your daily bicycle log

i need new cold gloves. the planet bike borealis dont really make it below 30. actually, after about 30 minutes of riding, my hands DO warm up in them, but the frist 30 mins are kinda ow. i wonder if its just cause the index and middle fingers are too tight fitting. taking recommendations.

for temps above 35 i <3 <3 manzela N2S windstopper gloves. theyre uninsulated but warm. i dont know if they still make them tho.

Definitely felt cold on the way home tonight. But nowhere near gbx's 16° F. Ouch.

Well, that was an anti-climax. I'd been steeling myself for a heroic three-hour effort to cling on to the back of a fast-moving bunch in arctic conditions. I did 25 miles yesterday in preparation. I got up this morning and it was snowing quite badly. Normally, I wouldn't have bothered, but as I'd said I'd be on this ride I thought I ought to show up. So I dragged myself out and waited for the others to arrive. Nobody did. Obviously only an idiot goes out in this weather. After 15 minutes I set off on my own. Within ten minutes my fingers and toes were so numb that it didn't seem sensible to continue, so I gave up and came home after 8 miles.

rode to work for the first time in about six months this morn'; just under 5 km according to google map. great weather! coulda done without the faceful of sun as i went east tho, tbh.

riverside path turned to wooden boardwalk at the bridge this morning. i of course forgot about wood's inherent slipperiness, leaned into turn and found myself airborne at once and then sliding on a film of frost that covered the boardwalk. all's fine, but my saddle's akimbo.

http://www.ricesigns.com/pictures/W8-13.gif

yeah, that too.

I've entered this sportive in Sussex in March. Sixty-seven miles with a nasty climb at the end. I'm sure I can ride the distance, but I'm not sure what kind of pace is exected.

The second-hand bike I bought a few months ago to replace my stolen bike is horrible to ride, and I have essentially stopped cycling. I'm now at that really annoying stage in my life where I am likely moving continents in nine months, so pretty much have to stop buying stuff I can't eat, since I'll have to throw it away or sell it in August. I get the impression that bikes within my budget (< £250) do not hold their value.

xp

The Sussex Downs are responsible for some of my greatest riding memories, from the time I lived in Brighton. Love them hills.

Good luck Mr. Hobbes!

caek, nine months sounds like a long time.

you'd think there'd be some half-decent beater you could buy for the time being. what about upgrading just the wheels and then taking those with you when you move?

I moved very close to work a couple of months back, so walking in isn't a major pain. Although I'm pretty sure I'm moving continent, I'm not sure I'm going to be moving somewhere that I'd get back into cycling, so anything I do by needs to be salable. But essentially, the problem is that I am idle.

I did a spur-of-the-moment extension to one of my usual loops yesterday, to take on a hill climb challenge. I was pretty certain I'd be forced to give up and walk up, but amazingly I made it all the way up (I ride singlespeed, to give it a wee bit of context), though it required proper slaloming across the full width of the road at several points and proceeded at a sub-5mph crawl. Nonetheless, definitely the toughest hill I've tackled on ss, so I was pretty happy.

that makes sense caek. xp

(I ride singlespeed, to give it a wee bit of context)

i've been thinking of setting up a fixed gear or singlespeed for winter riding, but am somewhat hesitant b/c of my temperamental right knee (aka patellar chondromalachia)....although, i must say, the knee has stopped complaining in the past few months, apparently strengthened by my near-daily commute.

anyone ILTRMBers with bad knees ride fixed or ss?

3 HOUR THANKSGIVING RIDE. YES.

i don't have awesome knees (skiing + bikes) and i ride fixed. if you ride in a low, spinny gear and use brakes, then fixed shouldn't really be a problem. but if you ride in some monster track-specific gear and go brakeless, you can be assured that your knees will explode.

that's helpful & encouraging gbx, thanks.

rode out to thxgiving dinner today....about 25 miles, a bit chilly (i didn't pack a shell and ended up having to improvise a windshield-bib out of a square of waxed canvas that i'd rolled my patch kit & tire levers in)....but a sweet ride nonetheless....hills, farms, bridges....and best of all: dry clothes & turkey were waiting for me at the end.

ah yesterday was a great thxgiving on the cx bike. blacktop to daniels park, singletrack climb to the ridgetop, dirt road and blacktop again down to the park, then a grand loop of the rolling singletrack through the scrub oak, then more blacktop home.

30 deg and cloudy, so hardly anyone to slow down for.

Ok 2 inches per hour whiteout on way home out of control shit.

Just got back from a just under 2 hour ride, during the course of which the water in my bottles froze as I rode! My drink & piss stop halfway round became an impressively tooth aching affair.

I put a thermometer outside about 15 mins ago and it's down to -2.2 C and still falling.

Where are you? Not so cold in London (compared to last weekend), but it poured down with rain the whole time I was out this morning.

Took a fixed wheel for a test ride yesterday, for the first time. Lovely riding, although can see it takes a bit of getting used to. But I have a question - SPDs or double strap toe clips? I've cycled with toe clips my whole life, but feel they might be a bit of a problem. What with not being able to track stand or anything.

Most fixed riders use clips and straps. Shouldn't be a problem. And track standing will come soon enough (although I still suck at it).

@The Resistible Force (Nasty, Brutish & Short): I'm in Glasgow. It's held steady at -2 to -3 C all day, not warmed up a jot. Some brutal fog too. Not riding weather, that's for sure.

I may live to regret this, but I've just splashed out and ordered this bike. It's more than I was intending to spend, but the discount is just incredible.

nice

An absolutely beautiful day yesterday, so I went for an extended 45 mile jaunt amidst snow and a wonderful winter sunset. I even somehow managed to avoid any slips or falls, despite the final 15-20 miles being on unlit country b-roads after dark with the temperature plummeting. Tired and happy last night soaking in the bath and digesting suitably epic amounts of pasta.

another 16F on the way into school today w/fresh snow.

i rode in 25 degree snow again, but only for 20 mins back from train station (at 2:30 am!) we all hardcore here at daily bicycle log

i'm having to stay off the bike for a bit due to aching perineum. looking to get me one of those slotted saddles, selle anatomica or whathaveyou.

New bike arrived today while I was at work and trapped my wife and baby in the flat for several hours as the delivery bloke refused to carry it up the stairs ("I'm not insured for that") and left it blocking the way in and out.

I've pretty much got it assembled now, but haven't been able to ride it yet. I had a bit of a panic that I'd got the wrong frame size (my geometry didn't cope well with the sloping top tube), but fingers crossed it's OK. This is my first encounter with gear levers combined with brake levers: it took me forever to work out that to change down a gear you needed to push the brake lever sideways as well. Who knew that? Who knew it could even go sideways? I was also a little bit thrown by the fact that the handlebar tape only goes up the sides and not the across the middle - is that the way it is nowadays? I often ride holding that bit.

The brakes seem to be set up with the pads incredibly close to the rim, probably less than 1mm clearance on either side. Is this normal? The back rim rubs on the pads on one side - I've tried adjusting the brakes (without success) and I've also tried undoing the quick release and adjusting the position of the wheel slightly, but the amount of clearance is so small that the margin for error is negligibile (and so beyond me). Should I just slacken the brakes a bit?

Pads should be close for callipers. If your brake is rubbing at the rear, check the rear wheel is sitting correctly in the forks. If the adjuster grub screws don't give you enough play to centre the calliper, start from scratch by centring it using the bolt that attaches it to the frame, it could easily have got knocked in transit.

http://img369.imageshack.us/my.php?image=commutera2.png

http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=commuteir1.jpg

wow it warmed up a whole degree since this morning

Last night ended up being fa ntastic, intensely cold but deserted canal paths with fox and rabbit tracks and a million diamonds flashing back to me. The bluish light from my light caused the animal tracks to appear with vivid tron-like neon fx. All set to ssb's alpinisms.

WOW. that sounds awesome.

good soundtrack to a winter wonderland ride.

I've managed to take the new bike out on a couple of gentle test rides now and I'm pretty happy with it. I managed to sort the brakes out (and they work really well compared to the side-pull ones on my old bike). I've mostly got the hang of the integrated gear levers now, but I'm still struggling a bit with changing up from the small ring to the big ring - it's a bit hit and miss. I'm not sure if it needs adjusting, or if I'm just not doing it right. I push the brake and gear lever inwards together and it starts to catch and make a noise, but sometimes it doesn't actually shift, just makes a noise like it's trying to shift, and I have to 'change down' (even though I haven't actually changed up yet) before I can have another go at changing up. Any advice? This is Shimano 105, by the way.

you need to adjust the limit screw on the front derailleur so that the cage swings out further by only a mm or so, id bet. even 105 should never be hit or miss these days. get it dialed and enjoy\

had another whiteout commute from the station today, (but with a crucial stop to by some marginal vino), with about 2 inches of wet snow on the path and roads. fenders started to pack up with snow it was sketchy fun.

"buy," "by," whatever im buzzin its snowin eh

NBS, you have to push the level all the way across to move the front derailleur enough - it's a bigger push than to change down on the rear derailleur, anyway. Do you have small fingers? Also, do you have to trim the front derailleur when moving into the big ring - this is done by pressing the lever to change down but only about halfway so you get a "click" and any rubbing that was going on is no longer going on.

Nice bike, and nice reduction. Wiggle rather alarmingly says it's 13kg but I don't think it could be if it tried!

NBS, you have to push the level all the way across to move the front derailleur enough - it's a bigger push than to change down on the rear derailleur, anyway.

Yeah, I gathered that, but I'm not sure when to stop pushing. I mean the change doesn't actually happen while you're pushing the levers, does it? It happens shortly after you release them (for the front mech, anyway). Or at least that's how it seems.

Also, do you have to trim the front derailleur when moving into the big ring - this is done by pressing the lever to change down but only about halfway so you get a "click" and any rubbing that was going on is no longer going on.

I think I encountered this, but had no idea what it was. On some of my failed attempts the sequence went like this: push both levers in, hear noise like front mech is trying to shift onto big chainring, keep riding a bit, no change happens, release levers, no change happens but noise continues, try to move both levers in again but they won't move, move just the gear lever (not the brake lever) about halfway in, hear a 'click', the noise disappears, try moving both levers inwards again, possibly have success or repeat this process again.

you need to adjust the limit screw on the front derailleur so that the cage swings out further by only a mm or so, id bet. even 105 should never be hit or miss these days. get it dialed and enjoy

I've just spent an hour slowly driving myself mad trying to sort this out with the bike on a hanger in a narrow stairway. I couldn't work out which limiter screw was the top and which was the bottom (there were no 'L's or 'H's to be seen) or which direction turning the screws would do what. I also decided that it was unhealthily noisy in certain gears at the back and after reading up on it thought I ought to play with the cable tension a bit. I've been up and down through all the gears and made a million tiny adjustments without any obvious improvements. In fact, I think I've probably made it worse: it won't stay on the 9th biggest sprocket now.

I ought to get a pro to look at it, I suppose, before I fuck it up. The thing is, you're supposed to get it serviced after 100 miles or so, and I've done about 20 on it, so I'm not sure whether to persevere for another 80 miles before taking it in.

Yesterday I saw a dude (in lycra) bite it on market street SF when his back tire slipped on trolley tracks. Looked like a brand new Bianchi Pista, he was clipped in so he had an extra grimace on his face when I saw him go down. Looked ouchey. I'm so careful on the tracks this time of year.

oh yeah, brakeless and clipless... I still don't get that style.

it's fun

did you rock that when you were bkmsgr?