Chief

2 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

Why not 190mm cranks? If you could ignore pedal strikes on the ground, would 250mm cranks not be better? Certainly there's a functional limit for knee articulation going both directions, straightening and bending.

 

That's fine I get your point. Not arguing or saying that what you're trying to do is wrong. I'm just saying for me the length doesn't really effect me that I am aware of. 

OK take this for what it's worth. You say you're having knee problems especially that your joints are sore after long rides but your muscles aren't. You say that your knees are splayed out at the top of your pedal stroke. You also say you have trouble walking for a few days after a long ride. I'm no doctor but you may want to investigate whether or not you may have arthritis. I know because these all sound like symptoms my wife is going through.

I've had 170,172.5, and 175 cranks on my road bikes. I had no knee, hip or foot problems with any of them. What I did notice, and this is on a road bike is that a longer crank length made climbing hills easier. The 175 cranks I have were on my last FS and I bought them because that is what was available at the time when I built it. My new frame is boost and those cranks didn't work without spacing them asymmetrically. I bought a set of 170 boost cranks for the new bike and don't notice any difference. Please don't think I'm trying to sell you on a set of cranks I'm not if you can use them fine if not fine also. Let me finish by saying don't fall into analysis paralysis, much like the bike fit debate I've found over the years that if something is wrong with how your bike fits you'll know it if you have no issues don't go looking for them.

Either way good luck.

Just started watching The Hunters on prime. Not bad kinda Tarantinoish. Jordan Peele directed it.

I'll have to check out War Of The Worlds.

I felt fine the day I got the J&J. Woke up next morning with chills and headache. Chills went away and some Tylenol helped the headache. Felt good enough to get a ride in. Got home from ride and was knocked on my ass, body aches, headache and mild fever. I didn't even get a fever when I had Covid. Injection site is still tender.

16 hours ago, Taco Man said:

My brother had a bike assembled by downtown Trek (long story on why) but there were a few rookie mistakes by a well seasoned professional.

Myself have been using the 183 store to get specialized parts.  BG Gloves failed and Bee Cave gave me a pretty hard time, I offered to buy a new pair on the spot so they could warranty that pair and they finally relented.

*Side note those gloves also failed and Im done with Specialized

You could start your own glove company but Specialized might try to sue you.

14 hours ago, horncpa said:

Wish:

I know this is a shot in the dark, but my buddy Andy at Peddler Bike Shop is recommending I try some handlebars with more of a rise to them to see if that gets me slightly more vertical.  I'm hoping it will lessen my odds of going OTB.   

Does anyone have an extra pair of 35mm bars with 30-45mm rise?   Preferably 780 or wider but I just want to try it out before I buy new handlebars.   I don't even need to keep the bars.  Maybe just borrow and return if you would prefer to have them back?  

Anyone?

The 35mm stem clamp might make this request a bit difficult. Seems people aren't as open to the 35mm clamp as some other bike standards. I run 35 on my bike and have been looking around a bit for bars with more sweep but there's not much out there that I like.

🤣🤣

I got the J&J Saturday. All of the six cases were all women ages 18-48 typically the age of women on birth control. Certain birth control pills have their own rate of potential blood clots.

1 in 1million chance for getting CVST(cerebral venous sinus thrombosis) from J&J is very low considering 5 in 1million is how many people are affected each year by CVST.

Whenever you consider becoming a conspiracy theorist just follow the money. 😉

4 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

I think some people may not actually know what the full phrase is.  I say the whole phrase, "passing on your left" to prevent this confusion on their part.

Rode road bikes for so many years it just became "on your left".  Road bikers don't typically encounter hikers.😁

I have a Chinese knock off of this. Low profile mounts between my brake and dropper lever.

https://www.knog.com/product/oi-classic-small/

I like when I yell "on your left" and the person steps left. Some of us obviously still haven't learned left from right.

11 hours ago, throet said:

The dealer gets their money regardless of whether you finance or pay cash or whether there are incentives or not. Leverage when buying a new car comes from knowing how low they will go, and generally speaking that should be close to invoice. Of course supply and demand factor in depending on the particular make / model. Bottom line is that you have to be willing to be a bigger asshole than they are at the negotiating table. There are simply too many available new cars on lots to not be in a position of power when buying a new car, unless you are looking for some rare breed.   

Once you're in a dealership they DON'T WANT YOU TO WALK OUT without purchasing. That is one of your avenues of having some power. You try to negotiate a price that works for you if that can't happen obviously you walk, most times the dealer will find a way to get you in that car. Now that being said if you've spent some time doing this dance, carefully read and understand the purchase agreement and terms because that's typically where they try to bury people in a car loan. 

This probably doesn't need to be said here but I will anyway, never ever roll money from your trade into your new car. Once you do that you'll never have positive equity in any car moving forward.

13 hours ago, AustinBike said:

We started thinking about owning like leasing. Think about what it costs per month. 

We just got a new 2021 and traded in a 2016 with <30K miles on it. Basically the 2016 fetched $16K and we had bought it for $32K. So $16K for 5 years. Basically that is $266/month. I have some formulas and spreadsheets to look at maintenance costs (~$100/year on our Nissans) and things like tires (~$600-700) and whatnot. When you start doing the math, looking at the increasing costs for maintenance and then things like having to replace tires, some interesting equilibrium points come up. Like it is actually cheaper to buy a new car than put tires on it sometimes because then you have to amortize that purchase.

When people ask me the question of whether they should keep their current aging vehicle or buy new I always tell them to add up the cost of their maintenance over the course of a year and divide that buy 12 that equates to a monthly payment if that payment is less than a new car they usually have their answer. Of course there is alway the issue of "is the cars value worthy of the cost of this repair"?  There is basically only two ways to get the most value from your car purchase one is to have enough equity in it in three years to trade up the other is to drive it for at least ten years. Five years is the breaking point for a cars value after five years the cars value plummets like flight 800.

Wheel base looks kinda short

11 hours ago, throet said:

Ditto!!!!! Happened just the other day and I'm thinking "damn ... how many times am I going to have to say thanks, appreciate you letting me by". 

Only once

The Research store now has Trek signage. I'm kinda curious as to how long the Trek train can keep going. I'm also curious if they can sell enough bikes and parts along with service to keep the doors open.

I owned a Trek road bike years ago but wouldn't buy a Trek now. I think that their bikes are somewhat underwhelming especially for the price you pay getting a bike spec'd with house brand parts.

To each their own though I guess.

P.S. I also will never own a Specialized just because of their predatory business practices.

Here's a long term review of Onyx hubs. They are great hubs but come with a weight and wallet penalty.

https://bikepacking.com/gear/onyx-hubs-review/

14 minutes ago, Shanerpvt said:

Thanks for this.  Any idea how the Onyx Vesper hub compare in durability?  In principle the “cams” seem to operate like pawls?

 

Thanks for your thoughts,

Shaner

Onyx hubs use a sprag clutch design. It's essentially a roller bearing that engages in one direction and when not engaged there is no contact with the hub shell allowing it to freewheel with no friction from the drive mechanism. Here's a good video of how it operates.

15 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

I believe I have now replaced all the original outlets in our house.  As part of the project I mapped each breaker (I still have a few left to map).  I thought I was done with outlet swap years ago then discovered I had 10 more to do.  I've replaced almost all the light switches too.  For any of you in older homes with original electrical stuff, look into replacing them, especially if it's the cheaper builder grade stuff with press-in connections.  Several of my outlets came out in pieces, and several light switches had been arcing.  Breakers wear out too.

 

I need to do mine. Like you said the builder switches and outlets are garbage. I've replaced quite a few as of now but want to swap them all out. I've replaced a bunch of switches that came out in pieces. Kinda scary.

15 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

DT350/DT240 and the CK hubs have different drive mechanisms but I think they still experience extreme pressure.

DT spreads the load over the entire Star ratchet. Pawls spread the load over just the pawls that are engaged typically three pawls even on a 6 pawl freehub only three are usually engaged. Chris King uses a spiral gear for engagement that as load increases the spiral gear engages more. Pawls are OK but usually show their weakness with heavier stronger riders. Higher end pawl hubs usually hold up well it's the OE ones that come spec'd on some bikes that typically fail. Wheels are usually where bike companies cheap out. 

10 hours ago, Cafeend said:

Zero riders, shit ton of bugs

 

Bugs are protein😝

9 hours ago, Austin Smithey said:

I will get back to you on that as I don't need them right now per se. Certainly don't hold them for me if you've got other people asking. But I appreciate it nonetheless

Yeah no worries I'm not actively trying to sell them. Hit me up if you want them.

I felt fine yesterday after the shot arm wasn't even sore. Got some mild chills last night woke up with a mild headache and arm is sore. Like @AntonioGG said this is kind of a booster for me because I had covid. Should be GTG.

Found out I'm getting the J&J shot. One and done!

What are pawls? DT350😉

1 minute ago, AustinBike said:

The best vaccine that you can get is the first one they can put in your arm.

Technically have already had my first dose seeing as I've had Covid. But yeah however it needs to get done.