[Raymo853]

@Tim Kelley 120821 wrote:

+1 for Light and Motion. From winter commuting to night time mountain biking.

Also, they have pretty great customer service.

I concur. I had a TAZ 1200 that I melted the lense when it turned on in a bag. They gave me a full credit of the retail cost to spend at their on-line store. Bought two Urban 800 and a tail light.

Was planning to get Stella 500 soon for night MTB racing, but my wife got Dinotte set of lights. Man, they seem well build and crazy bright compared to any thing else I have seen.

[Raymo853]

Sold

[Raymo853]

@TwoWheelsDC 123382 wrote:

It has a few, somewhat contradictory meanings, and can be both a term of derision or endearment, although I think very few would use the term derisively with any seriousness or lack of irony. Most often, it basically refers to a) a person who buys the nicest bike in the shop and then rides 12mph on the bike path (or who thinks a freeway overpass counts as a “climb”), or b) the guys that ride with everywhere with 5 mirrors, 8 lights, 3 layers of reflective gear, and an AirZound horn.

Note that there’s actually nothing wrong with or to be ashamed of for either of these definitions, and I fully admit my own fredliness. Frankly, it’s not surprising that a white guy who cries racism at being called a cracker would also take umbrage at being called a Fred.

I had assumed the original name calling of Fred was auto-corrected from “fed” as in “retired fed” and retired federal worker.

Regardless, Fred in cycling circle general is a relative term just like hipster, nutty crunchy,….

Basically a Fred is anyone that has a lower skill & experience to equipment investment ratio than you have. So, when I falsely thought I was quick and skilled while in grad school riding a RSX equipped rusty Specialized Allez, I had a extremely high self-assigned Fred ratio score. Pretty much anyone I saw back than was more Fred than I. If I had had some sort of $18,000 Halo bike, like a Specialized S Work McClaren, my Fred ratio score would have fallen with no change in my skills nor experience.

---

I thought about posting on the NBC thread this morning, but did not. Yes cracker is a term I have heard other folks from Florida and Georgia both rail against and embrace. The first use was for a poor uneducated white people form those areas, however, the use as of late has ignored the original geographic, class, and educational innuendos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_%28pejorative%29

I really wanted to point out his hypocrisy regarding the how he promotes the Hilly Bill Roubaix on his media outlet. I have no personal problem with how that organization is run, however, that organization celebrates negative stereotypes of white people living in rural West Virginia. Just look at all the negative stereotypes captured in their logo: https://www.bikereg.com/VirtualImages/EventLogos/26404.png

I was going to ask Jayson to help organize a boycott against business and media outlets promoting that event. You know bike makers such as Cannondale (on the logo itself!) and media outlets like Gravel Cyclist that promote the event and see how he reacted. And to ask him to request Bike Reg to have his name removed from the results and to end his friendship with K-Dogg and Dr. Pain if they did not join this crusade. Of course I do in now way support such foolishness as I have been desperately wanted to do that events for years but something has always come up.

[Raymo853]

@Crickey7 123308 wrote:

“No, Lance wants to be me”

(only for use on the bike)

I am confused by this one.

[Raymo853]

@PotomacCyclist 123238 wrote:

If he thinks he’s supporting the idea of bikeshare, he is mistaken.

He is just trying to get famous doing something fashionable with a fake bohemian flair to it. It will get him a little fame, laid a lot when he gets back to NYC.

[Raymo853]

@dasgeh 123150 wrote:

The more you write, the less people will pay attention.

Yes

[Raymo853]

@jrenaut 123149 wrote:

I’m trying. She’s still opposed, but I have a set of pedals with clips and straps that I can put on if she wants.

I would suggest staying the h. away from cages and straps. I consider them dramatically more dangerous for novice to advanced riders than flats or clip-less. At most do cages without straps.

Don’t be so quick to dismiss good flat pedals with any shoe. Yes the new trendy move back to clipless pedals is getting a little annoying, but it has greatly increased the info on using them properly out there on the internet.

[Raymo853]

@Brünø Moore 122975 wrote:

I’m a little skittish about hydro brakes, but that’s mostly because I’m bad about maintenance and a tad wrenchphobic…and every time I see someone bleeding brakes, between the syringe and the pink DOT fluid, it always looks to me like they’re putting the bike to sleep. Great on rental bikes, but don’t want to have to deal with them myself. So of course I’m going to be the guy recommending the Best Damn Mechanical Discs Ever, Bar None over the hydros. Easy adjustment, no mess, great articulation and modulation, no bubbles in the line I’m going to ignore for six months, no vet clinic flashbacks…

The syringe and DOT fluid horror is eliminated by using Shimano units. The bleed system is much better (just like most cars) and uses mineral oil that is not nearly as toxic as DOT stuff.

Well what are the “Best Damn Mechanical Discs Ever”? Using both BB7s and Haynes CX Pro I might vote for the later and not the former as best overall in use, however, the former might the vote in regards to durability and brake pad replacement ease.

[Raymo853]

Well this is why everyone on the team should join the Sunday century starting from Leesburg. I am but am riding from home in Arlington and back. Plan to start off from the Custis/WO&D corner at 0500 if you want to ride out together.

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?9201-Sunday-Century-Series-12

[Raymo853]

@scoot 122968 wrote:

The new configuration is awful.

This new interchange alone should bump Arlington back to Bronze…

I had such high hopes of improvement, they were beyond dashed with it becoming worse.

[Raymo853]

How about “moderated comments” on bike articles. Would have helped squash the one on that article listing out $25,000 in different bikes as essential.

[Raymo853]

I noticed how close the All Stars were to first this morning, so I had my wife join getting us up to 330 riders and her 1,939 points were enough to move us into first, for the moment.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9447[/ATTACH]

[Raymo853]

@Raymo853 120385 wrote:

As someone who drives, rides, and runs through that intersection all the time, it is so much better for all three modes. It is still not 100% done.

Now that the work is nearly done, I think the situation is now worse for bicycles and pedestrians. Primary two causes: 1. The automotive speeds through the area are much higher. 2. The section allowing cars traveling NE along Columbia Pike to expand from two lanes to 2.5-ish (bold on the ish) for the merge onto I295 is just poorly laid out and causes all sorts of unpredictable car movements.

[Raymo853]

I have used BB7s on mountain bikes and just installed a road set. The road BB7s have impressed me a lot. I always loved the MTB ones. I also have a bike with road BB5s. They are less than good, way less.

However, for my MTBs, I have switched to hydro XT units. They are simply amazing. If you want to shell out the $110 for each unit, they are worth it. Of course you’ll might need to lengthen the hose for the rear. Much more work than shortening, as you will have to refill and bleed the system. This will give you an idea of the work involved in hydro brakes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QciJbZf6Bqc
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdxYzDNY8OE

[Raymo853]

@hozn 122807 wrote:

I am actually gaining confidence in road tubeless with this second foray. The ride on my 28mm Schwalbe Ones is really nice at 65-75psi. I might be done with tubes on any of my bikes.

I was loving road tubeless as well until a friend working for Stan’s saw I was using non-tubless tires as tubeless. That is a way big no no. The non-tubeless tires tend to blow off randomly as the beads cannot handle things tubeless.

[Author]

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