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Nice!

Very tempting...although honestly, I fully expect I'd be sitting in a police station in a day or two, because putting a sticker on an illegally parked car is serious business, unlike continually endangering my life which is like really f***ing meh who cares right.
(12-01-2018, 05:46 PM)Spokes Wrote: [ -> ]Not crazy at all.

I have multiple wheelsets. (Leftovers from my MTB racing days have turned out to be very convenient)

Lacing wheels sucks, but once you get the hang of it it's almost peaceful in how much of an art it is.  

You'd be surprised how easy it is for you to get one. You just need rim size and number of gears on your cassette to make sure you have the correct rear hub (am I giving away my past life as a bike mechanic at cyclepath? How many of you remember that place? Haha)

One more thing I would add if you're going to be swapping wheels on a regular basis or doing any sort of bike maintenance: invest in a decent bike stand.
(12-03-2018, 08:14 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: [ -> ]So the uptown bike lanes continue to be an utter joke.



This vehicle has been parked in the bike lane almost every night I've biked home, I've spent literally an hour calling bylaw about it, and I finally asked them to give me a call, around 7, they call, no ticket issued, the vehicle is gone.  They won't tell me whether they responded to all my other reports, apparently I'm not allowed to know whether I'm wasting my time, but I'm guessing that I am.

Bylaw is a lie, I'm sick and tired of it, I'm not bother wasting my time calling anymore.  If I had a crowbar, I'd use it....

That's brutal. 

Going through Uptown this morning, seeing how much the bike lanes bob and weave around parking spots, they don't seem all that effective to me.  Admittedly, I haven't rode on them, but I feel like I'd be annoyed if doing so.
(12-04-2018, 10:25 AM)Section ThirtyOne Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-01-2018, 05:46 PM)Spokes Wrote: [ -> ]Not crazy at all.

I have multiple wheelsets. (Leftovers from my MTB racing days have turned out to be very convenient)

Lacing wheels sucks, but once you get the hang of it it's almost peaceful in how much of an art it is.  

You'd be surprised how easy it is for you to get one. You just need rim size and number of gears on your cassette to make sure you have the correct rear hub (am I giving away my past life as a bike mechanic at cyclepath? How many of you remember that place? Haha)

One more thing I would add if you're going to be swapping wheels on a regular basis or doing any sort of bike maintenance: invest in a decent bike stand.

Seconded!!
The bike lanes are intended for slower moving bicycles, not anyone trying to go 40kph. Flat bar, I have no real problem with the curves, but with pedestrians and cars walking in them.

Side note, what's our current bike theft environment like? About to buy myself a lock, and I'm wondering what gear marks (or, hopefully not but still, successful attacks) others have witnessed, so I might inform my decision?
(12-04-2018, 03:42 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: [ -> ]The bike lanes are intended for slower moving bicycles, not anyone trying to go 40kph. Flat bar, I have no real problem with the curves, but with pedestrians and cars walking in them.

Side note, what's our current bike theft environment like? About to buy myself a lock, and I'm wondering what gear marks (or, hopefully not but still, successful attacks) others have witnessed, so I might inform my decision?

The corners are a little tighter than ideal, but they're not too big a problem if cars aren't encroaching them, when cars encroach it would be a problem, even just for someone with a big wide cargo bike.

The other direction has no such weaving however....but plenty of weaving is required.
(12-04-2018, 03:42 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: [ -> ]The bike lanes are intended for slower moving bicycles, not anyone trying to go 40kph. Flat bar, I have no real problem with the curves, but with pedestrians and cars walking in them.

Side note, what's our current bike theft environment like? About to buy myself a lock, and I'm wondering what gear marks (or, hopefully not but still, successful attacks) others have witnessed, so I might inform my decision?

Anything will be stolen if it's not locked down... people will steal lights and bells if they unclip easily. Saddles will get taken off posts too. Anything "locked" with a cable lock will likely be stolen if it's worth 5$ to someone. For my crappy urban single speed I use a kryptonite chain lock to secure the frame and rear wheel to a solid post and a small u-lock to secure the front wheel to the frame. It's also a bit of an ugly duckling and probably over 30lbs so it's not really the first bike thieves would look at. If you have quick release skewers I'd get pitlock skewers. I bought my kryptonite chain from black arrows, it's the smaller of the two... the bigger one might be more useful depending on the size of the bike and what you have to lock it to. Downtown Kitchener is especially bad for thieves but I've heard of a lots around the universities and even people stealing bikes out of condo lockers and parking garages.
(12-04-2018, 04:48 PM)clasher Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-04-2018, 03:42 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: [ -> ]The bike lanes are intended for slower moving bicycles, not anyone trying to go 40kph. Flat bar, I have no real problem with the curves, but with pedestrians and cars walking in them.

Side note, what's our current bike theft environment like? About to buy myself a lock, and I'm wondering what gear marks (or, hopefully not but still, successful attacks) others have witnessed, so I might inform my decision?

Anything will be stolen if it's not locked down... people will steal lights and bells if they unclip easily. Saddles will get taken off posts too. Anything "locked" with a cable lock will likely be stolen if it's worth 5$ to someone. For my crappy urban single speed I use a kryptonite chain lock to secure the frame and rear wheel to a solid post and a small u-lock to secure the front wheel to the frame. It's also a bit of an ugly duckling and probably over 30lbs so it's not really the first bike thieves would look at. If you have quick release skewers I'd get pitlock skewers. I bought my kryptonite chain from black arrows, it's the smaller of the two... the bigger one might be more useful depending on the size of the bike and what you have to lock it to. Downtown Kitchener is especially bad for thieves but I've heard of a lots around the universities and even people stealing bikes out of condo lockers and parking garages.

Certainly we have a bike theft problem, but it's mostly overnight, people I know lock bikes during the day in DTK and uptown without any issues.

For locks, no cable locks, that's the easiest thing to say, a high quality U-lock or hardened chain lock will do fine, I've used them for years, I also have a cable that I occasionally use to secure my rear wheel, but not usually.

Like I said, overnight is the biggest issue, and for that, I bring it inside.
My outdoor parking is usually around DTK for shopping in the evening, maybe UpTown morning or night for coffee or movies, or Grand River Rocks for climbing.
Bike Stand - Nah, I don't like those things. I hate the idea of supporting the entire bike by one point - the seat post... they just bounce all over the place and stress the post. I'm far happier just flipping my bike over and having it nice and stable, resting on three points (seat and bar ends).

Bike Lanes in UpTown - I like riding on them, I always add a rip up and back when riding along the Spur Line Trail. Gotta add one to the counter, too.

Bike Theft - Having had my Trek Y5 stolen out of our shed within a month of moving into our house and seeing the number of people riding around in our area with frames, gear and full bikes over their shoulder... yeah, bike theft is bad in our area. Really bad. So much so I won't even consider taking the Bus+Bike option to work anymore because I don't like the idea of sitting inside the bus with my bike unlocked on the rack in the front. Anyone could just run up and take it. Will GRT allow you to quickly lock your bike to their rack?
(12-04-2018, 09:11 PM)Canard Wrote: [ -> ]Bike Stand - Nah, I don't like those things.  I hate the idea of supporting the entire bike by one point - the seat post... they just bounce all over the place and stress the post.  I'm far happier just flipping my bike over and having it nice and stable, resting on three points (seat and bar ends).

Bike Lanes in UpTown - I like riding on them, I always add a rip up and back when riding along the Spur Line Trail.  Gotta add one to the counter, too.

Bike Theft - Having had my Trek Y5 stolen out of our shed within a month of moving into our house and seeing the number of people riding around in our area with frames, gear and full bikes over their shoulder... yeah, bike theft is bad in our area.  Really bad.  So much so I won't even consider taking the Bus+Bike option to work anymore because I don't like the idea of sitting inside the bus with my bike unlocked on the rack in the front. Anyone could just run up and take it.  Will GRT allow you to quickly lock your bike to their rack?

The seat post supports your weight, it shouldn't be a problem supporting the weight of the bike.  There is some risk with crushing some of the thinner tubes on high end light racing bikes, but the seat post is main to handle the stress.  But I'm cheap so I also use the flip over method, it's also great on the road. A tip however, sometimes you might want to adjust what's on your handlebars, obviously lights and bells and such should be removed (I smashed my bell once), but I've also ended up scratching up the window on my shift lever.  Obviously depends on your bike.

Heh, I do the same thing, only very often of the time I end up side tracked calling bylaw, but I don't think I'm going to waste my time anymore, as far as I can tell, bylaw doesn't ticket, I'm just going to post to twitter instead.

That's a great question, I've never asked, but I imagine if you were quick, they probably couldn't stop you before you did it.  I have no idea what happens if the person behind my bike needs theirs, I guess they'd have to remove theirs, that I'd probably go help with anyway, I always sit or stand at the front where I can watch it carefully, it would take long enough to get off, I suspect I could catch someone doing it, so I've never really worried about it.  I do have a (I suspect entirely irrational) fear of it falling out of the rack while hitting some bumps.  Of course, feel a lot better about the GRT racks on city streets than I do about the GO racks on the highway.
See, the thing I'm so conflicted about is the rule says you should go to the back of the bus... but at the same time, I want to stay at the front to keep an eye on my bike. So I'm like.... ahhhhhhh what do I do!

So I just avoid the situation and drive to work

Your fear is absolutely not irrational. Bikes pop out of the racks all the time, one of my husband's closest friends' mom is a driver and she says it happens regularly. The bike pops out and then they drive over it...
(12-04-2018, 03:42 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: [ -> ]Side note, what's our current bike theft environment like? About to buy myself a lock, and I'm wondering what gear marks (or, hopefully not but still, successful attacks) others have witnessed, so I might inform my decision?

I recommend looking up The Lock Picking Lawyer on YouTube.  Ultimately he gets into every lock he's ever tried, but its good to see which ones were easy attacks that can be quickly carried out in the field, and which required some studying and the exact right tool(s).  This will suck up hours of your life, but it's highly educational (though moderately depressing).
I left my bike locked exactly once to run into Rexall to get something, but I can't imagine leaving a bike locked up in KW for anything more than like 3 minutes.

I guess I need to buy a third bike which is literally nothing more than a frame and wheels and resist the urge to bolt things onto it.
Seriously, a single-speed beater. Great for winter riding, and not particularly attractive to thieves.