triangletoot.party is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Mastodon instance focused on the Triangle region of North Carolina. Keeping out jerks since 2019. Anti-racist, anti-fascist, and anti-TERF.

Server stats:

78
active users

#bikenite

111 posts43 participants0 posts today
Replied in thread

@ascentale @pete @bikenite A8. #BikeNite Well...last Autumn, the ancient Shimano rear hub on my fitness bike ran dry, so I tore it down, cleaned it out, and regreased everything. The bearing race on one side did not look great, it had heavy scoring wear, but, it's still OK enough. I don't think it's sealing very well, so I may have to keep an eye on it and repack the bearings more often. The hub (the whole bike, really) is over 30 years old.

Replied in thread

@ascentale @daihard @bikenite #BikeNite A6. I have had great success with my Cat Eye lights, from Japan. I have used them mounted both horizontally on my rear basket and handlebars, and vertically on my seat post, and neither has ever moved, because they are very lightweight, and the clamps hold tightly.

On my ebike, I use the Auto Rapid 3 (discontinued, 1xAA). On my fitness bike, I use the Omni 3 (2xAAA) front and rear.

cateye.com/intl/products/safet

Replied in thread

@ascentale @bikenite A1. A day late and a dollar short for #BikeNite again, posting from home in New England.

What made me smile this week was that I was just elected to a town representative seat for 3 years, and we had a preliminary meeting on the other side of town, about 3.5 miles away. The forecast was for temps near freezing, with rain/snow mix, and that made me nervous because the cars on the roads I'd need to ride would make it very dangerous. The weather thankfully held off.

Replied in thread

@ascentale @daihard @bikenite A6. (2/2)
I do this on my bike. Dynamo light on left side of front rack, under the basket. Rear light is on the left seatstay near the dropouts.

- Keeps lights from being blocked by rack contents
- A little less exposure to elements or thieves
- Low angle on headlight highlights bumps and dips in surface with cast shadows

I do this with strap on lights on other bikes too. Most straps can get around fork blades.
#BikeNite

Replied in thread

@ascentale @daihard @bikenite A6. (1/2)
Have you tried mounting on the verticals instead of the horizontal? You’ll be fighting gravity less. If you find that the light still shifts down. Wrapping something around the tube can make a little shelf where you want it to sit, and keep it in one place.

If you put the lights on the traffic side (US left, JP right) of your frame, there will be very little visibility penalty to the offset.
#BikeNite

Replied in thread

@ai6yr For wheel stuff, a real truing stand is extremely helpful.

But you can do a lot with an upside down fork, in good condition. Attaching it to a workbench is best. An upside down bike can work in a pinch! Firmly attach some pencils to the blades at the appropriate point to diagnose rim wobble/hop.

This is not a long term solution, but it cuts down the startup costs to learning!
#BikeNite

Replied in thread

@ascentale @pete @bikenite #BikeNite A8: The stop with blocking rear wheel at a pedestrian crossing I mentioned in my A1 caused my rear tire to wear down much more quickly than expected and definitely beyond repair, rubbing off the tread at one position so much that the puncture protection layer became visible. Still was able to cycle home with it (I could feel and hear the flat part of the tread) and to the LBS the next day.

Replied in thread

@ascentale @Pepijn @sam @bikenite #BikeNite A7: As already mentioned in the original thread, I'm quite happy with Topeak's Morph series. I have one over 20 years old which still works, but doesn't stay closed anymore due to some cracks in outer plastic parts. It's my spare pump now. My current pump for on the road is topeak.com/global/en/product/2 which goes up to 11 bars. It's not really a very compact pump, but not big either. From my point of view a good compromise.

TopeakTURBO MORPH® GSame great features as the original Mountain Morph® plus a cool dial gauge for perfect inflation every time.
Replied in thread

@ascentale @nick @bikenite #BikeNite A3: I guess I do that alternating pedaling and coasting, too, usually on less steep ways downward, but I usually start pedalling once I fall below a specific speed, like e.g. 30km/h or so. I though don't think that I do anything else which might annoy other cyclists. I probably do quite some things which are legally correct, but nevertheless will annoy some car drivers. 😇

Replied in thread

@ascentale @idlestate @bikenite A5. Someone else may have a better answer, but I don't know if that would really help all that much. The risk as I know it is more that you spin out more than just fall to one side that a training wheel wouldn't really help with. Maybe it you had them in both front and back and they stuck out kind of far? But then you have a lot sticking out.

Replied in thread

@ascentale @bikenite #BikeNite A1: Chiming in from Zurich, Switzerland. Two things recently made me smile during a ride:

* When I stopped with blocking rear wheel at a pedestrian crossing, the crossing woman said "Thanks, this wouldn't have been necessary." (I needed a new rear tire afterwards, but I still consider it to have been necessary.)

* When I test-rode a cargo bike from Flinc Cycles, their shop has several 5kg weights available to allow the customerr to test the cargobike under load.