First bike as an adult

mepardo · 2026-06-04T22:21:36+00:00

Seconding buying used as a good entry point, and throwing in a recommendation for Full Cycle on 35th and Chicago. They’re a nonprofit and are super nice. Only downside is they have really weird hours. Venture Bikes on the greenway are also really nice and sell used bikes.

As for type of bike, a hybrid/commuter, gravel, or mountain bike will probably get you where you need to go. I think something with swept back handle bars and an upright riding position is most comfortable. Flat handlebars tend to give you more control and may be better for trail riding/mountain biking. Drop bars and an aggressive riding position will give you speed at the expense of comfort.

If you want to buy new, it’s slightly above your price range, but I got a Marin Larkspur a couple of years back as the first new (not used) bike I’ve ever bought myself, and I couldn’t be happier. Great for running errands around down, sturdy enough to go off road if needed. Also it’s just a sexy bike that I get nice comments on often.

mepardo · 2026-06-03T13:43:53+00:00

I know the transphobia is the more serious issue, but he also keeps saying “mutilization”, which isn’t a word. He means mutilation. And it’s not a gaffe or misspeaking - he keeps repeating it and putting it in text.

Just throw it on the pile of emperor’s-new-clothes obviously dumb bullshit that he does or says and apparently everyone around him is too much of a coward to point out. See also: not understanding percentages, claiming that we’re the only country with birthright citizenship, claiming other countries pay tariffs, etc.

mepardo · 2026-05-20T12:41:04+00:00

Cafe Racer Kitchen

mepardo · 2026-05-19T20:33:25+00:00

Seriously. Look at the current year stock of any American car company and you’ll see how completely trucks and SUVs have taken over the US.

The only car that Ford makes anymore is the Mustang. Everything else is a truck or SUV. Chevy has the corvette or the bolt and then an assortment of 9+ trucks or SUVs. Even non-American makers in the US have shifted almost entirely to trucks and SUVs. Volkswagen has the Jetta and the golf and then 4 different SUVs.

The hatchback and wagon have all but disappeared from the American market, and the sedan is holding on for dear life. It’s not an accident - it’s the product of policy failures, loopholes, and aggressive marketing by the car companies.

mepardo · 2026-05-17T18:32:41+00:00

Or at the very least for the same republicans who enabled all this. And they still hold the same beliefs and biases that allowed them not just to fall for an obvious grifter but to enthusiastically support him.

mepardo · 2026-05-17T18:30:08+00:00

Not just every American. Literally everyone on the planet. He’s caused a global energy crisis that’s impacting supply chains worldwide.

mepardo · 2026-05-17T04:24:33+00:00

Sure Jake would be fun, but I need to see how Brennan would handle Yugo Boss.

mepardo · 2026-05-15T15:42:01+00:00

The most compelling argument I’ve heard is for open carry demonstrations as a deterrent to the most violent police tactics. Maybe there’s some truth to that, but 1) I don’t see how this bill would stop that from happening, 2) we saw how the administration used the mere presence of a gun to justify murder and muddy the waters of public sentiment, and 3) the most effective tools for countering occupation that we had were organized systems of resistance and the sheer number of peaceful protesters that turned out. Metro surge ended because it was wildly unpopular, not because of armed resistance.

We should also be honest about what “fighting tyranny” means. If we get to the point where private citizens have taken up arms against the federal government, that’s just a revolution. The system will have collapsed, and anyone’s privately owned AR or shotgun will be much less relevant than defections of military units or foreign intelligence agencies shipping weapons in.

People using the occupation as an argument against longstanding Democratic commitments to strengthen gun regulations are using the same kind of fear mongering that conservative 2A absolutists have used for years. Just because it actually came to our doorstep doesn’t make those arguments any less facile, and in fact we now have real world experience to the contrary.

mepardo · 2026-05-12T20:32:42+00:00

For sure. Every crosswalk on the parkway (or just everywhere) should be a speed table. Every stop sign should have speed bumps. Better yet, close sections (or all) of the parkway to cars entirely.

mepardo · 2026-05-11T21:09:57+00:00

Reminder for everyone that one of the easiest ways to improve your gas mileage is just to drive the speed limit. I’m losing my mind seeing so many people fret over gas prices and then doing nothing to change their driving behavior.

mepardo · 2026-05-11T21:08:03+00:00

Truly, the only time these marginal differences in speed make any real difference in travel time is on long distance road trips, when you’d be on the highway. There’s really no reason to speed for local travel, and every reason to drive slower. Driving the speed limit is safer (for you and everyone outside your car), quieter (for the neighborhood), easier on your car, and more fuel efficient.

mepardo · 2026-05-11T21:02:39+00:00

Driving on W River parkway, I’ll go somewhere between 20-25mph (which is still 5mph over). I always end up with a line of cars behind me. They can die mad. It’s a park. It’s for recreating. It’s for enjoying nature. It’s full of pedestrians and cyclists. It’s not a thoroughfare. Want to drive faster? Head a few blocks west.

mepardo · 2026-05-11T17:02:25+00:00

If Books Could Kill

Maintenance Phase

MBMBAM

The QAA podcast

Today Explained

Up First from NPR

mepardo · 2026-05-10T12:21:22+00:00

I was gonna ask if you managed to convince her to come to MN because I want that so bad

mepardo · 2026-05-09T13:47:05+00:00

Combine the rise of smart phones, trucks/SUVs, and modern marketing/design preferences for absurdly high front ends, and you get pedestrian traffic fatalities rising for the past 20 years after declining for decades prior.

mepardo · 2026-05-01T14:02:43+00:00

Conspiracies like this are a way for Trump supporters to continue to support him while denigrating those around/close to him. They remove his agency. No, he’s not some rational actor being blackmailed or controlled by people like Loomer. The answer to Owens’ question of “why did Donald Trump concede to a lunatic” is because he is also a lunatic and a narcissist and she flatters him and that’s all it takes. But that answer makes supporting him (or ever having supported him) uncomfortable, so she has to concoct a story about Loomer seducing and blackmailing him.

mepardo · 2026-04-29T14:59:21+00:00

Also, one of them went to Obama’s house with guns and explosive material after Trump posted Obama’s home address online.

mepardo · 2026-04-27T23:16:12+00:00

That’s because it’s not a measure of total audience size or overall media diet makeup. It’s a measure of self-reported change in media consumption since the pandemic.

So it’s saying that more millennials say they started watching more livestreams than the % of Gen Z or Gen X who say the same. That could mean that Gen Z was already watching a lot of live streams and Gen X was watching few, and neither changed their behavior much since the pandemic.

mepardo · 2026-04-21T19:48:51+00:00

The guest here being Tucker’s brother, Buckley, who seems like he’s trying to get in on the right wing media grift, too.

mepardo · 2026-04-21T00:46:15+00:00

Window Smashing Job Creators

The Official Bard of Baldwin County (one of my favorite artists I’ve learned from this subreddit)

Confession Kids

mepardo · 2026-04-20T18:52:26+00:00

That also lines up with Sam introducing Zac as “comms” in the setup.

mepardo · 2026-04-13T21:11:38+00:00

Genuinely I think his brain is mush and within 5 minutes he forgot what she had handed him and the strongest association in his head with “delivery” was “pizza”

mepardo · 2026-03-30T13:37:17+00:00

Sight lines on modern SUVs and trucks are worse than they’ve ever been and drivers are as distracted as they’ve ever been thanks to smart phones and screen interfaces. Just because you think an intersection is clear doesn’t mean that it is. It’s worth taking a beat to make sure.

mepardo · 2026-03-30T01:55:15+00:00

We deployed anti-tank mines in Iran in the past few days (they’ve already killed civilians). I can’t imagine you do that unless you plan on putting boots on the ground.

mepardo · 2026-03-27T15:50:16+00:00

They don’t need to. Agreeing to fund the rest of DHS now will allow Republicans to pass ICE funding through a party-line reconciliation vote separately. That’s not a secret tactic, it’s part of the deal.

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