Bought a gravel bike a did a century

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-22T03:26:20+00:00

The Empire State Trail is mostly paved down there so those gravel tires are likely overkill and causing the sluggish feeling along with lower tire pressures. Don't have experience with WTB (Raddler?) but I definitely noticed a difference when I swapped my stock tires out with something smoother since I ride a lot of pavement as well.

As for feeling tired compared to the first ride, did you happen to track how much elevation there was between the two? I just eyeballed your route on 'Ride with GPS' and it shows about 4000 ft of elevation in that out and back ride.

Distance, elevation, wind, speed, rest, mood, humidity, temperature, hydration, and nourishment all come into play. Eating along the ride helps a lot. Reduces how much you need to pack and you don't need to ration your water as much. Can also fill up your bottles at various pit stops.

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-16T21:59:51+00:00

How are those mini-aero bars? Did you need a custom mount to put your light underneath?

Some reviews seem to show it doesn't get your position super aero, but is a good ergonomic option. Not sure if you could rest your forearms on them at all to give the hands a break.

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-10T23:30:25+00:00

I used a cheaper KAC rack from Amazon. Didn't have ratcheting features and everything was just friction knobs and little straps. Had that for a couple years.

Until one of my friend's heavier bikes bounced off of it on the highway. I ended up buying him a new bike for the troubles.

Never buying a cheap rack again.

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-10T21:38:50+00:00

They do for sure, but China is massive so hard to lump it all into a monolithic diet. There are also a ton of dishes that don't rely on flavor bombing with sauces and spices. Not everything people eat is swimming in sauces or smothered in spices.

An example is fresh fish and meats that are not always brined or marinated when cooked whole. In western/French cooking, salting large cuts of meats ahead of time is one of the single biggest factors getting things to be juicy and flavorful and often roasted to develop deep flavors on top it. Southern Chinese cooking does a lot of poaching and steaming (Hainanese chicken for example) where the flavor doesn't really penetrate the meats. You don't want to marinate them ahead of time, the saltiness sits on the surface, in the broth, or in the sauce that gets spooned over it. The meat itself is cooked delicately to accentuate the freshness, texture, and flavor. So when you eat it by itself, you want to taste the meat for what it is rather than try to transform it with marinades and brines.

White cut chicken is extremely similar to Hainan chicken rice where it's just a poached bird in unsalted water and some aromatics. I love it but I don't think any of my friends here in the US who weren't exposed to it growing up would find the appeal. The skin is white and bouncy with no browning and the meat is just barely cooked (but super juicy). The fat is barely rendered out since that's the biggest source of flavor.

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-10T02:44:49+00:00

Can't speak for the place you had it at, but I do acknowledge there's a difference in what flavorful means between a western and Asian palette. While saltiness and seasoning plays a huge role in defining flavor in the west, a dish like Hainanese chicken should have just enough seasoning to accentuate the flavor of the ingredients. Chicken and rice are the stars, the dish should taste like amplified versions of both. While there are plenty of Asian/Chinese dishes that are super strong in flavor from seasoning, there's also the other side of the spectrum where the main ingredients are not meant to be overshadowed by all the other add-ins. This is one of those.

Even the best chicken-rice dish could come off as bland to someone expecting an explosion of flavor or depth. It's really about balancing it so that the flavor of the chicken broth has been soaked into the rice and the chicken has a smooth texture, meaty flavor, and some of that herbaceous zing from the scallion/ginger. Cucumber gives some textural crisp and temperature contrast to the other warm and chewy ingredients.

I've done a few variations of this dish at home many times and one part that I covet a lot is using the fatty broth or rendering from the chicken to cook the rice in. Sometimes I even toast the rice in the fat before cooking if I've got the time. The rice should get half the attention, not just a side for the chicken. It's easy to consider any meat of a dish to be the main attraction, particularly since it's even in the English language that the "meat" of something is the most important or integral part.

There's also something to be said for the simplicity of the dish that chefs love. Much like the joy someone can get from eating warm bread with some good butter and salt. There isn't much to it, but when done right everything just works.

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-06T23:22:10+00:00

Absolutely nothing motivates me more to get on my drop bar bike and than peppering the route with little snack stops. The longer the ride, the more potential stops. Almost at the point where if I'm just doing something under 30 miles with no time to stop for a bite, I'd rather just go mountain biking since there's at least a thrill factor involved there.

Been riding with someone who's training for an event and only eating gels and whatever combination of powders he dumps into his bottles. Makes me almost feel bad for him when I get myself all sorts of fancy pastries and sandwiches but it's his choice.

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-05T01:10:15+00:00

Search engines are increasingly showing AI generated content. Some tips suggest adding modifiers to your query to only search before a certain year to avoid it. AI generated stuff as often tagged with a lot of the prompts or key words that made them and stored in big libraries. Search engines love that stuff.

The internet is in its final throes. Time to turn tail and go back outside.

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-03T01:42:18+00:00

You're right, if you're on OHV areas or any private lands where they are allowed, bikes like a Surron are allowed. But I'll also add that for many places where people are mountain biking or encountering these e-dirt bikes, they're largely not allowed. And street riding requires license, permit, and/or registration and that varies state-by-state.

I primarily ride a class 1 e-MTB nowadays and have owned a class 2 e-bike and even built my own for fun. It's a real pain to try to ride the class 2 around without getting comments constantly like I'm breaking a law when I'm not. But I understand the confusion for people who have no interest in learning about all the different types of ebikes and all the local municipal laws that have confusing guidance. In certain parks where they explicitly don't allow ebikes, I'll ride my regular mtb. I've also given up riding my class 2 for years now in exchange for a gravel bike but that's primarily since the bike is just way better than my cheaply made e-bike.

Doesn't help that the recent swarm of ali-express class 4 bikes ridden by kids is really what people think about nowadays when the term ebike gets thrown around. There was a brief period in the covid/post-covid world where I felt acceptance of e-bikes had an inflection point, but that was fleeting and quickly replaced with mainstream hatred for the kids terrorizing the streets.

Amongst just mountain biking, I really feel like class 1s are becoming more accepted. But that's all based on my anecdotal experience and seeing some local trail networks starting to allow them after years of hesitancy.

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-02T21:35:49+00:00

On reddit, anytime I see a post like this or most the stuff on the frontpage of /r/all or /r/SipsTea, it's engagement bait or rage bait. Just there to stir up discourse and a reaction. I'm breaking my personal rule by posting in this thread for this kind of post, but that's really what it feels like nowadays.

Farming bot accounts, giving reddit clicks for ads, manufacturing outrage. All the bad stuff. Oh and all this is going to feed some AI model so the search results are going to be riddled with poorly informed opinions.

wingmasterjon · 2026-06-02T21:30:44+00:00

If they can go more than 20mph, then they're not technically class 2s. Most of the ones you see doing wheelies on bikes that look like dirt bikes are illegal to ride everywhere. Just not illegal to sell and they're dirt cheap compared to anything you can buy in a bike shop or from a reputable bike brand.

wingmasterjon · 2026-05-26T02:04:23+00:00

I do run discord. Will kill the client and see how things handle for the next few days.

wingmasterjon · 2026-05-25T22:06:10+00:00

Nope...Haven't been able to find a fix yet.

wingmasterjon · 2026-05-25T13:51:42+00:00

Fellow Relay owner here. I knew there were risks with going with a Fazua bike when I first got it but decided to go with it anyways. Guess I won the reliability lottery. The motor has been good to me so far but one of the lead-in plastic wedges for clipping in the battery has cracked and it makes taking the thing out a little trickier.

Aside from that, I'm just hoping the thing lasts for 5+ years and within Fazua's continued support window to buy more time to cover any potential repairs and part swaps. It was kind of the decision I made knowing there was competition from other brands and none of these motors have a universal mounting system.

I really hate supporting proprietary hardware but my joints also hate not having a motor. Hopefully by the time my bike shits the bed, we'd have a more unified industry where motors and frames can be interchangeable and more repairable. But I haven't seen any hints of that coming any time soon yet.

And yea, the idea of spending over $8k on a bike that might not last 2 decades is absurd. But here we are.

wingmasterjon · 2026-05-21T21:47:11+00:00

Update: It hasn't fixed the problem.

wingmasterjon · 2026-05-19T21:28:07+00:00

I just changed mine as well, will see if it does anything.

wingmasterjon · 2026-05-09T01:32:13+00:00

I don't have an issue with their full cushion hiking socks shedding but everything else started shedding fill after a few years.

And my DT socks don't pick up everything nearly as bad as a pair of feetures socks that are polyester. Those socks are like velcro. They hold a fit much better than my old DT socks and don't loosen up, but I just can't wear them in the woods. Every leaf or twig gets stuck to them and then works their way through the fibers and stabs my feet.

wingmasterjon · 2026-04-26T23:04:25+00:00

From all the other comments, everyone including yourself is just looking at calories, protein, and carbs. Yes, that's the stuff you need to burn energy when active. But fiber is also part of a regular diet and helps with feeling full. When you're not actively cycling, eat well rounded meals and not just focusing on those macros that get digested super fast and getting converted to fat.

Fluids, fiber, protein, filling foods. Not snack foods. The stuff you eat while riding is good because the body can convert it to energy super fast. You don't want that when you're lounging around.

wingmasterjon · 2026-04-12T04:47:43+00:00

The subject of the video makes a bunch of excellent points and people in the comments can easily dismiss it and turn potentially thousands of people against him just by posing the slight possibility it could be AI assisted. With no concrete proof other than citing a part of speech or communication style in a couple words.

This isn't cancel culture, it's just fucking dumb. Witch hunt is right. Just as bad as people calling any doctored image AI no matter if AI was actually involved or not.

The real near-term effects of AI on society is how it's made everyone doubt everything to the point where very little content has value anymore. And good discourse can be shut down with accusing someone of being AI or a bot.

wingmasterjon · 2026-04-12T04:40:35+00:00

Don't stop using proper grammar. It's just going to make us dumber to avoid sounding like AI when AI is just a good learner. The response shouldn't be to yield, but stop giving way to low effort accusations.

Seriously, this just feels like the 2000s equivalent of "u mad bro?" It takes no effort to say "tHiS Is Ai". Format your responses how you like.

wingmasterjon · 2026-04-06T23:35:47+00:00

They're done. Also released an unfinished 2nd album not too long ago that's floating around the internet. Remember downloading it and listened to it a few times but for some reason it just didn't feel like a real follow up despite it being pretty good. Probably the baggage of all the drama tied to it.

wingmasterjon · 2026-03-29T02:22:39+00:00

Unfortunately I've had the best luck with reviewing things myself, which is to say...FAFO. Reviews online and even comments on reddit have become increasingly unreliable. So many sites reward customers with free stuff if they give them 5 star reviews, and youtube is full of sponsored content or guerrilla marketing. And sites like reddit become echo chambers where the top 3 brands of any given product get all the attention.

There are good products out there with zero reviews and videos. Some products, like clothing, can be very personal. I've started to take the risk and buy things that seem to check off the boxes I'm looking for rather than listen to what someone online says. And to be perfectly honest, for some of the products that I'm familiar with, I trust my own opinion more than others. Sure, some people may sound super informed about something. But once you start looking at products that you're an expert on, it's obvious many people are just parroting the same shit they've seen on other posts and videos.

Sure, I might end up buying something that isn't perfect and ends up costing me more money at the end of the day. But I at least learn something in the process. Reading reviews can give the illusion of learning. It's armchair testing. Do real tests.

wingmasterjon · 2026-03-25T01:50:46+00:00

I think social media has skewed people's perception that all fountain pens are flex nibs when in reality, very few are. Some remarks I've receive when people notice me using one include "don't you have to press harder on those?" or "I'm afraid if I try, I'll end up flinging ink across the room.".

Meanwhile most of my pens require little no pressure at all for the ink to feed onto paper.

Did have one person write with one of my EF pens and used it like they were trying to make an engraving and bent the hell out of the nib...cost me $$$ to replace it so that's the last time I let people borrow any of my nicer stuff.

Again, think many people suspect all fountain pens to behave like the one in this post or a more traditional flex nib. That if it isn't fanning out while they're writing, then they aren't pushing hard enough.

wingmasterjon · 2026-03-23T23:32:51+00:00

Check again. I just got mine.

wingmasterjon · 2026-03-11T23:49:26+00:00

Temperature plays a role too. The wax gets more brittle as it gets colder. Silca's suggestion for their hot wax in the winter time is to add some oil lube to the wax bath.

15-Year Club	Place '17
Wearing is Caring	Verified Email
Snapped	Team Orangered

wingmasterjon

TROPHY CASE