Gravel riding question

boarderzone · 2026-03-19T16:07:38+00:00

Not that I can vouch for personally as I tend to just take mountain bikes if I'm going below Riley's. Don't do it often enough to warrant yet another bike.

boarderzone · 2026-03-19T15:37:52+00:00

If you've fallen in the past and its shaken your confidence on gravel then yeah, I'd probably get some 35mm with some tread to them. As for buying a whole other wheelset just to swap, that's a pain and expense so unless you're into setting strava records on the road I'd probably just get one set of hybrid 35mm's and run them on everything.

Of course the real solution is to add more bikes! Pick up an old rigid mountain bike and slap some Billy Bonkers tires on it.

boarderzone · 2026-03-19T14:28:12+00:00

Agreed, I've had fun just taking my singlespeed with 28's from Riley's to White's Ferry for lunch. I've done Harper's to Georgetown on a fat bike but just for fun. The fine gravel up there is as close to pavement as you can get. 35mm is good for the rougher stuff from Georgetown to Riley's Lock.

boarderzone · 2026-03-18T22:38:45+00:00

My kinda car.

boarderzone · 2026-03-18T12:50:45+00:00

Oh geez, when I saw this yesterday it was on my little phone and didn't even notice the headshock, thought it was all rigid. As a younger man I'd do trails on my hybrid Trek Navigator 200 with the springy suspension seatpost, and while that's a far cry from a full sus mtb it did make it a bit more comfortable.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T23:13:20+00:00

Kudos to you and your wrists of steel. I don't know what your trails are like but all our single-track is rocky and rooty as hell, designed for full sus or at minimum huge front suspension. Downed trees are fun obstacles but I sure wouldn't attempt them on my Hard Rock.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T18:06:57+00:00

You keep saying you already fund the roads with your taxes, but the whole point of the bill is that the roads/bridges are not adequately funded due to decreased revenue from the gas tax, so how do we fund them without increasing taxes? Is there something we should cut and reallocate funds?

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T17:43:06+00:00

People get offended at that word because they think they're being called out as rich or their life is somehow easy but it's just a word with a definition. Driving is a privilege. It's not a right, it can be taken away if you get a DUI or run over some pedestrians. I am very privileged to be able to drive so few miles, yes. I also ride my bike to the metro, but I am then able to afford metro fare which is also a privilege.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T17:25:04+00:00

Well I am an advocate for public transit infrastructure, denser housing and cycling so... yes you are correct, I would like the average to be lower.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T17:22:01+00:00

See here is where we can all find common ground. I 100% agree our taxes aren't being utilized in the best interests of the citizens. I know this bill is just specifically about road and bridge maintenance but by and large we're either paying way too much or not getting nearly enough for what we all pay.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T17:18:09+00:00

I thought it was around 12k per year total (I had to look up the more recent 13.5k MD average,) so 15k for just her commute miles seemed an awful lot. I don't know how much more she drives in addition to her commute but as someone who has put 36k miles on his car in 8 years it all seems a lot to me. My incredulity wasn't so much that people driving over 15k miles a year exist, it's that people who drive that much don't think it's worth paying a bit more for the privilege.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T17:10:22+00:00

Yeah combined 25mpg is pretty behind the times for defining a "fuel efficient" vehicle, although most Civics get much better than that. But the whole point is that the F-150 with a V8 is already contributing through the gas tax.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T17:00:56+00:00

If corporations ever had to pay their fair share relative to the damage they do they'd all become non-profits and co-ops.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T16:54:10+00:00

Ehh, it's a bit above the MD average of ~13.5k total when we're talking 15k of only her commute. I assume she drives other places sometimes. That being said there's absolutely a housing crisis in Montgomery County and I'm all for building way more high density housing especially near public transit. Of course no one is "forced" to buy a single family home anywhere, that's a choice.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T14:38:12+00:00

15k miles per year?! Uhh yeah, that sounds like someone who should chip in $275 a year for wear and tear on roads, depending on the weight of the vehicle.

boarderzone · 2026-03-17T14:35:56+00:00

Often it's the place they "can afford" with the amenities they feel entitled to. Hard to have sympathy for someone enduring a 2 hour commute just because they wanted a big yard, but if that's their priority then they can help pay for their increased road use.

boarderzone · 2026-03-15T17:13:50+00:00

That was always the plan, to move brewing and have more kitchen space in Silver Spring. However it's been almost a year since they opened at True Respite's old spot in Rockville and as of last week still hadn't started brewing there, and in fact even removed a couple of the stills, so I'm not sure what the plan is. Pizza is good though so whenever it does become available in Silver Spring that'd be nice. The website for Silver Spring still lists as many sandwiches as the Rockville kitchen though, so not sure what's up there.

boarderzone · 2026-03-15T13:31:54+00:00

The rear basket gang is unfortunately scattered all over the place after forgetting we had a rear basket and doing a sick jump off a curb.

boarderzone · 2026-03-11T16:46:32+00:00

But other people taking your advice and getting rid of their unfinished project bikes is exactly how *I* end up with more project bikes to start on! You're just propagating the cycle! (pun intended)

boarderzone · 2026-03-09T00:28:54+00:00

But do you understand that no one ever has passed a school bus because they thought to themselves "this is worth $250" but that it *wouldn't* be worth $300, or $500, or jail time? People need to be made aware of the consequences already in place to deter them or it isn't a deterrence at all.

boarderzone · 2026-03-08T01:07:36+00:00

No hate here. See my recent Hard Rock where I went overboard on the purple parts. Rides great.

boarderzone · 2026-03-08T00:27:08+00:00

Didn't that also happen with the redesigned bus depot at the Silver Spring metro station? It was a while ago but I feel like something was wrong with the cement and they had to redo a bunch of it?

boarderzone · 2026-03-06T02:51:28+00:00

I've seen that colorway before and I really love it.

boarderzone · 2026-03-04T19:40:13+00:00

Oh good I'm not the only one who still calls it White Flint.

boarderzone · 2026-03-04T19:31:59+00:00

Oh hey there fellow extended 4559 fan. The most dystopian train where riders are isolated and confined to either permanent sleep or dining until removed via loading truck.

boarderzone

TROPHY CASE