How Was Your Commute Today?

[tzvia]

Boy am I getting beat up. Construction on both sides of the blvd; metal plates, potholes, bad repairs and cut road sections for pipe that are poorly filled. Lots of debris. Dirt and mud. Getting fenders in my alu Fuji road bike would be quite a trick if I use wider tires so it's been fun trying to stay clean going to work (no showers). It really needs some 32c tires or greater, but it won't take more than 28c because of frame and brakes. So I go to the REI to buy some 28c tires for whatever relief I can get. Almost ready to call it quits but I love commuting. My commute is a straight line down that street so avoiding it would take me way out of my way.

REI was strangely not as busy as I thought it would be, so I took time and walked around the bikes. A steel commuter that can take wide tires and fenders would be nice. And I really don't mind going slower on a heavier bike at this point. They had a clearance sale, so I ended up buying the Novara E.T.A. size small, and fitted my lights, saddle, seatpost and pedals on it yesterday. Yea it's heavy, but the gearing range works in it's favor. No fenders yet, but I am looking into which ones to get. Rode it around the house, wow what a difference, almost feels like suspension. Most of the extra poundage feels like the wheels and tires, maybe one day I will get a lighter wheelset (29ers will work on this hybrid frame) if I can find a good sale. The 35c tires feel stable in the sand and lose pebbles from the construction sites. Just need to lower the stem a bit and it will be ready for next week. Yea!

[Sky King]

REI was strangely not as busy as I thought it would be, so I took time and walked around the bikes. A steel commuter that can take wide tires and fenders would be nice. And I really don't mind going slower on a heavier bike at this point. They had a clearance sale, so I ended up buying the Novara E.T.A. size small, and fitted my lights, saddle, seatpost and pedals on it yesterday. Yea it's heavy, but the gearing range works in it's favor. No fenders yet, but I am looking into which ones to get. Rode it around the house, wow what a difference, almost feels like suspension. Most of the extra poundage feels like the wheels and tires, maybe one day I will get a lighter wheelset (29ers will work on this hybrid frame) if I can find a good sale. The 35c tires feel stable in the sand and lose pebbles from the construction sites. Just need to lower the stem a bit and it will be ready for next week. Yea!

I can't wait to hear if you really ride that much slower, you may surprise yourself. The 35C's should make your commute much more enjoyable. I suggest you take a look at the SKS longboards or a simple planet bike fender to complete this great new commuter bike!

[tzvia]

well, it rained last night and most of today- it was pouring this morning, so I took the truck to work .

It just started raining again. Supposed to rain more tomorrow. Gonna stop by the LBS tomorrow after work- they have the Planet Bike fenders in the 'Hybrid' size in stock. They should work well. While I don't plan on riding in the rain, I would like to not worry about getting mud thrown up on me after, with all the dirt having been washed into the bike lane.

I am starting to miss the hot summer...

[Melalvai]

I got studded tires (Schwalbe Marathon Winters, carbide studs) on Sunday. I immediately switched from dreading the cold to I can't wait for snow and ice!! And therefore the forecast is rain and upper 30's for the next two weeks.

Since they are carbide studs I can ride on regular pavement, which is good, because I wasn't sure I'd be up for switching the tires out every time the weather changed, and what would I do if it was snowy in the morning and clear in the afternoon? So I'm riding on the studded tires right now.

My bike is not light, quiet, or fast. It's a commuter bike, and I have a rack, an enormous basket, jingle bells-- and when I re-built my front wheel with the new rim, I dropped 2 spoke nipples inside. So they rattle.

It's now noisier, heavier, and slower than ever before, with the studded tires!

[WindingRoad]

Tzvia that sounds like a pretty nice bike! It will be great for gnarly commutes.

Today's commute was warm actually, kinda nice, wish this weather would hold out for a while but I'm sure the nasty stuff is coming. I had a driver scare the crap out of me though. Apparently she didn't see me until she started to pull out and then she hit her brakes at the last minute.

[tzvia]

Well, I got in some 4 rides on the Novara. Yea, I'm slower, by about 6 or 7 minutes each way. Expected. I can feel the tires spin up due to the extra weight there. But being 35c and having a steel frame just made it absorb the potholes and metal DOT plates. Sand was no biggie.

That's the good. The bad? Maybe not bad, but I gave that mustache bar 4 rides and I just don't like it. I've got an MTB riser bar in the garage, so I put that on, then went to shorten the cable housings and...

I should have guessed. The brakes felt a bit mushy, but I chocked it up to the extra weight on the bike being harder to slow, and this being my first cable disk brake bike, was not sure how it should feel. When I went to shorten the cables, I discovered that the REI idiot who assembled the bike used derailleur cables for brake housing. If anyone here likes to self-wrench as I do, please remember- never do this. Brakes use higher cable pressure than shifting, and require the housing that uses the flat metal that wraps like a barber pole around the inner sleeve. That housing can be used for shifting in a pinch, but will increase resistance so may impact shift quality. But using the shift housing -bunch of lengthwise stands- for braking is dangerous. The pressure will make the strands bow out (mush mush) and they can fail - make your brakes fail - when you really need them.

So I replaced the housing, of course. And the mushy brakes became just wonderful. Now the bike feels like a nice cro-mo rigid mtb. So I ordered up a wheelset from PROWHEELBUILDER, nothing fancy but over a LB less than what is on the bike now and will be using a Ultegra 12~27 that I have in my spare parts bin. Heck, I might even throw a 11~34 on the original wheelset and some cx or 1.8 29er tires for trail riding next summer. That should be fun.

Oh- and i took the truck to work the latter part of last week, as I don't trust the pre-holiday drunk drivers.

[7rider]

Sigh.

I can tell when I've "fallen off the wagon" and haven't been commuting regularly.
I tend to forget to pack very critical things in my bag and I'm faced with a moment (or day) of panic as I'm standing there, in the locker room, ready to jump in the shower, and have a freakout, thinking, "OMG, where is my (fill in the blank)?????"

If practice makes perfect, lack of practice makes you look like an idiot.