside his car 

Been meaning to get a decent cam for a while but I haven't used one since my bad experience with the Hero 2 back in the day. It didn't have a viewfinder so I was just guessing where it was pointing, got home and looked at the footage and it was pointing too low. The helmet mount isn't great for MTB, to can hear the branches hitting the cam. I'd use chest mount, more stable.

  On 9/25/2015 at 11:20 PM, Schlitze said:

Word up,

 

My hands are juttering around all over the handlebars looking for the breaks, posture feels weird and crouched, it took me a while to figure out how to shift back up the gears (nudge the breaks). Hot dang! 

Tell me about your bikes, dawgs, no matter how crass and rusted they may seem.

word what what, ere u go bwlad, this will help you, 2 birds 1 stone

I'm using these in steady light mode, and I find that cars respect my space.

https://bookman.se/collections/bikelights/products/bookman-light-1?variant=18710747591

bike: most IDM 2017 nominee

ordered & received motherfucking SPIKE TIRES. No need to put them in just yet but this winter can fuck itself up it’s iced up surfaces

  On 11/10/2017 at 6:09 PM, phling said:

ordered & received motherfucking SPIKE TIRES. No need to put them in just yet but this winter can fuck itself up it’s iced up surfaces

Ooh, I'm going to have to get me some of thems. Thank you for showing me the light.

edti:

yeah cycling is great, and it's nice to see so many other wattumers using them as a primary mode of transportation. I haven't used mine as much after moving out to the country, but I used to bike absolutely everywhere, in any conditions when I was in high school. Used to bike up to the mountains sometimes, I was properly into it. I miss those days. I still use it, but not as often and not to go to the nearest city which is 20 miles away. Not that it's too far, I've made the ride plenty of times, it's just that every time I have done it I've had one or more close calls with the pickup driving hicks (no offense against pickup drivers or hicks in general though) who give zero space to cyclists out here. It's a two lane road with less than a 1ft of shoulder. Yeah, I miss riding my bike long distances...

Luckily we have a nice 17 mile bike trail that goes past a lake, but it just kind of ends. I wish it went to a major city or something. It's nice to have a set destination generally, like the city.

Should I get over my fear of being hit by those drivers? Does anyone else live in a place like this? How do you get around it?

yes imo. at least try it. Usually they shouldn’t be so stupid as to hurt you.. tho tbh I’d be afraid of fkn rednecks in cars but no experience with them, it’s different here... I’m getting more and more aggressive against cars tbh, gotten into several almost-fights the last months...... so don’t ask me for advice :D

Also be sure to get a good lock. Cable locks ain't shit for thieves as i found out when I got my nice one that I was talking about on page 1 nicked from town 3 months ago. Fortunately cops got it back two weeks ago and it's in better condition than when I lost it. The motherfuckers had cleaned it up and serviced it ready to put up for sale for 700 on gumtree. They did a good job on it. First thing I did was get a kryptonite heavy duty u lock that you can clip onto the frame, no one getting through this unless they have angle grinders. A good lock is a pain in the ass to carry around because of the extra weight though