What's your least favorite thing about cycling?
What's your least favorite thing about cycling?
Is it riding into a head-wind on the last stretch of your ride?
That's mine. I hear Danny Glover from Die Hard Lethal Weapon in my head every time...
EDIT: Correct movie referenced
Cars
Drivers
I don't think I'll ever get used to the rush of adrenaline when someone almost squishes you because they're too ass-headed to shoulder check.
poor city infrastructure
This was also my answer.
NIMBYs that don't care for cycling friendly infrastructure
Are there actually nimbys who don’t like dedicated bike lanes, etc? I wouldn’t think would be common. Personally I hate that my city simply cheaps out on infrastructure as a whole. I’d love to see dedicated veloways and actual curbs separating the bike lane instead of just random white strips.
Oh my god dude, I live in LA and you have no idea how unhinged the Nextdoor comments get about bike lanes. These are the kings and queens of carbrain land, the use of land for anything other than single family homes and more lanes is unacceptable!!
Parents pushing strollers while also on their phone while letting their dogs roam all the way across the path on a leash while letting their other kids run all over the trail
Ugh, those reel leashes, where the human is on one side of the path looking off into the distance in thought/on their phone, the dog is on the other side of the path, and the leash is stretched across like a clothesline.
@dexa_scantron @Never_Daunted park benches that face the shared path, encouraging people to sit and play fetch across the path....
Cold wet starts :(
I actually love those; I can go farther with less sweat.
You're absolutely correct, but I still hate it. Also hate hot dry starts as well.
If only there was a way to cycle and remain dry and comfortable :D
Dickheads in cars on their phones that will run me over and kill me from behind one day. RIP me. But it's been a hell of as ride until that point in the future.
Ooh, and freehub incompatibility and different "standards" fuck those.
Flats.
I’m very close to going tubeless, as my bike is ready for it.
But this month I’ve had three flats that luckily I was able to finish my rides before noticing - only to find out the next morning.
But my tire beads are really tough to get off the rim, so it’s always a fight to change a tube.
Totally recommend tubeless.
I've used tubes with anti puncture goo in them. Only problem I had was when a big nail went through the wheel. Never had permanent flats for years
I cycled a few thousand km across America and only had one flat. Good tyres and low pressure go a long way
I use tubes with good tires and can't remember the last flat I had (knocking on giant wood). Tire quality matters too, not just tubes vs. tubeless.
Although sometimes we do just get unlucky and get a string of flats for no good reason.
Deleted
This always interests me.
Between three bikes, two e-scooters, and probably 20,000km of riding (in four years) on everything from isolated trails to shoulders littered with every type of debris you can imagine, I've only had two flats:
The first was on my escooter, and it happened right in front of my home (puncture). This was when the tire was due to be replaced anyway, so there may simply not been much rubber left.
The second (a bike) was likely caused by a poor inner tube installation when the tires were replaced.
On my bikes, I've currently got three very different types of tires:
- Schwalbe Marathon 365 GT. Heavy, all-season, robust, and "puncture resistant".
- Schwalbe Big Apple. Medium puncture resistance, smoother treads, "balloon tires" (not fat tires).
- Continental Ultra Sport III. No built-in puncture resistance. Slick tires. Very inexpensive.
I check my tires for fragments, cuts, etc. They all look clean. Like, nothing but regular wear.
The Ultra Sport tires in particular have seen 2000km in three months, and they are pristine.
Is it just luck? I don't know, but it ways interests me when someone says they get multiple flats on a regular basis.
In my case the problem is that part of my local trail butts up against a golf course, and when they mow they just blow all the clippings onto the cycling track. We have a lot of goat head stickers here so you end up riding through grass with these little landmines in them.
All the flats have been from little thorns from the stickers.
I've used tubeless since my first adult bike and I'll never go back. I loaned out my bike as a courtesy
carbike while converting one to electric but I got tube flats 3 times on it in the short time I've had this one.Get good tires. I never got a flat since switching to schwalbe marathon plus. They're expensive, but worth it.
Unless your typical route is covered in shards of glass which i can't speak of.
Cars
Roughly in order:
- Cars
- Shit weather (rain, strong winds, snow)
- Having to clean the damn thing
Currently my derailleur. No matter how I adjust it it seems like at least one gear will click a tiny bit and try to jump. I'm thinking maybe I bent my hanger slightly as it is driving me up the wall!
Also brake pads -_-
Buy a new hanger they are practically free
I will when I have the money but they are definitely not "practically free" otherwise I'd have done that a while ago just to eliminate that possibility.
Even better but a ZTTO HAG tool. Teach a person to fish and all that.
https://escapecollective.com/ztto-hag-5-derailleur-hanger-alignment-gauge-review/
brake pads
I take it you are not in the elite circle of v-brake users ;)
Lol I haven't used V Brakes since maybe 04!
Check for a stiff or bent link? If you pedal slow on a stand you might see it happening if the chain has a problem.
Cheers for the suggestion but I have already looked for this as well as chain length and they are alright :)
Got to be strong headwinds, all day, the constant wind noise becoming the most exhausting thing.
Having a mechanical right when I get to the mountain. Or worse right when I get to the top. Nothing worse than getting psyched for a sweet run and then having to walk your rig down the mountain. I want to jump things, not walk things.
F
Haha not Die Hard, Lethal Weapon
I went with the memory. Good catch
Both are fine examples of the best of the 80/90’s action movie tales, just the same. And Die Hard season is just around the corner…
Sweat. I hate it. The feeling shen you arrive somewhere and the cold, sweaty clothes next to your body...
Headwind is the most annoying for sure. But sweat, to me, is just the worst.
I was lucky. I had a 15 mile to the city but you see going in was overall downhill and wind at your back but it was the reverse going back out. See but our metro system lets you bring your bike aboard so I would ride in and transit back.
Head wind is definitely number one for me too. EDIT: OK actually it would be snow or rain, but those really aren't issue where I live (AZ desert).
Cars. Having to share the road with them specifically.
Come to my town. The squishy bicyclerati don't so much 'share' as 'begrudgingly lend'.
Road without shoulder. I know bicycle infrastructure is hard to beg for and i will have to eat the crumb those carbrain engineer left, but at least give me a foot-wide road shoulder so i can cycle without having to stick to that painted line as if everything is lava!
Road with shoulder but road construction destroyed it in the process and then apply uneven patch that became a giant bump.
Pothole, everyone hates it.
Lorry, trailer, bus, anything wide.
And lastly, my heavy-ass steel bike 😅
Wrists pain, then back pain, then ass pain, all before my legs are properly tired
Oof. Maybe you need a bike fitting?
But also, I feel you. I'm 58 and determined to ride as long as I can, but not sure what that will mean 10 years from now.
B-but I've been riding this one for 20 years, changing it would be like learning to ride again!
But for real, you may be right. Is it not common to have this pain?
As for you in 10 years: I know a retired guy who switched to an ebike when he wasn't strong enough for his daily ride. That's one option.
The saddles. I’ve seen that one from vabsRider which will hopefully turn out to actually be good and worth buying. My numb ass would appreciate it.
I'm really happy with Sqlab saddle, I don't ride with padding and it wasn't a problem on my bikepacking trips. Leather Brooks saddles are good option too but they need 1000km to "mold" to your butt.
@perishthethought not finding the time to do it
Oh, :(
Bummer!
Shoulder season frozen hands
When I'm riding a bike without mudguards in the rain, and the dirty water from the street sprays up into my face and onto my back.
My second least favorite thing are mudguards. I've never found a set that doesn't rattle or touch the tire, and actually keeps the spray off completely.edit: read this as 'most' not 'least'. I'll leave my comment tho.
If I need to make multiple stops on an errand run I'll always pick bike over anything else. It's the best.
Otherwise I like how chill it can be while still being a practical mode of transportation.
I really enjoy cycling, but there are external factors that can demotivate me, for sure.
In the winter, it's road salt. Not so much that I have to clean my bike more often, but the stuff destroys components and steel frames, and you can never really clean it all off. And the amount of salt that my municipality dumps on paths ends being more hazardous than ice!
Other things that I'm not a fan of:
- having to worry about theft, and having to bring 6 lbs of locks every time I plan to stop at a store.
- poorly connected infrastructure or a lack of infrastructure; I have 10 options to go north and south, but almost none that run east/west. And my municipality lacks multiuse paths along major roads where the neighbouring three have them... this is aggravating beyond belief!
- poorly maintained infrastructure. I've opted for dangerous roads rather than some bike paths, just because those bike paths are so uncomfortable to ride on in their state.
- not having a place to park my bike at a destination; further annoyed by the fact that car parking lots are near empty at some stores.
- cars/large trucks + aggressive drivers. Some people drive like they are in a video game, and expect the consequences of their actions to be zero.
- Sweat can be annoying, but it really depends on the effort you're putting out, more than the environment; an e-bike would solve this for 99% of people.
- headwind is fine; I see it as a way to get some extra training in. But winds of 40km/h + are downright awful.
- Not having the ability to legally make an Idaho Stop is something I hate, so I do them "illegally". Forcing any cyclist to wait at an empty intersection for the light to change (sometimes 10+ minutes), only to further insult them by never having the light change unless a car is there, is discriminatory. Cycling can save time over driver, but only if car infrastructure doesn't interfere.
Reactive dogs that try to chew the rear wheel and your ankles off.
I've always been worried that could happen but it never has.
Got bitten by one just a few months ago, luckily just a warning bite to impress the owner. Other than that, yeah dogs, most just bark though.
Noisy brake rotors.
Mud, deep puddles, creek crossings, thick brush, snow.. none of that is an issue for my bike, I can just plow right thru it all. However that means the next 10 minutes is spend pedaling against the brakes trying to heat them up to the point they start gripping again and stop making that awful sound. I'm pretty much at the point that I'm starting to desing enclosures for my rotors to protect them from water and mud.
Rain
Cleaning the bike is so annoying. Also I have to carry my bikes to the basement everytime. Which is fine but in the moring when I have to drive to work its a bit annoying to carry it up from the basement. Wish I could keep it outside.
Die Hard?
Cycling.
The effort
Ebike for you then, yah?
That or an "e-scooter", to zoom zoom around
The cycling part
