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CaB Cyclists

Started by Blue Jam, January 14, 2021, 03:39:09 PM

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Marner and Me

Ahhh, mmmm smelly cycling shorts wank

Dex Sawash

Might stop a small percentage of them leaving stinky lycra about

Marner and Me

Binning it would stop it completley.

Sebastian Cobb


touchingcloth


nugget

Quote from: buntyman on January 15, 2021, 09:06:31 AM
It's the wet feet that are the problem mate. What do you wear on your feet?

I got a pair of these, they seem similar to the Gore-Tex ones but cheaper due to not being Gore-Tex. Since buying them I've only needed to wear them a couple of times, and they did the job on my 15-minute commute.

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B003CGQJBS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I really want to get one of those clever saddle lights.

Endicott

Quote from: nugget on January 16, 2021, 12:34:10 PM
I really want to get one of those clever saddle lights.

I want one and I don't even have a bike.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: nugget on January 16, 2021, 12:34:10 PM
I really want to get one of those clever saddle lights.

If you don't mind waiting for them to ship from China they're about £8
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20210116045135&SearchText=meroca+bike+light

Or nearly twice that on ebay/amazon:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=meroca+bike+light&_sacat=0

It's amazing how much stuff is drop-shipped from alibaba for a massive markup.

nugget

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 16, 2021, 12:54:17 PM
If you don't mind waiting for them to ship from China they're about £8
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20210116045135&SearchText=meroca+bike+light

Or nearly twice that on ebay/amazon:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=meroca+bike+light&_sacat=0

It's amazing how much stuff is drop-shipped from alibaba for a massive markup.

Cheers, I still have some time left on my latest Amazon Prime trial so will probably get something similar off there. I don't mind paying a few quid extra, I'm all about the instant gratification these days.

Edit - I see the ones on Amazon still take at least three weeks to arrive from China. Fuck that. I guess that's what 'drop-shipping' means.

paruses

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 16, 2021, 12:54:17 PM
If you don't mind waiting for them to ship from China they're about £8
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20210116045135&SearchText=meroca+bike+light

Or nearly twice that on ebay/amazon:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=meroca+bike+light&_sacat=0

It's amazing how much stuff is drop-shipped from alibaba for a massive markup.

Thanks for the suggestion. I like the look of these and would automatically go for Amazon but doesn't seem much point in this case.

Have never used Aliexpress - are the shipping times those sort of 2 days - 8 months windows and it's luck of the draw? I assume it's like a (cheaper) modern ebay but with no customer support.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: paruses on January 17, 2021, 10:10:15 AM
Thanks for the suggestion. I like the look of these and would automatically go for Amazon but doesn't seem much point in this case.

Have never used Aliexpress - are the shipping times those sort of 2 days - 8 months windows and it's luck of the draw? I assume it's like a (cheaper) modern ebay but with no customer support.

In my experience things tend to arrive in a few weeks, some considerably quicker. Only one thing I've bought off there has taken a very long time, but it did eventually turn up.

Everything I've ordered has turned up. The site can be a bit buggy, it once told me some items were awaiting payment so I paid again, only to see they were duplicate orders and the stuff was already on its way, I requested cancellation and messaged both sellers and they were alright with it,  that's the only time I've had to contact sellers directly.

Blue Jam

#41
Swapped my Specialized Armadillo All-Condition (Ha!) Road tyres for a pair of Schwalbe Winter Spike tyres yesterday. Was feeling a bit less worried about cycling to werk until I looked out of the window this morning and saw a fuckton of snow. Now I'm wondering which would be the less insane option out of walking or cycling to werk. Both feel more sensible that getting on a bus though, and the snow will probably be causing problems for Lothian Buses too. I have cycled in snow before but the last time was about ten years ago, and even then I was wondering if it was madness.

Tried out the helmet liner beanie hat thing the other day and it did a great job of keeping my tiny little ears warm. Having them whipped by the cold Embra air hadn't been pleasant so that was a welcome relief.

I had a fancy merino wool cycling beanie lying round here somewhere but couldn't find it and then remembered it had been looking a bit knackered anyway so I just ordered a new one and went for this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B082KFMYYJ

It's a bit loose on my narrow heid but very light, and also waterproof and lined with nice warm fleece. Also you can never have enough reflectors. Synthetic ftw.

Blue Jam

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 14, 2021, 05:06:48 PM
I'm also not a fan of the dayglow roadie get up, so have something that's a bit more muted yet reflects well when headlights hit it.



That's very smart, what's the name of the brand please? Does it have some subtle reflective areas we can't see in that pic?

I'm not a fan of "day-glo roadie getup" either, plus when I was cycling up the Innocent Railway tunnel during a lighting malfunction a few months back another cyclist was coming in the opposite direction and I didn't see them until my headlamp lit up the stripes on their day-glo vest, and I thought "Wow, those hi-vis vests may be adequate on a well-lit road but they aren't actually that hi-vis at all here, better get something stupidly lairy" and got this from Mountain Hooerhouse:



https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/360-reflective-mens-jacket-p14539.aspx/silver/

I went for the men's version because it's nice and long and has nice deep pockets, and being quite loose means I can layer up underneath it. The women's one is a short little bum-freezer, really fitted so no room for layering up and no room in the pockets. It also makes sense to go for a longer coat if, like me, you can't be arsed with mudguards.

I also like it because cycling under the tunnel lights makes me light up on and off like a human strobe.

Sebastian Cobb

It's made by Vaude. The red itself is quite reflective but there's also 4 10cm strips running in a line from shoulder to fingers on the left arm with about an 8cm gap between them sort of like [//////////        //////////        //////////        //////////]. There's also a red strip running all the way down the back with some reflective strips on the tail of it.

This was my 2nd choice. There was another FWE (Evans Cycles own brand I think) one I wanted that had lots of reflective stuff in a camo pattern underneath a meshy fabric so it only showed up if you were stood in the same position as the light source. It was beautiful but I was in between sizes and being cut tight and to the hunched position of a cyclist it just didn't work :(




Dex Sawash

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 14, 2021, 05:06:48 PM





I had a Fred Perry jacket almost exactly like that. Bottle of 2 stroke oil leaked all over it in my scooter.

Blue Jam

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 21, 2021, 12:17:38 PM
This was my 2nd choice. There was another FWE (Evans Cycles own brand I think) one I wanted that had lots of reflective stuff in a camo pattern underneath a meshy fabric so it only showed up if you were stood in the same position as the light source. It was beautiful but I was in between sizes and being cut tight and to the hunched position of a cyclist it just didn't work :(





Think I prefer the Vaude one but that's very nice too. Damn you, Mike Ashley ;)

The Schwalbe tyres have a reflective circle around them, seen other cyclists with Schwalbe tyres and they look pretty cool when the light hits them and you see two big circles of light. It makes me wonder why more brands don't put reflective bits on their tyres.

Sebastian Cobb

I don't know if they're very reflective but Fox ones are nice too:
https://uk.foxracing.com/mtb/men/jackets/


Blue Jam

Road-tested the Schwalbe spike tyres today. Cycling on compacted snow and ice is... interesting. Had a couple of hairy moments where my bike did a little skid before the metal studs caught the ice and kept me upright. Felt a bit like the "one-inch heart attack" people describe when they're walking on scaffolding.

Made it to werk but there were a couple of points where the path was like an ice rink and I just threw in the towel and walked my bike on the grass along the sides. The tyres are good but I don't believe they were designed for that much ice.

Is cycling in these conditions borderline mental? I have no shame in being a fair-weather cyclist, might keep at the cycling until the R number drops a bit though.

mikeyg27

Quote from: Blue Jam on January 26, 2021, 03:32:17 PMRoad-tested the Schwalbe spike tyres today. Cycling on compacted snow and ice is... interesting. Had a couple of hairy moments
Is cycling in these conditions borderline mental? I have no shame in being a fair-weather cyclist, might keep at the cycling until the R number drops a bit though.

Not Just Bikes did quite a good video yesterday about snow / ice cycling. Basically, snow cycling is perfectly possible / safe if ploughed / compacted properly, but no one ever does do it properly other than Finland. I wouldn't expect it to be done properly in London given that we get settling snow once every 2-3 years. I'm not going to lie, when I heard it was going to snow on Sunday I made sure to do my weekend cycle on Saturday instead.