anything that can shoot a solid stream 20ft should work. Sometimes it's nice to give the neighbor a warning that if the dog charges you again it'll get sprayed. They don't always get it, though. You do have the right to defend yourself with pepper spray. If the dog bites you, you can have it destroyed, though I think that's a little extreme. I love dogs. Have a bulldog, myself, and grew up with a kennel of sled dogs. Owners tend to be idiots. It's their fault for not training themselves or their dogs. Sometimes I think the owners should be peppersprayed...
Do they make anything like a small version of bear spray where it's more of a spray so you don't need the pinpoint accuracy?
If it's a wide spray there is less velocity and more chance you'll get yourself. Even with bear spray, you don't want to be directly down wind. I know a guy who tried spraying a mama bear and just got himself. I'm amazed he's still alive, honestly.. I picked some up a while ago for my girlfriend that was for sale at a bike shop. She has a lab pup she is doing the basic training for guide service, so takes it where ever she goes (lucky). Needless to say she gets assaulted by off leash dogs all the time, or those on the super duper extendo leashes (..oh he's harmless..), or people that are ignorant enough to just start petting her dog without asking (.. I have a dog, where can I get one of those vests.., umm, no! this is serious what she does, it's not a pet!) Sorry, anyway, it's called "Halt!" No idea if it's still available. The packaging looked like it could have been twenty years old.
indeed, heading straight at the dog has always worked pretty well for me. it freaks them out. trying to avoid the dog by going wide guarantees an intercept attempt, its in their genes as a pack hunter. I bent a few Silca Imperial pumps whacking this one idiot dog on the bottom of the hill I lived on back in the early 70s.
I LOVE my Keen SPD sandals but I ride a recumbent, so the biomechanics are not the same as with a road bike.
how is their sizing? I have a several year old pair of Keen Newport sandals, size 12 fit me perfectly, just nice and loose without being sloppy. when I recently got a pair of Keen brand casual shoes ('Bidwell Lace' in black), I had to go up to size 13, the 12's were really tight, which surprised me.
Anyone have an idea how much it would cost to ship a bike from MA to NM? Thinking about bringing my mountain bike here sometime in the near future if it's cheap to try some unassisted riding.
ebay vendor charged me $65 to ship a bike fedex ground from coast to coast, so I imagine its somewhat cheaper than that. it was boxed in a bicycle box, front wheel, handlebars, pedals, and seat removed, a plastic protector was on the fork tips, the front wheel had the skewer removed and plastic protector caps over the axles, the frame, forks, and cranks were wrapped with thin foam held in place with blue masking tape, the loose parts also wrapped in foam, and masking taped to the frame so they wouldn't shift. there was some crumpled butcher paper on top to take up the slack. it arrived in perfect condition. you can probably get a bike box and those plastic protector bits for free from an LBS when they are unboxing new bikes, call around.
Shop around. Shipping large items is getting pretty expensive. In my experience, avoid UPS for the shipping of a complete bike. Try to ship it to a business if you can. It makes it cheaper.
I have "Muzzle" brand. But, I think most all of them spray a stream. I've stopped a German Shepherd and 2 out of 3 Great Pyrenees (the 3rd got the message, when it saw the other 2 get sprayed). These dogs all stay well away from me, now.
Nope. Businesses get reduced rates, depending on how much they ship through FedEx. Yep. UPS, using a standard bicycle box, will be over $100. I shipped a CF TT bike from IL to MN and it was just under $100, even after reducing the box size. UPS is expensive!
Grayhound has been suggested on other bicycle forums as an inexpensive shipper. You might simply ask a bike shop - most appear to get volumn discounts. If you have a buddy who has a fed ex account from his job, you might be able to use his account number and reimburse him.
I knew about the sprocket sizes. That's one of the reasons many of the pro tour teams run larger-than-normal idler pulleys. However, I figured cross-chaining would've had more impact. I read an article, a while back, where one of Cancellara's mechanics said he actually bends normal chainrings. I can't imagine having that much power.
not directed at me but I have a pair of their coronado sandals in size 9 that fit snugly. When I got the spd sandals I went up 1/2 size so I could wear goretex socks when commuting in the winter. I can wear the spd sandals comfortably with or without socks as they are very adjustable. So as far as I can tell the two different sandals run the same in size.
I had many good experiences with Ace/Belmont Wheelworks when I lived in the Boston area. If I wanted to ship a bike cross-country, I'd go ask them, first.
They were on the local news last week (IIRC). Some guy walked and brazenly walked out with a Mtn bike. Even more brazenly, he then walked BACK in to the store 2 hours later (he'd changed) to buy a lock Not sure they apprehended him - the found all this out later when they looked at the 'tape'
