@ascentale@kimu#BikeNite A4. Trek Rally Wavecel (which was what the LBS carries). Very comfortable and the air flow is great, great ratings! The only problem is the chin strap won't stay adjusted correctly, I have to tighten it before every ride. #helmet
@ascentale@kimu A4: I have a Giro Montaro. It fits and it's light and has lots of ventilation, and in particular, it has a brim. I want a brim for a bunch of reasons.
(It's also one of the ones Bothell Ski and Bike carries, which narrows the choices a lot for me; they've been around forever and I pretty well trust them.)
Welcome to the May 24th BikeNite! Thanks for joining, and I hope we all enjoy chatting about cycle stuff! Feel free to answer whenever at your convenience. Anyone can join, now or later. Reply to what you like, and boost for visibility.
We'll start out with our introduction (with help from @jfparis)
Q1. Where are you posting from today? Where we are, Spring semester is over or almost over for many students. How does this affect your riding?
@ascentale@jfparis A1: Hiya! North of Seattle as usual, up in northern King County. Graduation incoming means that my rides to one particular remote site will involve fewer people on Burke-Gilman, but not that many because more non-students will be on it too.
@ascentale@jfparis#BikeNite A1. Ventura County, CA. I just realized that today! That means no more avoiding near the high school around new-driver-melee-time (err... lunch)!
This question is kind of a continuation of a discussion last week. @esnyder@MylesRyden asks about what good cycle infrastructure looks like on rural roads.
Q8. As someone living rurally in OR, I am not sure what exactly I want changed on most of the rural roads. I would love to hear more about / see some links to / etc. really good examples of what it could/should look like.
@Shadowsforbars asks a question that takes us back to the earlier days of #BikeNite
Q7. Does anyone have any AI pictures of bicycles they would like to share?
(Or prompts for that matter? Good/intersesting/bad, it'd be great to see a variety. Jeremy_ai, the previous host, would often introduce BikeNite with an interesting AI generated picture)
@ascentale@Shadowsforbars#BikeNite. A7. Ah, please, no AI generated monstrosities! 😬 If you do post 'em, please CW or tag them so we can avoid the nightmares.
Wading in to the SwiftData waters and added saving to a context, and I’m impressed. Gave the app an infinite loop at the view layer and we’ll fix that later.
Doodled a couple candidates for a development and alternate app icon! Someone has to bring a little culture.
Just that tiny bit of progress today but the momentum is what’s important. #BuildInPublic#iOSDev
I’m proud to introduce you to Bike Index: an open-source iOS app for the world’s leading bike registration and recovery service of the same name! Bikes mean everything to their riders: freedom of movement, ability to transport cargo, exercise and empowerment, connecting with nature and the great outdoors. Bike Index helps you recover your bike if it’s ever lost or stolen. Built with #SwiftUI and #SwiftData
I always thought it was having a classic "snakebite" pattern and that other things don't use that term, but the shop I went to this week seems to use it differently (in a more rubbing situation maybe?), so I think my definition is maybe too restrictive.
@pete asks about group rides with electric + non-electric cycles:
Q6. We have problems making group MTB rides work when eBikers join us for fastish-paced rides: essentially they’re too fast on the ups and too slow on the flats for group cohesion. Anyone have any tips for making mixed eeb/regular groups work?
@pete@meganL@AngelaAntunovic@ascentale I bet the torque-sensing drives eat chains and cogs more than the bbs02 that like to run at a higher rpm. If you don't shift that one you ruin the motor. I could never get Bosch or Shimano ones I've tried to run over 80-ish rpm. #BikeNite
@enobacon@pete@meganL@AngelaAntunovic@ascentale my mental model has always been that mid drives just output more power through the chain than it’s rated for. The average human with no training can output a burst of ~500 watts, but will sustain much closer to 100-200 watts. A motor will sustain 750 watts or higher. That extra power dramatically shortens the useful life of most bicycle chains. #BikeNite
@ascentale@RossA #BikeNite A3a:
During the height of the pandemic when we could not do group rides, but needed each other's support to be motivated to ride, we discovered a game called Bike Tag. You ride to a landmark in your city, well known or obscure, post a picture of your bike near it, and the first person who gets there on their bike to post their photo, gets to pick the next place. It got me on my bike every day trying to find the next tag.
@meganL@ascentale@RossA A3. That’s one of the superpowers of biking: you can actually observe and interact with your surroundings. This is a plus in some places and a minus in others, but, yeah, I do a lot of botanizing while biking. #BikeNite
@Andres4NY@ascentale@trouble#BikeNite I went with a new Tongsheng kit from Electrify Bike (I prefer the torque sensor over the Bagang cadence sensor for hauling cargo). The cost was more than ordering all the parts from AliExpress but I’ll get support from a US company that is active in developing the open source software and actually responds to email questions. (1/2)
@ascentale@trouble#BikeNite A8: Most recent new thing on the bike was replacing one of the runner boards with a board with a slot cut out so I can easily tow another bike.
Got to use it for real the first time yesterday returning a borrowed bicycle to a friend. Towed it about 8miles, was super easy/solid.
Here it is w/ my spouse's bike strapped on as a test:
Q2. I'm thinking of getting a folding bike on the cycle to work scheme, to help with each end of a mainly train-based commute once or twice a month. Any recommendations/avoids for a hefty 6ft3 chunky monkey? (Me)
Q4. Most cyclists drive motor vehicles at least sometimes, and some more frequently.
How has your cycling affected the way you drive? Are you slower and more careful? Do you do anything differently when encountering cyclists on the streets?