On 7/1/2020 11:36 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 7/1/2020 12:18 AM, Joy Beeson wrote:

I'd made a couple of short rides in my grubbies, in case I had to
undress into the washing machine, and thought that I could wear
calf-length house pants on the bike all the time.Â* They aren't
reinforced in the seat, but hey, they are cheap (never mind that each
pair represents a few hundred trips to the store; non-plastic clothing
is *really* hard to find)

You know MUCH more than I do about clothes, so I hesitate to post a tip.
But I'll do it anyway.

About hard-to-find clothes: Last year I needed to replace a couple of
cotton seersucker casual shirts. I like that fabric for summer's heat
and humidity.

I seldom even consider buying clothes online, but then I thought about
Kohl's online. Turned out they had a large inventory including my
acceptable shirts, I could order and pay online, then pick up at the
store which is not far away.

Best of all, in my book, I figured I could try the shirts on in the
store before I even walked out the door; so if they didn't fit, the
return would be postage free and instantaneous.

When I picked them up, I asked if I could try them on. The clerk said
"Honey, they're yours! You can do anything you want!"

And they did fit. Heck, I'd be tempted to buy shoes that way!

Speaking of shoes: I recently took delivery of a new pair of cycling
shoes. It involved quite a search, since I don't use clipless pedals
(that a person clips into). I like toe clips and straps. I needed to
find shoes that came with a proper cleat cover, and it seems those are
becoming rare. Plus, I'm not into psychedelic shoe colors.

I used the new shoes for the first time on a tandem ride Sunday. They'll
require a little work. First, I'll have to adjust the strap length, as I
think these are thicker than my previous shoes. Also I'll try to
re-shape the toe clips because the toe box is higher.

But the scariest thing occurred two times we started from a dead stop -
always a bit trickier with the tandem. My wife held the left pedal in my
power position, I stood on it to pedal forward as I rose into the seat,
and my foot almost slipped off!

When I got home, I found the reason. The sole of the shoe is made of
normal rubber with high traction. But they searched far and wide to find
the hardest, lowest friction material available for the cleat cover. I
think it's made of black Teflon.

I hope EPDM rubber can be glued to it.


--
- Frank Krygowski