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when I left REI in 2015, they had just started making every store a warehouse. All of the stores' inventory is represented on the website, so when a customer orders something, the order shows up in every store that should have that item in stock. staff fill the order and ship it from the store to another store or to the customer's home. The first store to fill the order gets credit for the sale. I thought it was brilliant because it got inventory to move everywhere instead of just one place, and it kept the local stores busy. I'm not sure how that worked out long-term, but it appears to not have been enough.

Edited by mack_turtle
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REI used to be a hub. Lots of firsthand sport experience employees. Climbing wall to test gear, fake rock to try out hiking shoes, stuff like that. It was a niche. Then they got too freakin corporate 10-12 years ago and pulled out everything that was a lawsuit potential. Banned dogs all that crap. Everything that attracted hippies and climbing/hiking/camping bums with disposable income is gone. Now they’re almost upscale Academy. 
 

The only remaining attraction for me is what a friend always called it Return Everything Indefinitely. If I try something new it’s easy to return it used if I just don’t like it or it doesn’t work like I thought. No questions. Got my daughter a pricey rain jacket recently and after 4-5 uses she decided it wasn’t as waterproof as she wanted. No questions. That makes it infinitely better than Amazon. 

Edited by Chongo Loco
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27 minutes ago, Chongo Loco said:

The only remaining attraction for me is what a friend always called it Return Everything Indefinitely. 

that's gone now, too.

https://www.rei.com/help/returns

TBH, so many people totally abused that policy that it was ridiculous. true story: there was a guy who bought a top-end mountain bike when I was there. he kept buying it from one store, returning it to another store for a full refund, then buying it again at a discount. This happened a few times before someone noticed that he had downgraded nearly every component on the bike and was slowly collecting stuff like Kashima-coated suspension and XTR components and returning the bike with Deore or something. so shitty people like that ruined it for the rest of us.

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1 hour ago, Cafeend said:

They sell used gear, Kind of like an online REI garage sale.  Save a ton 

REI Gateway has a "garage sale" area in the corner of the store.  Each item has a little tag with the reason for the return, and sometimes it's trivial. I have to practice discipline by not buying stuff I don't really need, even if it's a killer deal. 

I don't think the downtown location has this; it's such a small store,  I don't  think there is room. 

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1 hour ago, June Bug said:

I don't think the downtown location has this; it's such a small store,  I don't  think there is room. 

The used gear is in the rear-left corner of the downtown store, across from the stairs. There's not much in there when I've checked. I think they disperse some of the used gear around the store. Used shoes are in the shoe dept. 

Edited by mack_turtle
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On 5/22/2023 at 11:52 AM, June Bug said:

REI Gateway has a "garage sale" area in the corner of the store.  Each item has a little tag with the reason for the return, and sometimes it's trivial. I have to practice discipline by not buying stuff I don't really need, even if it's a killer deal. 

I don't think the downtown location has this; it's such a small store,  I don't  think there is room. 

Yea -- But picked over. Online is pretty sweet

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On 5/22/2023 at 11:52 AM, June Bug said:

REI Gateway has a "garage sale" area in the corner of the store.  Each item has a little tag with the reason for the return, and sometimes it's trivial. I have to practice discipline by not buying stuff I don't really need, even if it's a killer deal. 

Not always a killer deal - ALWAYS get your phone out and check prices. I've found sometimes the stuff on the shelf is a year or more old and the new old stock price is the same or lower than the marked down original price. Buyer Be Smart.

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I have a frame with a t47 bottom bracket in 73mm width. I'm trying to fit a Rotor Kapic crankset with a 30mm spindle in the external t47 bottom bracket. the bearings are 92mm apart, if that helps. I have a Rotor spacer kit, so what freaking spacers do I need on either side of the spindle?

https://rotorbike.com/mwdownloads/download/link/id/15

Edit: I think I got it through trial and error, but dang!

Edited by mack_turtle
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  • 2 weeks later...

On a separate issue. I discovered a missing tooth while cleaning my cassette. I've haven't been able to notice it while riding. At $65-$110 for a replacement cassette, it's not exactly a item I want to replace, especially since it has ~300 miles on it. Any issues with just riding it as is?

image.thumb.png.de71323713601890ad7486a3814ec87a.png

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1 hour ago, RedRider3141 said:

Anyone have a favorite shop Chain Breaker? My 9yo Bell from Fred Meyer finally met it's match. Luckily my trailside tool worked well. 

I was eyeing this one. Seems like a nice balance in quality/price https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EP95ZC/

image.thumb.png.a5a1716d5420384aad06e53fd4a7c28e.png

I too have Saturday chain tool and replaced it with a heavy duty Park tool. That is worth every penny.

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2 hours ago, RedRider3141 said:

On a separate issue. I discovered a missing tooth while cleaning my cassette. I've haven't been able to notice it while riding. At $65-$110 for a replacement cassette, it's not exactly a item I want to replace, especially since it has ~300 miles on it. Any issues with just riding it as is?

image.thumb.png.de71323713601890ad7486a3814ec87a.png

What cassette is that? Most of the wear seems to be on the big cog. 

 

Rest of the teeth look fine without much wear visible.Usually that kind of damage is from a manufacturing defect, drivetrain adjustment issue or poor technique. 

 

Edited by ATXZJ
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Make sure the surface where the tooth was isn’t bent slightly in/out so it doesn’t grab chain.  They usually bend and snap so a little bit will be mushroomed over. You just file it so you have a nice flat vertical plane in line with the rest of the cassette. Doesn’t take much to hook the chain. 

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3 hours ago, RedRider3141 said:

Anyone have a favorite shop Chain Breaker? My 9yo Bell from Fred Meyer finally met it's match. Luckily my trailside tool worked well. 

I was eyeing this one. Seems like a nice balance in quality/price https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EP95ZC/

image.thumb.png.a5a1716d5420384aad06e53fd4a7c28e.png

I have an old version of this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-CT-5-Chain-Brute/dp/B000OYHCHG

it has been great, had it for many years

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3 hours ago, RedRider3141 said:

Sorry should Have included that. Shimano M8000 11-42 (11spd).

Fwiw, I'd grab a sunrace 11-46 in the lighter model. Maybe MX? I forget which but it's in their catalog. Also looks like you spend a lot of time in the big cog (not judging, I have a 30t-50t) so it might be good to have 46t and 40t cogs on the cassette to spread the work around. 

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Dear Hive Mind,

I have a 10-yr-old Salsa Spearfish.  I still like it and it's going strong.  It's a double chain ring set up that works just fine.  

Then last fall I got a dropper seat post.  There isn't enough room for the shifter levers for the double chain ring and the dropper seat post lever to work together.  It's awkward and easy to either miss a shift or miss the dropper seat post activation for up OR down because nothing is in the right position. 

I was considering going over to a 1 x set up, then came across someone on the facebook Cylists 70 and Over page who had switched over to a grip shift on the left side for some reason.  

I've had  major problems with hand numbness in the past, but could always shift with Grip Shift.   Another plus is that one can buy short Ergon grips to work with the shorty grip shift.

This would be a potentially economical and practical solution for an old bike that works well. 

Any down sides or incompatibility issues that come to mind? 

I think the item would be the SRAM GX  2 speed: 

MODEL ID:  TS-GX-11-A1

https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/ts-gx-11-a1

 

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Hey June Bug,

I have a Salsa Big Mama with a dropper and 2 rings up front. Just a day or so ago I was considering making the transition to a 1X drivetrain in the hope that I might take it out more often. Great minds and all that.

Riding a bike with 1X was a game changer for me in reducing the mental overhead for keeping up with which ring I'm on. See an approaching hill and there is only one shifter to think about when time is short.

You may want to try the Gripshifter first, as it is less costly, but, consider the convenience of no left shifter at all while riding and that may sway your decision in that direction.

Edited by Ridenfool
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I do have two bikes with a 1x drive train.  At first I kept trying to down shift to that little chain ring, but that was short lived before I remembered that there was one and only one chainring. 

I'll try the grip shift option if it's compatible.  Then 1x if it's not. 

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On 6/30/2023 at 3:03 PM, Ridenfool said:

Riding a bike with 1X was a game changer for me in reducing the mental overhead for keeping up with which ring I'm on. See an approaching hill and there is only one shifter to think about when time is short.

You are so right. Don't get me wrong, I still completely screw up shifts with a big ole "F***" right near the top of the short, steep climb/feature that I failed but that happens far less with the 1X. 🙂

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One guy I know, who owns over twenty mountain bikes, still thinks having three rings is important for him. As far as I know he has never ridden a 1X to compare.

He did finally get on board with a few 29ers in the stable, as a late adopter, so there is hope.

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33 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

I am stunned, that in the world of 50T cassettes that anyone would believe that 2X gives you better range. To those guys it is the princess and the pea at this point in my head. I'd almost say that 1X is a bigger improvement than dropper posts. Almost. 

You say better range, but I think the only thing that 50t may give you is a lighter/simplified setup. It may seem better to you to have one less mechanical derailleur or one less chainring worth of weight, but it doesn't change your range. 1x gives a less smooth range, and for some people they may find that 2x or 3x gives them more usable gear ratios. I think "Better" is going to be user specific.

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