indyfabz

This morning a guy brought his bike into our new (to us) office building and took it up on the elevator. That's good news.

WhyFi

To vent: my wife is going to drive me nuggin' futs. We're very earnestly thinking about moving next year (there's a new development under way in the metro that'll be very energy efficient and 100% powered by renewable energy, etc and we're interested in one of the single-family row houses), but my wife is somehow still in a (non-pregnancy) nesting phase, putting a lot time, effort, and money in to the current home.

Despite my freely voiced reservations, she wants to paint most of the downstairs. We *know* that the previous owner did a **** job of painting - picture frames or pieces of furniture that press against the walls will often peel off little chunks of the top layer or two - but still, she wants to take it on, thinking it'll be no big deal. Last week, she got some paint samples and put them up - some were paint and some were 1' x 1' adhesive swatches. After deciding on the color, she peeled the swatches off the wall... and they took big chunks of paint with them, just huge peels. So now she's finally realizing what I've been telling her - painting is going to require some major prep. But she still wants to do it.

bampilot06

Just got another flat. In the history of my bike riding days all the way back to high school, flats always happen in threes. Went over a man hole and it went flat. I have more slashes in the tire as well.

WhyFi

I don't want to say, "I told you so," buuuuuut....



Really, though - I did get a lot of little nicks and punctures there, but maybe it'd be a good idea to talk to more of the local riders and see what they're doing and how frequently they're getting punctures.

abshipp 

Huh. I had no idea. I always thought of coal production as an eastern/Appalachian thing, but Illinois was apparently still the 4th largest producer in the U.S. 2014-2018.

bampilot06

Ill do that. I am convinced my tire is done. I ran my finger around every square inch the other day and didn’t find anything. The rim tape is good, no scratches in the rim.

WhyFi

We had a few of those growing up, as well. I think that they have some charm, and being able to sit on or lean against one on a cold day is nice and comforting. If we had an old house with those, I'd probably want to keep them just for that charm, but I'd want to put in radiant floors in addition, if possible.

I would get home at 5 or 6am, just exhausted from a long shift, but even so, I would be too disgusted to collapse in bed and I'd have to take a thorough shower, first.

abshipp 

When I smoked the era of smoking sections in restaurants had already passed, but it was still permissible in some bars.

Still, I never understood why anyone would want to smoke while they're eating. Afterwards, sure, but the combination never seemed appealing to me.

Now, sitting at a bar with a drink and a smoke, that was a nice feeling, but I sure am glad nowadays that indoor smoking isn't a thing anymore.

WhyFi

Cuts are really only a problem if they're big enough to compromise the casing (visual bulging) or if they're big enough and you ride through enough debris that it has a too-easy time of re-puncturing the tube. Some people like to fill in these kinds of cuts with shoe goo or the like. If the tire still has a decent amount of tread life left, I'd probably look at sealing those cuts, somehow.

Or, if you're just emotionally done with them, you could move on to something with better protection, if you're not ready for tubeless. Bah Humbug likes his Michelins, I think - I'm sure he'd be happy to advise.

Velo Vol 

RIP


DougRNS

MoAlpha

It is a closed system which runs hot water through radiators (1939 parts of house) and baseboard convectors (1970s addition) Hot feed and return pipes in the walls and floors also provide some radiant heat. Domestic HW is a separate as heater.

I believe hot water with convectors is the most efficient system in this climate.

phrantic09

We have a NG heat pump and fireplace. These houses were all built at a time when electric heat was far cheaper than gas so no ductwork etc. The heat pump heats the whole house easily.

phrantic09

That’s probably more a result of cheap paint vs a bad job. I’d bet if you cover it with something decent, you won’t have problems.

I’m normally a Ben Moore kind of guy, but we used Behr Marquee so we could stay in the same color family of other rooms in the house and I was really pleased with the coverage and quality. Every room I painted covered in one coat, even the light over dark colors.

LAJ

I must be an crusty old fart, because if I spent that amount of time looking at my tires, I'd never ride. A quick spin to make sure no bulges and cords, and off I go. I don't ride on tires that are square though, so that likely helps.

My choice? Vittoria Rubino Pro.

bampilot06

I was thinking about the GP5000 I thought they had decent puncture resistance. But after today, and I think the roads will be worse in the winter time, I am considering tubeless. I’ll have to see if my wheels are tubeless ready. Otherwise I will be sticking with tubes for awhile.

MoAlpha

How much does the resistance furnace have to run in the winter, though? Our heat pump system struggled in anything below freezing and blew air at a truly aversive temperature until the resistance heat went on and redlined the meter. The wood stove was a blessing and also got us through a week-long power outage in the winter of 1995. Winter temps must be a good 10º higher down here too.

bampilot06

Up to the first flat I never looked in detail at my tires. I did notice the they were starting to show wear.
Are those tubeless?

phrantic09

I guess it’s not technically a heat pump- it’s a direct vent furnace https://www.rinnai.us/product/direct...rnace/ex38ctwn

WhyFi

I think that it's a little bit of A and a little bit of B. We think that they put latex on top of an oil-based paint without a primer (or with a ****ty primer) between; the two layers just don't like each other. I think that putting another layer over the top, without addressing the lack of bond between those two layers, is just going mean thicker peels in the future. But again, I don't want any part of this if we're serious about moving next year.

MoAlpha

Oh, now I understand your post. Never seen that.

WhyFi

GP5000 are supposed to be good in the meat of the tread, but poor in terms of sidewall protection. If you're not riding in chunky debris/gravel, they might be all that you need.

The wheels should be tubeless ready - anything half-way decent is, these days. If they have a channel running down the middle of the rim bed and they have the plasticky rim tape, you should be good.

They make them in tubed and tubeless. I've thought about getting the tubeless ones for winter use - Excel has them at a good price.

Velo Vol 

How often did you have to shovel in coal?
Why?

Trsnrtr

Where I live, there are many closed underground mines and across the river, Peoria and Fulton counties had numerous strip mines but these are all done.

South of Lincoln, IL, there is a conveyor system from a mine that runs for miles along I-55. Where my family is from, SE of Champaign, there are still underground coal mines.

Trsnrtr

He said they have an automatic stoker...

Velo Vol 

Do I look like someone who knows what a stoker is?