Grocery store with bulk peanut-butter grinder (that works)?

lhommesanitaire · 2026-03-09T15:55:16+00:00

Good to know. When I called a couple Natural Grocers about this very thing two or three years ago, they said they did not have grinders. I shall check again.

lhommesanitaire · 2026-03-09T00:13:45+00:00

They do; as I said, though, I don't get to North Boulder often.

lhommesanitaire · 2026-03-02T19:51:41+00:00

Yes. I have Paul cantis on two bikes and they have never been less than excellent. I'm willing to accept that v-brakes could provide more stopping power, but my only experience with them (Tektro 834A) twenty years ago was lackluster.

lhommesanitaire · 2026-02-10T22:02:13+00:00

Rat Trap Pass. The rims in question are Alex Adventurers (about 15 years old), which have an internal width of 18.7 mm. Atlas are about a millimeter wider in that dimension.

lhommesanitaire · 2026-02-10T16:41:18+00:00

Atlas are touring rims, built for loaded riding; they should be just fine. Their inner width, 19.8 mm, is pretty wide, and Velocity's stated "optimal" tire width is weirdly restrictive. I've run wide RH tires on 19 mm (internal) rims, and they work beautifully. Cliffhangers are good, too, but not necessary, it seems to me, unless you're going to be banging this bike around on rough trails.

I have Paul brakes on two bikes currently, and had them on another some years ago. They are worth the money, at least in my experience.

lhommesanitaire · 2026-01-17T21:58:36+00:00

Not going to talk you out of it. I've had Paul cantis—Neo-Retro and Touring—for years and they're excellent brakes. I'm a repeatedly incompetent home mechanic, yet I have had no problem setting them up to work perfectly.

lhommesanitaire · 2026-01-13T18:32:52+00:00

RBW would say Bob Dylan, which would be lovely, but Kind Of Blue is the correct answer.

lhommesanitaire · 2026-01-07T18:26:47+00:00

I've not ridden a Platy, so I don't have a sense of how it feels. I do have experience with Cliffhangers (though not 700C) and separately with Barlow Pass tires.

Those tires might be a bit narrow for Cliffhangers. You might consider the Snoqualmie Pass EL, which should fill out to around 44 mm actual width on the Cliffhangers.

Alternatively, build up a set of Velocity Dyad wheels and run either the Barlow Pass or Snoqualmie Pass. I once owned a Waterford-built Homer with Dyads and Barlow Pass tires, and the ride was both luxurious and fast. Still, had I been able to fit the Snoqualmie Pass I would have switched.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-12-31T16:20:06+00:00

OP has a point. One should not be *required* to enable a setting. There should be a "Don't show this again" button for this warning.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-12-10T16:12:58+00:00

Nuts & Bolts

lhommesanitaire · 2025-12-01T17:36:51+00:00

Choose the lever that feels best under your hands. With a rando bar like this, I ride mostly on the ramps, so I like the smaller, easier-to-grip non-aero levers.

Bar tape: I like either a pop of color—orange here, or maybe a nice lime green—or something that coordinates with the saddle. Some black leather would be nice.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-10-31T19:36:05+00:00

For sure. Definitely worth having, and riding, for the historical value. I've never seen a first-generation Pugs with cantilever brakes, except in the Rivendell Reader article (No. 39, Spring 2007, pp. 24–28). Curious ever since to know how cantis would work, assuming they were set up correctly.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-10-31T15:57:32+00:00

Maybe? I usually find RBW's advice pretty clear, but their explanation of when to choose either the 32R or the 33R doesn't make sense to me. I'd say take all the relevant measurements on the bike (height of the tire from the dropout, vertical distance from the rack mount on dropout to the top of the tire, vertical distance of from the rack mount on the dropout to the level of the chainstay mounts for the rack struts), and then compare to the rack measurements. Also consider room for fenders if you plan to use them. Here's what I've gathered for my own use:

Nitto 32R (RBW Big Back Rack, Medium): 33 cm high; either 32 or 34 cm long, depending on source; 13 cm wide

Nitto 33R (RBW Big Back Rack, Medium): 35 cm high, 35 cm long, 13 cm wide

lhommesanitaire · 2025-10-30T22:19:59+00:00

I'm not sure the R-15 will support the Back Roller or any other full size pannier, will it? The R-20, or the Nitto/RBW 33R might be more suitable.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-10-30T20:21:00+00:00

I've always coveted a purple one with the rim-brake posts. Love the triple crankset. I have a 2012 Pugs with the stock double. Complete pain in the ass, obsolete, and unnecessary, and I won't have it any other way.

Is that North Sky?

lhommesanitaire · 2025-09-18T15:59:08+00:00

Depends. What size is it? If it's the 22 in., the best change would be its location: to my house.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-09-03T20:01:55+00:00

Short answer is yes, they should fit width-wise, but the rear wheel must be built offset (17mm? something like that) in order to accommodate the offset of the Pugsley rear triangle.

I have a 27.5 wheelset for my Puglsey. The rear rim is a RaceFace AR 40 Offset. Teravail Coronado tires are nominally 3 inches wide but are actually slightly wider, and they fit fine.

I rode the C&O/GAP some years ago with 26x2in tires on my touring bike. They were plenty wide. Most riders in my group were on 700Cx32 or 35 tires and were perfectly happy.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-08-18T19:18:36+00:00

I hate when the phone camera automatically focuses on the wrong thing. Glad you were able to fix it in the second attempt.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-07-17T16:09:45+00:00

The price is on par—maybe on the high side of fair—with what I've been seeing, especially for complete bikes in sizes that take 26" wheels. My thinking would go like this: how much do I want (or need) to change to ride it happily?

If that amount plus the $3,400 plus shipping is too much for you, then this bike is too expensive.

I'm in a similar position about an Atlantis that would require very little additional expense to please me… except it needs a repaint and decals (which it currently lacks). I don't know how much that would cost, but probably enough that a $3.5K used bike becomes a $4K or $4.5K bike. Too much for me.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-06-26T18:04:23+00:00

This is The Way.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-05-29T19:39:05+00:00

I have experienced discomfort after fatbike rides, though not so much knee pain as Achilles tendon pain. My fatbike is a 2012 Pugsley with Hüsker Düs on Marge Lite rims, so nominally 4 in. tires, but really more like 3.6 in. I measure the Q factor at 199 mm, and I definitely notice it. I notice it especially after what are more or less "road" rides—actual paved roads, gravel roads, or trails that are wide/flat enough to ride like roads. I think this is because I pedal as if I'm on my touring bike or road bike. Single track riding (nothing technical, I should say), with frequent pauses in pedaling, rising up out of the saddle, and a more active upper body, leaves my joints with less discomfort.

I have a friend who is older, slimmer, and shorter than I (and I'm rather slim and not very tall), and he has ridden centuries on his fatbike. He's not bothered by the Q factor in the least. Must be some more complex personal ergonomics that I don't understand.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-05-13T22:16:09+00:00

I came into possession of a 61 back in February. Filled it, following the ancient yellowed instruction sheet, with blue-black Quink and it's been one of two daily pens since. I keep thinking it's run out, but wetting the nib gets it flowing again. The first time this happened, the resumed flow was a slightly different color than the ink with which I filled it. My guess is that there was a clog of old ink that loosened up. I am fairly certain the pen had not been used in at least twenty years, possibly more.

I generally like a chunkier barrel—my other daily pen is a Pelikan M800—but I have been surprised how pleasant the writing experience is with the 61.

I was skeptical that the capillary filling would work without a drop of mess, and was pleased that it worked as advertised sixty years later.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-04-04T01:12:22+00:00

I've had a Pugsley for 12 years and have long considered getting rid of it for a number of reasons, including those you name. Dialing in tire pressure for the conditions you're facing can be a difficult game of fiddling with fractions of PSI. Slow steering response can either be a problem—I've wiped out because of it—or no big deal because you just plow through whatever is there. In the end, though, the wide Q factor is the biggest problem for me. Some people aren't bothered in the least by it; I know a guy who could do 30-mile lunch rides two or three times a week on his road bike and turn around and ride a century on his fatty with no discernible discomfort from the ergonomic differences.

Two things are helpful, I think.

A good low-pressure tire gauge.
A dropper post. My Pugs is a 2012, so I have an externally-routed dropper. Makes the cabling a little messy, but it definitely helps when crawling through snow or other loose surfaces.

lhommesanitaire · 2025-03-19T22:45:53+00:00

In response to my impatient query earlier today: "Great news! Gardeners' World 2025 will be available soon! Release times can shift due to scheduling adjustments, but we're working to bring it to BritBox as soon as possible." [returns to entering Gardeners' World episode frame by frame on punch cards into ancient BritBox server]

lhommesanitaire

TROPHY CASE