Random Chit Chat

[BK_123]

Wondering I hadn't seen you posting as much Foothead, Hope all is ok.

My iPhone and laptop are feeling left out after using my iPad a lot.

 

[berry120]

Is anyone else here into cycling? I keep having problems with the traffic detectors on stoplights and don't really know what to do. The only way I've found that works is to get off the bike and lie the frame down on top of one of the cuts. The electric bike is too heavy to do this, so I pretty much end up waiting ten minutes for a car to come by or turning right then doing a U-turn at the next intersection. The new camera-based ones are even worse. There's one near me that has never worked once no matter what I do, but the red light camera still detects me well enough to activate if I go through after five light cycles.

It's starting to make sense why so many cyclists ignore red lights entirely. If you're going to have to break the law just to get through every intersection, might as well not wait five minutes first. It's really the city's fault. There's plenty of systems out there that detect bicycles just fine, but they never seem to care enough to use them. Also, they keep paving over the coils and not marking them, so it becomes nearly impossible to figure out where to position the bike. I've heard people with motorcycles complain about this too, so it seems it's not just bicycles that are affected.


Anyway, I guess that's enough ranting. I'm just kind of mad right now because it just happened three times on the same ride.

Have you tried the neodymium magnet trick?

 

[Life]

Is anyone else here into cycling? I keep having problems with the traffic detectors on stoplights and don't really know what to do. The only way I've found that works is to get off the bike and lie the frame down on top of one of the cuts. The electric bike is too heavy to do this, so I pretty much end up waiting ten minutes for a car to come by or turning right then doing a U-turn at the next intersection. The new camera-based ones are even worse. There's one near me that has never worked once no matter what I do, but the red light camera still detects me well enough to activate if I go through after five light cycles.

It's starting to make sense why so many cyclists ignore red lights entirely. If you're going to have to break the law just to get through every intersection, might as well not wait five minutes first. It's really the city's fault. There's plenty of systems out there that detect bicycles just fine, but they never seem to care enough to use them. Also, they keep paving over the coils and not marking them, so it becomes nearly impossible to figure out where to position the bike. I've heard people with motorcycles complain about this too, so it seems it's not just bicycles that are affected.


Anyway, I guess that's enough ranting. I'm just kind of mad right now because it just happened three times on the same ride.

I go for a 30 mile round trip everyday. Problem is, I have only 1 stop light to go through the entire time. lol...

 

[foothead]

Have you tried the neodymium magnet trick?

I have. Doesn't work. It has to either be a really huge magnet, or it needs to be extremely close to the pavement. Only thing that would work would be putting them around the rim or on the pedals, but then I'd be worried about them picking up debris.

I go for a 30 mile round trip everyday. Problem is, I have only 1 stop light to go through the entire time. lol...

Wow, lucky. I have to go through quite a few to get anywhere. It doesn't help that all the main roads are ridiculously overcrowded since Katrina, so they keep having to install them on the outlets to small subdivisions.

 

[Celegorm]

Foot, check your local laws but I've heard from a few motorcyclists that here in Wisconsin if you're at a light that is sensor-controlled and you're alone you can go through the light after doing a full stop and waiting to see if the lights respond (like 30 seconds) since the bike is not heavy enough to trip the sensors.

 

[Life]

I have. Doesn't work. It has to either be a really huge magnet, or it needs to be extremely close to the pavement. Only thing that would work would be putting them around the rim or on the pedals, but then I'd be worried about them picking up debris.



Wow, lucky. I have to go through quite a few to get anywhere. It doesn't help that all the main roads are ridiculously overcrowded since Katrina, so they keep having to install them on the outlets to small subdivisions.

I assume you live right in a city? I live in the middle of nowhere, just all hills here. Can I ask, what type of bike do you use? and can you recommend a good bike for the street?

 

[foothead]

I assume you live right in a city? I live in the middle of nowhere, just all hills here. Can I ask, what type of bike do you use? and can you recommend a good bike for the street?

Yeah, I'm in the city. I use an old steel mountain bike with road tires. Can't really afford a proper road bike at the moment, so I had to make do. I'm probably going to buy this one at some point in the future though. Touring Bikes | Commuting | Commuter Bikes | Windsor Bikes - Tourist

What bike do I recommend? Depends on you really. Do you just ride around, or use it for commuting? What do you currently have? Budget?

 

[Life]

Yeah, I'm in the city. I use an old steel mountain bike with road tires. Can't really afford a proper road bike at the moment, so I had to make do. I'm probably going to buy this one at some point in the future though. Touring Bikes | Commuting | Commuter Bikes | Windsor Bikes - Tourist

What bike do I recommend? Depends on you really. Do you just ride around, or use it for commuting? What do you currently have? Budget?

I generally just ride, but also pick things up if someone needs it. I currently use my dads schwinn, its a nice bike, but not ideal for what I do. Budget wise, i'd like to stay within $200. If thats even possible for a road bike.

EDIT: That bike you posted is just what I'd need. I look that bike up on craigslist.

 

[foothead]

I generally just ride, but also pick things up if someone needs it. I currently use my dads schwinn, its a nice bike, but not ideal for what I do. Budget wise, i'd like to stay within $200. If thats even possible for a road bike.

EDIT: That bike you posted is just what I'd need. I look that bike up on craigslist.

That's a touring bike. You probably don't need it unless you intend to do multi-day rides with camping gear. I highly doubt you'll find it on craigslist, and even if you do, it probably won't be your frame size.

$200 for a new road bike is pretty unrealistic unless you go with a low end track bike (don't do this) or that pos "GMC" bike at walmart (again, don't do this.) The best thing to do would be to save more and go look around a few bike shops. Don't let them talk you into a fixed gear or single speed bike. You'll probably need to pay $500 or more for something new though.

The second best route would be to get something on craigslist. The problem with this route is that you need to have some knowledge about what is and isn't good, and you're on your own as far as figuring out sizing and such. You'll also pretty much have to take what you can get, especially if you need an uncommon size.

You have one more option, which is to buy a low end bike over the internet. You'll have to assemble it yourself, and you never get a chance to try it out before buying. Bikes direct has a few road bikes around $300, but they really aren't great compared to what you could get for a couple hundred more.


If you're riding a schwinn mountain bike, pretty much anything will be better. The thing is that a nice bike should last you many years, which is why you shouldn't cheap out. Think of it as an investment. You can buy a $250 bike, but it'll need much more frequent adjustment, won't ride well, and you'll probably end up replacing it as soon as you realize how much better the other options are. If you buy something good though, you'll be able to hold onto for quite a long time, and it'll turn out cheaper in the long run when you factor in how often the cheap bikes end up in the bike shop because of stupid, easily preventable issues.


PM me some contact info and we can talk on IM or something. Really, the biggest mistake you can make here is rushing into buying something without any knowledge about it. It's common for people to buy whatever looks good, and they often end up with a bike that's completely the wrong size, or something cheap that'll end up being replaced in a year.

 

[setishock]

I'd be out of breath just putting the kick stand up...