Quote of the day: you know it's time to buy a bicycle when..

[UfoTofU]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Oh, I could go do some touring for exercise & recreation, but the dog gives me such pitiful "why are you leaving me behind again?" looks that I wind up either taking the mountain bike, or decide to hike instead.

Awww

[LeanBurninating]

Originally Posted by dcb

Every bike I own came off the curb :/ (mixed emotions about that one)

What, like you stole them?!?

Lol I don't understand what that means.

[dcb]

It means that people just put them on the curb when they are done with them around here, and you have to get to them before the scrappers.

[wagonman76]

Yes, like around here where most townships have a yearly spring cleanup and most houses have a good pile at the end of their driveway. Amazing the perfectly usable things people throw out, or even things that need a simple fix. Bikes are everywhere, last season we picked up like 7 or so, fixed some, scrapped some others. Forget Christmas, spring cleanup is the most wonderful time of the year. The wife is hooked on pile hunting now too.

[UfoTofU]

I like hunting

[i_am_socket]

Not enough bikes at the curb around here. Plenty of TVs, couches, and satellite dishes though.

I have my road/tri bike for racing and training and a hybrid for errands. I'd like to get a dedicated tri bike and leave my roadie for group rides and such.

+1 to telecommuting if riding is out of the question. Wish I could do either.

[blueflame]

I want to start biking again but I worry about sucking down gas and diesel fumes, so I wear a 2 filter trademans gas mask on my scooter.

I've seen these bandanna thingys http://www.wiggle.co.uk/c/cycle/7/Anti_Pollution_Masks/ with a carbon filter in them but they are kind of expensive and make you look like a ninja which cant be helped I suppose. They only last a month or so and their effectiveness has been queried.

Does anyone know of any techniques to reduce bad air while cycling? Avoiding rush hour and route planning (especially in relation to prevailing wind direction) seems a good place to start....

Apart from being to windward to use a sailing term...(upwind)

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by rjacob

So reasons to have more than 2 bikes:
1. Mountain bike-for riding on trails
2. Tri bike-for racing and training
3. Road bike-for spinning and riding
4. Cheap road bike-for errands where I can leave it outside unattended.

Normal person... Um, let me rephrase that :-) Person not interested in racing, so out goes #2. I live in a place where you can generally leave your bike outside (but locked, of course), and it will still be there when I get back, so combine 3 & 4, and we get two bikes :-)

Most of the time I could get by with one, as I did when I lived in Europe - a not very aggressive mountain bike with high enough gearing for roads.

[zjrog]

Not that I look like it today, but I am still a biking advocate. When I lived in Hawaii I got back into cycling after too many years away. Two bikes? 4 bikes? At any given time I had 13 or more. Grabbed most of them before the trash truck got them. Rebuilt many of them for neighborhood kids, and disadvantaged kids in the program my wife I and participated in. Seeing a kids face light up over a simple bike never ever got old...

I had for myself, a KHS Fiero roadie that has been through many parts swaps. Still have this bike, and it is in need of a lot of work. Can't decide what to do with it right now.
I had a well built Iron Horse MTB until someone stole it (miss those Scott AT4 "aero" bars!!).
I had a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed that had one modification. Tubes filled with lead. If you can climb with that bike...
I had a handfull of just fun bikes, one was a single speed fixed, another was a single speed with brakes and cutdown old steel handlebars. You get the idea...

A couple years ago, a friend gave me his old Fisher Hoo-Koo-E-Koo. some no-name front spring fork and needed a good going through.

Currently I'm looking for a tandem. My wife is feeling better and really wants on a bike. She isn't strong enough to light up a Life Cycle currently... I only need a simple bike. I know I'll do most of the work. But I could sure use it...

Back on topic. I believe we need to be energy independent. Closing off areas where we have oil doesn't make us independent. We need to attack this on both fronts, produce our own oil and produce more efficient vehicles. Another front, educate drivers...

[MetroMPG]

zjrog: that's a lot of bikes. I currently have 4 in working condition, most saved from the pound. And a little pile of parts bikes. I suspect when I'm a crazy old man I'll have a ridiculous heap of old bikes and multiple bike shaped projects on the go.