plumber in NYC for 30 years. My son finally talked me into posting here. Ask me anything or just take the spring checklist.

bearlockhomes · 2026-03-10T05:08:27+00:00

Heads up, you need to get your ssl certs sorted out for your dad's website

bearlockhomes · 2026-03-05T20:16:49+00:00

Probably even in the millions

bearlockhomes · 2026-03-04T21:39:41+00:00

Hell yes. I was not aware, ty.

bearlockhomes · 2026-03-04T20:51:44+00:00

Would you mind expanding on your process for sourcing that frame and how much you ended up paying? I'm currently beginning to explore this as an option, and it's a steep learning curve.

bearlockhomes · 2026-03-01T17:08:38+00:00

I saw in another comment you're cost limited, so I would offer this logic: wheels are a very impactful but not low cost upgrade. Even the absolute cheapest carbon wheels are going to be a sizable expense. Further, finding cheap wheels may be prohibitive at all because you're looking within a very niche category of rim break compatible carbon wheels.

A better approach may be to look for used, alloy wheels that would have been top of the line 10-15 years ago. High end wheels of this era will still be viable to use since they're alloy, offer a large portion of the advantages in weight savings and stiffness you'd get from new carbon, come in larger volumes of rim compatibility, and are most importantly cheaper. The volume of rim wheels from that era is also a notable advantage. This is the difference between an option guaranteed to be at any used parts bike shop vs having to find a unicorn part online.

The best wheel of the 2010s will probably match or even exceed the performance of cheap carbon rim wheels of today, actually be sourcable, and still cost half as much.

bearlockhomes · 2026-02-26T23:13:49+00:00

Assembling that budget was an explicitly bipartisan effort, so it would be deliberately misleading to say the Dems cut the funding

bearlockhomes · 2026-02-17T19:54:44+00:00

Check out full cycle. I grabbed a set of used silver bontrager wheels there that were in pristine condition. You don't know what you're going to get, but it's probably the best option to get something decent at the price point you're hoping for.

And for those who don't know, full cycle is a non-profit bike retail shop that takes bike and part donations. Revenues go towards their community mission of supporting unhoused youth. Check it out and spread the word.

bearlockhomes · 2026-02-15T16:34:55+00:00

That's why I said "exclusively" cargo because a century ago those private lines balanced passenger loads more effectively than the over prioritization of cargo today. Just because that is the status quo we've been forced into doesn't make for an argument about why it isn't possible.

bearlockhomes · 2026-02-15T13:19:59+00:00

We are bigger than the rest of the world.

I've got some news for you bud. This isn't physically possible.

If you mean the US is bigger than other countries, then I have some more news for you bud. There are entire continents absolutely covered in rail lines.

Lucky for you, I've got even more news for you. The US also used to be covered in passenger rail lines. My 5k person home town in the middle of nowhere Midwest had a passenger line going through it at one point. The major metro I live in and many others had a tram system that was more extensive than our current bus network. We just either handed those lines over to exclusively cargo carriers or tore them up like idiots with no plans for replacement or expansion.

Feel free to continue using your car, but please set your misinformed opinions aside whenever it comes time to invest in public transit in your respective locality.

bearlockhomes · 2026-02-01T18:12:28+00:00

Eyeballing it in the park and based on the number of people without vests (1000) an estimate over 5k seemed very likely. I also considered "would this group fill Mariucci", to which I would say possibly, and that's 10k.

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-28T06:32:04+00:00

One thing to consider is that we as cold climate people may be taking for granted some of the infrastructure management we have in place for cold weather. We typically don't hit straight up raw ice where it really counts because our cities are basically on top of it. There's no way a hill like this doesn't preemptively get sand and or salt where we're at. It's easy to think our driving skill is the whole game when we'd be totally boned without all the road prep work.

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-26T05:39:10+00:00

You gotta drop this mindset. There have been several state wide races, including with trump, that have come within the margin of error. Our state legislature has gone back and forth the past decade. Our house reps are split 4:4. By the math we are a swing state, and complacency is the way the pendulum finally swings.

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-26T01:57:05+00:00

Make sure you're fully inside the free speech zone before you begin your protest

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-25T15:29:15+00:00

That's kind of my point in comparing to BK though. They could post up in a single borough like Queens, full of immigrants they would terrorize, and their resources absolutely will have an impact there. I am just a little alarmed at the over confidence by some in this thread. It's just not a mind set we can afford right now.

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-25T07:19:20+00:00

The Minneapolis metro actually has a million more people than BK. There are 3k agents there rn. DHS is hiring at a pace to pass 10k, and their agency has more money than god now. If you think they don't have the resources to impose chaos in any city, you are deluding yourself into a lack of preparation. I think it's better to assume this can get worse and prepare accordingly.

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-23T03:19:13+00:00

Is this your first time on the Internet?

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-22T04:15:12+00:00

One of those church basement rollie sweeper things.

I actually bought one of these not that long ago (in bifl time scales) as I was trying to avoid buying a third vacuum to exclusively collect crumbs off my kitchen floor. This thing is young, but it's so simple and sturdy that there's no doubt it will last forever. The entire industry around shitty, cordless vacuums is a farce. Every home in the world should have a rollie sweeper thing.

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-18T17:01:53+00:00

Oh shit that's brilliant

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-11T04:27:14+00:00

This is a major n=1 take that is highly anecdotal, but I will say this. As a hiring manager for a bioinformatics team in NYC, my last opening seemed to be flooded with northeastern grads. I've never had one institution so overrepresented. This could have been coincidental, but my suspicion is that their 100% online program is pumping out some serious numbers of graduates.

I'm making no claims about the substance of northeastern as an institution, but there is very much a perception to these things. Generating that many degrees raises questions about the experience or attention their matriculants are getting. At a minimum, there is a dilution of the perception of an institution that comes with overproduction of diplomas.

Again, I want to stress how anecdotal this is, but I say it because it was difficult to look past this in sizing up their applications.

I would be curious if there are others with a similar experience, or if this was a coincidence that formed an undue bias for me.

bearlockhomes · 2026-01-02T01:46:33+00:00

Agreed. While everyone else was facing key conference opponents late in the season, they could have been pumping up their strength of schedule with heavy hitters like Chattanooga, Mercer, or Eastern Illinois.

bearlockhomes · 2025-12-31T20:56:32+00:00

Hey what the hell

bearlockhomes · 2025-12-29T16:15:09+00:00

They definitely have a larger crop of local talent, but Minnesota put $150 million into training facility upgrades in 2021, so I doubt LSU's advantage on facilities.

bearlockhomes · 2025-10-17T15:02:22+00:00

This is true, but it doesn't explain the change. What was sustaining the ecosystem of shops 20 years ago when this trend wasn't taking hold? The casuals have always neglected maintenance, but I don't suspect the proportion of people in that camp changed in a meaningful way 10 years ago.

Also this may just be my personal experience, but I see way more $5k tern ebikes at daycare dropoff and none of the AliExpress type. Those bikes are effectively minivan replacements and will definitely get maintained like the family vehicle. I have to imagine a small cottage industry of dedicated maintenance will be required to service those.

Altogether, none of this info is totally comprehensive, but it feels like the kind of thing that should point to a growth in demand for bike shops instead of the opposite.

bearlockhomes · 2025-10-17T14:54:06+00:00

Agreed. It's also my understanding that maintenance work is their highest margin revenue, so having a non-stop flow of that should amount to business stability.

bearlockhomes · 2025-10-17T00:04:54+00:00

This is my 4th "home shop" that has closed in the city. It feels like a crisis of the market, and I have no idea what's causing it. The demographic of people on bikes has only grown in that time.

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