My Evening Commute

[huskerdont]

Used the new Wilson Blvd. protected bike lane. I often don’t like protected bike lanes between parked cars and the sidewalk because of people crossing them, but since this one is mostly uphill and you’re not going very fast, it was very nice. Felt safe and cuddly except for where cars merge across it for a right turn just after parked cars so that their vision can’t be too good. (I think this is right before Quinn.) Cyclists will really have to watch out there.

Then proceeded the rest of the way out the Wilson and Fairfax lanes for a bit of a change. Bike shifted funny at Glebe so I should have known something was up, and then my new Sram chain broke at the beginning of the trail. Usually when chains break it’s painful, and this was no exception–left hand is quite bruised and I’m hoping unbroken at the little bone on the outside edge. Had a nice walk commute after that. I have a chain tool on my multi-tool but didn’t feel up to using it.

The chain broke well away from the quick link, so it ain’t my fault and I’m going to take it back to BicycleSpace in the hopes that they’ll send it back to Sram. I think you should be able to trust a brand new chain.

[Sunyata]

@huskerdont 147946 wrote:

The chain broke well away from the quick link, so it ain’t my fault and I’m going to take it back to BicycleSpace in the hopes that they’ll send it back to Sram. I think you should be able to trust a brand new chain.

Up until recently, I have never had any issues with SRAM chains. But, I bought a new chain to replace the one I completely demolished in a super muddy 6 hour endurance MTB race. It was even the fancy expensive one with hollow pins. Fast forward a week and a half later, and I broke it during a gravel race :mad::mad::mad:. Well, since then, three more links have broken. The last was right before a cross race and I was out of quick links, so had to borrow one from a teammate. I have given up and put a lower end SRAM chain on the bike. So far, no issues. I wonder if they just had a bad batch of chains?

[huskerdont]

@Sunyata 147961 wrote:

Up until recently, I have never had any issues with SRAM chains. But, I bought a new chain to replace the one I completely demolished in a super muddy 6 hour endurance MTB race. It was even the fancy expensive one with hollow pins. Fast forward a week and a half later, and I broke it during a gravel race :mad::mad::mad:. Well, since then, three more links have broken. The last was right before a cross race and I was out of quick links, so had to borrow one from a teammate. I have given up and put a lower end SRAM chain on the bike. So far, no issues. I wonder if they just had a bad batch of chains?

It’s a good question. I am not going to bother fixing this one for that reason–I’d rather not be worried about it breaking elsewhere. This one was a 971 so didn’t have the hollow pins. I’m tempted to get a 951 or 991 to replace it with on the off chance that might help avoid whatever bad batch there might have been.

The swelling near the metatarsal went down overnight so it’s not broken and I was able to bike with only some discomfort. I took the cyclocross bike with gears rather than the single speed so that I wouldn’t have to pull on the bars so much.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Mostly delightful, except for the blinkies on the CCT:

[video=youtube_share;i8vDlgIaAcM]https://youtu.be/i8vDlgIaAcM[/video]

[Zack]

@TwoWheelsDC 148302 wrote:

Mostly delightful, except for the blinkies on the CCT:

Neat, amazing to see so many people biking!

This topic and bright bike headlights came up in a discussion at work the other day. Yes, blinkies are annoying and probably unnecessary on trails. During the day, I use a Light & Motion on slow flash but usually turn it off on the trail as a courtesy and to save juice. If I got a blinkie, I don’t see any use for it on the trail. In the dark, I have my headlight on full blast but try to angle it down a little and away from oncoming bikes. I have a new Hotshot 150 tail light that I leave on while on the trail which is probably a little blinding for some folks. But it is also a stretch to try to turn off or switch to a steady red mode, more of an effort than a headlight.

My view is that while I do feel a little bad about blinding some people, I would much rather be seen by other cyclists and see hazards such as joggers. I have half heard a few people gripe about it as they speed by but I would much rather avoid the ninja-like jogger with no reflective clothing.

[semperiden]

Caught a bug straight on my throat while going 20mph or so. Warm Fall evenings bring the bugs out! I almost choked

[americancyclo]

Saw a woman on a fat tire ebike coming off the 14th St bridge to the MVT. Maybe a Motan folding fat ebike? hard to tell, but the battery was lined up with the seat tube, which seemed unusual.

[bobco85]

My evening commute became a multi-modal (biking and walking) when I somehow disabled my hybrid commuter bike.

As far as I can explain, I was riding westbound on Walter Reed Dr about to start climbing up the short hill to the King St intersection. I geared down to my lowest gear, but as I started pedaling hard, I felt the chain fall off the inside of the chainring. What followed was the chain going all the way to the axle, the derailleur pulley getting pulled into the rear wheel spokes, the bending of my front chainring, and my nearly immediate slowdown to a halt. Luckily, I did not crash, especially since I was where the right lane splits into the straight and right turn lanes, and I’m sure even with all my lights/reflective gear/size some driver would still probably not see me in time. I pulled onto the sidewalk just where the Lucky Run Trail ends (north side of Walter Reed Dr) to inspect it, and the damage had certainly been done.

I SWEAR, I DON’T KNOW HOW I DO THESE THINGS SOMETIMES

I had to pull the chain out and put the bike into a higher speed just to get the rear derailleur pulley out of the spokes so I could then walk the bike home. I was only 1.8 miles from home, and I like walking anyways, so I went on foot to get home. Tomorrow I will take a trip to the bike shop, as I had only ridden ~400 miles on this after having replaced the crankset, chain, and rear cassette.

Pics of the damage:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12754[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]12755[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]12756[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]12757[/ATTACH]

[AFHokie]

@bobco85 148930 wrote:

My evening commute became a multi-modal (biking and walking) when I somehow disabled my hybrid commuter bike.

As far as I can explain, I was riding westbound on Walter Reed Dr about to start climbing up the short hill to the King St intersection. I geared down to my lowest gear, but as I started pedaling hard, I felt the chain fall off the inside of the chainring. What followed was the chain going all the way to the axle, the derailleur pulley getting pulled into the rear wheel spokes, the bending of my front chainring, and my nearly immediate slowdown to a halt. Luckily, I did not crash, especially since I was where the right lane splits into the straight and right turn lanes, and I’m sure even with all my lights/reflective gear/size some driver would still probably not see me in time. I pulled onto the sidewalk just where the Lucky Run Trail ends (north side of Walter Reed Dr) to inspect it, and the damage had certainly been done.

I SWEAR, I DON’T KNOW HOW I DO THESE THINGS SOMETIMES

I had to pull the chain out and put the bike into a higher speed just to get the rear derailleur pulley out of the spokes so I could then walk the bike home. I was only 1.8 miles from home, and I like walking anyways, so I went on foot to get home. Tomorrow I will take a trip to the bike shop, as I had only ridden ~400 miles on this after having replaced the crankset, chain, and rear cassette.

Pics of the damage:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12754[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]12755[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]12756[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]12757[/ATTACH]

After seeing that, I’m starting to wonder if your screen name should change to “strong like bob85”

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930AZ using Tapatalk

[KLizotte]

Be very thankful it didn’t happen while going downhill!

[huskerdont]

Oh, that’s an awesome bit o’ chainsuck and chainring break. Glad you were okay and that you like walking.

I’ve put a rear derailleur into the spokes before (resulting in miles of walking out of the woods), and below is a pic of my most recent chainring break, so while you may feel like you’re the only one, you’re not. Bike abusers unite!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12776[/ATTACH]

[mstone]

This is why I keep my quads under control

[Zack]

@huskerdont 148944 wrote:

Oh, that’s an awesome bit o’ chainsuck and chainring break. Glad you were okay and that you like walking.

I’ve put a rear derailleur into the spokes before (resulting in miles of walking out of the woods), and below is a pic of my most recent chainring break, so while you may feel like you’re the only one, you’re not. Bike abusers unite!

I did that too two years ago, new wheel, new derailleur and new chain!

[huskerdont]

@mstone 148946 wrote:

This is why I keep my quads under control

But Hulk angry!

(JK. I’m 160 pounds wet.)

[Mario20136]

@bobco85 148930 wrote:

I SWEAR, I DON’T KNOW HOW I DO THESE THINGS SOMETIMES

I had to pull the chain out and put the bike into a higher speed just to get the rear derailleur pulley out of the spokes so I could then walk the bike home. I was only 1.8 miles from home, and I like walking anyways, so I went on foot to get home. Tomorrow I will take a trip to the bike shop, as I had only ridden ~400 miles on this after having replaced the crankset, chain, and rear cassette.

Sorry to hear about your mishap, but this is a classic case of Mean Time to Failure (MTTF). MTTF is used for non-repairable products. When MTTF is used as a measure, repair is not an option.

Your predicament reminds me when I had to replace my ceramic bottom bracket twice last year. I replaced the bottom bracket early in the spring and gave out by mid-summer. I think the bottom bracket only lasted for couple thousand miles.

[Author]

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