I’d like to finish a century month > century week > century ride by the end of the year. And to piggy back on the last point: When you have a great bike shop nearby, it’s so nice 
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I could be wrong… but I’ve got a feeling that these are essentially marked-up BikesDirect bikes. Mixed feelings, but mostly bad.
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Good: Wal-mart now appears to sell bikes that are not intrinsically death-traps.
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Bad: It’s Wal-mart and all that entails, and they still sell the death-traps.
As I see it, the LBS is an integral part of cycling culture - and as much as this move might bring cycling to more Westerners, which is good - it would do so at the cost of hollowing-out some of the hobby / lifestyle’s soul.
I’m definitely an anti-department-store-bike crusader because of personal experience: a couple weeks before I started high school, I had some Pacific Cycles abomination collapse as I was riding a mild, flat trail. It was… gruesome.
(NSFW Details)
On contacting a small rock, the fork just gave out, twisted, and let go of the wheel, digging the stanchions into the dirt. I hit the ground face-first. My teeth broke when they met inside my tongue. Rocks went into my mouth through the skin below my lips. Most of the cartilage in my nose was pulverized beyond saving, and I needed reconstructive surgery to make it look like a nose again. It took years before my face (and sense of taste) healed enough to be mostly normal again.
And that’s why I have mixed feelings about this development. Friends don’t let friends ride Pacific Cycles - or anything like them.
What other company would name a product “MT. FURY” and then say in the manual’s fine print “not intended for offroad use, only for riding on sidewalks and paved trails”?
[ /rant ]
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I did a bit of research and it looks like these are actually original bikes and they hired a dude who designed bikes for cervelo and diamondback to lead this up, instead of rebranding no name ones which is what I guessed it was at first too.
I’ve seen you tell your story on here before and man is it rough 
There are so many crappy and outright dangerous bikes out there
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Dude those are awesome goals. Centuries are lots of work but also super rewarding! With covid and all there might not be so many/any right now, but if there is a century like “event” in your area those can be a lot of fun, lots of likeminded people riding, and food/water/bathroom stops set up along the way.
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It’s daunting indeed! I know it’s hard to predict, but I think biking events will still happen this year (I’m in the South Bay too). It’s likely outdoors-y / social distance-y enough. You’re right though, an event like that does sound pretty fun—I’ll look into it.
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Oh nice! If you ever wanna go riding hit me up! I ride both days pretty much every weekend unless it’s raining big.
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Now I know for sure what bike I really want - an old school dutch commuter. Why Dutch Bikes are Better (and why you should want one) - YouTube
Maybe I’m just getting old though, and “sporty” bikes attract me less and less.
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Those bikes are lots of fun to cruise around on!
anyone on strava? I downloaded it again to keep track of riding for this ride I’m training for in the summer. my profile, feel free to add me. If people are interested I’d be up to make a strava group
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A look at my frankenbike. It’s only natural I’d get into frankenswitches, too.
The frame is from a late 00’s casual trail bike for a more upright posture - but aside from the seat-post clamp, that’s all that remains of the original Schwinn Sierra.
There’s a mixture of mountain, road, cyclocross, and even tandem gear on this machine - all in pursuit of enjoying the whee-factor while not irritating my literal bolted-neck.
Also a disk brake conversion because I used to rely on this to get me to work during the occasional blizzard.
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Oh man I love it!
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If I haven’t been on as much lately it’s because I’ve been training like crazy for a 240 mile / 24hr time limit gravel ride all year (it’s finally this weekend!) I’ve got my touring/gravel bike setup more or less perfected imo, although I think later this year or early next I’ll probably upgrade to the new sutra unlimited frame. I also found a sick deal on an old litespeed frame and used sram force group during the winter and built up a sweet road bike for going fast on.
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How do you like the Venturemax handlebars?
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They’re not perfect, but I’m very happy with them. It’s the widest option of the WCS variant. I put them on right before a 5 day/500 mile somewhat loaded tour with a few gravel sections and coming from a cowbell the width and flare felt (and still feels) like a revelation. I also quite like the really wide ergo/aero bit at the flats, it’s very nice for those long days in the saddle. The only part I’m not jazzed about is the bio bend at the bottom of the drops, I don’t find it super comfortable and it kind of gets in the way imo.
My shitty but ol reliable lmao. But now i run no straps, changed chain and seat(not in the pic) Gets me to and from work like a champ xD
Scott OTG Grems, except for the wheels, seat, grips, pedals and chain, the bike totaled for like 3000sek (345usd), got everything except the changed parts from a friend for like 55usd.
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What ratio you running? Looks pretty spin to win 
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Spin to win is hella fun for fixed gear, especially if u got some big hills
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Steel is real! Loving the tasty lug-work on the fork there.
Random note, I purchased USB rechargeable LED lights years and years ago.
They did really good for years through riding and rain, and this and that. Now they can’t hold a charge very well.
Any recommendations for Rear and Front lights these days? USB or AAA/AA battery suggestions are fine with me
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Cygolite hotshot is my favorite for tail light, it has a clip so you can put it on whatever bag you have (or it comes with a frame mount too) and the battery life is pretty good.
I’ve been through a lot of headlights and have kind of landed on the PDW pathfinder, I have a few and they have a nice rubber mount so it’s easy to swap between bikes, but the battery life kind of sucks (2-3 hrs)
Both are micro usb charging
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