AustinBike

23 hours ago, June Bug said:

Mr. June Bug, who is 78, thinks nothing of hopping on his bike at mid day for a 30-mile ride in 100 degree heat  (although not since things are topping out at 105).  He's come home every time under his own power and doesn't seem to be demon possessed, but damn!    I don't like cold weather, but my heat tolerance keeps dropping.  

I started out slower than previous years, but in the past 7 days have done seven rides. All trail rides were 15 miles, all urban rides were 20+ miles. Typically state between 9 and 11. I am finally acclimated. 

This morning Texas Blood texted me about my regular donation and I told them I can't do that until the fall. It's hard enough to ride now, but take away some blood and it is 10X the impact.

19 hours ago, June Bug said:

An ask: does anyone have a spare shorty Ergon grip (just need one!)?  They are used with Grip Shift and Rohloff hubs, like this: Ergon GP1 Gripshift Handlebar Grips  

Will also check at yellow bike project. 

The Spearfish is at Bicycle House waiting for its left side Grip Shift (to shift double chainrings).  Mechanic said he thought that set up could work, although there may need to be a new dropper seat post lever. 

random info: Grips for a Rohloff hub have one short and one long, cause you are only shifting on one side.  For Grip Shift, it's two shorties.  I'm assuming nobody with a 1 x uses GripShift, but if so, they'd just get the Rohloff set. 

My wife's bike has grip shift, only on the right. Got a set of these on Amazon for $12. She LOVES them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BPT2CQ1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Definitely the greenbelt. Minimum once a week, typically twice a week, and a good week is three times.

I might as well pile on with everyone else. The other problem is that it will somewhat block your view when backing up. I have an amazon bike cover that I use when parking out bikes outside the hotel where we used to stay. But now that we are no longer traveling with the cheap bikes, we keep them in the room.

It does not look it, but this is what 3000% humidity looks like.

I dropped a bike there on Wednesday, work was done by noon (yay, holidays!) 

Been very happy with them.

15 hours ago, ssorgs said:

I haven't had issues with the chainring but YMMV.

I'm the opposite. I burn through chainrings a lot faster than cassettes. Some of it may be that I have singlespeeds and geared bikes so I would run through more rings as a rule.

Take your chainring and cassette off the bike, get every piece of grime off, put them back on and tighten them to spec. Lube everything and take it for a ride. If it is still making noise then they probably need to be replaced. Sometimes it is just a matter of having a clean component and a dirty component or a tight component and a loose component. 

If they are all clean, all tight and all lubed, then the problem is a metal mismatch somewhere and that is usually replacement. I typically replace the ring first because it is cheaper and it is used 100% of the time. The cassette will spread that 100% across the different gears.

I am stunned, that in the world of 50T cassettes that anyone would believe that 2X gives you better range. To those guys it is the princess and the pea at this point in my head. I'd almost say that 1X is a bigger improvement than dropper posts. Almost. 

14 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

I feel the same.  I have researched temp probe pills to track core temp because I would love to have that data.  I could just stop and take a sublingual temp I guess.

It hurts a bit, but you probably have a meat thermometer in the house somewhere. It will tell you to stop working when you are well done.

The official word on these:

The first 10 minutes that you are wearing it you think, what the F was I thinking????

Then, about 20 minutes in, you realize the benefit. At the end of the ride it is a soaking mess.

Pro tip: Put it on and then roll the bottom edge up ~1". If it is covering your ears it makes you way hotter. With it rolled up it also does a better job of catching the sweat.

I am going to dig into that. My wife is digging the tour, not for the biking but the the scenery. The first day in the Basque Country was great, saw plenty of places we have been.

That is specifically why I do not do 100% of my repairs myself. It is good to periodically take it to a shop to really have things dialed in.

12 hours ago, Taco Man said:

Who does shock and fork service in town these days?

Most shops do it. Most do it well. The typical issue is the parts which can push the service out. This is why I always drop off on a Monday morning. I get mine serviced once a year, typical before my bike trip.

Took my squishy in for servicing last fall for the annual shock/fork service before my bentonville trip. Work was great, bike performed well.

This week, however, it was making a lot of creaks, but that happens over time. I knew there was a bolt that holds the shock to the yoke that often comes loose. I went to tighten it and found this:

Yeah, good luck putting your torque wrench in that one.

Had to de-air the shock (which had been peeeeeerrrrrfect for the past 5-6 months) and take it all apart.

This is much easier to adjust now. 

If you don't want to blow an hour in your hot garage, be sure to check out the work that the shop does.

Not naming names, but the next time I drop it off for service, I'll be sure to bring this up.

On 6/26/2023 at 5:26 PM, mack_turtle said:

Ergodyne Chill skull cap - $11

I have some "lighter weight" On-One beanies that I use in the winter. Thoughts on using these for the summer? 

https://on-one-bikes.co.uk/products/on-one-seamless-skull-cap

They say "warm in the winter and cool in the summer"

Is it possible for them to do both or do I need a Cool-specific cap for summer?

1 hour ago, mack_turtle said:

I just bought some lightweight long-sleeve shirts and some cooling skull caps to try this. I'm only riding morning for a while, which means weekends only for me.

Interested. Have any links?

I did 2 GB rides this weekend.

Saturday was 87% humidity and miserable. Could hardly finish the 14 miles.

Sunday was 73% humidity and marginally better. Rode the first 10 miles with no stops, but by the time I got to the g-outs in <unmentionable trail> I could not make it up and had to walk those up instead of riding them. To be fair, I generally walk a few of them, but this time I walked all of them.

I find that if I am in motion I can continue fine, but sharp climbs in really hot weather take it all out of me.

Next we're gonna find out that it wasn't really carbon fiber but just that fiber carbon tape to make it look that way.

Quote

A clip has resurfaced of sub pilot and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rushgiving an interview in 2021, in which he says he's "broken some rules" to make trips to the Titanic possible for his company. The interview was done with vlogger Alan Estrada, who joined him on a trip that year to the Titanic wreck aboard the Titan vessel.

"I'd like to be remembered as an innovator. I think it was General [Douglas] MacArthur who said, 'You're remembered for the rules you break,'" Rush said. "And I've broken some rules to make this. I think I've broken them with logic and good engineering behind me." 

Just spent 10 days in Chicago, needed a jacket. Came home to this shit.

I ride early and hydrate. A lot.

I have found that I can *generally* acclimate and can ride through the really hot stuff, but that is because I can ride every day. I think if you are sitting in an air conditioned office all week and don't get out into the heat until Saturday morning, you're screwed.

I'd look into doing some early morning rides just to get your body in shape.

In Chicago this past week, had to bring a jacket. How was it in Austin? Picked up some of the finest from the city.

if you are ever here, Revolution Brewing is one of the best.

Meth lab, probably.

Next time you got to a spot where you need a pro for IT tasks, I usually available and can be paid in beer.

EVs in general are changing the industry. All of the traditional vendors have huge demand for electric vehicles and are *generally* only offering them direct because of the backlog.

This is the way the industry needs to go.

It will get there. 

The whole "build to inventory" model is broken and has been for years. You plow all of your capital into inventory, price it high and then play tons of games with rebates and negotiating in order to sell what you have on hand. Or chase it down from another deal and trade inventory to get the customer what they want. The number of people that MUST have a new car today, because theirs is inoperable, is really small. Most people start the process with months before they need to replace their cars.

All of this needs to change.

Tree down on South Walnut Creek Trail, about .6 miles north of Govalle park.