People who know things?

[liv]

So, practical advice sought:

A] Does anyone have any experience of making voice recordings? Podfics or reading poetry aloud to share digitally, that kind of thing? It doesn't need to be professional level or even close, but it needs to be good enough quality that the words can be heard relatively clearly. Ideally I don't want to buy a lot of equipment or spend hours doing audio processing, but I'm not sure what the minimum set-up is to achieve this. I mean, my computer has a reasonable basic mic which is good enough for things like voice calls. And I know a lot of my students use their smartphones to record tutorials and so on, and apparently that's good enough to be a revision aid. So I imagine this should be possible without major investment, but I don't know where to start.

Software recommendations especially appreciated! My desktop is Windows and my phone is Android, and my netbook is going to be Linux eventually but that's a topic for another day.

B] I'm in the process of buying a bike. I've talked to Colin at University Cycles, and he's super helpful and has offered to lend us a couple of bikes at the weekend so I can try them out. What should I be looking out for when I try the bikes? What questions should I be asking? Also, what equipment do I need? I'm thinking lights obviously, panniers, and a lock, presumably a D-lock. Anything else?

I don't expect to become a serious cyclist any time soon. I'm intending to use the bike just to potter about Cambridge, so if I can go slightly faster and with slightly less effort than walking, that's about all I'm after. One of the suggestions Colin made was a Dutch bike, which he said was solidly built and easy to maintain; definitely those features are more important to me than speed or being fantastically light or suitability for difficult off-road trails. I'm approximately convinced by the argument that cycle helmets aren't a good trade-off.

I'm not quite sure how best to judge the price point for a new bike. I would rather buy a second-hand, good quality bike than a cheap rubbish new one, but I'm not sure how much of a premium there actually is on new bikes; I suspect most people feel like me. And I'm certainly willing to pay a bit more upfront for a bike that is easy and pleasant for me to use. But equally, if it does happen that the bike becomes my major means of transport or I get excited about long distance rides, I can always sell my starter bike and buy something more specialist; I don't want to buy a very fancy vehicle off the bat though.

I'm probably not going to be a very self-sufficient sort of bike owner; I'll most likely take the bike to the shop for anything more complicated than a puncture. I do appreciate that there's no such thing as a magic, entropy-violating machine that keeps going forever with no effort, I just don't want to make bike maintenance my major hobby.

I know there was something else too, but it's gone out of my mind. Anyway, please express opinions!

Comments

[naath]

Bike fixing> If you don't want to do bike maintenance then most bike maintenance kit would be entirely wasted on you. A good track pump makes putting air in flat tyres easy, and might mean being able to ride it to the bike shop for further fixing so is probably worth it. Some spare inner tubes and tyre leavers (to get the tyre off) can be really handy if you are riding a long way from any bike shops, but if you are just going to be in Cambridge then there's little point.

Bike locks> D locks are better locks, but they are also REALLY ANNOYING because they don't fit round lamp posts or trees or other improvised bike stands. Also the good ones are very expensive. For me the trade off is that my cheaper bike gets a sturdy chain lock that goes round more things whilst the expensive bike gets a D-lock that cost more than many bikes (it was a condition of the insurance, I don't think I'd have gone with it otherwise).

Dutch bikes> the downside is weight. But Cambridge is flat. They are sturdy and reliable. And I quite like mine, except for the heavyness. Mine was about 150 from Colin second hand (a decade ago), although I went on to improve it with more gears and my preferred saddle (NB - saddles are very easy to change, if you find a nice bike with a horrid saddle then you can fix this by changing the saddle).

Bike accessories> some way of attaching luggage-to-bike is vital. Panniers are good, I also like baskets; although baskets do really change the handling of the bike. Many Dutch-type bikes come with dynamo lights, these have the advantage of never needing charging and remaining on the bike rather than getting lost. Chain guards, and especially fully enclosed chain cases are *brilliant* for avoiding getting clothes caught in the chain.

You should certainly take up the offer of an extended test ride; it's only by actually using a bike that you get a real idea of whether it is right *for you* - is it the right size for instance?

[naath]

Oh, and apparently we're having anecdote central on the sodding helmet debate so I'll add mine - I am *queen* of falling off my bike (multiple times most years). I don't even need the provocation of "pedestrian stepped out almost on top of me", I can fall off just trying to stop in the regular way... (I have done this stone sober) although "evading speeding bus" was the most dramatic unplanned dismount. I have fallen over running (my own feet hate me), down stairs, off punts, and whilst walking (OK, that was drunk, in stupid shoes). I have sprained ankles and grazed knees and ruined the elbow of my leather jacket. Were I less blessed in the bone-density department I would likely (as at least two friends have done) broken my wrist, arm, ankle or even hip...

I have *never* fallen on my head. Not even the time I rode my bike *up a wall* (I was a small child and stupid) or the time I tried to do a wheely on a speed hump and flipped the bike. I honestly don't understand how people are falling and hitting their heads in low speed falling off incidents (when hit by a car at 30mph and one has rather less time to think) and mostly conclude that either helmet-wearing destroys one's sense of how one's body is positioned and moving in the world or that I am unusually good at falling (practice helps?).

[damerell]

Well, I bang mine from time to time - I had quite a good prang 3 weeks ago, concussion, leaking claret from the forehead. But... no permanent consequences, I and I reckon the odds are good that if I were a foam hat wearer I'd have smashed said foam hat and now be proclaiming how it "saved my life".

The most egregious case of this I know is Simon Brooke, who crashed into granite boulders on a twisty descent at 46mph, breaking his neck (thankfully making a full recovery) but suffering no head injury at all. He would be proclaiming his helmet saved his life... except he was wearing a cotton cycling cap.

[liv]

I'm sorry about letting the sodding helmet debate happen again here. I didn't mean to, but I didn't shut it down fast enough, and of the couple of hundred people who read my journal there are a bunch of shouty anti-helmet activists and a bunch of people who had never seen the assumption challenged that helmets are vital safety equipement, so.

If I were going purely by anecdotes, there seems to be a huge range in people's experience. I mean, I know quite a lot of people who have "helmet saved my life" stories, but beyond that, I know people who have been cycling regularly for decades and never fallen off at all, and people who get in lots of accidents, and then you come along and say you fall all the time but never hit your head. I am starting to feel that maybe brushing up my falling skills (did judo when I was 12-ish, but it's been a long time) would do a better job of protecting me than wearing a helmet!

[naath]

Also you are totally welcome to try out either (or both) of mine, although they are neither of them to be confused with cheap you might get an idea of whether the step-through or mixte frames work well for you, and whether hub gears make any sort of sense to your cycling intuition (I love 'em, some people hate them).

[liv]

Many thanks for the offer. I think if I could go into a shop with a clearer idea what sort of bike I want things would go better. I mean, I think I want a nice sturdy Dutch bike, step-through and upright, but I am not sure about that. Knowing whether hub gears in particular work for me seems like it would narrow the search space quite a bit. Also we're at least vaguely similar in height, I think (though I always forget how tall people are...)

[naath]

I think we're similar, I'm a smidge over 5'.

[liv]

Thank you. I'm very much leaning towards the stay in urban Cambridge and pay people to fix the bike if I have to approach. I know jack has got really frustrated sometimes because his bike needs some minor fix, only it's hard for him when he doesn't do it very often, and it's difficult to get your ducks in a row to either fix it yourself or take it to a bike shop during working hours. But I think that's partly because he needs his bike for commuting, whereas for me, if I'm without a bike for a few weeks until I get round to fixing, it matters less.

That's a good point about D locks not fitting round poles, and that's probably a good reason to get a chain as well.

I do like the idea of a Dutch bike, and indeed that was Colin's first suggestion to me. I think I would rather have sturdy than light, especially as I intend to cycle short distances slowly in a flat place. I will see if I can get dynamo lights and a chain guard, too.

I think the test riding is going to be difficult. Partly because Colin was extremely vague about when he planned to show up and I'm just not at home that much. Plus I have a feeling that I'm going to be very biased by how comfortable the saddle is, but now you've given me this advice I'll try to compensate for that.

[naath]

I work 5mins walk from a bike shop... so, er, I don't get the "it is a right pain to get the bike to the bike shop" problem. IWINODW has had good success with the bike shop on Arbury court, which is quite close to your house.

[liv]

Yeah, I'm thinking Arbury Court might be the way forward, it's within sensible walking distance of my house and it turns out some of my friends have had bad experiences with University Cycles Colin.