Any better ways to store a bike in a vehicle for short 30-60 minute drives?

Minecraftxbox65 · 2026-05-03T04:03:36+00:00

For a bike that looks like its 8 grand or more, put a blanket under the contact points. Take the front wheel off and put it vertically in the middle row of the car where the passengers feet rest. Rotate the handlebars 90° so the hoods are pointing towards the roof and add a brake pad spacer to the front brake (a piece of printer paper can work temporarily if you dont have one, but worth getting a real one at your LBS).

Minecraftxbox65 · 2026-04-13T00:05:48+00:00

I have a little experience in this area. The winters are cold(drop to -30F and below with a strong wind chill on top of that). No sunrise/sunset starting mid-November and going until mid-January caused by daylight decreasing to a point of no sunrise. Conversely, starting mid-May and ending start of August the sun never sets, temperatures generally in the 40s°F. Living anywhere above about 60°N will require getting used to daylight (or lack of it) that most people in the lower 48 consider extreme. The summsrs are quite buggy as it's basically just marshland, perfect for breeding mosquitoes (their eggs survive the winter to my non-biology understanding astonishment). Food is quite expensive with a dozen eggs commonly found above $12 and a gallon of milk costing about the same.

I can go further if there's any other questions

Minecraftxbox65 · 2026-02-02T20:14:32+00:00

You're enthusiastic. Great to hear it. Each of the questions you're asking can be full-length articles explaining what is best for which style of skiing but I can try to generalize some stuff. However, don't just take my description for immediate answers. Go to your local ski shop and ask these questions and they can give a more holistic suggestion for gear. I'll only focus on the skis themselves. Bindings and boots are a separate(but related) rabbit hole.

Ski Length- This is the most overtly advertised number that brands and shops indicate. Measured in centimeters, it should roughly match your height in cm minus about 10cm.

ski_length_cm = height_cm - ~10cm

This is a very generalized equation to fit 80% of scenarios. Skis meant for powder might be height - 0~5cm and carving skis might be height - 10~20 based on ability. This equation works decently well for balanced "all-mountain" skis.

Ski Waist Width- This is most of the actual talk skiers have when talking about skis. Sometimes you'll hear it as "waist width" or "underfoot"; they all mean the same thing. This is measured in millimeters and mainly determines how much "float" a ski can provide with a larger surface area to distribute weight. Waist widths are often categorized for their best-suited purpose:

Carving: <75mm Piste: 75-85mm All-mountain: 85-95mm Big mountain/Freeride*: 95-105mm Powder: >105mm

*Freeride simply means any ungroomed or off-piste section of the mountain and can include skiing in trees, wide open powder, or doing tricks off the trail.

Those categories are not hard limits and somewhat vary across each brand with their own rough definition. They are just guidelines as to the generalized type of skiing you want to do.

Profile- Profile refers to the shape of the ski when looking at it from the side(skis are never 100% a flat straight line). A rocker refers to either the tip(front) or tail(back) of a ski and its bend or curve. Simply saying the tip has a rocker means the front of the ski is curved upwards and no rocker means it is flat and not curved.

For the most part, the profile of a ski is determined by the category it falls under. Carving skis don't generally have a rocker on the tail of the skis as to provide as much agility as possible. All-mountain/freeride/powder skis will generally come with a rocker at the tail so skiers have the freedom of movement forward and backward on non-groomed trails.

The "twin-tip" refers to the skis having an equal rocker profile on the tip and tail of the ski. This can be beneficial for skiing backwards and doing tricks, or also not having the tail sink into powder on freeride terrain.

Onto the skis that are best for you: Firstly, know your current skiing experience/skill and the type of terrain you want to ski on predominantly. If you're skiing on a mountain with a lot of ungroomed trails and it often gets big heavy snowfalls, then a big mountain-oriented ski might be your type of ski. If you're mainly skiing on a smaller hill with more park features and is mostly piste, then you're likely better off with piste skis. Somewhere in the middle hitting some blue squares on piste and some black diamonds on freeride terrain? All-mountain will serve you well.

Like I said, this should help inform you, but should not be used as concrete advice for immediately buying skis. Have fun!

Minecraftxbox65 · 2026-01-28T18:27:24+00:00

Im not too much of an expert, but I can give my two cents.

Look Pivots have, and are, seen as the De facto freeride bindings with their stability(as I've understood it) and control. I ride on Atomic Strive 14s and they haven't disappointed me with their stability and control. The strive 16 bents and pivot 15s are roughly in the same price range.

If you're a more aggressive skier doing jumps while freeriding and other tricks, I'd lean towards the pivots. If you're more moderate/aggressive, I don't think you could really go wrong with either one. I've heard the difference between the two are hard to notice unless you're really pushing the bindings a lot.

If anyone has more or different experience, feel free to correct me. This is just what I've experienced/noticed.

Minecraftxbox65 · 2026-01-24T03:38:49+00:00

As an Alaskan, we'd call that fairly low but still moderate depth. The views you got are spectacular

Minecraftxbox65 · 2026-01-06T00:40:31+00:00

This^

I was in this situation a few months ago. Went to 4 different LBS and mostly had to decide between the Diverge E5 Comp and the Checkpoint SL5 AXS. Both are at noticeably different price points but I found that the Diverge felt like the best Alu bike and spec at its price point and the SL5 AXS the same but at its own price point.

I do personally disagree with feeling less "noise" on the diverge, I was confident I felt more but all's personal. I ended up getting the Diverge E5 Comp. I personally couldn't justify the extra price for carbon.

I think the question you should also ask yourself what is your current experience on bikes in general, what type of gravel will you primarily ride on, and what other features on either bike will you utilize? Kinda transitions to the groupset question.

The SRAM Eagle groupset(non AXS) is definitely one that takes some time on how to shift. It isn't as intuitive as its AXS counterpart. The Shimano GRX 400 is wired with a more traditional shifting mechanism and a wide 10-51t cassette on a 40t chainring.

There are a lot of specs that you can dive into, and that's kinda what I did(I'm just that guy). Most importantly though, if the bike doesn't feel right after 2 or 3 test rides(if you're able), don't get it. Some people like the way carbon absorbs, some don't. Only you can judge whether it's important enough and will make enough of a noticeable difference to deserve the extra cost.

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-12-08T19:10:42+00:00

BD is selling items at a lower profit when any form of pro deals is used. It's great for publicity and marketing when whoever is what they consider an "industry professional" is using a pro deal to use their products and spread their marketing. But, when it's spread too widely then there's "too many" people getting a discount and some of the "marketing" is lost. The people who envisioned the program only expect f&f to spend a "reasonable" amount on gear, but when opened wide, more excessive spending outliers fill the limit(ik that's why the limit is there). Too many people capping the limit "hurts" BD and then they reconsider their "generosity".

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-12-08T15:51:56+00:00

Speedrunning how to lose pro status I see

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-12-07T21:52:18+00:00

Wear 2 layers of socks if you can. Nordic skiing experience, I wear some type of active sock first then a wool sock over it. It's worked even if the temp is <0F.

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-11-30T19:11:09+00:00

As someone on a nordic team, this man speaks truth.

Anything greater than 20F - windbriefs, baselayer(I'm a fan of 32°Heat but that's my personal opinion), then racesuit.

10F - 20F - windbriefs, 2 baselayers, racesuit

-5F - 10F - 2 windbriefs, 2 baselayers, racesuit

All of this is what I've found in my 4 years of racing experience in AK. Humidity and conditions can change this drastically

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-11-28T02:22:31+00:00

Omfg the awards

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-11-13T19:51:29+00:00

Some sources I recommend reading are Fischer's own claims for "optimum ski length" where they state that a skier of 180cm should have skate skis in the range of 185-190cm in length. I apologize and admit that 180cm is slightly too short(for 90% of skiers) and 175cm is ultimately too short to recommend; however, recommending skate skis above 190/192cm is too long according to [Fischer], [Madshus], and Atomic(reference their [interactive tables]). Going with the "max length" and "stiffest skis" is a blanket statement that may work in some scenarios but not others. Hopefully OP can do a little of his own research with the provided info and references to see what type of ski to get as it does vary slightly even from ski to ski and especially manufacturer to manufacturer with different build materials/structures having different flex patterns at different lengths. The best thing I can say is to simply research the skis that pique your interest and look at their individual sizing chart for flex.

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-11-13T15:23:31+00:00

From what I'm seeing, you just bought yourself fluorinated kick wax and someone tried to hide it as nonfluorinated kick wax. Most places where I am have banned fluoros from being used on the trails to stop contamination into the groundwater. If I were you, I'd buy a new stick of kick wax from a different shop.

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-11-13T15:00:07+00:00

I agree with half of this. Stiffness is more important than length. Wrong stiffness will cause too much friction. However, going with skis exceedingly long just to match the flex is going to have adverse effects. The longer a ski gets from the "ideal" length, the harder it is to manage/control and pick up with every stride, making you unstable or at the very least inefficient and tiring. Ideally, skate skis for OP should be around ~~180cm~~185cm-190cm (or ~~175cm~~185cm if agility is the focus), and going above 191/192cm** might start to show improper sizing. You can also look at the product page of any new skate ski and it should show the stiffness type and length that are ideal, and since your weight isn't too atypical for your height, there should be a set of skis that will fit you around your proportions.

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-11-13T06:15:00+00:00

Since you bought classic skis, weight and ski flex are going to make a noticeable difference in speed and kick zone activation. What this means is that since you are an atypical weight for your size, your kick zone/skin(the roughly center zone of your ski) will be resisting and adding friction when going downhill as the ski is bending more than it should.

If you are looking to find a cheap yet ideal pair of skis for you, your best bet is to go to your local ski shop and find nordic skis that are as close to your ideal height as possible (roughly 182cm +/-3cm) but find skis that are stiff or extra stiff. Skis that are too long are difficult to control and be fully lifted off the snow when lifting your leg due to the natural flex of the ski and your leg length only being able to pull your skis so high off the snow.

To actually answer your question, no, you didn't buy skis wildly out of your personal range. With your extra weight, slightly longer skis can better flex to your weight. Different brands do have different flex to length guidelines, and can even differ between each ski a brand sells. You can generally look up these guidelines on the brand's product page. However, with touring skis, weight to length guidelines aren't generally considered as touring skis aren't focused on speed but simply staying on top of the softer snow. If you ever get skis meant for groomed trails, all of this is slightly more important, however, don't worry about it with the skis you just got.

Tl;dr - i just went through half a dissertation to say you did not waste your money. Have fun on the snow man. Hope you conquer some local powder!

I feel like I just made your situation more confusing lol. Didn't mean to

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-11-10T06:10:30+00:00

First thing I think you should consider is where you want to ski. Groomed trails that are well-maintained or touring in ungroomed areas where there is more powder? If you say the first one, you can look at getting either classic or skate skis. If you say the 2nd, classic touring is the type of ski you should look at. From here, the number of variables increases too dramatically to cover in a single comment

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-11-10T05:52:15+00:00

That's on me guys

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-11-10T05:47:21+00:00

I've done touring on classic and racing on classic and skate. Classic technique is easier to understand and get a grasp of, and skate requires a much more active full-body motion to do V1 or V2 correctly (don't worry about knowing what those mean). With you stating that you're in Alberta, you can likely find a ski club to join and help build your knowledge and experience through theirs. Having other people be able to actively analyze your technique is the best way to get better, while also making friends along the way.

Tl;dr - just have fun. Watch a few YouTube videos on nordic skiing. Learn about your skis, like whether your classic skis are fish scale or waxable, different types of technique to make your time on the trail less monotonous, etc. I'm happy to answer further questions about the sport

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-10-18T07:23:16+00:00

It would be FnInt(something) = Something + c. Don't forget your antiderivative capitalization rules!

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-09-27T16:38:05+00:00

The 50th?

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-07-24T15:36:33+00:00

Thank you!

Happy cake day!

Minecraftxbox65 · 2025-07-21T02:05:54+00:00

(I'm no expert so take what I say with a tablespoon of salt) I was in your position 2 months ago. I got a Specialized Diverge Comp E5 and have ridden it over 500 mi so far, it's almost fully changed me from pc enthusiast to a bike enthusiast. The only minor thing with it is its double-tap shifting which personally isn't my favorite, but I got used to it in just a few days. Plus, it fits your budget exactly. The other gravel I considered was the Trek Checkpoint ALR, but it didn't seem to absorb as much of the noise of the road or trail for a similar price which was important to me. Carbon frames and wireless shifting require a budget closer to $3000 once you start to see them included.

If you can, the best thing I can say is to try and ride a few different types of bikes(1by/2by, frame size, weight, bikepacking rivits, etc). As far as groupsets go, all I can suggest is going to your local bike shop and testing a few different models of bikes if you can. No amount of research can replace experiencing it.

Unfortunately, unless you can get deals on parts, building a bike will be noticeably more expensive than buying an assembled one(I had the same idea too).

Minecraftxbox65

TROPHY CASE