AustinBike

When singlespeeds are outlawed, only outlaws will have singlespeeds.

Stuck a link up on my site for additional coverage. Whenever anyone has these events they should ping me, I can amplify the message to the broader community. Every mention helps.

Then you need one. Whether you buy two is your call. Some people like everything to match. Smart people just buy exactly the same model and only replace one. It's your call, I could go either way.

Rotors is rotors. Brake brand generally makes no difference. The only time that matters is if you have some weird off brands with weird sizes. I had a Hope that was once off-sized by a few mm, it was a 183mm and the standard was 180 so I needed some spacers. 160mm, 180mm and 203mm are the most common sizes. The mounts for the calipers are all standardized so all you need to do is remove the old calipers and put the new ones on, everything should fit with no problem. You only need new rotors if your old ones are damaged or too worn down.

This is what I bought, about $100 less: https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-xt-m8000-front-and-rear-disc-brake-set-85820.html Took an extra week to get here but worth the savings. Just note that the ones I bought did not have rotors. I used the existing rotors with no problem, that might be part of the price difference.

Gonna be hot so ride fast to stay cool tomorrow. I will be there for an early lap and the regular 5:00 social lap.

The cutting wasn't the problem. Heard that the issue was getting the olive on with a braided cable. Maybe I'll give it a go in a couple of weeks, no urgent need today as I am skipping town to beat the heat and that bike is not part of the plan.

You may want to buy a 12-pack of good IPA and then invite the forum over to your house to show you how it is done. You'll learn something in the process. Apparently free cold beer is a mating call in the bike world and it will attract people quickly.

If you buy enough things in small bags you have an endless supply 😉

Neighbors bought a bike for their kid online and I offered to set it up. Took me less than 30 minutes including unboxing and getting rid of the box. They came over to pick it up and brought 2 really nice bottles of cabernet. At that rate I was probably paid ~$150/hour or so for my work. And the kid's bike was set up right.

Yeah, that does not suck.

I use Stans, not orange and the stems occasionally clog. But I can usually just pick it off the bottom, never had an issue that needed me to clean the whole thing. I do recommend getting something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Valve-Presta-Core-12-Continental/dp/B077L2DXPJ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=presta+valve+core&qid=1564399442&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExMURDSUVLWExCREhSJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzY1ODU3VU9YNzc1RTdDRzdIJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAxNjA2MzExU0tFN1JEMDlLSDJLJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== Also, as someone I was riding with this weekend discovered, having a presta stem remover in their pack would be a really good thing. So buy a couple of cheap ones and toss one in your pack.

“Putting washers on the banjo bolt”. Is that what the kids are calling it these days? but on a serious note, the brake hoses are braided and I hear that is a pain

Added this to my skills set this week. Things like this were intimidating but I finally bit the bullet. Here's how it is done: http://www.austinbike.com/index.php/repairs/352-upgrading-to-shimano-xt-brakes I am still not comfortable cutting down the hoses on my Hope brakes, so I don't know if those will go onto the hardtail just yet. Next up is learning to service a rear shock and a fork. Maybe I need to bring a 6-pack to Mack Turtle's place one of these days.

Absolutely. I don't tell people to wear a helmet because if you are stupid enough to ride without one you are probably unlikely to listen to me. But, if I see someone without a helmet who is lost and needs directions or has a bike problem and needs a tool, I just tell them that I have a hard rule - if you are not going to help yourself by wearing a helmet then I am under no obligation to help you either. Generally I catch shit for saying that, but once some guy (with a broken chain) had his girlfriend (also without a helmet) say "see, I told you."

Except that we, as a society, bear the brunt of the cost of their years of vegetative paralysis. I think that we should have some type of DNR scenario. It is the law to ride with a helmet. You can opt out but you have to wear a visible bracelet or something like that (think of it as an "un-medic alert"). If you crash and we find you unconscious, we get to keep riding without guilt. If you get taken to a hospital, it is all on you. Insurance does not need to pay - like if you get in an accident while drunk your auto insurance does not need to pay out. The problem with people that don't wear helmets is that they don't clean the gene pool, they all become a burden on us, boosting our insurance and wasting our money. What really gets me are the guys without a helmet that have pads, gloves and a camelback. I see them all the time at Walnut. WTF?

That is what I did, but getting the last bit of air out of the system was necessary. May need to take another inch off, so we'll see how that goes.

Was doing my regular lunch ride the other day and spotted this. No good can come of it.

I've been riding a ~2011 Niner with 10-speed and old Hope brakes. With all of the deals going on these days I managed to pick up a new 11-speed XT and some new XT brakes. Let me just say two things: 1. If you have never cut your own brake lines because you were afraid of screwing it up, it is WAY easier than you think. The front brakes come pre-cut (and close to the perfect length) and the rear takes about 2 minutes to do it right. A quick bleed and you are ready to go. I love the bleed system on Shimano, never thought I would say that, but they really do make great brakes. 2. 11-speed is dirt cheap these days, if you are not running it, take a look at it. I had a 42T on my 10-speed and going to 11-speed allowed me to get more range. I put a 32T on the front, getting me a little more top end vs. my 30T and the total gear range is better than the old 10-speed. The weird gap is between the 46T and the 37T. I rarely ride in the granny on the back (with my 42T most of my climbing was in the middle 36T) so it feels like the other options are more evenly spaced. A few hundred bucks and two hours of time were well worth it to bring this bike into the current decade. And the old bits can transition to my HT eventually so that I can get rid of the damn Elixr brakes...

To the first, no. I share the trail with a lot of people now, as defined by the city. If they tell me that ebikes are allowed I will not have an issue (but I will not ride with those people, not my thing.) To the second, yes, if you allow them it will result in more use. That, sir, is a double edged sword. If an ebike runs over a hiker or runner, will they try to paint the brush that all bikes should be banned from the trails? There is a subtlety between bikes and ebikes that bikers understand but the general public does not. It will be a sad day for us. We've already been locked out of places (literally) and there are those always willing to throw us under the ebus.

Switched to a 2" receiver, have my old 1-1/4" available. $40 or best offer.

Yeah, heading to Chicago for 2 weeks, getting set to drop my full suspension bike off to have the bearings replaced. Rather have that done at their pace then be anxious that it is supposed to be done by Friday (for the weekend) only to find that something came up and now it is Monday...

I didn't. I bought the bike from Cycle Progression and had them build it up. I specified a Fox Factory 34 as the fork and they put everything together. Never specified the travel. I have a Pike 130 on my Verhauen geared hardtail if you ever want to borrow it to see how an extra 10mm performs.

Eh, those were not climbs, they were barely inclines. I believe that an integral part of riding is the climbing. Climbing is the vegetable, descending is the dessert. If all you ever eat is dessert, well, you can figure that one out for yourself. There are a ton features added to today's bikes to help make it easier to climb, including 50T cassettes, smaller front cogs, triple chain rings, lockouts, the list goes on and on. But, all of these things, while they make it easier to climb, still require you to climb. So there is still some degree of effort on your end. I can climb, but I suck at descents, I don't do big drops, I am not a fan of jumps. How would the market feel about a new mountain bike was created that allowed people to do big drops without ever crashing? It would be called heresy. Nobody would advocate these. They'd tell you how they are ruining the sport. That is how I feel about ebikes. I believe they do have their place, primarily for commuting or for getting someone who does not ride out onto the trails, but eventually you need to take over, they are just training wheels for the trails. I know I sound like a cranky old man, but I am. How can we all sit here and rail on the people who create cheater lines and then say oh, yeah, but e-bikes are cool?

Yep, gonna be nice weather today. Got sausages and a few tortillas. Early lap at 4, social lap at 5.