mack_turtle

IME, bike companies are extremely generous with these things. A simple email to Camelback with a photo of the tear will likely result in them sending you a new one hastily. they don't want you buying another hydration pack from a different company. your loyalty as a customer is worth far more to them than the cost of making and shipping a new product to you.

Back to Kiwi humor: if you enjoyed What We Do in the Shadows (mockumentary about vampires), Wellington Paranormal is a spin-off from Shadows on HBO. On the other end of the spectrum is Betty, a coming of age series about young female skaters in NYC. I can't explain why it's so darn good.

anyone else riding a klunker on occasion? Hardtail Party just released his video of a klunker group ride and it has be interested. I'll probably regret all this, but a highly modified old bike with a coaster brake could be a fun challenge.

My shoulder hurt just looking at that.

I don't know much about it other than gamers really like it for chatting about games. someone invited me to join the Austin MTB group there and it's intensionally chill. The largest Austin MTB Facebook group has its share of obnoxious trolls, some of them people who have been kicked off of here, so I avoid that too.

MTBR was a major source of stress for me, actually. I'm conversing with the locals on Discord because it's a great source of hyper-local info with minimal drama.

Did you Google "camelback bladder repair"? Several videos and DIY guides come up. Companies like Camelback are very generous with stuff like this.

I agree with Fay Ivey at this point https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/23/alabama-governor-covid-vaccinations-500638

TruckerCo. pads have been good to me and might be easier to find. look for some of those to fit your brakes.

I was really active on some other message boards and such (too much time on my hands?) and this spring, I just logged off and have not gotten back on. this particular forum is the only one where I participate. I think it's more welcoming because it's local and most of the people here meet each other at one time or another. with forums that are global, you get all kinds of kooks being obnoxious because everyone is a stranger. I got burned out on arguing with people over nitpicky things. but stuff like this can take a lot of time and cause some stress, so it's better to leave if it's not adding enough positivity to your life.

how many of those "like new" bikes really are new, because someone rammed a truck through the front wall of a bike shop to get them?

https://www.al.com/news/2021/07/im-sorry-but-its-too-late-alabama-doctor-on-treating-unvaccinated-dying-covid-patients.html

the last time I saw an outer race stuck inside a hub, the answer was to very carefully cut and notch in the bearing using a rotary tool with a tiny cut-off wheel, so it's a C-shape with a narrow opening, then pry it out. not easy and there's potential to damage it. but it might be the only choice. the other way is to wedge something inside the race and knock it out. you need something with an expanding wedge. what's the ID of the race? could a headset compression wedge fit in there? shove a sacrificial star nut in? some sort of concrete anchor? if you can find a pipe that fits in there, cut some slots in the end, and thread a nut and bolt through it, you could make a custom expanding wedge. there are various kinds of "blind bearing puller" tools that might do the trick.

hm, maybe we can do that after all. might be a ton of hassle to do so within less than a month of the opening though.