AustinBike

Um, kinda. I built one. Bought a frame and a wheel set, the rest of the parts were in my bins, so technically it should not be this strong. I blame someone else.

Walnut got between 2.5" and 3" with another huge cell moving through this morning. It's just about to hit here in central Austin and there is no way that it gets missed. The R&I will be urban this week 😞

This *might* help a bit on tire width and rim width: https://www.notubes.com/technology/wide-right I have moved to the Arch MK3's on 2 of my bikes and have one set of older Arch EX's (coincidentally enough on my newest bike, long story...) I love the MK3's and even though I am not an enduro guy, the extra width makes a difference.

Oh, and I always say "hey puppy" to any dog I see on the trail, especially loose ones. It tends to soothe them for some reason.

Spouses.

We usually do a road trip up there once a year, feels like it is about time.

I ride 28-30 on aluminum and have never had problems with the handling on tires. When I forget to check my air before I ride, sometimes it feels squirrelly with only 20-25 pounds. But, I'm weird.

Aluminum rims and 2.4" tires. Too cheap to go with carbon. I've banged enough aluminum to know I'd probably trash a carbon rim.

Not a lot usually, unless it is someone new that I never rode with before. Ran into someone at WC yesterday while I was riding, he was new to the trail, so as I was showing him around I was talking to him. But there are times when I can go the full ride without saying anything (and my group probably appreciates that.) Heartrate max is ~135 for any heavy ride, so I can talk all the way up a climb if I want.

Hello Kitty tape FTW

Yes, one of the areas called out for GCW was around Ft. Hood. Where they do artillery practice. But the squeal of a disc brake....

Pizza is only available in Chicago. Anywhere else it is called "pizza." So, why go so far away for pizza? Yeah, it makes sense now 😉

It's that time again. Beautiful day, perfect for riding. Gonna get there early and get some of that bonus dirt that I have been thinking about all morning.

And bonus points for KMC chains. Rock solid. The Shimano links are supposed to be single use. Always a pain to work with, love KMC.

"Too much front brake" is an even better story 😉

Vintage only really works on wine

Yeah, that was because I was cheap. Bent an x9 pretty early in life but straightened it out. Bought a replacement knowing that one more bend and it was gone for good. Carried around the replacement in anticipation. My fear was that if I put the new one on I would bend that one pretty quick too, so I was leaving the old one on as a sacrificial lamb for the next rock strike. I find that I am pretty cheap and any time I finally replace a part I think "man, I can't believe I rode like that for so long" but then I keep doing it. Idiot.

Worst part was I think I still have one in my pack. The key is not carrying it but REMEMBERING that you are carrying it.

Final assembly on the trail. With a rock. Taco’d my chainring on the second ride 😞

Thanks, I have a friend with a cutter. Waiting on Seth's fork at this point. That is the pike off of my FS bike and will probably stay but I am waiting until I have all of the forks paired up with the right bikes before I start cutting steerer tubes.

It's a Verhauen.

I question the 60 miles of BCGB. The best “real” estimate I saw was 45 miles. I think to do 60 you’d be covering a lot of trail twice. And I ride it once, if not twice a week.

Oh, also, I have bikes. If you ride a large you can take my full suspension, the hardtail is a medium.

Don’t blame me for the rain. Hardtail is finished.

Some bluebonnets on my urban ride.