Harry Meatmotor
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February 19, 2021 at 3:14 pm in reply to: Any bike oriented physical therapists in the area? #1111630
Harry Meatmotor
ParticipantTry Kur at Velofit: https://www.velofitpt.com/
Harry Meatmotor
Participant@zsionakides 199974 wrote:
I wonder how Trek will do versus Canyon et al that already operate in the buy online space. I’d imagine the average Canyon buyer is a more educated buyer than someone at a LBS, since the LBS staff can fill in knowledge gaps for the buyer (note: I’m not implying there aren’t a lot of knowledgeable buyers at LBS, just that the low knowledge buyer probably isn’t buying a brand like Canyon and are shopping at the LBS). I’d imagine this would force Trek, Specialized, etc. to be more price competitive as they lose showroom sales from the shutdown.
Canyon is not quite the brand you think it is. They’re “designed” in Germany and the frames are manufactured in China, and some of the bikes are assembled in Germany. Most of the components and branded gear are the same as other brands, manufactured in Taiwan and Malaysia. I don’t think Trek, Specialized, etc. are too worried about Canyon. Sure, they compete on price well and the D2C fits the current COVID-19 regime, but there’s more to it than just being cheaper than the bigger brands.
Harry Meatmotor
Participant@SarahBee 199490 wrote:
Is it possible for the lovely LBS folks that are still open, providing a public service, and employing our friends (Phoenix Bikes, Contes, Bikenetic, etc.) please let us know how we can support you during the pandemic including donation, gift cards, etc.?
Spokes Etc. is operating with limited hours per location (12-5pm for most). They’re encouraging online ordering and curbside pickup. They’re limiting the number of customers in-store per location and staffing by locking all entrances. Trek is getting ready to roll out Buy Online, Delivered by LBS, but I’m not sure when that will be available. I’m sure Specialized (and other top tier brands) will start to make the option available, too. Most brands are starting to roll out some enticing sales, too.
Harry Meatmotor
Participant@dbb 192385 wrote:
Rolling south on Crystal Drive this morning, two commercial vehicles were in the bike lane. [ATTACH=CONFIG]20262[/ATTACH]
An Arlington Police officer rolled up as we watched during Coffee Club and we thought we were going to see enforcement.
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Alas, any enforcement was not evident. 40 minutes later, the vehicles were still in the bike lane.
What’s up with that?
“To Serve and Protect Those Double Parked”
Harry Meatmotor
ParticipantIt seems like most of the noise is from the plates and the chainring teeth especially in cross chaining situations, not the typical dry-chain roller-rattle. I’m okay with it as long as I don’t start seeing roller/pin wear. My instinct tells me once the wax gets in between the rollers and the pins, there isn’t an easy way for it to get out/worn off. Which is a good thing. I’m kind of tempted to take my cassette and clean the bejeesus out of it then dip it in the wax just to see if that helps without mucking up the shifting.
Harry Meatmotor
ParticipantBTT with some anecdotal evidence for the wax-curious. A little while ago I bought this, and this.
TL;DR — It’s probably only good for “race” bikes, or the “weekend-only while it’s sunny” kind of riding.
I took a brand-spanking new KMC X11SL DLC chain, degreased it with simple green, dipped it in 90% alcohol, then into a 250 degree oven for an hour, then finally wiped down with a lint-free cloth. I then dropped the chain into the hot wax, stirred it around for about 30 seconds, then pulled it back out and let it hang to set. After breaking loose all the links, I installed it on my Allez Sprint.
Pros: Almost 100% clean – nearly zero black residue on the entire drivetrain. After 4 or 5 50+ mile rides, you can run your hand along the chain, and it’s almost completely clean, even after a few wet-ish rides (not riding in the rain but riding on rain soaked roads). To re-wax the chain (which, obviously, requires removal from the bike) takes about 10 minutes, not counting the time to re-melt the wax.
Cons: The chain gets fairly noisy pretty quickly; within about 100 miles.
I’m keeping close tabs on chain wear using a Rohloff wear indicator. Right now I’ve only got ~375-400 miles on the chain and it still measures like new which is not surprising and says little about anything. It seems like I’ll settle into re-waxing the chain every 2 to 3 weeks depending on mileage, which is only a bit more often than I was re-lubing with Silca NFS last racing season. The new Speedwax formulation does seem to last a bit longer than my old home-brew method from nearly 20 years ago.
Oddly enough, I had good/decent wear results using NFS on my race bike last year, but when we tried it on my GF’s 1x CX race bike, it ate the chain in less than 800 miles. Like, completely worn out per Rohloff chain wear indicator. So, perhaps the moral of the story with NFS is don’t mix it with dirt and/or repeated bike washing. We’ll be going back to R’n’R Gold on the CX bikes next season.
Harry Meatmotor
Participant@creadinger 187950 wrote:
Quick question for all of you who have worked in and around shops…
What is the frequency or percentage of times you see mechanics move a saddle up or down I’m assuming to facilitate ease of putting the bike in the maintenance stand? Then how often is it that a saddle is just left at the new level or someone may attempt to put it back at the level that it was but possibly get it way wrong anyway?
I just picked up my bike from the shop and I think they raised my saddle an inch or so. Riding home 2 miles was pretty uncomfortable, but since I wasn’t wearing my bike shoes, it was difficult to tell if I was just crazy or what. When I got home I put my bike shoes on and using the wall for support found that my leg was dead straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke. NO one rides like that! I’ll have to do some short test rides this evening to get it back to where I think it should be.
Am I wrong in thinking that saddle height should be considered a sacred position and no one but the owner should modify it without risking death from fire and brimstone?
Nah. No fire and brimstone. If a mechanic needs to expose more seatpost to fit in the clamp, which happens quite often, they should do 2 things:
1) mark the seatpost’s original position with a small piece of tape, or a dab of grease
2) turn the seatpost about an 1/8 turn from straight, so it’s obvious the post has been moved from the original positionA lot of new seatposts (especially aftermarket) come with markings directly on the seatpost – it’s usually pretty easy to count the number of exposed marks to re-align to the original position. Also, shame on you for not having your basic measurements written down somewhere, e.g., center of BB spindle to top of saddle along seat tube, saddle fore-aft position, stack, reach, crank arm length, etc.
Harry Meatmotor
Participant@awitt 186120 wrote:
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This bump appeared on the rim of my front wheel today. I started to hear a scraping noise from one part of the rim. It sounded like a rock in the brake pad but it wasn’t constant so that couldn’t be it. When i got home and wiped off the rims I found the bump shown in the photo. It’s not a scratch or divot, it looks like the end od a tiny rod sticking out of the rim. I tried some fine grain metal sandpaper but it made no difference with light pressure and I don’t want to use more force. I know I probably need a new wheel, these are the cheap ones that came on the bike. I’m just wondering what it is. The rims are Mavic Aksium on Mavic hubs. The bike is a cannondale synapses carbon di2 with 105 brakes.A single-sided straight razor blade works really well to slice these little barnacles off of the brake track. Just be careful since you’re working so close to the tire sidewall.
Harry Meatmotor
Participant@chuxtr 187556 wrote:
I rode with Velotoze shoe covers yesterday. Kept my feet reasonably not cold. They don’t really provide that much thermal insulation, but do a very good job keeping the wind off. Although done differently than regular shoe covers, they go on pretty easily. Taking them off is a minor PITA though. Can’t attest to their waterproofness and actually hope I don’t have to. I’m guessing they’re probably not enough for sub-freezing temps, but I don’t know what is really. I think where they’ll really shine is in what I call “Belgian spring” weather, which is hopefully not too far off.
Also, I discovered they make a cover specifically for MTB shoes: https://www.velotoze.com/products/tall-shoe-cover-mtb?variant=51664397254
You’re right, low temp cut is probably about 35-40 degrees. But for anything wet, velotoze can’t be beat.
Harry Meatmotor
Participant@Crickey7 187310 wrote:
How much of a pain are they to get on/off?
Kind of a pain. But they work really, really well.
One thing that helps is to keep them in a ziplock bag with a decent amount of talcum powder. If you take them off after a wet ride and just leave them out, they’ll stick to themselves.
Harry Meatmotor
ParticipantHarry Meatmotor
ParticipantEveryone, it’s ok. By the time all the Class 3, 27mph cyclists with questionable bike handling skills go from being a nuisance to outright dangerous on the no-motorized-vehicles-allowed-MVT, the South Pentagon/Boundary Channel MVT connector will be in place, and my commute will be almost entirely on surface streets, where it will be safer. Y’all can duke it out with the shrunken motorcycles on an 8 foot wide MUP.
Thanks, critical mass!!!
October 20, 2018 at 10:51 pm in reply to: Memorial Bridge lane closures will be "permanent" through 2021 #1090642Harry Meatmotor
Participant@dasgeh 181895 wrote:
Ah, but they’ve added flags at the highly dangerous crossing.
Flags.
I used them. Felt MUCH safer.
Harry Meatmotor
ParticipantTake front tire, put it on rear.
Take rear tire, keep it as spare. put new Conti City Ride 700×28 on the front and ride.
Both of your current tires look completely safe to ride (judging purely by the photos); the rear is showing a bit more wear than the front, but still has some miles left (likely several hundred miles). You could certainly get away with merely swapping the rear to the front, and the front to the rear, and easily get another couple thousand miles out of that setup.
Harry Meatmotor
ParticipantPlain old Jagwire is plenty good. If’n you’re wanting to spend big bucks, the shimano dura ace polymer cable is really nice.
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