mack_turtle

I live in the middle of SATN. I know my way around it pretty well at this point, although I don't know the names of every segment.The network is very difficult to navigate due to its patchwork format, so riders new to the area will need a guide present or spend a lot of time staring at maps to get the most out of it. A physical guide is not always available and, from personal experience, guiding someone whose skills don’t match mine (either they are too fast or too slow) through the trails can be frustrating. Turn-by-turn navigation on a GPS unit has been pretty useless in the wood, but it might be improving. I have a relatively low-tech solution I’d like to try to help riders navigate the area for the first time: record audio of myself narrating the trail as I ride it, edit it down into sections, and share it like a podcast. A rider could download it and listen to me jabber at them about upcoming intersections, tricky sections, where to bail out if necessary, etc. It would be like one of those audio tour guides that you pick up at a museum. Most headphones have controls built into the unit, so a rider could pause the recording easily if I they fall behind my narrative and need to catch up. Before I try such a thing, what legal and pragmatic concerns should I consider? I’ll have to get the following sorted out: Sound quality- I have my phone, a headset with a built-in speaker, and a standalone digital voice recorder as well. I’ll have to experiment with sound quality, but my main concern would be mitigating wind noise. Maybe rig the recorder to my chest and put a fuzzy wind-cancelling ball on the mic? Legal- I don’t want to be held responsible if someone gets lost, injured, or stumbles into a private property while using my guide. I would err on the side of caution when it comes to guiding people through grey area trails, which is a lot of this system- trails that connect greenbelts that the neighbors use openly to walk their dogs and ride bikes, but most is not recognized by the city. User experience- I want to ride at a slow enough pace that even slow riders can keep up and set it up so they can pause it if they don’t make it to the next landmark when I do in the recording. This will mostly be a matter of my skill as a narrator. I would also break the tour into segments, maybe 5 or 10 mile loops that riders can download individually and string together any way they choose. My hope is just that a few people will find this useful, and I’ll have fun doing it. No expectations that I’ll make money or change the world with this. If it is successful, maybe other people will make their own audio trail tours and make them better than mine.

I learned long ago that I would never be satisfied with a stock bike, so every "bicycle" I have owned has been an evolution of the same three bikes: BMX, singlespeed mtb, road/gravel/ CX bike. I started riding BMX in the mid 90s on a bike that I cobbled together out of parts I literally found in the trash. I bought a used mtb in 2009, then put the best parts on a plain old 2010 Monocog. Within a year, I had replaced everything on the 'cog except the frame, hubs, and stem. I can't see myself ever buying a regular new, complete bike for this reason.

Bike that fits and works. Brakes, shifting, suspension, etc. Helmet that fits comfortably. Try a few on. Ventilation is important. A $50 helmet will be just fine. Some method of carrying water. Lots of water, actually, because the heat will zap it out of you fast. Glasses to keep bugs and stuff out of your eyeballs. The $5 ones from Harbor Freight are just fine if you don't need RX lenses. Clear or lightly tinted lenses for riding in the woods. Comfy athletic clothes. Avoid cotton. Cycling shorts are a good idea for longer rides to protect your taint. Gloves. Never expensive but hardware store work gloves (like Mechanic) can work. You will fall and use your hands to stop yourself at some point. Multi-tool, spare tube, portable pump. Walnut is a great place to start. Roy Guerro Park has a little trails. Slaughter Creek Nature Preserve in South Austin a great because it's not terribly difficult and it's impossible to get lost as it's a one-way loop. Tuesday nights at 6:00 behind ATX Bikes on Slaughter is Crank n Drank, weather permitting. It's a great ride for all abilities. SATN is very difficult to navigate on your own. I don't know a lot about Freeride512, but you need to look up what "freeride" is first. That might be a bit advanced for you even at the beginner level. Let me know if you want to explore SATN or need mechanical help with the bike.

Many people regret buying bikes with SRAM brakes. If that's the only holdup, remove and sell the SRAM brakes before you even ride the bike so you can sell them as "brand new" takeoffs and use the funds for some proper Shimano brakes.

It happens every week I am there, multiple times each night. Every time, the drivers look PISSED. For some reason, I pay attention to these things. The first few times I saw it, I yelled to get riders out of the middle of the driveway but I am usually ignored. I've stopped trying.

To be fair, at every CnD I have attended, y'all stand around blocking the driveway like a bunch of dickheads while several cars drive up, stop, then reverse direction so they can leave. If you have a little respect for other people (like the people whose back yards and golf courses you ride through instead of taking the alternative route that is also trail) maybe stuff like this would not happen. Can CnD riders start congregating at the spillway behind Alamo Drafthouse or in the parking lot just west of ATX Bikes?

That could work out if you're trying to build a monster cross frankenbike type thing. There's no specific reason you need a drop bar on a gravel bike, but it's nice to have additional hand positions. It may be tricky to get the handlebar in the right position on a mtb that does fit you, but a smaller frame might be easier. The trick is getting the handlebar high enough. See my comments on the "I want a hardtail" thread.

Are you interested in participating in some gravel races? Are you competing to win or just for fun? A hardtail/ rigid mtb with some lightweight tires and and alternative hand position like some classic Cane Creek bar ends would be just fine. No need for a gravel-specific bike. I've ridden a few gravel races over the years on CX and touring bikes. Salsa Cowbells have been great on that kind of ride. Currently I have a SSCX bike with tubeless 35/38mm tires, 38/16 gearing, Cowbells. Last year I rode Come and Grind it, Castell, and Hill Country Hundy with 32-35mm tires. Everyone frets over giant tires but I've never felt like anything bigger than 35mm tires are needed. If I truly need tires bigger than that, I'll just ride a mountain bike. I also did just fine at Chainring Massacre on a rigid steel singlespeed 29er with a taller gear than what I would have used on trails, Schwalbe Thunder Burt 29x2.1 tires, and some Ergon bar ends. So far, Castell Grind is my favorite event, but the terrain on Hill Country Hundy has been my favorite.

Is this problem exclusive to FS bikes? Is it possible that the left and right dropouts move independent from one another just enough to cause a thru axle to loosen?

Not sure how long any sort of thread-locker would hold after several uses, but it's not a bad idea. Wrapping the threads in plumbing Teflon tape or nail polish might help. I always keep a bottle of cheap nail polish around just for this reason. Be sure to get something glittery that complements your eye color, but the clear stuff works too.

I would look into how true "dirt drops" are supposed to be set up. With a traditional drop bar on a road bike, you set it up so you can ride on the hoods or in the hooks. For a true dirt drop setup, the hoods are useless because you set it up for riding in the hooks only. The brake levers will be much farther down the bend than on a road setup. The in-the-hooks position means you need to get the handlebar quite high in the air, which is why you see those Carlie Cunningham style bikes with tall headtubes and freakishly tall LD stems.

Crowding makes people "rude" anywhere. Now let's talk about snakes.

I Googled it before posting. I am right and you are incorrect. I need to work on my thumb spelling skills, though. I confess that it is fun to say "go back to California" to strangers.

About half of the people moving to the Austin area are moving from other parts of Texas. Californians are a tiny minority of people who have moved here in the past decade or so. It's a fun stereotype, but the idea that "Californians are invading Austin" is fake news bullshit that placates the Fox news know-nothing narative. Give it up.

https://www.ergotec.de/en/products/vorbauten/sub/ahead-vorbau/produkt/high-charisma-31-8.html

Seriously, I love wrapping bars. It's therapeutic to get the spacing just right, wrapped the right direction, tucked in the ends, neatly taped at the center. Hotter line up those shifters first though. I recommend a tailor's tape measure for the job.

What on Earth is happening here? Lemme know if you want help taping a handlebar. I can't stand knowing that this exists in the world.

Many of the female Texas brown tarantulas you encounter might be older than you. Studies have tracked some for forty years but there have not been any studies long enough to see how old they really can be.

Read up on coral snakes. Very venomous but not very dangerous to people. Basically, you have to do something really stupid and let the coral snakes chew on you. No deaths from a Western coral snakes have ever been reported. Rattlesnakes, on the other hand, are scary AF.

I think there was a stolen bike list for Austin on Facebook too. File a police report and check with pawn shops.

This, however, is not fooling around.

It was published around the beginning of April. Kind of a weird time to announce a new product, right?

https://www.pinkbike.com/u/the-rise/blog/the-rise-introduces-worlds-first-hydraulic-handlebars.html

I attempted to contact the organizers of this event via FB several days ago. no response.

photos of these bikes would help.