Bicycling | My Bikes | (back to main page)

Why Biking is Great

The traffic here is atrocious, and I can get to campus nearly as fast on a peaceful 5-mile ride winding through the park and golf course
It doesn't pollute, making me feel less guilty about taking weekend road trips and such
It's fun and good exercise
There is no better way to explore your surroundings! With a bike you can go fast and see a lot, but you can stop and take a closer look anywhere you please.
I love machines, so upgrading and tinkering with my bikes is a lot of fun
I save money on gas and parking permits, which I invest in bike parts instead :-D

Trails

There are a lot of great bike trails in Maryland and DC! You can find out more about them at Bike Washington.

I love to ride on the Paint Branch trail between the UMD campus and Lake Artemesia. From there you have several options. My favorites are the Northeast Branch trail and the Anacostia trails.

Bike Stuff

Good bike inventions, the stuff I like:

Presta Valves - they're smaller, better looking, and much easier to pump by hand than standard Schrader valves (car type tire valves)
Front loading stems
Quick release hubs
SRAM PC chains - These are real nice smooth running chains, with a nice little snap-in link so you never have to use a chain tool once you get it set up the first time
Adjustable bottom brackets - Not that I dislike cartridge BBs, but a nice thing about old bikes is you can usually buy $1 worth of ball bearings and get the BB in great shape. Adjustable = Repairable
Cassette hubs - So much easier than removing and servicing freewheels
Hyperglide sprockets - Cause it makes shifting sooo much easier!
Bar-end shifters - These are wonderful. They are so much cheaper than STI shifters, and they are light, reliable, and easy to use.

The bad ones that I don't like:

Shimano chains - These suck, no quick link and, adding insult to injury, you need special $2 pins to replace the ones you've removed.
Riveted cranksets - These drive me nuts. Many low-end bikes are fully serviceable and upgradable, except for the crankset, which is the most expensive drivetrain component. I've thrown out three of these stupid things because the chainrings were worn out, now I have a dumb ol' pile of left cranks. Hrmph.

Useful Bike Websites

Groups and Events

Bike Washington DC
Bicycling Life - Has lots of useful information on safe bicycle commuting and using your bike for everyday errands.

Maintenance & Repair

Repair Help from Park Tool (America's premier manufacturer of bike tools)
Repairs and Maintenance on Your Bike by

Sheldon Brown's Bike Pages - this guy is like the patron saint of amateur bike mechanics. He owns dozen of them and has written web pages about nearly everything you could ever wonder about fixing and modifying them. Fantastic site.

Discussion

BikeForums - a big, active forum site. My username is moxfyre.

Bicycle Frames

How to fit a bicycle
Bicycle frame building for the rest of us - Suzy Jackson from Australia has built a couple of her own bike frames. This is truly amazing. I wish I had time and money to try this out.
Josh Putnam's Cycling Pages (sweet custom frames)
Lugged steel frame construction (Wikipedia article written by me)

Technology and History

Good Deals

Harris Cyclery - Sheldon Brown's bike shop. A good source for obscure DIY stuff and fixed gear parts!
Proteus Bicycles - My favorite local shop. The lady is charge is very friendly, they even have a Thursday night potluck every week. They give good help to do-it-yourself people and have good prices. They sell new and used bikes and parts.
Nashbar - Wide selection of parts and lots of cheap but decent knockoffs (brakes, fixed-gear hubs, bags, cassettes, pedals). Check here for Nashbar discount coupons.
Performance Bike - Another good store with many shops in the mid-Atlantic area. Check here for Performance discount coupons.
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