This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Showers out of action here. No smash up to work.

Oh! I would have paid to see that.

Overnight frost in Narn Ire and snow in the hills...

A careful commute for me as not all the ice had melted yet, bar one backwheel skid all good.

-6 for us, carefully in , fine on main A road,but towpaths and cut throughs were a nightmare-also forsted/frozen leaves are double nightmare ;) no slips,more luck than judgement,
balaclava time though!

Cancelled expensive gym membership as we are moving offices at the end of the month to a place that has bike storage and showers. Means the rest of this month being a bus/tube-wanker.

Paging @Skülly

Bizarrely, I think she was on the platform at Sydenham Hill.
Giving it fucking loads to the southeastern woman who was collecting data about late trains.

Really offensive "I have to get to work" etc etc.

So. I rode my big white stallion in to the fray. I slew the dragon.

I just asked her to be quiet, that this person doesn't need this level of abuse, it's annoying, and if you've got a problem, could you write to southeastern.

She stomped off up the platform. It was the way she used "arrogant" that instantly reminded me of her.

Hope it was her.

Still being a bus/train wanker.

He can weigh in if he wants to look after my bike during office hours as I'm not parking it in the street in Soho.

Yeah it's usually the cycle lanes and towpaths that aren't maintained :/

The Sustrans one near the Lagan here is now salted, luckily. It features slopes, a very small but super steep bridge, wooden areas etc.

Looking forward to getting Mr MTB done so that I can use low pressure big tyres...

Missed the rain, and with the temperature dropping to 7• felt nice and cosy, without the excess sweat.
Kind of looking forward to the temperature dropping closer to zero, and seeing the rest of the winter kit earning it's keep..

5 mins into my commute it started to rain, decided it might persist so stopped to put jacket on. 5 mins later it stopped, couldn't be bothered stopping again to remove my jacket so I was sweating like @Skülly by the time I got to work.

I would suggest having a shitter bike... mine's locked up in soho as we speak.

Not possible, still don't want to lose it.

Made all the greens on Kennington Road AND kingsland road for the 1st time. bloody sweet. Calm commute, bit of rain as i got nearer to work. 10/10 fo'sho

Picked up a ratty CAAD frame a while back and threw a load of old spare parts on it for a winter hack and its been pretty darn flawless...

So yesterday i thought i'd give it a clean and service and i never really spent any time dialling it in, cue this morning the bike feels completely fucked and then bang, chain snapping and me slamming the deck. Awkward train ride in lycra with bike, 25 minute walk in cleats, me cleaning cuts and scrapes with a dish cloth. Grab shiny fixie which i haven't ridden in a couple months and off course the things rides absolutely beautifully and i spend my ride in wandering with the additional cost/hassle/space premium why am i bothering with a winter hack and not just looking after one bike. I suppose you could argue that if i did't have 2 bikes i'd be sitting on a train right now. Shout out to the lovely guy on an MTB who stopped to see i was ok and if he could help at all

IMHO winter bikes mean twice the faf, plus, 1 bike riding through winter = more reasons to constantly buy new shiny bits for it when the salt craps out the bearings - although a little trick of using engine grease to cover almost all moving parts usually stops this problem....

^ Pretty much this. I think a big factor in a second bike for commuting is more for lock upability and having a geared bike for shit weather and fixed for sunny days is all a bit back to front in terms of parts maintenance (gears have been nice in the wind and heavy rain). I'm running DA 7600's which aren't the best for sealing the bearings and a track record pista B/B so i may try some engine grease on the outside for extra sealant, just don't use engine cleaner on chains as i have a feeling that's why my knee hurts right now...

IMHO winter bikes mean twice the faf.

It shouldn't, if you build it up right, it can last the whole winter with miminal maintenance.

Full length steel mudguards with flap, 8 speed trainmission, koolstop salmon/swissstop BXP, big tyres etc. can go a long way compared to running a road bike with filmsy Crud Roadracer with a 105 11 speed drivetrain.

Koolstop salmon? Winter bike's gotta have discs, surely?

Disc a non brainer but the majority of customer's winter bike were budget Trek/CAAD8/Fuji etc.

aye, as i said it was only MHO, but you still have to clean it down at least once a week in winter for all the crud that builds up on/under the bb area , lube the shifters/mechs, carry also a different set of inners to accomo the big tyres, which means a 2nd saddlebag, 2nd pump, (2nd co2 pump), 2nd allan key kit and levers - and to keep faf down then a 2nd set of lights too if you still "roady" at the weekend when its all pretty and nice and your bike wont get dirty and you need to show it off on the club run but might get caught short coming back from the cafe late evening...

then finally at the endish of winter, you end up needing a new chain anyway and a cassette usually....

clean it down at least once a week in winter for all the crud that builds up on/under the bb area.

Hence mudguard with mud flap will stop this.

It also will reduced the grim on the drivetrain drastically once set up nicely.

First commute in a couple of weeks last Friday. Weather has certainly changed. Hands freezing and only warmed up about 5 minutes from work. Borrowed some marigolds from the work kitchen to wear under my gloves for the way home, worked a treat.

Came off this morning, crossing the old metal rail tracks which run down the side of my uni, even crossed at quite a sharp angle. I'm blaming it on a mix of brand new tyres and torrential rain.

Bruised bum/10