Biking – Page 7 – Her Green Life

Two-wheeled troubles

It’s been a rough couple of months, bicycle fleet-wise. Our stable, which has held as many as five bikes, has seemed bare with just two or three bikes at any given time, between planned maintenance and unexpected events. As of this week, we are down to ONE really, truly functional bike between the two of us!

Matthew’s Giant hybrid
As part of the conversion to a kid-hauling bike, and due to general age of the previous wheels, Matthew invested in some new, heavier-duty wheels for his back-up bike. No sooner did he get the new wheels (and install a front rack, to address weight balance issues with G on board) than he noticed some handling issues (well, he’d noticed them before, to some extent, but dismissed them).

Another visit to the bike shop revealed a bent fork (probably due to a crash, and has been bent for some time now). There’s been some delay in getting the correct replacement part, so this bike has been at the shop for a couple of weeks now.

Matthew’s Salsa road bike
In mid-September, Matthew took this [barely year-old] bike in for a regular tune-up, not expecting any issues. He was rather surprised when a guy at the bike shop called and told him the rim of his rear wheel was cracked. Despite the fact that the bike was just barely out of the warranty period, and that this rim seems to have some track record of trouble, it was very hard getting anyone to take responsibility for it (turns out most bike warranties cover the frame, but often exclude “components”), but in the end, customer assertiveness prevailed.*

Matthew purposely waited until he had the Salsa back to take the Giant in for the fork issue, so he wouldn’t be bike-less. But of course, after barely two weeks of riding (and after he’d taken the Giant to the shop), the newly replaced rear wheel on his Salsa went out of true. So, until we deal with that, Matthew’s left using Big Blue for all of his bicycle trips and busing on days that I need Big Blue.

BUB
When I replaced BUB’s tires last month, I noticed that he was in major need of a tune-up. In the end, I got the tune-up, plus a new chain (I think these replaced the original components, so I was due for the new parts).

Turns out, I should have checked the bike over more carefully before taking it home. My first ride out, I discovered that the front brake was rubbing the rim on one side. My assumption was that the brakes were not adjusted correctly, but Matthew suspects that I have a wheel out of true. I’ve still been riding it for short trips, but, if it is a wheel truing issue, it looks like I’m headed to the bike shop yet again.

Of course, I still haven’t replaced Baby Jake, so on the days that Matthew takes Big Blue, my options are pretty limited, bike-wise. Gabriel and I actually walked to a park (that I would usually choose to bike to) yesterday, which was a nice change of pace.

I guess it’s good that our one functional bike is the one that we can both operate, but I’m ready to have a fully functioning bike fleet again!

Clarification from Matthew: Most bike warranties cover components, but only the ones that break, not the ones needed to install the replacement part, nor the labor involved. My rim broke, but since they discontinued that exact rim, I* also needed new spokes to fit the new rim, as well. The spokes, plus the labor of building the wheel, were the lion’s share of the cost here.

CyclingSavvy firsts

Despite the gloomy forecast heading into this past weekend (and the current, continuing rain), the weather cooperated on Saturday.

Matthew and I co-taught the on-bike portions of CyclingSavvy (Train Your Bike and the Road Tour) for the very first time. In over three years as instructors, we’ve taught the on-bike portions with other local instructors, but never together.

Big Blue also participated in CyclingSavvy for the first time (since I still haven’t, ahem, gotten my butt off the fence about a certain decision).

Big Blue proved up to the task, though we knocked over a cone on the cone weave drill (were it not for the loaded bag, we would have cleared it), and Matthew demonstrated most of the more complicated drills on a “regular” bike.

My original plan was for a picnic lunch in Tower Grove Park on a beautiful fall afternoon. Given that it wasn’t exactly a beautiful fall afternoon (pretty decent really, but chilly and damp, even though it wasn’t raining), we moved the lunch party to Sweet Art.

Six bikes would have completely blocked the sidewalk, so we created our own, impromptu on-street bike parking. A couple of our students had never been to Sweet Art before; it was fun introducing them to a local business that we enjoy.

After lunch, we finished the day with the Tour of [a small part of] South City.

Nothing quite as satisfying or tiring as a day of on-bike teaching! We finished at the church parking lot where we did the bike drills in the morning, and, in my head, there was a car waiting to take us the three miles from the church back to our house. Of course, we had biked to class, and said car was, in reality, already parked at our house. Matthew and I paused in the park for a quick snack, then tackled those last three miles.

That night, I made it to eight 0’clock, but not much later, before I passed out on the couch.

Informal traffic stop leads to good discussion

Great story from Matthew’s bike commute this morning . . .

So, this morning I was cajoling fun out of Gabriel, who really wanted to take the car because it’s “not so fast.” (He’s decided that he doesn’t care for the faster downhills on the bike. We keep taking them a bit slower, but he was pretty upset when we didn’t capitulate on his car request this morning.)

The houses decorated for Halloween helped; the bucket truck did too, but the jackhammer he didn’t get to see almost touched off world war three. Anyway, we were doing fine again when I entered Brannon northbound after Fyler. This is always a slightly tricky stretch as there is a very wide lane that is intended for parking and driving. In the absence of parked cars, riding to the right is still unsafe due to the debris that collects there (particularly bad on that segment), and a too far right position, when I can’t be all the way over, typically gets very bad (i.e., too close, very unsafe) split lane or in-lane passes.

I actually did move right at one point and allowed one vehicle to pass, but after that there was a full-size black pickup. Given the truck’s size, and the room required for a safe pass, encouraging lane sharing, even in a wide lane, just wasn’t smart. To avoid a bad pass, I kept lane control position. Since the oncoming travel lane was empty, I was actively encouraging the driver of the truck to change lanes to pass, but he remained behind me.

After the next stop sign, the driver finally did pass, but he slowed down and parked right before the next intersection. I debated waiting or going by him as he completed his stop, but when he started opening his door I was thinking, “Oh boy, here we go.” I prepared to steer wide of him with a friendly wave (as friendly as I can) and get us the heck out of there, when I noticed the driver had blues on.

He asked me to pull over for a moment, and I, of course, did so. At that point, I was apprehensive, because I know how wrong things went in the Cherokee Schill case. The officer expressed his concern that I was too far left and that me waving people around instead of getting right might make other drivers mad and create a bad situation. He told me he was especially versed in bicycle law because he’d had extra training recently to deal with mopeds (and they’re to follow bicycle regulations), and he talked about as far to the right as is safe.

I told him I really appreciated his concern for our safety. Then I talked a bit about getting safer passes when not too far right. The officer talked about his appreciation for my hand signals and stopping at the stop sign. Eventually, I talked about the passing distances study, and we kept getting less uncomfortable and more friendly as we communicated with each other for a while.

I talked about my wish that there were more police available to enforce traffic rules for everyone, and he agreed. Gabriel was awesome in all of this, mostly being quiet, occasionally asking to get to school, and giving me the opportunity to tell him that we’d be going soon, but that it was important for us to stop and talk to the officer who was concerned about our safety. I think that may have helped a lot.

I expressed my sincere appreciation for the difficult job our officers do day in and day out. Toward the end he told me that with the new information about the study, and with our discussion, he agreed that I was within the law riding further left if I believed it to be the safest place.

After that, I owned up to being a CyclingSavvy instructor and invited him to come to our classes. He seemed pretty interested in coming to one sometime.

On the extra awesome side, this police “officer” was actually a sergeant, and he said he likes to learn more so he has answers when he’s asked for information in the scope of his duties either from above or below in the chain of command. I truly hope to see this friendly sergeant at a future CyclingSavvy class.

It’s a complicated and challenging world, but discussions like the one we had this morning keeps my optimism regarding the good hearts and good work of our law enforcement officials alive.

And the great bike hunt continues

Are you tired of reading about this? If you said, “Yes,” I completely understand, because I’m tired of thinking and writing about it. But maybe writing will help clear my thoughts (or help someone else who’s bike shopping), so here goes.

On Friday, I visited The Hub and rode two Kona touring bikes, the Sutra and the Rove. They both have steel frames and disc brakes. The Rove has SRAM integrated shifters, and the Sutra has bar end shifters. They felt fairly similar, ride-wise (their geometries are basically identical). When I lifted each bike, the Sutra felt heavier, due to some heavier-duty, touring components (the Sutra also comes stock with fenders and a rear rack, which contribute some to the weight).

If I was choosing between the two, I’d lean slightly toward the Sutra. If I buy a bike with bar end shifters (the Sutra or the Surly LHT), I’m going to have the shop swap out the bar end shifters for the Shimano integrated shifters (planning to use those currently on my Kona Jake, assuming they are undamaged, which they appear to be).

I spent a decent bit of time on both Konas on Friday, and, while I have not made an overall bike decision, the time on drop handlebars clarified a feature of the 2010 Kona Jake that I really liked — a second set of brake levers for the “top” position (for a tutorial on possible drop bar hand positions, see Lovely Bicycle’s overview).

It may be mostly the fact that I got used to having those brake levers there on the Jake, but I really, really like having that option. I feel like I have more stopping power using the brakes on the tops (though, technically, adding the second set of brake levers to the system reduces overall braking power slightly).

So, I’ll also be asking the bike shop to move the bar top brake levers from my old Kona Jake to whatever the heck I finally decide on.

At this point, my gut and/or make-a-decision-and-get-this-over-with feeling is to order a non-disc [brake] Surly Long Haul Trucker from The Hub. They don’t stock Surly bikes, but, unlike Salsa, they can order Surly bikes. (But part of me says the LHT is similar enough to the Kona Sutra, and I’m being silly and should just go with the Sutra they have in stock.)

But there’s still a little piece of me leaning toward the Salsa Vaya (from non-preferred bike shop), in part because of this review over at The Path Less Pedaled, which talks about it being more responsive and less sluggish than the Surly LHT. The other feature I like is the sloped top tube. I’m not sure it will make that much of a difference for most rides, but it would be nice when riding in a skirt or a dress (though I could use BUB or Big Blue for that). On the other hand, I’m not really sure that I want disc brakes (which come stock on the Vaya, vs. the option for a non-disc LHT).

I should probably revisit the bike shop and ride both the Surly LHT and the Salsa Vaya again, but I’m feeling worn out, and the trip across town, just to do that, again, is not exciting.

If money were no object (and I lived in the U.K. and could go to the shop in person), Thorn bicycles seem pretty interesting. In the U.S., Rivendell Bicycle Works has some interesting options (again, not realistic on my current bike buying budget).

It’s frustrating because I don’t feel excited about anything. I realized over the weekend that this point in our longtail search, the trying to make a decision, wasn’t particularly fun or exciting either. The excitement and anticipation came after we’d made a decision, while we were waiting for the bike to arrive. Then, once Big Blue arrived, riding was fun. I’m just ready for the fun part here.

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Update: A friend shared this very appropriate TED Talk link. “Paralysis” very accurately describes what I’m feeling right now regarding this issue.

Bicycle shopping woes

It’s been a month since Baby Jake’s demise, and I have yet to settle on a replacement. After seeking a bit of input, I decided that some kind of touring bike might make a pretty decent commuter. I was considering the Surly Long Haul Trucker or the Kona Sutra, when I wrote this post, and Rebecca brought the Salsa Vaya to my attention.

On September 3rd, I visited a couple of bike shops and returned home to post the following:

Gah — my frustration with inventory at StL bike shops continues! Visited The Hub and Maplewood Bicycles this morning. Both shops were very happy to ORDER a Surly LHT (or a Kona Sutra) for me, but neither stocked any touring bikes, so I left without test riding anything 😦

It’s a a chicken and egg problem: the shops don’t want to stock bikes that might not sell, but it’s pretty darn hard to sell a bike that you don’t stock!

Two days later, after a phone call to confirm inventory, I visited Big Shark:

Rode a Salsa Vaya [2] and a Surly LHT, and saw a Kona Sutra (two in stock, one too little, one too big for me to ride), at Big Shark this morning.

I felt a little guilty, knowing I would likely order my new bike through my preferred bike shop, and not Big Shark, but I needed to get my hands on these bikes somewhere. I left with the information that if I wanted the Vaya, I’d have to wait until late September/early October, when the 2015 models came in.

Stock image from salsacycles.com — 2015 Salsa Vaya 3 (stock image from salsacycles.com)

I was rather decided on the Salsa Vaya 3, when a local bikey contact mentioned that he was interested in selling his year-old Novara Randonee touring bike, fully outfitted with fenders and rear rack.

It just happened to be my size, so we met for me to test ride it on a Saturday morning (9/6). I liked how it rode and even felt fairly comfortable with the bar-end shifters. While a used bike would not have the advantage of life-time free tune-ups that come with a new LBS purchase, the savings over new ($800-$900, in this case) were substantial and attractive.

I told the seller that I would get back to him with a decision in 24 hours. At that point, he’d had no other contacts about the bike (it was posted on CL). I also thought I communicated that if he received an offer before I contacted him, and I needed to decide sooner, to please let me know.

I’d pretty much made up my mind that I was going to take the “pre-loved” Novara, and I was already picturing my new ride, and really looking forward to it, especially since I’d discovered that riding BUB was a literal pain in the neck (and upper back and shoulders).

Six hours later, the bike was sold. To another buyer. Whomp, whomp, whomp.

So, back to the Salsa Vaya. My next step was checking to see if The Hub could order the Salsa Vaya. I was fairly confident they could, since I already knew they could order a Surly LHT (even though they don’t stock Surly bicycles).

After waiting for a week, I got the bad news — Salsa bicycle sales are restricted to official Salsa dealers. That meant I could either get my first choice bike OR a [different] bike from my first choice bike shop (The Hub), but not both. I’ve basically been sitting on this information for ten days, trying to figure out what I’m going to do.

In the meantime, The Hub got a 2015 Kona Sutra in my size, and the co-owner pointed out that they also have a [my size] 2014 Kona Rove in stock (very similar specs and geometry to the Sutra, but with integrated brakes and shifters as opposed to bar-end shifters, which was part of the appeal of the Vaya). I’m hoping to ride both tomorrow.

2015 Kona Sutra (stock image from konaworld.com)

Both of these Kona bikes are a bit more like a cyclocross bike than a touring bike (comparing geometries to the Vaya and the Surly LHT), and, since I’d kind of settled on a touring bike, I’m not sure how I feel about that. On the other hand, I was pretty happy and comfortable on a ‘cross bike (Baby Jake) for quite awhile, so maybe it’s not a big deal.

In the meantime, I’m minimizing time on BUB (despite new tires, a tune-up, and a new chain, cassette, and rear derailleur cable), due to comfort issues, which means I’m riding Big Blue (the longtail), whenever Matthew doesn’t need her to transport G. But I’m ready for a new primary bike already!!!

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