[Orestes Munn]

I think it will come to some American cities in most of our lifetimes. Probably not to DC and not before most of we baby boomers make our wasteful, narcissistic, way to the nursing home (after we find a way to bill y’all for it, of course).

[Orestes Munn]

According to my meager knowledge, lugged frames ar brazed; whereas, unlugged ones are welded. Does this make a difference to the amount of embrittlement, which takes place or doesn’t take place near tube joints?

[Orestes Munn]

@jabberwocky 101584 wrote:

All mine have been adjacent to welds, once on a downtube and twice on the top tube, both right near the headtube. My understanding is that welding steel weakens it somewhat (the point of butted tubing is to increase material at the welded ends for that reason), so breaks are usually there. None were corrosion related.

That makes sense, but you must be a gorilla.

The treacherous thing about crevice corrosion is that it’s not apparent to casual inspection.

[Orestes Munn]

My workout (I can’t say “racing” anymore) bike is 30 years old. I never crashed it hard, but I must have put better than 3500 mi on it for many years, back when I was riding a lot. I recently sent it back to the builder to have the rear dropouts up-spaced and he pronounced it showroom after a detailed inspection. By contrast, I broke the down tube on a midrange 1990s MTB, essentially right out of the box, by doing nothing in particular.

Don’t steel frames break at the site of small cracks or defects, which develop crevice corrosion? That’s not exactly a wear issue, if true.

[Orestes Munn]

@Crickey7 101507 wrote:

I don’t get how to keep water from getting into footwear from the top down or the bottom up, even if the footwear itself is waterproof? That’s what keeps me from riding when it’s raining and in the 30’s or below. I’ve had some extremely uncomfortable experiences.

I have had fairly good luck with the (nominally) breathable waterproof socks, for keeping my feet dryish while wearing Keens, sailing in cool (not cold!) weather. I have tried the Seal brand and another (forget the name), which has real Gortex and a nice cuff, but no stretch. However, at those temps you really need some insulation and there is even a risk of non-freezing cold injury on long rides, particularly when the feet are wet.

[Orestes Munn]

@Dickie 101248 wrote:

*Update: Cleaning my rain gear (Endura Flight rain jacket, ShowerPass Convertible pants, P.I. booties) in NikWax tech wash and then using the wash-in to reactivate the DWR has made my gear work amazingly well (thanks Dirt for the tip), in fact I think it actually breathes better as well. Add to that the acquisition of some Sealskinz waterproof gloves and a gifted gore waterproof hat from consularrider and I have never been happier in the rain. Riding 40+ miles in constant rain was actually pleasant. I arrived home completely dry from hands to feet… amazballs!

I have had good luck with the NikWax 2-stage treatment on sailing foulies, too, even the bottoms of the bottoms, which live for hours between wet decks and cold asses and fail rapidly. However, I couldn’t ride 40 mi in February, wearing a Goretex tutu and a loose Livestrong band, without working up a good shvitz.

[Orestes Munn]

@cyclingfool 101253 wrote:

Maybe this will be commonly available and adapted for brakes at some point. Though I think other solutions would be much cheaper and easier, like other gloves, fixies, or rule #5.

From here, and the bulk of the article is about thought-controlled braking in cars.

From my limited experience with brain-computer interfaces, I’m not sure I’d trust one with my brakes quite yet. Derailleur, why not?

These discussion always remind of the dirty Chris Rock joke about the man buying a Cadillac.

[Orestes Munn]

Not moosekeit, but my BikeMitts® keep trying to take revenge on me for some unknown insult: Every time I stupidly pull my hand out to signal a turn, the empty one goes floppy and blocks my subsequent grab for the bar and the brake. Sheer panic ensues, fortunately without serious consequences so far, but also without detectable learning.

[Orestes Munn]

I: (Grammar weenie) riding South at the top of Little Falls Pkwy at speed, in the rain, in the dark.

You: Ninja-salmon–obligatory yellow rain schmatte, but no frickin lights!–emerging from the gloom immediately in front of me coming northbound from the CCT on the wrong side of the road. Just ’cause it’s a shoulder doesn’t mean you get to play stupid games on it.

[Orestes Munn]

@baiskeli 101018 wrote:

He exhibited a strange combination of stupidity and impressive skills

Sounds like one of my external reviews.

[Orestes Munn]

I used to ride like a complete hooligan and I’m still not afraid to mix it up in traffic. However, in these hyper-political times, I find I’m more concerned with “optics.” It’s funny to go riding with my wife, who hasn’t done much riding since we were both in grad/med school back in the 80s, and have her wait for me on the far sides of intersections, where I now make a show of observing the niceties.

My late father, who taught me to ride in the streets and avenues of Manhattan, always stopped at reds and made it clear he did so to establish his vehicular bona fides. He took crap from no one when he sallied forth on his Rudge Sports. Maybe I’m just becoming him.

[Orestes Munn]

@mcfarton 100746 wrote:

Never thought about bottles freezing. I have gone on some cold rides but that never happened.

sent from your mom’s house

Back when I used to go winter climbing and snowshoeing, water had to be carried inside one’s parka and stored in or under one’s sleeping bag overnight. Probably still true, come to think of it.

[Orestes Munn]

Harmless stunt, IMO, as long as the kid drives the effort. If so, good on him!

I should qualify that by adding that there’s probably plenty of negative opinion of the physiological effect of continued exercise stress on a developing child, but whatever it is, it’s probably mitigated if the subject is happy, injury free, and doing something he genuinely wants to do.

Much ink has been spilled over the ethics and technical chops of young solo circumnavigating sailors.

[Orestes Munn]

US Navy wool-poly khakis are uncrushable and have nuke resistant creases, top and bottom. They barely need a body in them. Not being able to wear them will be a major downside to retiring. I leave at least two sets at work and commute in fredwear Shower-shmower. No complaints, yet.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that I bike to work about 9/10 of the time, we have never been able to do with one car. First it was the kid’s schedule, now it’s the sails etc. for a 40′ boat, which require an aging Honda Element to move around.

Cycling would be a lot more economical and people would drive less, if we paid for insurance and registration fees at the pump.

[Orestes Munn]

@Crickey7 100588 wrote:

My goal is to be less dogmatic about my own preference for minimalist, fast gray/black bikes and more open-minded about all flavors and colors of bikes, drivetrain systems, footwear and attached portaging accessories.

Hey, I thought we were talking realistic, doable, stuff here!

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