Bicycles!

Cheers!

I'd love to have some bike paths like that right next to a river or other body of water around here. That'd have me a lot more motivated to jump on the bike, I think. But for that I think I'd have to go quite a bit out of my way, ideally up to Cologne or something to go down the rhine (that is already 60+ km).
 
Well, cycling is one of the main tourist activities here, so naturally there are a lot if cycle paths.
 
So my current theme lately has been:

Smash out a PR/PB and then crash.

So right on cue yesterday after smashing a great time on a tricky section this happened on the easiest not even freeking corner:
[video=youtube;buoK7iwG-OQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buoK7iwG-OQ[/video]
 
:lol:
 
Hate to say that I have been slacking on riding lately. Haven't done a whole lot in the last month. However, I got the Jamis done (well I ordered a few more parts today) and have been riding it around the neighborhood. It's a great bike that I had really just intended to sell, but I like it too much to do that. So now I have four bikes again.

October is a busy month at the track, but I'm going to try and ride every Monday at the local trail system if nothing else.

 
I've nearly finished Fat Tire Flyer and it has given me the itch to build a Klunker. So I drug out my dad's old Schwinn Traveler frame, some wheels from my brother's old Pro-Flex and some other parts borrowed from a Huffy and I have this:



Still have some kinks to work out. Chief among which is an incompatibility between the Schwinn crank and the newer chain/cassette. Seems the chain style changed along the way somewhere. I plan to order the parts needed to switch over to a 3-piece crank, a new chain and a hanger to take advantage of the 5 gears on the cassette.

I did go ahead and take it around the block and boy howdy is this thing a blast to ride. I was grinning from ear to ear as a speed around the block. I'm sure I looked quote the fool though... :D
 
My son finally gathered the courage and skill to properly ride without training wheels and without falling over within 10 feet or crashing into the nearest wall.
He still needs practice and I know the inevitable fall/crash with scraped elbows/knees eventually will happen, but it sure is fun to see him get better and pedal faster while actually going straight and steady.
It is also great to see the joy he found in that. :D
 
Maybe interesting for people with expensive bikes:

 
And it's probably totally unsuspicious to break a lock with an angle grinder :rolleyes:
 
Of course the angle grinder is an extreme example, there are less suspicious ways to crack open a U-lock, for example with a car jack, but almost all methods destroy the U so the gas is released in any case.
 
So next you'll be seeing thieves with a gas mask :dunno:
 
What is your opinion on helmets?
Had a guy at a store tell me "nah, the foam is different than motorcycle helmet foam, so it's for life unless you have an impact."
Smells like bullshit.
 
The construction is usually quite different due to all of the air vents in a bicycle helmet. Also a bike Helmet is usually lighter since you are lugging or around under your own power.

A lot of the newer style ones use MIPS to stop your head from slipping in a side impact.
 
I can't ride 55...

20161027_175352.jpg
 
What is your opinion on helmets?
Had a guy at a store tell me "nah, the foam is different than motorcycle helmet foam, so it's for life unless you have an impact."
Smells like bullshit.

Met says max five years and Giro says around three years if used often. Longer if cared for.

I would recommend the same. Materials gets fragile and unless you ride with the top tier models it's not that expensive to replace it every five year or so.
 
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