PEDALPHILES: a bike gang

[steph]

ok so friday is the first ride with my newly-formed bike gang, the pedalphiles, which will soon be branching out to the austin area & i'm brainstorming ideas for themed rides - so far i've only really thought of wearing fake moustaches. any ideas?

[Nickosaurus]

Spraypaint your seats with a picture of a small boy.

[Kath]

Fake moustaches is brilliant. Make sure they are handlebar, (pun unintended) combine with European rugby shirts and toss a ball back and forth while riding.

[hello_smashing]

hahahaha.

Me and my friends were going to form a running crew and make matching t shirts, unfortunately we never got around to it. You should do that too, or wear surgical masks.

[steph]

hahahaha.

Me and my friends were going to form a running crew and make matching t shirts, unfortunately we never got around to it. You should do that too, or wear surgical masks.

hah, yes! surgical masks. and im thinking..fingerless gloves and switchblade combs.

[haav]

Here are some ideas:

-The Little Known Countries Awareness Ride; where every pedalphile picks an unbeknowngst to everyone-type country, mounts that countries flag on their bike, then rides around handing out informative fliers about Moldova, or Azerbaijan or whatever it is.

-The Pedalphiles Masterpiece Theatre Ride; where your group picks some well-known play and performs it, while riding, in some enclosed space (ie parking lot, baseball diamond, etc...).  I get a mental image a bunch of goofs riding around in circles shouting out lines from Macbeth.  Lovely.
Also, charge admission and make your fortune.

-The Steal Purses While Riding and Try To Avoid Getting Caught Ride; self-explanitory.

-The Clog Up Down Town Traffic For The Children Because They Are The Future Ride; once again, this one seems somewhat self-explanitory.

[cold before sunrise]

tell me you've got those old skool banana seat bikes. them'd look styled out with plastic baskets tied to the handlebars, filled with candy bait.

[jaimoe0]

The clad-in-armor ride.  Physically demanding and sartorially fabulous. I realize that all members may not have their own suit of armor, but get creative and buy some stove pipes and drill eyeholes in some pots... and affix spikes to the elbows. You must have spikey elbows.

[Shelley]

Have you thought of doing amazing acrobatic stunts while you ride? This could be in addition to any costume theme. I've done this with friends and we've called it bicycle ballet and also bike circus. It's really fun and super easy because people who see you go by are thrilled by seeing simple stuff like riding with one leg stretched out behind you or posing standing with dramatic facial expressions and sweeping hand gestures. And also since you are moving your audience is always changing so you don't need a huge repertoire.

[Nickosaurus]

What is my pedalphile nickname again? I forgot.

[steph]

What is my pedalphile nickname again? I forgot.

i can only remember
nick "slick spokes" demarco.
so now i'll make up two more
for you to chose from:
nick "charlie bones" demarco,
nick "bohunk" demarco.


along with an austin branch,
a new york branch is also in the works
and hopefully someday there will
be a gigantor pedalphiles convention.
booyeah.

[steph]

haav, you're a phenom.

[davy]

HEY-O!

Yer damn right this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days! Try 1,869 days! (I searched for a cycling thread in Departure Lounge and this is what I came up with.)

So I ordered a new pair of pedals yesterday and I'm really excited about them. My new year's resolution this year was to ride my bike more--much more--and I've not been very successful. Part of the reason--maybe a small part--is that I have egg-beater pedals on my bike:



They're insanely awesome for trail-riding and I love them for that, but they're insanely terrible without cleats. In fact, it makes riding without cleats basically impossible. Every time I want to ride, I have to put on my cleats and bring along a second pair of shoes, and that's inconvenient as hell. I'll usually end up hopping on the bus or taking the car. Bad news. Soooo, I bought some standard metal cage pedals and I'm hoping this new accessibility will get me on my bike more often. I'm sure that it will.

Plus, recent changes in my life, ahem, have resulted in more alone-time (i.e. riding time), and my new apartment sits on top of the ridge that runs through Athens, rather than at the bottom of it like the last house. Getting around should be easier.

[donblood]

Guys, I think I am going to buy a bike and ride around NYC on it.  This is simultaneously an obvious decision and also completely terrifying.

So.  I think I want a hybrid bike, right?  I'm looking for something fairly simple & comfortable that can take a lot of pothole abuse.  The top end of my price range is around 5-600 bucks.

Also any general advice for riding in NYC specifically?  I've read a lot of general urban cycling stuff, just wondering about anything Gotham-specific.

[elpollodiablo]

It has come to my attention that fixed-gear bicycles are a thing with the youths

[Maaik]

If buying a fixed gear, be sure you have a properly ill-thought-out mustache and wardrobe first.

x-post

[YojimboMonkey]

never rode NYC so no advice there but I think hybrids are a good urban ride, they're not quite as narrow as a road bike so you're not going to squeeze through as many tight spaces but to start out you don't want to squeeze through so many tight spaces.  Also fixies are for *redacted*  You can pretty easily find a very good hybrid in your price range, whereas that range is bottom-of-the-barrel for a road bike.

You're gonna think you want the suspension fork 'cause of those potholes, don't get the suspension fork, get a rigid fork, suspension forks = heavier, less control and harder to pedal (the shock absorber also absorbs a portion of your effort in pedaling the bike). 

If you use the word "comfortable" to a bike salesman they're going to try to sell you a "comfort" bike, which is basically a hybrid for old/lazy people who really don't want to ride very much. 

also wear a damn helmet (you stay out of this Dr. Bob)

[davy]

Man, there used to be a certain hybrid bike that I drooled and drooled over. It was sleek as hell--all black and all beautiful. I wanna say it was a Cannondale.

That said, I've always enjoyed riding my trail bike around town. That's the background I come from, so when the coast is clear and I'm feeling frisky, I'll ride down a flight of stairs or take a short cut through a vacant lot or whatever. I tend to use pretty narrow off-road tires, so there's not a lot of knobbiness slowing me down.

What Jim says about suspension is right on, though. I have a front shock for trail-riding, but I've always resisted getting a bike with rear suspension. Even now, when hopping on a hardtail is grounds for raising eyebrows in some areas. My current fork is adjustable, too, so when I'm riding primarily on the roads, I can dial it down.

But I LOVE my bike, man. I just LOVE it. I have a relationship with it. We have gone places and done things and made progress together. Even if I never rode another trail, I would always ride my Homegrown.

[donblood]

never rode NYC so no advice there but I think hybrids are a good urban ride, they're not quite as narrow as a road bike so you're not going to squeeze through as many tight spaces but to start out you don't want to squeeze through so many tight spaces.  Also fixies are for *redacted*  You can pretty easily find a very good hybrid in your price range, whereas that range is bottom-of-the-barrel for a road bike.

You're gonna think you want the suspension fork 'cause of those potholes, don't get the suspension fork, get a rigid fork, suspension forks = heavier, less control and harder to pedal (the shock absorber also absorbs a portion of your effort in pedaling the bike). 

If you use the word "comfortable" to a bike salesman they're going to try to sell you a "comfort" bike, which is basically a hybrid for old/lazy people who really don't want to ride very much. 

also wear a damn helmet (you stay out of this Dr. Bob)

This is great, thanks man.  For the record I am not buying a fucking fixie.

Ixnay on the suspension - I'm thinking about getting Kevlar tires instead.  Plus suspensions are apparently highly desirable among the bike thieves.

I also need the following:

* helmet
* gloves
* front and rear lights
* extra tube
* pump
* big ass chain w/ padlock
* u-lock
* a rack, maybe

Any idea how much this collection will run me?

x-post davy - yeah, I'm probably not going to be riding down any stairs

[davy]

What kind of rack?

Minus the rack, I'd say that list is running somewhere between $125 and $150, depending on whether you were buying top brands or not.

[YojimboMonkey]

helmet gonna run around 40, gloves dunno I don't have any nor have I ever priced them, I got my gloves for a buck from a guy with a card table outside the grocery store, lights you can spend anywhere from $6 for a cheap front/rear light to $35 for a really good one, so pick your range and double it, extra tube at a bike shop is like $6, at a walmart is like $3, portable pump to take with you or a full-sized one for home?  $25-50 or more depending on quality, don't know about chain, good U-lock is $40-50, mounted rear rack gonna run you about $40 installed

[Maaik]

That said, I've always enjoyed riding my trail bike around town. That's the background I come from, so when the coast is clear and I'm feeling frisky, I'll ride down a flight of stairs or take a short cut through a vacant lot or whatever. I tend to use pretty narrow off-road tires, so there's not a lot of knobbiness slowing me down.

What Jim says about suspension is right on, though. I have a front shock for trail-riding, but I've always resisted getting a bike with rear suspension. Even now, when hopping on a hardtail is grounds for raising eyebrows in some areas. My current fork is adjustable, too, so when I'm riding primarily on the roads, I can dial it down.

But I LOVE my bike, man. I just LOVE it. I have a relationship with it. We have gone places and done things and made progress together. Even if I never rode another trail, I would always ride my Homegrown.

I have nothing of substance to add to this--I don't own a bike--but I have to say that you talk about your bike like I talk about my beat up old guitar.  I love that kind of thing--you develop a relationship with this inanimate object that you yourself animate.  [/wistful]

[donblood]

I can dig that.  I've only had my current guitar for a few months and I'm already in love with it.  My old Strat, however, is the guitar I made three records with and played a ton of shows with.  I haven't played it at all since I got my new guitar, but I sometimes think of it and mentally assure it that I still got love.

So I went to the bike shop.  They're building out two bikes for me which I'll test ride sometime soon (they'll be ready tomorrow, but Saturday is probably the first time I can come in).  When I was out in the city today I turned fresh attention to the cyclists everywhere.  Two opposed thoughts: if those guys can do it I can, and I am going to die.

Weird thing happened at the bike store.  I was checking out helmets and they all looked pretty stupid, what with the swept pointy thing at the back.  Except for one classy one.  I picked it up and checked out the inside - the company is based in my tiny hometown, on a residential street about three minutes from where I grew up.

[YojimboMonkey]

good for you having a selection to choose from with helmets.  I pretty much only can wear the Bell Triton brand for people with abnormally-sized domes like myself

[donblood]

My enthusiasm for actually biking in the city skyrocketed after the shop visit.  I've always been fairly big on things that might kill me if I don't pay attention (see: setting ropes for rock climbing).  Plus I need to lose some goddamn weight.