mack_turtle

If that is what I think it is, that trail has been repeatedly blocked and marked "no trespassing" by the land owner. We should stay out, lest we jeopardize access to everything else down there.

Let me rephrase that, I spent enough money on bike stuff this quarter that my wife would murder me in my sleep if I bought another bike.

I saw someone riding that or a Fairdale at 9th Street the other day. It did sound like a lot of fun to ride a BMX bike again, but I just spent a lot of money on bike stuff.

"don't worry, my dog is friendly" *Chomp* dog randomly walks up and bites me in the leg. *Thud* rider hits the ground trying to avoid running over hapless dog sniffing the trail. Yeah, off-leash dogs are fine... At a dog park where they are allowed to do that.

1. proximity to Austin so I can ride it. 2. shade, so it can be ridden in the summertime without baking alive. (get TXDoT to give us some space under an overpass!) 3. rollable pump track 4. drops of various heights 5. maze of skinnies 6. alligator pit to jump over. I dunno, never ridden a bike park.

Brand new, never installed Surly Karate Monkey rigid fork. Includes axle. Made for Boost hubs, so you will need a 110mm front axle or an adapter to make a 100mm hub fit. Retails for $175. Details below: https://surlybikes.com/parts/karate_monkey_fork $150

I feel inspired. I recently overhauled my garage so I have more space to work on my bike in there. I'll find a permanent place to put the compressor and rig up a diy presta chuck on it. Should not be too hard to do.

This conversation just took an interesting turn.

I have a 2L soda bottle with two valves and a hose on it. Cost me nothing and works as well as one of those blaster pumps. I have a compressor as well but I need to just buy a presta chuck for it.

The sooner we get rid of those commie "public parks" the better!

great, so when do we get private access only to Walnut, Circle C, Mary Moore Seawright, Bull Creek, Saint Ed's, Brushy and all the rest of the trails that are full of riffraff? yee haw, Texas y'all! public access to land is for commies!

My dog keeps asking to go to fancy trails like this and I tell her, "sweetheart, you need to get a job and stop spending all daddy's money on your fancy trails. You need to get a J-O-B." But that lazy bitch refuses to work.

I have a monitor. Not sure if it has HMDI or VGA but either will work with the right cable. Resolution is not as important as visual real estate. I just need room to fit a few things on the screen at a time.

Can I climb the hill and then ride the lift back down?

Sunset Valley should do the same. That crazy lady that boobytraps Mordor can run the toll gate day and night.

Oh Austin. Never a missed opportunity to make poor folk feel unwelcome.

Touchpads always make me want to throw myself in front of an 18-wheeler (one that's moving fast, not 5:30 I-35 lower deck traffic). Give me a damn mouse! Never thought about keyboard feel. I might have to hook it up to a second monitor so I have more visual space to lay out my research materials. So it has to have a physical port to hook up an external monitor. I've done that with my old Lenovo Thinkpad with success, but it's dying now.

Does that flatten/ fill the muddy ruts your tires leave behind as you ride?

My laptop is on it's last leg. Looking for recommendations. I mostly need it for the freelance writing I do. I write articles using Google Docs and WordPress, so I really need something that won't bog down while using a browser. I'm not playing games or editing feature-length movies on it. I see some simple laptops online for under $300. Any reason why something that cheap is going to let me down?

As a person with a nerdy obsession with language and bicycles, how have I never read that?

Is that really a thing? I've built dozens of wheels and never gave that a second thought. Sounds like tin foil hat stuff.

JK. Use an online spoke calculator with your ERD measurement. Sheldon Brown has on in Excel format that has not let me down.

End of the spoke to the same on the opposite side of the wheel. You need two spokes with nipples and a rubber band to do this. https://www.bikeforums.net/13202085-post2.html Lefty hubs are tricky. Best too look up dimensions on that hub from Cannondale. Then use this zippy formula!

I learned how to build wheels from George French's guide on his old G-Sport site. I've built dozens of wheels over the years and it is not any more difficult than knitting or making pasta. That video makes it sound more complex than it is. Spend some time studying a wheel on your bike and the pattern that the spokes creates and it will come to you. Sheldon Brown has a great guide, and I have a copy of Jobst Brandt's book on the topic, in case anyone wants to borrow it. 1. Do not trust manufacturers' published ERD. Measure it yourself. 2. Get the spoke length correct within 1mm. Trying to build a wheel with spokes that are +/-2 mm wrong SUCKS. 3. Take your time. 4. A little lube on spoke ends goes a long way.