no motor?

I bought a big floor mat (the kind used by entrances) to put under my bike. I rarely ride to work in the rain, but the matt looks good and I'm sure there is some dirt etc that accumulated in it since I started using it.

no motor?

Not cargo shorts? And socks with sandals?

bigbenaugust 

As university employees, we keep some standards around here.

RubeRad

It's not you guys, it's just one. Acidfast must be a super-smeller or something

davei1980

That is definitely an option if it becomes an issue for me - or a piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting

rumrunn6

wutzamattawiththat?

I-Like-To-Bike

Nothing.

no motor?

I found these on Craigslist 1 day, they were being sold be a guy that had been renting them and wanted to get out of that part of the business. $15 for a 3'x5' matt was a bargain I couldn't pass up.

no motor?

The fashion police are going to be after you - or someone's going to want you to remodel their bathroom.

acidfast7

lol. socks and Birkenstocks is appropriate.

WTF is this!

robertorolfo

I keep my bike in my office with me everyday, normally with the door closed, and never noticed the slightest hint of an odor. And that is after riding through the streets of NYC, where various types of human and animal waste could be lurking.

To take it a step further, I store multiple bikes in a fairly small room that also doubles as a workshop. Neither the bikes, nor the various chemicals used to work on them, put off an odor. Lastly, in case there is some doubt about my sensitivity to foul odors, I regularly claim that our entire apartments smells like dog food as soon as my GF opens a can of wet food in the kitchen.

pdlamb

Sorry man, you either have an olfactory defect or an olfactory sensitization. My bicycles smell like ... whatever space they're in. Dirty clothes might stink, but a night after lubing the chain, there's no odor left. I'm afraid your description is psychosomatic.

robertorolfo

Well yeah, the entire forum is telling him that bikes don't particularly smell, but he says it must be something wrong with me...

acidfast7

Seriously guys.

Bikes smell. My bike lives outside like the vast majority in Europe. It's a tool, not a treasure.

Rubber emits volatile compounds in sunlight, if my bike lives in the sun, which is does 5 months of the year, the rubber of the tyres will smell in a small space. Never mind any grease, lubricant, etc that will emit odour when in sunlight.

Also, bikes are dirty, very dirty.

As is customary in Scandinavia and Central Europe, I never wear outside shoes inside, everything gets left at the door. I keep Hausschuhe for all my guests. In addition, I make all students leave their shoes in the office and change into indoor-only working shoes, when they enter the research lab. Why would I want outdoor junk tracked into my living/working space.

I, and most of Central/Northern Europe would find a bicycle inside an office strange, weird and quite dirty to be frank. Definitely not professional.

I can understand that the Anglosphere (US/UK/CAN/AUS/NZ) doesn't do this, but we've (my family) has never understood why people want dirt from outside in their living/working space.

Just doesn't compute.

An example to show I'm not nuts:

Swedish Culture Win ? Shoes Off Please

also, that shows why Scandinavians produce the best socks in terms of design/pattern/comfort.

pdlamb

OK, since we're arguing for the fun of it...

There's not much sunlight that gets into my cube, my former office, my garage, etc. New tires may have some smell, depending on how long they've been in stock, but I store "new" tires in a plastic garbage bag under my bed and don't smell them for weeks or months while they're under there.

If I could get hold of two offices and put my bike in one of them, then bring you into the building blindfolded, you'd never know which office had the bike by sniffing.

Cleanliness fetish aside, bikes do not smell.

acidfast7

Sure, I would I'd see/smell the soiled floor leading to the office.

I can tell which microbe is growing by smell.

pdlamb

Every one of the billions of microbes on every person you walk past every day? Day-yum!!

acidfast7

Actually, we are usually sensitised to those microbiomes, at least within a geographic sphere.

Strongest smell I ever had, and my fastest sensitisation, was after going from Fukuoka (Japan) to Busan (Korea) by the JR beetle.

First trip on the Busan Metro was garlic like I never smelled before. Holy hell. I had one ... and never smelled it again. You're probably just sensitised to the smell in a similar manner to your own odour.

acidfast7

Actually, we are usually sensitised to those microbiomes, at least within a geographic sphere.

Strongest smell I ever had, and my fastest sensitisation, was after going from Fukuoka (Japan) to Busan (Korea) by the JR beetle.

First trip on the Busan Metro was garlic like I never smelled before. Holy hell. I had one kimchi and never smelled it again. You're probably just sensitised to the bicycle smell in a similar manner to your own odour.

acidfast7

was quite fun.

but the beetle did hit a whale once

RubeRad

Newport H2? I tried so hard to love those sandals (like all the other glowing reviews on amazon). Bought a pair, they were way too tight. Returned for a larger size, not too tight across the tops, but the wide-as-keen-gets 'anatomical' footbeds did not match the anatomy of my feet, especially the left. Could not wear more than half an hour without pain. Gave them to my son.

I love my Keen Jaspers though. Flat soles FTW. Let my feet define their own anatomy!

rumrunn6

dunno, I can look tonight if I remember & if there is a model # or name on a tag somewhere. I got them during a street sale on Martha's Vineyard cpl yrs ago in the Fall when ppl were clearing summer stock. funny how shoes fit different ppl. these are a little on the loose side, so I like wearing socks with them. I like the closed toe protecting them but sometimes I would rather have more ventilation

mgw4jc

What a fascinating thread to scroll through! A much repeated photo of socks with sandals and bike odor arguments!

robertorolfo

So much, um, hearsay here. And a lot of good old fashioned exaggeration. You do realize that just because you think something is the right way, that doesn't mean that it's objectively the right way, right?

You posted a picture of your bike some time ago, and I can honestly say that I would never want to ride a bike that was in the condition that yours was in. You may consider it a "tool," but I have tools that I take much better care of than your bike.

Also, I'm fairly certain you are part of a very small minority of people that would find a bicycle neatly hanging on an office wall to be "unprofessional."

Regarding shoes, which is even further off topic, you do realize that in some cultures people resent being asked to remove their shoes in another person's home, and even consider it to be gauche? Now, this doesn't make them right or wrong, just different. There is no global "correct way" here.

davei1980

I totally respect your cultural perspective! I would absolutely remove my shoes in your house, and I don't store my bike in my own house, just like I don't sleep or eat in my office.

That said, I don't think many of the Euro/Scando countries you mention are the end-all and be-all of cleanliness - in many of these countries it's customary to only shower once every 3 days or so :-) I would argue that the shoes/off bikes parked outside battle is not the correct battle to fight :-) (my wife and kids and I do remove our shoes at home by the way but we also shower daily, we have lots of water here)

Also, my bike is pretty clean. I don't mind it "hanging" around lol

Here in the US, it's definitely not unprofessional to have it around, in fact, the firm likes it because when they bring college recruits around it makes it appear to be a hip place to work!