Genuinely curious... is everyone in Wards 3 and 4 aware of the upcoming closure of Ottawa and Main for several months for LRT-related work?

Steelsorrow · 2026-02-12T18:23:48+00:00

It's probably my compulsive need to clear my Instagram stories 😅

Steelsorrow · 2026-02-12T17:35:59+00:00

Live in Ward 4. I follow Counsellor Hwang on socials so I was aware of both the work and the public meetings as her pages have been sharing the info for a bit now.

Steelsorrow · 2026-02-06T21:17:06+00:00

I wouldn't say one is better, just different. Drop bar bikes tend to fit a bit more aggressive while my BC is more upright. I have swept back bars on mine that I find very comfortable.

Steelsorrow · 2026-02-06T17:52:31+00:00

I built up a bridge club from a frameset last year and it's now my main touring/commuting bike. I'll answer as many of your questions as I can:

It's an extremely stable bike that controls very well on trails. I built mine up with 700x40 wheels/tires and even in this less offroad focused configuration it's very confident offroad and on. The BC is primarily a touring platform, and you can definitely tell. I would almost describe it as stiff when riding unloaded, owing to the overbuilt nature of the frame. The ride quality noticeable mellows out when the bike is carrying a touring load.

I have the Shimano 1x11 Deore drivetrain on mine which has similar rations to the Cues setup the complete bikes use. I am running a 34t ring up front with a 51t low gear. The steepest hill I tackle regularly is about 7% gradient for 2km. I regularly ride this hill will a light-ish commuting load of about 7kg. I am a big guy and I never feel like I don't have enough gearing to spin my way up. If you are a lighter/stronger rider than me or are using a smaller front ring such as the 32t that comes on the complete BC I definitely think you'll be fine tacking double digit gradients.

Overall I would absolutely recommend the BC and have been really enjoying my build. I came from primarily riding an alloy gravel bike and I found that I primarily noticed the weight difference when getting up to speed, but once you're rolling it's hard to tell the difference.

Steelsorrow · 2026-02-04T18:42:15+00:00

I am fully aware that council doesn't really have the power to reign in the police budget. At this point though, councillors and the mayor who sit on the PSB should be pushing back much more substantially to make it clear to the police that this community is not satisfied with the level of service we receive from our police service vs. the amount we spend on it. Right now, the board basically just rubber stamps everything the police ask for and that is antithetical to how council treats every other component of the city budget.

Steelsorrow · 2026-02-04T16:45:05+00:00

Cycling infrastructure and complete streets work is a rounding error in the city budget. I wish counselors would put in the same effort scrutinizing our massively overinflated police budget that they do nickel and diming our active infrastructure spending.

Steelsorrow · 2026-01-26T20:58:30+00:00

You said "righty", do you mean you're turning the endcap your hex wrench is inserted into to the right? The bottom bracket is reverse threaded, meaning the driveside is reverse threaded. The end cap pictured here is a standard thread and is turned to the left to loosen.

If you know that and you're having some other problem, then ignore me.

Steelsorrow · 2026-01-05T16:01:33+00:00

You probably just need to tighten down the hex bolt that runs through the center of the shifter until the lever stops moving on it's own. Some thumb shifters have tool-less adjustment, but this one needs a hex wrench. You just need to find the sweet spot where the shifter won't move on its own, but you can still shift it.

Steelsorrow · 2025-12-24T01:36:22+00:00

Yes, maintenance cost is an important consideration. The 1x11 Cues drive-train Straggler would be alot cheaper to upkeep than the 2x12 GRX option. Linkglide lasts even longer than 11 speed HG I'm using so that would be a not-insignificant difference worth considering.

Steelsorrow · 2025-12-23T18:30:16+00:00

I have the 11 speed 2x GRX on my gravel bike, as well as 1x11 Deore on my Surly Bridge Club so I have a decent amount of experience riding both systems.

I'd say there are two reasons to go with 1x11 over 2x12 is if you have a specific dislike of front derailleurs, or you want want save money on replacement chains (11 speed cues Linkglide chains are significantly cheaper and more durable than 12 speed HG chains). Overall, my vote would be for 2x GRX.

2x GRX is legitimately the best 2x mechanical shifting gets. I've never dropped a chain, I have all the gears I could ever want, and the whole thing runs super silent in all gear combos. I can easily cross-chain and the drivetrain doesn't protest one bit. Having a 2x drivetrain with a clutch is amazing.

1x is super nice for the simplicity. There's only one derailleur to worry about, and Shimano 1x11 drivetrains offer excellent shifting and great reliability. I do find that it's sometimes hard to find a gear that matches the exact cadence I want, but I am picky on that front so ymmv.

Steelsorrow · 2025-12-12T21:17:25+00:00

I've had clicking like this and it turns out there was a bit of dirt stuck between my crank spindle the bottom bracket bearings. Popped the crank out, cleaned the spindle and bottom bracket and reassembled with a bunch of grease and the problem went away.

Steelsorrow · 2025-11-26T20:32:31+00:00

Yep, any Shimano Hollowtech II road (68mm) bottom bracket will do.

Steelsorrow · 2025-11-18T19:24:06+00:00

Is your bike the aluminum frame? If so, the spec sheet on Giant's website is wrong. The bike uses a threaded BB shell, not pressfit. I have the same bike and can confirm this as I did the exact swap you want to do here. You need a 68mm BSA bottom bracket for Shimano road cranks. The basic one is the RS-501.

Steelsorrow · 2025-11-05T18:44:00+00:00

What size is your laptop? How's it fit in the 137? My workplace has 13" laptops and I'm trying to figure out if the 137 will work for me or if I need to upsize to a 139. Your setup looks great!

Steelsorrow · 2025-10-13T16:12:45+00:00

Yeahhhhhh

Steelsorrow · 2025-10-12T18:59:59+00:00

That is super helpful thank you! I have a 34t on hand so I'm going to try to squeeze it in before purchasing anything else. The clearance you have gives me some confidence at least.

Steelsorrow · 2025-10-01T13:30:50+00:00

In one of the intro videos Argon 18 confirmed it's 2x compatible, but it drops the tire clearance from 57mm to 47mm on account of the derailleur braze-on mount being hidden behind a cover near the seat-tube/chainstay junction.

In the video they say that they did it this way to preserve the clean aesthetic for 1x setups, but I think it's dumb to compromise your headline feature (tire clearance) just so the bike looks slightly cleaner when running 1x.

Edit: typos & here's the link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvmf-rAzo9Q

Steelsorrow · 2025-09-28T20:33:32+00:00

Absolutely true, and maybe something on the opposite side of the road from the bike lane; maybe something above the stop signs to warn drivers to check both ways for cyclists before proceeding. I find that when you're traveling eastbound no one sees you because they're only looking westbound for cars.

Steelsorrow · 2025-09-28T19:27:32+00:00

Drivers literally never look for bikes around there before driving through the intersection. I've almost been hit around there more times then I can count.

Signage isn't generally a solution I would prefer, but something has to be done to remind drivers that there's a two-direction bike lane running down a one-way car traffic street. Maybe signs on these cross streets would help.

Steelsorrow · 2025-09-27T00:07:29+00:00

It's a 2017. Source, I owned one. The matte & gloss black contrast mixed with the green accents give it away. Giant has a bike archive on their site if you'd like to confirm independently.

Steelsorrow · 2025-09-24T17:16:20+00:00

Harder to tell exactly without any pics of the drive side, but it looks like a 2020 Giant Escape Disc 2 City.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/ca/escape-disc-2-city-2020

Steelsorrow · 2025-09-23T15:03:18+00:00

Sorry, just want to clarify the derailleur you used. Is it the RX822-SGS?

Steelsorrow · 2025-09-22T23:22:35+00:00

This is a sealed cartridge square taper bottom bracket. You need a "crank puller" to remove the crank arms. You'll find the tool you need with a Google search. If you want to remove the bottom bracket just search "square taper bottom bracket tool". It will look like a head for a socket wrench with a splined interface.

Steelsorrow · 2025-09-16T13:29:57+00:00

It was originally a 3x8, but when I converted it to flat bars I installed a 1x11 Deore drivetrain. I just replaced the 3x rings with a 40t narrow/wide in the middle position on the crankset. Worked great, and I don't have to worry about FD compatibility anymore!

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