topflightpro

Turns out I just need new spark plugs and one new coil. It's not as bad as I feared, though still not cheap.

big john

Hopefully you have a shop you can trust. I think it's pretty tough to find a shop like that.

Flatballer

This is why outside of mounting/balancing I do basically all of my own work. I don't trust anyone. Even if they're good, they still usually cut corners or don't do things the way I would.

I've had multiple cars that I take in for inspection and they "find" things that are wrong. I take it home and look for myself, or I take it to another shop to do the work (I don't replace coilovers, springs scare me) and they ask why I'm replacing the shocks, they're perfect.

Had a place tell me the driver's side transmission mount is leaking and needs to be replaced, as part of a safety/emissions inspection.

Car doesn't have a driver's side transmission mount, and the only transmission mounts it does have are rubber, not hydraulic. The only hydraulic mount it has is passenger side engine mount. Also, motor mounts are specifically not covered under PA safety inspection, which I called them back up, gave them an earful for lying and trying to screw me, and they gave me a sticker.

topflightpro

I do.

But I did not take the care to that shop. That shop is somewhat far from my house, and the car was running so poorly, I didn't think it was a good idea to drive it that far, so I took it to a new place that sent me a mailer a couple weeks ago saying they work on BMWs. We will see how it goes.

I did google the issue when I got to the office, and found several videos and forum discussions that pointed to the spark plugs and the coils as the most likely culprit, so I was glad to hear that is what the shop came back with.

As for my wife's Honda, we found an awesome shop that services most Japanese models. They sold us when she brought her Prius there a few years ago, and the guy, after doing a fairly thorough test drive, came back and told her to sell the car. It wasn't worth the time or money to try to repair it.

big john

Having been in the business for so long, I have heard so many stories about bad experiences at repair shops, have even worked at places where the lying and cheating made me sick.
I've also seen it from the other side, having been a small shop owner. I've been to court for some ridiculous lawsuits.
I'm happy to hear when a shop treats a customer well, it restores a little of my faith in humanity.

Flatballer

My son is about 15 months old. Starting to get more words, but most of them are still not objects, mostly they're 'no', 'thank you', 'hot', 'more', 'all done' etc. He also knows some nouns, 'bread', 'baby', lots of names, 'bread', 'num nums'.

Today he saw my bike in the kitchen after my ride. 'Bife, bife'.

Good kid. One of his first nouns after food stuff.

burnthesheep

How long is enough to post sports news spoilers? A day? Seriously? It’s not a Netflix show.

It’s already breakfast time in France. Ughhh. I’m the turd again.

ridethecliche

Didn't realize these were a thing... Look pretty great!

I actually just sold my bike. It kinda hurt me as to how much I got for it, but it is what it is. Only 500 bucks for a CAAD 9 with full DA 7800 other than a 105 crank. Ouch... I wish I'd had my 105 stuff sitting around so I could have swapped it over. I'm sure it would have sold for the same. Or I could have swapped over cheaper wheels onto that bike... or... or... or... What's done is done!

I guess I should start either saving for a gravel bike or look at used synapse/roubaix/etc from the 2012-2015 era. Hoping to go carbon, but it is what it is.

I don't think most gravel bikes are carbon right? Why spend that money on a frame when you can get the compliance from the low tire pressure? Is that the logic?

I'm still debating just looking for a cheap used groupset so I can get my 84 trek ride worthy again, but at this point I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and sell it and put everything into a bike I'll actually ride from time to time. I'd feel pretty sad selling it, but it's just not getting ridden right now.

mattm

For me: a couple of days for grand tour stages, since it's easy to get behind (if you watch full stages).

I think at least 24 hours if not 36 for one-day classics.

0 hours if you post in the spoilers thread!

PS: don't post spoilers on Strava or I'll unfollow

Flatballer

There was a cop sitting on the MUP in the valley between two hills today. Mostly off the path, so that's fine I guess, but I have serious questions about how they got there or what they were doing.

Can they even enforce speed limits on a MUP? I slowed down a bit on the decent anyway once I saw them, just in case.

Seems like there are more important things they could be worrying about, but I guess all the crime and all the aggressive and texting drivers were already handled.

I think they must have driven a decent distance on the MUP to get there, which seems extremely dangerous.

Flatballer

If Strava is down and you can't upload your ride, did it really even happen?

topflightpro

Saw a study that said the ideal no-spoiler period for television shows is 33 hours, while for movies it's 10 days. So, I would think 33 hours is the appropriate duration for any stage or one-day event.

Flatballer

I can get on board with 33 hours. After that it's on you to actively avoid humans and the internet until you can watch it.

big john

That's funny, today a friend told me he asked another friend how his ride was yesterday and the guy just griped about how he forgot to charge his Garmin.

Doge

Somehow (kid borrowed phone) I now get his Strava Kudos beeping like Txts. I'm near 40 years in tech, but not so interested in trying to figure that out.

gsteinb

Flatballer

That's quite a hot market, or a really cool house (hot/cool unintended, but leaving it). Over asking I assume? Congrats.

gsteinb

got asking without any contingencies and a deal that would go through. Since we didn't use a realtor didn't feel the need to wring every dollar out of the deal. Major plus to showing it once and being done.

thanks. I'm pretty stoked.

Flatballer

That's awesome. We're considering not using a realtor when we sell our next one. They just take such a huge amount of money, and I can list stuff on all the major places and take pictures myself. I spent more time correcting their mistakes last time we bought a house than I would've by doing it myself. The title service is the important one anyway, and they're cheap compared to the realtor.

Flatballer

Which one of you told me a Ridley Noah would be a good idea?

Trying to work on my fit a bit as I get back to riding, and moving the saddle height on the integrated mast is a 15 minute job with swearing and silicone lube.

From glancing around online it looks like the integrated mast has mostly fallen out of favor. I can't possibly imagine why.

gsteinb

I had one on a fuji track bike that went back because the mast was loose on the post. I also had a couple on giants which I found to be a total pain. You're in good company. They're not for me at all.

big john

I want to move to the mountains again. Was there for 4 years in the 90s and I loved it except for the long commute. The older I get the less tolerant I am of other people.
Today I went on a long club ride through several beach cities, chasing some fast people until my front shifter cable broke, allowing me some extended spin practice back to my car. I was cut off, buzzed by a speeding idiot, screamed at by some punk-asses in a convertible, etc.
I like staying in the local hills and avoiding hordes of *******s. I am jealous of Gary moving to the mountains. I hate people sometimes.

gsteinb

I had hair back then, but this thing

Flatballer

Man, that's beautiful.

My wife and I talked a bit about where we'd like to retire to eventually (in 35 years probably, if we're lucky, I have a lot of work ahead of me still).

I like to sail and I like being on the ocean, but I don't enjoy being on the beach that much. She thinks coastal Maine. Rocky beaches, good sailing, cooler temperatures, which are likely to be necessary by the time I retire.

furiousferret

If I had a choice to retire it'd be somewhere between Ventura and Santa Cruz. Preferably SLO or Santa Barbara.

There's just too many people in the LA/OC/IE area, and San Diego is catching up. I don't want to be a hermit but in the same token when there are lines at obscure hiking trails there are just too many people.