Hey Chicago folkes, I'm headin your way in less than a month for school and thought I'd try to get the scoop on things over your way. (i know these "hey i'm moving, tell me about your city!" threads have been all over the place recently.) I'm gonna be in the loop (art institute [i know cliche, right?] ) for at least the first semester. so... Hi! tell me about the city.
what's great?
what's not so great?
how's the winter? (i'm rocking fenders and booties in winter, the fender eyelets are one of the best things about the mercier/khs frame)
where can i stop in to clean the salt/rain/dirt out of my bottom bracket and hubs?
...and anything else you can think of.



this is me, so you can say hi if you see me around. (i went over the handlebars after slipping out of one of my spds)

and on a completely different subject gauze is terrible for road rash


-drew

As far as winter riding goes, its bearable up until early February- then the temperature hovers around 2 or 3 degrees until mid March. They salt the streets pretty heavy before, during, and after every snowfall so if you have some exotic steel frame get yourself a beater. The terrain is mostly flat so you can get away with a high gear ratio. That said, it is an incredible city for riding. Lots of bike lanes in the streets (unlike NYC or LA) and most motorists are pretty tolerant of bikers running stop signs, etc. Look out for the bridge gratings over the Chicago river (there's about 30 bridges downtown), I've heard about some nasty spills on them. Bike thievery is rampant! I had my rig stolen last week so do not **** around with cheap bike locks! Here's a LBS that performs cleaning services, they have a cool bike cleaning station: https://www.boulevardbikeshop.com/
Otherwise, welcome!

Welcome!
Not to sound like a snob, but I would recommend learning to clean and repack your own hubs, and either ride with a cartridge BB (recommended) or if you MUST use cup and cone, learn to work on that too. There's plenty of nasty grit around here, and there's no point wasting the dinero (which isn't always plentiful for a student) for something that you can learn to do pretty easily yourself.
slodo put the rest pretty well.

oh please, i do all my own ****. by "stop by" i meant "do you have a co-op/friendly place with some tools".

I have a friend who could be your doppelganger who went over his handlebars on Friday night, and sustained very similar facial scrapes. So, I think you'll fit right in.

If you're in town by August 26, plan on Critical Mass--we're a great city for that, too. Meets at Daley Plaza downtown (blocks from the AI) between 5 and 6, should be a pretty big one too, depending on the weather. Assuming nothing falls through, I'll be with the guys playing "Exile on Main Street" on endless loop.

People must have gotten wimpier since I left Chicago.

https://www.cityrating.com/citytemper...p?City=Chicago

I think the art school kids have swapped out their bikes for those mopeds.

I'm not taking a jab at you, it just seems to be the case.

Thank god.

Side note, I sold a fixie to an art school kid and assumed him to be a hipster that I'd never see riding around. Well, I was wrong. He painted the bike and I see him riding it everywhere.

Funny moped story:

I was riding home from work a few saturdays ago and was going south on Damen in front of Flash Taco. There were two kids (late teens, early 20s) standing outside on teeny little mopeds with cowboy style hankerchiefs over their faces.

So someone says something like, "You guys a club,"

and the response was,

"No, we're a moped gang."

Funny, huh?

Oh, and I think the housing is pretty good. Live somewhere like Logan Square and you're under $400 a month if you're willing to be flexible.

Sorry Slodo, but many of us Chicagoans ride year round. And enjoy it.

jeff

dude - you still need to work on your GPA from the ODB School race...

so what's the co-op scene like there?

i sorta like the fact that i can be percieved one way but actually be something completely different. i go to art school and i'll help you out when you need to seat a crown race. i have shiny fenders on my bike and i can still do no handed trackstands longer than you.

i heard they're actually ticketing for running lights there? is that true?

This thread is about to come together right here:

Soupless, my friend who went over the handlebars (and looks exactly like philthadelphia) is dating a girl who is, I'm almost positive, one of the moped kids you ran into. She founded this "Moped Army," which I'd never heard about until my friend started keeping time with her. Most of them ride Puchs, I think, and they cruise around Humbolt Park.

About the tickets: the general policy seems to be "we're going to start cracking down," but all of the news stories, etc, seem to have been generated from a single night when they stung a bunch of cyclists in Lakeview. Knock on wood, but I don't expect much further trouble.

soupless grew his hair out and a mustache? Paul, I haven't seen you in a while but...

Moped Army: https://www.mopedarmy.com

Started in Chicago/Kalamazoo by one Simon King and company. A friend and a solid person.

Mm, I may have been the victim of information tweaked to impress my friend. Or maybe it's a renegade/bootleg Moped Army. I can hardly keep up with all this Chicago fixie business, let alone follow another two-wheeled subculture.

This is not the first time I've come across a potential double for this friend of mine
https://www.thecobrasnake.com/partyph.../IMG_9328.html). He hosts Bingo Night every Tuesday at Tre Via in Wicker Park and works at the Handlebar, but does not ride fixed, nor does he own a computer, so I doubt we'll get you mixed up.

have a safe journey brother.

That journey is probably long over, the thread was from 2005! How did you find this thread? Such an obscure one to post in.

That all being said Chicago Diner, Quesadilla La Reina Del Sur and Ground Control are excellent places to eat. I would also check out Cozy's Bike Shop and back to food there is a brand of Root Beer that I got there one trip that was .99¢ for 32ozs in glass bottles and it was delicious. Can't remember the name.

Yeah no kidding, here I am perusing this forum for the first time in years, see a Chicago thread - must check out, then see my own username... wtf? Oh, 2005. Wait, wtf? (Although I knew something was off when I saw the mention of mopeds - A trend that has definitely long since peaked!)

Read this book and you will be localized ...................... it's a little dated but everything in it for the most part still goes