Dem bicicletas dos, doe.

[troyguitar]

How does that work logistically? Sounds like you drove and dropped bags at the aid stations first, then rode all day, then drove back to pick everything up?

Drop bags get dropped at the start, and they were shuttled out to the two aid stations on course that the route passed through twice each. Bags were color coded - green went to Poe Paddy (mile 44/74), tan went to The Ranch (mile 27/96).

They were numbered as well, so once they arrived at the aid stations, they were put into numerical order.

When you rolled into the station, you just looked for your numbered bag, grabbed it, and took it off to the side to fuel up. When you were done, you either placed it back in order if you were coming back through, or placed it into a bin if you were done with the aid station for the day so they could be shuttled back to the start/finish.

And at the end of the day, you picked up your drop bags at the start/finish.

Ah wow, such organization. Hopefully one of these years I'll be able to do things involving other people again.

I am slowly getting the tiny amount of strength that I had back, but longer rides (90+ minutes) still cause neck and back pain. It's been getting significantly better since I started trying to keep my head down and flexibility continues to improve. I can almost get my palms flat on the floor now and have had to order a -17 degree stem because I've run out of adjustment on the -7 degree one. Also finally sprayed the thing with water today.

Besides the stem I'm down to only a couple of other modzzz on the docket: purple bar tape over some jagwire "compressionless" brake cables.

[troyguitar]

I guess at some point I should consider taking a hack saw to my steerer tube. Is hitting your face on it a real concern or is it just aesthetics? I feel like I can get close but in reality it's probably not that close.

I'd also have to lower the star nut to do it, do you just hammer it down?

[D Griff]

Dat 86 doe

[SAWCE]

I just wear regular wally world socks, the few times I've tried "good" socks didn't seem to change much but I've admittedly not tried it much. This isn't a new thing for me, my feet get sweaty and cold even sitting around the house. I guess this winter I'll see about finding some better shit. I know I should do it but it's hard to be OK with spending hundreds of dollars on a wardrobe's worth of socks. Clothes are so fucking expensive when they don't suck.

That Castelli jacket/jersey is fucking awesome but it was $200 and I am trying to ride ~5 days a week so I really need more than just 1 of everything.

Not sure if you have a Costco by you, but I have some wool socks from them that are great. I don’t remember the brand, but a few people in here have mentioned them over the years IIRC. If you don’t have a Costco, I’m happy to grab a pack for you and mail them out once they come back to mine as it cools off. They’re super cheap for what they are.

[D Griff]

Riding 84 miles tomorrow.... longest ride yet but it's a 15 MPH group ride, so should be doable. I met a new friend at my last group ride who is coming with, should be cool to get to know him a bit more.

The lows were going to be 40F, was going to head to REI today to get some warmer shit, but now they're only around 46, I think I may just roll with what I have.

[troyguitar]

I guess at some point I should consider taking a hack saw to my steerer tube. Is hitting your face on it a real concern or is it just aesthetics? I feel like I can get close but in reality it's probably not that close.

I'd also have to lower the star nut to do it, do you just hammer it down?

You can just tap the star nut down, just be careful you don’t hammer it too far in. And make sure you’re careful to keep it true. Same goes for the cut - make sure it’s straight.

Also, it’s somewhat aesthetics, somewhat safety. Don’t want to smash your face or crotch on a long steer tube.

I think I'll only take off 20mm, leaving me with 30mm of spacers instead of the 50mm on there now. Dunno how much of a PITA it'll be without a real bench and vise, but I guess I can probably get it close enough by hand using a sacrificial smaller spacer as a guide.

[fledonfoot]

Wow

https://youtu.be/3jqTgj_UCeI

[KYGTIGuy]

The work socks from Darn Tough have always worked for me.

[D Griff]

The work socks from Darn Tough have always worked for me.

[KYGTIGuy]

My BIL bought one of those cheap Chinese carbon fiber frames off eBay and is currently building a bike. Or are least he started to build it. He handed it over to a bike builder to finish. Should be finished soon.

Anyone ever build a bike from the frame up?

[fledonfoot]

My BIL bought one of those cheap Chinese carbon fiber frames off eBay and is currently building a bike. Or are least he started to build it. He handed it over to a bike builder to finish. Should be finished soon.

Anyone ever build a bike from the frame up?

I've built 3 this year.

Rebuilt the Occam after having the frame replaced under warranty after the rear seat stay cracked. Swapped over the majority of the parts from the old Occam, went to a Fox 36 fork and a DPX2 shock and a few small upgrades. Crashed it 10 minutes into the first real ride of the season and obliterated the elbow.



Built a 27.5+ Nukeproof Scout from scratch while I was waiting for the frame warranty situation to play out. Took the Fox 34 and XT brakes from the Occam, bought a sweet set of Spank Oozy 395+ wheels with 2.8" Maxxis Ikon+ tires, bought a Sram GX drivetrain for the wife's bike and used that drivetrain for the Scout. Did a few custom touches to make it a pretty unique bike. Rode it twice before I crashed.



Taught the wife how to build something. During Corona and the bike shortage, I found a sweet DartMoor Primal 27.5 frame in stock at a bike shop in Germany. Custom cables and fork decals, reused the original SLX drivetrain and DT Swiss wheels from the original Occam. Then, like my Nukeproof, took the 34 off her full suspension bike for this and put a Fox 36 on that.



So really almost 4 bikes this year.

[troyguitar]

My BIL bought one of those cheap Chinese carbon fiber frames off eBay and is currently building a bike. Or are least he started to build it. He handed it over to a bike builder to finish. Should be finished soon.

Anyone ever build a bike from the frame up?

I'm thinking about getting a chinesium frame this winter, but all of the other components are so expensive that it seems hardly cheaper than just buying a whole bike... unless you've got a closet full of parts to re-use. Dunno. The mechanical part of putting it all together is pretty easy

[troyguitar]

My neck and back still start hurting after an hour or so, but I think I've gotten back to my old strength peak by now if not a little past it. Today I did the same "easy" 30 mile route ending with the stupid hard climb in the neighborhood and did it just 0.1 mph faster than my fastest time from the summer but did it with a good amount less effort and more energy left at the end by far. It'll be interesting to get back on the trainer sometime soon and do the FTP test again. Just going by how I feel compared to last time, I'm hopefully back in the 230-250 watt range.

The big climb in the neighborhood was actually quite possible in the 39/34 gear, I didn't even need to drop to the 30T front, and in the rest of the ride I never left the 50T ring for probably the first time ever.

[KYGTIGuy]

My BIL bought one of those cheap Chinese carbon fiber frames off eBay and is currently building a bike. Or are least he started to build it. He handed it over to a bike builder to finish. Should be finished soon.

Anyone ever build a bike from the frame up?

I've built 3 this year.

Rebuilt the Occam after having the frame replaced under warranty after the rear seat stay cracked. Swapped over the majority of the parts from the old Occam, went to a Fox 36 fork and a DPX2 shock and a few small upgrades. Crashed it 10 minutes into the first real ride of the season and obliterated the elbow.



Built a 27.5+ Nukeproof Scout from scratch while I was waiting for the frame warranty situation to play out. Took the Fox 34 and XT brakes from the Occam, bought a sweet set of Spank Oozy 395+ wheels with 2.8" Maxxis Ikon+ tires, bought a Sram GX drivetrain for the wife's bike and used that drivetrain for the Scout. Did a few custom touches to make it a pretty unique bike. Rode it twice before I crashed.



Taught the wife how to build something. During Corona and the bike shortage, I found a sweet DartMoor Primal 27.5 frame in stock at a bike shop in Germany. Custom cables and fork decals, reused the original SLX drivetrain and DT Swiss wheels from the original Occam. Then, like my Nukeproof, took the 34 off her full suspension bike for this and put a Fox 36 on that.



So really almost 4 bikes this year.

Dang. Nice rides. What specialty tools do you absolutely need for a job like that? That's my BILs hang-up. I don't understand it. If you're going to spend several thousand dollars on bike parts, you should be able to drop a few hundred on tools.

I really want to build a bike this winter but I still haven't finished my last project (gaming PC) and my wife would kill me if I jumped right into the next flavor of the month. Got a pile of PC parts in the corner waiting for a GPU.

[KYGTIGuy]

My BIL bought one of those cheap Chinese carbon fiber frames off eBay and is currently building a bike. Or are least he started to build it. He handed it over to a bike builder to finish. Should be finished soon.

Anyone ever build a bike from the frame up?

I'm thinking about getting a chinesium frame this winter, but all of the other components are so expensive that it seems hardly cheaper than just buying a whole bike... unless you've got a closet full of parts to re-use. Dunno. The mechanical part of putting it all together is pretty easy

Right. I came across this company last night. They seem to be taking those frames and adding low end components.

https://savadeck-bike.com/collections/c ... 6769830027

[fledonfoot]

Snip

I have a $50 Amazon/Chinese knockoff bike tool set that handles most of my needs, a couple sets of Allen wrenches, a $100 bike work stand, a $15 star nut setter for the forks, a $3 piece of 1.5” PVC pipe to use as a crown race setter, a pipe cutter for the fork steerer tubes, a $40 eBay fork damper removal kit, a $20 fork seal setter for fork rebuilds, and a 1/4” drive torque wrench. Add in some wire cutters, $30 for a brake bleed kit, and $20 for cleaning brushes wraps everything else up for the most part.

[troyguitar]

I've built 3 this year.

Rebuilt the Occam after having the frame replaced under warranty after the rear seat stay cracked. Swapped over the majority of the parts from the old Occam, went to a Fox 36 fork and a DPX2 shock and a few small upgrades. Crashed it 10 minutes into the first real ride of the season and obliterated the elbow.



Built a 27.5+ Nukeproof Scout from scratch while I was waiting for the frame warranty situation to play out. Took the Fox 34 and XT brakes from the Occam, bought a sweet set of Spank Oozy 395+ wheels with 2.8" Maxxis Ikon+ tires, bought a Sram GX drivetrain for the wife's bike and used that drivetrain for the Scout. Did a few custom touches to make it a pretty unique bike. Rode it twice before I crashed.



Taught the wife how to build something. During Corona and the bike shortage, I found a sweet DartMoor Primal 27.5 frame in stock at a bike shop in Germany. Custom cables and fork decals, reused the original SLX drivetrain and DT Swiss wheels from the original Occam. Then, like my Nukeproof, took the 34 off her full suspension bike for this and put a Fox 36 on that.



So really almost 4 bikes this year.

Dang. Nice rides. What specialty tools do you absolutely need for a job like that? That's my BILs hang-up. I don't understand it. If you're going to spend several thousand dollars on bike parts, you should be able to drop a few hundred on tools.

I really want to build a bike this winter but I still haven't finished my last project (gaming PC) and my wife would kill me if I jumped right into the next flavor of the month. Got a pile of PC parts in the corner waiting for a GPU.

It depends on the specific components, but there really aren't many specific tools that you need. You mainly need whatever it takes to tighten the "bottom bracket" which is not actually a bracket - it's the crank bearing.

[troyguitar]

The windproof aspect of the goretex castelli jacket is really to be honest. Everything else I've tried is somewhat helpful, but keeping the wind off my core made a huge difference. You could probably get a similar benefit from just wearing a windbreaker and then throwing it in your bag/pocket when it warms up.

Who's doing group rides in 2020? They were all canceled up here.

Those jackets are like $200-300

There are about five group rides/week here to choose from on meetup.com alone.

You and your fucking living in civilization...

there are a grand total of ZERO events of any kind, not even cycling-related, listed nearby. Bastard.

[D Griff]

Those jackets are like $200-300

There are about five group rides/week here to choose from on meetup.com alone.

You and your fucking living in civilization...

there are a grand total of ZERO events of any kind, not even cycling-related, listed nearby. Bastard.

Go to meetup.com and make a weekly public ride... check out the stuff on Charlotte Area Cycling four ideas.

[D Griff]

Speaking of, did this yesterday:


All in all it was a blast, we all grabbed a beer together after on the patio of this burger place, really was a 5/7 group, will definitely be doing more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[troyguitar]

You and your fucking living in civilization...

there are a grand total of ZERO events of any kind, not even cycling-related, listed nearby. Bastard.

Be the change you want in your life.

Like Griff said, start your own meetup or local riding club. It just takes one person to make that step.

Which clubs did you fuckers start? I'm sick of everything being more work for me than it is for DFD. I will ride by myself in the fucking cold and sit alone on the couch at the end because that's what I deserve for not being as good as you guys.

[D Griff]

Be the change you want in your life.

Like Griff said, start your own meetup or local riding club. It just takes one person to make that step.

Which clubs did you fuckers start? I'm sick of everything being more work for me than it is for DFD. I will ride by myself in the fucking cold and sit alone on the couch at the end because that's what I deserve for not being as good as you guys.

You are a kept man.

[wap]

[Desertbreh]

Which clubs did you fuckers start? I'm sick of everything being more work for me than it is for DFD. I will ride by myself in the fucking cold and sit alone on the couch at the end because that's what I deserve for not being as good as you guys.

You are a kept man.

http://www.southerntierbicycleclub.org/

[troyguitar]

Which clubs did you fuckers start? I'm sick of everything being more work for me than it is for DFD. I will ride by myself in the fucking cold and sit alone on the couch at the end because that's what I deserve for not being as good as you guys.

You are a kept man.

And you have a fucking dog.

What does either of those things have to do with the fact that I still can't ride for over an hour without hurting all fucking day?

Have I not put enough fucking WORK into learning how to ride a motherfucking bicycle? What have you done that I have not?