Cycling questions

[mark a.]

Not really a bushcrafty question (as I'll mainly be using a bike for commuting to and from work), but I'm sure there are some bike experts on here.

Now that the weather is improving, and the Waterloo and City line (my normal route to work) is shut, I'm going to try cycling. For now I'll use an old bike lying around, and maybe upgrade later if successful. Some questions, though:

(1) Helmet or no helmet? I would have thought that wearing a helmet makes sense, but then I'm vaguely aware of arguments for not bothering (although not sure what they are). Many bike couriers don't seem to bother.

(2) Lighting. Legally the lights shouldn't be flashing, but everyone knows that they're miles more visible. Can I just use a set of flashing LED lights, or must I get "British Standard" ones?

(3) Locks: What type is best (chain, bendy wire, D-lock etc)?

(4) The long-term plan is to get a folding bike, so I can take it on the train home as well (and store it safely in the office). Is there really any point in getting anything other than a Brompton? (Budget around £500, so none of the ultra-fancy Birdy or Bike Friday or anything, unfortunately).

I'm trying to persuade my HR department to join a Bike2Work scheme, in which case 50% off bikes and accessories would be super! But in the meantime a knackered old bike will have to do the trick.

Many thanks!

Mark

 

[jdlenton]

I think i should be able to help here i ride a bike to work and home every day come rain or shine and have done for the last 18 months

Question 1
For me it's helmet there are some nice ones around that offer good ventilation i didn't used to like helmets was i run quite and sweat would run in my eyes but with the new ones this doesn't happen any more. A bike helmet isn't going to give you that much protection from other road users but it will from your self most injuries to cyclist don't involve other traffic!!! and if the save happening to you what happened to a friend of mine, he fell of his bike going down a curb hit his head on the curb and lost the sight in his left eye!!!! the there worth having.

Question 2
Lighting I have two sets one that flashes and one that's static with the two I am both legal and more visible

Question 3
Is a case of Location first I have a reasonably secluded of street place to put my bike on a busy London street is i different matter, ten second is current bike crime levels i know of colleges who have to use hardened motorcycle chains in oxford as the bike crime rate is through the roof . Personally i have a springy coil lock i use to secure the front wheel to the bike frame as it quick release and i have a D lock that secures the rear frame arms and the bike wheel to the bike stands at work. I also remove my saddle and all my lights and take them in to work

Question 4 not got a clue i ride a Trek4900 Mountain bike

also another have a light weight set of waterproofs both trousers and jacket and have them in your bag every day you'll need them.

James

 

[Spacemonkey]

I used to ride thoough central London each day form Kilburn to Peckham, and i must admit I quite enjoyed the daily dicing with death! I never wear a helmet as, well, I just don't like them, but that's a personal choice and to be honest if you would feel happier then wear one. Gloves with decent palms are a must as that is always the first bit down in a tumble, and only so much grit removal is fun... Also I wouldn't use toe clips/cleats in London as you often have to put a sudden foot down and those extra split seconds could be costly...
Lock wise, I'd just keep it in the office if you can. London plod take a dim view of chained up bikes anyway since the IRA used one as a pipe bomb and they have been known to remove them themselves. Any half decent thief would have the bike away in no time anyway. Those round type locks can be opened with a bic type pen and very little skill, so go for standard key types if you do.

Whatever you do, it is fun and you'll have legs of steel within a fortnight!

 

[mark a.]

So the helmet thing is just a comfort issue? In which case I'll have a look and see which one gives the most ventilation and make a decision that way. In my student days I never bothered, but then that was in Durham and not the mean streets of London.

For locking I think I'm ok at work (I believe we have an underground carpark I can use). The worst bit will be leaving it at Waterloo overnight. Good tip on removing the saddle as well as the lights.

I'm looking forward to giving it a go. I suppose it will be invigorating, both due to the exercise and the adrenaline rush of (hopefully) surviving the deadly streets!

 

[benjamin.oneill]

Ooops, not sure what happened there

 

[benjamin.oneill]

. The worst bit will be leaving it at Waterloo overnight. Good tip on removing the saddle as well as the lights.



Many bikes have fron wheels that pop out... if so, as well as detering theft of whats left I'd take that too

Ben

 

[Snufkin]

Commuting by bike is great. Do it.
Lights, actually they are making blinking lights legal. Not sure if it's come into force yet but they make so much sense no copper in their right mind is going to hassle you for it. Mount one on your seatpost and one on your backpack (although I prefer to use a courier bag). Front lights, get something as bright as possible. If you find you like commuting I would invest in a quality set of rechargble lights, something in the 10 to 15W range or some of the new LED lights are getting good reviews check out these guys for lights. You probably won't find anywhere cheaper and they have a really speedy service.
Helmet, well that's personal choice. I don't wear one but my commute is mostly rural, if it was in the city I would definitely wear one. Get a bright one as it'll make you more visible.
Bike, well a folding bike would make the most sense for rail transportation. I prefer a fixie myself, less to go wrong.

For a lock I don't have to use one for work but I do have a big D type a Kryptonite New York lock. A big motorcycle chain lock as well would help deter thieves.

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

A hi-viz vest may be a good choice as well.....

 

[monkey_pork]

Helmet, hell yeah !

My mind was 100% made up about this when I took a rock to the head, flicked up by a passing quarry wagon. The rock was about fist sized, and had I not been wearing my helmet, that would have been it - that blow would have been enough to have taken me off the bike and then I'd have been run over by the car that was right up my backside at the time. I have no question about it.

If it helps, I wear a Met road racing helmet - there are loads of good helmets out now, and they are all light and very well vented.

I use flashing and static LED's, and I'd agree, I can't see anyone is really going to give you any problems over this.

Locking - I try keep the bike where I can see it (err, like in my office, or in the server room) - on the odd occasion I do have to leave it, I use a big heavy motorcycle lock.

Bike - for regular commuting on one bike , I'd now be riding a kinda moddified cyclo-cross creature, based on a Specialized Tricross, a Kona Jake (or ~ Phd), or that nice looking Surly above. Duuno - probably not much help on the train ?

Oh, and a big, well made courier bag - you'll be glad you did !

 

[ed dickson]

Commuting by bike is great. Do it.
Lights, actually they are making blinking lights legal. Not sure if it's come into force yet but they make so much sense no copper in their right mind is going to hassle you for it. Mount one on your seatpost and one on your backpack (although I prefer to use a courier bag). Front lights, get something as bright as possible. If you find you like commuting I would invest in a quality set of rechargble lights, something in the 10 to 15W range or some of the new LED lights are getting good reviews check out these guys for lights. You probably won't find anywhere cheaper and they have a really speedy service.
Helmet, well that's personal choice. I don't wear one but my commute is mostly rural, if it was in the city I would definitely wear one. Get a bright one as it'll make you more visible.
Bike, well a folding bike would make the most sense for rail transportation. I prefer a fixie myself, less to go wrong.

For a lock I don't have to use one for work but I do have a big D type a Kryptonite New York lock. A big motorcycle chain lock as well would help deter thieves.

very nice snufkin...what frame is that? i've always liked the look of the 1x1 or the long haul trucker Surly-wise. Mind you, an On-One Inbred (mtb) or Il Pompino(road/fixie/freewheel/whatever) is nice....homegrown too!

 

[Snufkin]

very nice snufkin...what frame is that? i've always liked the look of the 1x1 or the long haul trucker Surly-wise. Mind you, an On-One Inbred (mtb) or Il Pompino(road/fixie/freewheel/whatever) is nice....homegrown too!

Thats the steamroller. I really like it. The Il Pompino is a great bike too, that's what I had before this but I wanted a dedicated fixie. If you're thinking of an Inbred go for the 29er version (if you ride off road). I'd never go back to 26inch wheels now.

 

[Andy]

(1) Helmet or no helmet?
helmets will save your head. I got knocked off my bike by a taxi not long back. It was the most common type of crash between a bike and a car, low speed with the car pulling out and hitting the bike from the side. Also gloves are a must. For safety I would also recomend a pair of glasses. BBB seem to make the cheapest 3lens glasses that cost about £20


(2) Lighting. Legally the lights shouldn't be flashing, but everyone knows that they're miles more visible. Can I just use a set of flashing LED lights, or must I get "British Standard" ones?
I'd go with a LED back light with a few mods but I really don't like flashing front lights. Smart make the cheaper sets of lights while cateye make more expensive ones that have better weatherproofing and will last longer. If your way home is well lit then I'd go for a LED front light as the slightly blue hint they have means they can be seen at a great distance. Better then a 5watt holagen lamp commonly used as the low power setting on lights such as those made by Knightlight. If your way is not lit then the more power you can get the better. I've modded some bike lights and now run 14AA cells with a bulb rated for 12volts to increase the light output by a large factor

(3) Locks: What type is best (chain, bendy wire, D-lock etc)?
depends how your using your bike. I have a 5ft motor bike chain which is very heavy which I leave at uni. This will lock up both wheels and the frame to the secure bike parking. I wanted something very heavy duty as the bike is there in the same place four days a week so any thief can get a feel of the best time to take it. If I'm popping into town in sheffield then I use a cable lock as it can lock to more things then a D lock. Since the bike isn't there everyday a thief is less likely to be tooled up for breaking the lock. This is for a £1000 mountain bike which dopes draw attention and I've never had any trouble

(4) The long-term plan is to get a folding bike, so I can take it on the train home as well (and store it safely in the office). Is there really any point in getting anything other than a Brompton? (Budget around £500, so none of the ultra-fancy Birdy or Bike Friday or anything, unfortunately).
No idea on these though it came up not long agai on BB

One thing I would highly recomned to anyone is a bell or horn. If your going on bike paths and most of the trouble comes from walkers in your way then a bell seems to get a much better reaction then saying excuse me. If your on the road fighting your way through cars then please please get a airzound horn. It uses a pop bottle to hold compressed air and pumps out a variable volume of blast upto 115DB. Cars will take notice of this

 

[demographic]

As for lighting I have a Cateye Opticube LED thing for a front light which chucks out decent usable light instead of something that a Glow worm would be ashamed of like the flashing things are.

I have since then got rid of my pushbike (well I swapped it for two 70s Montessa trials bikes and a 94/95 Maico 250 motocrosser but that's beside the point) but the light makes a decent torch.

My theory on pushbikes is as follows...

You can either spend a grand and a half on an amazingly light pushbike but then you need to spend another hundred quid on the heaviest lock you can carry so it doesn't get nicked or you can spend a couple of hundred quid on a cheapish secondhand bike and protect it with a tenners worth of lock cos nobody gives a toss about nicking it anyway

The bike and lock combination seems to weigh the same whichever route you choose

It's different is you are actually competing on the bike and never leave in unsecure places and that way it's maybe worth spending the extra on something decent.

Having said that theres still a lot of people in the local cycle club with four grand bikes that can't manage a ten mile time trial in less than twenty three minutes.

 

[Cyclingrelf]

I did 4 years commuting in Cambridge, another 5 years commuting on a bike through London and have notched up another 4 so far in Coventry. I have to say, I think London was actually safer than Coventry! The drivers are equally awful in both places, but in Coventry they do stupid things at 40 miles an hour, whereas in London they are usually stuck in a jam.

Helmet - I have one, but it's in Cornwall. Good intentions to wear one when I first started cycling, but I never actually got round to it. It's the faff of having to carry it around as it took up valuable space I needed to carry my shopping when wandering around the shops...but you probably should wear one really.

Lights - Your best chance of avoiding getting hit (other than by keeping a canny eye open and keeping your wits about you) is to be as visible as possible. Lights and reflectors are the best way of doing this, so go for them big-time.

Locks - When in London, I cycled a bike that had sat in a shed in Cornwall for 3 years and gained a lovely coating of rust. The frame was solid, but it looked a wreck. I worked in a rehab for alcohol and drug dependent men at the time, and they assured me they wouldn't have nicked it even to fund their habits. So my little coiled up wire type lock was quite sufficient and I had the interesting satisfaction of returning to the bikes one evening with a friend to find her bike had been nicked....lol. Mine was still there. If your bike looks old and tatty, it will be less of a target. My old rusty nag finally died this year (after a total of 9 years' hard service - not bad!!) and I now have a NEW bike, but I did pick the cheapest model I could find...and it's a girlie bike, so not so desirable to thieves.

Bike - I don't feel qualified to comment much. My friend has a Brompton and swears by it.

 

[Spacemonkey]

As my grandad said, "A lock will only keep an honest person out."

Too true...

 

[mark a.]

Wow, some great advice there chaps and chapesses - much appreciated. My technical knowledge on the various brands and whatnot is fairly limited, but I do like the look of Snufkin's bike. It also seems to only have one brake, which is probably fairly similar to my bike, but at least Snufkin's is intentional. I'll need to get some new brake pads before getting on the bike properly.

So as you can tell it's a cheapo old, knackered bike, so I think a fairly normal lock will suffice - I want to avoid bike motorbike locks as the bike weighs enough as it is, and hopefully it's not worth nicking. If I do get a Brompton then as I can take it from home to work (both have secure and hidden parking) the hopefully I won't ever really need to bother with a lock.

I'll make sure I kit myself out with lots of lights, bright clothing, bells, whistles and whatnot, but obviously the most important thing is to be aware.

I'm guessing that bikes are yet more expensive things to get into, so hopefully I'll get fairly bored with them and be happy with my cheapo bike and save my money for other things!

 

[gunnix]

I would prefer a woman's bycicle. They are nice because you sit straight up on them, and it's easy to get on or off. For example if you're almost crashing you can much easylier get off the bike and stay cool.

As for a helmet, I don't use one. But I bet it would be smart to wear one if you find a comfortable good looking one.

I only use a red flashing back light, but I'm going to put something on my bike to be able to put my white PAL flashlight on it though.

I use two cheap *** combination locks which I opened up myself without knowing the codes in a few minutes. I know you can also just break the locks with a tang in less then a minute. But I don't care to buy a lock because if they want to steal your bike they just do... Unless you got a really expensive lock.. I think it's much easier on the mind just to have a cheap second hand bycicle which you worked on a little yourself, and if it gets stolen you know you can just get another one. No reason to be freaked out... The trick is to make it really comfortable and oil it good but keep it looking like cheap crap, which it is anyway

 

[monkey_pork]

Slipping OT a teeny tiny bit now, but this is a great site for a look at what people get upto on long distance bike rides.

crazyguyonabike

"Bicycle tour journals, forums and resources."

 

[harryhaller]

Thanks for that link, monkey_pork. Looks really interesting.

Some of you ride fixed wheel bikes. I've heard about that but have never tried it. How is it different to to freewheel bikes - pros and cons?

Another question - more bizarre: I'm fascinated by the idea of a unicycle, I think it would be better than a foldie. Small, etc. But of course it takes time to learn it. Has anyone actually tried it or know of anyone who's tried it. I've never seen one on the street but there are unicycles built for the street.

Anyway - it's the pros and cons of fixed wheel bikes which really interest me first.

 

[Minotaur]

(1) Helmet or no helmet?

Helmet, gloves, Hi vis vest, and glasses. Cars will not notice you. Ref what people have said, I got concussion in the middle of nowhere. Came too in a ditch, a Porsche took out my back wheel.

(2) Lighting.

I would go for both. Lets be honest even if you get done, imagine standing up in court saying I did something to keep myself alive.

(3) Locks:

I carry two, a cable lock rapped round the seat post, for quick stops, and a U for long stops. I do agree cheap bike, stands a better chance of survival and is easier to replace. Change your front wheel for a quick release and take that into the office with you.

(4) The long-term plan is to get a folding bike

In Holland they ride these three speed bikes that are amazing for city stuff. Apprently all of the gear stuff costs you 30% of your power, so would look at those bikes with the other gear system, very hard. As said a lot of old style ladies bikes/shoppers had them, but small wheels. You want big mountain style wheels, and tough stuff them against puntures.

My big idea is why use roads? Look for a footpath/canal route. The trick to cycling in cities is not play by the road rules. You want to get up a speed and stay at it. A dead end to a car might give you a way though. It is worth thinking and looking around.