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mack_turtle

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Everything posted by mack_turtle

  1. I've been off the bike since January 1 this year with a shoulder injury. Riding any bike in any configuration is agony... until now. As I'm working my way through rehab, this is my new ride. Built around a Univega beach cruiser I found at Yellow Bike, I ditched most of the parts and started over. I had to buy the bottom bracket adapter cups and a shim for the handlebar, so I've spent less than $25 on it.
  2. I agree that the trend does lean toward standards of one sort or another. there are often a few different standards, but you don't see every single bike company making its own specific size seatpost, bottom bracket, hub sizes, etc. new standards arise, but they are few and far between. the same could be done for mounting batteries and motors. IIRC, boost spacing was a collaboration with Trek and ... SRAM? the UHD is another example. If a heavy-hitter like Shimano or Bosch worked with Specialized, Giant, or Trek, the others would follow suit and we would have something that more closely resembles a "standard" within a few short years. I don't know why bike manufacturers keep shooting themselves in the foot.
  3. I don't plan on leaving my neighborhood that day. a bunch of schools have closed because the traffic will be so nuts. I feel bad for people stuck on the highways in Hill Country.
  4. Get the most out of the tires. If they don't have enough bite but still have enough rubber to be functional, down-cycle them until bald. When tires are really gone, Yellow Bike recycles them. Recycling tires, as you probably know, is a hassle.
  5. coming soon! found a beach cruiser with canti posts, so it's getting th SS treatment, swept-back handlebar, and some sort of very un-serious baskets for hauling picnics.
  6. For anyone interested, the bridges were torn out by the local Karen Kommission a long time ago. that was a fun place to ride. fortunately, it's still totally rideable without the bridge.
  7. I've seen a lot bike/ luggage/ fish scales for sale online and they're often the same product with slightly different hardware. That would do it.
  8. Use the scale in the produce section at HEB. JK Ask around to borrow a kitchen scale or luggage scale.
  9. $50 for the pair. Tubeless ready but no sealant goop inside. (These were donated to Yellow Bike in very good condition. As a shop coordinator, I've been deputized to sell specialty items locally.)
  10. I can't help myself. I wanna try these brakes.
  11. https://www.mtbatx.com/bigassride2024 April 20, 2024 - 8:00 AM Rainout Date: April 27 This is a social ride around South Austin Trail Network (SATN) focused on the east theatre, open to everyone, with no registration, entry fee or donation required… this is just for fun! There are 2 routes totaling 42 miles: a 16-mile loop with Mary Moore Searight as the most westerly point. Or the full big east loop of 26 miles. This event is organized by volunteers from the SATN community and sponsored by Fast Friends Beer. The purpose of the Big Ass Ride is to share the joy of The South Austin Trail Network. Not only the 130 miles of single track, but also the fantastic SATN community of mountain bikers! Schedule 8:00 AM: Ride begins; please be ready to roll at this time. Do Not start early! 12:00 PM: Food, Brew, and prize drawing (sponsors announced soon). Location Fast Friends Beer313 N Interstate 35 Frontage Rd NB Austin, TX 78744 Routes TBA? I don't know, I'm out of the loop and just copy-paste stuff from the website. Im mostly stoked that I might be back on the bike in time to join, and Fast Friends is my current favorite spot in Austin for drinks and food.
  12. I'm hoping that if the surgeon confirms that surgery is the way to go, it will involve just trimming away the bone spurs that are pinching the nerve. Someone mentioned disc replacement as well, which sounds a little more drastic. Fusion sounds rough, but I'll get back to @CBaron when I learn more.
  13. That was the plan, but they have been trying for three years. Jumping from PT to spine surgery seems like a big jump. I love my PT, but it seems like this might be beyond their abilities.
  14. anyone have neck injury stories to share, especially if they relate to local healthcare providers? three years ago I noticed pain in my shoulder and left arm. I went to PT off and on for a year while they treated it as a shoulder injury, and thought it was resolved. then it came back hard. more PT with Airrosti gets relief for a week or maybe two months, but it comes back. I finally got an MRI this past summer and confirmed that the narrow passage where the nerves exit my spinal cord around C7 and down my left arm has spurs that pinch the nerve. my left arm is often sore and weak. I've had to end many bike rides early and skipped a few rides and events because I don't want to show up for something and then just hobble home in pain. I ended my NYD ride after about 30 minutes because I almost crashed in a rock garden when my left arm turned to jelly. I had a steroid injection the past summer, which got me through a few months pain-free. the pain came back in December and was unbearable by New Years. I rode last on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 and haven't touched my bike since. I had a second steroid injection on Jan. 10, which did absolutely nothing for me. I managed to get an appointment with a neurosurgeon next week to discuss more drastic options. from what I've read, this becomes a problem for some people after 50 or 60, not 42! it sounds like the problems I experience come from either inflammation, or structural bone issues. inflammation can be treated with PT and anti-inflammatories. bone-spur pinching means surgery—probably the kind where they root out the opening in the bone and maybe replace a disc if it's herniated, but not the kind where they fuse vertebrae together with screws and plates. yikes!
  15. Late reply, but I did a sleep study and found that I have mild apnea. Several of the men in my family suffer as well. Instead of a cpap machine, I put a 1" long piece of medical tape vertically cross my lips each night. It seals my lips shut so I can't snore, and breathe exclusively through my nose. Sounds too simple but it has worked for me for the past year. I also haven't had my usual bout of cedar fever (yet), so we'll see how that goes.
  16. Please weigh the bare frame you you get it. I want to know if mine was a fluke, as it was well over seven pounds for a medium made with Reynolds 725.
  17. https://www.reddit.com/r/ebikes/s/XY7CBrRtcE Synopsis: bike shops apparently need special insurance to work on ebikes. $25k+ per year. This puts bike shop and insurance companies in a tough place. I suspect much of this has to do with crappy ebikes with unstable batteries.
  18. thank you, I was wondering if I wanted to renew my subscription. now I know that I'll skip that.
  19. I'm experimenting with flat bar gravel again. Anyone have a flat 31.8mm clamp bar in the 680-700mm range? I checked Yellow Bike and they have a handful of really nice wide bars that I would not feel good about chopping down, and the rest are itty bitty bars that have already been chopped down to useless width by hipsters (says the guy trying to convert a drop-bar bike to a flat bar!).
  20. Look what I found at Yellow Bike! I have no idea who did this, but it appears to be a 170–150 mm conversion. I found what I believe to be the appropriate Octalink v2 BB. Can't wait to try it!
  21. this is the kind of thing that makes me want to go full old man shaking fist at cloud rant. all these companies know exactly what they are doing, and they don't care. they will trot out a yearly sustainability report full of greenwashed nonsense. most of those batteries will end up in a landfill. a few of them will get tossed in municipal recycling bins, where they will start fires that injure workers and damage facilities (yes, this happens all time). I'd be curious to know how many of them are properly recycled. recycling is one of the least impactful ways to reduce waste, but for things like this, the damage has already been done and it's the best way.
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