Thursday, July 2, 2015

This Just In: You're On Vacation From Me!



(That's why they're morbidly obese.)

Well Canada Day is behind us but now it's time for the petulant sibling with behavioral issues to demand his own birthday party, only with BIGGER EXPLOSIONS and JUICIER GRILLED MEAT and BIG BIG SAVINGS ON NEW CARS AND TRUCKS!!!


(That's a shitty pun even by car dealership standards.)

Likewise, in the spirit of petulance, I'll be adjourning this blog as of today until Monday, July 13th, at which point I will resume regular updates...just in time for Bastille Day:


(A typical, non-stereotypical Frenchman.)

Good for them.  As for me, I don't give a fuck what people put in their guacamole.  Furthermore I think it's highly disingenuous for either of them to criticize, given that America is the country that now makes burritos out of chili cheese fries:


Pass some legislation against that and then you can start picking peas out of people's guacamole.

(Pro tip: In a pinch, guacamole makes a great chamois cream.)

Incredibly, despite our world-renowned cuisine, a reader informs me that 35% of us would consider leaving Canada's grease trap:


Though most of us don't because we're too lazy:


Note that almost 60% of Americans live here for the same reason you still have the pie plate on your bike: "I dunno, that's just the way it is.  I didn't even realize you could do anything about it."

Note also that 5% of Americans stay here because of something called "weath," which I'm assuming is either "wealth" or "wheat"--and which means it's probably not a coincidence that absolutely nobody cited "educational system" as a reason for staying.

Still, this chart is surprising, because I would have expected it to look more like this:



Americans are as good at math as they are at spealing.

Moreover, fully 55% of "millennials" would split if given the opportunity (or, as we call it in America, "oppertunatee"):

This percentage greatly increases for those age 18 to 34. More than half of millennials, a whopping 55 percent, said that they would consider leaving the U.S. for foreign shores. Among them, 43 percent of men and 38 percent of women noted that a higher salary would be a factor in their relocation decision.

So is this because millennials are fickle and spoiled by life in the Land of the Free, or is it because America's really not all it's cracked up to be?

I suspect the answer to this question is "Yes."

Indeed, sometimes it seems like nobody's happy in America.  Take the Supreme Court's recent decision on marriage equality.  You'd think that in the wake of a landmark civil rights victory only the religious nutjobs would be complaining, but when it comes to relentless dissatisfaction you should never discount bitter single people:


Firstly, this is something of a cultural watershed, for it marks the day the fixed-gear bicycle replaced the cat as the official symbol for "single person:"


Secondly, the writer is upset because he thinks our culture is prejudiced against single people:

Isn’t it enough to be denied the “constellation of benefits that the States have linked to marriage”? A constellation my coupled queer sisters and brethren now can hold dearly if they just make it official? Once again, being single is the dreary, awful, mournful alternative to marriage. A condition to be pitied, and quickly corrected by a sprint to City Hall.

This is exactly wrong.  Indeed, the only reason nobody talks about the "constellation of benefits" to being single as because it's so completely obvious as to not warrant mentioning.  (Hint: it's called "Doing Whatever The Fuck You Want.")  This is why you get emails like this from your single cycling friends:

"We're heading out around 11am tomorrow to do 6 or 7 hours.  May stop for beers afterwards.  Let us know if you want to join."

Of course they know you can't join, they just do it to taunt you.

Still, he feels that the Supreme Court's decision has only marginalized single people further:

And so old questions remain: Why can’t I put a good friend on my health care plan? Why can’t my neighbor and I file our taxes together so we could save some money, as my parents do? If I failed to make a will, why is it unlikely a dear friend would inherit my estate?

The answers to all these questions are the same: It’s because I’m not having sex with those people. 

Uh, no, that's not the answer.  Sex has absolutely nothing to do with it.  Plenty of married people don't have sex with each other.

Though if all of this was about sex then filing your taxes would sure be a lot more interesting.

And here's his conclusion:

What Justice Kennedy, and everyone else too, needs to remember is that simply being yourself — your single self — is already the fundamental form of dignity. Founding your dignity on something as flimsy and volatile as a sexual connection insures dignity’s precariousness as it enshrines your inherent unworthiness as a single individual.

I'm not even sure what that means.  It sounds like Lennard Zinn explaining aerodynamic gains, which is something I've been ruminating for the past week.  Here's that Zinn passage again, by the way:

Think of time savings as water pouring into a bucket. Sagan, since his power savings are so much higher with the new equipment than yours are, turns the faucet up high, but he pulls the bucket away sooner because he’s done with his 40km sooner; that limits the total water collected in the bucket. Because our power savings would be lower for the same change in equipment, we would have the faucet on a lower flow rate. But since we’re out there longer, our bucket stays under the faucet longer and ends up with a similar amount of water in it as Sagan’s does.

I think what he's saying is that with a Venge-Schmenge we're just as good as Peter Sagan, even if he too has a Venge-Schmenge--which, coincidentally, is exactly what Specialized wants you to believe.

Funny how that works out.

Of course, we all know it's the rider and not the bike, which this action-packed video proves:


The astute viewer will note certain clues that this rider is not a roadie.  First, there's the low saddle height:


Then there's the unusual handlebar position:


But most telling, he's smiling:


No roadie in the history of the velocipede has ever smiled.

Anyway, what's harder than riding down a hill backwards on your front wheel?


Riding down a hill backwards on your front wheel while inviting the world to kiss your scranus:


Alas, if only road bikes could always be this entertaining...  Instead, we get the Tour de France, which is why they're trying to replace all that soporific castle porn with GoPro footage:

"By mounting cameras to the fastest cyclists in the world as they take on the 21-stage race, GoPro will be capturing immersive, never-before-seen content, bringing cycling fans inside the peloton," GoPro said.

Yes, content like this:
And this:

And even this:


I can hardly wait.

And with that this blog is on hiatus starting...NOW!

See you all back here on Monday, July 13th.

Thanks for reading, ride safe, and happy everything,


--Wildcat Rock Machine



630 comments:

1 – 200 of 630   Newer›   Newest»
Unknown said...

37, Thus, in order to avoid serious psychological problems, a human being needs goals whose attainment requires effort, and he must have a reasonable rate of success in attaining his goals.

Seattle lone wolf said...

Podio!

JLRB said...

podiodio

Unknown said...

Ahh Toppus Fivvus finally.

Fred from Milan said...

Apt title: Here in Switzerland's scranus this blog comes online at the end of the working day, so it's like the boss saying "OK - you can go home now".

I know: It's pathetic, but just thought I'd let yall know...

meltyman said...

Real 2--wheel drive fat bike for traversing Antarctica (should you ever get the urge)

Spokey said...

finally top tennis again. jest in time for fart lighting weekend

Joe said...

No quiz??

http://fyspringfield.com/post/11279762172/thistoastersreallyshiny-asked-i-would-love-a

Astroluc (Find me on Tumblr and Instagram @Astroluc) said...

top 10?

Anonymous said...

TOP TENIOIOIOIOIIOIII

Fred from Milan said...

Almost forgot - "Non Roadie" is a citizen of Switzerland's scranus called Brumotti

Freddy Murcks said...

My doctor said Mylanta.

Paulie Walnuts said...

Top twelve!

dcee604 said...

Missed again, too busy recovering from Canada Day.

Fred from Milan said...

Of course, if you're not blind like me you'll see the video says that anyway...

trama said...

WCRM- bon voyage!
What tire pressure you running?
I'm going with some air, enough to feel firm, but not too much so.*


*fuck yourself, Zinn

ubercurmudgeon said...

That Zinn article makes more sense reworded as proper riddle:

As I was going to Utrecht, I met Peter Sagan with seven podium girls. Each podium girl had seven crabon Fred sleds, each sled had seven slammed aerodynamic stems, and from each stem hung seven buckets. Buckets, stems, sleds, girls: How many years has Lennard Zinn been working for Velonews past the point where it lost all credibility?

scranus said...

dop

great taste said...

less filling

Freddy Murcks said...

"[Those] colors don't run" because we are 'Murica and we use high-quality colorfast dyes. Those other countries insist on using cheap dyes that run all over the place when their flags get wet.

Paulie Walnuts said...

Was tied for top 12 actually, but I will concede to Freddy Murcks!

Re the video at the end, you also know he's not a roadie as he has no Garmin or other device to track his ride for uploading to Strava. Ironic that the video recommends a Martyn Ashton video at the end.

Roille Figners said...

The red beret is so Curtis Sliwa. <-- NYC cred

Anonymous said...

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is… PODIUM!!! (Not) Oh well...

Freddy Murcks said...

Freestyle road bike duder just might be the only person paid to wear the Tinkoff-Saxo colors who is not doped to the beejesus (liberal recreational use of the MJ notwithstanding).

Roille Figners said...

They fade.

Regular guy said...

We'd only be faster than Sagan if he had to carry that bucket while racing us. Even then, he might pull it off.

Rich Canadian Farmboy said...

better to burn out then fade

clam_juice said...

Who on Lob's great, hot, earth is putting extra shit in guacamole?

IT'S THE PERFECT MEAL as is.

I can't unthink peas in guacamole. Where's the tequila?

janinedm said...

I meant to comment earlier this week, because I had a breakthrough on my way home from work the other day where I understood the Lennard Zinn passage. It's an elaborate attempt to try to counter two common sense arguments against the bike. That a fast cyclist in good condition wouldn't get that much out of their bike as there's an upper limit where you're not going to cut tens of thousands of dollars worth of time and a slow rider isn't going to get much out of the equipment because they suck. The argument for the fast guy is that he doesn't get much in terms of "power savings" but gets to "pull the bucket away sooner" e.g is done slightly sooner. The slow slobs aren't going to notice an improvement in speed or reduction of effort, but it's definitely happening and to an equal degree as a fast cyclist. Because their lower rate of power savings is happening over a longer period of time, so there's more time for the reduced power savings to be of some benefit. It's one of those "faster at 14mph" kind of arguments.

Anyway, I had time to think about this as I was trying to "race" to the LBS as I realized my front brake cable looked okay from the outside but was literally hanging on by two threads too far gone for barrel adjustment to work. I hadn't noticed because I thought my recent difficulty was related to my post ride ice cream consumption and not dragging brakes. So I guess, by the tortured metaphor, my power savings bucket has a hole in it that day.

nonplussed food server said...

I pee in your guacamole

P. Bateman said...

i make a pretty mean guac. i recommend you try it sometime.

i also recommend you slather a lot of it all over your body whilst you "chimi your changa" to all that castle porn this weekend.

Anonymous said...

guacamole with peas absolutely doesn't makes a great chamois cream....

Comment deleted said...

Yes, P., agreed. Also, guacamole makes an excellent (and tasty!) substitute for Astroglide in a pinch.

Anonymous said...

While the Snobs away, we could read Bike Snot OMA (Omaha) instead. He is the opposite of the snob:

"it took me back to my goodle days of life in a large desert town. I lived in a crack neighborhood in a trailer in the side lot of Jim’s place, next to the bus. I met crack whores aplenty and witnessed some unabashed prostituting to buy the shiny crystalline substance. I worked crappy jobs, played my guitar, and cranked up the swamp cooler and drank Red Dog in my trailer while watching Phoenix Coyote hockey on the tv to cool off in the heat of the late afternoon/early evening. Ahhh! That felt cool!"

Or not......

Anonymous said...

Who's putting avocado in mushy peas?

P. Bateman said...

i've started walking when playing golf again. maybe i'll start blogging about the exciting trials and tribulations i face....long par 3 over water hazard and some wind...also, the water cooler has run dry and its july in florida...and there is a gator. Yes, it was the best of times...it was the worst of times.

babble on said...

Speaking of Martyn Ashton, our friend Dirty retired from the chemistry business and instead has started making words for Plus Bikes, and other cycling related publications. His first words for Plus Bikes are all about Martyn: He's Back!

You know you're well loved when you have friends who strap you to a bike and push you off the side of a mountain.

JLRB said...

I do not believe in coincidence

Wildcat is disappearing for a week while the "grand tour" gets underway...will be commentating with Phil? Running alongside the mountain dopers dressed like the devil? Riding a fixie on the route to show how it is really done? careening into the pack on a Velib in Paris?

...to be continued

crosspalms said...

Not content with the famous Minnesota grape salad, the NYT now tries to give us guacamole with peas? Next thing you know they'll design a bicycle. Enjoy the time off, Snob, and don't bogart those baguettes.

BikeSnobNYC said...

JLRB,

While I love the idea of disappearing behind a shroud of mystery and intrigue, I promise you I won't be going anywhere near the Tour de France.

--Wildcat Rock Machine

Anonymous said...

"I promise you I won't be going anywhere near the Tour de France."

Tells nothing. A few years ago you commentated about that Guido de Itatiaia thing in that Bicycle Magizine.

Anonymous said...

...without getting near it.

Anonymous said...

Fin? I already feel cold and lonely. I want my tax break.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Snob, do you still own that chicken suit?

Zsa Zsa Gabor said...

Ah, single people. Around here vee jus call zem "Losers", dah-ling...

leroy said...

I don't mean to brag, but my dog sent me an invitation to a holiday celebration on his yacht.

I'm pretty sure it's a celebration and that sail abrasion was a typo.

Yacht safely all!

nscadu 9 said...

No castle porn? May finally have been convinced to tune out.

Anonymous said...

You can hardly wait? Did you watch the Tour of California sprint video? It's a lot more entertaining than watching a guy ride down a hill backwards on his front wheel, WHY by the way? I know it is de rigueur here to hate on pro cycling, but those guys are still pretty fearless, drugs or no drugs.

hellbelly said...

BSNYC, your TdF updates from a few years ago were fun, but having you as a commentator would be rad-tastic. Adding Bob Roll may have been an effort to inject some humor into the mix, but at best he comes off like Kenny Bania.

Bob Patterson said...

His majerty, Donald Trump, owner of the Miss Universe Pageant isw suing a competing pageant for using the word "Miss" and the syllable "verse". Rumors abound he is bidding for the alphabet and the weather. So get ready to open your wallets, America.

babble on said...

I don't suppose yer dog bought that yacht on your credit card, did he, Leroy? Cause then you really would have all of the bragging rights.

BikesGoneWild sends his regards... Unfortunately, he is having a few joint problems. (I can empathize!) I suggested he take a good pull the next time someone passes the Duchie on the left hand side.

Spokey said...

just wait till sinyard and trump run in to each other.



Apocalypse Now

the rapture

the big crunch

babble on said...

Anonymous @3:15 - I love the go-fast bike cycling, too. But surely you know the purpose of this blogulation, and surely you can see how indemic corruption at the highest levels of our beloved sport have destroyed any chances we might have had to have earned even the slightest interest of the general public? We could have gone from a fringe sport to something the general public loves except that the sport's governing body itself blew it all to itty bitty shreds. Hard not to adopt extreme cynicism in the face of extreme, ridiculous, criminal cheating at all levels of the sport. And since sportsmanship IS the very heart of sport, ours is a joke, an heartless beast of an endeavour. Where do you go from there?

JLRB said...

TRIANGLE, Va. (WUSA9) -- Three cyclists were seriously hurt during an event at the World Police and Fire Games along Sycolin Road.

Prince William County Police say the riders were transported to area hospitals for treatment.

Officials say a call came in at approximately 1 p.m. at Prince William Forest Park. Police tell us that the riders collided with each other.

Police are investigating the incident.

JLRB said...

WCRM - OK, so no viva la Frenchies - hmmm .. what other artisanal mystery and intrigue might we curate?

Wherever you are going - enjoy your semi-professional time semi-off

Pathetic Old Cyclist said...

No peas in Guac....a founndation of cooperation between Republicans and Democrats!

I wanted to mimic Tuesday's brutal video at the Longsjo Classic, when a full kit fred dribbled out of a driveway at about 5 mph without a look directly in front of me while I was cruising 18 mph. Roadie Rage...catch it!

grog said...

I've been having mushy peas with my toad in the hole for years at my local pub.
Just say no to pea guac.
Happy vacation!
RIDE NICE

wishiwasmerckx said...

I am breaking out in hives at the thought of no new post for 11 days. Anybody got an epi-pen?

P.S. I call dibs on comment 200.

Anonymous said...

thank you.

Anonymous said...

GUAC PEAS

Wealthston McRichypants III said...

I put fuckin MONEY in my guac.

Wealthston McRichypants III said...

...or rather my chef does.

bad boy of the north said...

guac-gate!love guacamole.love peas.not together....enjoy the fourth,all!and a belated happy Canada day!snob,enjoy your vacay.

leroy said...

Dear Ms. Babs @3:50PM -

My dog assures me my ship will come in any day now.

In the meantime, he asked me to forward you this link.

BamaPhred said...

My ship came in. Unfortunately it was the Valdez.

It was later renamed the Dong Fang.

I have no idea where I am trying to go with this.

David Pearce said...

Dear Snob,

You son of a bitch (no offense to your Mom)!

You squinty-eyelid-greasy-eyeball-wispy-haired EmEffer! How dare you take time off, and leave us hanging!

Obviously, you are surreptitiously participating in Le Tour de France, while you criticize it to its face and to us!

Go ahead, fuck-face, might as well go ahead and announce your vacation schedule for the last two weeks of August, when all the shrinks escape to the mansions we paid for in the Hamptons, meanwhile leaving us lunatics to go completely starkers, with our HD meds all used up with that dreaded phrase of death on the bottle: Refills: 0

Anonymous said...

Why is it always about you...

Anonymous said...

You forgot where we get to have GoPro pee footage ... In the guacamole...

Helments are for Heroes said...

Continuing in the theme of Austraya being the most bicycle unfriendly place in the world... Let this be a warning to all you fools who think that letting helmet laws pass or even lobbying for helmet laws won't have a big impact on cyclist numbers. You end up with arseholes like Garry Brennan lobbying for more and more fines.

To quote:-

"The figure on helmet infringements is alarming, and police are fully justified to be concerned at this level of non-compliance.

In a perfect world no bike rider would fall off their bike and there’d be no need for helmets. Unfortunately, our world is a long way from perfect. A 2013 study in NSW shows that helmet wearing significantly reduced the risk of moderate, serious and severe head injury by up to 74%. So wearing a helmet sounds like a no brainer.

Yes, we know there are some groups that disagree, but we just love bike riders too much to recommend they don’t protect their valuable heads.

Helmets are a proven injury prevention tool in Australia and Bicycle Network actively supports efforts around the nation to normalise helmet use, and backs police in their use of warnings and infringement notices.

So why is compliance so bad in Sydney?

One reason could be that beleaguered cycling organisation, Bicycle NSW, has been wishy-washy on helmet policy. In 2013 Bicycle NSW moved to get the helmet rules watered down:

"Bicycle NSW recommends that a review is held to determine the net benefit of the mandatory helmet laws in Part 15 (Additional rules for bicycle riders) of the Australian Road Rules. If no significant benefit is found, Bicycle NSW recommends that the law is revoked if not entirely, then at least for adult bicycle users.
Bicycle NSW recommends that riders using bikeshare bicycles be exempt from the mandatory helmet laws in Part 15 (Additional rules for bicycle riders) of the Australian Road Rules.”

Bicycle Network rejects this approach and is determined to see bike rider trauma reduced in NSW and we strongly encourage all bike riders to comply with helmet rules."

These arseholes (BNV and Garry Brennan) succesfully lobbied to have bicycle fines increased so that cyclists would earn the respect of motorists. FFS Many Austrayan motorists are complete fuckheads and try to put you in the ditch. The "get off the fucking road" refrain is heard across the land. All they did was encourage the police to victimise anyone on a bicycle. A real bunch of holier than thou turds.

For back story NSW does not have a bicycle share because the lord mayor knows that Helmet Laws are toxic to bicycle share, hence the BNSW's position. BNV's home town of Melbourne has a failure of a bicycle share and BNV lobbys for more and more and increased fines - especially helmet fines - they love helmet fines.

676JasperxXx said...

Buncha fargin' iceholes!

Anonymous said...

If I weren't so lazy I'd create an 'Ian M.' identity and post Fugazi and Minor Threat lyrics.

DB said...

New York City Observations, Day 1:
City looks good. Cleaned up nicely down here south of 14th.
Weather ideal.
City thinned out for holiday, always a plus.
When did Union Square turn into a shit storm? It's almost the new Time Square.
I've lived in LA and the Midwest, and I'm thinking that NY wins for beautiful women. I'm a fan of the sundresses and sandals.
Love this place.

Anonymous said...

Watch your watch and wallet

Dave said...

Bad luck contains good luck. Hear my tedious tale: riding up a long rural hill, I got a cramp in my calf and stopped it walk it off. Before I reached the crest of the hill my rear tube simply popped, without reason nor warning. This was the good luck, because had it decided to self-destruct as I would have been descending the other side at woo-hoo-hoo etc. speed it would have been most unpleasant if not fatal. So I stopped and replaced the tube with a backup; apparently the failed tube, fairly new, was simply defective and split along a tiny seam. The tube was a Serfas 1x26 at about 95 psi, and with the secret code on it (commit this to memory and then forget you ever saw it): CY2226100125-002. I just put this out there to give the obsessive cryptologists, numerologists, conspiracy theorists and other assorted nuts and bolts something to do in the giant time glut they'll have during this terrible hiatus.

But my question would be: are there better tubes and worse tubes, or are they all made in some slave camp in China?

Spokey said...

i started using nashbar tubes sometime in the late 80s (i think). back when it was bike nashbar and spike nashbar before per******** bought them.

memory might be a little off but i usually stock up on sale for something like 3 for $7-8.

i get one or two flats a year. almost always there is an obvious culprit like a screw or tack. i think over the years i've had maybe one defective tube. the valve tore away.

but i do run a larger tire (conti 700x37) and lower psi. i use their large tube (i think labeled for 35 to 38 or so) and run at 80 psi.

Spokey said...

oh and just looked at one of the boxes and it indicates taiwan if that's any better.

Pathetic Old Cyclist said...

http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-gear/rungu-dual-fork-mountain-bikes-two-forks-one-bike/

While we are on hiatus, we should discuss the bike linked above

babble on said...

DB- Right?! You've gotta love NYC, and especially Manhattan. They just don't let the ugly people in to Manhattan.
Leroy- now you're just teasing me, what with all of those ice cubes floating round, cooling everything off whilst BC burns...

Anonymous said...

Bike Snot OMA is no Bike Snob, he is also no Jack Kennedy, probably more of a Dan Quayl(e), he's not very prolific, but while the cool cats away:

"Bicycles are neat. They can go lots of places. They will probably, someday soon, be ridden on Mars and the moon. Yes. In that order.
The short synopsis of the gravel is – steep, gravelly, kind of monotonous, hot. Kind of like a Greg Brown song.
A more elaborate description of my first intentionally gravelly bicycling experience follows."

Spokey said...

babs

you're absolutely wrong 'bout that. i was born in new york. although it was brooklyn. perhaps special dispensation is granted for we ugly people in the outer boroughs. as i've stated before though, my parents brought us across the river to 'merica when i was a youngun. mayhaps they were allowed to stay until i reached prescribed age where my ugliness was determined to be a permanent feature.

dop said...

Union Square like Times Square? (goes into old fart mode)..I remember the bad old 80s, before they took the hedges down & it was an open-air drug market. THAT'S when it was like Times Square, which literally looked like something out of Taxi Driver.

babble on said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jeb said...

Ah jus' don't eat none o' that foreign sounding named foods like gakkamoly. Sheeit! Next thing ya knows them people will be takin' over an' I is gonna be forced to eat mah frozen pizza with chopper sticks!

Anonymous said...

How about adding bigger tits to the list.

Spokey said...

babs

i have never raced or anything near it. i ride upright. i use drop bars. gives me 4 different positions for my poor hurtin hands. i also put aero bars on so i could have another position.

and yeah i was a skinny teen. don't remember what the handelbars were on that sears / j.c. higgins 'english racer' with the 3 speed internal hub. but that was half a century ago.

I had schraders on my centurion in the 80s but when i tacoed my front wheel i got a wheel set from nashbar for $40 (imagine that!) that was presta so I got an adapter for the original wheel to run presta. i like prestas. don't see what the big deal is on what kind of valve. would he be satisfied with a dunlop valve?

the last bike i bought that only had 2 rings was that mid 80s bike. i probably ride 1/2 in the middle and 1/2 in the high. if i'm putting forth effort i try to keep somewhere between low 80s to mid 90s cadence. when i'm loafing (which is 90% of my riding), i don't pay much attention and probably spend more time in the high ring.

but then it kind of depends on your gearing. my big ring is a 46 so i go from about 37 to 114 inches

i almost never use my small ring except on tour when i'm going up hill and also lugging 50-60 lbs of crap (in addition to me). in fact it would be kind of torture to only use the small ring on level ground. i'll have to how fast i am going at say 90 rpm in the small ring / small cog.


wishiwasmerckx said...

Is anybody going to the UCI World Championship road race on September 27 in Richmond, Virginia? A 1 hr. 45 min drive from D.C.

DB said...

DB's excellent adventure in NYC, Day Two:
Russ and Daughters for breakfast. Tenement Museum. Lunch at Cantina Orchard and Stanton, no bra zone. Burrito, cerveza and beautiful women.
Whitney Museum, Avenue A for dinner and nightcap.
Great city.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

No bra zone?!! Nice!

Zinnard Len said...

Sagan is a freakishly talented professional bike racer with a cardiovascular system like King Kong. You are a Fred. This means, that compared to Sagan, you suck immensely. He could beat you by an hour in a 40K TT while riding a clown tricycle and pedaling only with his schwantz. Nonetheless, you should piss your kid's college fund away on a ugly-ass aero-bike not because it will make you as fast as Sagan but because it will make you suck .0000000001% less (*)

(*) On a perfectly flat, smooth road with no wind. Otherwise, you will suck the same as always.

DB said...

dop:
Union Square observations:
Skater Boyz doing tricks and failing miserably, loose skateboards flying around; Whole Food crowd swells to holiday numbers and lots of interesting folks whose prescriptions need refilled.

Pathetic Old Cyclist said...

DB,
I went to Tenement Museum for ths fidst time, about a month ago. Interesting. When your life sucks think about living that way.

Babs,
Your boss is a cross chaining douchebag.

wishiwasmerckx said...

Spoiler alert: Phil calls Nicholas Roche "Steven."

Dave said...

Babs

Yeah, if your boss is going to just dictate the opinions, what's the point of having you, a highly experienced cyclist, do the typing?

Cycling is a broad and varied experience, as most people seem to know; all about the individual freedom. I like Presta for whatever reason; I ride in the large ring 95% of the time because it suits my terrain and my strength; I had drop bars for 35 years because I could change hand positions often; I now ride recumbent just because it hurts all my old joints so much less.

I'm doubtful you can work for this guy very long. Good luck though.

Angry Beaver in Miramichi said...

Babs "you should drill a bigger hole in your rims and put one in."

That's great. Love it. Next he'll be telling people to drill holes in their bike frames.

Anonymous said...

Boss man needs to drill a bigger hole in his head and put a brain in.

JLRB said...

When installing new brake pads it is a good idea to be sure your wheel is properly installed before fugjing around with pad adjustment

dop said...

I took visiting family into the city last week...walked the high line down to gansvoort...drank beer in the Rapha bike club to stay out of the rain..hey, we stayed dry

wishiwasmerckx said...

Winding up for the sprint...

wishiwasmerckx said...

Like taking candy from a baby commentariat...

wishiwasmerckx said...

...and 100th!

Anonymous said...

Bigger Tits and No Bra Zone Coments

During my single days I had GF's who had small breasts, medium and large. And breasts are great, loved them all.

wishiwasmerckx said...

A nice matching pair is great, but I dated a girl with one large breast and one small one. She entered a wet t-shirt contest once and won first and fourth place.

Owl Gore said...

And, the streak continuuuuuuuues. It's the 4th day of July...and the 4th day it has rained felines-and-canines here in the mid-Atlantic hell-hole. Killer, infrastructure-destroying t-storms that bring a billion gallons of rain in 30 seconds as well as the ever-present threat of tornadoes. Of course, this mother is rolling in just in time to totally eff up Independence Day fireworx so at least we've got that going for us. The hottest May on record, more rain in June than in the last 5 summers combined and now a Perfect Washout going for July. You kiddies still Global Climate Change is a buncha hooey? Yeah? Well just wait til I start charging you to use my Internet...

DB said...

Day three in NYC:
Lots of foldable bikes in this town. Also, seems like a lot of people buy their bikes at Paragon Sports.
lots of Linus bikes here.
Visited NYC Velo, great LBS.
Snob: took the Metro North to Cortland for house party with friends of my daughters. Went by your neighborhood.
Fireworks on the rooftop tonight in the NoHo area.
Great city.

DB said...

Great fireworks. Long Island City must be leveled.

dop said...

I once dated a girl with five breasts. I asked her how her bra fit. She's aid, "Like a glove"

DB said...

Jens!
Shut up legs!
Traffic furniture.
Can't help it. Gotta watch a little TdF.

DB said...

Does NBCSN drug test their commentators?

dop said...

"Nobility doing a lot of shouting" that's incisive commentary...

Btw, I want to apologize for my last comment. There was no girl with 5 breasts. It was an udder fabrication.

dop said...

Nibili

Anonymous said...

The guy who wrote the Times piece - Michael Cobb - was my "Cultural Topographies" prof in grad school at the University of Toronto. I see he's still deconstructing hermeneutic intersections of marital hegemony and the "Othering" of single subalterns.

Pathetic Old Cyclist said...

Dop wins the commentariat olympics with his last two comments. He must be on PEDs. Udderly.

babble on said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
babble on said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DB said...

Day 4:
Picnic in Inwood Park. Nice up there.
Saw Wolfpack movie, dinner at Ed's Chowder House, walked back to East Village stopping in bars along way to watch soccer.
Leaving tomorrow, thanks New York.

babble on said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dave said...

Babs-

Well at least you'll have some funny stories to tell. Udder nonsense, etc. But not so fun when you're trying to make a living and not sure when the clown car is going to crash - or should I say - when the over-doped peleton plunges over a railing? Let's try again: when the gaggle of tourists on their rented bikes who have been driven up Haleakala so as to then glide down it following an over-baked ganga enthusiast guide/ride leader, get going too fast on the many tight curves. Wise to lag behind cautiously.

McFly said...

I'm with your boss Babs. I put swept back bars on a Raleigh Crit bike and I love them. Just don't try to pedal standing up.

Or try to look cool.

dop said...

You could write about bivalves. Gotta be some funky action in the waters off wreck beach.

P. Bateman said...

boom. that was a nasty crash in the TdF. ouch-y.

Phil said...

It's common saying that the Tour de France is a classic every day. It's even truer this year. After a day of crosswinds and echelons in Holland, which has certainly affected some riders' physique, stage 3 features one of the most stunning finishes of the Spring classics. Starting in Antwerp, the race ends up atop the Mur de Huy. It's the home of the Fl̬che wallonne since 1983. The Chemin des Chapelles Рits real name Рis a 1.3km long climb with an average gradient of 9.6% and a maximum of 19%. It's the perfect location for a thrilling finale but most of the drama is expected to happen earlier on. Positioning before the c̫te d'Ereffe, whose summit is 16.5km ahead of the finishing line, will be the key for not losing time in Huy. After losing 1.28 to Chris Froome and 1.24 to Alberto Contador and Tejay van Garderen, the likes of Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana and Thibaut Pinot have the possibility to make it up. A specialist like Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez or Michael Albasini is also likely to emerge for a stage victory of a very high value. Leaving the Netherlands, a Dutchman might finally enjoy the yellow jersey as Tom Dumoulin is supposely a better climber than Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin.

Anonymous said...

vsk said ...

Just another non-plussed Monday.

My little ring is the first of a triple, why? Because ...

Don't you judge me!!

Little ring of compact cranky crankset? Good ol Stronglight 48/38?

CampyPagnolio 52/42?

DB,
Glad you had a good time and weather was decent for you! I was off the Northeast corner of Governor's Island for the fireworks idling and matching current with a couple of other boats. Show was nice and not a bad ride home either. Traffic seemed well behaved. Safe travels home!

vsk


JLRB said...

This just in:

Icecaps melting is changing the tilt of the earth causing rain to move East, and also causing multiple Freds across the land to crosschain.

P. Bateman said...

funny, i was doing some internet researching to compare some of the lower end campy groups to shimaNO's and one of the top results was from Snobber back in 2008 poking fun at campy and it was rather hilarious.

still, i want the athena silver group vs 105 silver even though its about 3x more and probably doenst work as well. its stupid really.

JLRB said...

P.Bate -

You mean this one? or this one?

I am sure there are more...

I have campy on a couple of bikes and love it because it works better than my ShimaNo set ups, and much better than my experiment with SRAM (hey - it was college and I was drunk).

Campy does get ridiculous - a chain tool should not cost $200 - even if it is awesome at aligning little chain rivets

Spokey said...

vsk

why so big?

my little princess ring is just the cutest little button with 24 teeth. even cats and dogs stop me on the street to coo at my little ring. sometimes my big 46 tooth ring gets over protected but mostly he just sits back and enjoys the show

Roille Figners said...

How can you even have an opinion on Presta vs. Schrader? Seems like neither has any particular advantage. Actually they BOTH SUCK.

FUCK YOU, Presta and Schrader!

Tack on an LLC and it sounds like a law firm.

Roille Figners said...

But let's say I was gonna kiss someone's butt, just pretend I love whichever type of valve they espouse, try and get on their good side. So if I were gonna do that, would I choose the guy who sometimes pays his employees? BTW: "paycheques" (British spelling) = ADORABLE

Roille Figners said...

And yes Mr. Dave I find I have to be way more careful these days about which brands of tubes I buy... there most definitely are good ones & bad ones out there. AND THEY HAVE TO BE {Presta | Schrader} OR ELSE!!!!!!

wikipedia said...

The Presta valve is also called Sclaverand valve or French valve. The pseudonyms arose after George Presta needed to elude creditors after a bad season with the ponies

Wikipedia also said...

August Schrader (1807 - 1894) was a German-American immigrant who had a shop dealing in rubber products in Manhattan, New York City, USA.[1] His original shop was located at 115 John Street.
...
Around 1890, after reports of English cyclists' success using pneumatic tires, August Schrader saw the need for a bicycle tire valve. By 1891 he had produced the Schrader valve, which was his most popular invention and is still used today.

babble on said...

It would likely help my case if I would stop arguing and try a little butt kissing. No, instead I'm the one trying to talk sense into him, even while all of the guys are shaking their heads at me behind his back.

I had an interview with another company this morning...

JLRB said...

Babs - Hopeful the new company believes only in unicycles and in-line skates as the means of transport for the future - and solid tyres - none of this inner tube nonsense ;-)

P. Bateman said...

i'm setting up these here 650b's i got as tubeless. will see how that goes...wonder which valve it will have? i'm not even sure.

why can't we all be friends. said...



Let's all use Woods valve. They fit in Schrader hole and you can use a Presta pump.

Join our Czech, Japanese, Indian etc brethren.

babble on said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Bike Snot OMA reads Bike Snob NYC, so while the Snobs away you could return the favor...

babble on said...

The boss' tips for better riding- please take note of his recommendation that you keep at it till you're consistently crashing. Now I understand why he hired me!

stop

Use both brakes at the same time to stop. Practice the skill of stopping quickly

when there is some space and speed available. Part way down a hill in a safe

area or when riding fast, pick a mark to try and stop near. Then smoothly but

firmly press on the levers while keeping your weight on your bum as much as you

can. If you feel the rear tire skid let up a little on the hand pressure. Strive to get

close to but avoid skidding either tire for maximum stopping ability. If you try to

get to the point of skidding with the rear tire and become familiar with that feeling

and how to let up braking pressure to keep control easily you will have a lot more

confidence in traffic, on steeper terrain and simply maximizing speed and

performance when the opportunity presents itself like a steep down hill or you’re

late for a date.

Good places to practice skidding are gravel and dirt. Note that front tires don’t

skid easily and once they start to then you will quickly lose control.

turn

riding smoothly and turning with a gradual smooth progression into and out of the

turn. Basically steadily apply more ‘turn’ until you are ready to straighten out and

again with a smooth action reduce the amount until you are straightened out. In a

safe open space try turning maneuvers around an object at steadily increasing

speeds until you are consistently crashing.

comfort

Most bicycles in North America are modeled after racing bikes. Most people are

not racing their bicycles. Therefore most cyclists lean over a lot and have to lift

their head to look forward while riding. This stresses the neck and shoulder

muscles and usually places too much weight on the hands which can result in

soreness there. Some people look to suspension for the solution but a taller hand

position would better serve most riders at far less cost. It is easy to ad high stems

and handlebars to an existing bike and greatly reduce stress and pressure.

Elbows function as shocks if they are not locked straight to reach the handlebars

Leaning forward on the bicycle also causes a pressure point on the front of the

saddle to the rider’s crotch. Sit up, use your butt and relax your shoulders and

arms with the more sustainable upright position. Aerodynamics are reduced but

this has more effect when traveling at higher speeds like 20km and up. Like

when racing.

Anonymous said...

Shit!!! I thought you were resuming today! A week without snobby?! #distrought

babble on said...

And his treatis on valves: how many people dare to tell you to ream a hole into your bike??!


Tube valves - Is skinny better?

Most high end bikes come with narrow Presta valves so they must be better than

the regular ones like other bikes and cars right? Wrong. They are about 5 grams

lighter which is insignificant and they cost more each time you need to buy a new

one. As well they cost more time and effort each time you pump your tires

because they require extra steps and an adaptor for most regular pumps. They

are necessary on very skinny rims but not on most every other bike. Tiny presta

adaptors are available for 1 or $2 and can be left on the valve after pumping and

closing the valve stem.

The common Schraeder valve is easily pumped at gas stations and with most

floor model pumps. If your bike has the Presta valve now it is easy to have the

hole enlarged and tiny bit and the Schraeder valve tube installed next time you

have a flat repair or do it yourself by gently drilling the hole a bit larger to just fit

the schraeder tube. If no drill is available a large flathead screwdriver used as a

reamer can twist a hole in most aluminum rims.

Spokey said...



i'd really rather not get my rims reamed. the hemorrhoids are bad enough

I've wondered about those stem extensions. Given the torque for my cap is 15 inch pounds seems like a potential hazard.

the_third_wheel said...

Use both brakes at the same time to stop.

Actually, use mostly the front brake. The back brake isn't good for much beyond grinding some speed off before a corner.

Roille Figners said...

This guy is hilarious! Just the perfect mix of the actually true and the outrageously unsupportable!

And twitter.com/StuffTheBossSays is still available!

Roille Figners said...

Instead of just learning how to use a Presta, just take a screwdriver and use it to ream a hole in your rim, so you can put a Schrader valve in there!

Roille Figners said...

Remember your ABCs...

Always
Be
Crashing

babble on said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
babble on said...

I am exceptionally literate when it comes to the ABC's. :D

cut and paste from daily kos said...

One time when I was riding my bike this driver got really close to me on purpose so I flipped him off and he flipped me off back and then I caught up to him at the light and he rolled down his window and said I should be further to the right and I told him the law was he had to give me three feet of room when he passed and that he thought he was real tough by using his car as a weapon and that if he stepped out of the car I doubt he'd be so tough and he just sat there and then told me to fuck off and I called him a chickenshit asswipe and then the light changed and then he drove on and I rode on and we never saw each other again at least that I know of though who really knows because he may have passed me at some point on another day or perhaps even the same day but I wasn't aware of such a passing and besides who really cares about all this besides me and possibly this driver and even the driver might not care but one thing I do know is that you probably care as much about my confrontation as I do about yours which is not at all.

Spokey said...

i can easily pump up my tires at a gas station too.

first; i carry a frame pump (is a topeak velcro on the top tube still a frame pump?). just in case i flat somewhere other than in a gas station.

second; i carry around an adapter. mine has a small chain and i keep on my key chain with the house key, mailbox key, etc.

dop said...

Babble, I do care about your confrontation, but I just read the above in another blog & clipped it in without reading your thread. It was posted by someone by way of demonstrating his standard reply to online foodfighters. It was cycling related so I copied.

Spokey said...

oh

and third i always have my cell phone with me so i can call uma to fix it when i'm too fucking lazy. uma's pumping charges are kind of high so i try to not have her pump me too often.

Roille Figners said...

Bottom rung of the sesquicentury podio!

JLRB said...

Yes, pumping bicycle tires at a gas station is something to recommend to everyone. Especially if you are in the business of selling tubes.

Babs - You should definitely humor him and encourage him to write a book.

babble on said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I say let them dope it up for TdF, but only sanctioned performance enhancement drugs. It's not cheating if all are in cahoots. I want them to fly on those bikes.

Pathetic Old Cyclist said...

Babs,

Let us know when he writes about countersteer, foot position and weighting the side of the bike opposite the turn and, braking before a turn. Does he have an opinion on Mountainbiking? This guy Iis a gem, the anti - Sheldon Brown.

BikeSnobNYC said...

Pathetic Old Cyclist,

I don't know, most of what he's saying makes pretty good sense.

--Wildcat Rock Machine

dop said...

Humor section

Anonymous said...

buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks

Anonymous said...

Hey babs...do you know this guy? https://youtu.be/PJ_fFrdSKlg

dop said...

Unless it's a feminist bookstore, then it doesn't have a humor section

Hugh Jas said...

I don't always practice braking, but when I do, I lay down phat skid marks on my chamois.

Dave said...

ho ho! de Snob be trollin in him own yard, stirrin de bees wid a stick, heave a rock in the hive with some jive, handful of tacks in front of the leaders, makem think hard as they goin down hard ... maybe maybe maybe Schrader IS better ???????!

Sting like a butterfly, float like a bee
Nevertheless it's Presta for me

Jeb said...

Why I jus' use th' flat head screw driver in my tool kit t' open up beers. I done never think I could be usin' it as a reaming tool. That there Bike Doctor is one powerful smart man! Y'all listen up real good to what he has to say an' you is all gonna be sittin' real proud on your upright bikes with them shredded type valves.

uri gellar said...

prestadigitation

pamela gellar said...

those schraders want to move into our country and take over

McFly said...

Is it me or does Christian Vande Velde have a a particular halting way of speaking like the one and only Frank Costanza?

DB said...

McFly:
I was thinking the same thing this am.
Remember about ten years ago when Versus had that attractive woman announcer? I never missed a day of watching.

The USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council said...

C’mon, give peas a chance. That’s all we’re saying.

Sincerely,
The USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council

P. Bateman said...

some riders are switching to bikes for the cobblestones today. they have 1 CM lower bottoms brackets and slightly curvy rear stays and forks. i guess Trek and Specialized realized the other bikes would explode on impact and kill the riders if they were to ride on slightly bumpy roads with them.

that 1CM and slight curvature (which coincidentally was based on the curve of Sheldon Brown's "downtube") is a life saving measure. you may want to consider this for your next ride....OR ELSE!

McFly said...

DB I do not recall her. PB I bet the bikes are proprietary for extremely coarse and stationary gravel w/smoothish top.

Anonymous said...

NSFW XTube film clip of Eddy Merckx eating out Cipo's GF, she keeps screaming "You Cannibal, You Cannibal".

DB said...

I believe her name was Kristin.
Kept waiting for her blouse to rip open.

P. Bateman said...

now they are on road that "is rather shiny"

Phil suggests another bike change.

DB said...

Found her, McFly.
Kirsten Gum. That was during the Al Trautwig and Craig Hummer years.

DB said...

Oops.
Say goodbye to Jared from Subway.
Child porn investigation.
Headed to the local Subway this noon to see if they've taken down all traces of him.

P. Bateman said...

@DB - oh shit! one of our nonprofit clients just signed a co-marketing agreement with Subway. will see how this effects that relationship. yikes!!

Spokey said...

@ The USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council

i hate peas. but love lentils.

but why oh why do those pretty red or orange lentils lose their colour when cooked? it makes me so sad. please have your council investigate and get back to me

Anonymous said...

Read some of meticulous (some would say insufferable) David Hembrow blog today; humorless (or i should say humourless, i suppose)

babble on said...

So next season we'll be seeing a new BSNYC-branded, handy flathead screwdriver for reaming a bigger hole into your roadbike's rims, will we? Oh goody. I can't wait.

Truth is, he is right, that comfort is undersold in the industry, but his whole "if you're not doing it my way, you're doing it the wrong way" take is exactly the kind of dogmattitude he is so loudly protesting against.

Nevermind regularly shorting people on their paycheques. It's just not on. And as within, so without. There are markups in that shop which just don't happen anywhere else in the city. Sigh. I wish I could jump in and buy his party line the way you seem happy to. But whereas your reputation as a writer is already solid gold, mine has a long way to go - I am not in a position to risk all defending what looks to me like udder nonsense.

dop said...

Babble-

Zat guy sell tyres? Whatsiz angle on that?

dop said...

And spokes? How does he feel about nipples? He cool with red in winter?

Jared Fogle said...

I just treated those nice FBI agents to subway takeout (extra meat on my club). You won't believe what's in the Russian dressing!!

JLRB said...

Next time I need to make I am going to say I need to take a Trump

Ron Jeremy said...

Reaming? Did someone say they needed reaming? I have just the tool.

McFly said...

Horrific TDF Crash

McFly said...

Let me Try Again

DB said...

Pee-Wee's next movie, Big Holiday, Netflix, March, 2016.
Clearing calendar now.

P. Bateman said...

@McFly - thanks for that link.

i also love the grown men at baseballs games that will go flying over the rails or dive 5 rows ahead just to catch a ball that is readily available on amazon.com

Charles Darwin said...

CALAIS, Maine (AP) — A 22-year-old man who was drinking and celebrating the Fourth of July tried to launch a firework off the top of his head, killing him instantly, authorities said Sunday.

Devon Staples and his friends had been drinking and setting off fireworks Saturday night in the backyard of a friend's home in eastern Maine, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Staples, 22, of Calais, a small city on the Canadian border, placed a reloadable fireworks mortar tube on his head and told his friends he was going to light it, McCausland said. But his friends urged him to stop.

"Apparently, he thought that was a great idea," McCausland said. "His friends they thought dissuaded him from doing it, and the next thing they knew, he ignited the fireworks and he was killed instantly."

Staples's brother Cody told the Daily News of New York that he was a few feet away when his brother lit the firework and was the first to come to his side after it exploded.

"There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there," said 25-year-old Cody Staples, who called it an accident.

"Devon was not the kind of person who would do something stupid. He was the kind of person who would pretend to do something stupid to make people laugh," he said.

Staples' death is the first fireworks fatality in Maine since the state legalized fireworks on Jan. 1, 2012, authorities said.

Lawmakers had voted to repeal a 1949 law banning fireworks, reasoning the industry would create jobs and generate revenue.

State fire marshals were also investigating several other Fourth of July fireworks accidents involving injuries in Friendship, Jefferson, Lebanon and Woodstock. They said most of the accidents involved burns and eye injuries.

In Montana on Saturday, a 32-year-old man was killed at a Billings home in a fireworks accident involving a mortar tube.

And in New Jersey, a 52-year-old man blew off a large piece of his left leg below the knee when he set off a tennis-ball sized firework in Leonia.

Roille Figners said...

Well OK I guess I have to parse it out now.
The part about modulating your braking is correct.
The part about necks, shoulders, hands, elbows, crotches and butts is correct as applied to a pretty good chunk of the population.
The part about crashing on purpose is "kind of 'out there.'"
The part about valves is "a bit quirky shall-we-say."

BikeSnobNYC said...

Roille Figners,

As a recovering Fred I'm a Presta user but from a strictly practical/ubiquity standpoint the Schraeder makes sense. Also even Sheldon Brown says you can drill out your rims to convert to Schraeder. (As for the screwdriver method, well, I wouldn't try it but I'm sure you could pull it off.)

He sounds like Grant Petersen if he couldn't write.

--Wildcat Etc.

Dave said...

Darwin might also applaud the removal from the gene pool of a local man here who was killed while being towed by a pickup truck around a field on a mattress. In his defense, there were two 17-year old girls on the mattress with him. (They were slightly injured.) Unanswered questions abound. Would mattress sledding be the new extreme sport? It seems so much less dramatic than wingsuit flying.

BikeSnobNYC said...

Dave,

Was he waering a helment?

--Wildcat Etc.

dop said...

In 1981 ago I was bicycle touring in England, and had the misfortune to be run into a ditch by a lorry. The front wheel was pancaked. I got a lift to a bike store where I bought a new wheel, but realized outside the shop that it was drilled for presta. I asked to have it redrilled for shrader. The counterman brought the wheel to the backroom & told me to come back in a week. The poor counterman bounced back & forth several times before the mechanic deigned to drill. (Brits believe that if they are superficially polite, they can treat you like shit.)

This was no mavic reflex or cxp 33. It was a big heavy cheap rim from a 70's ten speed. It was fine for another 13 years. On buying a new bike with presta's (and drilling out my wife's rims myself) I realized that my frame pump was reversible, and that all the drilling was a waste of time.

Just keep a presta adapter on that old CO2 cartridge chuck.

Anonymous said...

Oh, yes! I want electronic shifting, like the pros!

As predicted, though, there was a big loser and it was Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), whose already dented GC ambitions were perhaps terminally damaged by two mechanicals in quick succession as the race reached its crux.

He waved his arms in desperate remonstration as he had to receive assistance on two occasions, the first for a puncture and the second when the battery in his dérailleur went flat. The Frenchman, whose podium placing last year had given rise to realistic hopes this time around, eventually rolled in 3:23 minutes back, leaving him a very sorry 6:30 down on GC.

Roille Figners said...

Yep and Grant talks some sense, esp. on the ergonomics front. This simple toss-off topic might actually be getting into "barriers of entry to cycling" territory here which is more than I was ready for, but OK. So yeah I can see how a beginner would prefer the good old familiar Schrader valve. On the other hand I have both in my household so I'm always switching and it seems pretty straightforward by now. I have a pump like this and one like this and that's pretty much all the thinking someone needs to do about it. Though I also carry this and some quarters in case I flat near a gas station and want the lazy-man's air-up.

I dunno, do I have "expert bias" or whatnot? Do I give people too much credit for being able to handle different valves? I see them put up with other rocket-sciencey hassles like "how to configure your privacy settings on Facebook" or "how to use jumper cables" etc. What is making them put up with learning that bullshit, that doesn't apply to this bullshit or could be made so? Maybe in their minds the bieks don't offer quite as much in the way of payoff for your time and effort like a car or Facebook does? Well we know that's not true, but maybe it takes longer to realize those benefits, or maybe it takes a certain type of person?

OK OK back to work. BTW that floor pump is a Topeak "Joe Blow" and it's a thing of beauty and the pump head DOES NOT RAP MY KNUCKLES WHEN I DISENGAGE IT, which is so like "you had me at."

dop said...

oh

dop said...

look out

dop said...

shee came in through the bathroom window

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