For folks who’ve used Luna’s leather straps, how tight do you adjust them?
They feel great loose, honestly. I probably won’t actually run in these, more everyday and walking the dog sandals.
I imagine the leather will break in, so I should start pretty tight?
Steak + Cheese with a side of Bacon Mac Salad. We’re so fucking lucky.
Ok disclaimer, I’m a bit of a hater but I firmly believe that every bike is a good bike. I’m also genuinely not tryna yuck anyone’s yum.
That said: I had four beers and some Taco Bell tonight so I’m wondering: why are folks putting teravail ehlines and maxxis dissectors on their rigid atbs? Aren’t xc tires enough for pavement and hard pack? Are you really that strong that you don’t mind the extra watts? Are you shredding enduro trails on your rigid bikes? What gives?
Long time reader, first time poster. 8yo Shepsky who became reactive over Covid. We’ve made a lot of progress, but not perfect, and she is not up for greeting other dogs on leash.
I’m usually pretty good at maintaining awareness, and maintaining distance while out on walks, but twice in the past week I’ve had folks sneak up on me with their dogs. This has happened before of course, and typically a simple “hey, would you mind giving us some space?” is enough. In both instances this week, the other dog owners took offense to my request, and attempted to close the gap rather than maintain it.
How do you deal with a situation like this? I’m doing my best to protect my dog, and their dog, while negotiating with an idiot. Today I really couldn’t move - it was a street full of busy traffic, standing my ground, or hopping a fence with my dog.
Happy to hear success stories, best practices or anything else constructive.
So I'm doing my best to learn about bike fit and bike geo here. I got a professional fit done on my hardtail a year and a half ago and it's a total game-changer. I did my best to transfer the fit to my full squish and am pretty darn happy with it.
I'm looking to copy the fit on to my gravel bike now, which is mostly used for commuting and light fire roads, but also thinking I'd really like to switch it to flat bars. I think the flats are more useful, easier to swap out, and honestly the braking power on the AdventX brifters is abysmal. I'm wondering: are both possible?
Edit: The reddit table keeps deleting data, so here's a spreadsheet.
I've looked at this via Google and ChatGPT, and honestly it seems like it just might not be possible. The gravel bike is just a lot shorter, the seat tube angle is slacker, and matching the reach + stem length to my hardtail doesn't seem possible. Even with a longer stem, dropbars, and adding on an additional measurement to account for the hoods, I'm at least 100mm shorter overall.
So, gut-check time: am I thinking about this right? If I like the position of my hardtail a lot, should I be trying to match that on my gravel bike? If I can't reasonably match the reach with drops, flats are going to make it worse, right?
Obligatory: El Cerrito, not Oakland.
Holy fuck this shit is good. This was the special with garlic, basil, pesto, and lemon zest. We demolished it.
Philomena has been my favorite NY style pie for years, there is now a contender.
I’m riding a DV9 and a Ripley AF. I’m always looking for ways to optimize my bikes for my regular rides, and our local laps include a lot of climbing before you get to anything good (20 miles/3k on a Wednesday). I like the DV9 for the climbing, but the Ripley for the descending.
Anyway, I’m currently running a 120mm 34sl on the DV9 and I’m curious how much a 140mm 34 would affect the bike. Obviously it would get slacker, and I think it’d feel a bit less like I wanted to attack every climb, but would it still feel nice and zippy?
Like, would I notice the fork more, or would I notice a change in tires more?
A lot of folks nearby like the TransAm a lot. If you’re riding a 140mm+ hardtail, how do you like it? Is it the best of both worlds? Does it still climb like a beast?
Playing China on a TSL Huge Earth. Psyched to finally circumnavigate only to find literally every European power has been overrun by barbarians.
I am playing Barbarian Clans mode, among other things. Is that the culprit?
Meanwhile, Simón has conquered both North and South America.
Was listening to You’ll Be Fine today and it hit me: I think this song might be the epitome of what I love about the band.
It’s emotive, plaintive, fast, slow, dancy, screamy… clearly demonstrates the boys have range.
Whatchu think? Got another one? Let’s discuss!
I asked Lems for a footshaped spd-compatible shoe back in May of 2022, and yesterday I finally got my Trail Thrashers in. While they're not spd, they're relatively foot-shaped and I think they'll be suitable for biking - relatively stiff, super grippy, and well-padded. Excited to get some miles on them this summer as my everyday bike-to-work shoe.
Pictured:
Laying my cards out on the table, I am a bit disappointed by the width of the shoe - and frankly, I'm dubious that this shoe was truly built on their widest last. My Primal Zens, Boulder Boots, and Chelseas all have a straighter/more anatomical big toe and more space for my pinky toe. So do my Lakes and Altras.
These feel more like the Primal Pursuit, built on their middle last. Hopefully they break in well, because they look fly!
A Roman fired clay brick with a footprint of a caliga (Roman military sandal) dated to the 3rd-4th century AD that was found locally. It is now on display in the exhibition space of the "triangular tower of Serdica" in Sofia, Bulgaria.
TSL earth, I'm Victoria and settling Siberia for its resources. I'd like to establish as many National Parks in the Urals as possible, but for some reason I'm only getting the following placement options.
I've checked the four things: diamonds, city ownership, no improvements, appeal, and a passable tile. If I could do the bottom park down + right by one tile/ea, I could stack more parks in and create a larger mega-park.
What am I missing?
Finally got my Remora Pros in (left) and compared against my old Remoras (right). Both HV.
The Pros are a half-size up, and man are they snug. They may be built on the same last, but these are definitely a more aggressive shoe - much more structured. I’ll be curious to see how they break in.
My local is closed for renovations, so I haven’t been in to try yet.
It’s that time of year again.
I’ve been running Rekon Race / Ground Control Grid on my hardtail and Forekaster/Forekaster on my downcountry bike since last fall or so.
For the hardtail, I often ride Tilden + Wildcat + Sibley, also Headlands, China Camp frontside + Tamo. This is the weekday bike.
For the trail bike, I often ride Briones, JMP, Pacifica, UCSC, Demo. Sometimes Tahoe. This is the weekend bike.
I’m thinking about going back to Rekon Race / RR on the hardtail, as it’s kind of the mileage bike and things are drying out. Also considering DHR2/Dissector on the trail bike, as I’m starting to ride gnarlier stuff and feel like I could use both the traction and the cornering knobs.
What’re you running if you ride in these places? What kind of bike? What do you like or not like about them? What trails do you ride most often?
My direct paternal line dead ends in ~1720. My ~7th great grandfather shows up on the frontier west of the Appalachians with no explanation of how he got there, working as a trapper. In fact, we only have indirect references to him, and hard evidence of his sons. From his sons forward we have great documentation.
We have a few links to other families on the eastern seaboard.
I'm an amateur genealogist. I'm pretty smart, but I'm not an expert and have limited time + energy.
I'm an Ibis guy, but I demo'd a new 2026 Spur this weekend and frickin' loved it.
Locked out it almost felt like a pedal-assist bike, the power transfer was just immediate. Opening it up to go smash through a rock garden, it felt like a sled. Still very poppy, easy to get airborne, but wayyyy more confident than I would expect.
To be fair, the terrain wasn't super crazy - grind up a firewood, bomb a gentle grade through a rock garden then rinse + repeat. Didn't get the chance to take it off real jumps or drops over 12". But we demo'd back-to-back with some 150/160mm e-bikes and I think I was fastest downhill on the Spur - it was easier to keep up momentum, and maneuver the lighter bike.
I ride a Ripley AF and a DV9, and on the face of it the Ripley's geo is pretty darn similar. I think the biggest geo difference is probably the longer chain stays on the Spur, followed by the longer overall wheelbase.
My buddy says:
>Geometry just doesn’t account for actual ride feel. I think suspension linkage, carbon layup, leverage and progression all change the feel.
What do y'all think?
Most of my riding is covered by a 120/130 downcountry bike like my Ripley, but I'd like my next bike to be lighter weight. I've also ridden the old Mach4SL, and Epic 8 Evo. Will ride the new Mach4SL soon, and hope to try the new Ripley SL also. So far, the Spur definitely has the edge, but I would've liked to have done some tech-y climbing and some flow with it.
Ok we all know Emo bands love alternate tunings, and Hot Mulligan seems to make a lot of use of F/DACGE
When it comes to the second string, I always snap trying to turn up from B to C. Does anyone else have this problem?
I’m often playing light gauge strings, maybe that’s it? Or are you crazy fuckers tuning all the way down to the C in the next octave?
I usually play half step down and I guess I could do that here too, and capo to play along with the track.