Hi I'm looking for a bike courier or bike delivery person in Rochester to deliver something for me! It is essential that it be delivered by bike! Please reach out, thank you!

Hello,

I have been tired to wait for a good road bike. so I bought a cheap city bike at Costco and assembled it. I was not sure I did the right job so went bike shop to check it out.

they told me I need to pay $90 at least and have to wait until the 2nd of July. too much!
Is there any advice on this? any good shop I can check, I can go anytime. thanks,

I'd like to start commuting again. Anyone know how the River Trail and Lehigh Valley Trail are right now? I imagine they'll both be clear by Wednesday, if not full of mud.

It's a nice trail, I discovered it on Google Maps when I was looking for something else. Mountain Bikes would definitely handle it fine. I was on a touring bike- did not like it at all. Shady- plenty of bird watching. Limited pedestrians at 9:00am on a Monday.

Link here

I'm sure if any of you have driven it, you've seen the construction. Biking it was a little rough. I hadn't been down E. Henrietta in months and hadn't been on the ground (not in a car) to see how bad it really was.

Specifically here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/UtVZfzrGeL8Fawjw5

The connection of the Canalway trail ramp to the sidewalk has about a 6" gap between the asphalt and the sidewalk. The shoulder has not been repainted yet. There was quite a few close passes while I was hugging the curb. As soon as I passed Westfall it was fine.

Spot on the canal

Cones have been put in place, plus spray paint indicators on the pavement. Pavement has been rough for months.

They did a great job. Be aware: the silica/glass additive they use for the reflective sheen has a very sandy quality to it and feels slippery under road tires.

The city has redone a stretch of South ave, and added high visibility sidewalk strips. I noticed (while walking in the rain) that the paint strips are very slippery when wet. Like almost railroad track slippery. I have to remember now to go a third the speed when turning right off of South ave onto Linden when wet (and maybe half the speed generally).

Please use caution now when turning off of South ave.

It's possible a layer for traction might be added at some point in the future, but I would not count on it.

assume I have many lights and reflectors to be seen and see.

it's not the bike portion, it's really dealing with lithium batteries and management systems.

I was thinking about college students or groups at RIT but not sure how to reach them or the right group.

I'd do it but I don't have a spot welder and slightly scared of my lack of experience causing some stupid action.

I asked a local well known ebiker and he basically said it'd cost as much to get a new battery as it is to repair (for him at least), which is crazy cuz there's only 4 dead cells out of 64 and I have suitable replacements)

there are places in the US i can send it to, but it's basically $40 to $80 in parts to fix, and no way I feel like spending $300 after shipping that I'm guessing it'll cost (sending them emails today), cuz that'd be slightly below the price of a new battery

I'll be moving to the area and was curious where the nearest bike racks to Strong Memorial are.

Did anyone see this accident around 5:30?

The kid was pretty shook up. Driver did a U turn right into him as he passed Cook St., just outside The Elmwood Inn.

The free one scared me

" Mortimer Street Garage, across from the RTS Transit Center, offers FREE bike lockers. First come, first served. Bring your own padlock—the size for gym lockers or tool sheds. " http://www.cityofrochester.gov/parking/bicycles/

padlocks are notoriously easy to pick or open with other methods.

Wondering if the paid ones are any better?

i feel like these bike lockers should still have an option to ulock it to a steel frame for double security.

has any body heard anything about theft in these?

Just curious..

Shopping around for a bike fit. Looking for recommendations on the best shop in the area. Any suggestions and specific reasons why you recommend that shop? Thanks!

??

We were down in Mendon and saw the now-empty building where they were and feared the worst.

Good news - they moved.

1943 County Rd. 14 Ionia, NY 14475 Tel. (585) 624-2120

Can you recommend me some shops to buy a good used bike from?

I recently attended a public informational meeting hosted by the City of Rochester regarding its “Main Streetscape” and “Pedestrian Wayfinding” projects, which was held on November 28th, 2016 from 4-7pm in the city hall council chambers.

James McIntosh (Rochester city engineer) was there, as well as a representative from a the involved engineering firm, and a woman who I think was councilwoman Elaine Spaull, but I am not very good with faces and it may have been someone else.

My goal was to do a lot of listening to the concerns of the other attendees and limit the amount of talking I did, as I assumed (correctly in retrospect) that many of the other attendees would be better prepared and have better delivery. I mostly kept my mouth shut, but did interject on occasion. I was there from about 5:15 to 6:45.

There were meetings earlier in the year regarding the “Main Streetscape” project (which I regrettably did not attend), and a plan was posted on the project website: http://www.cityofrochester.gov/mainstreetscape/. (As of November 29th, 2016, this plan was still there.) It showed a redesign of Main St. from East Ave. to St. Paul/South featuring painted (but unprotected) bike lanes in both directions between travel lanes and on-street parking spaces, redeveloped sidewalks, and many more trees than are currently there.

The majority of the attendees were serious cyclists. They came in with helmets, panniers, cuffed right pant legs, and windbreakers with cycling logos on them. (I biked there, but my commute is now 2ish miles instead of the 10ish miles I had for the previous 8 years, so I was wearing a black shoes, jeans, polo and fall jacket. My Ortlieb bag (https://ortliebusa.com/product/bike-packer-plus-pair/) tipped off my true identity off to the other cyclists, but probably not to the presenters.)

To the dismay of many of the attendees, the westbound bike lane has been removed from the plan entirely, it’s previously allocated space (5’) given to the westbound travel lane (increased from 11’ to 14’ and re-designated a “shared use lane”) and new 2’ buffer between the westbound lane and the turning lane. The engineer on hand did not have any explanation for this change.

One of the attendees pointed out that this widened 14’ “shared use” would be less safe for cyclists than an 11’ shared use lane and a 3’ wider sidewalk, as drivers drive faster in wider lanes. James McIntosh (city engineer) said “they shouldn’t,” completely ignoring the realities of the situation. 14’ wide lanes are really wide. 12’ is the minimum for interstates. Higher speeds on wider roads is well documented. See http://nacto.org/docs/usdg/lane_widths_on_safety_and_capacity_petritsch.pdf for an overview.

As an aside, one attendee brought up a tangentially related issue – that of requiring that when work is being done on street-facing buildings, they create a safe pedestrian walkway under the scaffolding instead of closing the sidewalk entirely. The expectation that pedestrians backtrack to the last intersection, cross the street, and then cross back a block later when a portion of the sidewalk is closed is unrealistic – they will simply walk out into the road. Mr McIntosh said (sticking to his catch-phrase) “they shouldn’t.”

There seems to be a complete lack of understanding of the realities that face pedestrians and cyclists, and lack of empathy for the pedestrians and cyclists. The focus is on trying to force cyclists and pedestrians into behaving how drivers want them to instead of figuring out what pedestrians and cyclists do, and making it safe for them to do so. (See copenhagenize.com’s Desire Lines series, or here for a brief illustration of the point: http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/04/subconscious-democracy-and-desire.html)

This section of Main St currently has no on-street parking. The current plan calls for adding roughly 50 parking spaces (and only parking for a few bicycles). There are already 3 parking garages within a block off Main Street along this section. The reasons given for the addition of parking were revenue from meters, that it looks more inviting for driving to have parking, and that local business owners have requested it. These issues were challenged by attendees. As far as revenue, it would simply be moving a tiny amount of revenue from the garages to the streets, a zero-sum game. The cost of maintaining the on-street parking spaces (surface, cleaning, metering, enforcement) was not considered. The business owners are clearly unaware (and the government is not making any attempt to inform them) that bike lanes are better for business than slightly closer car parking. (This is well documented. For example, see http://bicyclecoalition.org/facts-biking-improves-business/#sthash.W4i4rQ6B.dpbs.) As for looking more inviting for drivers, that is what this all seems to be about: lip-service to pedestrians and cyclists to make it look a little like a more progressive city, without actually designing with pedestrians and cyclists as the primary focus.

I pointed out that because this is a major update to Main St, it probably will not be updated again for several decades. If we do not get it right now, we will not have another chance for a long time. One of the presenters said that we do not know what kind of transportation we will be dealing with then – that we may all have electric autonomous cars, apparently thinking this is purely an environment issue. I replied that even if we all have autonomous cars powered by unicorn farts, there is still a density issue. Cars take up a lot of space, and with the urbanization of the country, we have to deal with more people in the same space, and that means reclaiming space from cars. Rochester dedicates a LOT of space to parking. See http://www.rochestersubway.com/topics/2012/02/does-rochester-have-a-parking-problem/.

I asked the engineer where on the streets the storm drains will be. He did not know. Storms drains extending across most of the bike lane (which is all too common in Rochester) force cyclists out into the travel lane, often with little warning, making the bike lane less safe than riding in the travel lane.

One attendee who seemed to have a solid understanding of road design, suggested that removable bollards be added between the bike lane and the travel lane at the beginning and end of each block. Obviously there could not be bollards where there is parking, but having it at the beginning is enough to alert drivers that there is a bike lane, and having it at the end protects cyclists from encroachment from drivers attempting to use the bike lane to make right turns. They could be added without any other changes to the design, and removed in winter for plowing. Of course it would be nice if cycling in the winter was taken seriously (specialized, priority plowing for bike lanes, ala http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/12/ultimate-bike-lane-snow-clearance.html).

There was a lot of discussion about who exactly this new design is for. A lot of us would like to be able to use efficient sustainable transportation (our bicycles and our feet) to get to our jobs, shopping, and entertainment, both by ourselves and with our families. But with the current state of the infrastructure, we hardly dare invite an adult who is a novice cyclist to ride anywhere on the streets, much less our children, and the current plan does not provide that kind of infrastructure, even for a few blocks. The plan is an improvement. It provides a few blocks of bike lane usable by experienced cyclists. But the consensus of the attendees was that it will not give any non-cyclist the sense of safety to start riding, even if the whole city were done this way.

Designing cycling lanes are a essentially solved problem. There are only four options. http://www.copenhagenize.com/2013/04/the-copenhagenize-bicycle-planning-guide.html. We just need the political will to start doing it. It is very disheartening to see car-centric design in the 21st century.

The meeting also showcased the design for the new wayfinding signs to be placed downtown. They did not get nearly the attention that the Streetscape plan did. I thought they were pretty nice. It would be nice if the maps showed bicycle parking locations.

The Lehigh Trail from U of R to Henrietta is the best route for me to get to work on bike. This year, I want to go as long as i can into the winter. I know they don't plow/snowblow the trail...so I was wondering, are there any dedicated commuters that still ride this trail in the winter time? Are you running studded tires, fat bikes, etc? Is it okay to ride on the trail after dark in the winter months?

Like the title says, i was thinking like 30 miles round trip. I ride a cx bike, thinking canal and river trails.

Hi Roc Bikers! I know this sub is kind of dead, but I'll try anyways. Does anyone here bike around Rochester with internal gear hub bikes such as the Shimano Nexus or Alfine hub? I'm interested in the concept--also the Gates Carbon Drive. I just started commuting to work and go all the way down Lehigh Valley Trail to West Henrietta for work (about 5.5 miles) and wondering if anyone local has experience with any of these setups, and also if any LBS service these hubs.

Thanks in advance!

Hi I recently moved up here, I live in Farmington and work in Rochester and have a ton of family in Rochester and sometimes ride with (I borrow their bikes when I do). I'd like to get a road bike and do some distance riding but was wonder how well thin tires would fair on the unpaved canal paths around Pittsford if I ever wanted to join them for a ride.