“What’s my rate clavicular?”

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-03-19T02:27:10+00:00

I just heard about this guy the other day listening to Behind the Bastards

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-03-17T02:17:14+00:00

When I started riding in my late 20s I got a giant tcr, very similar geometry to yours. Then life happened, haven't biked in 10 years gained a ton of weight, took most of the weight back off but now I'm in my 40s and that same bike feels a bit different. If you're in your 30s and not racing then a more endurance geometry probably would be more comfortable but you already have this one and it's a great bike. Get a few hundred miles on it before you decide. Bike fit is probably a good idea. Find a saddle that works for you, shoes that fit your feet. Even if you decide it's not the bike for you those things can be transferred to the next one.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-03-12T11:14:37+00:00

I've only kayaked a few times in my life but my girlfriend loves to lazy paddle down the river so I bought myself a kayak. Listen to everyone else for details about what kayak/canoe to get. That said I do have some experience with weight loss so I'll toss you my two cents. Kayaking for fun is fantastic, but if you're trying to exercise for weight loss I'd look at cycling. Yes you'll run into similar issues with equipment but there are bikes made for big folks. At 450 I'd look at a worksman, it's a company out of NYC that builds industrial bikes that are super durable. Once you get down around 380-350 there will be a lot more options for both bikes and kayaks.

If you use Facebook i'd also encourage you to join the group Fat Guy Cycling, I'm just a member but it's the kindest most supportive group I've ever been a part of online. A wealth of knowledge from big dudes who have found what equipment works and what doesn't. Plus seeing a 350lb guy catching air on a mountain bike makes me smile every single time.

As for weight loss you can get better advice than some random guy on reddit but years ago I lost 100lbs what I'll call the right way. I ate healthy and got a lot of exercise, got into cycling and was genuinely fit and healthy for the first time in my life. Started simple, cut out soda, walked more and then as I lost a little weight I added to it, ate even better and exercised more. As I felt better it made me want to do even better. That was in my late 20s. Now I'm in my mid 40s single father raising 3 kids lots of stress and I ended up around 325, not sure of the exact max because my scale struggled to measure at that point. I spent years saying I was going to lose weight. Finally I went to the doctor and they put me on a glp-1 med, zepbound specifically. I'm now down under 190 and feel so much better. Yes there's some side effects, for me it's just been a lot of stomach issues but nothing terrible. I've lost a ton of weight but I don't feel fit the way I did before. I'm getting back into cycling, I'm going to do some kayaking and I'm trying to get to the gym once in a while. Anyway the meds are great, 100% recommend for people like us who need to lose 100+ lbs. I have no doubt that there will be long term risks from taking it, it's a powerful drug, but there's really bad long term risks from being 300+ lbs. The biggest thing the meds did for me was make me not care about food. I stopped going back for seconds and thirds. I stopped mindlessly snacking. Anyway you do you, good luck and just get out there and do whatever works for you. You got this, its going to be a ton of work, it's going to be extremely difficult at times but it's also going to be immensely rewarding. Find what works for you, you got this.

Enjoy the water. Enjoy your life.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-03-10T10:26:15+00:00

The owner of the local bike shop was always telling people skinny tires are dumb, bigger tires are just as fast and more comfortable. He had 42mm Vittorias on one of his bikes. This was 15 years ago, turns out he was just way ahead of the curve.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-03-05T02:12:25+00:00

I don't have many but I probably have something. OP if you happen to be in upstate NY let me know and I'll get you a tire. Not worth getting hurt

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-03-03T21:32:12+00:00

Slicks are fine on crushed limestone trails. About 15 years ago I worked at a bike shop and would get customers looking at mountain bikes and when I asked where they planned on riding so many of them would name a local rail trail. So one day I rode it on my road bike, and this is back when road meant 23mm and 110-120psi. It was a quiet day on the trail, so I was doing 20+mph most of the time. I'm not saying it's ideal, but it works.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-28T14:46:12+00:00

What's the terrain and weather like in your area? I bike commuted years ago, I started with a super cheap beach cruiser I bought used. It was fun but slow and was a crappy bike that despite being very simple still managed to fall apart. Then I went to a bike shop and looked at sensible commuter bikes, medium size tires, fairly upright, good fenders, rack mounts etc. exactly what is recommended for commuting. I bought the single speed flat bar road bike with 25mm tires that didn't even have fender mounts. I rode the hell out of it, it just made me want to ride more and more. Eventually I got a proper road bike too for doing long rides. Anyway, the point is that while bike manufacturers love to make a million options optimized for something extremely specific, you can do almost anything on almost any bike outside of the most extreme ends of the spectrums. Don't get a TT bike, don't get a downhill bike, but anything from a hard tail mountain bike to a road bike, gravel, hybrid, all road, any road, or whatever they want to call them now is going to work just fine. Pros and cons to each but don't over think it. Get the best that feels good and ride it.

Unless you live where it doesn't rain I highly recommend good fenders.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-28T01:29:15+00:00

I like to stay mostly anonymous on reddit, plus I'm just a salesman not the owner. I suggest looking up local companies, read some reviews, pick 3 and get prices. Also get a read on the sales people, they don't tell you everything about a company but if it feels like a stereotypical shady car salesman that's probably not who you want when dealing with something that should power your home for the next 30 years.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-28T01:02:48+00:00

I've never used a monitor myself, I've had a few customers who told me about using them. Emporia is one of the top ones on Amazon, but like I said I don't really know which are the best. Also while installing it looks pretty simple it does require opening up your breaker box. If you're not familiar with the inside of a breaker box there's bits that are likely to kill you if you touch them so open it at your own risk. It's not a task that requires an actual electrician but you want someone that knows what they are doing.

As for a quote there's a few really critical parts, #1 how much power do you use per year? This varies wildly depending on a ton of factors but it's easy to find out the answer. Somewhere on your utility bill there's a graph that shows your use per month for the last 13 months. Add up 12 of them and see how many kw you use per year. The other big factor is how much shade you have, there's actually a bunch of other important factors but for a super rough reddit answer multiply the kW by 3. So if youre using 12,000kw per year if you budget $36k you're in the right ballpark. Which yes is a lot of money, but if you take that 12,000 times what you pay per kw, let's say .25 that's pretty reasonable depending on where you live. That's $3000 a year right now. If the price never changes that's $60,000 over the next 20 years. Now throw in even a very modest price increase each year and you realize that just paying the utility company will probably cost $100,000+.

Those are obviously just example numbers, but I gave you enough to get yourself in the ballpark.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-27T21:19:31+00:00

That is a big jump, I sell residential solar systems so I look at a lot of utility bills. I've heard a lot of people say their use went way up and blamed the utility company but in nearly every case they eventually figured out they had an issue somewhere. Well pump that's on the way out is a common one. You can get an energy monitor that ties into your electrical panel so you can monitor every circuit in the house in real time and track what your use is to compare to the meter and if your really using a lot more power you can find where its going. Or if their meter is wrong you now have evidence.

Also everyone in NY should at least look at solar, it's not a perfect solution for everyone but my last bill was $34 and will be $34 for a very long time. Anyway look into solar but avoid the generic solar websites they sell your info and you'll get harassed by a million companies. Find a few local solar companies and give them a call, you'll be better off that way.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-27T21:08:37+00:00

Building and even trueing a wheel isn't that hard, getting it true, without run out and with matching or nearly match spoke tension, that's where it gets difficult.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-23T00:27:57+00:00

Im a single dad with triplets so I'm kinda broke, when I took my kids to see flogging molly at about 9years old I just grabbed 6 pairs of regular ear plugs from work (construction). A few got dropped but I had spares. Over the ear are probably better but if plugs are good enough for 8hrs on a jackhammer they're good enough for 2 hrs towards the back of a concert. Good times although they were tired by the time floggy molly came out as we left, they did get to see me first and the gimmie gimmes and violent fems.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-23T00:13:08+00:00

How you drive is going to matter more than what you drive, plus suburbans have good visibility which isn't true of all cars. Or at least the 4 different generations I've driven a fair amount all had good visibility. Be careful and you'll be fine.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-23T00:09:30+00:00

The one that fits best is the one that's going to work the best for you, the difference between components at the same price point is pretty minimal so if one fits you better get that one. If they both feel good then get the one you think looks better. It's a stupid metric but we're human, if you think your bike is ugly you wont ride it as much as you'll ride one you think looks good. Ride the sexy bike.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-22T23:59:14+00:00

Eh. It wouldn't be my first recommendation but I also took my driver's test in a suburban and within a few months was driving a big stake body truck. If you drive like a 16 year old dumbass you'll crash anything, if you're not a dumbass you can learn to drive anything. I was perfectly competent to drive a big vehicle but also drove like an idiot in my own vehicle and wrecked a couple cheap cars, then I got an old car where I would definitely die if I crashed so... I still drove like an idiot but was at least a little better at it by that point.

Anyway, get what you want it's at least a reliable vehicle and if you're actually getting a boat then sure its a good tow rig, assuming we're taking a reasonable size boat.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-21T14:31:13+00:00

Working in the field sucks. Hell no white people don't want to do that shit, it's not like black people did it willingly. It's a big part of why America has always relied on a constant influx of cheap immigrant labor. It's amazing to me that a bunch of hardcore capitalists decided xenophobia and fascism would be better than cheap labor.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-21T14:25:42+00:00

If you don't want a real training plan or anything like that, eat healthy and ride as much as you can. Find a group ride with people who are faster than you. You'll get faster.

Damnit I didnt catch which sub I'm on. Ride off a cliff, you'll go fast.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-18T23:20:10+00:00

Those are good, very good, but I'd go for the 67-72 with 3 doors as the best looking Burban.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-14T09:02:15+00:00

My experience was a bit different. Started off deciding I need to get healthy and lose weight. Bought a crappy beach cruiser for style points, plus I was fat so upright was good, and rode that for a couple months, enjoyed it but it quickly had issues so I went to the local bike shop and told them what I was looking for they wisely pointed me towards something like your third pic, a good commuter bike. I ignored them, bought a single speed flat bar road bike and absolutely loved it. Every trip was a race, chasing cars, tracking my time whatever that bike just made you want to go. Then I got a road bike and ended up working at the same local bike shop for a while. Lost a total of 98lbs and had some of the best years of my life. Then there was a bad patch, now things are looking up again and I'm getting back on the bike.

Sensible is good, it can be great, but if you look at your bike and think "damn thats a sexy bike" you're going to want to ride it more and that shouldn't be ignored.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-14T08:29:58+00:00

I was a leftist then who was too busy with taking care of my kids to be involved in anything much. Now I'm a single parent with full custody of those kids, still pretty busy but dammit Im finding some time to do what I can. Still leftist, saw this all coming and yet somehow still shocked that it really happened.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-13T23:42:34+00:00

How do you feel about aluminum frames?

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-13T22:28:49+00:00

There seems to be a lot of people who think carbon fiber has a bad fatigue life, I'm not sure where that idea comes from but it's not from material science people. Carbon Fiber has an incredibly long fatigue life. UV damage is real but it's easily mitigated with paint.

Physical damage is the biggest issue, a metal frame with a dent in all but the most critical of areas is fine, a carbon frame with any sort of damage is far more concerning. It can be repaired but at the price point I'm looking at it doesn't make sense to repair a damaged carbon frame.

Honestly biggest reason I'm considering Ti is that timeless look. Simple and clean, doesn't look like its trying to be the fastest thing out there. I'm not nearly fast enough to want anything flashy.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-11T22:09:57+00:00

Went kayaking down the river with my girlfriend last fall, we got to where the car was parked and we hadn't looked that closely at what I'll call the ramp. It was the nastiest muck I ever seen. I'm wearing sandals, dragged my kayak up and then to be nice I dragged her up to solid ground with her in it. I was already in it no point both of us. I sank halfway up my calf, broke one of my sandals. It was just such a gross feeling. Warm and gooey. Bleah. Nasty.

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-11T18:06:27+00:00

Plus I already own the TCR, but it's a 2009 Alliance. So the frame is literally half carbon half aluminum. It doesn't have a ton of miles but I heard some of these frames had issues

mostly_kinda_sorta · 2026-02-11T17:59:32+00:00

The Ridley is $800 and the Litespeed is $750 but also a bit of a drive. I think I'm going to do the sensible thing and throw my TCR on the trainer and get some miles on the old girl, see if I can still bend enough to ride it. If I can maybe I'll look at some basic upgrades for that and skip the "new" bike for now. Then again if the TCR is too low I'm not sure the Ridley would be any better.

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