mack_turtle

good riddance. I worked at one of their stores for a month. I hated myself until I left to work for a better shop.

I worked at a store in another state. he had a two-month wait list to get simple repairs like flat tires done, but they would only put me on the schedule for 18 hours a week. we had to tell customers that we "didn't have enough staff" to get more done. the sales people were sizing bikes by 1970s methods, the mechanics were paid just a smidge over minimum wage. I watched a "mechanic" try to remove a square taper crank arm from a customer's bike using hammer until I stopped him and showed him how to use a crank puller. I was explicitly told to cut corners, never take the time to test ride bikes, and filled out work orders in pen on four-part forms with a full UPC digit code for each work item done on the bike.

I asked Santa for a new fish tank. I need a bigger one.

I just saw a note on Nextdoor from someone in the Oak Hill area who has to give up their 9yo female blue heeler. PM me if you want to contact them.

3 hours ago, Teamsloan said:

Seriously, someone needs to invite Chris to Austin.

Big Wheels Keep On Turning

I discovered Akrigg's videos a few years ago. He can do anything on ANY bicycle and does so. he makes it look easy, too.

Doesn't this basically happen every fall? Are we not used to it by now?

I'll throw some of the lugs that fell off my X-Kings into a cup of boiled Shimano Mineral oil and see what the Spirits say tonight. We certainly don't want to make a mistake!

42 minutes ago, TheX said:

Why does gawd hate us?

She will stop hating us as soon as someone throws the bicycle equivalent of a Vestal Virgin off Mansfield dam. The Oracle has spoken.

Custom-painted and armored Evil? Sign me up!

1 minute ago, mack_turtle said:

 

Accident double post.

I doubt my POS is going to suffice, but it's worth a shot, right? It's decent but it's no Isaac.

Next topic: who is going to donate to my new bike fund after I throw my only mountain bike off the dam? Don't worry, I'll make a Kickstarter campaign.

The time has come. Who is going to throw their favorite bike off the Mansfield dam so that it will stop raining?

not a trail dog. good post-ride cuddler.

she was a monster for Halloween last year.

On 10/31/2018 at 7:24 AM, The Tip said:

I don't think we should fear things that bring more people to mountain biking. There is not a "finite amount of trails." Demand will increase supply.

You sure about that? I think fear feel confident that demand for trails from e-bikers will come in the form of the kind of asshattery that ZJ described above. You probably have a better idea of how land managers are responding to the increased traffic on SATN, much of which is unsanctioned. take the amount of pushback we get from NIMBYs and imagine a bunch of motorized noobs thrown into the mix getting lost and injured, widening trails, dumbing down features, and bikes catching on fire.

There is, in fact, a finite amount of trails here because there's a finite amount of land where we are allowed to build and ride, or at least where it is tolerated.

I have practical concerns about access, but the drive to put a motor on everything really has me down. We're a generation away from the fat people on floating beach chairs in Wall-e.

I understand there are people who "need" a e-assist bike to ride at all, and it's awesome that they have that option now. I am skeptical that there are enough interested customer to truly need such a thing to justify the large-scale manufacture of bikes like the Domane+ and the Turbo Levo. I could be wrong, but I'll bet a vast majority of those bikes are sold to sissypants non-riders with money burning a hole in their pockets. If they are having fun, that's fine. I will smugly judge them for being sissypants non-riders as they whiz past me on their sub-motorcycles.

like I said, an e-bike is a great solution to traffic, pollution, and health. the new pedal-assisted motorbikes on the top end are lame. get off my lawn.

53 minutes ago, WhoAmI said:

Trek now has an electric-assist Domane..

I missed that one. not surprising. who actually buys these things, and do they ride them?

yeah, e-bikes are an awesome option for commuters. if my commute was a little shorter, I would consider buying one. those are usually hybrids though. there are very, very few actual electric-assist road bikes.

for example, Specialized could probably not wait to get an S-Works Turbo Levo to market, but there's no electric-assist Venge yet. it's probably in the works, but the market for eMTBs is way ahead of the eRoad bike market. why is that?

I think eMTBs are heretical and embarrassing. there are good reasons why a sliver the the market would benefit from an eMTB, but if you need and eMTB, you're going to have a miserable time wrangling it over technical trails for the same reasons that you need electric assist. the rest of the customers who buy something so dumb are lazy assholes, full stop. get off my lawn.

good on roadies for maintaining their dignity through this and resisting the nonsense instead of being helpless snowflakes and putting motors on their bikes. 

I watched all three Pitch Perfect movies (yes, there are three) and I loved them.

Anyone care to guess why there's a market for e-mtbs but not really for e-road bikes?

SCNP has a Facebook page with status updates. It was closed as of 7 Friday night.

bathe in a fish tank.

watch party at... someone else' house!

9 hours ago, Ridenfool said:

Grammar nag mode on:

Seth has a slightly used "then" in another thread that could be swapped for that "than" in the sentence above to balance things out nicely.

 Did he buy that  then on eBay? Did he paint it? If so, don't buy it!

And they wonder why people are skeptical about their motives!

I rode SATN once when things we're dry but still damp enough for me to wash out at low speed and bruise myself up badly. I wait until the dirt is OK + another day most of the time.

I went on a little hike on BCGB on Sunday and saw two mountain bikers. One had a dork disc and reflectors on his bike and probably didn't know any better. The other was clearly a seasoned rider who knew what he was in for. Aside from a few low, sloppy spots, the dirt was just dry enough to ride without doing damage, so I didn't get grumpy. The rocks and roots, however, we're slick enough under my Stealth-soled trail runners that I would not have enjoyed riding it.

out of the thousands of QR skewers I have touched over the years, I have never seen a nut on one. could be some old school kludge or just a mistake someone made while installing it. I'd just remove it.