mack_turtle

I confirmed today that Yellow Bike will recycle tires. They have some sort of deal with a local tire recycler. Makes sense: accept and recycle tires from a local non-profit and write it off on taxes. Win-win-win.

In other news, I might have just volunteered to teach a wheel-building class at YBP.

It looks like I'm covered for a good modern bike to borrow. Thank you for all the suggestions!

I don't think I'll be able cobble together enough parts to build something from the frame up, but let me know what you find out about the size.

I am getting a new frame, but ETA is two months out. I'm going to spend quality time with my gravel bike in the meantime, but riding a retro 26" bike for a while might also help me pass the time. 17-18" frame, rim brakes, skinny tires? 

I didn't weigh the bike until after two rides. Something felt off, like the bike was a lot more reluctant to leave the ground than anything in experience. I took it apart for now in case I can sell it. The objective weight just confirmed that I'm not enjoying this bike for subjective reasons. Too bad, because this will be a rad bike for someone who needs something burly.

It's weird and mental, but so am I. I'm spending some quality time with the gravel bike in the meanwhile. Trails are in great shape but I spent over four hours exploring from behind a drop bar and I feel satisfied.

If they're not useful on a bicycle any more, it might be really difficult. I worked in a bike co-op for a while and getting rid of our mountain of tires was very difficult. Please ask Yellow Bike what they do with worn-out tires. They might just landfill them.

16 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

According to the interwebs my Vassago is 4.98 pounds. I have never weighed the full bike but I am guessing, with a Fox fork and a dropper that I am just under 24. While a few more pounds does not seem like a wildly different amount, when you factor it into pulling the bike over ledges, etc, then that extra weight starts to matter.

I think this is what people leave out when they say "bike weight doesn't matter." just pedaling the bike up a hill is one thing, but wrangling extra pounds up and over endless Barton Creek rock ledges takes its toll after a few hours. I love that terrain, too.

4 minutes ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

I've got a steel SS that's 21#. Probably a 4# frame. Rigid carbon fork but nothing else strangely light. Even with a suspension fork and 3# of extra frame, you've still got a few lbs of extra you could lose.

I have a rigid fork option. it's still quite heavy, and without the benefit of not beating me up so much. Industry Nine rear wheel, 28 spokes all around, nothing else on the bike is particularly heavy. that stiff, heavy frame, however, makes a difference. I honestly don't know where else to make this bike more tolerable.

1 hour ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

If you have a 30# SS, the 7lb frame is only a little of the problem.

I don't know what that means, but none of the parts on this bike are particularly heavy. the 7 pound, 3 ounce frame, however, is quite a bit heavier than anything I've ever owned, and I had a ROS9 at one point.

1 minute ago, AustinBike said:

Yeah, I am ~1 pound under you in bike weight for full squish and gears. Good ride yesterday I think fuel was more of a challenge than bike weight.

I was certainly under-fueled yesterday for a BCGB beatdown. I need to get stronger, but damn. Everything hurts. Someone told me that the bike-to-rider weight ratio is off, and it could be more fun to fix that by gaining 90 pounds instead of losing a few pounds on the bike. give me the carbs! In the meanwhile, I'm going to swap the 19t cog in the back for a 20t so I can spin it up a little easier.

16 minutes ago, bestbike85 said:

I'm pretty oblivious to frame weights alone.

Do you have a full build weight out of curiosity. 

Over 31 pounds for a bike with one gear for a 165-pound rider. I had a good time riding it today, but it wears me out. I'm reconsidering my current attempt to lose weight.

2 minutes ago, 4fun said:

I’m not seeing the frame on marketplace.

More of a feeler post than anything else, but it's here:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1412970172783697/?mibextid=dXMIcH

9 minutes ago, RonSurly said:

If money is an issue, here’s the frame I’m using.  No complaints been great 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Gravity-Deadeye-Frameset-Unbranded-Mountain/dp/B0B3JTGMZ7/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?crid=25H5GFC1RIFQ8&keywords=bikes+direct+frame&qid=1676648654&sprefix=bikes+direct+frame%2Caps%2C265&sr=8-16

That would probably be a downgrade from the Karate Monkey I just sold. None of my parts would fit on it.

There's a good chance that all this bike needs is a rider with a different attitude. I doubt anyone is going to buy it from me, but I put it up just in case.

It's seriously over-built for me though. I'm 165 pounds and dropping another 5-10 pounds in the next few weeks. I'm sure that someone with an extra 100 pounds on me would find this bike to be just right.

5 minutes ago, RonSurly said:

Maybe you’d like it better if weighed less? 30 lbs for modern bikes is light but if riding tech where having to lift front/back up ledges/using a lot of arm strength. I prefer a lighter bike. Heavy modern fs bikes on buff single track or rough fast downhills/jumps are another thing and no problem maybe/probably better in that regard 

30 pounds is light for a FS bike with a huge gear range. This is a bare-bones XC hardtail with one gear. I had a similar feeling from the Niner ROS9 that I ride for a few weeks. It was a tank!

I put the frame up for sale just in case it gets any interest. I could get lucky but I need to learn to be content with what I have. It's very unlikely that I'll sell it and have any cash leftover to buy something different, so that's probably a bad idea.

I've spent my budget on bike crap for the year already. Just bought a new fork, seatpost, and frame. Stuff is expensive. Sorry to keep whining about one thing or another.

45 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

Is two rides enough? 

I have found that my body settles in and I get the feel of a bike after 3-4 rides, at least. The more different the bike is the longer it takes.

This is fair. Truth be told, when I pulled it out of the box and discovered that it weighs nearly seven pounds, I started building a case against this bike subconsciously. When I ride it, I can't get that amount of dead weight out of my head. There's a possibility that it lacks that "steel is real" feel, but I don't have enough of a frame of reference to judge that. It works and it's not stopping me, but life is short. I'll give it a few more rides. The catch is that trying something different yet again is predicated on selling this frame, because the sale of one big item is what frees up the budget for the next.

Just now, Barry said:

Damn, that's too bad. But at least you're not a man given to perusing the sunk cost fallacy!

Sunk cost fallacy is mostly what keeps me riding at this point. "I keep spending money on this, so I must enjoy it!"

I've finally had the chance to ride this bike two times. I'm not digging it for some reason. The weight is a negligible problem. Some people say they can feel "ride quality," but I think I'm numb to these differences. Maybe that's what I'm feeling. It just doesn't feel alive to me.

It's definitely over-built for my weight and riding style, which would be fine if I weighed an extra 50 pounds. Reminds me of riding BMX in the late '90s, when everyone was riding 20" bikes that weighed close to 40 pounds. I can't put my finger on it. It's all subjective in the end, but if I could identify something specific, I might be able to address it with physical conditioning, a change of components, or just conclude that the frame is not as well suited for me as I expected.

@gotdurt, do you have anything to share about the "ride feel" of your original Marino? I'm I full of shit? (Don't answer that! No, really, am I?)

3 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Is there a route under I-35 from there? I ended up back on Barker after I couldn't find my way out of there.

My office overlooks the creek where that trail will go under I-35. The trail will go behind the Girl Scouts office building at some point, if my understanding is correct. It's a long way from being done. I don't see anything down there except some very advanced "camping" spots.

good call. reported on 311. there's no good reason to block a sidewalk that gives people access to a State Park.

I'm drawn to the rural-ness of east Austin, but it gets dicey fast. I'll keep my explore-from-home rides to more urban settings going forward. otherwise, I need to drive out to Lockhart or Llano to find settings that are safer.

curiosity finally got to me. I went on a quest to find the "Welcome to Jarden" sign as Moore's Crossing (it's gone 😞 ) and find out where all those bike paths near the airport go. in summary: it was a not a good route, but I got some pedaling in and had some fun.

coming from southwest Austin, I had to traverse east on William Cannon and wrap around McKinney Falls State Park. Parts of that were safe and comfortable, but at other parts, the shoulder would inexplicably disappear. There's a sidewalk on southbound McKinney Falls Pkwy that works for a while (I'm riding against traffic on that) but construction north of the Park has a tall fence blocking the sidewalk. I'm really surprised that they were allowed to put the fence right up against the curb and block the sidewalk. There's no safe way for anyone to follow that stretch of road now.

I pedaled to Burleson and away from the city on a relatively safe road to Moore's Crossing. that's a really nice park.

I continued on Burleson to 973 and headed north again. yikes. I forced this into a "gravel" ride by riding the dirt shoulder most of the way.

Just before reaching Hwy 71, I turned onto a smaller road that mysteriously has sidewalks and painted bike lanes. There are no buildings whatsoever. Contrary to what Google Maps says, there is no Del Valle Marketplace there.

I was thoroughly confused about the purpose of all this infrastructure, but I kept going.

It finally made sense when I started seeing large signs for a development called Velocity. Check that out! Seems interesting, like they're trying to build another Domain out past the Bergstrom Airport. This little corner of road must be the first bit of that, which they had to build first for some reason. I'm sure this will have no impact on traffic in the area!

There's a generous bike path along the highway here, which essentially connects no-one to no-where. I rode it to where 71 crosses Onion Creek, but the path abruptly ends. I was hoping there would be more paths to explore in the park, but I needed to head back. All this infrastructure with lights ($$), and it just ends here:

I made a poor line choice while crossing under the highway and rode through some thick mud, which stopped up my tires. 

I started heading back, using the bike paths that traverse the airport. These paths are pretty nice, but again, they don't really connect anything residential. It looks like no one ever uses them. I made the mistake of trying to go north on 973, past the Tesla facility. It's fine for a while, then becomes a super narrow highway with nowhere safe to ride, so I turned around. The bike paths past the airport lead you confidently back to 183, which has lovely bike routes back to the old Montopolis Bridge and east Cesar Chavez. This whole thing took longer than I anticipated. I was running out of daylight and it was getting cold, so my wife rescued me at Lustre Pearl.

takeaway: this could be part of an interesting route of mostly roads. The bit from east Austin to the airport is fine. it would work better as an out-and-back. getting to that area from southwest Austin is a lot harder, although it'd like to see if it would work better if I bypassed 973 and continued on Burleson where it becomes El Roy and taken Heine Farm back toward Onion Creek.

If I ever invite you to go "exploring" with me, it's mostly so I have someone to call EMS if I get run over by a redneck in a truck because I'm riding stupid places like this.

20 hours ago, Sluggo said:

Last 100 for 100 was 2011. Not that hard of a work around if you want to get by. 

I'll amend my statement: we have 100+ days of weather that is miserably hot. I do my best to inform the world of this fact in the hope that fewer people will move here. You're welcome.

 https://weatherspark.com/y/8004/Average-Weather-in-Austin-Texas-United-States-Year-Round

Edit: Sorry for all the negative vibes. I hate hot weather and  in 15+ years here, it feels worse every year to me. 

8 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

You may have misunderstood 

What I'm saying is the good days are getting fewer,  not that there are fewer good days than bad. As someone who works outside, I can say when we're consistently setting records for heat in the summer, it's far from good in my book. 

 

 

100+ days in a row of lethal temperatures over 100° every year make this place a hellhole that I would leave in a second if I could. I'm doing my best to enjoy the decent weather when I can, then hibernate in the summertime while you nutters are getting heat stroke.