AustinBike

This one is a little pricier, but we had a big group. Very comfortably slept 8 and the bike accommodations were second to none. Rode 1/3 mile to drop in at Slaughter Pens, starting at Red Barn.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/24646050?guests=1&adults=1

Highly recommended.

I am in for a 4:30 start. Will bring something to share.

14 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

Do you really want to buy shorts from a place that accepts returned cycling shorts with someone else's pubes in them?

I only want to buy NEW shorts from a place that I can return them to if there is an issue. Buying used shorts is like buying used underwear, I don't care how much I can save, it's just not worth it.

Was just at Anderson about an hour ago. Still open. Got some stuff, but don't waste your time on anything unpriced. Dug through 4 boxes of black shorts, ended up being mostly women's or men's XL. Found one pair of PI mens large, exactly what I need. Took them to the counter. $65. Which is what I pay for them at retail. I passed because there are no returns.

1 hour ago, Bamwa said:

To AB, Helmets are required on Limes it just isn't enforced but it's in the fine print. Tbh, I collect more pokemon go's when on a scooter cuz then it's easier to poke them with my sup stick.

Not required by Lime, required by the city.

The Lime helmet requirement is something their lawyers probably had them add as a law suit prevention tool.

If cops could ticket scooter riders for not having a helmet the scooter businesses would fold in a month.

Sounds good, let’s make it 5:20

Had to google this, it sounded suspicious 😉

1 hour ago, attaboy said:

First timer wanting to join in. I’ve had some near misses but never made it. Gotta get bike and gear now tho and leave from office. Is urban ride confirmed, or is walnut ready? Gotta have right bike!

David, I am doing the urban ride, we are meeting up the street at Billy's. If you want to join let me know and I will swing by your place or we can meet there.

3 hours ago, Anita Handle said:

When you have the time, health and freedom during your youth, you're usually not making much and by the time your earning potential is realized, you've usually taken on other high priority responsibilities, like houses, spouses, children, cars, etc, so I think it all evens out. I'd bet that a higher number of expensive bikes are purchased by husbands or dads than by single young bucks.

I also wonder if Bamwa's point is more valid than one might expect. Mountain bike snobs might not even notice them but most shops carry a line or two of relatively cheap "urban" bikes like Fairdale and Electra. I bet they sell 5 Fairdales for every >$3k MTB. Those types of hipster bikes might go down in sales. Or maybe people who are choosing the scooters are mutually exclusive to people who have a bike as an alternative. It would be interesting to know this user info.

I would bet that the scooter purchasers are a completely different market from bike purchasers. I am betting the biggest intersection of scooters and bikes are college students and the question is “bring a bike to school or use a scooter?”

5 minutes ago, Big_papa_nuts said:

 One of them when had a SUP paddle for some reason.

You're trying to apply logic to those people?

10 minutes ago, Anita Handle said:

Red Wing boots, calf length tube socks in Packers colors, Dickies work shorts, wife-beater, and a Dickies work shirt. 

Packers colors? You lost me.

Rode yesterday and it was miserable. Rode today and it was fine. Sunshine makes all of the difference.

Also, old Chicago trick is plastic bags on the feet (over the socks). All parks have convenient dispensers for these, the right size for your feet. Dog poop bags. Just please use fresh bags only, off the roll. Work great in a pinch.

You should check out Team Shazam, a bunch of local racing ladies, not heavy duty racers, lots of social. Their group is a private facebook group but I can get you in touch with the right people. PM me.

I saw a bonewipe on Burnet, north of 45th, taking the right hand lane. He was blocking rush hour traffic, even thought there is a 6' wide sidewalk that he could have been riding on. Full-on hipster with the beard and sunglasses. I ride that stretch all the time to get to pinthouse and I use the sidewalk because a.) it's legal, b.) it's safer and c.) it maximizes the traffic flow for the drivers.

Yeah, it has gotten to this. I refuse to stop riding just because it is cold. I can ride with shorts down to about 45, but beyond that point, I need something better. Leg warmers don't work for me, they keep falling down. I normally have some long pants with chamois in them, but they are all old and were cheap to begin with. I ride Pearl Izumi short exclusively because I really like the chamois. Ordered a pair of cold weather PI long pants with chamois, but when they arrived I realized that they did not have a chamois and returned them. When I scoped out the Amazon page I saw that even though they showed a chamois in all of their pictures the description said something about "wear over your favorite shorts".

That seemed uncomfortable to me. So what is the wisdom here?

Long pants with a chamois?

Regular shorts with a chamois under long pants? 

If I am buying long pants to go over my shorts I don't need to spend the extra money for PI as I would already have that level of comfort underneath.

Thoughts?

15 minutes ago, June Bug said:

ETA:  AustinBike, you may be able to weigh in on the economic repercussions to these companies, but it seems the cost of insurance coupled with an onslaught of successful lawsuits over injuries would drive some of these companies out of business or just make it financially unfeasible to continue. 

They will probably be able to avoid liability in most lawsuits. If you get a ride share with Uber and the driver has an accident, Uber is *somewhat* on the hook (but, mostly the driver is going to be at fault). It is *generally* clear on where liability lies because there has been enough (recent) case law; they are on the hook if it was known that the driver had issues, but that is a much longer discussion.

However, when you rent a scooter it is like renting a car. If I rent a car from Hertz and then plow into you, I am more on the hook than Hertz is. They are only on the hook if for some reason they should not have rented to me. The scooter companies are probably protected for the most part. BUT, with that being said, where scooter companies are screwed is not with financial liability but with safety regulation. As soon as helmets are mandated on all scooter riders, they all implode. THAT kills the business model. So, these CDC investigations could really kill the business, mostly with regulation, not lawsuits.

Where they may be exposed is if a very drunk person rents a scooter and dies as the family would go after the scooter company. When a scooter hits a vehicle or a pedestrian the liability most likely lands on the scooter driver and not the scooter company.

All in, it is a very complicated situation. 

21 minutes ago, Bamwa said:

I disagree with AB's take. It's simple. Before scootergate all these new condo dwellers and hipsters and even UT students needed bikes to get around. Now they don't. Nothing to lock up, or carry up stairs, to maintain, or get stolen. Seems to be the market for an urban commuter bike falls off a cliff. As far as the recreational suburban market maybe your theory holds up, but I guess I'm focusing on a specific segment of bike market. Time will tell. Any shop owners feel free to chime in.

Fair point. But many of those bikes were cheap "throwaway" bikes or department store bikes. Pretty sure that the shops didn't benefit from that customer base as much.

And I also have battery-powered tools (weed, hedge, blowers, etc.) good for light path clearing before you bring in the heavy guns.

6 hours ago, Bamwa said:

What about bad news for bike shops?

Nope.

Let me put on my economics hat for a second (since I use my degree about twice a year these days).

Scooters operate in a different economic sphere. The real danger to bike shops are wives and children. Scooters compete with walking, taxicabs, buses, and ride share. All of these are essentially zero investment activities on the front end with varying degrees of flexibility - mass transit is cheap, per-ride consumption, but are fixed in route/time. Scooters, taxis, and ride share are more expensive but more flexible from a timing and route perspective.

Bikes compete with cars: some investment on the front end and ownership costs. Cars have less flexibility and also incur parking costs. Bikes will compete with self-purchased scooters (not Bird or Lime but the ones you can buy, own and maintain yourself.)

The reason that bike shops are in danger of children is that people spend a lot of money on bikes when they are single. But if they marry a non-biker, that revenue stream either stops or is greatly diminished quickly. Then children come along and there is not enough time. So mid-20's through early 40's you probably see a huge drop in bike shop spending that then kicks in as the kids are self-sufficient or divorces kick in (yeah, dark thought but let's face it, economists don't care about such things, just the facts.) 

If I were a bike shop owner and I had money to throw around on lobbying and trying to juice the market, I would invest in the following:

• Propose legislation to make Tinder, Match and the rest of the online dating sites more difficult to use
• Invest in Trojan and other condom manufacturers
• Lobby to make divorce easier to execute
• Lobby to increase the cost of marriage licenses

Notice that scooters aren't on that list. Shops only compete with purchased scooters and in that domain as a shop, I'd probably start carrying a scooter line as it can be complimentary to the bikes I am already selling.

6 hours ago, Bamwa said:

Yep that was me. I did cut an entrance to park and scouted some cool routes before PI took me out. I have a loaner chainsaw and trail maps drawn. Maybe this winter during dieback we (as in I AND others) could take another stab at it. 

I did move by the nut so I'm all little further away and slightly less vested in it.  Maybe if we just met over there to have beers with rakes something would start happening.  I also have an entire metal scrapyard for skinnies and teeters. Just be sure you are up to date on tetanus shots. Cheers! 

P.s. I just typed anus lol.

As an international man of leisure I'd be willing to meet up for a beer and some surveying or shovel work.

Thinking about east side breweries for this weekend, there is a nice path to be bike able.

Kent, thanks for staying on top of this.

We've already had at least one death and several very severe head traumas.

If an individual on a scooter hits your car, I do not believe there is clarity about who pays. Lime and Bird are definitely not liable, I've heard that your auto insurance will not cover it. I am about to shop for new insurance (house, car, umbrella, business, etc.) and this is a top question on my list.

In with a 4:30 start. Oscar Blues was good for post ride food and drink last week, wouldn't mind that again. Gonna be in the 50's for riding, just a hair under perfect but still very rideable. 

I will give that a few weeks. Got a full Wednesday and it looks like rain coming, so this week might be off for a Grelle trip, so that could shift to next week. If put CB on the back burner and ping you before I head out there.