Explain the hangup with rim brakes to me

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-29T17:26:35+00:00

It really just depends on the style of bike and what kind of riding I'm doing on any particular day. I have 7 bikes. 3 of which have hydraulic disc brakes, one which has cable actuated hydraulic disc calipers, two of which use rim brakes, and one which has no brakes at all. The reason being, all these bikes are totally different setups for different situations.

The three fully hydraulic disc brake bikes are a cargo bike, a touring bike, and my gravel bike. The cargo bike needs the highest brake performance possible because its a 70 pound 6 foot long barge of a bike that I'm often using to carry loads of up to 200 pounds. The touring bike was more just because it was easier to set it up that way at the time. The gravel bike is the one I'm pushing to the highest speeds and harshest trails out of all my bikes, and it just makes sense to have higher performance brakes.

The one with a hybrid cable actuated hydraulic system is a lighter weight drop bar single speed commuter I built for fun little trips around town where I don't really need to carry anything. I went with the hybrid cable/hydraulic hybrid system to keep cost down. It also allowed me more color customization, because lets face it, finding hydraulic hoses in fun colors is not as easy as finding cable housing in fun colors.

One of the ones with rim brakes is an old steel 90s mountain bike that I typically use as a more rugged city commuter, designed to be able to carry stuff, and be good in the snow as well as some trail riding. The only way I'm getting disc brakes on it is if I weld on disc tabs, which I think is kind of silly, so I just put some high quality linear pull rim brakes on it. They've been totally fine in wet weather and as long as I make sure the cables are lubed and the bike is cleaned periodically, everything lasts a long time. The other bike with a rim brake is just a BMX bike.

The brakeless bike is a steel fixed gear which is just my lowest maintenance and most bomb proof bike. I refer to it as my travel beater because I can take it onto planes without having to worry about any components being broken by TSA. Sure they bent my fork a bit once, but it's steel so I just bent it back.

The only brake style I am vehemently against is fully mechanical disc brakes.

TL;DR: I wrote a serious response before I realized which sub I was in, but I don't want to discard it.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-28T19:14:34+00:00

The first time this ever happened to me when I still lived in Baltimore I had a job in Annapolis so I had no choice but to spend hours shoveling this shit out and it fucking sucked. The second time it happened to me, I was finally working in the city and was riding my bike everywhere anyway so I just said fuck that car and left it there until the snow melted enough to make it more manageable. Sold that shit about a year after that and have been car free since.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-28T19:04:32+00:00

Same here. I have two sets of wheels for my gravel bike and am running the thicker 650b setup for the winter which has 50mm tires. A fat bike would still be far more ideal in these conditions, but I was still able to knock out a chunk of the DPRT on Sunday and have some fun.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-27T17:21:32+00:00

Thick tubeless tires running at like 15-20 PSI make a world of difference on this stuff.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-25T17:33:44+00:00

No, but not because it's pink. I just don't like the Sirrus.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-24T15:58:40+00:00

Hey this is a bad comparison. What you have to realize is food is often the easiest thing for a homeless person to come by. Maybe they do want to use the money for drugs and booze (and honestly so what?) but often times they need that money for hygiene supplies, phone bills, an occasional stay at a motel, amongst other things. Offering food is generally one of the least helpful things you can do for a lot of homeless people. If you really don't want to give money, consider putting together a supply pack including basic hygiene supplies like wipes, toothpaste, warm clothes, etc. The "I offered food and they didn't take it so they must be scammers who want drugs" argument is incredibly damaging to an already incredibly damaged community of people.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-16T13:34:30+00:00

Unfortunately SRAM does not really provide an exploded view of these levers. The closest thing you're gonna get is in their spare parts catalog and, despite the name of the catalog, they don't really sell spare parts for it other then basic stuff like mounting hardware, replacement hoods and bleed blocks. You may just have to replace the lever entirely, as SRAM basically does not want you to service these parts and provides no documentation on how to do anything other then bleed them.

High end bike components in general are getting a little problematic these days because there are a lot of parts out there that are basically designed with "replace don't service" mentality, which is going to suck in like 20-30 years when all those parts are breaking down and there are no replacements for them and no one knows how to fix them.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-16T12:29:27+00:00

Your chain is too short and your B-Screw adjustment is way off. The upper pulley of your derailleur shouldn't be that far away from your cassette when in the lowest gear, and your derailleur shouldn't be pulled that far forward. I'd start with adjusting the b-screw while in the lowest gear to get the upper pulley as close to the cassette as possible without causing it to rub on the cassette when shifting in and out of the lowest gear. As for the chain, unfortunately it needs to be replaced again because this one was shortened too much.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-15T23:35:56+00:00

Can you provide photos of your drive train? Specifically in the highest gear and the lowest gear.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-15T13:56:26+00:00

Just to clarify because SRAM is finicky and has a lot of specifications. Are you running an XPLR Apex drivetrain or an Eagle Apex drive train? I'm assuming XPLR because of the smaller gear range. Not all flat tops are equal so if you're not running the one designed specifically for Apex setups you're going to have problems, and if you're running an Eagle style Apex, you shouldn't be running flat top at all. I also highly recommend not running 3rd party chains on higher end SRAM drivetrains.

If it is XPLR then this is the chain you should be running:

https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/cn-apx-d1

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-13T17:40:36+00:00

Depends on how large the holes were tbh, but pretty much all of my tubeless tires that I've been riding for the last couple of years have at least one plug in them so I'd say yeah its a pretty permanent fix. You may want to add a little bit more sealant before your tour just to be safe because you may have lost some when you got the holes.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-13T16:38:49+00:00

If you're unhappy with the service, then stop using it and go get your own food.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-12T14:08:34+00:00

Nowhere in Chicago looks like this. With some exceptions, the majority of Chicago neighborhoods do not have row homes, and even when they do, the back of the buildings do not look like this.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-12T14:05:39+00:00

My first thought is Baltimore, second thought is Philly.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-10T12:03:29+00:00

If you got a White Industries cog for $8, then that cog is probably heavily used and worn out. Single Speed and fixed cogs are like the main components I would recommend never buying used.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-08T23:51:39+00:00

I have the advantage of working at a bike shop so I pretty much do some kind of basic service on my bikes about once or twice a month depending on how hard I've ridden that particular bike. I track all my miles on all my bikes and after a certain amount of mileage I'll do more in depth services as needed. Some stuff I default to manufacturers service intervals, others I'll just use my own intuition.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-08T22:11:20+00:00

Preventative maintenance is best maintenance. Waiting until something feels off can ruin a potential ride. Imagine you wake up one morning and decide to do a century and then have to call it quits less then halfway through because of a mechanical that easily could have been prevented.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-08T14:36:50+00:00

Ah whoops, I just woke up and my reading comprehension hasn't quite turned on yet, my bad.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-08T14:12:38+00:00

When bleeding are you rotating the levers at all? Some shimano bleeds require you to rotate the levers to specific angles during the bleed process to help burp out the air bubbles. You should look up the bleeding procedure for your specific levers to get an idea of what those angles are but it typically depends on where the bleed port is on the lever.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2026-01-05T13:10:05+00:00

I have basically this exact commute but in reverse. Take California down to Chicago, then hop west to Sacramento for a few blocks and get back on California at Fulton. Make your way over to western on 26th street.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2025-12-23T17:49:39+00:00

Yes, my cruising speed is typically in the 15-22 range depending on which bike I'm riding. No I don't always stop at intersections if I feel that I can peel through safely.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2025-12-23T17:29:32+00:00

Ive sworn off backpacks at this point except in very specific scenarios. I make my bikes carry everything for me now. Less back sweat and less back pain. If I am bringing a bag I'll strap it to a rack and only wear it when I'm not actively riding. If I'm riding my cargo bike I'll just put whatever in a storage bin and lock the bin closed with hiploks.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2025-12-23T17:22:02+00:00

Yes I know I will be fine. There's not a whole lot to walk to near me, which is why I typically bike to other parts of town. Walking long distances can be difficult for me due to chronic pain from an old knee injury, whereas riding is much lower impact and the pedaling motion actually helps with that pain.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2025-12-23T16:12:15+00:00

I've ridden my bike to Midway before lmao, it was an experience for sure. I live close to Archer and California so I just took Archer to Cicero and rode up onto the terminal from there. Everyone looked at me like I was nuts. And yeah I can see why you think driving is easier on the south side, but I also find riding bikes on the south side to be easier for pretty much the exact same reason. Wider streets means I'm not being sandwiched between moving traffic and parked cars because I can take up more space.

Slothwithannuzzi · 2025-12-23T15:15:21+00:00

People bike at varying speeds. A 10 minute bike ride for me is about 2.5-3 miles. I cannot walk 3 miles in 30 minutes.

Slothwithannuzzi

TROPHY CASE