cerewa
04-18-07, 07:51 PM
I'm not actually car-free but I did have a car-free day. I spent much of the day working on the mountain bike my neighbor so kindly gave me. I'm planning to use it as my main bike, although it's currently got some definite flaws.
I rode the thing to Trader Joe's to buy groceries, towing my home-made trailer. Shifting performance wasn't great. The tires on it now are pretty much what I would pick for singletrack riding, not paved roads. (buzz buzz). I put bullhorn bars on it and they're good except that they put my hands too far from the seat so my back hurts a bit. Finding a suitable short-reach quill stem looks like it'll be a real challenge because the headtube is big and not many stems are made to fit it. Maybe I'll go for a narrow flat bar with bar-ends and put the brakes on the bar-ends.
I bought enough groceries to fill the trailer's 45-gallon container two thirds full so it was fairly heavy on the way home. One of the trailer tires rubs the wheel-well.
At the grocery store I ran into an acquaintance who told me he used to have to ride his bike there, but he was excited because he just got a car. I told him I had biked there with a home-made trailer, but I didn't tell him that we're hoping to have my sweetie's car sold soon so we won't have a car (aside from PhillyCarShare).
I rode the thing to Trader Joe's to buy groceries, towing my home-made trailer. Shifting performance wasn't great. The tires on it now are pretty much what I would pick for singletrack riding, not paved roads. (buzz buzz). I put bullhorn bars on it and they're good except that they put my hands too far from the seat so my back hurts a bit. Finding a suitable short-reach quill stem looks like it'll be a real challenge because the headtube is big and not many stems are made to fit it. Maybe I'll go for a narrow flat bar with bar-ends and put the brakes on the bar-ends.
I bought enough groceries to fill the trailer's 45-gallon container two thirds full so it was fairly heavy on the way home. One of the trailer tires rubs the wheel-well.
At the grocery store I ran into an acquaintance who told me he used to have to ride his bike there, but he was excited because he just got a car. I told him I had biked there with a home-made trailer, but I didn't tell him that we're hoping to have my sweetie's car sold soon so we won't have a car (aside from PhillyCarShare).