sarals 

Gorgeous!!!

chasm54

First world problems...

When I bought the new tourer I specified 105 11-speed, a compact with a 11-32 cassette. I figured that wouldn't be entirely suitable for loaded touring, but that I'd swap the group with the 10- speed triple I had on one of my road bikes, thus upgradingg the latter to 11-speed but keeping the big gear range for climbing.

Well, the swap is done and the tourer is great. 50/39/30 with a 12-32, just fine for light to moderate touring loads, even in the hills. I absolutely hate the set-up on the road bike, though. I've never had much love for a 50/34 compact, the jump is too big and I seem to be constantly shifting at the front in rolling terrain. But that's compounded by the big cassette, it has no 15 or 17 sprocket. I especially miss the 15, I'm constantly in the wrong gear. Drives me mad. An 11-28 is on its way from wiggle...

Incidentally, I'm still grieving at Shimano abandoning their Ultegra and 105 triples. Shift beautifully and give the endurance rider a proper climbing gear while retaining nice tight ratios at the back. Grumble...

Bandera

Agree.
The hills around here aren't getting any less steep and the wind blows undiminished.
The 50/34 compact does blow, miserable shifting for my terrain.
I have two 6703 52/39/30 12-25 10 cog drivetrains to install.

-Bandera

Racer Ex 

Speaking of triples...

Bandera

Back when we used to build high quality lightweight framesets w/ triple cranksets for long distance club cyclists, the Schwinn Paramount P-15 being a classic example.
Now it's my turn.

-Bandera

chasm54

Yeah, well, he does admit to being a snob...

valygrl

NorCal racers: I'm going to be in the bay area on 2/7, which race is more fun and more well attended (especially by women) - Cherry Pie or The Bump.

Racer Ex 

Cherry Pie is one of the NorCal "spring classics" that's been around forever. Closed course. Big crowd. The Bump is a new race. I'd go for the pie.

Major Tom left the earth today.

"If you're ever sad, just remember the world is 4.543 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie"


Dean Podesta.

YogaKat

I saw that brilliant tweet on FB today. Such a wonderful talent and too damn young to go.



... and we were only his companions.

revchuck 

We're finally settled enough in the new house that we can cook. We've been eating out for the last two weeks or so. I have no idea how much weight I've gained, but it's too much.

YogaKat

Good to hear you are settling in. Real food is going to taste good!

sarals 

I learned when I worked down there that eating out in Louisiana is a dangerous thing!

valygrl

<whine>Work sucks. I would add more detail, but my head might explode.</whine>

Heathpack 

Racer Ex 

Work is unicorns and puppies. And hot cocoa. It's the tailwind of life. 98% of retired people wish they hadn't. If work is making you unhappy ask your doctor about Maladjustox from Phizer. Maladjustox has been shown to remove work place unhappiness in just two weeks. Why be unhappy? Ask your doctor if Maladjustox is right for you.

Let your doctor know if you're pregnant, have asthma, heart issues, or genitals. Maladjustox can cause internal bleeding and death. In rare cases death from Maladjustox may be resurrected only to die even more horribly the second time. Stop taking Maladjustox if you are dead, or in a Maladjustox induced coma. Tell your doctor if your insurance ran out...

chasm54

LOL. The funny thing is, lots of retired people really do wish they hadn't. Fortunately I'm not one of them.

But we pensioners have so many expenses. A nice pair of alloy/carbon clinchers arrived from PlanetX this morning. Well, if you're going 11-speed you can't have just one wheel set for that bike, and even if you aren't racing you want something that carries a bit of speed, and, well, they were on sale...

Cold here, we finally have something resembling normal weather for the time of year. Looking out waiting for the sunshine to deal with the icy patches before getting out on the bike. Life could be worse. Must be the maladjustox kicking in.

YogaKat

Racer Ex, that is one of the funniest things I have read.

It seems we are all having odd winters. Here we are getting stuck in a loop of fairly warm during the week then cold or possible ice/snow on the weekends. I wish the cold part would move into the middle of the week.

Bandera

I'm with the 2% at the far end of the bell curve once again, must be all of the Placebo I've been taking.

If I never see another overpaid Senior Executive VP of General Incompetence again I'll remain happy.

Let's all sing along with Jonny Paycheck: "Take this job and shove it, I ain't working here no more!"

-Bandera

valygrl

Problem is, we've been working on Maladjustox for over a year, the parents of our clinical trial group are desperate for it to go commercial because it is saving their children's lives, but the FDA didn't approve it. Yesterday.

Heathpack 

My lecture went very well last night, everything went off without a hitch. Introduced my new colleague (who started with us last Sept), she spoke too and also did very well.

We packed the place, in the end 178 people attended vs the normal for these things is 100-120. That gets me brownie points with my boss, because fundamentally this lecture series is a marketing thing. We always get a real bump in referrals for a while afterward.

I managed of course to work in a little something about each of the bikes.

This thing has been looming over me for weeks, its a relief to be past it. I've also had a few dozen intern applications to review and interviews to set up. I am conducting 8 phone interviews today. After that, most of this big push of miscellaneous stuff will be done and I can ride my bike in peace.

Here's the bike pics from my lecture. I started by introducing myself, my new colleague and then each of the bikes.

The Magic Bike at the top of Mt Pinos:



The Sparrow at Dillon Divide:



The Grasshopper at Ero Sports (aka at my fitter's):

YogaKat

Well done on the lecture!

Beautiful bikes. I especially like the look of the Sparrow.

Heathpack 

Love them all, they each do their thing really well.

The Sparrow looks better now, it has white bar tape. I was actually test-riding that white saddle that day, the previous one was black. I really want to do up the Sparrow in Gulf racing colors. Like this:



But that would likely require having the seat covered in orange leather and it seems like a hassle to try to exactly color match leather with commercially available bar tape.

revchuck 

I've been doing the retirement job thing, working at a bike shop for lousy pay and getting stuff at cost to make up for it. I'm currently working three days a week, so it's not too bad. Going to be able to bump up my mileage once I get my new house squared away.

shovelhd

Recoveredsaddle.com

I like the Grashopper the best. It just screams business. If it were mine I would call it the Hulk.

Heathpack 

When I first got it, it seemed so weird to me, totally foreign. Like an insect.