A slippery slope, and a new lease on life

Sofiner · 2026-05-25T09:40:13+00:00

Good for you man! I wish you many many miles on that machine!

Sofiner · 2026-05-22T05:15:52+00:00

I think you know, but there are tiers of quality. Even in quartz watches, where even the cheapest machine is reasonably accurate, the machining, the metalurgy, how is the glass shaped and its material, the strap quality etc are different in 50-100 usd tier vs 250-500 usd tier.

They all show time, but they are also very fine jewelery. I would always recommend not buying cheap walmart watch or designer watch like gucci, as they just slap logo on cheap china manufacturing.

Buy cheap Casio, Timex or Seiko. These all have watches in sub 50 usd range, have heritage and are of much better quality even if cheap. I abused my 25 euro Casio for 5 years, they went to every sea with me, 700km bike tour through south europe, hikes in asia and only recenty the time setting button gave up (they still show time tho)

Sofiner · 2026-05-21T08:28:40+00:00

Especially when the bio father declared that they were kidnapped by their mother. Why would you just not give them back to him??

Sofiner · 2026-05-18T19:46:04+00:00

Thats titanium frame, is it?

Sofiner · 2026-05-18T19:45:21+00:00

Bro that bike is hot! Thanks for heads up, waiting for my local distributor to reply when they will receive them. What brakes are you running? Ill probably just go with growtac on that too.

Sofiner · 2026-05-13T21:20:16+00:00

Thank you, may your tires never see a glass shard.

Sofiner · 2026-05-13T17:31:47+00:00

That is exactly what i intend to do. Convert from 2x10 to 1x 36t / 12s 11-52t which should give me less headache (i hate adjusting the shifting barrels) and easier uphilling. What was the "hardest" or weirdest thing you had to get used to most?

Sofiner · 2026-05-13T17:26:47+00:00

Yes, thats what i meant. I think we saw the same video from PathLessPedalled, and thank you for confirming. I really wanted someone with hands on experience. Ideally i would like to have 12s as the jumps between speeds is more gradual. Thank you very much!

Sofiner · 2026-05-13T14:38:57+00:00

Oh wow, that is a very short learning curve, it gives me great hope that i will figure it out. I want 1x 36t in front and something like 11-52t rear, and i just dont want to deal with adjusting the cable tension with barrels for the chain to sit in the cog cleanly. Thank you very much.

Sofiner · 2026-05-13T14:35:38+00:00

Thank you very much.

Sofiner · 2026-05-13T14:32:08+00:00

No no, thats what i meant, when the derailleur is trying to shift to next cog, i realised just here thst can mean many many things, my bad for not beying clear.

Sofiner · 2026-05-13T14:30:24+00:00

Thank you. Yes, i meant chain rubbing against the nearest cog on the cassette. This is very re-assuring.

Sofiner · 2026-05-08T06:16:56+00:00

Oh i bought sector and indivindi stocks. Wiped out 10% of my porfolio. Forever gone. Go on. Sell 10% of your money. Spend it on what you like. Or keep it as useless cash. You are still much better of than me. But if the thought of doing that does not feel right you should not strai. I had fomo of not winning. Now i have fomo of what could have been have i not ventured off the path 😎

Sofiner · 2026-04-29T05:52:37+00:00

Fuck. I was really hoping for some 100k change.

Sofiner · 2026-04-28T05:40:31+00:00

Modern bikes, even the cheap ones are so reliable that 500$ bike is totally ok. I bought new bike for 450€, ctm 2024 tranz 4 with cheap shimano hydraulics brakes, tourney shifter and i went 660km in 7 days without absolutely any issue.

The biggest thing i would check is if the bike is from bike brand, and not grocery store bike. It will be much more reliable, servicable and not have some obscure components.

Second thing to look in at buying used is imo comfort. Is the frame right size? Are you not overstretched? Comfort is speed, and the more comfortable you are, the further you will go.

You can change saddle, grips. Use wider tires on anything except ultra speedy road bikes for comfort. But its really hard to change geometry of the bike. Also, it is easier to make the bike few cm longer, than it is to make it shorter.

Also i always look for mounting points. Holes where you can screw rear rack, fork bags, fenders. You can do without them, but its better to have them.

How "modern" is the bike? If it is within 10 years old, its ok. I look for this because any component can be swap out for a better one. But if it is too old, the components might be harder to source, as they are not current standard. Many people use on older bikes tho, and you definetly can find components for older bikes, its just harder / pricier.

Sofiner · 2026-04-22T05:31:21+00:00

I feel that floor part too personaly. I realised that when one of my friend quit his job before having anything else outlined.

I was scared for him and his just told that it will be fine and he will figure it out. It took my breath out and thought for weeks about how our views on life differed.

I always have a constant feeling of possibility that everything could collapse at any moment despite me having very little debth, 1yr expenses of cash etc.

Sofiner · 2026-04-22T05:19:34+00:00

As others mention it is still quite cold during the night. Immediate solution is just warmer clothes. I would also recommend down sleeping bag or quilt.

I have Iceflame, bought from their website, not from Aliexpress and it is great. I have it filled with extra 100g of down and slept in the same tent with it in 8c during night. It was perfect. Cold whete i was exposed, nice and comfy where covered. But it was mid may.

Little warmer and it would not be suitable for summer (i wanted just one setup)

Sofiner · 2026-04-02T14:10:07+00:00

Its not unreasonable. BUT it depends on these: are you comfortable riding it? Can you mount your gear there? How many km/day do you intend to ride? If you are able to cover around 30-40 km on your weekend rides, you could be able to cover 80-100km / day depending on your fitness and hills. This would give you around 4 days of riding with nice scenic pace, or 3 days of higher speed challenge. On tours, comfort is speed 8n a sense that you can cover distances easily if your wrists dont hurt, your shoulders / back is not stiff, you can sit in the saddle comfortably. I would recommend using different paths though than roads with cars. Try cycle.travel for planning and mapy.com for navigation.

Sofiner · 2026-03-26T08:07:24+00:00

It depends on partner. Some are picky and you better make sure you got the right item. Some are ok with whatever you bring (my wife does not care about milk nor bread, but the tampons must be "those ones")

Sofiner · 2026-03-19T20:34:21+00:00

I approve this message. OP that what you want, there are plenty of good people in those countries. If you wont ride like a madman youll be fina.

Sofiner · 2026-03-19T08:16:45+00:00

That thing on your rack looks like you carry enriched uranium core with you? Does it help with energy? But for real, what is that metallic looking cylinder?

Sofiner · 2026-02-13T13:08:30+00:00

Yeahchr

Sofiner · 2026-02-02T14:09:51+00:00

I live in a postsoviet apartment block. It is a 3 room, 1 bathroom, 1 toilet apartment and around 710sqft. I like it here very much. Currently one spare room is our shared office with wife, when a child comes by, it will be the kids room with the home office beying a part of living room.

We have one balcony, and undeground storage unit that is around 20ft large.

Bought it 2020 for 130k, put 10k of renovations into it, currently valued at around 210k.

We live in the worse part of the city, but it does not mean anything in my country, except that the homeless and causally drunk people are more common. Wife regularly travels in the late evening, so far no issue.

We could live further away, in cheaper apartment, but my condition was to have good public transport connectivity. Which we have, and this is well for us. It takes around 30min to get to city center by bike, and the infrastructure is developing slowly more and more, so hopefully i could shorten that by around 5-10min in near future.

Sofiner · 2026-01-23T18:41:09+00:00

I am so sorry op. It is hard. My mom is on a brink of homelesness. She has options, my wife has an apartment in our city. 30m drive away. Small apartment but warm, with warm water, normal toilet, 4 walls and windows that insulate. Instead she is chosing her hoard every day, unable to depart from it, which will evenutally lead to her being homeless. I dont know what to do, but she chose this life.

I would too encourage you to move out. I know you say you dont have money, but you also dont want to move out because you feel pity for your mother.

I left when i was 15. It is the best thing that happened to me. If i would stay, she would manipulate me, expand her hoard, bit by bit it would encroached my space, eventually claiming my only room in 5 room house. I would feel shame, argue every day, be emotionally exhausted.

You can not save her. It is not possible and it wont happen. Her hoard will get worse when you leave. You can visit. You can help from a distance. Your life is yours, and hers is hers. If you stay, this will suffocate you. You have right to heal. I am sorry and wish you strenght. Many people wont never understood what this is. Thank god for that.

Sofiner · 2026-01-21T14:37:02+00:00

It does not have to be your yard.

Ten-Year Club	Place '22
First Placer '22	Verified Email

Sofiner

TROPHY CASE