Broken seatpost!

Happy Friday, everybody.

I was Just Riding Along when my plastic seatpost snapped on my bike ride to work this morning. There was a loud *ka-RACK* and suddenly my saddle is a lot more flexy than before. Specialized’s parts warranty only runs one year, and this seatpost is three years old. I wonder if it will survive the 22 miles I need to ride this evening. Wish me luck.


Muscovites deal with heavy smoke from peat fires in nearby forests. This cyclist is selling masks and respirators.

A man, wearing a mask to protect himself from the smell of heavy smog, caused by peat fires in nearby forests, rides a bicycle as he sells protective masks and respirators in Moscow, August 8, 2010. Forest and peat fires by the highest temperatures ever registered in Russia have killed at least 52 people, made more than 4,000 homeless, diverted many flights and forced Muscovites to wear surgical masks to filter out foul air. REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk (RUSSIA - Tags: ENVIRONMENT DISASTER)

Wilmington, MA police officer witnesses motorist vs bicyclist road rage; cyclist briefly loses control of his bike; cop lectures and tickets the cyclist. H/T to Mark S.

Tour de Hans: Scooby the Bodybuilder riding 120 miles per day on a Bike Friday. H/T to Edwin in Missouri.

In Texas, riding without a bike helmet is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity that warrants a search for concealed weapons or drugs.

Because Officer McOsker observed Portillo riding a bicycle without a helmet as required by the Dallas bicycle helmet ordinance, he was permitted to arrest Portillo for the ordinance violation and search Portillo incident to the arrest. Consequently, we find that the trial court clearly abused its discretion when it suppressed the evidence, here cocaine, which was the fruit of a lawful search conducted incident to a warrantless arrest for violation of a valid ordinance.

In Charlotte, NC, suggestions to relax and take it easy leads to such nasty comments that the paper had to shut down the comments.

We need those umbrellas to keep us cool on warm days. This woman cycles past a coal power plant on a hot day in Beijing.

To match Analysis CHINA-CARBON/

Inside Minnesota’s Booming Bike Economy.

Infographic: Higher gas prices = More bike sales.

DC’s first bicycle traffic light.

Palestinian boy bikes past Israeli soldiers in Hebron.

A Palestinian boy rides his bicycle past Israeli soldiers during a protest, by both Palestinian and foreign activists against the continued closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of Hebron August 7, 2010. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Care not crash? What do you think of this comment?

I haven’t owned a car since 1987, and ride a bicycle on average six days a week. I’m also hugely disappointed in the SFBG’s counterproductive attempt to create controversy where little or none actually exists.

As a regular rider and pedestrian, every day I see, motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians performing an intricate, and more or less frictionless, dance. Countless small nods and non-verbal signals are given, slight adjustments in speed and direction are made, all with nary a second thought by any of the participants.

Are there “bad” motorists? Sure, just as there are socially maladroit bicyclists and clueless pedestrians. But confrontations and anger between motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians are in fact RARE.

Alas, human nature is such that there will always be a small number of folks who, regardless of their chosen form of transport, will try to spice up their lives with harrowing tales of a maniacal driver, rude bicyclist, or willfully inept pedestrian. And demand that “Action Against Those Renegade [fill-in-the-blank] Be Taken NOW!”

I understand that sensationalism sells newspapers. Nevertheless, the SFBG could have, should have, done better.

Study: More bikes = safer streets.

Dutch tourist in Yangon, Myanmar.

A tourist from the Netherlands rides a bicycle on a street in central Yangon August 10, 2010 . REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun(Myanmar - Tags: SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Billings, Montana hopes to build social connections with new bike & pedestrian network.

Mower gang cleans up and revives the abandoned Dorais Velodrome in Detroit.

Vancouver businesses fight bike lanes.

UK study: People with bikes are most likely to own two cars. “Research suggests a boom in cycling among affluent ‘mid-life crisis’ men and car owners.”

Finally: Maybe seatpost check should be added to this “ABC Quick Check” instruction video?



2 Comments

  1. I've ridden a couple carbon seatposts over the years, and so far, I've been pretty lucky. My LP Composites post lasted 7-8 years on my MTB before it started getting a hairline crack from me over-tightening the seatpost clamp a few too many times. Now I ride a Carbon Cycles eXotic and use carbon paste on my road bike, and no issues have cropped up.

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