abshipp 

Thanks to all the political signs that have been up the last few months, one particularly annoying earworm of mine has been to the tune of the O'Reilly Auto Parts jingle, except instead of the name of the store it's "Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe Biden..."

LesterOfPuppets

Rumour on the Twitters has it that Aldo Moser passed away RIP

LesterOfPuppets

Confirmation:

https://www.oasport.it/2020/12/cicli...ni-aldo-moser/

WhyFi

Yeah, sometimes when I set out, I'll sort though things mentally for a bit, but I'll eventually settle in to the nothingness and just be in the moment; it's nice and I think a regular dose of that is a necessary decompression tool. That said, riding conditions aren't always so pleasant this time of year, and I'm thinking that a little distraction from the moment might not be a bad thing. I guess I'll see.

Mojo31

We switched to tankless after running out of hot water a few times in our current house. Both kids were teens and living us, and would drain the tanks like there was no tomorrow. When we made the switch, there were tax credits available for installing energy efficient equipment that made the deal a no-brainer. We have two, and we can run all of the showers, dishwasher, and washing machine at the same time without ever loosing hot water. It really comes into play when we have guests staying with us.

Unfortunately, we are no strangers to $300+ water bills, but that is typically from the sprinklers working to keep our yard alive in the summer.

WhyFi

That sometimes happens to me. Most of the time, I'm okay with it, but sometimes I need to push the pace to drive it out.

Mojo31

I don't know if mine is high zoot, but will have to listen and compare. I do know that my bike is incredibly quite when it is properly set up.

WhyFi

You have those new Bontragers, yeah? Nice wheels.

It'll depend on multiple factors: road surface, tires, rim depth, etc, and they often don't sing until you get up to speed.

LesterOfPuppets

Check out the double barrel launch ramp! Pro cycling coverage needs to add orchestration like this for broadcasts. What kinda big cogs are they running? Looks like 17T big cogs, or thereabouts.

Mojo31

Yes, the Pro 37, not the high zoot sets. Tires are the OEM R1s. They are every bit as good as I can use and most likely much better. The fastest I've gone on them is about 28 mph, but wasn't really listening. Was more focused on road hazards so as not to kill myself.

WhyFi

Noooo. Better tires are better tires. Roll faster, more comfy, better grip, etc, etc. Ask around - good tires are one of the best BFTBs for the buck when it comes to the bike.

phrantic09

I just replaced a water heater and for all of the electrical work, plumbing work etc it didn’t seem worth the money when the one we have probably will only cost about $100 a year to run.

phrantic09

can confirm

WhyFi

Lens is out for delivery.

Sometime between now and, oh... 9pm. Gee, thanks for that narrow window on the signature-required delivery, UPS.

WhyFi

Woodworking shops will carry chunks of flat granite for sharpening purposes, but they're often thicker than necessary and pretty expensive. You can supposedly get off-cuts from kitchen counters for cheap/free, and they're usually as flat as you need them to be for precision sharpening, but I've never looked in to it. Mine was from a guy on NextDoor that was doing a bathroom remodel and didn't want to throw it out (it's ~4' x 2' - I've been meaning to make in to an assembly/sharpening table for forever... soon, though... soon).

Mojo31

Poor writing on my part. I was referring to the wheel set. I agree on the tires, but haven't decided on what to switch to.

On my other bike, I switched from the OEM to the Conti 4-Seasons, and immediately noticed the difference.

big john

It's rare to encounter an individual like this. In 31 years of riding with a large road club I've always found acceptance and encouragement from nearly everyone. I have always gone with the "A" groups and have never been the fastest. Many times, especially my last couple years on the job, I was the slowest in the hills. Nobody ever gave me crap about it or asked me to stay away.
This guy is a relative newcomer and has started riding with some of my friends this year since club rides were canceled. I've been friendly to him but I could tell he didn't want me there last Saturday.

Mojo31

We already had the gas lines and other things in place, so there was no added cost. We were driven by the tax credits available at the time. It actually cost less to do the tankless than it would have to replace the tank types. We did it purely for the luxury of not having to worry about hot water. It was a "want" and not a "need." We've had them for about 8 or 9 years now, and no ragrets.

big john

This has generally been my experience except when I was younger I had good endurance late and would surprise people who thought they could hammer me all day.

MoAlpha

Yeah, my experience too and back in my racing days the group I struggled to hang with often had local elites taking it easy and a former national road champ as a regular. The goal was always to have fun.

WhyFi

I could see being frustrated if the group was regularly waiting on one person in particular, but that doesn't seem to be the case, here, so he should just stuff it.

Beyond that, though, and I can only speak of my own club, groups are often more than just a collection of people that ride together. Even within a fairly well-matched group, there's an ebb and flow and some people will be faster some years, slower others. When someone starts lagging, usually because they've been kept out of the saddle by life, we will, at the very least, regroup. Often, we'll dial it back after we've had a chance to burn some matches. Sometimes, we'll dial it back and shelter someone if they're really hurting.

That and there's also different expectations for different rides - the pace is pushed on Wed, whereas weekends are usually longer, easier rides, but with some taking it upon themselves to go for town signs, etc.

phrantic09

The real decider for us was that they generally only last about 5-10 years in this area. We have a lot of sand in our water. The water company wells are all in the same sandy soil we have in our yard. It’s clean and pollutant free, but just a touch sandy. The water heater we replaced was 1/3 full of sand. Apparently it eats up the on demand heaters.

Mojo31

We don't have such issues. The soils in this area are primarily clay types. Also, our water is municipality supplied, and it all comes from reservoirs. The only wells are on land that is not served by the municipalities.

indyfabz

One of the ligaments in my thumb is detached and folded back. Total of three fractures in two different bones. Scheduling surgery for 12/14. Two months in a cast.

I won’t be wrapping Christmas presents.

phrantic09

We have “municipal” water, it’s just run by a private company. There’s a really strong aquifer here and most of our water is actually spring fed, treated minimally and stored in localized reservoirs.