[GuyContinental]

@Dickie 47951 wrote:

GuyContinental was kind enough to slow down so I could ride with him for a while, great to finally meet you. We decided to pull over and take a pic for evidence.

BTW, love those arm warmers!

Ha! I just couldn’t rock the “tattoo” warmers

For the record, I don’t really have an encyclopedic knowledge of every BA poster’s background, bikes, work and bike route… just yours… muhahaha!

[GuyContinental]

@FFX_Hinterlands 47926 wrote:

Funny you should write this post… I rode past Green Lizard Bike/Coffee shop in Herndon this AM and thought that we should do a Herndon FCC. I might be the only attendee for Herndon, but it’s a nice thought.

I’d be game for Herndon, probably Hozn too… he tends to “accidentally” miss Reston and ride out to Sterling with me.

Also would do Northside Social if I were working from home.

[GuyContinental]

@consularrider 47719 wrote:

Actually, I think all of the 10 speed chains have a shorter life than my 8 speed chains, they just cost twice or three times as much.

They should- thinner metal no?

My SS 1/8″ chains are positively deathless. Also heavy as heck but I’ll ride on a single chain for years… of course as of late, the miles MTB on that chain are pretty low…

[GuyContinental]

@Tim Kelley 47712 wrote:

Look at Mr. 1 Percenter over here!

But yeah, I completely agree with you…

It’s really not that much work- power link AND a Park link tool make chain removal about 5 seconds, I toss it in the $40 Harbor Freight heated cleaner for 10 minutes while I’m doing other things, rinse, hang the chain and then toss in a ziplock full of pro-link and shake. Maybe 10 minutes of active time. Also I can’t stand new chain packing grease (sorry Sheldon Brown) so buying a chain requires a lot more cleaning (3x the time to get that crap out) anyway.

[GuyContinental]

@vvill 47595 wrote:

5k?! I can’t imagine even regular maintenance would prevent my chain stretching as it does for 5k, because I assume the wear from road grit, etc doesn’t affect chain stretch – or does it?

The big caveat is that I’m OCD with chains- I have a power-link on every one so I can pull the chain monthly and make it sparkly in a sonic cleaner then I do a deep re-lube with Pro-link. I also lube/wipe down every other ride. No grit = long life.

[GuyContinental]

Ha! Right up until I said something like “I’ve ridden X thousand miles with no flat tires” I’d gone about 6 years and 20K+ miles without a flat… then I had 14 in 60 days*. No joke. Still waiting for the cycling gods to let me off the hook.

Worst one? 5 miles into LFP trails on a CX, 20+ miles from home, in the dark with only a patch.

*Definitely some extenuating circumstances while I was playing with tubeless and tubed CX pressure combos

[GuyContinental]

There was recently a pretty good thread on this that covered measurement and surprising physiological differences between rear ends:

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?4381-Sitz-Bones&highlight=large+human

I have/had maybe half a dozen seats hanging around because I foolishly thought that a super-skinny butt meant a super skinny (thong) saddle. Noop. I have some serious hips that required a serious fat-boy 155mm saddle. Now that I know that I put grades of the same saddle on both my road bikes (Specialized Romin 155)and I’ll probably use it until it’s discontinued and then stockpile a few.

[GuyContinental]

@krazygl00 47517 wrote:

I was buying Sram cassettes but they were seriously biting into my drive shell and making them devilishly hard to remove, so I went to Ultegra because of the super nice carriers they are made with. I don’t know why Sram isn’t using the same thing for their (non-Red) cassettes. In my opinion, the Ultegra are worth it.

Ditto on both counts- I get 5K out of a well maintained Ultegra chain & cassette combo and had huge troubles with SRAM cassettes and soft free-hub bodies. In fact, I’m probably due a set soon…

[GuyContinental]

@vvill 47417 wrote:

Hm… I haven’t had any of my bikes’ bottom brackets, headsets, hubs or pedals serviced, ever. I guess I should consider it?

Pedals- absolutely. If your clipless pedal rotates without minor resistance, it needs grease. If it wobbles on its spindle you have probably worn out the bearings (good news is that they are often replaceable)

As Hozn said most modern bearings aren’t truly serviceable but getting in there cleaning the races and re greasing the contact points will extend their life. On bottom brackets in steel bikes I like to clean out accumulated corrosion and grease the shell.

[GuyContinental]

Everything he said- that’s a nice checklist to use every 3 months BTW.

Only other one that I’d add that you really need to do is:
-Repack clipless pedals with grease (very easy with a cheap syringe)

Some others that I’ll do because I’m slightly OCD
-Pull bottom bracket to clean and relube
-Full-on sonic degrease and relube of chain
-Pull cassette for sonic cleaning

@brendan 47188 wrote:

Oh…helmet? No, unless you’re a heavy sweater (vs. wearing one) or need to shave 2 seconds off your hill climbing (well, really hill descending) in the french alps. Though, if it looks *really* cool…
B

A more expensive helmet generally buys you less helmet- as in it’ll be lighter and have more holes in it for better airflow. If you don’t have a hot head in summer with your current lid, then don’t worry about it. If you do, then it’s something to consider.

[GuyContinental]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2569[/ATTACH]

Sideways Kel and her “bowl of sleaze”

Thanks everyone who organized both the event and the happy hour!

[GuyContinental]

@cephas 46478 wrote:

That’s it?! I’ve heard about it, and I have wondered what the cross county trail was, but I always figured it would trace the county parkway more. Ah well. Knowledge is power. and with great knowledge comes great disappointment. as someone once may have said.

Looks like someone needs a CX… Add on THIS: http://goo.gl/maps/475Yi for even more single track fun

A dirt commute presents some interesting challenges with filth, time and inclement weather but can be really awesome. I had a few “I can’t believe this is how I get to work” moments this summer in LFP…

[GuyContinental]

@Dickie 46453 wrote:

Short answer if it WAS me…. take the job, reduce the costs and time associated with commuting, use the time to see more of your family and friends, be less rushed, eat better meals and get better rest. Ride for all your other errands if you need a reason, or just enjoy being less busy and ride when you want to.

THIS

I’d hang up my road bike in a heartbeat to recover the 2-3 hours a day that I lose to commuting (by car or bike). Since I had kids and started working in Sterling I haven’t had time to cook a proper weekday meal and only hit 70 miles of non CX MTB in all of 2012 (out of ~5k) I also haven’t seen or helped with my family in the morning more than 5-6 times in 3 years. My goodness, I could see my kids, cook, AND go on evening MTB rides… drool…

On the flip side, my last gig, although work-at home, took me to China for 3-4 weeks at a time, even with the commute and AWOL mornings this model works better for my wife.

[GuyContinental]

@JimF22003 46384 wrote:

Oh yeah, that rocked. A little colder than I expected, but a ton o fun.

Yup…

http://app.strava.com/activities/44427004 Speed, Cadence & Max HR say it all.

However, I did get blown into traffic on Cascades Parkway out in Loudoun, definitely a pucker-factor there.

[GuyContinental]

@rnapiza 46300 wrote:

I’m Randy. Most weekdays I’ll be on a blue Fuji road bike with fenders, and a black and red timbuk2 rucksack. On weekends and sometimes weekday evenings, I’ll be on a blue and white trek and probably in an NCVC kit.

Randy, do I pass you almost daily on the Hunter Mill climb? 5:15 ish? (I’m heading EB usually on a blue C’dale or black LeMond CX with fenders and when cold I wear a red jacket, gray helmet, clear lens shades and black PI cap).

Name is Kevin (Guy is my middle name) BTW

[Author]

Posts