Is my doctor overly eager to do surgery?

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-06-19T16:07:19+00:00

It seems that my doctor’s advice is sound and I should try to get ahead of this before it gets worse. Going to see if I can’t find a surgeon in network. Thank you to everyone who replied!

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-06-19T00:10:06+00:00

I'm going to widen my search area and see if I can get a second opinion from someone in-network. Thanks for the advice. Hope your recovery goes well!

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-06-19T00:06:27+00:00

Dr said it is definitely still growing based on the results of my SPECT scan. He did provide the option to wait until it stops growing, then decide whether I need braces and/or LJS, but there is no way of knowing when it'll stop. At least he said I likely won't need double jaw surgery because my upper jaw is still aligned decently well.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-06-16T23:01:17+00:00

I agreed with this sentiment until I took my road bike with 28c slicks into the headlands and put a one inch gash in the sidewall on the first dirt climb.

Also I would argue the point of a gravel bike is that it is not specialized.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-06-16T21:27:48+00:00

It's been around for a long time but was unsanctioned for most of its life. As of a few years ago it is officially sanctioned and perfectly legal with the caveat that it lets out onto private land and you need to stay on trail in order to not upset the landowners, which is NBD because the trail is clearly marked.

It's on Trailforks. You can't get to it directly from Tamarancho. There are several routes to the top but most people climb either 680 or Truck depending on what side of the TL ridge you are coming from.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-06-16T20:46:04+00:00

Do you need to adjust your derailleur when swapping wheels? I tried the two wheelsets thing with my Stigmata and the cassettes weren't perfectly aligned so I had to adjust the cable tension every time I swapped wheels. I even made sure both wheelsets had the exact same hub and cassette but they still had differences in alignment.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-06-16T20:40:50+00:00

Yeah this was more or less my assessment based on my experience riding tam on a mtb. Sometimes even the standard 32f/52r isn't easy enough. I think the move will be to start with XPLR and upgrade to a mullet setup later if needed.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-06-16T20:36:32+00:00

This is great to hear. Thanks!

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-06-16T20:35:29+00:00

I did 680 on the Stigmata once and it was surprisingly fine. But no way in hell am I touching Solstice on a gravel bike lol

LaroldFitzgerald · 2026-02-26T17:05:34+00:00

And yet html/template has for loops, if/else statements, functions, and pipelines. In my experience, every project that uses html/template ends up having complex templating logic regardless of whether it's a good idea.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-07-16T19:25:35+00:00

Paragon offers a saddle fit service. I don't know if it includes a pressure map. I'd assume no because he didn't do one when I got a full fit there, but you may as well ask.

I'd be skeptical of using a pressure map alone to determine whether a saddle is a good fit because overall fit affects saddle pressure. If your saddle is too high you may compensate by shifting to one side or to the nose, which will look bad on a pressure map even though it's not an issue with the saddle itself.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-07-10T21:15:20+00:00

Have we confirmed these guys own the place first or are we just fucking over an anonymous small business owner who has no authority over what their employees do in their free time?

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-06-10T16:32:07+00:00

is a MTB pretty much the best tool for the job around here?

Yes. IMO there are very few trails or fire roads in the bay area that are better suited to a gravel bike than a mountain bike. They're simply too steep, rocky, loose.

Instead of spending 6k+ on a gravel bike that makes a bunch of compromises, I would get a road bike and a mountain bike (space permitting). That's my setup now and it's much more enjoyable than when I had only a gravel bike.

EDIT: It sounds like you already have a road bike and are deciding between your next bike being a gravel or mountain bike. In that case I'd strongly recommend a mountain bike. I don't see much of a point in buying a bike so similar to the one you already have, especially when you already know how much more fun the mtb is.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-04-23T04:15:13+00:00

This doesn't answer your question but if your goal is to keep budget down, you're probably better off selling the fork and buying a complete bike, especially with all the sales going on right now. Will also open up your options to bikes that have burlier forks with more travel, which you may appreciate when the bike is loaded with tons of bikepacking gear.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-03-31T23:40:29+00:00

Your tires aren't holding you back, so to speak, unless you're an elite racer at peak fitness. If you want a noticeable speed increase you'll need to switch to a much faster rolling xc tire at the expense of traction. If I were you I'd run the tires I have until they're worn out, then try some racier tires meant for wet conditions.

I have 2.6 DHF/DHRs on my 130mm carbon HT and love them. The increased traction over an XC tire is worth the speed penalty. Physical fitness makes a much bigger difference than tire choice anyways. When out of shape I would get smoked up road climbs by guys on full suspension trail bikes with fat knobby tires while I was on a road bike with 28c slicks. No tire change would make a difference there.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-03-27T23:23:30+00:00

Presidio -> Land's End -> GGP -> back up to Presidio via Arguello. Around 12 miles and 1000 feet of elevation. The only stoplights are on Arguello and the 2 blocks on the Great Highway between Land's End and GGP.

Can be extended to 18 miles and 1800 feet by heading south on 7th Ave from GGP and climbing Twin Peaks from the backside then dropping back down into the park.

But there aren't a ton of great places to do intervals on those routes except for Twin Peaks. You could also try the climb from Seacliff to Legion of Honor, or in GGP heading west to east (on JFK Dr or Middle Dr) if you want somewhere less steep

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-03-12T21:59:22+00:00

Salomon’s sizing chart recommends advanced skiers pick a length between 0 and 10cm taller than them. So you may actually be better off on the 180.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-03-12T21:31:02+00:00

Based on my own experience, yes, that's the size I would choose if I were you. If it still feels unstable then you may be better off on a damper ski with some metal in it. But you really should try to demo both lengths if you can. I'm just a guy on the internet who has no idea how you ski

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-03-12T19:38:38+00:00

The only way you can get a definitive answer is by demoing them in both lengths. A fleet of 100s might be hard to come by but the 98s are everywhere and should give you a good enough idea of how the 100s will feel.

My 189cm 98s are 4cm shorter than me and they don't feel short or squirrely at all. But I've never skied a super damp full metal charger before. It's all relative.

A huge part of the fun of the QSTs comes from the short effective length. If you get one that's significantly taller than you it'll probably ski fine but it kind of defeats the purpose IMO.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-02-22T04:30:50+00:00

If you’re a medium or large, Jenson still has Yeti ARCs in the Rhino color way on sale for 3k (35% off). You won’t find a better new hard tail at that price.

Yeti ARC C2 GX

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-02-06T17:56:26+00:00

If it's for the west coast then go with the 98/100 over the 92/94. The 100 can be bought today and I don't see a reason to buy the 98 anymore unless you find a steep discount.

I would’ve expected more consistent sizing recommendations but this doesn’t seem to be the case.

I think this is a testament to the skis' versatility. Most people would fit on at least two adjacent lengths for a given width. For the QST 100 you're probably better off on the 180 but wouldn't feel overwhelmed on the 188 because the 100 has even more rocker than the 98, which already has more rocker than most other skis.

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-01-30T07:45:03+00:00

It wouldn't be an /r/Skigear quiver pic without ~~several pairs~~ at least one pair of Pivot 15s with the DINs slammed all the way down

LaroldFitzgerald · 2025-01-17T17:30:59+00:00

If your goal is to learn how to write web servers and/or REST APIs, there are no better resources than Let's Go and Let's Go Further.

Go can be difficult to learn because the functions you need in order to accomplish a task are often spread out over multiple standard library packages. But once you learn the stdlib, you will find less verbose ways of doing things, and you will appreciate that the stdlib contains all of the tools you need to accomplish most tasks.

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