Did my first bike commute this morning

beeb1506
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Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby beeb1506 » Fri May 22, 2009 10:19 am

Tucked the jeans into the socks, ignored the drizzle and made it in 10 mins vs the normal 35 minute walk - very happy. Only problem was I had rather more adrenalin in my system than when I normally arrive at work!

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ni78ck
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby ni78ck » Fri May 22, 2009 10:31 am

great stuff! the jeans in the sock is aa worry though :D
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hartleymartin
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby hartleymartin » Fri May 22, 2009 11:09 am

You can get various straps and things to go around the bottom of your pants. Otherwise you can just roll up the right leg a little. Better still, get a bicycle with a chain-guard.
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beeb1506
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby beeb1506 » Fri May 22, 2009 11:28 am

ni78ck wrote:great stuff! the jeans in the sock is aa worry though :D
It's a bit old-school I admit but it works, besides I can't be bothered changing into road shorts for a 10 minute ride.
hartleymartin wrote:You can get various straps and things to go around the bottom of your pants. Otherwise you can just roll up the right leg a little. Better still, get a bicycle with a chain-guard.
They used to be called trouser clips I think, I might well invest in some. Having just bought a new bike for commuting on, buying another with a chain-guard might be a bit of a stretch!!! It does have a chainring guard already so there's some protection there.

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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby Kalgrm » Fri May 22, 2009 11:29 am

Well done Beeb. Don't worry about the sock thing* - just enjoy yourself.

Cheers,
Graeme

(I do it when I'm riding with my kid to his school. It's not like I'm trying to pick-up or anything ... I'm just riding my bike. ;) )
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby casual_cyclist » Fri May 22, 2009 12:05 pm

beeb1506 wrote:They used to be called trouser clips I think, I might well invest in some.
I used to use those. I found them very convenient.
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hartleymartin
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby hartleymartin » Fri May 22, 2009 12:22 pm

A rather rusty steel trouser clip was found on the frame of a certain green bicycle I am fixing up. Someone from my bicycle club offered to give me some chromed steel ones that he still had. I said YES PLEASE! Just looking forward to the day they arrive!
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby Aushiker » Sat May 23, 2009 3:45 pm

G'day

Well done. Care to share more details of the ride? I assume you rode home too? :)

Regards
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wombatK
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby wombatK » Sat May 23, 2009 5:44 pm

casual_cyclist wrote:
beeb1506 wrote:They used to be called trouser clips I think, I might well invest in some.
I used to use those. I found them very convenient.
They don't work nearly as well as double-sided tape - the clips are metal springs that don't conform very well to most leg profiles.

Bunnings have a product by Zone hardware called Cord Tape, Magic Self-Attaching Tape that's about $6 for a 2.5 m x 12.5 mm roll (in electrical section, near cable ties/accessories, makers product code CC 0479 on top left of packaging). Marketed for bundling your electrical cables together, but works like magic on trouser legs, overboots etc.,.

Cheers
WombatK

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beeb1506
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby beeb1506 » Mon May 25, 2009 10:15 am

Aushiker wrote:G'day

Well done. Care to share more details of the ride? I assume you rode home too? :)

Regards
Andrew

Yes, I made it home as well! The ride is very short, just St Leonards to N. Sydney although I try to avoid the Pac Hwy as much as possible so that adds a k or 2. We'll be moving in the next few months so I reckon the new commute will be more like 12k each way from the inner-west, I thought I'd get the bike now to get a bit more used to it and also because it was a great excuse to buy a second bike!
wombatK wrote:
casual_cyclist wrote:
beeb1506 wrote:They used to be called trouser clips I think, I might well invest in some.
I used to use those. I found them very convenient.
They don't work nearly as well as double-sided tape - the clips are metal springs that don't conform very well to most leg profiles.

Bunnings have a product by Zone hardware called Cord Tape, Magic Self-Attaching Tape that's about $6 for a 2.5 m x 12.5 mm roll (in electrical section, near cable ties/accessories, makers product code CC 0479 on top left of packaging). Marketed for bundling your electrical cables together, but works like magic on trouser legs, overboots etc.,.

Cheers
You've confused me with this one, isn't all tape 'self-attaching' i.e. it's sticky :?: I must be missing something!

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wombatK
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby wombatK » Mon May 25, 2009 7:18 pm

beeb1506 wrote: Image

You've confused me with this one, isn't all tape 'self-attaching' i.e. it's sticky :?: I must be missing something!
It's not sticky to touch. Only sticky in the sense that velcro fasteners stick together.

It's a tape which has velcro-like hooks on the in-side, and velcro-like catch fabric on the other outer side. When you wrap it around cables (or your ankles) and overlap the tape, the hooks on the overlapping inner side mate with the catches on the outer. The hooks are finer than standard velcro.

Here it is wound around my leg before I cut it to size...
Image
This is the finished result (could be tidier - I've deliberately skewed the overlap to make it clearer to see against the black trousers).
Image
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mikesbytes
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby mikesbytes » Mon May 25, 2009 7:41 pm

I prefer to roll up the trouser leg, rather than tuck it into the sock.

What route did you ride beep ?
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beeb1506
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby beeb1506 » Tue May 26, 2009 10:25 am

Ah, now I understand - thanks for the informative pics. Looks useful for lots of purposes - I'll pick myself up some.

The route I take varies but for instance this morning I went up Atchinson, right on Alexander, left on Holterman, right on Sophia (it's a little back alley although it's one-way the other way - I just keep an eye out), left for all of 10 mtrs on Falcon then right onto West St, left onto Carlow and then straight into the park, over to Walker for a swoop down into N Syd. It's quite choppy but I know the area well so don't have to think about it and it's a damn sight more relaxing than the Pac Hwy, especially as I'm not riding at traffic speed.

On the way home I come out on the Hwy next to the Union Hotel then take a left at the Mater and the next right that takes me all the way back to St Leonards.

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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby msn » Tue May 26, 2009 10:52 pm

beeb1506 wrote:Looks useful for lots of purposes
Cord tape - Use #2
On the odd occasion when you need to take your bike on the train. Squeeze the rear brake on and wrap the lever and bar together, makes a great handbrake. Stops your bike moving when the train rocks.

Not my original idea, credit is due to another commuter who showed me this.

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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby Mulger bill » Wed May 27, 2009 11:44 pm

msn wrote:
beeb1506 wrote:Looks useful for lots of purposes
Cord tape - Use #2
On the odd occasion when you need to take your bike on the train. Squeeze the rear brake on and wrap the lever and bar together, makes a great handbrake. Stops your bike moving when the train rocks.

Not my original idea, credit is due to another commuter who showed me this.
A 25mm length of old MTB tube works as well and keeps the inner MacGyver happy.

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tinhorn
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby tinhorn » Thu May 28, 2009 10:45 pm

In these cold mornings the need for pants has driven me to use standard electrical tape - wasteful to a degree but i only use like 15cm or so each trip.

gavinr
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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby gavinr » Fri May 29, 2009 8:57 am

tinhorn wrote:In these cold mornings the need for pants has driven me to use standard electrical tape - wasteful to a degree but i only use like 15cm or so each trip.
I don't think I could make myself anything with measureable warmth out of 15cm of electrical tape :)

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Re: Did my first bike commute this morning

Postby HappyHumber » Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:20 pm

gavinr wrote:
tinhorn wrote:In these cold mornings the need for pants has driven me to use standard electrical tape - wasteful to a degree but i only use like 15cm or so each trip.
I don't think I could make myself anything with measureable warmth out of 15cm of electrical tape :)
C'mon on where's your ingenuity; 10-12mm lengths of that should cover some of the particularly sensitive extremeties like, tip of nose, ear lobes, nipples...
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