Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
What Han said. Have used mine daily for 15 years. Never leaked or fallen off.
How was your cycle commute?
- Thread starter ChrisFilter
- Start date
What Han said. Have used mine daily for 15 years. Never leaked or fallen off.
iamwithnail
Well-Known Member
Cool, will have a look. They're not much more than I paid before tbh, and the others are in bits. Will put a picture up.
Pretty shit this morning. I only went a short distance because they were predicting rain, but I got caught in two traffic jams. The first I think was caused by the fact that the traffic lights at a major roundabout weren't working, meaning it was tailed back about 500m from where I was coming from. I jumped about half of that but then the lanes condensed so I had to wait. The second one was a result purely of people coming out of Tesco's car park and people ahead of me selfishly letting them out. If I do that bit of road again I will make sure I do it before Tesco opens on a Sunday.
Yesterday on my way to work I was honked at by a Merc and a white van man because I was taking the prime position on a stretch of road without a cycle lane, where previously I've had people overtaking me and getting too close.
On the way home, just before the same stretch of road there's a cycle path which has a tree in the middle of it, some people had parked a pickup truck on the cycle lane just beyond the tree. I had a minor collision with a cyclist coming the other way when we both tried to avoid the truck. When I pointed out to one of the chaps that they'd parked in the cycle lane they said that they were loading and would only be a minute. I said that they should get out of the way and that I had just bumped into another cyclist, at which point I was told that I should "watch where I'm going!" I didn't realise how cheeky this was until I had started to cycle off but shouted back "watch where you're parking!"
This all happened on London Road, Brighton just north of Preston Circus.
On the way home, just before the same stretch of road there's a cycle path which has a tree in the middle of it, some people had parked a pickup truck on the cycle lane just beyond the tree. I had a minor collision with a cyclist coming the other way when we both tried to avoid the truck. When I pointed out to one of the chaps that they'd parked in the cycle lane they said that they were loading and would only be a minute. I said that they should get out of the way and that I had just bumped into another cyclist, at which point I was told that I should "watch where I'm going!" I didn't realise how cheeky this was until I had started to cycle off but shouted back "watch where you're parking!"
This all happened on London Road, Brighton just north of Preston Circus.
iamwithnail
Well-Known Member
Really not enjoying my new cycle commute. It's only a mile further but it feels way worse as I have to get to my old office and keep going, or take a really shitty route through teh city. 
steeeve
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't say invincible... I've got a hole in one of mine I'm still not sure how to fix properly
If it's not on a seam a park tool super patch on both sides works well
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
I wouldn't say invincible... I've got a hole in one of mine I'm still not sure how to fix properly
4 ply polythene bag melted on with hot iron - similar to this hipster trick.
Sunny! Warm and Sunny! And only a little bit of wind, none of which was a headwind apart from a short stretch - but even then I managed to keep my speed up at about 30km/h so all good.
Made forgetting my keys and having to come all the way home and back again a bit less of a ball ache
.
Made forgetting my keys and having to come all the way home and back again a bit less of a ball ache
.
plurker
tú no tienes la culpa mi amor que el mundo sea feo
Colder than planned - as per Winot's post - I went fingerless gloves and regretted it.
Also, the lane closures and roadworks around Kennington (separate thread) are starting to become a PITA, slowing me down as there's no room for me to safely pass slow-moving traffic which is held at the lights.
This will only worsen over the coming months, so I need to find an alternative that gets me from Oval to Blackfriars Bridge yet avoiding Elephant & castle. I prefer main roads to 'quiet-route' options, yet have the fear of E&C.
Also, the lane closures and roadworks around Kennington (separate thread) are starting to become a PITA, slowing me down as there's no room for me to safely pass slow-moving traffic which is held at the lights.
This will only worsen over the coming months, so I need to find an alternative that gets me from Oval to Blackfriars Bridge yet avoiding Elephant & castle. I prefer main roads to 'quiet-route' options, yet have the fear of E&C.
sleaterkinney
Well-Known Member
It's that kind of cold that seeps into your bones. Left the shorts at home today.
joustmaster
offcumdun
I didn't wear any gloves at all today. Which was a bit silly.
But I cycled a lot harder to try and keep warm. Ups and downs..
But I cycled a lot harder to try and keep warm. Ups and downs..
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
I'm in the same boat (although usually head over Waterloo Bridge via Baylis Rd).
BTW, has any one noticed the weird 20mph zone that's popped up around the Imperial War Museum? Starts at Grand Union pub (heading north) and stops 100m later at the junction. Odd.
iamwithnail
Well-Known Member
It's not just that side, seems like every north/south cycle route is fucked atm. The route through Dunton Road, etc up towards Tower Bridge has been shut for weeks, was open for two days and it's shut again, have to dismount and go on the narrow pavement.
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
Continuing London centric rant theme......yeah Kennington is a mess (I come home that way) there are also really fucked up roadworks on the N side of Blackfriars bridge that mean gridlock in the evening from Clerkenwell Road all the way down to the river.
iamwithnail
Well-Known Member
Yeah, forgot about that even tho i got hit with it last night,
joustmaster
offcumdun
My bikes filthy.
Do you think I can take it to one of those handwash car places and pay them to give it a clean and degrease its cogs?
Is it a thing?
Do you think I can take it to one of those handwash car places and pay them to give it a clean and degrease its cogs?
Is it a thing?
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
Your LBS will probably do it for a fee (we do)
joustmaster
offcumdun
I did have a look round at the couple near my work and near my flat.
The cheapest service they offered was £50.
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
Yowch. We'll do the whole bike for £30 or just the drivetrain (chain/cassette/chainset/both derailleurs off and scrubbed in the parts washer) for £15.
You can do it with a jetwash but it's generally not advisable because it forces mucky water beyond the seals into the bearings and/or suspension and fucks them.
joustmaster
offcumdun
As much as I'd love to meet you, I'll be fucked if I have to cycle up to Scotland.
I can strip my bike and dry, oil, and grease it.
I just need it to be clean as I don't have an outside space.
iamwithnail
Well-Known Member
Yeah I'm much the same. Think I'll just spring for it though as the bikes caked, and never been washed in the time I've had it (since June...)
joustmaster
offcumdun
I did a bit more googling, last night.
Theres a fancy car valet place in canary wharf that seems to offer a bicycle clean "from £5". Maybe they are more aware of how to clean a bike than the furious car park place at the top of my road.
http://www.carwashers.co.uk/public/index.php?p=tariff
Its just over the river from me, so i might give them a go.
han
love is the answer
I am on the cusp of getting this. I've actually decided on drop handlebars now, after chatting to a Dulwich Paragon mate.
http://guides.wiggle.co.uk/staff-review-verenti-technique-claris-2015/
http://guides.wiggle.co.uk/staff-review-verenti-technique-claris-2015/
han
love is the answer
Not bad for £399! I'm an XS frame, being a shortarse.
The 46cm steel/carbon frame I recently bought from Planet X (only 99 quid! ) I'm going to do a build with and take many months over it to spread the cost. That one will be more of a freak of nature with surly moustache-ish handlebars.
Very excited, anyway, about having a bike that is reasonably light for the first time ever. (Apart from my singlespeed which is light in comparison to my other tanks). Gears! Gears! Wonderful gears!
The 46cm steel/carbon frame I recently bought from Planet X (only 99 quid! ) I'm going to do a build with and take many months over it to spread the cost. That one will be more of a freak of nature with surly moustache-ish handlebars.
Very excited, anyway, about having a bike that is reasonably light for the first time ever. (Apart from my singlespeed which is light in comparison to my other tanks). Gears! Gears! Wonderful gears!
han
love is the answer
In all honesty, £5 sounds too good to be true. They'll probably just jet wash the hell out of it.
Cleaning a bike properly requires little brushes for the gears and the chain, and takes a good while.,doesn't it? Or maybe that's just me, in my slightly ocd-ish style of bike cleaning.
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