BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

...in three or four months. And for me, this means a mountain bike for winter commuting. and considering my road bike (unofficially named Babe the Big Blue Ox)was dying, I gave it to thick on the day I put my last payment down on my mtn bike. I also got color-changing pedals and a rack

My friend will be sending me some side-baskets to replace my milk crate, but until then, I'm having trouble getting on and off. some of you may have even seen me inadvertently dropping it in the past few days, which is not fun.

I kind of feel better now, I kept seeing the bikes with the crate on the back and thought, "how do you get on on and off with that" I just figured it was something I was doing wrong.

Nice looking bike, is that a pink/purple christmas tree in the photo?

yes, haha. I never took it down.

And my best luck has been using a high curb to elevate myself so I can just step over the bar.

oh, hah I never thought about that. I don't like all this talk about snow and christmas trees

after riding all through last winter, I no longer have a distaste for the season.

give me hot and humid any day.

i also never thought about getting on and off with a milk crate. it does appear difficult, though, doesn't it?

I've been wearing a skirt all day, and yes, it's extremely difficult.

I try not to ride the bike when I'm wearing a skirt. I scare to many people that way

On christmas trees:

@rubberfactory yes, haha. I never took it down.

You are my new hero.

yeah, we were the family on the block that forgot about our outdoor decorations. then, when we remembered about them in august, we decided, "Screw it, Christmas will be here again soon."

You just need to learn the "handlebar mount", where you swing your leg over the handlebars instead. Very cool.

Also always make sure to wear underwear with a skirt. Talking to Dback there.

Our tradition is to take down the tree ornaments for Valentine's Day. The tree usually comes down around Easter and makes it to the front yard, where it sits until I remember on a trash day to take it out of the little stand. It stayed that way until May once, and a neighbor thought I'd planted it (couldn't see the stand under the branches, it kept its needles - musta been super glued on by elves).

I contort my leg over the bar then back on when the crate is on. It's a LOT more difficult with a bike that actually fits me than it was with my first Crate Bike. When I get where I'm going, if I'm not erranding, I often just twist around and take the crate off before dismounting properly. But that's a pain as well. Kitty Litter Bucket panniers have moved up the To Do list.

Pro tip for using a milk crate: Since your bike handles like a truck with it attached, and you likely only use the milk crate some of the time, leave it near the front door with a pair of extra toe straps to easily take it one and off of your bike.

my crate is securely tied on with an old tube. maybe I'll only bring it out for errands then.

I gotta say, though, it was nice shoving my backpack in the crate and having the weight off of my back today.

You got rid of the iconic blue bike?

What I do for my milkcrate is I have two 24" bungees looped through the bottom; to put it on, I secure the bungee hooks to the flanges on the rack support where the rack mounts onto the dropout (looks like you only have one of those flanges). Cause yes, it sucks to have the thing on there if you don't need to.

yeah, it was past its prime, so I took the front reflector, the seat, the bottle cage, and gave the rest to Chris at Thick.

but my friend told me about putting the crate on using an old tube, and I thought it was the most clever thing I'd ever heard, and immediately had to try it. I'll probably go crate-less tomorrow.

Um, I need to NOT see Dback in a skirt.

let me just say offically that NO ONE needs to see me in a skirt.. oh sure you think it would be funny but when the hysterical blindness sets in then ill be the only one laughing....

On mount/dismount: anyone who has watched me perform this feat probably thinks I'm some kind of idiot, lunatic, or possibly both. It is possible, however, to do it without swinging your leg over the seat. I had to learn to do this because I tore up my knee a couple of years ago- I spent 6 months flat on my back, and it was more than a year before I could even pedal all the way around on a stationary bike. I never did (and never will) regain the ability to bend my knee completely, so I had to learn "other" ways of doing things.

One way is to kind of hop on one toe on the ground, and flex the other leg up and over the frame.

Another is the cheater way - hope to one side while holding the bike, and bring your other leg over the frame as it reaches a sharper angle with the ground.

Neither really lends itself to pulling next to a convenient pole and hopping off, though.

Your new bike looks great!

i'm going to try getting on and off my bike tomorrow by holding the bike at a sharp angle and just flipping my leg over the top tube. i shall report back how it goes.

also: if my special lady friend is ok with it (and i can't imagine why she wouldn't be), and if i can find one to fit, i hope to wear a bridesmaid dress to the october ride. cuz why not?

I noticed yesterday as I got on my bike to go to the post office that I automatically tilted my bike and swing my leg an extra foot high to clear the crate that's not tied on there. I haven't used the new bike long enough for that to be a new bike habit, so that must be what I did with the old bike (I'm about 6" shy with that maneuver on the new bike, scrapes to prove it are faded, though). I didn't understand panniers until I stopped riding a bike too short for me (that was easy to leg-over-crate it).

I need to develop new techniques as well; recently put a child seat on the rear of the Bianchi for my daughter, and oh boy am I not flexible enough to deal with that. (Darn near kicked her in the face, too. _Not_ a parenting technique approved by Drs. Spock, Sears, or Ferber.)

I've developed this "hoist the leg, torque the hip, gasp in pain, and throw myself over the top tube" technique that sorta works, but there's gotta be something better out there.

There is another technique. With practice, that gasp becomes a grunt.

This is awesome--I actually have been thinking a lot about winter riding recently as well. I didn't do it last year but really want to try this year.

Did you do anything special to winterize your bike?

get front and rear fenders, make sure you replace your brake pads if they are worn and check them frequently. the salt/sludge/grit mix on the roads in the winter will eat your pads quickly if you dont keep an eye on it. also you may consider running larger tires than you usually do for a little better traction as well as flat resistance. potholes get scary big overnight in the winter here.

Given that last winter's potholes haven't been all fixed yet, I am very afraid for next spring.

i'm actually hoping that mayor opie and his dpw pals never fix them and all the roads eventually crumble away and leave the old belgian block surfaces. i dont mind riding on them and imagine the traffic calming!

Check all your cables before winter, several times during the winter, and one good going over afterward.

On the same subject, what should one look for in a winter beater for use in Pittsburgh? (I commute from Edgewood to Mt Washington...)

Its getting to be time for me to start looking, I think.

This is awesome--I actually have been thinking a lot about winter riding recently as well. I didn't do it last year but really want to try this year.

Did you do anything special to winterize your bike?

I just rode a regular used mountain bike - but Colin and stu probably gave the best advice, as the housing on my cables cracked badly, and my brake pads wore down really quickly. my tires helped a lot, they were (and are, on my new bike) about 2-3 inches wide (can't say exactly)

I took no steps (Aside from brake pad and cable housing replacement) to winterize my bike, and I had to let it go at the beginning of summer. Also, since it was used (and steel), it was already in not-the-best shape when I bought it.

This is what I had:

I still rode to and from work and school every day. the only day I caught a ride was the morning of the big storm. I was called off from work a few days after that, so I didn't have to go anywhere, but my first day back to class, the roads weren't cleared yet, and I damn near broke my leg after falling down on S 21st street.

Tire chains give you super traction and are real fun in the snow, but they're hard to find. I got a pair on ebay last year, in an unopened package from the early 90's I think

@boazo - wow. didn't know they made those for bikes. How do they compare with studded tires?

Chains take it to a whole other level! You feel like invincible on them. I even got used to them riding on the cleared roads, they're really bumpy on those, but after you pick up speed the bumpiness isn't so noticable. I remember hating to take them off, but I didn't want to wear them out. The packaging had some blurbs from like a 1993 mountain bike magazine, that's how I kind of dated them. I got them for $10 on ebay, I was the only bidder. I check for them every once in awhile but haven't seen any more.

Nice!

(I found some on sale, but pricey, and a DIY page, but keep getting shut down trying to post links.)

diy studs are the best for ice. an old knobby tire, sheet metal screws and a slick tire to line it. we have done shuttle runs on pure ice tht way and i swear the traction was better than running the same trails in summer. chris posted a guide on either the thick site or the dorc blog at some point. i'll have to try and find it.

Back at college I got some chain from a dead cuckoo clock and wrapped it around the unicycle wheel. Absolutely invincible. On ice, I had better grip than people on foot.

I think on a bike you'd have to have disk brakes, though.

Here is the link for spiking the tires.

http://homepage.mac.com/thickbikes/PhotoAlbum15.html

update: my bike is now obnoxious. It suits me.

That's just what you get when my roommate buys pink duct tape.

@ milk crate dismounts: have yall considered a front rack as opposed to the rear? Might work better.

I have poor balance. I'll stick with the rear for now.

i throw my leg over the handlebars to mount or dismount my milk crate equipped bike. works great.

I would be concerned the edge of the tape would lift and rub areas I don't want rubbed with tape. If nothing else, it may fray whatever is rubbing on it.

yeah, I was gonna try it for a few days before deciding whether it would be permanent or not. Plus people like flashy things, so I'd be paranoid about the seat being stolen.

I'm paranoid about everything though.

If you leave duct tape on toooo long it leaves a messy residue that's hard to remove.

tape is gone from the seat. I didn't even want to bother. I think I'll just leave the tape everywhere else.

Saw this thread last night with the pink duct tape images and wouldn't you know it...you can't miss this bike. Saw it this morning across the street from Wholey's in the Strip...stood out like a sore thumb!

haha, awesome. I saw a few people outside my work on bikes this morning, were you one of them?

I wasn't on one today unfortunately.