Its HOT

Summer has arrived in DC and we're going through a mini heatwave. If you're not sweating off 10 lbs you're getting caught in thunderstorms.

I've passed the 1,500 mile mark commute wise.

The brakes (that I've never been all that happy with) are getting down to the wear line. I did a little searching on the various forums and the Kool-Stop brand got some love. So I ordered a pair of these. So far I've replaced the fronts (didn't want to replace both in case I screwed something up) and they're working quite well.

More tire issues and an update

So, I've traveled just over 1,200 miles since buying the bike and for the most part its been fairly painless. I recently had another issue with tires; this time the front got a flat about 2 miles from work on Friday. I pushed the bike to Galaxy Cycles, who repaired. Unfortunately, just like the back tire the repair didn't hold for whatever reason and it was flat again about a mile into the ride home. Galaxy were their normal cool selves and fixed it again for no charge.

My gut is, probably like most things, EasyHyrbrid skimped (for lack of a better word) on certain items in order to keep the bike within a certain price point range. Its not that the tires are cheap, just not the absolute best you can get. And that's fine. I guess I really can't complain about getting an average of 1,000 miles out of them.

An update

Its been a while. Between some travel and allergies/sickness there's not too terribly much to report until this week.

Another flat, and a tough one at that. Right around Dupont Circle on my evening commute the back tire started feeling "slushy". Looked down and low and behold I was getting a flat. Wasn't sure if it had been going down slowly or if I had just hit something so I broke out the CO2 pump and refilled.

Yup, it was a hole alright. Close to the stem at at the rim of the bike.

One of the nice things about where I got the flat is there is a bike shop not too far away, The Bike Rack on Q Street. So off I went, pushing the Prox the 5 or 6 blocks to the store.

Have the say the folks were very nice, and 30 minutes and $25 later I was back on the street. Unfortunately the patch lasted all of about 3 blocks. I managed to push it back to the store just before they closed and they took another crack at it (and were very apologetic). 10 minutes later I'm back on the street. 6 blocks later another flat. Unfortunately the place was closed for the evening so I pushed the last 9 blocks home.

Essentially the issue was that the hole in the inner-tube was likely too close to the stem, and the hole in the tire next to the rim was causing too much pressure on the inner-tube. Had I been able to get back to the shop I would have ordered a new tire/tube.  Can't blame the Bike Rack, they did good work for what was asked, and tried to fix it a second time (and I would have gone back for the new tire had it not closed).

So, back home ordered a new inner-tube and tire off of Amazon. Would fix it myself except they won't arrive for a few days and Friday is "Bike to Work" day, which I wan't to take part in.

The Wee Lass has jury duty today so I'm working from home. During lunch I ended up taking the bike to BicycleSPACE in Chinatown (simply because its the closest shop to the house). Just got the call that its finished and I'll be picking it up later.

Its a thorn...

... in my back tire. That was the diagnosis on the flat in the back. By lunch time the tire was completely down. Since I would be nervous removing the back wheel of a normal bike to find and fix a flat at home on the weekend I basically bit the bullet and got it fixed in town. There are a three bike shops within walking distance of the office: one that caters to "serious bikers" (i.e. prepare to pay a lot), one that didn't have the greatest reviews on Google Plus, and then there was Griffin Cycles. Gave them a buzz, took the bike over, and 4 hours and 26 dollars later the bike is fixed.

Breaks and a slow leak

Tinkered with the breaks a little more and now the back break feels great, so knock on wood I have that issue licked for the time being.

There's a new issue though. I recently purchased a bike pump as I was noticing, after a month or so of riding, that the back was feeling a little low. I filled up at the local gas station and both the back and the front were down to 35 psi (the tire says keep between 40 and 60). Bike pump arrived and now I check on Sunday evenings the tire pressure and top up if needed. Last night when I attached the pump the gauge read ~20 psi, which was a little worrisome. I inflated to 60 and thought nothing of it. This morning as I'm getting the bike out the front door I give the back tire a squeeze and it feels mushier than I thought it should. Out comes the bike pump and low and behold its below 40 again. Back up to 60 I go and I'm on my way.

By the time I get to work I have to pop up a curb, which I do gently, and it feels like the curb is hitting the rim. Not good. When I'm up in the office I give the back tire a squeeze. Its mushy again. And when I put my weight on the seat and get a good look at the tire it looks like its not fully inflated.

I fear I have a slow leak somewhere. Not fun. Luckily there's a bike maintenance area that includes a tire pump just as you get on the Capital Crescent Trail so (assuming the equipment works) I should be able to fill up on the way home. Finding and patching the tire, however, is going to be more of an issue. I'm dreading taking off the back wheel since I have to worry about power and electronic cables.  I may just punt and take it to the local bike shop here in Bethesda and have them work on it.

Brakes

Still having issues with the back brakes. About once a week I needed to restring the brake caliper so that the brakes would engage. Today I decided to take a more detailed look to see if I could figure out the cause. When I removed the right brake pad I noticed the problem: the pad only covered half the rim (I should have noticed this right away as the inner half the rim was "clean" while the outer had buildup of road gunk). Only half of the pad was getting any work, and it was grinding down faster because of it.

I fiddled with the pad and got it set where it should be, rewired the caliper and all is well for the moment. Since now the bottom half of the pad that wasn't getting used is now the primary contact with the hub I expect to continue to have this issue until its ground down to the level of the top half.

I'm also going to look at replacing the back caliper brakes with a disk brake. The Path+ I rented over the summer had them, as do some of the more recent Capital Bike Share bikes.

The weather has been fantastic the last couple of days. Hopefully spring is here to stay.

"Bicyclists: Still Terrible"

I had an interesting interaction today that reminded me of this Washington Free Beacon article (and this one, and this one too). During my morning commute I cross Rhode Island Ave on R street ( which has a bike lane). Now, I tend to be pretty conservative when riding the bike, especially when I'm on roads / bike lanes; I don't pass anyone going slower unless the road itself is empty, at which point I'll swing wide into the road and pass. For the most part, I'll be content to follow the pack in front of me. I also tend to obey things like stop lights (a rarity among bicyclists I've found).

So this morning when crossing RI Ave the are a number of bikers just ahead of me. One, on a road bike (I'd like to think it was a super-douchy fixed gear job, but I'm probably projecting) is a good 3 or 4 feet right of the bike line, and going substantially slower. One of the nice things about pedal assist is its pretty damn torquey; you can get up to speed quickly. So I pass this guy (lets call him the Ginger Prick); again, he's a good 3 to 4 feet out of the lane. Next stop sign I stop (there are a couple of people in front of me) and pulls aside and proclaims "YOU KNOW THAT'S CONSIDERED BAD ETIQUETTE."

What is, staying in the bike lane and going past someone way outside of the bike lane who is creeping along?

He then cuts in front of me he proceeds to squeeze pass the next two people in front of him who were -- unlike he -- actually in the biking lane, while cars are passing on the left, and then promptly blows through two red lights.

Apparently biker etiquette is don't, under any circumstances, pass the Ginger Prick. Live and learn.