Living Car Free - Cycling life: the frustration

I own three bikes, largely on the theory that having three bikes means you will always have one bike up and running. Well, tonight for a short while, I was down to zero bikes running:
- Sunday, noticed an interesting curvature in my old Fuji's derailleur cage... rendering it unrideable.
- Thursday, my winter beater developed a crack in the freehub body which left the drive-train ... unrideable.
- Friday, my tourer (which has a set of Schwalbe Marathons that haven't flatted in almost 3 years...) developed a flat. I managed to somehow to ruin the valve on the spare, so had to take the bus home.

:eek:

As I was riding home on the bus, I kept thinking how resourceful you need to be sometimes to keep a bike running.

Have you ever had a week from hell?

Well, back before weather radar was everywhere I got caught in a sudden heavy thunderstorm in the middle of a 12 mile ride to school. I was so drenched and pathetic that complete strangers were stopping their cars and offering me lifts.

I made it to campus slogging through the rain in 4 inch deep water. Then a loose Mr Tuffy pinches the tube in my waterlogged front tire, I have a blowout, and I splash down into the gutter. A car pulls up, the driver rolls down the window, he yells ... "I'm a photographer, I got that on film, can I get you to sign a model release???"

Well, back before weather radar was everywhere I got caught in a sudden heavy thunderstorm in the middle of a 12 mile ride to school. I was so drenched and pathetic that complete strangers were stopping their cars and offering me lifts.

I made it to campus slogging through the rain in 4 inch deep water. Then a loose Mr Tuffy pinches the tube in my waterlogged front tire, I have a blowout, and I splash down into the gutter. A car pulls up, the driver rolls down the window, he yells ... "I'm a photographer, I got that on film, can I get you to sign a model release???"

so did you sign it or punch him in the mouth?

I own three bikes, largely on the theory that having three bikes means you will always have one bike up and running. Well, tonight for a short while, I was down to zero bikes running:
- Sunday, noticed an interesting curvature in my old Fuji's derailleur cage... rendering it unrideable.
- Thursday, my winter beater developed a crack in the freehub body which left the drive-train ... unrideable.
- Friday, my tourer (which has a set of Schwalbe Marathons that haven't flatted in almost 3 years...) developed a flat. I managed to somehow to ruin the valve on the spare, so had to take the bus home.

:eek:

As I was riding home on the bus, I kept thinking how resourceful you need to be sometimes to keep a bike running.

Have you ever had a week from hell?

week from hell, sure

all bikes dead due to maintenance, never........but I have had to walk a dead one home before, it does happen sometimes

it helps though that most of my bikes are brakeless fixed gears, they don't die easily

so did you sign it or punch him in the mouth?
I had to get to a genetics midterm and I didn't see any upside in the situation at the time, so I just said no and he drove off. I bet the film is still out there somewhere.

It just crossed my mind that maybe it could have found its way to youtube -- but a casual search didn't turn up anything. If anyone happens to find it (try stuff like "dork falling off bike in the rain dallas 1981") post a link! (shudder)

I own three bikes, largely on the theory that having three bikes means you will always have one bike up and running. Well, tonight for a short while, I was down to zero bikes running:
- Sunday, noticed an interesting curvature in my old Fuji's derailleur cage... rendering it unrideable.
- Thursday, my winter beater developed a crack in the freehub body which left the drive-train ... unrideable.
- Friday, my tourer (which has a set of Schwalbe Marathons that haven't flatted in almost 3 years...) developed a flat. I managed to somehow to ruin the valve on the spare, so had to take the bus home.

:eek:

As I was riding home on the bus, I kept thinking how resourceful you need to be sometimes to keep a bike running.

Have you ever had a week from hell?

Rejoice! Trouble usually comes in threes so you should now be in the clear now.:thumb::p

I'll have to thank my good fortunes that my commuters have been extremely reliable, and I haven't had to walk a dead one home in so long that I've forgotten the last time that I did.
I have a regular maintenance schedule on all my bikes, with my winter commuter getting a far larger slice of bicycling budget. I won't defer repairs and I will replace parts with better than original, being that it's easier to fix the bike in the comfort of my repair shop than for me to make MacGyver repairs along side a road in a winter storm.

I get this frequently. Whenever I'm down to just two working bikes, if I take one of them apart for heavy maintenance (more frequently it's modification) that's just when the other will have failures.

Right now my second bike (my commuter) is chained up in front of a coffee shop on the way to work and it's been there for three days now because I haven't' bothered to bring it home. The 3-speed hub was lovely for the first few weeks, until I started stripping axle nuts. Now I can't solve my axle slippage issues to stop the chain (and now even the cog) from jumping off.

Back to single-speed I guess. Or even a derailleur. Internal-gear hubs are great when they're working, but ten times worse when they screw up.

think about if you had a car, one thing and it could be in the garage for a few days. at least with bikes you can afford to keep more than 1 around, and also most maintenance can be done yourself :)

think about if you had a car, one thing and it could be in the garage for a few days. at least with bikes you can afford to keep more than 1 around, and also most maintenance can be done yourself :)

:thumb:

I just dropped my heavy truck off at the shop...won't be ready for 3-4 days and the bill is going to be close to $3000:injured: fortunately I have access to a spare company truck...:rolleyes:

Aaron:)

it helps though that most of my bikes are brakeless fixed gears, they don't die easily

I would consider a brakeless bike with no gears already DOA.

My commuting bikes with 3 to 7 gear hubs and coaster brakes have never left me down in close to 40 years of commuting and leisure rides. Fix some flat tires on the road and that's it, any other problem could wait til I got home.

I would consider a brakeless bike with no gears already DOA.

My commuting bikes with 3 to 7 gear hubs and coaster brakes have never left me down in close to 40 years of commuting and leisure rides. Fix some flat tires on the road and that's it, any other problem could wait til I got home.

wow, for a dead bike it does amazingly well doing 55 miles a day

wow, for a dead bike it does amazingly well doing 55 miles a day
I believe it possible for a bike with gears AND working brakes to somehow accomplish that task reliably day in, day out all year. The difference being the rider has the advantage and safety features associated with gears and brakes.

Cyclists around the world, even the car free cyclists of the third world recognize the value of brakes, but then they ain't hip are they?

I believe it possible for a bike with gears AND working brakes to somehow accomplish that task reliably day in, day out all year. The difference being the rider has the advantage and safety features associated with gears and brakes.

Cyclists around the world, even the car free cyclists of the third world recognize the value of brakes, but then they ain't hip are they?

actually the biggest difference is the amount of maintenance needed

and in bad weather gears and brakes are useless unless you've got disks

actually the biggest difference is the amount of maintenance needed

and in bad weather gears and brakes are useless unless you've got disks

......

My brakes work fine all year 'round, thankyouverymuch.

Also... I can only think of one occasion ever that my gears didn't work... and that was when it was 31 degrees and raining and the cogs all iced up so that I couldn't shift easily... took two or three tries to knock the ice off and shift. They still worked.

That said... if I have a little spare cash I'm going to build myself a fixie... there are no hills to speak of on my current commute... should be fun.

......

My brakes work fine all year 'round, thankyouverymuch.

Also... I can only think of one occasion ever that my gears didn't work... and that was when it was 31 degrees and raining and the cogs all iced up so that I couldn't shift easily... took two or three tries to knock the ice off and shift. They still worked.

That said... if I have a little spare cash I'm going to build myself a fixie... there are no hills to speak of on my current commute... should be fun.

I have spent months at a time riding in the snow, slush, ice, and freezing rain........rim brakes and gears in those conditions suck, it isn't an occasional thing. That is the difference, most folks simply never ride enough or ride enough in crappy conditions to find out the hard way. I do not have a choice, I ride in whatever mother nature can throw at me. Rim brakes require constant maintenance and replacement as do rims. Before I switched to fix gear I was wearing out two rims a year just from braking.

exhibit A, typical day in central ohio in winter

actually the biggest difference is the amount of maintenance needed

and in bad weather gears and brakes are useless unless you've got disks

There are plenty of all weather brakes out there besides discs. I know a couple of people with disc brakes and they require plenty of maintenance. FWIW I have multiple IGH bikes, one in particular has gone well over 15,000 miles with little maintenance, certainly no more than a fixed gear would need.

Aaron:)

I have spent months at a time riding in the snow, slush, ice, and freezing rain........rim brakes and gears in those conditions suck, it isn't an occasional thing. That is the difference, most folks simply never ride enough or ride enough in crappy conditions to find out the hard way. I do not have a choice, I ride in whatever mother nature can throw at me. Rim brakes require constant maintenance and replacement as do rims. Before I switched to fix gear I was wearing out two rims a year just from braking.

exhibit A, typical day in central ohio in winter
Did I mention that my current commuter with 7 internal gears and coaster brakes has over 35,000 miles of all weather riding (including sub zero F.) and has had virtually no maintenance outside of changing the chain once a year and one replacement of sprockets due to wear? Coaster brakes work fine without frustration in any weather condition as does the gear shifting on almost all IGH equipped bikes, with almost nil maintenance.

I'm glad you like your bike but you are fooling yourself if you think a cyclist has to do without brakes or gears to have a no muss/no fuss reliable all weather ride.

Did I mention that my current commuter with 7 internal gears and coaster brakes has over 35,000 miles of all weather riding (including sub zero F.) and has had virtually no maintenance outside of changing the chain once a year and one replacement of sprockets due to wear? Coaster brakes work fine without frustration in any weather condition as does the gear shifting on almost all IGH equipped bikes, with almost nil maintenance.

I'm glad you like your bike but you are fooling yourself if you think a cyclist has to do without brakes or gears to have a no muss/no fuss reliable all weather ride.

ah, the boat anchor solution

ah, the boat anchor solution

Tee Hee. :roflmao2: A car free/simple life bike snob hipster! Who wudda thunk it possible? :lol:

Tee Hee. :roflmao2: A car free/simple life bike snob hipster! Who wudda thunk it possible? :lol:

nope just somebody that rides for a living and sees no reason to push an extra 15lbs of bike around if I don't have to

I think I am too old to be a hipster too, hippie would be closer.

Have you ever had a week from hell?

Not quite that way but my bicycling career has had its moments...

Like the time I destroyed both rims on a pothole... on the very first test ride I took after putting them on the bike.

Or just before I graduated college, both of my bikes had had wheel problems severe enough to put them out of commission till I got some money after graduation. I grabbed the Montgomery Ward bike my brother had left on the porch, pumped up the tires and was surprised when they held air. I lubed the chain and I was in business. At least for a week or so till the frame fell apart. The downtube pulled out of the bottom bracket. I put it back together with baling wire and turnbuckles. That worked okay till some moron at the university decided to loosen all the turnbuckles. I walked the bike home but couldn't get the alignment of the frame back quite right when I tightened the turnbuckles again. But I rode it very gently and it held till 3 days after graduation.

The scariest was when I had not completely tightened the quick release on the front wheel of my Peugeot in college. I popped a wheelie and the front wheel came out of the fork. Ouch!

In truly bad weather rim brakes usually work as well as they need to for the amount of traction available.

I was actually amazed at how well my five-speed SIS friction shifting held up this past winter, considering it wasn't maintained at all. The chain was pretty stiff after a couple months without oil, and there was one morning of -30 Celsius when the derailleur cable froze, but apart from that it worked fine in spite of numerous crashes and months of neglect.

That said, next winter I'll be riding a fixed gear, preferably with a disc in front.

I own three bikes, largely on the theory that having three bikes means you will always have one bike up and running. Well, tonight for a short while, I was down to zero bikes running:
- Sunday, noticed an interesting curvature in my old Fuji's derailleur cage... rendering it unrideable.
- Thursday, my winter beater developed a crack in the freehub body which left the drive-train ... unrideable.
- Friday, my tourer (which has a set of Schwalbe Marathons that haven't flatted in almost 3 years...) developed a flat. I managed to somehow to ruin the valve on the spare, so had to take the bus home.

:eek:

As I was riding home on the bus, I kept thinking how resourceful you need to be sometimes to keep a bike running.

Have you ever had a week from hell?



I own five bikes and two frames. two are in the shop (different shops) one has a flat, one is a snow bike with studded tires so I can not ride it this time of year.:mad: My remaining bike and frames are with a vendor to be delivered later this week (long story). My friend has 213 bikes (he is a wrench) so i guess he does not have to worry about not being able to ride. So i get the flat fixed because I have to go to work Monday. Oh I need my wheel fixed due to hitting a pot hole. Taking thee bus to work is out of the question because it takes three hours to go four miles. :mad: Can you ever have too many bikes? :love: I don't think so but my husband does.:(


Gas, .69 cents the pri8ce of a can of beans

I own five bikes and two frames. two are in the shop (different shops) one has a flat, one is a snow bike with studded tires so I can not ride it this time of year.:mad: My remaining bike and frames are with a vendor to be delivered later this week (long story). My friend has 213 bikes (he is a wrench) so i guess he does not have to worry about not being able to ride. So i get the flat fixed because I have to go to work Monday. Oh I need my wheel fixed due to hitting a pot hole. Taking thee bus to work is out of the question because it takes three hours to go four miles. :mad: Can you ever have too many bikes? :love: I don't think so but my husband does.:(


Gas, .69 cents the pri8ce of a can of beans

Does your friend own an LBS? :eek:

exhibit A, typical day in central Ohio in winter

... well, that explains why I see so many Ohio tags in Florida....

Where is exhibt A?:wtf: I spent most of my fall and winter in Circleville, OH...rode my bike too.:p

Aaron:)

I ride my bike all winter, around 100 miles per week, with no big problems with either the brakes or the derailleurs.

Of course I live in Michigan, and maybe our winters are less severe than those faced by pedex in Ohio. :D

Where is exhibt A?:wtf: I spent most of my fall and winter in Circleville, OH...rode my bike too.:p

Aaron:)

post #16

I have spent months at a time riding in the snow, slush, ice, and freezing rain........rim brakes and gears in those conditions suck, it isn't an occasional thing. That is the difference, most folks simply never ride enough or ride enough in crappy conditions to find out the hard way. I do not have a choice, I ride in whatever mother nature can throw at me. Rim brakes require constant maintenance and replacement as do rims. Before I switched to fix gear I was wearing out two rims a year just from braking.

exhibit A, typical day in central ohio in winter

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c269/AzCowboy/Snow/S7300534.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c269/AzCowboy/Snow/BikeSnow.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c269/AzCowboy/Bike%20stuff/IMG_0479.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c269/AzCowboy/Bike%20stuff/04-08-07_1003.jpg

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=108880&stc=1&d=1245719890

You're absolutely right. I wouldn't know ANYTHING about biking in bad weather.

Thanks for the insult.

You're absolutely right. I wouldn't know ANYTHING about biking in bad weather.

Thanks for the insult.

No insult intended. I was just reporting on my own experiences in similar weather conditions. Obviously, experiences vary, and so do solutions to the problems that cyclists face.

I'm well aware that you outride me and just about everybody on this forum. Some of your comments (that other BF members are sedentary or lack experience) could also strike some as insulting, although I doubt if this is your intention.

Cyclists around the world, even the car free cyclists of the third world recognize the value of brakes, but then they ain't hip are they?

Really? In Haiti most of the bikes I saw had brakes that didn't work (which is what you should expect from wal-mart quality bikes, if you don't buy better brakes after-market).

And these brakeless bikes aren't fixie's either!! Good thing they go slow.

No insult intended. I was just reporting on my own experiences in similar weather conditions. Obviously, experiences vary, and so do solutions to the problems that cyclists face.

I'm well aware that you outride me and just about everybody on this forum. Some of your comments (that other BF members are sedentary or lack experience) could also strike some as insulting, although I doubt if this is your intention.

My comments were most definitely not aimed at you, Roody. Pedex was the one claiming that he was the only one with any experience riding in less than stellar conditions.

And if I ever said anything to imply that other BF members were sedentary it was most likely in jest. (I can't recall saying that... but I'm a smartaleck... Take what's said with a grain of salt)

Lack of experience??? I could see myself pointing it out... most likely have at some point (Or several...)

As far as outriding people on this forum... maybe the last couple years... but not this year! I've been LAZY! :eek:

My comments were most definitely not aimed at you, Roody. Pedex was the one claiming that he was the only one with any experience riding in less than stellar conditions.

And if I ever said anything to imply that other BF members were sedentary it was most likely in jest. (I can't recall saying that... but I'm a smartaleck... Take what's said with a grain of salt)

Lack of experience??? I could see myself pointing it out... most likely have at some point (Or several...)

As far as outriding people on this forum... maybe the last couple years... but not this year! I've been LAZY! :eek:

I am SO Sorry! I knew it was pedex who made the statement. I think I hit the wrong button when I was replying with quote. :o

Mr McLaughlin, I salute you. Not for riding in the snow, that's nothing special... but riding in the snow with no gloves?! Definitely no brakes or gears then!

My comments were most definitely not aimed at you, Roody. Pedex was the one claiming that he was the only one with any experience riding in less than stellar conditions.

And if I ever said anything to imply that other BF members were sedentary it was most likely in jest. (I can't recall saying that... but I'm a smartaleck... Take what's said with a grain of salt)

Lack of experience??? I could see myself pointing it out... most likely have at some point (Or several...)

As far as outriding people on this forum... maybe the last couple years... but not this year! I've been LAZY! :eek:

no I specifically posted "most folks"

are you "most folks"? no, you are sample size of 1

how many others have jumped in and posted how much they ride in the snow? not many

my post stands

I will remember that though and I will endeavor to assume everyone rides a bunch, knows about cycling really well and has tons of experience and let you guys coach and help the rookies, if there are any.

I think pedex is making the wrong point here. We car free people ride in all weather. I love the challenge of doing my transportation in the snow. BUT, I don't ride all day for a living in the snow. My Euro bike with rim brakes on front and hub brake and hub gears in the rear does pretty well in the snow, but I don't ride it for 6 hours in the snow, more like one hour at a stretch. I arrive at my destination with the bike covered in snow and slush. I can't claim that it would do well delivering stuff all day downtown in the nasty salty slush. pedex and I use different tools for different jobs. I go to work go to the store, go visit friends or go to a play. I don't ride all day in the crappy icy weather. If you're considering going car free to substitute normal car trips with bike trips, then look at what normal car free people use. If you're considering riding all day for a living then look at what the messenger crowd uses.

I hate to see some of the finest posters on LCF having words & misunderstandings, but I sure enjoyed the winter photos -- it'll be 105 F tomorrow here and I'll be out in it. I've never had to ride in subzero F conditions and I'm thinking I've only experienced that degree of cold once or twice in my life.