ATXZJ

5 hours ago, Charlie193 said:

Have you done much riding in Cloudcroft since the move? I went a couple of years ago but ended up not taking the bike as I didn’t want to leave it on the rack at Carlsbad Caverns for a couple of hours unattended. Probably heading there again later this summer.

Nothing serious. Planning a full trip in August to there and Ruidoso. Will post it up in the reports when i do,

Spent last week in Austin for work. Was lucky enough to get a spare gravel bike to ride from @chief, for a trip to the brushy creek trails. Can say with certainty that a gravel bike is the ONLY way to go in the summer. It also makes the admittedly monotonous trails pretty fun. There were a couple oh shit moments that had me laughing like a fool. 

Returned to El Paso yesterday and saw the thermometer get to 105* at one point. Sun was hot AF. Luckily we got a thunderstorm around 10pm and the temps cooled off to about perfect by the morning without the oppressive humidity in ctx. 

In EP. House is approx 4200ft elevation so up by quite a bit😝

In all seriousness, we can hit Cloudcroft NM. Its 1.5 hrs and is easily 20degrees cooler than anything in the desert right now.

56 minutes ago, throet said:

Coiled and ready to strike. Went with a CC DB Inline, purported to be the lightest coil shock on the market. Paired it up with a progressive 450-550 spring. Now I just need to find a destination far away in the cool mountain air; so I can spend a few days getting crazy without dying from heat stroke. 

Come on up. We have room

10 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

My only issue when casting is if I decide to browse something while watching and that page has an ad with video on it, and that stops the GCN cast.  I need to dig up one of the old ipads to use solely for casting GCN or Flosports (their app works fine on AppleTV but to watch restricted races I VPN to another country on my phone).

I always screw up and attempt to turn the volume up on the TV through the Roku remote, booting me off cast. 🤣

For comparison, watch the most recent Innsbruck race on RB TV with Rob, Eliot, Tracey and also Finn commentating. Finn was better in 5 minutes than the disco bois have been since the season started. Also track walks with Reece are great. Dude is a natural on the camera.

Man I hope DH ditches UCI and goes to a redbull series. Theres almost zero money in it for the riders to stay.

UCI can glady keep XC in trade😁

2 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I think the idea is that you're moving faster, so sweating wicks off and cools you more efficiently than when you're crawling through rock gardens on a heavier bike in the deep woods while the sweat just collects in your clothing and weighs you down more. I know I can move a whole lot faster on roads and gravel paths on my groad bike than I do while riding a mtb on mtb trails. You're also less likely to be in more humid creek beds (Barton Creek trails under that canopy feels like a steamer), so spending the same length of time riding "gravel" terrain is slightly less punishing. Yeah, the sun is wicked when you're more out in the open, though. 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.

100%

7-8am rides are so much nicer on gravel at speed rather than rock bike riding in a ditch 

I found there were only three options during the summer :

A.Gym

B.Travel

C.Gravel

Did all three and it kept me from quitting. Gravel bike was the best purchase I made dollar for dollar of the three. Even a basic bitch gravel walking path in parks were enjoyable compared to riding a MTB in a ditch at 5mph.

And drifting a cross bike is kinda fun too 😁

1 hour ago, Barry said:

As much as I love Franklin MTNS, it's the only place I've ever been annoyed by a head-wind on a mountain bike. 

It's brutal sometimes. Wife did a women's group ride her first time and it kicked her ass. 

On 6/18/2023 at 6:39 AM, throet said:

Damn dude! There's a lot going on there in the back of the pic. What gives? 

Picture of my crappy cobbled together kitchen and a home still. just checking for leaks and condenser temps in this pic.

Sorry about your A/C man. Been there

I've been following the weather down there and it looks brutal. Miss the people we met, and rode with in ATX but that's about it. I've never lived in a place that made me want to quit MTB as much as central TX. 

On the other hand, riding in the am in El Paso is completely fine even during summer days. Heat index goes down here due to the wind (which has its own set of issues). We're also seeing single digit humidity at times.

As a bonus we were in Cloudcroft NM Sunday and it was mid 70s during the day. Good to have that kind of weather and also lift assist DH in Ruidoso within 2.5hrs. 

We survived on zwift and gym days during the summer in CTX.

Getting stupid

After spending over three decades in the auto industry i can definitely agree it needs to be changed, and will now never be the same post-covid.

Also feel EVs are not the solution.

On 6/12/2023 at 9:29 PM, AntonioGG said:

Zero issues with GCN+ coverage but would love it on Appletv or LG instead of having to cast from my phone.  However, I am glad that I can cast to the AppleTV and use that remote to pause, rewind and FFWD as needed.

Love the drone on XC!  Wish we had it last year to see what actually happened between Nino and Matthias at this track.

I do miss Rob.  Watched that last goodbye after the Elite Men’s XCO race last year…definitely got something in my eye.  I’m glad GCN hired Bart Freintjens for XC.  Did they not retain Claudio on DH? I’m about to find out….

Pretty much my thoughts as well

Had to cast from my phone through the app as roku and prime did not offer GCN from their stores. Liked having more cameras on track than they did on RBTV did but their telemetry left something to be desired. Hard to keep up with who was putting down the fastest time and the results were inaccurate when they did cross the line. Also losing the riders reactions sitting on the hotseat, while also cutting away to some jerkoff talking about riders on their stationary bikes during a race run was imbecilic.  I've always liked Cedric as a rider and enjoyed his dirty sanchez vlogs, but he doesn't seem to fit in with a corporate culture. Particularly in English broadcasting. Ric had the excitement of drying paint while on air.

Overall the format felt a little more like wide world of sports than the by riders for riders vibe we prefer. 

Downloaded disco app and 7day trial to see if there was something i was doing wrong. Wouldn't be the first or last time that happened when it comes to tech with me. Multiple searches for coverage and came up with nothing. What an absolute mess.  

Cancelled (again) and subscribed to GCN. Are you guys able to download the GCN app on your streaming devices or just mobile and then cast to TV?

Everything discovery touches dies. Hoping redbull starts their own series and DH goes there. All the uci cares about is road biking anyway.

Here's the link . $9

https://welcome.globalcyclingnetwork.com/summer_usa?gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw4ZWkBhA4EiwAVJXwqVsrtZxw7OXm_c1E2h8k1-Ky2HQlB2hrlMas8S4DQgHSeAJPtfYjgBoCVY8QAvD_BwE

1 hour ago, chuckt said:

Has anyone figured out how to watch live/replay of the 2023 season?
I have Discovery+ but they aren’t making it easy. You’d think with the amount of $$$ they spent on the rights, they put a little effort into making sure people can actually view it.

Discovery+ is AIDS.

Im having the same issue as you, and just ended up cancelling my subscription because their UI is the worst in the industry.

GMBN on YT has all the coverage with the exception of elite finals for free. * GCN is the same price as discovery for subscription. We'll keep it until the season is over.

As much as I like Cedric, the commentating is definitely lacking.

3 hours ago, RedRider3141 said:

Sorry should Have included that. Shimano M8000 11-42 (11spd).

Fwiw, I'd grab a sunrace 11-46 in the lighter model. Maybe MX? I forget which but it's in their catalog. Also looks like you spend a lot of time in the big cog (not judging, I have a 30t-50t) so it might be good to have 46t and 40t cogs on the cassette to spread the work around. 

2 hours ago, RedRider3141 said:

On a separate issue. I discovered a missing tooth while cleaning my cassette. I've haven't been able to notice it while riding. At $65-$110 for a replacement cassette, it's not exactly a item I want to replace, especially since it has ~300 miles on it. Any issues with just riding it as is?

What cassette is that? Most of the wear seems to be on the big cog. 

Rest of the teeth look fine without much wear visible.Usually that kind of damage is from a manufacturing defect, drivetrain adjustment issue or poor technique. 

That sucks about the break ins at slaughter. Surprising considering.

BCG etc doesn't surprise me one bit with the walking dead roaming about. 

4 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

Under 

 

 

Nice work. Gonna have to do this at my place 

Putting lipstick on these pigs 

30 minutes ago, June Bug said:

They opened that very nice store in Round Rock by IKEA, then closed it a few years ago.  

It was a great location - incredible volumee of traffic goes by everyday and it's by I 35.  

I'd guess the demographic wasn't right. 

went in there a few times while eating lunch at tarka or fortune garden next door. 

store was well stocked, clean, friendly and empty. 

retail is dead

2 hours ago, bestbike85 said:

I went under contract for a new home this week. Sadly I'll leave Brushy Creek behind and move much further north, but I'm excited to get my new space setup next month. 

Congrats man! 

13 hours ago, June Bug said:

 

Dear Hive Mind:  I'd like to keep my nice carbon cranks, but will need a  new chain ring and does the bottom bracket get replaced or no? 

 

What model crankset? You might have to play with spacing to get chainline where you want it with a single ring.

Ovals are great for everything but high pivots. 

1 hour ago, AntonioGG said:

As an experienced mechanical person, I like to support the LBS with parts buying--rarely mechanic help (seat tube reaming, BB facing on a new frame), but having to order common parts (even pre-COVID) at the LBS, wait for them, and pay more for the part doesn't make sense at all.  Even big box stores like Home Depot are starting to do the same thing.  I love my neighborhood Ace Hardware, tiny, but a great selection of things like fasteners with great service.

Can confirm. Sealant only at the LBS and that's because i forgot to order online.

My buddy is trying to buy the new "chainsaw" from Devinci and they required you to go through the LBS. Basically every dealer in the Salt Lake valley gave him the runaround and were unhelpful. Very frustrating for a guy wanting to buy a fairly pricey bike. Then Devinci recently announced Jenson will be an online retailer for them now. Problem solved.

We just bought a house built in the mid 60s that is getting a bunch of reno work. I absolutely dread going to blowes or the despot to get my supplies. We're fortune enough to have a family owned, small hardware store within walking distance of my home. Problem is they're usually out of what you need, or want too much for it when they have it or have supplies that are less than harbor freight in quality. I gave them three chances and gave up. I buy anything and everything I can online to avoid the hellscape that is big box.

There's a McCoy's here but it's a bit of a hump to get to.