Q9. There might be another small influx of people escaping another eccentric-billionaire-owned platform. Should we be reaching out to bring more people to the Fediverse? If so, what can we do?
@ascentale#BikeNite A9. I have bridged my account to Bluesky, and I try to boost things into there. There are a lot of bicycling advocated on Bluesky too...
(downside of bridging, is you can't see all replies from them here unless they ALSO bridge back).
@ai6yr asks, about suspension: Q8. Has anyone here removed the shocks on a MTB and put in a normal fork? Thinking it might be fun to mod a MTB for touring, where shocks are unnecessary.
(When are shocks/suspension necessary? When is it better than bigger, more cushioned tires?)
@ascentale@ai6yr You’re looking for a “suspension corrected” rigid fork. If you replace a suspension fork with a “normal” rigid fork, it’ll lower the front end of the bike, leading to a higher head tube angle and wonky handling (trail/caster is reduced, bike will feel “twitchier”).
The important number is the “axle-to-crown” measurement of the fork you’re replacing. Finding an approximate match shouldn’t be too hard! A decent shop should be able to help out. It’s not an uncommon swap!
@ascentale@ai6yr A8 This is a $350 mountain bike from the mid-2000s with a $50 suspension corrected rigid fork, later converted to a 1X drivetrain. Could have used the next size up but here we are. I rode this in Vermont Overland a couple years ago. This is my "gravel bike" but it's OK on singletrack if it's not too hairy. I am old enough that I learned to ride singletrack pre-suspension and it's better than anything from back then. #BikeNite
@ascentale@ai6yr My 26er has a rigid fork. The suspension was nice when commuting fast through alleys. But it was heavy, hard to mount fenders/rack/panniers, and got rusty quickly in winter.
There used to be "suspension corrected" cheap forks for 26" wheels on eBay, but they are gone (not enough 26ers left). Surly 1x1 fork is about right.
@ascentale@ai6yr A8 Another Surly suspension corrected fork conversion. This used to be my mtb mtb, but it’s been further converted for urban utility. It ripped on the trails after the conversion and I haven’t ridden with suspension since. I have trended towards bigger tires though. #BikeNite
Q6. Have you been on some big bike tour? I am talking about months long trip, few 1000km, maybe multiple countries...
If this question gets in tomorrow's #BikeNite (it did!) I will be sleeping in hostel after long day on plane and multiple busses with my bike. Because life happened and I decided that I will make my dream reality. 6 months from Madrid back home to Czech Republic.
@trouble and @sgillies have questions for keeping hands warm while riding, and I think it's been a while since we last chatted about this:
Q3. For the cold, plus ebike, how do I deal with 20 mph (plus headwind) speed cold air? I've been using snowboarding gloves, but I can feel cold air coming in. It's not so cold that I go numb, but definitely uncomfortable. In general all my ski gear seems to fail the 20+ mph wind test.
Hello and welcome to the first #BikeNite on January 10, 2025. Thanks for joining, as we chat about cycle stuff! Answer whenever at your convenience. Anyone can join, now or later. Reply to what you like, and boost for visibility.
We'll start out with our introduction:
Q1. Where are you posting from today? There's a lot of fire and destruction in Southern California right now, due to the effects of climate change. Is there anything that we are doing _right_?
@ascentale#BikeNite A1. Ventura County, California. I'm very near these fires--my own town was threatened yesterday (fortunately, under control now). I had been working to relay emergency information on them. It's been a tough week for me on many levels, but I am not complaining -- there are so many people who have lost their homes, and quite a few who have lost their lives (probably more will be discovered here soon in Altadena, sadly). i cannot speak to others, but I have to say, one of the most climate positive things for me has been Bike Nite helping to get me back into cycling (as a utilitarian cyclists -- running errands in town not in a car, but by bicycle -- as much as possible).
@ai6yr I was actually wondering the same, though it's more of a theoretical possibility for me as I don't own the potential bike with a shock yet. Added to the queue!
Phil (ascentale)'s Posts
Phil (ascentale) has 6 posts.
Phil (ascentale)
And a bonus question!
Q9. There might be another small influx of people escaping another eccentric-billionaire-owned platform. Should we be reaching out to bring more people to the Fediverse? If so, what can we do?
#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ
@ascentale #BikeNite A9. I have bridged my account to Bluesky, and I try to boost things into there. There are a lot of bicycling advocated on Bluesky too...
(downside of bridging, is you can't see all replies from them here unless they ALSO bridge back).
by AI6YR Ben ;
Tags: #bikenite #bikeniteq
Likes: 0
Replies: 1
Boosts: 0
Phil (ascentale)
@ai6yr asks, about suspension:
Q8. Has anyone here removed the shocks on a MTB and put in a normal fork? Thinking it might be fun to mod a MTB for touring, where shocks are unnecessary.
(When are shocks/suspension necessary? When is it better than bigger, more cushioned tires?)
#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ
@ascentale @ai6yr You’re looking for a “suspension corrected” rigid fork. If you replace a suspension fork with a “normal” rigid fork, it’ll lower the front end of the bike, leading to a higher head tube angle and wonky handling (trail/caster is reduced, bike will feel “twitchier”).
The important number is the “axle-to-crown” measurement of the fork you’re replacing. Finding an approximate match shouldn’t be too hard! A decent shop should be able to help out. It’s not an uncommon swap!
by Joshua Thayer ;
@ascentale @ai6yr A8 This is a $350 mountain bike from the mid-2000s with a $50 suspension corrected rigid fork, later converted to a 1X drivetrain. Could have used the next size up but here we are. I rode this in Vermont Overland a couple years ago. This is my "gravel bike" but it's OK on singletrack if it's not too hairy. I am old enough that I learned to ride singletrack pre-suspension and it's better than anything from back then. #BikeNite
by Paul Southworth ;
@ascentale @ai6yr
My 26er has a rigid fork. The suspension was nice when commuting fast through alleys. But it was heavy, hard to mount fenders/rack/panniers, and got rusty quickly in winter.
There used to be "suspension corrected" cheap forks for 26" wheels on eBay, but they are gone (not enough 26ers left). Surly 1x1 fork is about right.
by NNN ;
@ascentale @ai6yr A8
Another Surly suspension corrected fork conversion. This used to be my mtb mtb, but it’s been further converted for urban utility. It ripped on the trails after the conversion and I haven’t ridden with suspension since. I have trended towards bigger tires though.
#BikeNite
by goldenmeanie ;
Tags: #bikenite #bikeniteq
Mentions: @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org
Likes: 0
Replies: 4
Boosts: 1
Phil (ascentale)
@plactagonic asks about longer tours:
Q6. Have you been on some big bike tour? I am talking about months long trip, few 1000km, maybe multiple countries...
If this question gets in tomorrow's #BikeNite (it did!) I will be sleeping in hostel after long day on plane and multiple busses with my bike. Because life happened and I decided that I will make my dream reality. 6 months from Madrid back home to Czech Republic.
#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ
Tags: #bikenite #bikeniteq
Mentions: @plactagonic@f.cz
Likes: 0
Replies: 0
Boosts: 1
Phil (ascentale)
@trouble and @sgillies have questions for keeping hands warm while riding, and I think it's been a while since we last chatted about this:
Q3. For the cold, plus ebike, how do I deal with 20 mph (plus headwind) speed cold air? I've been using snowboarding gloves, but I can feel cold air coming in. It's not so cold that I go numb, but definitely uncomfortable. In general all my ski gear seems to fail the 20+ mph wind test.
#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ
@ascentale @trouble @sgillies #BikeNite A3. Having attempted to non-ebike in such headwinds... once. TOO MUCH WORK! ACK!
by AI6YR Ben ;
Tags: #bikenite #bikeniteq
Mentions: @trouble@masto.ai @sgillies@mastodon.social
Likes: 0
Replies: 1
Boosts: 0
Phil (ascentale)
Hello and welcome to the first #BikeNite on January 10, 2025. Thanks for joining, as we chat about cycle stuff! Answer whenever at your convenience. Anyone can join, now or later. Reply to what you like, and boost for visibility.
We'll start out with our introduction:
Q1. Where are you posting from today? There's a lot of fire and destruction in Southern California right now, due to the effects of climate change. Is there anything that we are doing _right_?
#BikeNiteQ
@ascentale #BikeNite A1. Ventura County, California. I'm very near these fires--my own town was threatened yesterday (fortunately, under control now). I had been working to relay emergency information on them. It's been a tough week for me on many levels, but I am not complaining -- there are so many people who have lost their homes, and quite a few who have lost their lives (probably more will be discovered here soon in Altadena, sadly). i cannot speak to others, but I have to say, one of the most climate positive things for me has been Bike Nite helping to get me back into cycling (as a utilitarian cyclists -- running errands in town not in a car, but by bicycle -- as much as possible).
by AI6YR Ben ;
Tags: #bikenite #bikeniteq
Likes: 0
Replies: 1
Boosts: 0
Phil (ascentale)
In response to this post@ai6yr I was actually wondering the same, though it's more of a theoretical possibility for me as I don't own the potential bike with a shock yet. Added to the queue!
Mentions: @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org
Likes: 0
Replies: 0
Boosts: 0