Ridenfool

Yes a giant of a Pecan tree that had the misfortune of growing in a boggy, sandy spot which all the recent rains had saturated. When the Big Blow of 2019 came through that huge amount of sail area it had so magnificently grown became quite literally its downfall. It will continue in the cycle of life helping make great barbeque and other worthwhile purposes for many years to come.

Thanks for the hand brother! 😎

Pics, or, well, you know ...

Let's have no more blaspheming in the Church of the Knobby Tire. 😙

Too hot to ride anyway, think I'll do yard work instead ... Or roofing. That's always fun in 100 degree weather ... We had a little wind this afternoon it seems.

Part bicycle, part bobsled.

I think that is one of those newfangled ErgoNOTmic designs.

If it is an option available to Admin, could you monitor threads that have been Ignored, counting how many ignored it as one means of detecting less useful contributions?

That all makes perfect sense regarding how many supply chains can work. The purchase decision was based on the number of independent reviews I was able to find. Brand-X had a lot more. Mostly of EU MTB product reviewers from magazines and websites, and there was mention in some of the reviews how the same product is marketed under a number of brands. PNW has great reviews too, but not nearly as many as did Brand-X at the time I was shopping for a dropper. The sheer volume of positive reviews over long term evaluations by EU MTB professionals and consumers, along with the low price, tilted my purchase decision toward ChainReaction/Wiggle.com. Well, that, and it is kinda cool buying something from England while getting the lowest price, free shipping, and reasonably quick delivery from a company that also has a great rep for customer service. No matter where you buy it, this seems to be a very dependable dropper that all but the weight-weinies will love for long time.

Yeah, I did have issues installing and using the Brand-X lever, and this was mentioned in several reviews prior to purchase. Though this one is vastly improved over the previous, I may go looking for another lever like the Loam some day. Paying a little more for an easy to use customer service channel is certainly worth something. I'd probably buy another post before trying to do a return across the pond. Fortunately, these seem to be quite well reviewed and known for their durability.

... and let's not forget the Mojo .sig that provided a good sampling

I've seen the same post flying at least four different brand names. Brand-X, TranzX, PNW, and, Performance Bike had it on the shelf in Austin under their house brand. Compare the physical appearance, the little identifying bits and pieces and it is highly likely these are the same product with different labels. A quick search turned this up ... https://stravaigingmtb.com/2017/11/27/so-who-the-hell-made-this-dropper-post/

Adding a Narrow-Wide chainring isn't going to break the bank either. Well worth the investment for keeping the chain in place.

FWIW, several of the posts that PNW offers are often available from Chain Reaction or their sister site Wiggle.com, on sale as "Brand-X" for about $125 https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/s?q=dropper&f=4294967079 https://www.wiggle.com/dropper-seats-posts/?ea=4294554479

Got some Madrone last Friday afternoon. The 90+ temps kicked my butt, but the trail was as Madrone as always. There seemed to be a lot more "established" shortcuts and such that made following the actual trail tough at times. Hikers? This seemed to diminish significantly once I crossed the road. Like most places this year, it could use a trim in several spots thanks to the rain. It was a brutal ride, and I eventually chose to cut out a section at the road crossing after Ramp 18 where the trail goes on up to the Marina, then, got back on the trail at the Marina road to finish up. Just thinking of some of those sections along there by the boat storage and on up to the marina driveway was enough for me to concede defeat. Note to self: Save riding Madrone for when the temperature is no higher than 80.

It seems the plethora of examples of ways to impersonate a brand name have YETI be exhausted.

Those BB7 bleed kits are as rare as hen's teeth.

Maybe, consider buying a case/pocket that mounts on a backpack strap for easier access to the phone, and save the rest to put toward buying your next bike. 😎

Having some experience with knee injuries, the Orthos have all endorsed bicycle riding as being the BEST thing I can do to keep the joints lubed, muscles strong and things working well. Depending upon his knee problem, riding will most likely be a relief more than an issue. Sounds like he's in a group that will get him set up with frame size, fit, etc. So, how long do you estimate before you can get him to ATX on a bike and punish him on the local trails with a little sibling rivalry and home court advantage?

That sounds awesome! I'm starting to salivate just thinking about it. 🥜🥓🍌🍯🥪

I tend to buy used with 50K to 75K miles on the clock. Usually will get rid of the car at somewhere between 150K and 200K miles. Generally this is about five to as high as seven years, depending on whether I have one or two vehicles in play at a the same time.

Perhaps you should take into account that electric and autonomous are not necessarily synonymous. (say that ten times quickly)

Using both a smart watch and a bike computer I've found the GPS in the watch is consistently lagging by just shy of 1/10 mile for each trail mile the bike computer counts wheel revolutions for. (measured rolling diameter used to calibrate the bike computer) A recent 15.6 mile ride on the computer indicated 14.1 on the GPS based watch app. GPS is taking points at a timed interval and calculating speed and distance. Riding more consistently on a curve or arc, instead of a straight line, actually travels further than the distance GPS calculates by drawing straight lines between the points it records. The more points per minute it takes the more accurate GPS can be. (though there can be other gains or losses inherent to GPS) Likewise, the twister the trail, the less distance than actually ridden may be recorded by a GPS based app. Straaaaaaaaaaaaaaava uploads that are based on GPS will be a more useful and accurate tool for those who spend more of their time riding in a straight line than for those riding one curve after another. YMMV (ha ha)

Once I came to the realization that no car I've owned stayed mine for more than a few years I quit dumping tons of money in them. Other folks, can get a little carried away with the customization game ...

Thought it was backpack season already with the temps rising last week. So, I opted to ride 15 miles at RHR with the 3 liter jug in the Osprey Raptor backpack. Got done and found I had only drank about a liter. Back to the 1.5 liter Seral waist pack next time, with half the water weight penalty and no sweaty back coverage. Still, choice is better than no choice and they both are kept in the van whenever I'm off to the trails.