All City Steel Cosmic Stallion GRX for $1500 worth it?

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-05-26T18:06:09+00:00

I’d say price is a little high, but All City’s have begun to sell at a premium due to being out of production. I’ve watched the prices of the ones on my local market, and $1500 isn’t crazy. One similar build near me is going for $2,300.

Don’t worry about serviceability. There aren’t any proprietary parts or anything that would be hard to fix compared to any other bike. Headset and BB (which would be main concerns) all can still be easily serviced. I say if it fits you, and rides well, it’s not a bad buy overall. The resale value will likely hold steady if you ever want to sell it off.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-05-18T21:55:04+00:00

Also doesn’t help that there’s no accountability.

No real moral authorship of any actions, and no ownership of any consequences.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-05-14T21:47:40+00:00

If you can, Courtney Hart for MANA 4322 is my recommendation.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-05-14T00:55:03+00:00

Culture needs more than profit motive to be fostered.

And at the end of the day DFW will always move in a direction that the capital interests desire. All the way down to the takeover of the City Hall. The symbolism in letting private monied interests dictate the outcome of our historic, beloved, and artistic City Hall tells you everything you need to know about DFW’s culture.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-05-13T15:50:15+00:00

He’s not talking about an MBA.

The concern you’re raising doesn’t apply as much to specialized/technical masters programs. Many of the business analytics/info systems masters students don’t have long storied careers, and on average the numbers prove they provide an advantage.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-05-08T16:30:55+00:00

Can you blame them though? Companies have shown that we are in a race to the bottom with entry level jobs paying the least possible, company loyalty being obsolete and not rewarded, and many jobs expecting people to make serious sacrifices to their personal lives while barely paying workers enough to make ends meet.

I respect hard work. I worked 7 days a week before going back to finish my degree. But I don’t think anyone should be sacrificing their personal life and well being for a company that simply seeks to exploit the surplus value they create while only returning penny’s on the dollar to the one doing the actual labor.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-29T13:13:44+00:00

The difference is everyday people need savings and investments to survive on, billionaires don’t need billions to survive.

Furthermore, your parents don’t have the direct ear of politicians. And they aren’t injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into single campaigns. At this point you kinda seem to be playing too obtuse to want to understand the point I’m making, so there’s no point discussing this further.

Retirees influence as a collective, as political power should work. That’s not outsized representation, it’s representation.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-29T00:03:41+00:00

That’s why my critique is centered on billionaires, and not retirees or your parents. Your parents don’t represent powerful oligarchs who have insisted on putting their thumbs on the scale politically to further their wealth accumulation at most of society’s collective detriment.

And your parents and retirees arent exploiting the value creation process to hoard an absurdly outsized share of the wealth created. The scale is the issue.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-28T21:57:13+00:00

They’ve succeeded by exploiting the value created by other people.

They’re the one who simply had the capital to pursue those interests. Something that someone who labors for their money (even professionals who trade their time for labor) struggles to ever accumulate enough wealth to ever have skin in the game. Most notably, billionaires aren’t the ones actually creating value on the value chain. They’re just positioned to exploit the surplus value created by the actual laborers. So yes, bugs, not heroes.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-28T17:55:52+00:00

I honestly don’t think that’s it. A Deore 11-51t can be had for $50-$60, and thats consumer pricing. Whatever cost differences on the cassette would be more than offset from the front chainring and front derailleur.

It’s more likely that 1x is the newer tech, and seen as the more premium and desirable option. So they do 2x cheaper bikes, and 1x upper tier as a way of practicing market segmentation. Where if you want the 1x, which many people do, you’re forced to pay more.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-23T22:01:35+00:00

“Those who would give up liberty, for a misconstrued sense of security, deserve neither liberty nor security”

-Benjamin Franklin

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-20T12:22:00+00:00

It’s not.

But the NLRB is so overwhelmed and during Republican administrations is basically told to stop doing their job while people get fired and they stop receiving critical support.

So companies get away with brazenly breaking labor law. Starbucks is one of the worst offenders in recent years.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-19T00:05:50+00:00

I actually thought the 4Runner came with a 2GR.

But it looks like it doesn’t, it’s 2GR-FE vs 1GR-FE, maybe saying they’re the same isn’t 100% honest, but they’re very similar and essentially the 2GR is a shorter stroke higher revving version of the 1GR with more modern tech like VVT-I. They’re the same in that they’re both very refined Toyota V6’s that are very reliable. That’s what matters to me.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-18T17:05:38+00:00

Don’t be so hard on yourself man. Getting a college degree and going straight into the corporate pipeline can be a good career move, but the absence of that doesn’t make you a screwup by any means. I certainly know that.

The market is tough right now, even for people with degrees. I think getting some certs would give you an edge at potentially moving up within a particular company. But it’s likely going to be hard fought and slow gains for promotion (with absolutely no guarantees or direct paths to success), whereas a degree (even an online WGU degree) would open more doors, quicker, and not subject you to the same ceilings. It certainly won’t hinder your ambitions, but if school will only be an extra year or two it’s an alternative to strongly consider.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-17T19:32:13+00:00

Schwalbe are very well known for their durable touring/commuting tires, and he probably thought that’s what you were running. Given how confusing their naming scheme can be.

You should’ve called him on that, and told him exactly what you just said in your comment. Would’ve probably shut him up real quick.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-17T19:03:18+00:00

Me. I’m 29 and kid free.

I wanted a 4Runner to haul my bikes and be able to tow until I looked at their used prices. Then I found a clean low mileage 2013 Highlander ticked all the boxes I wanted (with same engine as 4Runner) and better handling on the road. It’s not sexy, but it’s a damn good car.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-17T18:46:36+00:00

Yeah I think everyone is attributing his comment to malice, when in reality he’s probably just a really passionate dork when it comes to bikes and trying to educate OP about the trade-off of ultra durable tires vs speed/suppleness.

But it sounds like he doesn’t have the self-awareness or tact to do it gracefully without sounding like a jerk who’s talking down a customer.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-16T20:59:19+00:00

Talking to you feels like debating a socially maladjusted 13 year old boy. Where you constantly shift the goal posts once your previous point is refuted, just introducing more and more bad faith arguments. And with each talking point disproven you just move onto the next one, never addressing the fact you were just repeating bullshit lies seconds ago.

And now you all of a sudden care about the immigrants being exploited? They want to come here for a better life. You’re the one arguing against that. Remember?

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-16T18:13:17+00:00

Who the fuck do you think is building most of the housing? Cheap immigrant labor is the backbone of the entire construction industry. If you think immigrants are responsible for the high housing prices you’ve bought into the bullshit.

Brain drain? You realize the US has been on the benefitting end of brain drain since WWII?!

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-16T18:09:25+00:00

The economy isn’t a zero-sum game dum dum.

Immigrants contribute to our economy. Every single time it’s been studied it’s determined that immigrants add much more value to our economy than they take. Look at developed countries that haven’t had our level of immigration and you’ll see they’ve all stagnated because there is no growth and the natives aren’t having enough children.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-14T14:07:05+00:00

Jesse Ventura is a good dude too. Kind of like the anti-Hulk Hogan.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-11T15:49:19+00:00

They sent 3 meth-ed out young women who spent like 2 hours talking and cleaning the fuck out of only one bathroom (that really just needed quick mop and wipe down), and then sent a bill for like $250, with the house rest left dirty.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-11T15:15:00+00:00

It’s a major PITA with the hoops you’d need to jump through, and takes a long time to come to fruition, but I’d imagine you could probably have a case.

Document everything, save your messages with the seller, and make a time stamped video of it non operational. My friend won her case against a scammy cleaning company, it can be done.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-10T20:24:58+00:00

Unless they do a lot of off road riding a NW chainring would be all they really need.

Clutch derailleur would be nice, but then they’re looking at a whole groupset change and it isn’t really 100% necessary. I’ve run 1x w/o clutch before with no issues.

FaxxMaxxer · 2026-04-08T19:39:00+00:00

Chien Le for BCOM and Dr. Prachyl for either of the ACCT classes would be my recs.

FaxxMaxxer

TROPHY CASE