@ascentale @skyfaller @bikenite A5 #BikeNite I don't have kids, but couldn't you use the #Bikepacking default of a Voile Strap? Maybe a couple of them to spread the load.

@ascentale @puppethead @bikenite A3. Here’s a screenshot showing how @CyclingGuide routes on a multi-use path through a roundabout in Waterloo Region. The red part of the route trace is a crosswalk where people on bikes are supposed to dismount. You can see how the roads approaching the roundabout really are designed to enter and exit the roundabout fast. It’s a busy intersection and usually this is what I’ll do.

@stereo4x4 @skyfaller it’s been a while, so memory is fuzzy. I put an old phone in the trailer and used the accelerometer results to compare walking vs running vs cycling. The results didn’t seem different enough to me, but I understand the motivation behind the recommendations in the manual. Cc @edd

@puppethead @bikenite A3 cont’d: I forgot that the silly answer is to ride it with hundreds of other people cycling, and do it 500 times: https://youtu.be/OeMBUc1ENJs

@moz @fshwsprr @bikenite

I wouldn't consider a wheel had been trued properly if it had not been stress relieved during the process.

Those stress-relieving pings when you first ride a wheel are the sound of increasing wonkiness.

@ascentale @pete @bikenite One day my inexpensive bike-multitool “came apart” in two halves and Ah-Ha! I found that each side shell was actually a wide lipped tire lever! Nice to have two sets on the bike with me in case I break a “real” one. #bikenite #TIL

@ascentale @nirak @Cameleopard @bikenite A8. Rain capes [1] [2] are a nice option, but you'll need to recognize it's still quite hot underneath. I have the first and it's pretty good, though I only wear it when it's really raining due to sweat. Your feet will likely get a bit wet still, so some kind of shoe cover is still necessary if they shouldn't get wet.

Personally I hate jackets because I just get way too hot in them.

[1] https://www.thepeoples.co/collections/poncho
[2] https://cleverhood.com/collections/capes-2

@ascentale @pete @bikenite A7. My only recent discovery was how expensive bike parts have gotten in the US. I'd be okay with going back to losing if this is what the administration considers winning.

@ascentale @xtaran @bikenite A6. Nothing that I've seen, though they are still buliding bike lanes, albeit slowly. I'm definitely seeing more people biking around; there's even another dad that bikes his kids home from daycare!

@ascentale @skyfaller @bikenite A5 final. What I've actually done is wait until the our kids can sit upright on their own and used a Topeak Babyseat II [1] and in a few months a Thule Courier [2] for two. The youngest can sit in the Courier in stroller mode already for the trip from daycare, just waiting for a little more strength before moving up to biking home.

[1] https://www.topeak.com/global/en/product/788-babyseat--ii
[2] https://www.thule.com/en-us/bike-trailers/bike-trailers-for-dog-and-cargo/thule-courier-_-10102001

@ascentale @skyfaller @bikenite A5 cont. The main problem here is that no one really wants to test anything and accept liability for a baby. Not that I've biked with my kids while they were infants that couldn't sit up on their own, my gut says as long as you go slow, avoid bumps, and the kid is properly contained for their age, it's probably fine. A front loader box bike is ideal I'd think. But again, no studies because no one really wants to risk liability.

@ascentale @skyfaller @bikenite A5. I can't remember where I saw it, but I remember reading about someone taking her baby in a box bike with an infant car seat by mounting the base in with bolts or something to keep her secure.

Overall, I'd lean towards a box bike, though Thule does make a pricey infant sling [1] for their trailers but say to not bike with it. Around 9-10 months the biking can begin with tested

[1] https://www.thule.com/en-us/bike-trailers/bike-trailer-accessories/thule-chariot-infant-sling-_-20201509

@ascentale @bikenite #bikenite A1: Back in Melbourne, Australia. This week I have horrible jetlag because I returned from spending lot of time outdoors in sunny Catalunya to Melbourne where it's rainy and the sun is dim. My poor brain has no idea what timezone it is in!

@ascentale @xtaran @bikenite #bikenite A6: Here in Melbourne, Bicycle Network do a manual count over a couple of days, I helped out this year on a couple of mornings although I managed to pick very quiet spots and counted more kangaroos than bikes!

https://bicyclenetwork.com.au/our-services/transport-surveys-and-data/super-counts/

@ascentale @meganL @bikenite #bikenite A4: There's advantages to each, aluminium alloys can be plenty durable, it's all just a tradeoff between weight, durability and cost.

I think manufacturers largely switched to aluminium chasing frame stiffness -- for the same weight, durability and cost you can make a stiffer frame out of aluminium than steel. Thus those fat tubes that aluminium mountain bikes all had for a while there.

In the meantime we've come to understand that a little frame flex is good actually. Also the possibly excessive stiffness of an aluminium frame can get balanced out with a steel or carbon fork.

@ascentale @meganL @bikenite my understanding is what most people have said which is "weight." However, I haven't seen anyone mention the fact that in the last 50 years we've developed better steel manufacturing techniques and alloys so that steel frames can be made (almost?) as light as Al using bigger, thinner walled tubes. AFAIKT the only reason no one does this is that all the brands changed their tooling over to Al and now it would be expensive to change back.

@ascentale @skyfaller @bikenite My wife and I used this strategy (these are not my pics).

We have a Load75 in the same configuration as the linked thread's pictures. There is apparently an adaptor, but this method has lots of space for a second child.

The kids now love the little table too!

https://www.reddit.com/r/CargoBike/comments/nr7egt/comment/m5q4yed/

@ascentale @nirak @Cameleopard @bikenite A8 #BikeNite I've all kinds of options depending on what kind of 'cycling in the rain' I'm doing: I've full waterproofs (cycling-specific over trousers and hardshell) that I'll take bikepacking or utility cycling; a packable 'race cape' I'll carry just-in-case when forecast dictates; but above all, Gabba/Nano Flex-like kit is my goto, and while there are other brands' options, the original Castelli lives up to the hype.

@ascentale @meganL @bikenite A4 #BikeNIte Because it could! Bike building is all about getting the most of a strength to weight ratio and in the 80s manufacturing technologies first allowed for the shift to use aluminium. Until then it had been only a high-end/racing option (eg, ALAN). And then it became a numbers game: cheaper to produce, cheaper to ship.
Most my bikes are steel but I don't buy into it being an inherently better material: Design is what matters.

@ascentale @xtaran @bikenite #bikenite

A6. Halifax has 11 counters installed by the city. The data is public and is nicely posted and visualized by @BikeHfxStats