mack_turtle

I'd rather risk my face than heat stroke in a full lid!

Have not heard that one before!

San Antonio

Almost all of the "single speed" bikes on the market have a derailer hanger, in case you decide to puss out with gears. If you're hardcore, you take a hacksaw to it.

This poster is in my office. Not sure where I can get more.

Surly Lowside, Kona Unit, All City Log Lady if you can still find one. Any bike that was designed around a 100mm fork can probably take a rigid fork without adverse side effects. Buy something with a crappy fork and replace it with a Surly fork.

Welcome to Austin.

Worth a shot: anyone have a trashed front wheel with a boost hub on it I can salvage? I have mine set up with spacers but I'm going to build a wider rim and a proper 15x110 hub eventually.

I have a Two Fish mount that works just fine on my mtb because it's a snug fit on the wider seat tube on that bike. It feels floppy on the narrow steel seat tube of my CX bike and I doubt the similar options will be any more secure. I want to bolt on something solid and permanent. Upon further research, it looks like I can install rivnuts without the fancy tool.

I have a steel CX bike that only has holes to mount a water bottle cage on the downtube. I bought a Two Fish bottle cage strap but I find it to be finicky on this bike. I'd like to drill my set tube and install proper rivnuts for a second bottle. Anyone have tools and experience to do this at home?

To clarify, I am not saying that stiffer cycling shoes would not help. Just offering some pushback from the notion that orthotic insoles solve all foot problems. Most of the time, they mask a deeper underlying problem that is now a ticking time bomb that is going to start hurting someplace else.

Xero sneakers. I wear these to work every day (Lems makes some similar dress shoes) and I've walked thousands of miles in shoes like this over the past few years. I get blisters on my toes on very long vacation days, but my feet rarely hurt anymore. I ride in Five Ten Freeriders with flats and Maltese Falcons on SPD or Giro Carbide shoes for clipping in. These are fine for riding bikes because they are efficient and protect my feet from rocks, but they are the opposite of what I would wear as everyday shoes.

As Brent said, could be cleat placement. Not a fan of orthotics anymore. That's like putting a permanent cast on your foot. The human foot is a breathtakingly elegant peice of biological architecture that supports itself if you keep it strong. Part of that means not crippling them with overly supportive, stuff shoes and insoles. I like shoes that protect me for the task I am doing, but my feet rarely hurt anymore because I don't crutch them. Look up Katy Bowman. There's also a good chance that your issue has nothing to do with your feet. I am not even going to start playing Web MD for you there. There are dozens of things that could be amiss. You need to see a medical professional to sort that out. I highly recommend the medical wizards at Endeavor Physical Therapy.

Road brake levers fit that bar, so it must be a 23.8mm roadie moustache bar.

I have two Surly cogs- 17 and 18 tooth.

Most are universal. The just space both sides of the axle 5mm and space the rotor out 5mm. Nothing hub specific about that. Found one on Amazon for $5, but those idiots sent me a rear adapter instead of a front.

Serious question: in what manner were the bikes locked to the car, if at all? Just curious to see if theives are stealing "convenient" targets of if they are going to the trouble of cutting locks.

Of the last few stolen bike alerts I have seen here, several have been from the Domain area. Seems like a trend. Keep you shit locked down hard around there!

Local used from someone trustworthy seemed fine this time. My previous experience was with an older fork from an unknown seller. The inside of the air spring had a big scratch in it that took a long time to diagnose because I was a suspension noob. (Still am.) I resolved it by switching the air spring and damper on the csu.

Gonna buy a used Fox 34 from @4fun. I think it's 130mm. I want to reduce the travel but I'll probably learn to love the extra squish and leave it.

44mm straight, so a tapered fork fits not problem. That's what I have now. Two forks like that, actually.

People who still like the precision of 2x and 3x drivetrains are raging right now. I like the idea though.

Got a new fork but my front wheel is 10mm too narrow.

Most shops with a QBP account, which is most of them, can order Surly stuff. I bought mine at ATX Bikes because they have been so supportive of the south Austin scene. It was a frame only. I didn't use the fork and sold it. I've seen Surly bikes in stock at Bicycle Sport Shop, and Surly just came out with a complete KM option with a suspension fork. The difference is that the KM has a higher bottom bracket and a moderate reach compared to some similar bikes that are longer and lower. I prefer this more compact fit to something that is taller, lower, and longer. Personal preference because I like my bike to handle poppy like a trials/ BMX bike over a longer sled-like feel. If I rode a Honzo, I'd have to size down to get the style of handling I prefer. You may prefer the latter. If you have the opportunity to compare two similar bikes side by side, set each up so the grips are the same distance from the BB. Same hieght/ horizontal distance of you can work that out. This will tell you how the bike handles when you're standing and wrangling the bike over terrain, especially if you're going to make full use of a dropper post. Don't compare distance from the bars to the saddle at all at first, as that, IMO, is secondarily important to standing fit, especially on a hardtail.

I've spent way too much time over-analyzing hardtails. I can share with you my take on those three, plus a few others. I ended up buying a Karate Monkey this time around.