Mattlikesbikes

2 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Those are literally the same tire - Ardent 2.4's. The only difference is tubes vs. tubeless.

The picture looks like it was taken along the edge of a wall, so it appears the front tire is super narrow, but you can only see part of it. 
 

I love those Ardent 2.4s, great tires.

I had one pop at a seam, tried to see if my vacuum sealer would work, no dice. I wouldn't use any type of glue of chemical on it either. I just called the company and they sent me a new one free.

3 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

the last time I saw an outer race stuck inside a hub, the answer was to very carefully cut and notch in the bearing using a rotary tool with a tiny cut-off wheel, so it's a C-shape with a narrow opening, then pry it out. not easy and there's potential to damage it. but it might be the only choice.

This is how I have always done it as well. But when I think more about it, if the lip on the rocker isn't structural, it seems a notch would just be aesthetic anyway. Again, hoping I don't need it.

The rocker isn't flat, so it is pretty hard to clamp it down so I can then hammer on the race. I'm in Colorado this week, but next week when I am home I'll probably put a round grinder on it and just start grinding in on spot (not cutting). See if the combo of heat and thining a section of the race will get it out. I think as a worst case maybe the notch.

If it comes out I'll replace it and the bearing on the other side rocker. The rest of the bearings on the bike seem good. 

Glad I brought too bikes this trip.

All right hive mind. Saturday I had a great SS ride on my FS SS - a Milkmoney 4.0. Started to take it out yesterday for a ride and had a horrible creak. Looks like one of the bearings on the rocker disintegrated. Inner race still stuck to the bolt and outer race stuck in the rocker.

On this rocker, the bearing pushes in and sits against a lip on the rocker so it doesn't push all the way through (well, like most rockers). It seems like the lip is purely for bearing retainage/keeping it aligned. Any thoughts on notching it? Purely last ditch. Plan to start with heat gun. Because of the lip, it will be tough to cut all the way through the race, but I can probably get close and start prying. Edge wear from riding bearing free is on the beefier side of the rocker, and is where I would notch. No part of the rocker normally would contact the frame. Hoping to avoid a $150 rocker set.

Two reminders - 

1. If your bikes share a garage with your kids, regularly check your shock settings. My bike felt like crap last week. Turns out some kid thought the rear shock damper was fun to turn and firmed the return up all the way.

2. When you pick up significant altitude over Austin, like say Colorado, re-sag your suspension. I had a long ride yesterday, including some ski resort downhill, and barely used 70% of my travel. Guess that altitude changed by fork and shock numbers.

17 minutes ago, johnw101 said:

The Turquoise Lake trail is always fun and was in great shape last month. I don’t know how familiar you are with the area, but they added several miles of new single track on Southeast side of the lake late last year. It would be easy start by the dam and do an out and back along the lake trail, then explore the new single track.

My Strava is private so a link might not work, but the pic will give you an idea of how much single track has been added. I went back over St Kevins to get back to town. This was a 31-mile 3.5 hour ride.

 

 

Sweet. I was thinking just the lake singletrack, skip some of the new stuff just to keep it closer to 20 miles. Thanks for the heads up.

2 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

I would say skip Leadville and ride more Breck unless you want to experience part of the race course.  The views and the feeling from the top of Columbine are amazing but the actual “trail” is meh IMO.

I'm a Melanzana junkie and have an appointment to shop on Thursday. Figured if I was making the drive out there I would hit a trail in the area as well. 

In Breck this week and filling out my dance card with trails over here. But I'll be in Leadville on Thursday and looking to put together 3hrs of riding or so. 

Seems like the best option for singletrack is to just play around Turquoise Lake? Then do the Sugarloaf Lollipop, then Turquoise Lake Rd back to the truck?

Anything else worth exploring?

On 7/6/2021 at 12:54 PM, AntonioGG said:

To clarify, currently the road BB7 and Apex double tap road shifters/levers are the ones installed.   I'm 99% sure I'll keep the brakes/levers and just upgrade the rear-D/cassette but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.  With 2x up front, I don't see a big reason to go 11spd either.

I've got a few hundred miles on my steel gravel bike on BB7s and have never had an issue with them. Hydraulic is great, but I just don't see the need on the road.

28 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

Sag mir, dass du Deutscher bist, ohne mir zu sagen, dass du Deutscher bist.

Finished my wood holder. The one on the right is only for limbs that come down in the yard. The one on the left will be for a nice delivery of split oak every September. The ones on the left light easy and burn faster, but once the fire is going you can toss stuff from the right on and it will burn for hours. Yeah, we do go through that much wood in a year.

Not only am I segregating the two types of wood by origin, if you look at the stacked wood, it is larger logs on the right, smaller ones on the left. That is the German in me.

Do you have an air gap between the ends of the wood and the house? 

1 hour ago, ATXZJ said:

These boxes are close to $600 in materials. Brutal but 1/4 what it would have cost me to buy or have built.

They keep saying lumber prices are going to go down. I hope so. I have a 12'x50' deck to build.

Right around 4 years ago as well for me. I rode a BMW F650GS. Put 15k on it in 3 years then didn't touch it once my daughter was born. Just didn't feel worth it anymore. 

Though I am sort of thinking about a dirt bike, eventually, I have no plans to ride the street again.

27 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

I've been wanting to do this for ages, even going as far as buying an ultrasonic cleaner.  I've read adding graphite is a good thing to do.   I definitely want to do this on my trainer, since it's in my bedroom and I'd rather not use stuff with VOCs in my bedroom.

I'm leaning towards buying a specific wax and not the diy mix it yourself.

Off to Goodwill I go.

Anyone here doing the whole hot wax chain lube?

And does it matter for a singlespeed without concern for shifting performance?

Going back again this summer. Last summer stayed a little closer to town - Flumes loop, Peaks Trail, and the classic loop. Looking for other recommendations. Mostly for starts from town, but open to loops (15-20mi) or point rides where the wife can drop me off. Been looking around MTB Project, so good trails info, just looking for hints on stringing stuff together.

Also, looks like the ski resort is open for riding, any insight? More focused on XC and trail than lift run. 

2 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

BTW, I was taking French classes and the teacher said the two main things she cannot get good in the US was the bread, and the fries.  She couldn't exactly explain what was wrong with American fries, but I think it's a different type of potato.

The french and the belgians like to double fry their fries. So they end up a little crispier. Really helps when they are bigger/thicker as well.

10 hours ago, 4fun said:

says the guy thought his life was in danger.

 

If you had a decent CHL class, they made it VERY clear that this is where you need to start the conversation with the police when they show up. 

1 hour ago, AntonioGG said:

I'm looking to build a cheap bike for one of our techs at work.  He's an old school BMXer and eventually wants a MTB, but for now a hybrid or old MTB would suffice to get in shape.  At this point he can't afford a bike but at some point he will be able to.

I have pretty much everything needed to build up a MTB except for a frame and cranks which I'll donate to the cause.  If anyone has a cheap L (56cm) 135mm QR frame they're selling or giving away, please contact me. If it's a tapered steerer I have a fork, but if it's a straight steerer then I'll need a fork (rigid is OK).

No frame but I have a Kona Project 2 rigid fork if you find yourself with a straight fork frame. 

23 hours ago, Sluggo said:

What price point are you looking for?

Probably in the $3-400 range. Which I know Covid has totally F'd up. Even frame/fork is workable, as I have a garage full of parts and know a wheel builder.

90% of the time I am in my spanky bottoms (Black Bib Co) but I'd like to pick up another pair or two of baggy shorts. No liner.

Anyone have an Amazon favorite? I cannot do $100 Oakley shorts or similar, that is just silly. I'm not looking for some built in protection, just cover my butt up. 

https://www.amazon.com/Ally-Mountain-Bicycle-Cycling-Loose-fit/dp/B08XM716ST/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=mens%2Bmountain%2Bbike%2Bshorts&qid=1625597161&sr=8-5&th=1

Since most of these less expensive options seem to come from Asia, any insight of actual fit would be great. 

Cosby is still a rapist, he admitted it. He is sunk. He did some time, but we can all agree not enough. 

What is FAR more important is that a precedent wasn't set that would allow the government to take back their own promises. There has to be integrity in the legal system (certainly more than there is now). If the court had allowed Cosby to stay in jail, ignoring the prosecutors fuck up, the could have created a far larger precedent. 

I was in Missouri this past weekend visiting my grandfather. He lives in an assisted living home and of the 10 times I went through the front doors, only once did they screen me. As I am signing the sheet I notice the column for fully vaccinated and I was LITERALLY the only person of the 20 visible names that said yes. These are people coming to visit their loved ones. The next day there was an article in the local paper saying that while the state was doing well with seniors, only 30% of the state was vaccinated. No wonder they are having a huge spike in Delta. Needless to say, the kids were masked the whole time (and generally kept out of public) and we went back to full shit-show protocols (6', wash hands all the time and hand sani, take-out only, etc).

Now Pops survived Covid already and has been vaccinated, so he may well be bulletproof at this point.

Shouldn't they actually just be saying "we accept returns"?