Show "Bicycle"

Photos from today's 32 mile ride! I was smoked on the uphill by a lanky kid with what looked to be either an 8 or 9 speed steel frame bike. Either way, I could only keep up for a short time, before leaving me behind! No way can I compete with young kids at their pace! 😂:D
LOL at the young kids remark. I'm betting I'm close to 30 years older than you, and I seriously doubt I'd be able to stay at your pace if we were to ride your route together. While I can do 30-40 miles pretty comfortably if it's a rail trail or just has gentle inclines, if LA type hills were involved, I imagine it would take me an hour or more longer than you ride it.
 
LOL at the young kids remark. I'm betting I'm close to 30 years older than you, and I seriously doubt I'd be able to stay at your pace if we were to ride your route together. While I can do 30-40 miles pretty comfortably if it's a rail trail or just has gentle inclines, if LA type hills were involved, I imagine it would take me an hour or more longer than you ride it.
I'm in my 40s, I just don't act like it according to my wife! :D That young kid was a real cyclist, I was watching his pedal strokes and he could power up the hills with ease. Makes me want to train harder now! Most of LA is flat, I just happen to live in the hilliest areas of the city. 🙂

Oh yeah, so I've opted to look for a full carbon fork. I read that alloy steerer carbon forks are bonded and in rough riding can actually separate. I'm sure there's a low probability, but if I'm going to upgrade I'll probably just get the full carbon fork which I read is more durable to begin with. Though I'm not in a rush right now to spend the $$$ on that unless I stumble on a good deal!
 
I'm in my 40s, I just don't act like it according to my wife! :D That young kid was a real cyclist, I was watching his pedal strokes and he could power up the hills with ease. Makes me want to train harder now! Most of LA is flat, I just happen to live in the hilliest areas of the city. 🙂

Oh yeah, so I've opted to look for a full carbon fork. I read that alloy steerer carbon forks are bonded and in rough riding can actually separate. I'm sure there's a low probability, but if I'm going to upgrade I'll probably just get the full carbon fork which I read is more durable to begin with. Though I'm not in a rush right now to spend the $$$ on that unless I stumble on a good deal!
This path (spending decent $ for good components) leads to the Frame Swapping lifestyle... once every year or two you find a compelling new frame in your size and swap all the good bits over. I aspire to that lifestyle...
 
This path (spending decent $ for good components) leads to the Frame Swapping lifestyle... once every year or two you find a compelling new frame in your size and swap all the good bits over. I aspire to that lifestyle...
That's sort of what I'm thinking. I only bought my current geared bike due to the Shimano GRX groupset and I've learned a lot about the bike doing all my own tinkering. I'm now seeing components can easily be moved over. Though I'm now wondering if I should just hold off upgrading things like an expensive fork and even wheels mainly since everything is moving to thru-axle and tapered headsets? Also more frames are going with internal cabling, so eventually I'm going to have learn more about bleeding my hydraulic brakes. I think my dream setup would be a lightweight titanium frame with carbon fork and I'd be fine with external cabling for ease of maintenance. Like camera gear, I think carefully buying select components and working within a reasonable budget can get you a nice bike without breaking the bank.

It seems the guys buying all the high end gear are equivalent to the camera gear heads buying Sony A1 and Canon R5 cameras and bragging about it on the forums while barely using the gear to it's fullest potential! While some kid on on a solid steel bike, has more riding potential then all those weekend cyclists with their expensive Dura Ace equipped carbon bikes! :D
 
I didn't spend more than $100-200 for a bike, but it looks like bike market ($55 billion) is much bigger than digital camera market ($3.8 billion)... One of the Fuji reviewers was saying he had more success with mountain bike restoring videos than Fuji review videos:


It seems the guys buying all the high end gear are equivalent to the camera gear heads buying Sony A1 and Canon R5 cameras and bragging about it on the forums while barely using the gear to it's fullest potential! While some kid on on a solid steel bike, has more riding potential then all those weekend cyclists with their expensive Dura Ace equipped carbon bikes! :D
 
Got a ton of bikes fixed up last night for the non-profit. Look at this 1998 Trek 820...

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There's barely a speck of dirt on it anywhere, almost like it was dipped in a giant sonicator cleaner. But there IS some dirt, hidden under cables. So it got used, at some point. It got left behind the shop (aka "donated" like most of the others than wander in), with no chain on it, a different-than-stock saddle, and the rear V Brake is not matching either. So clearly it was driven there in a car, and someone did use it in the past. But good lordy, was it sparkly clean. Easiest tune-up ever...
 
Got a ton of bikes fixed up last night for the non-profit. Look at this 1998 Trek 820...

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There's barely a speck of dirt on it anywhere, almost like it was dipped in a giant sonicator cleaner. But there IS some dirt, hidden under cables. So it got used, at some point. It got left behind the shop (aka "donated" like most of the others than wander in), with no chain on it, a different-than-stock saddle, and the rear V Brake is not matching either. So clearly it was driven there in a car, and someone did use it in the past. But good lordy, was it sparkly clean. Easiest tune-up ever...
That Trek looks sweet! Definitely a case where another man's junk is another man's treasure!
 
Today I decided to fix two chainring bolts on my bike that weren't evenly torqued causing them not to tighten (came like that from factory). I didn't have the proper chainring tool to hold in place the rear nut, so after trying several methods to loosen the bolt + nut I came up with a solution. I ended up using a dime held in place with needle nose pliers to hold the rear nut, while I was able to turn the bolt with a hex wrench. I ended up bending 21 cents worth of coins (two dimes and a penny), but it was cheaper than buying a dedicated tool I probably wouldn't use very often!

Anyways, after I removed the chainring bolts, I had fresh chainring nuts ready to install and I was able to evenly torque all my bolts properly. All the other DIY methods on Youtube were far more complicated using dremels, soldering irons and other extreme methods! 😮
 
Tried out a new-to-us trail yesterday evening for Mother's Day. Trail was WAY too long to do all of (12 miles and steep), but we went a mile in and had a picnic. Then on the way out, I tried to climb something too steep and rocky, wound up wheelie-ing over backwards, landing hard on rocky ground on my right arm. Pretty sure I boke something in my right wrist, xrays tomorrow. Can't ride a bike to save my life, which really hits me hard. Can't do a thing with this hand. Typing takes forever.

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Tried out a new-to-us trail yesterday evening for Mother's Day. Trail was WAY too long to do all of (12 miles and steep), but we went a mile in and had a picnic. Then on the way out, I tried to climb something too steep and rocky, wound up wheelie-ing over backwards, landing hard on rocky ground on my right arm. Pretty sure I boke something in my right wrist, xrays tomorrow. Can't ride a bike to save my life, which really hits me hard. Can't do a thing with this hand. Typing takes forever.

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Whoa, that must have been a very steep hill for you to wheelie backwards! I've encountered hills like that and the moment I lose traction, I just get off the bike and walk! Hopefully you'll have a speedy recovery!
 
Tried out a new-to-us trail yesterday evening for Mother's Day. Trail was WAY too long to do all of (12 miles and steep), but we went a mile in and had a picnic. Then on the way out, I tried to climb something too steep and rocky, wound up wheelie-ing over backwards, landing hard on rocky ground on my right arm. Pretty sure I boke something in my right wrist, xrays tomorrow. Can't ride a bike to save my life, which really hits me hard. Can't do a thing with this hand. Typing takes forever.

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Great pics, sorry about the wrist. Dang.
 
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