Southern California - So Cal needs a long thread "What's Up?" type thread!

Why can't you find them?

I hope Herb doesn't mind, but I just sent this to him via PM. I'm really fed up with the bike shops of late. Oh, and Happytime has heard this rant too.

"Herb, that is very sweet of you, but I will never go back there again. I called them on a Saturday a few weeks ago and asked if they had Women's Specialized shoes in size nine and was told yes, plenty. I showed up and they had NONE. Kid you not. They then tried to push me into ordering a pair or buying a pair of Men's (for which they had tons in stock). I told the guy that I wouldn't come back. He said he didn't know who would have told me that over the phone (but, of course). It's not the first time that has happened with a bike shop. They sometimes are just lazy, don't want to dig through the shoes to find the very few pairs of women's that they have in stock, and then they try to push women into men's. I'm fed up. Neither Montrose nor Budget will get my business with my shoe purchase, and if need be, I will order off the internet and continue to do so with future clothing/gear needs as well. They don't deserve my business if they cannot respect me enough to lie to me over the phone, have me drive all the way to Montrose, and then just shrug and say, "Gee, don't know why someone would have told you that - here, can I interest you in a pair of men's specialized shoes for $250?"

Oh, and my lbs did this to me with the SIDIs - said they'd be getting them in within two weeks. Then I show up in that timeframe and suddenly, "oh, they are not coming in until late November or early December" :mad:

Quick Q. Does anyone know which one is "snappier"? Serotta HSG IT, Colnago CLX/Primavera?

When I tested rode bikes last year, between the C'dale caad8, Giant OCR c, and Spec Roubaix comp, I like the feel of C'dale a lot more because it feels "snappier" in terms of steering and road feel.

I don't want to go to lbs to tried them out and then get them online.

Thanks!

ps. If I get the ones from JensonUSA, it's a complete bike... and I may go and get another frame replacement for my C'dale later on... :p

CLX!

Quick Q. Does anyone know which one is "snappier"? Serotta HSG IT, Colnago CLX/Primavera?

When I tested rode bikes last year, between the C'dale caad8, Giant OCR c, and Spec Roubaix comp, I like the feel of C'dale a lot more because it feels "snappier" in terms of steering and road feel.

I don't want to go to lbs to tried them out and then get them online.

Thanks!

ps. If I get the ones from JensonUSA, it's a complete bike... and I may go and get another frame replacement for my C'dale later on... :p

I test drove the CAAD9 R6 before I got the Bianchi and it felt pretty stiff and hard like my felt. Feeling every crack in the road like the Felt I had. The roads up here in Esco are kinda old. So I liked the idea of the CF stays for dampening. The OCR I never road, never had an intrest in it. The Roubaix was the wrong geometry I was looking for. I road the Tarmac with 105 groupo and was FAST, steering was NICE and fast, all carbon. Sweet bike but was a lil out of my price range and I'd have to worry about rock chips and stuff on the old roads up here. No one local had a Colnago to ride that wasn't close to 4k.

thats alot of drama for some shoes!!!!

Things on my shopping list
Shoes
Helmet
Pedals
Wheelset (these ****tymono's 550's suck!!! The Alex rims off my Felt stronger and firmer)
Lighting

Thanks!

M.E., I'll keep an eye out for SIDI & Spec W size 9.

Jeff, why don't you switch the wheelset from your Felt? You can try my Mavic equipe once I get it back from Mark, and see if they're really that much better. For me I couldn't tell the diff between my 3 rear wheels other than freewheel sound because I'm too weak. :p

I gave my Felt to my riding/race buddy (the one riding that burgandy KHS with DT shifter) you saw on the Tour De Poway. Fuc*er is even fast now LOL He's pulling away from me on the downhills now!!!

I just got free ice cream from one of our cytopathology fellows. :D

Dangit... This means i'm going to have to work it off this weekend. :(

yo, suckas.

yo, suckas.

Where have you been?

yo, suckas.

hey chuckles

yo, suckas.

what up slack.

yo, suckas.


what up stranger:p

Thanks!

M.E., I'll keep an eye out for SIDI & Spec W size 9.

Jeff, why don't you switch the wheelset from your Felt? You can try my Mavic equipe once I get it back from Mark, and see if they're really that much better. For me I couldn't tell the diff between my 3 rear wheels other than freewheel sound because I'm too weak. :p

Dave, your wheel is sitting here right next to me. Just have to figure out when we can get together to get it back to you.

My new tri bike came with Ksyrium Elite's (20 spoke rear). The wheel went way out of true after the first couple of rides. B&L trued it up, but I haven't had a chance to ride it since. I've read that Mavic had a batch of wheels that didn't stay true - hope I don't have one of them.

Thanks!

M.E., I'll keep an eye out for SIDI & Spec W size 9.

Jeff, why don't you switch the wheelset from your Felt? You can try my Mavic equipe once I get it back from Mark, and see if they're really that much better. For me I couldn't tell the diff between my 3 rear wheels other than freewheel sound because I'm too weak. :p

Dave...28 miles left...how far you riding tomorrow?

drunken bike wannabes represent!

how you been? Hows the newborn been that long I guess huh.

drunken bike wannabes represent!

werd.

Where have you been?


working :(





but still riding.

Chuckles...don't work too hard as it's never worth it!

Oh, and I do believe I've beat Happy up. I'm tired...yawn. And I had a dream about rabbits.

Chuckles...don't work too hard as it's never worth it!

Oh, and I do believe I've beat Happy up. I'm tired...yawn. And I had a dream about rabbits.

... waiting for the rabbit avatar ....

Chuckles...don't work too hard as it's never worth it!

Oh, and I do believe I've beat Happy up. I'm tired...yawn. And I had a dream about rabbits.

i don't know that it's possible to work too hard at this job. in fact, it's pretty hard to make 5.5 hours of work fit into an 8.5 hour every night. the other 3 hours, i basically roam the hide/roam the plant.

rode with the Ranchos Club today for the 1st time
57 miles, 3400ft of climbing and 18.4mph average for the ride. Butt kicker climbs in there. We rode up Sleeping Indian, NASTY lil hill. Got chased by 4 dogs today, one was on the climb up Sleeping Indian. Paceline was from 23-33mph. I need to get faster on the climbs, I hung with the group on everything but the damn climbs, but I wasn't the last one up so that made me feel good. They said newbs don't usually last 10 miles, hense the 33mph paceline, so they were happy I can hang and take my turns at pulls too for extra credit:D

BTW I broke 1500 miles for the yr YEPPIE!!!Before the TdP I was at 1150ish on the yr.

rode with the Ranchos Club today for the 1st time
57 miles, 3400ft of climbing and 18.4mph average for the ride. Butt kicker climbs in there. We rode up Sleeping Indian, NASTY lil hill. Got chased by 4 dogs today, one was on the climb up Sleeping Indian. Paceline was from 23-33mph. I need to get faster on the climbs, I hung with the group on everything but the damn climbs, but I wasn't the last one up so that made me feel good. They said newbs don't usually last 10 miles, hense the 33mph paceline, so they were happy I can hang and take my turns at pulls too for extra credit:D
BTW I broke 1500 miles for the yr YEPPIE!!!Before the TdP I was at 1150ish on the yr.

hence the proof that your obvoiusly much stronger than i am...

They changed the ride time to 8am...without telling me....bad day for me..i had to cut it short with 3 flats..the last one being so big i had to fold a dollar bill up and use it to keep the tube in...if i had been by myself i would have been pushing my bike a LONG WAY...gotta love group rides...

on the way home my bike kicked up a big rock, bounce off my foot nearly breaking my toe...gouged my CF crank arm and off the frame and thru the back wheel bending a spoke..the bike gods must be angry with me or something.

Haven't rode in two weeks. Don't see myself riding anytime soon. Oh well. :(

Haven't rode in two weeks. Don't see myself riding anytime soon. Oh well. :(

Just chalk it up to "periodization"! But I hope you can get back to it soon...

hence the proof that your obvoiusly much stronger than i am...

They changed the ride time to 8am...without telling me....bad day for me..i had to cut it short with 3 flats..the last one being so big i had to fold a dollar bill up and use it to keep the tube in...if i had been by myself i would have been pushing my bike a LONG WAY...gotta love group rides...

on the way home my bike kicked up a big rock, bounce off my foot nearly breaking my toe...gouged my CF crank arm and off the frame and thru the back wheel bending a spoke..the bike gods must be angry with me or something.

dude that is a TOUGH day on the bike!!! 3 flats and a rock to top it off. maybe Dave put a voodoo hex on you for trying to pass him in miles. I think he road 50 today with his club;)

Haven't rode in two weeks. Don't see myself riding anytime soon. Oh well. :(


think you can get out next sunday say from 7am to about 2pm? Palomar is calling us:D

speaking of which, that will be an intresting day for me if I'm gonna do a club ride saturday, my legs might be toasted:(

hence the proof that your obvoiusly much stronger than i am...

I MAY be a bit stronger on the flats but I'm sure you will still kick my ass up those climbs. Being 200lbs sucks when the wheels are pointed up hill:o Goal is to lose 15# by march if that is even possible, but I'm gonna try:D

I hope to do Palomar next Sunday. We'll see.

After a long nap, decided to check out the grocery store that replaced Albertson's across from my apartment complex a year or two ago. Never stepped in until tonight. As expected, absurdly overpriced. But at least they had a fine selection of stuff, including an apple lover's dream selection of very nice apples. Yum. I'm snacking on one such apple (a large honeycrisp) as I type this. That said, how can they not sell any reasonable sized packages of pistachios? I made the walk over there primarily because I felt like getting some pistachios. Oh well.

Does a bottle of beer the night before a ride reduce your performance?

can't imagine what the gas price look in your area Jason....it's 3.50 here for 91 oc and might be going up AGAIN......time to commute to work more alot more if I want those new roadie shoes

Just came back from Solvang. Right now I'm Zzzzz.... :p

can't imagine what the gas price look in your area Jason....it's 3.50 here for 91 oc and might be going up AGAIN......time to commute to work more alot more if I want those new roadie shoes

Not terribly higher... I paid $3.5x (don't remember exactly) yesterday for 91 octane.

Food for thought ... jack the gas prices up to $5/gal, and see more people riding in to work, and see bikes more accepted on the roads. Drastic? Yes, but maybe this is what it will take to get everyone to use public transit or bike more.

Food for thought ... jack the gas prices up to $5/gal, and see more people riding in to work, and see bikes more accepted on the roads. Drastic? Yes, but maybe this is what it will take to get everyone to use public transit or bike more.



possibly a barely measurable increase but nothing worth noting. that is not drastic. it is unrealistic to think $5/gal gas will make a difference.

Problem with rising gas prices is that people will not change their driving habits. They'll instead cut corners everywhere else like going out to eat, to the movies, or getting hair cuts, for instance.

I've now changed my mind and decided I'm buying a Prius within the next year. A hybrid is the wave of the future for sure. Now, if only I could commute by bike!

Food for thought ... jack the gas prices up to $5/gal, and see more people riding in to work, and see bikes more accepted on the roads. Drastic? Yes, but maybe this is what it will take to get everyone to use public transit or bike more.

Problem is, there's two large groups of driving commuters. There are those who could readily bike, but at those short distances, $10/gal gas wouldn't change their minds. There are those who can't reasonably bike, and $10/gal gas might encourage more attempts at public transit or carpooling, but biking simply is out of the question. But in areas where the infrastructure for public transit isn't already in place, there may be a multi-year delay in getting anything done. For the first group (me :o ) the cost of gas in a commute is inconsequential. Even when I "beat the crap out of my engine" on my commutes to destress--I once hit redline 8 times on my commute home--I'm still only going 3 miles. One can only burn so much gas in such a short commute. For the second group, it's as roadfix says. They simply have to cut elsewhere.

There are others, where they may be immediate solutions. But at least in SoCal, I'm afraid they may be a small minority. Fact is, our communities and infrastructure have been set up with cheap motorized personal transportation in mind.

I should clarify a bit. A huge increase in gas prices wouldn't change my commuting habits much, but it might affect my driving habits overall. Beyond some not yet determined price, I'd cut back on my drives up to ride with OC an LA peeps. Right now, if I drive in a fuel-efficient manner and get, say, 30 MPG (not so great, but a product of my car selection) round trip for 240 miles (a rather long drive), that's eight gallons. (If I don't try to conserve, I typically get 28-29 MPG round trip on these trips. Not a huge difference, so I usually don't try very hard to conserve fuel.) At $5/gallon, that's $40, which isn't any worse than, say, paying the entry cost of an organized event. So the price would probably have to be higher than that before I significantly changed my habits. I think I'd feel the squeeze in inflationary pressure on everything else long before I'd feel the squeeze in direct transportation costs.

It's time so start the move to an electric transportation system fueled by relatively inexpensive and very clean nuclear fuel. It won't happen soon, but it'd be nice.

The reality is commuting by bike is nice for those who can, but it's just not a feasible option for the vast, vast majority of Americans. Higher gas prices will just reduce the amount of discretionary income available for the middle and lower classes.

I met up with a bunch of RBR members including I Am The Edge for lunch & some ice cream yesterday. That ice cream shop (Scoops) is something.

I doubt we'll go to nuclear fuel beyond the usage by the military or in outer space. There simply is too much negative public opinions on it. I've read an article somewhere where they mentioned the nuclear power plants in the US is out of date/less safe because any improvements are being rejected by some anti-nuclear group. Not sure if that's just a propaganda used by the pro-nuclear group though.

He showed up? :D

I'm at work. Sucks. Did managed to do a bit of a 26 miles "recovery" ride this morning though. Forced myself to single-speed in my small chainring and middle cog for most of the way except for long downhills/uphills and the occasional pursuit of hot female cyclists along the way.

I did a "recovery" ride today, my basic W. Lilac loop, 32 miles and that hill still kicked my ***** Oh and my butt was still sore from the saddle time from yesturday. I need to get some better shorts!!!

I did a "recovery" ride today, my basic W. Lilac loop, 32 miles and that hill still kicked my ***** Oh and my butt was still sore from the saddle time from yesturday. I need to get some better shorts!!!

I looked for you today...did my house to Mt. Murder via Jesmond Dene and back. I waved to your house on the off chance you were standing on the street with some binoculars.

Today's my recovery day. Other than minimal labwork that's strictly necessary, I decided the rest of labwork can wait. Riding can wait. Lots of sleep. Some eating. Some shooting of aliens in Spaceward Ho. Lots more sleep. Some more eating. (I decided to show some restraint and not eat more than one pint of Haagen-Dazs in one sitting.) Did I mention sleep? I'm too mentally fried to care about much today. Not even about riding.

Question...

If I bought a new, complete bike and stripped off the Shimano components, could I sell the groupset as NEW? Even if they had never been ridden (except for a possible test ride), would they be considered USED?

Question...

If I bought a new, complete bike and stripped off the Shimano components, could I sell the groupset as NEW? Even if they had never been ridden (except for a possible test ride), would they be considered USED?

No, but if it was a dura ace triple group w/ 175 cranks I'd give you a very very good price for the set.

175 cranks! Daddy Long Legs.

(BTW, I just wanted to be the 2000th post in this thread)