Comment by jl2718 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jl2718 | Hacker News Reader

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Getting the bike is not the biggest hurdle to becoming a biker. People give up for a few common reasons.

1. Flats [revised]: use quality tires and learn to change it and patch a tube. But I know you don’t want to do that before you start riding, and some roads will flat anything (e.g.: I flatted 7 times in one day riding from SF to LA in armadillos). So what then? Maybe try: big fat tires, Tuffy strips, sealant, and tubeless.*

2. Minor repairs: always bring pump, tire levers, tube, patch kit, multi-tool, and a dollar bill.

3. Rain: always bring a light shell and gloves.

4. Safety: run both front and rear lights in constant mode day and night. Helmet always.

5. Crotch pain: Get padded bike underwear, and switch it out post-ride to keep it dry.

6. Slowness: Yes; it’s slower than a car. Plan accordingly. Get the fastest bike you’re willing to pay for, but mostly just work on making yourself faster.

7. Back pain: there are some posture effects of spending all that time on a bike. You’ll need to do some stretching or strengthening, or whatever; I’m not really sure because I used to think I knew what I was doing in this area, but it’s always been a fight and I think I’m losing it.

* no flash, I was wrong

* I’ve gone back and forth on tubeless. One trick I came up with is bonding the butyl tube to the inside of the tire with vulcanizing cement. You can also do the same with a layer of thick latex between the tire and a latex tube, which seems to work a little better at the cost of some leakage. I mix my own latex with PEG and some light fibers so it’s sticky but it flows.

Safety: run both front and rear lights in flash mode all day and night.

Please don't do that :(. Flashing lights are terrible. In the dark it's really hard to estimate the distance to a cyclist coming from the opposite direction with flashing lights. Secondly, the flashing is annoying to the eyes of other people in traffic as they try to adjust to light-dark-light-dark-light-... all the time.

For these reasons, flashing lights are forbidden in some countries (e.g. in The Netherlands, where cycling is one of the most popular methods of transportation) [1].

Just have the lights always on.

[1] https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/fiets/vraag-en-antw...

What's so fucking annoying is that while experts agree that flashing lights decrease visibility and safety, all separate battery operated lights sold have this dumb setting. Lots of people buying them instinctively feel that the strobe setting must make them easier to spot and just use that.

Some Chinese manufacturer once set the standard, and now all these lights have a single button that switches between off, half-brightness, full-brightness, and this much-maligned strobe.

Re: flashers. Point taken. Definitely no front flashers at night. I tend to think they might do something positive in bright daylight on long open roads, but I wouldn’t be the expert on other people seeing me.

> Safety: run both front and rear lights in flash mode all day and night

Do not fucking do this. Not only it is a pain in the arse for other people, it's also actively dangerous. In the dark it can make it look like you're further away, behind a hedge of something that'd block light. Lights should be on continously.

> Helmet always.

Really no reason to.

> Crotch pain: Get padded bike underwear, and switch it out post-ride to keep it dry.

Just get a better saddle, and ensure the saddle's in the right position and leaning. Either a softer one, or, if you're on a bike with a forward leaning posture, a saddle with a hole in it.

1 and 2. there are tires which are less likely to flat, e.g. the Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

2. a well maintained bicycle is very reliable, even if it is older

3. yeah, it is like walking. get a rain coat when your forecast says it might rain.

4. my advice get a hub dynamo to power your lights, never worry about charged batteries again. flash mode is not a good idea, also illegal in some places. helmets are overrated and are essentially victim blaming. But I get where is this coming from, instead of building a safe infrastructure the cities put the responsibility to be safe on the bicycle rider.

5. get a better sattle, never really had an issue.

6. very much depends on the place, in my town I'm as fast as a car on many daily routes, simply because I can use more direct routes.

7. what kind of bicycle are you using? everyday bicycles shouldn't do that, a good bicycle let's you ride w/o backpain. maybe your bicycle is too small or too big for you, they are not a one size fits all kind of thing.

It is not about becoming a "biker" or "cyclist" it is about that a bicycle is a good mode of everyday transportation and a very much less harmful one for cities. Not just in the Netherlands.

> 1 and 2. there are tires which are less likely to flat, e.g. the Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

I can't even remember my last flat since I've stopped being a student on a budget, got a job and bought a more upscale bicycle with those tyres. That's over ten years ago with a single daily use bicycle. I've changed them once I think; just due to the thread wearing down. They really do work at preventing punctures.

> 6. very much depends on the place, in my town I'm as fast as a car on many daily routes, simply because I can use more direct routes.

And parking is rarely a problem too.

>Schwalbe Marathon Plus

Yes, I went from having a puncture every 250 miles to not having one over the last 6,000 miles.

My only problem was getting hold of them during the pandemic.

> 2. Minor repairs: always bring pump, tire levers, tube, patch kit, multi-tool, and a dollar bill.

Ok I'll bite, I've replaced my fair share of bicycle tires/punture repairs, what do you need the dollar bill for?

You use the dollar bill as a tire boot. If the tire is so damaged that the tube bulges out of tire (and prevents proper inflation), then you use the dollar bill to reinforce the tire by shoving it between the damaged tire and the tube.

Also, if you couldn't find the burr that punctured your tire in the first place and it's still embedded in the tire, having the thick plastic/paper between it and the tube helps with preventing another issue.

Literally do not follow a single piece of advice this person is giving regarding tubes and tires.

Nobody in their right mind bonds tubes to tires (in two decades of cycling I've never heard of this nonsense.) Nobody wastes their time or energy mixing up custom goo for whatever this person is doing it with it.

Do not use sealant in tubes, only tubeless. All you will do is make for a big mess. Buy tires with the right level of flat protection you need, don't ride in debris, ride with suitable tire pressure, and when you get a flat, figure out why you got the flat, and address it if relevant.

Do not use latex tubes (you can't even buy them in most stores because they're vastly inferior to artificial rubber tubes in every way imaginable.)

> 5. Crotch pain: Get padded bike underwear, and switch it out post-ride to keep it dry.

Having padded shorts helps, but saddle sores are usually a result of poor fitness and poor ride ergonomics. Most bikes sold to casual riders enforce a very vertical position in which a lot of the body's weight is supported by the butt, which then gets "bruised" and over exerted. A comfortable ride is one where you rest your weight equally on your arms, legs and butt.

My advice for people suffering saddle sores is to ride more and get stronger legs and better pedaling technique that can support their weight over the complete pedal stroke.

Riding in normal underwear definitely causes problems because of the seams. This is why you shouldn't wear underwear under cycling shorts.

My point was meant for novice riders which probably don't ride the distances where regular wear vs cycling bibs really have an impact. For a 5km ride to work and 5km back I think it's safe to leave the padded shorts at home but you could still have a sore bum because of bad fitness.

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