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{ Tag Archives } bike

Bike mechs

Sometime in the distant past, I upgraded from the best bike I could afford when I was in college (Suntour, downtube shifters, Reynolds aluminum, etc.) to a pretty modern CF with 9 gears and brifters! [1] [2] I thought that was pretty sweet, and didn’t ever really see the point in upgrading. Until, after probably […]

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Mode of transport does not matter

  It’s one thing when a car tries to pass on a blind curve while you’ve going the speed limit on a 5% downhill grade and almost head-ons into the oncoming traffic just to get around you before a stop sign in 200 m. [1] After decades on the planet, and especially the last four […]

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Doored

Pasadena still hates bikes. They make bike lanes to nowhere (Sierra Madre Villa – best bike lane in Pas, goes nowhere, gets driven in by cars, no enforcement. Also see Marengo for about a mile), refuse to pave bike lanes that are guaranteed pinch flats at any speed (Raymond), get buffaloed when they try to […]

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1811

Not quite a PR, but close. Slowed by a Saturn, a guard, and a couple of missed lights. The old bike is faster than the new bike!

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Borked

Thinking about it, if it’s not the weight, it could be: Psychosomatic – I am totally susceptible to superstition, placebo, imposter, dunning-krueger, and the oxford comma. Aerodynamic – For all that it weighs the same, the new bike is burly. The frame is almost twice as wide. Wheels are 35 instead of 23. Discs instead […]

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Biked

I got a new bike. Not really because I wanted to, but because it’s basically impossible to get replacement parts for the groupset on the old bike, and replacing the groupset would require new wheels, and… for want of a nail, etc. At some point maybe it’s just better to put that money into a […]

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Bike lanes

This is not a bike lane. This is an invitation to get hit either by a car or by a door: This is not a bike lane. This is a stripe painted on the pavement in which cars park, which makes city planners feel better about themselves, but makes both cyclists and motorists angry, because […]

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It’s not a bike lane…

if there are cars parked in it, ever. if a car door opening can take me out. if it’s got potholes or speedbumps or manhole covers or broken glass or worse asphalt than the street. If any of those are true, it’s just a sucker lane, and I’m not going to be in it.  

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Shouldn’t be surprised

At this point, having biked an average of 2.5k miles per year for the last eight or nine years on city streets, I shouldn’t be surprised that a large fraction of drivers are willing to put my life, limb, health, and their treasure [1] in jeopardy just to get to a red light five seconds […]

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