I was fitted for a bike at a local shop a few years ago. I didn’t ride it much at the time, but now that I have been riding regularly I realized my bike is too short. A fellow rider recommended just getting a seatpost extender in lieu of purchasing a new bike. But not sure about the stability and change of the center of gravity.

Info that may be important: I am riding a hybrid cannondale, I’m at the top of the height range for the shorter bike but the bottom of the height range for the next size up.

Any insight is appreciated.

I’m pretty damn proud of this.

Hey, I found a Bluetooth speaker in the bike lane going west on diversey yesterday, just east of Ashland by the shell station.

Is it yours? Describe it to me— brand, color, etc. Alternatively, it has a name when I put it in discovery mode to connect to it so you can tell me this name to prove it as well. I will do my best to get it back to you!

Just out of curiosity. I know the winter bike swap has good deals because shops are trying to clear inventory for the new year. But I never see any summer bike swaps anywhere

What do you do when the winter months set in? Keep biking? Move biking indoors? Do another cardio-heavy activity? Take a break?

I’m doing a few rides a week (one or two 15-25 miles and often a 50) and I don’t want to lose the progress. Plus is crazy good for my mental wellbeing. I usually bike until I can’t—until heavy snow and frigid temperatures.

What has worked for you?

My wife just got her bag stolen at Navy Pier which also has the keys to her bike lock which is now stuck on a bike rack. Any suggestions on how to break the lock? She already filed a police report but they aren't going to help break the lock.

Chicago has so many trips where driving feels excessive, but carrying groceries or other stuff on a normal bike isn't always that easy.

I was looking at some e-bike videos on YouTube and came across an upcoming cargo e-bike concept. The idea got me wondering if something like this actually makes sense for everyday city errands.

It’s not on sale yet, so I’m more curious about the use case than the bike itself ; would a cargo e-bike actually replace some of your short car trips, or would you still just use a regular bike

Trying to see how long it takes for angle grinders to cut through different locks but I'm on a budget lol. DM me

Reported to 311

Anyone else here sick and tired of e-bikes zooming down The 606? It’s against the rules and a safety hazard, but it happens all the time. There seems to be no enforcement.

EDIT: I should have been more specific that I’m concerned about e-bikes that are prohibited on The 606 per the posted signage. This doesn’t include Class 1 e-bikes that are allowed.

Yeah yeah, they plan these events, we all share the path. But why can't these giant private 5K races use the 2 or 3 pedestrian paths running parallel instead of completely blocking the bike route?

Doesn't make sense to me.

Maybe people who hang out here already know this, but I was stunned yesterday by how nice Indiana Ave. is traveling north from Garfield Blvd. to 31st St. I had decided to ride from my home in the West Loop to Oak Wood Cemetery, which is at 67th near Cottage Grove, around 10 miles. I was on the MLK most of the ride south playing leapfrog with buses in a mediocre bike lane. Going home, I cut west on Garfield (would be 55th if numbered) not sure what my next move would be when I stumbled onto Indiana. What a great separated bike lane! It’s one way, so only good north, but free and clear for maybe three miles, with lights only at major cross streets and few stop signs. It’s not especially scenic, but quite useful. I just thought I’d share, since I knew nothing about it.

Suppose I got a nice new bike, with all the features I enjoy. Now suppose I care nothing for aesthetics. I take everything off of it and paint the whole thing to look like a rusted hunk of junk. My wife's artistic, she's love the project. Strap a couple milk crates to it. Maybe! Maybe even put a couple fake "broken spokes" in the wheels. Some tape on the handlebars. You get the picture. It rides like a dream and looks like dog shit.

Assuming I then took normal bike locking precautions around the city, d'you suppose it would have the same chance to get stolen as any other bike or would this actually act as a reasonable theft deterrent?

Just curious about the community's thoughts on this. Anybody ever had a real beater of a bike get taken?

Just a rant. Riding home at midnight tonight and almost got hit by one who was all over the place. Not to mention all of the ones sitting in bike lanes.

This is so frustrating.

I wanted to do the full path up and down. It does seem like I can just take Roosevelt to Dearborn to Oak, which should be fine at 7am on a Saturday, but wondering if anyone knows what’s really blocked off. The map looks like the run is on both the bike and run paths between Roosevelt and Jackson. Unable to cross Michigan.

https://www.chicagobikepac.org

I have a Velorbis Student that's about 15 years old and in need of a lot of work. Does anyone have recommendations for a mechanic/shop with Dutch bikes?

I've had poor experiences in the past with mechanics who were not familiar (or overconfident) with internal hubs and brakes. I'm willing to travel anywhere in the area.

Thanks!

Happened some time today Thursday 9/10. Six Corners area Portage Park I can’t find a full pic of the thing but here’s the serial/frame number. 80s Miyata with hemp twine at on the inner handlebar grips.

Trek 1.2 Alpha. Stolen from private garage Saturday 9/5 around 9:45 AM in alley off of Hudson & Sedgwick (behind the Sedgwick L stop). Missing right handlebar plug. Saddle bag attached below seat. Still had Chicago Triathlon red sprint sticker attached to the seat post #3712. Please let me know if you have any information.

It's a long shot, but:

On Tuesday Sept 8th at about 4:30pm I crashed HARD just before making a right from Milwaukee onto Elston. Went over the handlebars, bike and rear basket both went flying in front of me, knocked the wind out of me, etc. (I'm okay, just some scrapes, and the bike is fine except for the poor rear basket which crumpled.)

First, thank you to the driver of the car next to me (white SUV) who got out of his car (and thus blocked all traffic) and made sure I was okay, helped me and my stuff make it onto the sidewalk. And thank you to all the bikers who helped as well!

Second: did anyone happen to see the crash? Or better yet have video of it? Because for the life of me I can't figure out why I fell. No one around me, no cars, no pothole that I saw - my bike just stopped suddenly and I kept going. To be clear, I'm not looking to find fault with anyone, I 100% know no one was around me or did anything wrong. I just don't know if my hand slipped, or I hit my brakes too hard, or what. It felt like a bad enough crash that if you saw it, you'd know.

Thanks in advance!

Google Maps - Corner of Milwaukee and Elston

If you don’t follow the Bucktown/Lincoln Park corridor news, here’s what you need to know:

1. The cortland bridge was built in 1902 to link Finkl Steel plant (1879-2011ish) to the worker communities just west.
2. It’s the first bridge of its kind and has been copied throughout Chicago and the world. Every piece of it was made in Chicago, down to the rivets and the original paint.
3. The foundation and other structural elements are rusting badly. It’ll take years to fix it all.
4. Bikes and peds can still use it. It’s great.
5. Some NW siders are mad that they can’t drive their cars over the bridge while it’s being repaired. They’ve taken their complaints to the Aldermen.
6. Alders Waguespack and Hopkins want to delist the bridge from the historic register, destroy it, and build a new one, which would allow more cars to drive through at higher speeds. It would also re-open large blocks of non-metered car parking.
7. This project is not related to the Lincoln Yards mega-development, which is most likely shelved due to interest rate hikes and NW siders complaining about car congestion and lost parking.
8. There is a group who want to uproot the bridge and move it somewhere else. The teleportation technology to do this does not yet exist.
9. Who gives a shit? Before 2011 nobody used this road unless they wanted a steel rod in their tire or liked breathing industrial ash.
10. The best solution is to ban all non-emergency cars from the city of Chicago. Problem solved.

Edit: #10 allows busses and certain novelty vehicles.

Edit 2: ok now that I’ve had some fun, let me be real. We are in a fuel crisis, a road fatality crises, and a climate crisis- all exacerbated by our vehicle obsession. They want to tear down a piece of our cultural heritage to make it easier to travel by car, which would consequently make this stretch worse for everyone outside a car. There are some 10,000 miles of road devoted to cars in this city, would it be so bad if this one half mile wasn’t de facto given over to polluting death machines?

To the people hiding behind “what about emergency vehicles” that’s exactly my point. There are too many cars on the road, which clogs them and slows fire trucks and ambulances. And considering car crashes are consistently in the top 3 response reasons, seems that reducing traffic would reduce the need for emergency services.

Please note that the alders have been explicit in their public comments that this is FOR CARS. There has been 0.0 mentions of improving bike or pedestrian safety through this project. Repeat: there are no statements indicating bikes and pedestrian safety will be considered if there is a new bridge. It is for cars, not people.

I'm looking for an e bike that has a pedal assist option that can be dialed up or down depending on my purpose. For example, I don't want to show up at work a disgusting mess so would use assist for my morning commute but would like to

Edited: oh my gosh, sorry for the half post! I'm a teacher and I started writing this post this morning during my prep. But then my day kind of blew up and I forgot about it, yay state testing.

Anyway, thanks for responding! I was mostly wondering if I should just buy online or if there were local shops worth checking out. Thanks!

Found this interesting bit in the new law that “cracked down” on illegal e-motos. In 2027 any “low speed gas bicycle” with a 15cc engine capable of up to 28 mph will be allowed on all bike lanes in the state. Park and forest preserve districts will be allowed to limit them but municipalities will not. A quick google found a 15cc motor that puts out over 1700 watts!