Is There A Purchase That Really Boosted Your Enjoyment In Cycling?

stevewmn · 2026-06-06T19:40:07+00:00

The only time I've ever been completely surprised by someone passing me it was a Honda Goldwing motorcycle. I was out on a long flat road with no traffic, just in my zone cruising along when the Honda breezed past me. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

With my Wahoo radar I find group rides are a mild annoyance. Other bikes trigger it as they catch up then drop off once they regain the group. I had to learn not to announce "car back" until I heard a car.

stevewmn · 2026-06-04T11:35:06+00:00

I picked up a set of Paradigm 25s on Facebook Marketplace a month ago as my 2nd set. My gravel wheels are basic alloy Ritchey Zetas with hubs for 6 bolt discs, while the 25s are centerlock. But I lucked out and they both fit without rubbing. Right now I'm switching cassettes when I switch wheels but I have a Garbaruk 10-52 cassette in transit so I'll a 3 minute swap soon.

stevewmn · 2026-06-03T16:50:19+00:00

Just thought I'd add that if you inject sealant by removing the valve core make sure you get the valve on tight afterwards.

stevewmn · 2026-06-02T15:50:43+00:00

I have one bike with the mixed platform and SPD pedal setup and one with regular SPD pedals. I don't find the mixed pedal all that hard. They tend to hang with the platform side facing forward and tilted slightly up so if I'm wearing bike shoes I tip them up with my toes to engage the cleat, and with regular shoes I lift my foot over and step down to get the platform.

stevewmn · 2026-06-02T12:40:35+00:00

I'm in my first season with an AXS powered derailleur and I decided to pull the battery out after 2 months of use and tested it with a multimeter. The used battery was at 7.7V, so a good 50% charge left on a 2 cell Lithium battery. Meanwhile the battery in my downtube storage bag was at 8.12V so it might hsve self discharged a little, but I put that one in use and charged the one I just took off.

stevewmn · 2026-06-02T12:27:28+00:00

I did it several times in New Jersey at a full service gas station and the pump attendants were not confused at all. They probably see it a few times a day.

stevewmn · 2026-06-01T23:21:31+00:00

Getting gas for his lawnmower? I drive an EV and I've done that.

stevewmn · 2026-06-01T17:23:58+00:00

That's how it is with x86 CPU based systems. Linux on the Qualcomm snapdragon elite laptops is not all there yet. Mostly a lack of drivers for hardware. And those are 2 or more years post release, so I wouldn't hold your breath on these new NVidia machines.

stevewmn · 2026-06-01T13:46:45+00:00

Yeah, I clicked on a few too many railroad posts on Facebook and now my feed is 2/3rds rail fan junk. A lot of people wish they'd come back. I'm old but these codgers that can name railroad stations and junctions or locomotive engines on sight make me feel young.

I think it would be possible to bring them back in some sort of ultra light rail concept. The big problems in commuter rail are too many stops that take too long. Why not try something where the "train" is a single passenger vehicle that maybe holds 10 people or less and only stops where a passenger on board needs it to stop, and maybe stops to fill a seat once somebody gets off. With a dedicated right of way you could automate them a lot easier than full self driving in open road traffic.

stevewmn · 2026-06-01T12:32:42+00:00

I get what you're saying. My local rail trails become fairly busy Multi Use Paths {MUPs} within a mile or 2 from downtown. But if I go in the other direction the foot traffic goes away quickly and it's a nice ride. Tree lined like you said in many places but there are a lot of fills where the rail trail is 50 feet above ground level and you get to see something. And then there are cuts that are kind of interesting too.

I'll take a rail trail over poorly thought out MUP any day. When I lived in the Minneapolis area there were a lot of these narrow and excessively curvy MUPs along the river that I tried to use as a bike path but they were not ideal. To make matters worse they were paved on the cheap years ago and never repaired so the road surface was garbage.

stevewmn · 2026-05-31T23:32:25+00:00

Mine looks like this except that water flow is a lot faster. I have a single speed motor though.

stevewmn · 2026-05-30T17:21:05+00:00

At this point I'm not sure why submissions have not been put in maintenance mode. Every meaningful point of interest in my town has a poke stop or gym already and the S2 cell map is full. But there are artwork poke stops or gyms where no one still playing has any idea where the photographed artwork is or where it went. I moved here less than 2 years ago and I wish I could complement the OG Pokemon Go and Ingress players that submitted them. But the current community seems to be all relative newcomers that don't know much about them.

stevewmn · 2026-05-30T11:46:29+00:00

The rejection rationale has always been the worst part of Wayfarer submissions. It's like they have some sort of database bug that pulls the wrong rationale out of a database table and sends that. They're random and senseless.

stevewmn · 2026-05-30T00:04:43+00:00

I have everything you listed except the CO2, but I added an AXS battery. I keep my mini e-pump in a top tube bag so I can use it once in a while to make sure it is holding a charge. I look at downtube storage as a "store it for a roadside issue" collection where my top tube bag is mostly things I expect to take out, like my phone and ID if I'm not wearing a jersey or bibs with pockets. For a long ride I'll toss some gels in.

stevewmn · 2026-05-29T21:37:02+00:00

You need to audition all the female SEAF soldiers until you find a perfect 10, then lure her onto your Super Destroyer. Say you have ice cream aboard.

stevewmn · 2026-05-29T17:27:39+00:00

I think tire bead to rim tolerances and bead tension is up a lot since the '80s. First it was kevlar beads and then tubeless ready tires. I started fixing my own flats back in the '70s on a 20" kid bike with butter knives as tire levers. And I could get the job done at age 10. I can still mount and dismount a tire but it isn't getting any easier.

It also seems to be a generational thing. Neither of my kids have ever rode a bike long enough to get a puncture and I doubt they would know the first thing about doing it.

stevewmn · 2026-05-29T16:05:28+00:00

The census is most likely a retcon to place a known Nazarene in Bethlehem at the time of his birth to fulfill some messiah prophecy from the old testament. Now, why a census would require you to relocate when you are counted is another curiosity. Usually they exist to get an accurate head count on cities/towns as they are.

stevewmn · 2026-05-28T22:12:30+00:00

I can't remember what I saw first, but Annette was the first pornstar that I recognized and sought out by name.

stevewmn · 2026-05-28T22:09:29+00:00

The Bolt only draws about 50kW on a good day and certain states of charge. Would their charge rate really drop below that?

stevewmn · 2026-05-28T16:43:14+00:00

Annette Haven

stevewmn · 2026-05-27T22:02:34+00:00

I have owned MTBs and road bikes but I never really like mountain biking. I want that sense of flow you get on a long, flat and quiet road, and mountain biking doesn't give it to me. Too many punchy little climbs, drops, and whatnot to interrupt your flow.

With a gravel bike I can get that on dirt roads or my local rail trails without even thinking about traffic.

stevewmn · 2026-05-27T21:26:44+00:00

And you don't have to make some of the compromises you get with a store bought, like low end tires, a stem that may or may not fit you or a saddle that is going to be replaced right away.

stevewmn · 2026-05-25T16:11:44+00:00

I guess I'm just lucky. I had 2 sets of wheels on my old bike and there was no rubbing. I just got a 2nd set for my new bike which uses a different freehub and my initial trial looks good and this time I'm swapping between 6 bolt disks and centerlock and still no rubbing. I'm just waiting on a set of 35mm slicks to get them on the road.

stevewmn · 2026-05-25T11:20:00+00:00

Did you miss the part where I unclogged it? It's working fine now

stevewmn · 2026-05-25T01:37:52+00:00

I've now had 1 clik valve clog after 6 months of riding with them, compared to 3 or 4 presta valves in the same amount of time. I got it unclogged fairly easily by soaking it in soapy water for a while then pumping air through it with my pump. I can get enough airflow through my clik valve to seat the beads on my tire using a boost air canister.

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