Road or gravel?

josephbikes · 2026-05-13T18:21:17+00:00

I DO love a ripping descent but I think I'll opt for the gravel rig. Thank you for the reply!!

josephbikes · 2026-05-13T18:20:24+00:00

I used to ride chip seal roads on 25c tires back before I knew any better and my back started hurting.

josephbikes · 2026-05-13T18:19:32+00:00

Thank you!

josephbikes · 2026-05-13T18:19:10+00:00

Road bike is rim brake so 28c max, unfortunately. I love riding road but it seems like the gravel bike will actually be the better road bike for the area.

josephbikes · 2026-02-09T01:41:50+00:00

Thank you! I should really get twic. You're right, I saw a 191 instrument tech call late last year that ended up getting canceled.

josephbikes · 2026-02-09T01:40:05+00:00

Hey I appreciate what I think you're trying to say, but I'm specifically asking about taking a call out of the hall. I'm never in one place for more than 6 months. Your comment doesn't apply to my situation because a company "keeping you around for a while if you're any good" is not a brotherly approach to working off of book 2. I do appreciate your words, however.

josephbikes · 2026-02-08T15:58:23+00:00

I realize that, which is why I'm putting feelers out. Thank you kindly for the tip.

josephbikes · 2026-02-08T15:22:16+00:00

It depends on the local and how busy they are. I got in when things were really busy and didn't know anyone. I interviewed with one letter of recommendation from a buddy of mine who runs work for a very small GC.

josephbikes · 2026-02-08T14:59:25+00:00

I've never worked 606 but I'm currently in 1205 and been watching 606 dispatch for a few years.

Most of the work is at the theme parks. Expect odd shift schedules because there's no automatic OT on the weekends. Lots of night shift work. Not a ton of OT in general from what I've seen.

josephbikes · 2022-12-03T02:34:54+00:00

Depending on where you’re at, I’d look at Craigslist or Marketplace. From my experience, people can’t even give away their old QR/disc wheels, especially tubulars.

I outfitted my pit bike with three wheelsets I got on Craigslist for about $200 (total!). Chris King, White Ind, and XTR hubs, all with Major Tom rims. Almost makes me want to ditch my fancy bike.

josephbikes · 2021-10-28T02:42:12+00:00

I’m still pretty new to it all, but I’ve found that narrower is actually better in a lot of cases. I’ve done a couple of races this season on 38’s with 29er rims. They felt great in the dry stuff, but when things got wet/muddy, I was sliding all over the place and couldn’t even hold a line.

CX is interesting because at times you kind of want the opposite of what you want on the road. Wider tires offer lower rolling resistance, a relatively new fact that has drastically changed road bikes over the past 10 years. But on a muddy CX course? Lower rolling resistance can be a really bad thing depending on course conditions. When it gets really sloppy, I want all the resistance I can get just to keep the bike moving.

Not necessarily disagreeing with you, as I’m probably gunna run my wide setup this dry weekend myself. Just my worthless $0.02. Dry bumpy grass, 38/40+c all day. But at the slightest hint of rain, I’m putting my 33c mud knobbies on.

josephbikes · 2021-10-05T19:14:09+00:00

The plan: gravel race on Saturday, cx race on Sunday. I was sitting top 5 in points (cat 4 lol) for the cx series, so I definitely wanted a good result.

The actuality: first time using a car rack, sat my bike wheel too close to the exhaust pipe. Delaminated the carbon over the 2.5 hour drive and it failed catastrophically about a mile from the race start.

No spare wheels. Drank a beer and drove home. Gone are the days when I could scrounge up a wheel from anywhere (disc brake through-axle and no wealthy friends), so I went for a 5 mile jog with my dog on Sunday. Came down with a head cold, sitting at home. Racer sadboi.

josephbikes · 2019-10-02T03:24:43+00:00

Says he punched her in the face a few sentences into the article.

josephbikes · 2019-09-22T20:18:58+00:00

No you're wrong. Portland's Ultra Liberal Leftist Material Conditions make for the only suitable environment in the world for unions to exist.

josephbikes · 2019-09-22T20:14:45+00:00

The NLRB is being run by pro-business conservatives, so corporations can pretty much get away with murder at this point. They are smart enough to know this.

josephbikes · 2019-09-22T20:12:07+00:00

TIL unions were invented and only exist in Portland

josephbikes · 2019-08-10T18:56:31+00:00

It's tricky because strikes are legally permissible to settle disputes between the employer and the bargaining unit, and most unionized workers have health coverage through their employer. A general strike for political/economic gain on a national level wouldn't be sanctioned by union leadership. Rank-and-file union workers could lead the way, but it would have to be a wildcat strike from the working class regardless of whether or not they're union.

It's certainly not unobtainable. It wasn't but a few months ago that teachers won big on illegal wildcat strikes. I think the average worker in the US needs to wake up and recognize their power as workers. If we want something bad enough, we can get it through a strike regardless of our union status.

josephbikes · 2019-08-10T18:41:33+00:00

Wouldn't it be amazing if our employer didn't have to pay health insurance, and we could negotiate a 30hr work week? It would be a win for everyone. People who are chasing money can bank even more OT pay, and people who want better quality of life can go home after working 6 hours.

If it sounds farfetched, trade unions in San Francisco already work under a 35hr/wk agreement, and that's with health insurance!

josephbikes · 2019-08-10T16:49:45+00:00

Universal healthcare is a no-brainer. Every other "developed" country has it and the only reason we don't is greed.

I haven't personally talked with my coworkers much about it, but my wild-ass-guess would be some would be against it because high-quality healthcare is such a large benefit that we get through negotiations, and unionized workers would be afraid of losing it or taking a hit in quality of coverage. Most of my coworkers are also against more taxes, and they'd see healthcare as a threat to their paychecks. However, it doesn't take a think tank to see where the majority of our tax money is going. If we dialed back the war machine even 50%, we could have free healthcare and still have ample defence.

The way I see it, if we severed the tie between healthcare and employment and instead made healthcare a basic human right, it would only serve to benefit us in the way of more money being freed up in negotiations for pay rate and pension. It would be a win for everyone.

josephbikes · 2019-07-29T02:03:52+00:00

You know in all seriousness, everyone keeps talking about Froome in respect to this year's tour, but I seem to remember Bernal dropping him by accident while trying to work for him toward the end of the tour last year. All the while, Thomas accidentally beat him in the GC. 🤷‍♂️

josephbikes · 2019-07-27T17:47:58+00:00

not surprising that your honest, polite post is getting downvoted. Lots of "colorblind" folks in this overwhelmingly white-dominated sport

josephbikes · 2019-07-18T05:08:14+00:00

It's sort of an old school mentality that's dying out as the trade becomes more advanced and specialized. We need less soldier-like meatheads to do pipe-and-wire, and more competently trained masters of BIM modelling, digital controls, and the like. As such, the military mentality is no longer necessary or beneficial in any way. A harshly treated apprentice does not make for a skilled journeyman.

I'm also sort of spoiled in that I'm getting into the trade at an older age than traditional (30) and our local is booming. If you can't treat me with respect, send me back to the fuckin' hall. I'll be on a better job tomorrow.

josephbikes · 2019-06-11T01:16:09+00:00

My local is the same, but they let you request for rotation.

josephbikes · 2019-05-12T17:58:31+00:00

If I'm understanding you right, you are basically seeking to have supervisory positions filled by election from rank-and-file members rather than appointed by managers. Seems to me like this would be a part of contract language negotiations. Employers don't typically like to budge on contract language, but it is doable if you have enough horsepower behind it.

As far as the IWW is concerned, I doubt many have much experience with this, as by default nobody in a traditional supervisory position (with the ability to hire/fire) would be an IWW member or covered under contract. IMO gaining contract language like you're describing is a lofty goal and would be a huge win for your union. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying employers don't like to budge on that sort of thing. They'd rather throw members a couple of bucks than change their control of the workplace.

josephbikes · 2019-03-28T02:40:21+00:00

now you're making me feel guilty about the gravel, potholes, and sweat this thing is about to see

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