I'm wondering what are the pros and cons about saddles with no nose like this one https://www.amazon.ca/Nose-Saddle-Comfort-Large-Bicycle/dp/B087ZBPFCH

My only thought is a bit about balance, I mean the nose can help you grip to the bike better with the thighs than trying to do it to the frame with the legs, specially for someone just learning to ride a bike (this seat will be for my wife).
Any other thought you have about that kind of seats?

Crossposted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1640444

If you're interested how i now ended up in Norway, you can read in my profile history or at !bicycle_touring@lemmy.world, basically i spontaneously booked a flight to Tromsø, northern Norway, to escape the souhern european heat wave.

The first two days have been great. I feel like i really made the right decision taking that flight, the weather is just so much better for me.

Sun's been out for most of the days, i've been cycling in my croatia clothes, shorts and t-shirt. Yesterday evening it was raining and had storm gusts that make me question if my tent is norway ready. As you can see in the picture some rain was coming in now too, just a drizzle though. Earlier today there was a thunderstorm, but i had absolute perfect timing, got on a ferry when it started and got off when it ended. Got my phone to charge up to 100% in the last minute of the ride too. The ferries between the islands here are indeed free for cyclists. We saw whales on the ferry, and we saw whales from next to the spot where i camp as well. Watched them with a german family who are here with a van, they had binoculars and they gave me some water so i could set up camp here.

Everything here feels like it's 2000 m higher up, when you ride into these fjords it feels like some high alpine plateau with a big reservoir, tree line between 0 and about 250m, fresh air, cold wind. Cold tunnels. But different plants and gulls instead of marmots. There's quite some tourers on this road, almost all are coming towards me. This place seems really easy to travel, lots of tourists around, drivers are considerate and slow anyway.

The thing with the sun not going down definitely needs some more getting used to, kind of hard to fall asleep still, but i will try to do that now. I think i'm not going to post any more updates until i reach a different country.

Got up early today to put my new-ish fully to the test before it got too hot. Trail was great, view was fantastic.

It was a bit to bumpy for the computer so we brought that with the metro.

What other puns have I missed?

I started commuting by bicycle a couple years ago, which at first I thought would be a major challenge, since I was so used to commuting by bus every day.

A few things I definitely realised I needed during my first couple years were:

1. Two baskets. The one on the front for personal stuff like my jacket, a small bag with my phone, wallet and so on. The one on the back for work-related stuff. That’s where I carry most of my cables, mic stands (if they fit), audio interfaces and stuff. I’m an audio engineer, so I need to carry a lot of stuff for work most of the time.

2. A helmet. I know a lot of commuters don’t use helmets because they’re annoying and they can be difficult to carry around, but I personally realised that most of the time I preferred feeling like I wasn’t a fall away from death. Especially since I’m usually cruising around 20-30km/h. It felt right for me.

3. A rainsuit. Eventually I bought the entire kit. Waterproof pants, jacket and even a waterproof spray for my glasses. I manage to fit them tightly packed inside one of the bags on the back and I don’t even notice they’re there most of the time. They’ve become must-haves for me.

4. Cash. I usually never carried cash around, but after I got a flat tire on my way to work, and the guy at the bike repair stop only received cash, I started carrying cash around pretty much everywhere. At least enough cash to afford a quick repair if anything goes wrong. I also carry a small set of keys and screwdrivers just in case, but I’d rather not mess with the tires myself if I can get someone else to do it for me.

Ultimately, what I’ve discovered about bike commuting, is that it’s a completely different experience from road biking. Obviously this sounds logical to experienced riders, but having never used a bicycle for practical purposes before (and only used it for fun), I legitimately thought it was going to be far more difficult to have a normal life commuting exclusively by bike. You don’t really have to be super knowledgeable about bicycles, or in very good shape, and you don’t have to be extremely passionate about cycling as a sport or an activity to be able to enjoy the massive advantages of bicycle commuting. Mostly, knowing exactly how long every trip is going to take, getting some light-to-medium exercise every day, and getting to work in a much better mood.

Crossposted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1333328

The last days i had been following the slovenian part of the trans balkan race route, then thought i can't go through croatia without going to the coast at all. Took a very cool route through the forest to the sea, thought i'd check in on a campsite and spend half a day on the beach. Quickly found out again that i just don't like it, too many people, most expensive campsite i've ever been on (27 €). Immediately looked forward to going up inland again.

So yesterday i cycled the whole day on a stretch of what i believe to be a popular Eurovelo route (EV8 mediterranean route). It's high season. I have not met a single tourer on it. Incredible. I met one roadie earlier in the day, still down by the coast. I can only assume that people avoid this part due to the climbing and do the island hopping instead? The grades are really fine though, you could also do this part in two days, one climb a day, and have a similar camp both days. You'd need to check your supplies though, i misjudged it and had to descend a fair bit in between to get food and water.

Usually i'm not the biggest fan of ev routes, but this part (from somewhere south of Rijeka, going south) looked promising, riding along the mountain side with views on the croatian islands, and it really delivered. Once you leave the coast, the route was absolutely calm. Kind of strange for such a scenic road. Like i could count the cars i encountered on one hand, one motor bike. Seems like everybody's here solely for the beaches.

Like if someone hits a personal milestone or a century ride and wants to share?

Exploring on the bike is one of my favourite feelings. Seeing what’s behind a bend, up that hill, beyond that forest… it’s a never ending adventure.

Anyway rode a path I’ve ridden dozen of times and decided to finally follow a really nasty (as in overgrown) path I’ve never been down before. Literally down, as it as steep decent over loose gravel.

Man was it worth it. The path follows one of the local rivers and is actually a very decent and clean place to ride.

Can’t wait to explore even further.

Am I right to be annoyed that I have two broken spokes after having a reputable shop fix 1 broken spoke a few days ago?

I'm out doing a tour, tomorrow is the last big day - 45ish miles. The rear end felt a little squidgey coming out of the woods this evening. I figured I was low on air but No! Two new broke spokes (rear wheel, drive side, broke off in the J bend, holes are right next to each other).

I got to practice using a fiber fix - and truth be told we aren't really doing anything rough, so I imagine things will be fine. But... Dang, I wish the shop would have told me the tension was off and I was going to break more - I would have brought another fiber fix!

Btw: fiber fix is a neat little hack. But a PITA to install on the drive side. What finally worked for me was: make a 'clean' end by cutting the end I messed up trying the first time. Then, reenforcing the end with super glue and some tape (so the end would hold together while forcing it through the hub hole). A bright light and a tiny Leatherman squirt were required.

Hi y’all,

I’m kind of a beginner cyclist and looking for a repair kit for tires on my road bike that I can carry with me. Ideally something that I could connect to the bike.

I used to go to Reddit for this kind of stuff but, well, you know.

Thank you!

It was a shower thought for me this morning, after having seen all these record temperatures being broken around the world.

But, if it gets too hot to cycle, then people won't. And if they aren't cycling, they may start driving again, which compounds climate change even further.

Does this worry anyone else?

What the hell, it is so hard and annoying changing these. I thought it was a good idea to reduce waste, but i am switching back to regular rim brake pads, i feel like it's an annoying torture to get the new shoes into the slot. Broke already two of them. I thought i must be doing something wrong but i'm not so sure. In the help videos people just slide them in and out easy peasy. Huh? I tried with adding water but doesn't really help.

I don't have kids, but this looks like an awesome way to raise them.

Yeah I know he has hundreds of thousands euro of equipment

https://youtu.be/Ie3uTHq4LSE

So i continued my way east, title pic was taken on a gravel trail between Misurina and Auronzo di Cadore. Very fun section it was.

Then my plan was to go to Sauris and passo di pura but i met another tourer on the pass Sella Campigiotto and i teamed up with him for two days. He was on the road since april. We made our way towards Passo del Cason di Lanza, tackled a few good climbs on the way. Weather was a mixed bag. We got totally rained out at the end of that day and found shelter at some roofed terrasse of an abandoned house. That spot of my buddy was a godsend. Next morning we woke up to clear skies again.

We then continued our way and clouds were coming back but weather was still fine. Last night we didn't see much but clouds, was really nice to see the beauty of the area now.

We descended to Paularo and sun was coming out. From here we started the really mean climb to Passo del Cason di Lanza. It was drizzling every now and then and on the last km before the pass it poured down on us like there was no tomorrow. Luckily there was a refuge on the pass where we could warm up a bit, have a tea. Rain wouldn't stop though. So we eventually went on with the soggy descend to Pontebba. That downhill also had really steep ramps, just like our way up.

In Pontebba rain got a bit less, we continued for a bit. We ate something at a bar and got dead tired. Once on the bike again i felt my energy coming back though, my buddy didn't however. He was looking for a place to crash, he felt a bit sick. I kinda wanted to keep going and eventually made the decision to leave him and cycled into Slovenia. It got kinda late, the sun came out again, it was beautiful light and i made another 45km, landing on a campsite eventually. Couldn't believe it was still the same day we were sitting on that soggy pass. Weather looks grim for today, laying in my tent right now thinking about riding to Lubljana and take a room. Or i'll just lay in my tent all day, could use a day off really.

So i continued my way east, title pic was taken on a gravel trail between Misurina and Auronzo di Cadore. Very fun section it was.

Then my plan was to go to Sauris and passo di pura but i met another tourer on the pass Sella Campigiotto and i teamed up with him for two days. He was on the road since april. We made our way towards Passo del Cason di Lanza, tackled a few good climbs on the way. Weather was a mixed bag. We got totally rained out at the end of that day and found shelter at some roofed terrasse of an abandoned house. That spot of my buddy was a godsend. Next morning we woke up to clear skies again.

We then continued our way and clouds were coming back but weather was still fine. Last night we didn't see much but clouds, was really nice to see the beauty of the area now.

We descended to Paularo and sun was coming out. From here we started the really mean climb to Passo del Cason di Lanza. It was drizzling every now and then and on the last km before the pass it poured down on us like there was no tomorrow. Luckily there was a refuge on the pass where we could warm up a bit, have a tea. Rain wouldn't stop though. So we eventually went on with the soggy descend to Pontebba. That downhill also had really steep ramps, just like our way up.

In Pontebba rain got a bit less, we continued for a bit. We ate something at a bar and got dead tired. Once on the bike again i felt my energy coming back though, my buddy didn't however. He was looking for a place to crash, he felt a bit sick. I kinda wanted to keep going and eventually made the decision to leave him and cycled into Slovenia. It got kinda late, the sun came out again, it was beautiful light and i made another 45km, landing on a campsite eventually. Couldn't believe it was still the same day we were sitting on that soggy pass. Weather looks grim for today, laying in my tent right now thinking about riding to Lubljana and take a room. Or i'll just lay in my tent all day, could use a day off really.

*edit: sorry for the double post, i keep getting network errors. Also can't delete the other post but i'll keep trying.

Photo taken in front of the Scarborough bluffs (Ontario).