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How was your cycle commute?

ChrisFilter said:
What do you need it to do?
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I'm championing OneNote (our parent company has paid for Office 365 for everyone) so I need it to be a handy for, er... OneNote.

However, it fucking crap for that because it lacks many of the keys OneNote uses for keyboard shortcuts.

Er... sorry. Have we derailed the "How was your cycle commute" thread :facepalm:

Crispy said:
If you can't get your money back I'll gladly take you up on this :)
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I'm going to give it my best effort on Wednesday (day off due to cycling-related activity) if I fail then expect a PM.

Anyway, back to cycling. I did a 135 mile ride today and am still thawing out my toes.
 
First cycle-to-work commute of 2015, happy to be back at it. Few mechanical issues :facepalm: but sorted it out.

And just to annoy some of you, I wore two pairs of Lycra trousers :D
(Along with about 5 other layers, it was COLD)
 
I was double-lycra double-buff and yet did half of the commute on the train. Once I'd got to the station I felt comfortable enough and happy enough with the lack of ice that I could have done the whole thing, but I'd already showered at home so it'd have wasted too much time going through that again at the office (which I'd need to do if I'd gone the whole nine miles).

Riding in the sleet on Saturday wasn't much fun!
 
Cold but now just above freezing. Lovely and sunny, virtually no wind.

A day to spend in the saddle than behind a desk.
 
What is it with aluminium, its so weird and finnicky, somedays the bump in the corner is a spine jarring jolt, next day same corner it barely registers. Good for salty roads though.
 
Guys, so they serviced my bike and fixed the brakes.
Parts and everything came up to £74.
On top of that, they said my cassette and chain needs replacing.
Also headset.

Is this normal for a 3 month old bike?
I have ridden it mostly as in the winter (70-80 miles a week) but am shocked with the damage already.
I regularly clean and lube the chain, grease bike etc...
 
I got my bike back! It 'only' cost £256 to fix in the end but it got a whole new chainset, rear mech, gear hanger, blah blah blah, a few spokes and gear cables, plus a full service and a CLEAN, which actually pleases me the most. The mechanic said he'd never seen a chainset so worn before. It now runs like a dream, it's like having a new bike. And riding it after a month off feels so good.
I don't like where I'm obliged to lock it though. Getting para, so may bring it in soon as I'm worried it ill get nicked, as the letternboxes were broken into this week. It's locked to a pipe in a corridor behind a locked door, but i don't trust the neighbours to a) not nick it or b) lock the front door properly. It's also exposed to another property and I don't know how good their security is. And I don't know if it's adequately locked up.
 
Orang Utan said:
I got my bike back! It 'only' cost £256 to fix in the end but it got a whole new chainset, rear mech, gear hanger, blah blah blah, a few spokes and gear cables, plus a full service and a CLEAN, which actually pleases me the most. The mechanic said he'd never seen a chainset so worn before. It now runs like a dream, it's like having a new bike. And riding it after a month off feels so good.
I don't like where I'm obliged to lock it though. Getting para, so may bring it in soon as I'm worried it ill get nicked, as the letternboxes were broken into this week. It's locked to a pipe in a corridor behind a locked door, but i don't trust the neighbours to a) not nick it or b) lock the front door properly. It's also exposed to another property and I don't know how good their security is. And I don't know if it's adequately locked up.
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Can you fit a d-lock round the pipe? If you can, then d-lock through the rear wheel and frame triangle onto the pipe and cable lock front wheel to frame if you've got quick releases. If you can't fit a d-lock round the pipe then get a good heavy chain lock instead.
Cable locks are basically pointless, 2 seconds with bolt croppers and they are gone.
 
Since having my back wheel stolen I now pretty much do what BigTom suggests.

Normal d-lock through front wheel, frame & immovable object plus small d-lock attaching rear wheel to frame. The only time this doesn't work is if the immovable object is too chunky to get the d-lock round. I only really cycle between my garage and the train station (which has bike racks) so don't have any problems normally.
 
Orang Utan said:
That's what worries me. It's a sewage pipe, so too thick for the d-lock.
Here's a pic:
View attachment 66641 View attachment 66641 View attachment 66641
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Not great tbf - that cable which actually locks your bike to the pipe would be gone in a clip with a bolt cropper, and then you could lift the bike and carry it away to angle grind the d-lock off at your leisure. But it would need someone who was a cycle thief or pretty determined to be one, cos it's unusable until you've got the d-lock off.
If it's temporary, I'd leave it. If it might be there a while, if it's visible to the general public, or if you have spare cash, I'd get a decent chain lock and use that instead. Shame cos the d-lock/cable combo you have is good, it just doesn't really work in this situation I don't think.

edit: Onket 's suggestion is a good one.
 
Onket said:
Since having my back wheel stolen I now pretty much do what BigTom suggests.

Normal d-lock through front wheel, frame & immovable object plus small d-lock attaching rear wheel to frame. The only time this doesn't work is if the immovable object is too chunky to get the d-lock round. I only really cycle between my garage and the train station (which has bike racks) so don't have any problems normally.
Click to expand...

I use a chain, and put it through my rear wheel + frame, and then a shitty cable lock through my front wheel + frame, with the rear locked onto whatever if I can't lock both through. My reasoning is that if someone wants to nick a wheel, the front is less expensive to replace and it's easier to wheel a bike along on its back wheel than its front. If someone wants to nick the bike, they've got to get through the chain, and if they can do that then it doesn't really matter what I do. I don't want to carry around the weight of a second chain or d-lock and reckon the extra risk is worth it. Having said that, Birmingham doesn't really have bike thieves at the moment (there's people who nick bikes obviously, but nobody who specialises in it and they don't have much of a clue of what is worth lots of money and what isn't, they just nick the easiest bike(s) to nick, which is the ones locked with cable locks, so they likely just go round with bolt croppers and couldn't do a chain or dlock. They won't nick a wheel cos it's too hard to sell/pawn).
 
there's this one dodgy neighbour - the friend i'm looking after the flat for said she ci=aught him fiddling with her mailbox. I'm gonna bring it in overnight and maybe get a chain if i can afford it
 
Apropos of not much, this is how you're supposed to use those cable locks that go with a D-lock

DSC04228.JPG


agree with Onket, I'd get a big chain lock for your situation Orang Utan - lock it round the sewage pipe/through back wheel and frame and then use your existing D-lock to lock the front wheel to the frame.
 
I think I'm just gonna bring it in and deal with it being in the way :D
I've never locked a bike 'outside' overnight deliberately before. it just doesn't sit right. i don't sleep well enough as it is.
 
Orang Utan said:
I think I'm just gonna bring it in and deal with it being in the way :D
I've never locked a bike 'outside' overnight deliberately before. it just doesn't sit right. i don't sleep well enough as it is.
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All of me and my kids' bikes live inside my flat. Edinburgh's horrendous for bike theft :(
 
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