Bicycles!

[altoid]

There’s your first step easy answer right there.
You made the extra trip anyway (at 2mi I’d argue you’d have even been quicker on the bike, full trip considered), so you didn’t need to include this in your ride for time reasons. thus you don’t actually have a reason to spend big on a weird bag you can take on your jersey pocket on your ride.
Just do exactly what you did today, but instead of taking the car, just take the bike and any old backpack. I’ll be the first to admit this doesn’t satisfy GAS and is very boring, but it’s easy and will work for you straightaway.
Also depending on your backpack situation: you can fit a lot of crap into one of those. No need for a cargo bike when you just want to go for groceries

Well, I wanted to go on a longer ride and then stop by the store, and I wouldn’t want to bring my fairly nice but somewhat bulky Velomacchi Giro and ride with it empty on my back just for that. Something foldable that I can stash during the fun bits of the ride—like this Outer Shell Magic Musette or this Apidura Packable Musette—would be a better option.

That said yes, I should’ve just taken the bike anyway. I could’ve done the grocery ride separately before or after my fitness ride, but I honestly didn’t really think about it that way. It’s hard to untrain the American reliance on motor vehicles I’ve so diligently adopted.

You have a (relatively speaking) humongous bar bag so just tuck a small grocery bag in there. Or do you detach the bar bag depending on the ride?

This morning was the first time I rode without the big bag since I got it, but that doesn’t really matter—anything reasonably foldable would fit into a jersey pocket just fine, or be otherwise strappable to the bike.

———

I think it’s time to put the flat/SPD combo pedals back on and see if they serve me better for some errands. Sure, for anything longer than a few miles I’ll just suit up and treat it as a workout as well, but I have some relatively frequent destinations literally within a 2-mile radius, and for that it’d be nice to just put on a helmet and ride in civilian clothes. I recently replaced them with dual-side SPD ones, but I think it’s worth experimenting again. And this time I have a pedal wrench handy.

In other news, I got a Hiplok FX to have something a bit less hefty (75g) than the Kryptonite U-Lock (1.59kg) for quick restroom and café stops on solo rides. It could probably work for quick grocery runs too, though for those I might bring the beefier option.

Since I first posted about my new light, I got the mounts I wanted for it. First the no-bag setup, which I think looks quite slick:



And the with-bag setup, which is also pretty cool, though in a more utilitarian sense:



The light unclips from its little GoPro teeth easily, so I can just leave the mount on and attach it when needed, which I anticipate won’t be too often. Pretty happy with the versatility, though!

Yesterday I wanted to do a relaxed ride, and then ended up not necessarily doing that:



And then today I ran my own Zone-2-pretend-mini-crit:



That’s a bad segment to try and game, with entirely too many kids, dogs, and cars, so I think I’ll just enjoy my Local Legend moment and never try it again. But it was a fun little whirl!

 

[Adunaphel]

In fact, I need to find some sort of bag I can wear on the bike that also folds up small enough to put in a jersey pocket. I could’ve just made this stop at the end of today’s ride instead of doing this dumb drive only to go back home, get on the bike, and ride literally past it right away.

For things that are not too bulky or heavy (a few groceries, a book, etc) I really like the simple drawstring backpack pouches. They fold up super small, and are usable enough for most cases. Upside is that they cost next to nothing, and at least over here, (bike) stores give them away for free a lot of the time (got mine for free with my road bike, for the papers).

 

[eizbaer]

Ok then, first reviews and comparison time for the new cargo bike after about a week! All comparisons vs the babboe city mountain deathtrap we ran before and that currently sits at about 7.500 km on the odo. which is probably already more than the average babboe manages in a lifetime

anyway, the new: Cube Cargo Hybrid (as posted here somewhere before)
seeing how I wrote a giant novel here, maybe skip actually reading all that drivel unless you're actually interested...

the important bits:

• 2022 model and thus 35% off for whatever silly reason.
• blue/teal color scheme. very nice.
• non-"sport" version: i.e. not the one with the silly chain-shifting but rather with the really fairly nice enviolo heavy duty CVT hub. this one is setup correctly... will come back to that later.
• single-battery setup (500 Wh) which should give a realistic range of about 50 km. which is more than good enough for our uses. if we end up going longer distances, we can always just get a second battery to swap out - the double battery option would've been 900€ more, so no thank you...
• Bosch cargo line motor, 85 Nm, runs much smoother and nicer than the old Yamaha whatever-the-hell.
• in addition we got: rear rack (better have than need), kiddie seat / bench, raincover tent thing

now then, the good:

• most important: our daughter loves it. probably because it's much more comfortable... and also because I got her a purple cushion for her seat
• the ride is both much more "solid" / confidence inspiring and more comfortable at the same time vs. babboe. this is probably due to the front suspension fork as well as the actual cargo bike tires (Schwalbe pick-up) that come in a whopping 60mm in the front, 65mm in the back.
• as stated above, the actual motor is much more capable than the old one, also in terms of how well it blends into your pedaling. also its much quieter, despite the reviews usually saying that the Bosch unit is fairly loud (?)
• the whole bike is notably lighter. which I did not expect, tbh. yes on paper its a few kg lighter, but at 51 vs 55 or whatever kg (without options) I did not think it would be this noticeable.
• the cargo box is actually bigger. the flip-up tent design is actually better for accessibility (but not done perfectly) and the seating position for our daughter is much better than in the babboe already (which is saying something... yes she is quite tall, but not even 3 years old yet).
• it looks much nicer, at least to me. my wife thinks the black PPE box looks like ass / cheap / whatever... but I honestly don't get the "retro" charme of the wooden babboe box.
• ... the bloody enviolo is actually installed properly! while this has the heavy duty version and the babboe did not (I don't actually know what the difference is tbh), even after I tried fixing the thing with the shifter cables and everything, this ones shifter just turns so much more easily and freely. the difference is like night and day.

the "bad":

• mentioned in the reviews, did not think this was any issue at all, butttt: the rain tent extends too far back. Yes, that way it covers your hands, which may be nice, but it's a little disconcerting not being able to see what your hands are doing. also this means you can't ever see the display of the motor unit, so you never quite know what's happening. this may just be something to get used to.
• the bike / box etc. feel much wider than they actually are. while the whole bike itself isn't actually significantly wider than the babboe, it does feel that way because the tent is at its widest right at your hands and you can't actually see where the bike ends. with the babboe the seating position was so far upright and relaxed, compared with the more round tent shape, that you could actually see the ends of the bike better. oh well.. if anything, this may just lead to a more safety oriented riding style or something (lol no).
• my plan of slapping a chain glider on this may not work out... I'll have to see. the front chain ring has a chain guard on it which would interfere with the chain glider. however, I think that is purely there to prevent your pants getting sucked into the chain, so I will have to see whether I can just take it off and replace it... the chain glider was actually the best part of the bloody babboe imo lol

the "neither":

• some reviews mentioned that the chosen transmission ratio (i.e. 40T crank, 22T rear + 380% hub) would mean you'd spin out at too slow of a top speed. which is ridiculous. I can only assume that whoever wrote that never actually rode the bike all that fast but was going purely off of those numbers (yes, 40-22 seems all sorts of wrong). I can easily go 40 km/h without even reaching the end of the transmission, and I don't tend to spin my legs overly fast. also I feel 40 should probably be more than enough...
• the mounting points for the second battery (to the right of the steerer) as well as a bottle cage (I assume) are currently openly exposed. which ain't great. however, that gives me the change to maybe build a little something something. like a carrier thing for our chain lock, so that doesn't just bouncy around in the box - since the bottom of said box is actually just metal.
• also the kickstand: while it's much easier to lift the bike up onto the stand than it was with the babboe, it currently just slams into the bottom of the box when getting the bike down again. which is super loud and doesn't sound healthy, despite there being rubber bumpers. weird. also: the rubber strip that sits between the kickstand and the bottom of the box when propped up already fell off, so I decided to just expoxy that sumbitch back in place in the hopes that it'd stay put.

despite writing this novel, I probably still forgot a bunch of stuff... but I don't think I need to bore you with that.

 

[eizbaer]

Enjoy the view… yeah

Found another small little niggle with the cube: the bell that came with it is complete garbage! Replaced!

 

[altoid]

My newest bag arrived! I chose the Outer Shell Magic Musette because it’s pretty big when opened and sufficiently small when folded, and Outer Shell is a local California company. I also have their Camera Strap and it’s really good, though I haven’t used it much. Excited to stash this thing in the bar bag!

(Pics not taken at same distance, so scale is way off.)



On the subject of riding, we’ll see how it goes in the near term. I’ve had some growing RSI issues, which have gotten pretty bad in the last few days, and am not super into making them worse my putting all my weight on vibrating handlebars, so I hope they get better enough this week that I can do some riding before I get a chance to seek medical attention.

If I can’t ride my bike, maybe I’ll go and do some time on the stationary bike in my apartment complex’s gym.

 

[Eye-Q]

Hmm, now that you are cycling way more than in the last years (which of course I commend ) you might look into a bike fitting if you haven't done one already. I've been lucky that the Grail fitted me perfectly from the get-go, this means I can replicate the position of one fitting bike to a new one. If it hadn't fit me I'd have tough luck because of the unique integrated bar and stem which you can't replace with an off-the-shelve one.

 

[altoid]

I did actually get a fit almost a year ago, and it’s been much better since.

 

[eizbaer]

In the absolute shitshow that is the Babboe recall, I just registered my bike on their bloody website again, after having done so a month ago already - and being promised updates etc that never arrived.
They now say that graciously they offer me a free frame inspection at one of their dealers and they will give me an official certificate of inspection! Which, regarding their track record, is not worth the paper it’s printed on. Also I will get a voucher of as yet unknown denomination for Babboe accessories that I will never need again.
Absolute clowns.

 

[altoid]

Hey, so, uhh, I’m back! I took two and a half weeks off due to the aforementioned RSI issues—which I no longer believe to be RSI and will get back to at the bottom of this post—and got back to it last week with three rides.

I started with a super duper casual thumb test on a cloudy Thursday morning:



I didn’t want to find myself too far from home in case the thumb pain returned, so I was quick and it was a resounding success!

Then I went for a sunny Saturday afternoon grocery route test:



That’s a really light route and actually quite safe, as it’s mostly dedicated bike paths, so the next time I have a small order to pick up, I’ll try the bike! I also really want a small trailer, like maybe this Schwinn Daytripper, but will let myself feel like I truly need it before splurging.

And on Sunday morning I went out with the tentative goal to get the 2h13 I needed for the week, but ended up doing the shorter LAX straddle:



I had to be home for something and didn’t quite have the time to push it, and was OK with that. After such a long break—with literally just two long walks for exercise in that whole time—this was a good bit of riding for me.

Now, for the thumb/wrist/RSI/not-RSI issues: I think it was just a sprain of some sort. I saw my GP on Tuesday and she said my symptoms didn’t generally correspond to common RSIs, and the fact that I felt much better after just a short break was indicative of a very minor, temporary injury. She still put in a PT referral, but that’s in two weeks, and I didn’t feel like waiting just to almost certainly be told I’m fine. So I started riding this past week while paying attention to how things feel, and it’s been fine. There was some very minor soreness after the first ride, but nothing after the two longer ones that followed. So I think I’m good.

 

[eizbaer]

So I think I’m good.

Yeah, maybe it really was just a reaction to your riding much longer and much more than you used to. Ramped up the volume a little too fast and your body was telling you to take it a little slower... albeit in a very special position Good of you to have it checked out though, better safe than sorry.

I went for an extremely nice Sunday-morning zone 2 ride this past weekend. Out the door at pretty much bang on 9 am lead to completely deserted roads... I honestly encountered more cyclists than cars despite the fact that I was on actual roads (and in part fairly major ones) for probably half the time.

I only encountered a total of two radar contacts (i.e. cars coming from the rear) in the first 40 km - completely crazy. However, the first one promptly tried to run me over by overtaking in a bloody roundabout! Absolute madness. Emergency brake had me 10 cm from his car at the max with proper lift-off at the rear - which is really not something you want while going through a roundabout. Managed to neither hit their car or plant my face into the road, so I guess I can be happy with that. Later, going past people walking their dog at the maximum distance from the dog the street would allow, and announcing myself with my bell, said stupid dog still decided to chase me and the owner lady was completely out of her depth. wtf. some people, honestly...

Mainly I just wanted to test the polar OH1 HRM I got on Saturday to replace the chest strap that was acting up and that I sent away for "repair" (no idea what they're gonna do, either get a straight up replacement or my money back, depending on what's cheaper for amazon at the moment, I guess). It seems for some reason, chest straps always just crap out on me after half a year or so. This one made it exactly 6 months. I don't know what it is, maybe my (very light) sunken chest. ANYWAY the OH1 can be had for 35€ and I thought what the hell, let's give it a try. It's generally praised for its good accuracy and, despite being the "old model", it still runs the exact same actual sensor hardware as the new (and expensive) polar verity sense. I wore it on the upper end of my lower arm, quite close to the inside of the elbow, and that seemed perfectly fine. I just had the band a little too tight, so I'll have to experiment a little with that. Will run a more workout focused zwift session later this week too see how well the thing captures HR spikes from sprinting and the like, which optical sensors tend to be worse at.

 

[DanRoM]

My trekking bike needs new pedals, as the current ones are very spent in terms of grip on the platform side, making it difficult to use them without slipping off when wearing normal shoes.

I am looking at Shimano PD-T8000 hybrid pedals as a replacement. Yes, I want platform/SPD hybrid; yes, I want reflectors.
So, my question is: Are pedal threads one-size or am I at risk of buying something that doesn't fit on the cranks?

 

[Eye-Q]

Pedal threads are indeed one-size. Three hints though: the non driveside pedal is left-hand threaded so you need to unscrew it in a clockwise direction, you'll need a good amount of leverage for loosening the pedals and you have to grease the threads, otherwise you might have to replace the cranks when the new pedals are worn because they'll strip the threads of the cranks.

I have the PD-T8000 on my cargo bike as well, they work very well.

 

[DanRoM]

Pedal threads are indeed one-size.

Thanks for the confirmation.

I have the PD-T8000 on my cargo bike as well, they work very well.

I know they work well because I also have them on my road bike (yes, heresy, I know), but I was not willing to change one of them over to the trekking bike just to see if they fit.

I ordered a pair, and also some grease.