AustinBike

This was about as far as I could get it in. Then Jonathan’s comment about a rubber mallet put me in the position of installing the BB and giving it a few healthy whacks. Bingo. It eventually worked itself in. Quick round in the neighborhood was quiet but it usually takes a few miles before the clacking begins. Tomorrow’s jingle bell ride should tell me whether it was the BB or whether we are down to the final piece. At that point I will drop it on a shop because I could not get the rear hub disassembled with cone wrenches so I will let a pro do it.

Pretty much only one route. The Hamilton GB is chill, generally easy, but fun. Mount Lakeway is the bigger challenge out there.

The problem with the BB is not the facing, I never even tried to put it in the bike. I took the end cap and tried to put it on the spindle, no go. It fit in to about a half inch or so, to the end of the (?) flanges on the spindle, then stopped. Definitely not the seat tube because when I stand and pedal I can get the clacking sound.

My urban singlespeed is making a ton of noise, creaking, popping, etc. It's a steel frame so it should not be making this much noise. I have replaced: Front cog Rear cog Chain So at this point there are only 2 places left, the bottom bracket and the rear hub. Here is what I am hearing: Here is the amount of play in the rear hub: So the question is do you think this is a hub or bottom bracket noise? To me it feels like BB. Now the BB problem. I have an FSA Comet (~2014) crankset. I bought a Shimano BB which *should* fit, but I could not get the spindle through the BB, nor could I get it through a SRAM GXP BB. The spindle is supposed to be 24mm but is seems to be just slightly larger, I can get the spindle into the bottom bracket cup but I can't get the spindle to continue through. The current bottom Bracket is a RaceFace X-type BB which claims "Interchangeable with select Shimano and FSA external mountain BB systems." So what gives? I have 2 BBs that I can't seem to use and a crank that is just barely too big. From 24mm the next step up is like 28mm or so. This seems to be ~25mm or so, just barely larger. All advice is appreciated.

How will trailside repairs work with that installed?

You could not have missed this turtle, unlike a snake. I could see it before I even entered the tunnel. Rode with both feet well up in the air.

1. Yeah, the tunnel is dingy but it beats having to ride around to the light to cross PV. I think the glass is half full, plus once I found a HUGE snapping turtle in the middle, must have been 20+ pounds. 2. There is a bike lane from Shady all the way downtown, so a Northside trail on the lake is less important. I'd like to see it, but there are bigger fish to fry in my mind.

Yeah, I stopped to check it out (didn't go in) and as I rode off @Teamsloan drove past and honked at me. But he was in a car, sucker! Plan on hitting it on Friday night with the wife after a brief jaunt around the lake.

That is pretty much the reason I ride the hike and bike trail for my daily exercise. I can do an urban ride through town and that is fine, but it feels like work. Hit the bike path and you're with other people, more fit than you, working out. It feels more vibrant. And the proximity to water is a much nicer view. It is awesome to have such great access to such a trail; I probably ride it 3-4 times a week. As to the Quinceañera, we were lucky enough to go to one this year. It was a window into a culture that most of the people I know have never seen, nor will ever see. Quite the spectacle.

Yeah, if you have ever had one turn on in a pack you realize the problem it could create. It gets hot enough to melt a tube.

Wow, that website helps it live up to the "oldest" claim. Yikes, I can hear my AOL account say "you've got mail" while the page loaded.

That is good to know. My sister was thinking about Sun City and I have been trying to tell her it is a bad idea. Now that we are moving out of the baby boom generation and towards gen X (go me!) the number of people in the market will shrink, how many of those places are probably overbuilt for the future population?

I will probably use it some of the time, but my daily ride goes around the lake, passing under pleasant valley into Guerrero park. Then over the Montopolis bridge. Just found out that a new brewery opened up on Caesar Chavez, which might be nice for a mid-ride beer. Planning to check it out soon.

Great price. I paid that much for my 650 or 700 or whatever it was. Really solid product, literally and figuratively.

As we get older we have begun doing some preliminary reviews into options. There are a lot of rental-based retirement places coming up, this seems to be the new trend. You don't have to buy in like the typical place and you can get options without the crappy industrial meal plans. Looks like they are targeting people like me, and in another 10 years there should be enough of a track record to know the viability. Much rather have an apartment in the city tied to retirement than still have a house to contend with. More time for biking!

Nice deal on the Bronson - its a good bike. It would be great if someone created a marketplace for people who buy expensive bikes and stop riding after 3 months. I am guessing that bikes fall into 3 distinct categories (my marketing head at work): 1. Buy a top line bike, ride multiple times per week, eventually ride it down to a nub. 2. Buy a top line bike, ride for 3 months then it site for a year, only to be sold. 3. Buy a mid line bike, ride on a regular basis and get 5+ years out of it, eventually upgrade when all parts go obsolete The rest of the market is low end that nobody wants (but tries to sell at a premium on craigslist.)

Yeah, I would think that the processing capability of the drone would be way too limited to actually follow a rider, at speed, in a tree-lined area. Theoretically you would have enough processing capability if you bumped the data up to an HPC environment but bandwidth and latency would be a real issue, even with 5G. In my mind the short answer is that a "following" drone will work on a sunny trail but not really if there is ample shade. Unless it is some of that sweet California singletrack that is smooth and straight.

How about a lip at the end to launch you?

I used to love them back in the X.9 days. My current bike has a GX/X.0 combo and I am less than impressed; it works, but I would probably move to Shimano if I had the chance. But in the 12-speed world it seems like mixing and matching bits is not recommended so I would need to burn through a cassette at the same time as blowing out a derailleur.

Same here. Between the "sail" effect on the highway and the "bonk" effect with the garage entry, roof racks are a no-go. I know for sure that I would be that guy.

And then you'd crash your roof racked bike into the loft instead of the entrance 😉

So, I gotta check that OUT!

Not sure what this is all about but I saw this on reddit: Take a look at those tall garages. I have know idea what they are for, but if you had a roof rack that would be perfect. Because we all know someone who did that...

I'm out, going to see an in-studio of Fastball downtown. Gonna be cold and wet.

Two annoying Silicon Valley things there. First, the inflection is called "uptalk" and it is basically used as an exclamation point, but not just an exclamation point but a "and then you can't ask me a follow up" inflection. Think of it as a END STATEMENT that gets put at the end of every sentence. The second thing is starting sentences with "So,..." Equally annoying. Basically that starts the sentence off with a "Well, you stupid person..." Put them together and you have <well, idiot> <insert statement about the product> <AND IT ENDS HERE>. Plenty of examples in the valley of how these talking patterns have permeated management, my belief is that a lot of it has come from having to pitch VCs and ask for money. You need a way to not say "that was a dumb question" and also not let people dig too deep into the line of questioning.