Bicycles!

Wow, after going to the dentist with my 2yo daughter today, I can confidently say cologne cycling infrastructure is an utter joke. It’s really rather pathetic…
 
eizbaer said:
Wow, after going to the dentist with my 2yo daughter today, I can confidently say cologne cycling infrastructure is an utter joke. It’s really rather pathetic…
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Yup. And neither the streets nor the public transport are any better.
 
calvinhobbes said:
Yup. And neither the streets nor the public transport are any better.
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DanRoM said:
Cologne is utter shit no matter how you want to navigate it.
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I’ve honestly been quite happy with public transport so far… but that’s probably because I’ve always lived a 5 min walk from one of the central western sbahn stops. Also I never had to go anywhere exotic or sth.

But yeah… that bicycle infra seems to have lead to actively hostile behavior between cyclists! That’s not something I ever thought I’d see…
 
Why not? Cycling is the same as driving - it's only fun as long as not too many others do the same, leading to congestion. :D And speed and road behaviour varies much more between cyclists than between car drivers.
 
eizbaer said:
Now I kinda feel bad for wanting a huge pair of sunglasses like half the tdf peloton 😐

🤣 but yeah… somehow I can’t get over the fact that’s most of those are crazy expensive for what they are. Also I actually don’t want to look like a tv set, so finding something that doesn’t actually look out of place on my face might be a struggle. Currently running a cheap pair of alpina wayfarer-replicas…

Edit: keeping with the cycling theme, new toy for me:
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So as I posted over in the new toys I got this. It's nice. All the new nice features regarding mapping and climbing (lol I don't have any mountains here but who cares) and color screen and whatnot. nice.

not so nice: my saddle has started clicking and creaking. the rear rail-mounts seem ever so slightly loose - with a bit of force I can get the rails to move inside those even just with my hand - making this ghastly creaking noise. Which honestly is a good thing, because swapping a saddle (for a warranty replacement nonetheless, I hope) is much less hassle than a creaking pressfit BB would've been (which was what I was expecting to be causing the noise). ANYHOO, isn't it nice that I have a replacement saddle anyway because I ordered another one for the indoor bike this week? yeeeees. selle italia SLR superflow boost (in width small) - what a name! It really is rather comfortable.
 
To everybody who also cycles in bad weather: I urge you to treat your chains with hot wax. It's so much cleaner, you don't need to scrape gunk out of the sprockets and pulley wheels. All you need is a bag of special hot wax (I bought a 500g bag plus two drip-on bottles to refresh the outer layer after wet weather cycling for 40 Euros), a cheap rice cooker (just get a used one from the classifieds, it doesn't matter since you won't cook in there anyway), two empty jars which fit at least one chain, white spirit and acetone. It's much easier with new chains, I bought two new chains each for the two bikes I mainly use. 500g of hot wax should be good for about 20 chains so if you don't cycle as much as me you can get a smaller amount. ;)
First you clean the chain in white spirit, let it hang to dry, then clean the chain in acetone and let it dry again. Afterwards you take an old spoke or shifting cable and thread it through a couple of links of the chain so you can submerge the whole chain but are still able to take it out of the hot wax with ease, put the hot wax and one of the chains into the rice cooker and let it heat up. When the wax is liquid you can stir the chain a couple of times, take it out, let it hang over the rice cooker to cool down and do the same with the other chain(s). After a couple of minutes the wax is cooled down, of course the chain will be stiff by then. You just have to move it by hand so everything moves freely again and you're ready to put the chain on. :)

Today after I put on the first waxed chain I cycled 30 km through the forests and didn't shy away from puddles. When I came back home I just hosed the bike down with clear water and dried the chain with a paper towel. Totally clean. :)
 
I don’t cycle in bad weather ever, but I’m still 100% set on running wax once my current set are done. Even in fair weather, what with just dry dust and everything, the black sludge just builds up so quickly! Ugh.

… recently checked the trainer bike chain for wear: basically zero (my chair checker starts at 0.05, and it’s not even close) after 12.000 km. Which frankly sounds insane to me - but then again, the chain is always spotless. I guess that just shows how bad outside dirt and dust actually are…

also made me think about making the switch on the aeroad with the current chain, but I’m not sure whether I can get that used one clean enough to get the wax in everywhere.

Edit: anywayyyyy shopping done 😜
 
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eizbaer said:
not so nice: my saddle has started clicking and creaking. the rear rail-mounts seem ever so slightly loose - with a bit of force I can get the rails to move inside those even just with my hand - making this ghastly creaking noise.
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Canyon have decided to sende me a new saddle… in November 🤣
I don’t care all that much because the creaky one is now on the indoor bike where it doesn’t annoy me (the aluminum somehow doesn’t propagate the noise at all).
 
eizbaer said:
Canyon have decided to sende me a new saddle… in November 🤣
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that one turned up this week, already. I don't actually need it, but I may have started accumulating parts for something because of GAS (not the butt kind), so it won't go to waste...
gt1750 said:
Got a new bike today 😁
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oh look, @altoid's bike has a sibling!

edit: only just realized you both have praxis cranks on there... did praxis get bought by trek or something? I'm only familiar with cannondale putting their own cranks on their stock bikes, somehow didn't have trek on the radar for doing that as well.
 
gt1750 said:
Got a new bike today 😁
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Drop bars and mud guards as a combination feels weird every time I see it, but whatever works for you, enjoy! Looks like a bike that you should be able to ride for many many thousands of kms.
 
Adunaphel said:
Drop bars and mud guards as a combination feels weird every time I see it, but whatever works for you, enjoy! Looks like a bike that you should be able to ride for many many thousands of kms.
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It's just the Porsche 911 Dakar/Lamborghini Sterrato look :p
 
Heh, I put fenders on mine to avoid the grime trail from water puddles on the main trail downtown here. There's always one or two dumb little water splashes despite it being a paved city trail.
 
Adunaphel said:
Drop bars and mud guards as a combination feels weird every time I see it, but whatever works for you, enjoy! Looks like a bike that you should be able to ride for many many thousands of kms.
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Drop bars and mud guards is exactly what I wanted, although the plastic extensions make them look a bit ridiculous. I'll see if I can remove those
 
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