BIKE EVERY DAY

[fishjim]

I'm on MapMyRun. will that talk to mmride? or is there the cycling/running divide as mentioned by milly upthread?

Awesome. I've been meaning to try out MapMyRun. Will sign up & friend y'all.

[clare]

Thanks pollo! I got Jeb too, via you, but it wouldn't find him when I looked for him. I didn't tell it to search via fb friends though...

[jebreject]

Some dingus locked his/her bike to mine, and I got to find out how easily one is able to  saw through a thick  ass chain with a sawzall!

[fishjim]

am i an idiot or is it fucking impossible to map my run?

ok, i'm an idiot, but i've tried three times and i can't get my map out of san diego.

[clare]

They suggest turning off wireless before you go to make sure you don't get interference findimg the sat signal...but I don't know if that's your problem. It's never been a problem for me, sorry.

[elpollodiablo]

I rode out to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park this morning to take a look at the Unisphere.


Also saw the derelict NY State Pavilion


The park itself is pretty gross! Trash everywhere.

[Captain]

Oh yeah! Men in Black! Way to go, epd!

[elpollodiablo]

Huh?

[Captain]

Your bike ride destination figured prominently in the original Men in Black movie. Naturally, your pictures filled with me with good feelings of Summertime and Will Smith! Also, Vincent D'Onofrio!

[Ignatius]

I used to go to one of the 'saucers' every year for a scholarship dinner when I was a kid. I ATE IN IT. I GOT INVITED TO BASKETBALL CAMPS IN IT.

[Ignatius]

According to my dad, though, that park provided an entire generation of young men throughout Queens with summer jobs in the 60s.

[Trousers and Pat]

I made a video of my bike ride! this is the commute I take home from work... at double speed. The entire route is a bike lane.

https://vimeo.com/44973212

it gets pretty abstract in its shaky darkness

[elpollodiablo]

Did you shoot that with your phone?

[Trousers and Pat]

may as well have. ancient camera set on the lowest resolution.

[elpollodiablo]

I think I've asked this before, but I *really* need a good INTRODUCTORY bike maintenance guide. Even the ones that are supposed to be for beginners start with like "Okay begin by pushing the caliper lever arm toward the rim and adjust the hex bolt so that the pad toe is flush with the rim; if not flush, adjust screw on underside of cable housing, etc."--I need something on the level of "That thing that is shaped sort of like a banana [PICTURE] is the caliper arm, and that's where you want to start. Now, before we go any further, you should know, etc." Really need a brake adjustment and pad replacement; there's a horrible, horrible screech every time I brake quickly. Don't have the time or skrilla to take it to the shop. Halp?

[Captain]

I use Todd Downs' Bicycle Maintenance & Repair (http://www.amazon.com/Bicycling-Complete-Bicycle-Maintenance-Repair/dp/160529487X/ref=la_B001JP7MW4_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341324909&sr=1-1)

It's exhaustive in range, but easy to consult. And it describes things simply with tons of pictures and step-by-step instructions. They also have a bunch of Q-and-A sections for the kind of thing you're describing (Q: My brakes are squeaking, what does this mean? A: There are two most likely reasons for this and here's how to fix them)

That said, online resources might be helpful for you, too. There are plenty of youtube videos about adjusting brakes and such... it's a matter of figuring out what kind of brakes you're using though. Here's one for caliper brakes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1xcWoGlTdk -- I'm thinking it might be a little gearhead-y, but I think it helps just to see someone do it.

Hope that helps a little.

[milesofsparks]

This place:
http://times-up.org/
Offers free introductory bike maintenance classes that are about what you'd expect for free, but the people are all super friendly and excited about bikes and will probably stay there all night answering your questions.

[Greg Nog]

Can you go there if you're a cismale?

[milesofsparks]

The class I took was I think majority cisdudes, though there was a mix.  They're pretty happy to talk to anyone who is into biking.

EDIT:   I think they may have women-friendly classes sometimes, but the class I took didn't have any particular angle beyond intro to bike repair for anyone.

[elpollodiablo]

Well. About five miles into my morning ride, as I was zipping down the Kent Ave bike lane, my saddle broke. Actually, the bolt holding it to the stem just snapped in half. Because I was in the toe clips, I went down pretty hard, though luckily I only scraped my elbow and probably bruised my hip. Then I had to ride back to Queens standing on the pedals.

Now to decide if I really want to put another hundo into a bike I've been considering replacing for months, or if I should try to get whatever I can for it on craigslist and move on to something else.

[Greg Nog]

Yikes!  Glad you're okay!  Could you just get a cheap craigslist saddle?

[The_Tourist]

pollo - 1. ouch. 2. are you saying the bolt on the seat post clamp broke? if so, that can very easily be replaced assuming you found the top half of the bracket. if the whole post is shot, you can probably pick something up pretty cheap from a shop. dimension makes some cheap, but good enough stuff or they might have a stock part pulled off a complete bike laying around.

when you eventually get a new bike, i'd look into two bolt seatposts. it's all i use to avoid slipping or catastrophic testicle failure like what coulda happened to you.

[jebreject]

I find myself constantly having to readjust my saddle height, probably about once a week. It doesn't seem to slip very much, but over the course of a couple of weeks I find myself losing a good half-inch to inch of height. Is that something that might help with that problem? If not, any ideas what might?

[The_Tourist]

two bolt seatposts implies two bolts on the clamp that holds the saddle itself in place. (like this... http://www.worldclasscycles.com/machined_master.jpg)

assuming your seatpost is the proper size, it might just be a combo of bad luck and being a big dude. because of tolerances, you might have a seatpost that is ever so slightly smaller than it should be and/or a frame a little bigger. i have the opposite problem on one of my bikes where the seatpost barely fits in the hole.

if it's the type of frame that uses a separate seat post collar, you can get a beefier one. i've also heard of people having better luck with a quick release set up...i guess you can get more torque on it.

http://surlybikes.com/info_hole/spew/spew_why_seatposts_slip

[The_Tourist]

or, the solution to most bike problems, shove a piece of a beer can in there.