cycling and century rides -

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

Sorry to say, Angry Shoes, but the closest I personally get is my gravel bike. Which goes off road a LOT. Usually on fire trails, gravel paths, and tame single track, because my old bones can't take the rattling of too many roots and my groin has been smashed far too many times going down on jumps and drops.

I don't blast through the woods. I dawdle, but I'm still out there.

And Cactus Wings, rearwheel trainer's good, but I'll always be a proponent of the original murder machine (rollers). If you do go the rearwheel route, just make sure you get some shit tires you don't care about for your rear wheel.

 

[XYZpdq]

went up to the grocery store for groceries as people sometimes do
some yuppie nerds in tights and helmets were at the bike parking as I pulled up being a creepy guy who rides a bicycle for main transportation and they were clearly not prepared for that much realness and noped the fuck out basically mid sentence going over directions

 

[Wonderful Id]

Got about 2 miles out on a ride yesterday before my back tire somewhat fell apart (went flat and a few of the spokes broke) and the nearest bike shop was a 5 mile walk. That was fun...

Also, they couldn't get it fully fixed before they close, so I'm walking back there this evening to pick it up.

Still not as bad as the time I got midly hit by a car and the back tire got jammed and I had to push the bike six miles to the bike store in the dead middle of summer

 

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

I'm just happy that my new band for my rollers arrived today. Snapped my old one trying to bust out a high-wattage effort in Zwift. The replacement will save my sanity as I suffer in mandatory quarantine. Can't leave my abode? At least I can still ride!

 

[XYZpdq]

>oh boy time to go riding to get some leftovers from family members on the other side of the complex
>I'm sure this time I'm fucking around on my phone and not paying attention everything will be just grea-
>SPEEDBUMPED
and that knee had finished healing up, too

 

[millais]

I'm cycling with the full PPE (p100 mask, goggles, gloves), now that the local bike trails are full of people again. I've "broken in" the mask's cool flow valve through regular use, so it's not so hard to exhale through, and now I am back to doing 20 miles a ride without a stop except at the occasional traffic light, but since traffic is so little now, I can often just breeze through those. The other convenient thing about the local trails in my area is that the municipal government managed to finish all its repairs and improvements to the trails over the winter, so they are in all very good condition now.

I have found that all the protective face gear plus the visored sun hat turns me into one of those speeder bike troopers from Star Wars. No peripheral vision, limited field of view in the vertical axis, and subsequent increased collision risk with other cyclists and environmental hazards. So far so good though.

 

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

I don't think there's ever an age where it's too late.

Some of us simply don't due to reasons. I possibly would if I'd bother getting myself a proper 29er with full suspension, but why do that when I can throw my money at sweet endurance road bikes and gravel bikes to be a 'tard on? Just preference.

I know some older dudes that do plenty of MTB. Like got a solid decade on me, and still having fun hauling their bikes 3 hours away to go blasting down technical trails. So I'd say there's never a 'too late' point.

 

[Technetium]

Who am I kidding, getting into downhill was always an unrealistic fantasy of mine. I would probably kill myself at the first real jump/drop I encountered. Plus as you say, there's a bunch of more fun types of bikes I'd rather spend money on first. And climbing is half the fun! Can't do that with a hardcore DH bike...

 

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

@XYZpdq Gah, I couldn't rate that shit like. Argh. Talk about suck.
@millais That sounds like a blast.

If only the weather where I'm at would actually improve for more than the hours when I'm at work. I'd like to get outside. Zwift is awesome, but fuck, the gravel bike needs to be sunk into the sand at the beach again.

 

[Slime Tube]

I think downhilling is more how long you can roll with the punches.

@XYZpdq you don't seem to mind falling off; how does that appeal to you?

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Any of you niggas have recommendations for good bike bags/racks for a commuter?

 

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

When I had a mountain bike, I used to have something like this on it for hauling shit:
Behold the basic bag on rack shit
Now that I'm a fag on a road bike, I have a waterproof large-volume backpack for those days I do commute with it:
Not my model, but close
And while plunking about, I discovered this absolutely wonderful and terrible thing:
What the actual fuck?
Though I'm sure @XYZpdq would have some good advice for you.

 

[XYZpdq]

When I had a mountain bike, I used to have something like this on it for hauling shit:
Behold the basic bag on rack shit
Now that I'm a fag on a road bike, I have a waterproof large-volume backpack for those days I do commute with it:
Not my model, but close
And while plunking about, I discovered this absolutely wonderful and terrible thing:
What the actual fuck?
Though I'm sure @XYZpdq would have some good advice for you.

All I have is an old laptop bag from 2000 that doubles as a backpack.

 

[millais]

Does anyone know anything about tubeless tires? They should only be useful if cycling in an area where there is higher risk of puncture hazards or the like, right?

 

[XYZpdq]

Does anyone know anything about tubeless tires? They should only be useful if cycling in an area where there is higher risk of puncture hazards or the like, right?

I was having a lot of trouble with blowouts, had looked at them for a bit, asked around here too. Consensus seemed to be "ehhh, they have some issues" so I put it aside since they were a little pricey, and got some of those tires with the fixaflat type goop built in, started skipping some of the lumpier sidewalks, and I've not really had much for problems since then.

 

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

I don't run tubeless - there's plenty of people I ride with who do, though. They don't seem to have many issues. Then again, when they do, they're absolutely fucking hilarious to watch people struggle to get a tube in them when the plugs don't work.

Fun fact, the last time I had to get a tube out of my saddlebag, it was for a buddy of mine that was riding tubeless and had a blowout. And his sealant was old, so it was useless.

Biggest issue with tubeless is the sealant aging. Once it's old and crunchy, it doesn't do its job. So now when you puncture, it goes flat - just like with tube tires. And just like tube tires, you better have a spare tube if you want to get home.

Not to say they're bad - I know guys that've put hundreds of miles onto tubeless setups.

But I'll say that my fucking gravel bike currently has 700+ miles on its original tubes - my slick tires are in need of replacing as the asphalt has torn them to pieces (knobbies are still good - the bramble I rode through didn't puncture them in the slightest).

As long as you don't ride like a complete dick, any tire setup you've got will last. I stick with tubes because I'm cheap, and clinchers are the least pricy tires and wheelsets to get. I'd say something about weight and grams and shit, but even I'm not that big of a fag.

 

[Cactus Wings]

Still stuck in shit weather I've mostly been looking up potential bikes to dream about getting, and as stupid as it sounds, the designs severely affect my interest. I love Bianchi in general but dear lord their obsession with shitty white stripes and random textures makes me go nuts. I've started looking at other brands but their lack of dedication to one theme or color is almost even worse.

At this point I'm torn between an aero and the endurance one I originally wanted. I can't tell if all this "aero isnt for everyone" talk is the actual truth or catering to normie riders with no experience. I'm not by far even experienced at this point, but wouldn't imagine myself incapable of lowering myself; question is how extreme it actually is.

The endurance bike is practically unavailable worldwide with Ultegra, but I guess it comes down to whether it'll make a return by the time I can afford it. They more or less cost the same with Ultegra/Disc, but I mean.. Endurance, is that 250km rides? I can't imagine I'd ever in my life go beyond an imperial century, and that's 'only' 160km.

 

[Slime Tube]

The difference, as far as I understand it, is that the endurance bike will have a more relaxed geometry and is designed more for comfort. Also, aero tends to be a money pit, comparatively.

 

[Webby's Boyfriend]

I’ve been thinking about buying an stationary bicycle so I can ride while I’m watching TV.

I am usually drunk or stoned while watching TV.

 

[Cactus Wings]

The difference, as far as I understand it, is that the endurance bike will have a more relaxed geometry and is designed more for comfort. Also, aero tends to be a money pit, comparatively.

I mean yeah, but what are we talking? Is endurance 250km? Some non-aero/endurance bikes Ive seen practically have aero geometry. There's no way to tell without trying one out, but 10 mins on an aero doesn't really tell the whole story.

The only other endurance Bianchi bike up from my current one is the one they do Paris-Roubaix on. It costs like $5200 at it's cheapest. The aero one is $2800 rim brakes with Ultegra. I'd actually dare riding that outside. Fuck crashing on a $5k bike. But yeah, down to how harsh aero is. I could look to other brands but haven't had much success in that either. mid/high-end endurance seems to be expensive as shit in general. Even BMC's Roadmachine is up there.

I went out today and did 30km. Absolutely destroyed me, whereas I used to never go below 50km. Guess I used to be in better shape than I gave myself credit for. I did however, once again, feel all the saddle pain further forward than my sitting bones. I can't tell if it is from just being out of shape and thus out of energy faster so I slump down, or something I could fix. I did 100km with this setup relatively easy in terms of saddle soreness, so probably just being out of shape.