This next question is from @edd about fixing a flat and what tools to carry when things are wet:
Q8. I recently ran into a small inconvenience and I've found a hole in my travel kit: a spare tube for wet days when patches just won't stick (or the tube is properly done). What's everyone's necessary road kit when a pickup isn't an option?
Q6. I have a hybrid road/offroad bike that has a suspension front fork. I don't like the suspension and have it off almost all the time. Would it be worth swapping out the fork or should I just carry on with suspension off. Any benefits to swapping it out?
Next question is from @glightly about how to bring more people into cycling:
Q4. For those who've been advocates and worn out their shoes going to meetings, what would your advice be to people who are new to cycling, don't feel safe doing it where they live, and want to get involved enabling people to take fewer car trips?
Especially if there are not already people locally doing this work. Where should they start?
@sam asked a question a while back that I know I'll enjoy seeing the answers to:
Q2. What's the heaviest, largest, or most ridiculous cargo you've ever carried on your bicycle? Bonus points for including a picture (with proper description in the alt text).
Welcome to our BikeNite for the week of March 8th! 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:
Q1. Where are you posting from today? How are you feeling at the moment?
Q7. For recreational cycling what is your favorite road, gravel, and/or MTB cycling route? What is your favorite route that you can get to by bike and/or public transit only without driving a car (if different from your answer to the first part of this question)?
Q6. We all know that we should support our Local Bike Shop but because 'reasons' perhaps don't always do so. I'm put off my nearest by the patronising owner, and the next nearest by the prices, so use them for perhaps only a quarter of my purchases. So how good a LBS customer are you? And why or why not?
@bettybarcode asks about riding when the sun is a potential hazard:
Q5. How do you handle biking when the sun is low in the sky and produces a strobe effect through trees? Do I need side blinders, like horses?
(Slightly relatedly, I've also felt apprehensive riding on some roads where there are stark tree shadows. It's sometimes hard to tell if you're going to ride over a pothole or a shadow. What do you do in this situation?)
@glightly asks a follow-up to some of our discussion last week:
Q4. Given the talk about cold weather gear, where are places that are putting winter cycling gear (or useful for cycling) on sale right now that we should rush and buy for cheaper now that Spring is approaching?
I'm open to recommendations for non-Amazon (hopefully indie, progressive) places to buy as well.
Q3. Cargo bikes are cool, but if your main cargo is small kids, a bike trailer w/ your current bike is more affordable. Unfortunately, they usually tap out at 100lbs/45kg of weight yet work trailers usually have higher capacities. Is there anything for older kids that gives the seating features of a box bike but in a box on a trailer you pull with a regular bike? Is this a bad idea for an obvious reason?
This next question is about how you secure your cycle for quick errands. @andyw350 asks:
Q2. My bike lock when at work is a 5 lb kryptonite. Do people have different locks for quick errands? What is the right balance of protection versus convenience for a lock to use when you are in Walgreens for 5 minutes? Any stories of regrets or vindication?
Welcome to our BikeNite for the week of March (!) 1st! 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:
Q1. Where are you posting from today? Time flies and things happen. What did you not get to do that you wanted to this week?
Q8. Have you seen any really great and effective examples DIY traffic improvements or "tactical urbanism"? Did these work well and last without bad unintended consequences? If the "improvements" weren't great, what made that the case?
@scottsthoughts asks this question about interactions with drivers as they're organizing a training for a large group ride:
Q7. How, as a group, should we handle possible negative driver interactions? Has anyone had experience with an effective group policy for managing potentially hostile cyclist-driver interactions?
(And if not in a large group, have you received any helpful guidance, or do you have your own best practices?)
This question is related to one that @esnyder brought up a while ago and I think @glightly and maybe others have discussed:
Q5. Have you ever been to a gathering where you got a chance to try other peoples' cycles or gear? Last year in Alameda, CA, a bunch of families informally got together in a parking lot to offer test rides of their cargo cycles. If not, have you been to any other test-ride events? How was safety and other considerations handled?
What about other types of weather? We had a really windy ride to school this morning and it reminded me of a time where winds were so strong that I was being blown up a hill (albeit ever so slightly)
Q4. Have you had any weird or interesting experiences with severe weather?
Next is a question from @genex about rain jackets:
Q2. I have been wearing an old North Face jacket I've had but was interested in what types of jackets people use to commute in the rain (been looking at Showers Pass but they are also pretty pricey).
What have you used? What do/don't you like about it?
Welcome to our BikeNite for the week of February 23rd! 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:
Q1. Where are you posting from today? What is it like near you right now?