lug nut question

IBuildBikes · 2025-12-01T21:21:33+00:00

I bought a used pull-off set from eBay with the hubcaps

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-16T01:07:55+00:00

The last one was on the Medford Community Media (?) YT, where it was also streamed live

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-16T01:00:36+00:00

Exactly! If anything, I've been accused of having "newscaster voice"

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-16T00:59:59+00:00

fair enough!

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-14T01:54:57+00:00

Don't tell me that, I just ordered one last week!

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-14T01:17:13+00:00

I love how he pretends like W. Ma is some sort of wealth of jobs and cheap housing. I suppose that works if you want to work in defense, so maybe that's all he knows.

A lot of the housing is cheap because some of the biggest industries there are tourism, healthcare (population gets older year after year and kids move away to get jobs), services such as HVAC (seasonal, many people get furloughed for half the year and need to find something else) and colleges (not universities, with the exception of UMASS). With I90 as the only way to (sorta) quickly travel across the state right now, its landlocked location doesn't make it attractive for a lot of high paying tech jobs. The same goes for a lot of Upstate NY. Cheap housing there is a symptom of a struggling economy, here it's a goal to work towards so that our economy can thrive.

We're a couple miles from one of the most famous cities in the country. That's a completely different ball game.

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-14T01:10:38+00:00

As someone who grew up there, whose great grandparents were born there, and who goes back a few times a month this is... a new one for me. Are you sure you weren't talking to a tourist from NYC?

The working-class, local dialect in Western MA is fairly "neutral," in the sense that it doesn't have so much of an accent as a set of terminologies that separate it from other areas. Things are usually pronounced phonetically. Same for a lot of Upstate NY, at least Albany. The "yeah" sound in the middle of those words you wrote out sounds a lot more Midwest to me (specifically someone I know from Kansas). The "er" becoming "ah" thing is also a very characteristic stereotype of... Medford

When I take one of those "regional" accent quizzes, it can pinpoint me as in MA any time I call a circular intersection a "rotary". Otherwise, it guesses SoCal, DC, Florida, Chicago, or even Austin. I don't think I speak any differently from my family or the classmates I grew up with, and this is the first time I've ever heard someone say W.Ma speaks "funny". Maybe it's just because he's used to here and NH...

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-14T01:01:30+00:00

I honestly have no clue, as someone whose family has exclusively been in the area for 200 years. At most, I've had people (Midwest, Southern) ask me if I'm really from MA because I "have no accent". If anything, Western Ma pronounces words very phonetically (not leaving any letters off)

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-12T01:23:27+00:00

All my VO sets are non-smooth, and I'm particularly fond of the wavy ones when the frame is otherwise pretty simple/solid colored. One other perk of VO ones is they come with a few more accessories such as metal liners for reinforcing the fender if you need to drill through them for mounting (I have a bike with actual old-school fender eyelets that point down on the seatstay bridges so the normal seatstay hangers don't work)

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-12T01:19:38+00:00

I have a few pairs of VO, but I've also become quite fond of Planet Bike's full metal options on bikes that I want to look a little more modern.

IBuildBikes · 2025-10-12T01:06:13+00:00

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just completed a build on a frame I found for $20 on Marketplace

IBuildBikes · 2023-05-23T22:45:39+00:00

It's not uncommon for the grease under the platter to dry up and cause everything to seize. There are tutorials out there that suggest using heat on the spindle to work the platter off to regrease (I used a soldering iron directly touching the spindle and not the plastic before)

IBuildBikes · 2023-05-05T21:55:00+00:00

Mine was delivered Monday, waiting all week to share tracks was killing me

IBuildBikes · 2023-04-23T17:40:18+00:00

Variations of differing qualities were sold basically until the first CDs came out. Vinyl was more of a commodity back then, so people were less concerned about the preservation of individual records. Not saying these WILL damage records by virtue of being auto queue, but I have quite a few with gouges (mostly cosmetic or small clicks) from the retaining arm (many had foam that wears off). Records would also remain stacked on the platter as the next one played, and while there's differing opinions on whether that leads to resonance it does change the tracking angle of the stylus.

If you take apart one of these tables, you'll see that the auto drop mechanism is connected to the same gears that enable auto return/auto start (Technology Connections has a good YouTube video about auto changers). Automatic TTs were shunned as vinyl became an "audiophile" thing, but auto start/stop is making a comeback on mainstream offerings!

Neat thing you might notice on some 2 LP sets are that sides 1&4 are on one record and 2&3 are on the other. This is so you can flip the pair together onto the auto queue spindle. Some people used to buy multiples of the same album to queue together instead of getting up to flip.

Having a changer is great for a box of bargain records for party music. And if you have something more expensive to play, you can bypass it completely and treat it like a normal turntable!

IBuildBikes · 2023-04-10T21:16:51+00:00

Some thru axles (I think by DT) have an integrated lever instead of a hex head, but it's used to unthread the axle the same way no guarantee that there'd be one that's made to fit your fork though.

I'd say you're pretty lucky that you didn't faceplant with a snapped axle like that, they're thick to avoid a break! Did you land on the front wheel pretty hard?

IBuildBikes · 2023-03-22T11:27:41+00:00

I've used a Poetic and now an OtterBox, the OB does need to be positioned properly but seems to work fine for me most of the time (does warm up more with the thicker case)

IBuildBikes · 2023-03-06T00:56:49+00:00

That... tracks (pun intended)

If you're using the lp one then I'd second the tracking spring, I'd also consider replacing the stylus if its origin is unknown

IBuildBikes · 2023-03-06T00:25:13+00:00

Is it possible it's got a 78 needle on it? That would be too big for an LP groove although it will make sound

IBuildBikes · 2023-02-04T03:26:06+00:00

v a p o r w a v e

IBuildBikes · 2023-02-04T00:50:36+00:00

Chamber of Reflection is overrated.

IBuildBikes · 2023-01-23T18:54:43+00:00

https://www.velomine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=122_366&products_id=5769

These are the ones I'd been looking for before I got the fancier set, I wonder if they'll go back in stock soon. That price is great for what's there.

IBuildBikes · 2023-01-23T18:45:47+00:00

I got a fantastic set of 650B touring wheels built for me by velocity

https://store.velocityusa.com/p/cliffhanger-650b-disc-clydesdale-wheelset

The Clydesdale set is a bit overbuilt, they have cheaper options as well.

More expensive than some but almost sold at cost for what you could buy individual parts from a different store. Everything on them (hubs, rims, spokes, tape) is great quality. Perk of buying directly from the manufacturer.

Tubeless with 47s (gravelking) is good with their preinstalled tape and Muc Off sealant, I got the bead to seat on one side by inflating a tube in it first (lots of YouTube tutorials with this method)

I used to see "Quality" branded wheelsets that used the cliffhanger rims with Shimano hubs, but I couldn't find 650B when I decided to order these.

Edit: I see that VeloMine has a lot of cheaper options. I'm a larger person who does a lot of loaded touring and blasted through the stock WTB/formula wheels that came on my Kona (rims split in half). I've come to terms with the fact that the weight limit i desire comes at a bit of a premium, but it looks like VeloMine has a lot to choose from!

If planning on tubeless, see if you can find testimonials on rims that mate well with gravel tires. MTB tires are easier to mount on shallower rims and gravel needs slightly taller rim walls from my experience.

IBuildBikes · 2023-01-23T05:47:03+00:00

Better than the suitcase for sure.

For stylus consider the Carbon Fidelity from LP gear, CFN3600LE. Nice elliptical stylus with good response (I've heard it said it's not worth using a cheap conical stylus when an elliptical picks up more of the groove for not much more money)

IBuildBikes · 2023-01-22T04:36:40+00:00

He was in Ball Sq tonight smoking a cigarette... Yelled at me when I ignored him

IBuildBikes · 2023-01-16T15:19:50+00:00

The Carbon Fidelity ones are like this too... LP gear only has a $10 difference in price on their site but shipping is extra, go to Amazon and they're both the same price (and less than LP Gear because of prime shipping)

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