AustinBike

If I try any other bars it will be the Origin8 batwings because I have them.

That is not a bad idea. My urban singlespeed has Origin8 bat wing bars with bar ends and I keep thinking that it would just be a good idea to get another set of those. I can use them for a mountain bike, they did fine for my Santa Fe trip.

Picked up a Surly Corner Bar and started to create my ultimate travel bike. Configuration one would be 2.4” Ardents, Pike fork, and carbon MTB bars. Configuration two would be 40mm gravel tires, rigid fork and Surly Corner Bar Today I tried the hybrid model today, all MTB with the drop bars. So, the long and short of it was that I did a better lap on a singlespeed on Tuesday night. It was harder to get a comfortable position because the best hand position is on the hoods with a drop bar. Can’t really do that with this bar. Additionally braking is more of a challenge than on a flat bar because you have to grab underneath. You can do it from the “hoods” because they are full of metal controls. You can do light braking but anything that requires a full grab is going to happen below. Trying to get over obstacles is more challenging as well because you can’t get the same leverage as a flat MTB bar. Going to give it another try with the gravel wheels and the rigid fork to see if that is any better. I will still use this as intended, but I found today there is a serious difference in leverage and handling.

Looks like the city is finally getting (somewhat) serious about this. Saw this baby at the BCGB 360 trailhead this morning.

I am a huge fan of these: https://cygolite.com/product/#tab-tail-light Crazy bright, really long battery life. I have a couple 50's for my bikes, and they are great.

There is no such thing as "dead space" in the bike workshop. Turned the empty wall space over the door into a wheelset storage space. Rubbermaid Fast Track has a variety of modular hooks including ones for holding bikes. Those work great for wheels.

Eh, the Ardents are priced the same as regular retail. $62. I can get that on Amazon all day long. Looks like the big savings is on some of the odd sizes.

Too late, it’s gone. But is anyone wants a Kindle Fire tablet, ping me. The purge continues

Need to get this out of the house. Haven't used in a few years, but it was working fine. Tons of accessories and games.

Retail is dead because it is an inefficient model. Putting things on shelves, hoping that people will pass buy is never a strong strategy. Amazon gets things to me next day most times. Occasionally I can even get it same day. Prime is a value. The only time I go into a shop is to have repairs done, it is just not cost effective to buy components there. It's not their fault, it's just an economic reality.

If your kids are young enough to want a Nintendo Wii, let me know.

Sweet! Just ordered one. Can't beat half off.

Glad I just used my rebate for this year. Hope they stay around, they were always a solid choice, none of the attitude that a few of the other shops had. I would send newer riders there because they always did a good job of explaining things to them.

Sadly, I fear that when I move to my next house the garage will be significantly smaller and my "workshop" will require me to pull my car out to do anything. I'll enjoy what I have for now.

TV has left the building.

Need to get this out of here today if possible. Screen is great. It is big and heavy so make sure you have enough muscle to move it (I will leave it on front porch for you.) A couple of the ports do not work but there are 2 HDMI inputs and a computer input at a minimum.

I just hang mine, very little leakage. instead of a splitting axe I have a stump mounted splitter. I use a 3 pound hammer to split logs. If you want to come by I will let you split logs for an hour to see if you like it. If you think you will need 2 hours to fully test I will let you do that, but you’ll need to bring beer with you.

That was my plan for this week. Probably on Wednesday during my usual mid-day ride.

Have new bars coming for the gravel bike I am building. It is a 25.4mm bar and all of my stems are 31.8. Not interested in shimming it, I want to do it right. Haven't figured out the stem length yet, so I would be fine with borrowing one for a couple weeks while I sort it all out. Let me know.

New Orleans is not much of a beer town. Three different breweries, all of the IPAs were ok, one good one, the rest, just ok. Porter and ale choices were ok. Kinda mediocre, they love their big brand lagers, the microbrews weren’t much to write home about. Good cocktail town.

I just use the same tires that I use here. Ardents do just fine for me, I would not bother to get different tires, if you need new tires, I recommend going with fresh ones. But get whatever you are using now.

This is a good deal for someone looking to get into the sport.

Doc said biking was ok, but my real concern is a camping/hiking trip that I have planned for next week.

After more than 50 years of biking and getting my share of minor injuries after dozens of crashes, nothing to write home about. Then today, on Cheesegrater I caught a root with my foot. Crushed my little toe as the root brought me to a dead halt. Rode another 10 miles. After the ride my sock was bloody. X-rays confirm I broke the toe and won’t have a toe nail for 6 months or so. Nothing to do unfortunately, they taped it up and basically said don’t stub it. I can still ride, but should probably stay away from trails for a bit until the risk of infection drops.

There is a section called "Oxbow" that is east of the path. Basically about 4-6 sections between just north of the elevated portion past 183 and the cut off for the Y. I ride them all the time because concrete gets boring.