Jaysus cycling! (4 Viewers)

[7 - No tomorrow]

Where's the cheapest place to get Kevlar tyres?

I got mine in Dublin in Cycleways on Parnell St

There's a couple of different brands now. Mine were Armadillo I think.

Whatever you're charged for them, they're worth every penny.

 

[rettucs]

Where's the cheapest place to get Kevlar tyres?

most bike shops should have a range. I'm on vittoria puncture-proofs. They're cheaper than the last ones I had (schwalbe) but I had to replace the back one after a year (the schwalbe's lasted longer). The vittorias were 18 bob and I got them in Humphries in finglas. The schwalbes were 30 and I got them in Hollingsworth in Templeogue.

But like anything to do with the bike, you'll more than likely get it cheaper online.

 

[Space]

You can get the Vittorias in On Track on Cook Street (Christchurch) too. Think they're 20 quid for the Randonneurs which I can't recommend enough. Dearer than Humphries but saves a trip out to Finglas. I use them all day everyday including skidding on the fixie and rarely get punctures.

Cheapest online is probably wiggle at 17.92 with free shipping. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vittoria-randonneur-reflective-road-tyre/ but may as well support an Irish shop for the amount you're saving.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Skidding on a motherfucking fixie ftw!!!!

 

[Space]

Got that hop thing down now too, it's a lot of fun and extremely effective for stopping. Finding it much easier to keep control with either over using brakes.

 

[Space]

In other cycling related news I got threatened by a taxi driver today. He asked if I want to teach him to drive or would I like to end up in hospital. I called him on it and unsurprisingly he was all talk. Quite the hypocrite too.

 

[ann post]

was he not trying to hospitalise you in the first place anyways. i got a cabbie this morning who spent the whole trip bragging about how cabbies never crash thier cars. in retrospect its probably because everyone is scared of them.

 

[Space]

Nah he beeped his horn and when he caught up with me I asked was he beeping at me, he said yes and then accused me of cycling up a one way street (Wood Quay which would be suicidal). He then broke a red light at the top of Parliament St so I followed him and pointed out how he'd broken a red light which led to the above exchange.

Did have a lovely encounter with a different taxi driver today, was one of those "you go" "no you go" exchanges.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

My current commute has me more convinced than ever that I will die on my bike. Or very close to a mangled version of it.

 

[Space]

I'm pretty convinced of my immortality at this stage but I'm still gonna give up the couriering end of the year just in case. Too old to be dealing with dickhead taxi drivers all day.

 

[mr pharmacist!!!!1]

hope you're wearing a helmet moose.

 

[The septic]

Anyone have anything to say about internal gear hubs? I like the idea of less maintenance and my gears not seizing up everytime it rains. This is the bike I am looking at:

http://www.eurocycles.ie/Commuter/Gents_Felt_Bicycles/Felt_XCity_1/3139_p.aspx

Oh yeah, I am going to buy something this afternoon so timely feedback is of the essence. If you want to tell me tomorrow that they are complete shit, please don't

 

[rettucs]

they're not shit they're just different.

If you like the bike, go for it.

I have no experience of internal gearing and I'm a little sceptical about them - that just my unwillingness to move with the times (I have a hard time disassociating them from those bikes you can get in america that change the gears themselves when they sense a certain amount of pressure on the pedals).

Just make sure you're not limited in terms of the numbers of gears available. I seem to remember looking at a bike before and it had only a 5-sprocket cassette (I thought yer man mentioned it was all that would fit in the hub - might just have been that bike though).

 

[The septic]

It's got 8 gears which is plenty if you ask me. I only use about 4 of the 30 I've got on my MTB now. I just like the idea of the cabling being more or less protected from the elements if nothing else. I was a courier for too long and I've got two kids so I am not planning on fixing my own gears- I hate that kind of shite- I just want something reliable and low maintenance. And I do like the clean lines of that yoke.

 

[ann post]

my lights have packed in. they were the wind-up charge type. need more rechargeable lights, possibly this time not made of shit plastic.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

I never liked how those internal hubs felt. I always felt like they were gonna break or something and they never seemed to feel like they had enough clout when it came to going a bit faster. They also do need an amount of maintenence,so be aware of that,as usual,keep everything clean,relatively.
Also,be prepared for having to know how it all works in the case of a puncture.

 

[The septic]

Bought the bike anyways and so far so good. The gears are deadly- perfect ratios and being able to change gears while stopped at a light is pretty useful.
Incidentally, I hit a pedestrian yesterday for the first time with the new bike, which as you may or may not know, is to a cyclist the equivalent of the first ride in a new gaf or to an America the first ride in a new car.
Three tiny Asian people walked into a junction in which I had a green light and upon seeing me, fanned out so that they were blocking the whole street. Actually, they were tiny so they couldn’t block the whole street. When they started jumping back and forth trying to get out of my way (or confuse me) they really shut down my options. In the end, I came to a skidding (and screaming) stop in the middle of one of their torsos. A heated conversation followed:

Me ‘Excuse me sir and madame, but are you serious? I am in the cycle lane and I have a green light’

The biggest one of them ‘Pardon me, would you please look where you are going?’

Me ‘I think you will find that I had the right of way in this situation and that I was quite obviously aware of where I was going . I feel like it is you that is in the wrong. I suspect that you suffer from some kind of intellectual disability which I hope you are getting some assistance with’

The biggest one then responded with something I wish I had heard because it sounded quite dramatic. I can only suspect that it was an apology for his girlfriend bending the fitting for my light back and causing me to come off of my bike. I assume it was an acceptance that it was a genuine error on his part. Although I had continued my journey up the street and was now some distance from the altercation, we bid our addou’s (very loudly at this point as to ensure that our messages were understood by both parties).

I was so immersed in recalling the way our encounter had been resolved, that a couple of minutes later I barely even noticed the HGV pull out on top of me even though it was broad daylight and I was wearing a high –vis vest.
In the end, I arrived home relaxed and at one with the world.

Edit: Actually I think that conversation may have been less cordial and may have involved the word 'fuck' roughly two dozen more times.

 

[rettucs]

sounds familiar. I had a similar experience except it was with a big burly eastern european woman. Once I knew she wasn't dead I high-tailed out of there while she was frantically apologising to me for being a dipshit.

I came off much worse than she did.

 

[Space]

Had a sneaky gander at the new Septic wheels during the week, looks really nice. I like how you lock it behind the fence now too. Think I've finally finished my fixie, sexy new riser bars on Monday gone.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

What are you guys wearing on your feet to keep them dry in wet weather?

I'm getting sick of bringing in clean/dry socks and shoes in a bag.