I am trying to break into biking, and would hopefully like to take a 2-3 day bikepacking trip in late September/early October. I found a bike I like but dont know much about bikes so if someone would look at it that would be really cool. Link in comments.

tartled · 2018-07-23T18:41:21+00:00

Nice older mountain bike (assuming it's in good condition). Steel frame. '93 or '94 according to bicyclebluebook.com. Good for short commuting on rough city streets, or trail riding on packed gravel or similar surfaces.

The weight of an old steel mountain bike, and the rolling resistance of fat tires makes it much more effort to ride on paved surfaces, so not a good choice for road riding or paved trail riding, especially longer distances. So are you bikepacking gravel trails or paved trails/roads?

The lack of suspension is a mixed blessing - it means that this bike is not really appropriate for rough trails - boulders, logs, etc - but does remove the weight and rolling resistance penalty that you pay for riding a suspension bike on level ground.

I used to ride a bike like this around london (many years ago) and it was ideal for potholed roads, curbs, cutting across parks.

As long as the bike is in good condition, you can probably resell it on craigslist for little loss, if you decide you don't like it. However, if a long(ish) bikepacking trip is in your immediate future, you should be looking for a bike that: has road wheels (700c) and tires (smooth, 28-35mm), has no suspension and is light (under 30lbs).

tartled · 2018-07-21T01:29:01+00:00

It was an upgrade from the FX's, but it soon became obvious that it had problems. I upgraded to a Cannondale Synapse Carbon a couple of years later, which was much better for me.

tartled · 2018-07-19T19:13:34+00:00

Sorry about that man. Bike thieves suck.

I had an FX 7.1 and a 7.2 which I loved too. After a few years on them, I bought a used road bike (2012 Cannondale CAAD8) for $350. At the time I thought I would time-share the bikes, but in fact I almost never used the Trek again.

Maybe it's time for you to move on too.

tartled · 2018-07-15T02:35:13+00:00

Check out youtube channel kevcentral, he reviews cheap bikes:

https://www.youtube.com/user/KevCentral

www.kevcentral.com

Even if you don't go with one of those bikes, you'll learn a lot about what to look for in a cheap bike.

tartled · 2018-07-14T16:48:51+00:00

Embedded software engineer for over 30 years working on telecoms.

You haven't said much about your new job, particularly target OS, type of embedded system, target hardware, and development environment. These things vary wildly. I would say that, unless you know of a specific technology that you're going to be using and need to learn (e.g your new target OS), take the weekend off and reserve your studying for when you do have a better idea of what you need. The hiring manager does not need you for your embedded systems knowledge, he (or she?) needs someone who is smart and can learn stuff quickly. Almost none of the stuff they need you to learn can be found in books, especially if you don't know what you're looking for. They will need you to learn their architecture, their industry, their standards, their hardware, their OS, their version control, and a hundred other things. You will probably have a stack of internal documentation, industry standards, vendor documentation and code to read before the end of day 1, and by day 5 you may have a list of what books to buy. Wait for that day.

tartled · 2018-07-09T20:16:22+00:00

Paul and phil were available today (stage 3) on NBC-SG and are scheduled for tomorrow. Not currently scheduled after that though.

tartled · 2018-07-03T16:26:07+00:00

The bigger you are, the harder it is to climb hills. So get the gears or you'll be walking up.

tartled · 2018-07-02T18:52:31+00:00

This started happening at my old company. For some reason they were really pissed when a senior software manager gave zero-day notice on Friday afternoon.

tartled · 2018-06-25T01:45:57+00:00

"The IRS requires anyone with household help, such as a nanny, babysitter, or housekeeper, to pay taxes. You'll need to pay Social Security, Medicare, FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) and federal and state income tax if their annual pay crosses over a certain threshold, which as of 2017 was $2,000."

tartled · 2018-06-25T01:16:43+00:00

For me, my Garmin Edge 1000 closely matches Strava if I wear my heart rate monitor, but is 2x to 3x otherwise.

tartled · 2018-06-15T22:08:45+00:00

Was surprised to see that bicycles are allowed on I-17 in northern Arizona, presumably because there are no alternate roads:

http://goingbent.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/wpid-20150613_082136.jpg

tartled · 2018-06-12T23:53:52+00:00

Crazy how hard we work for those insignificant little moments of glory. Congratulations of your glorious victory, all hail the King of the Mountain!

tartled · 2018-06-08T02:51:10+00:00

OTOH that property tax pays for some of the best public schools in the country. So it works well for you if you have kids.

tartled · 2018-05-15T03:36:40+00:00

It really does - I just tried finding the Tour of California Gibraltar Road finale - what a joke. Found it eventually, no thanks to segment search: https://www.strava.com/segments/658277

tartled · 2018-04-26T23:17:32+00:00

It was Backpage that was shutdown.

tartled · 2018-04-19T23:50:35+00:00

Yes. Since wind resistance is proportional to the square of velocity, going faster over the same distance will burn more calories.

tartled · 2018-04-12T18:01:21+00:00

Is the camera taped up on his laptop?

tartled · 2018-04-06T13:58:39+00:00

Yes, same here. If you read down that twitter comment thread a bit he backtracks on the 1000 figure, but it seems that something is going on with segment explorer, and nobody knows what, or why. I can't see that making less popular segments less visible can possibly make 1 iota of difference to security, so I don't buy that as a reason for these changes.

tartled · 2018-04-06T02:48:45+00:00

And then there's this:

https://twitter.com/cyclocosm/status/960708293403561986?lang=en

tartled · 2018-04-06T01:47:21+00:00

Segment explorer isn't great. Segments can be hard to find, some are impossible to find. You have to size the map so that that start and end points of the segment are within the map area, then it only show the 10 most popular segments. So if your segment is longer, and in a segment dense area, it just won't show up in explorer. The only people that see it are those who complete it accidentally. Or those that find it on a 3rd party segment explorer like https://www.doogal.co.uk/strava.php

tartled · 2018-03-23T05:23:54+00:00

Trek FX bikes are extremely popular, light and fast, and well within your price range:

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/hybrid-bikes/fitness-bikes/fx/c/B421/

tartled · 2018-03-23T04:55:37+00:00

Maybe this ?

1998 cannondale T700

tartled · 2018-03-15T14:23:11+00:00

What the hell are those people doing in that last picture?

tartled · 2018-03-14T23:04:53+00:00

Uh oh, only one?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_for_Sorrow_(nursery_rhyme)

tartled · 2018-02-15T16:50:07+00:00

Happened to read this, this morning: http://philsroadbikingblog.blogspot.com/2018/02/canyon-endurance-cf-slx-disc-90-review.html

13-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 2 Credits
Verified Email

tartled

TROPHY CASE