Did you really just say that to a Minnesotan? :notamused:

:p

Hey, don’t blame me for your poor life choices. ;)

Actually I think it would be an awesome place to live if they could fix that little winter issue.

You know what's dumb?

On my ride yesterday I was thinking about building up a road fixed gear...partly because fixies are fun, but also for the upcoming winter since I could wear normal winter gloves and not have to worry about shifting :(

I've got a refund coming. Lots of spending options for it.

How about a sweet audio system with some golden oldies from DougRNS's collection?

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4b89bcd07f.jpg

8-track, sweet!!!

Hopefully that phonograph plays 78s, if not then keep shopping, VV.

:) It's not so bad. If I go down to ~20°, it's only a few months on the trainer per year. I can deal with that.

Yeah, I've been thinking about the changing seasons already, too, but mostly w/r/t to sunrise. I've gotten used to that off-day ~6am ride, but I'm not going to have light at that time forever. :( I suppose that I could look up the tables, and usable light will probably stretch further in to the autumn than I expect, but I'll just wing it.

wut are normal winter gloves?

I wear puffy ones and can still shift.

Translation: The government is going to pay back that interest free loan you gave it. And when I used to get refunds I would file by early February at the latest and get my loans paid back within about 1 week.

Rochester is interesting.

I wouldn’t mind one for crappy wx days that I could also take on gravel. I used to own a bianchi pista wish I never got rid of it.

You forgot the quotes around "interesting."

how silly of me.

Ugh, I kind of forgot about that :notamused:

I've always thought about moving my work shift to a 6AM start so that I can clock out at 2:30 and still have some light afterwards in the darker months, but a 4:30 wakeup always feels way too early.

I use puffy ones as well, but I've had trouble before with some older 10 speed Ultegra and those types of gloves. I don't have those shifters anymore though, so we'll see how the 5800s that are waiting in the wings work out. Obviously downtube shifters are no issue, even with mittens.

It remains to be seen whether any of my bikes will retain those, though, I'm waffling in between putting the 5800s on the Trek or replacing the 7 speed Campy drivetrain on the SLT.

I'm pretty sure that the shifting internals of the 5800s are the same as my RS505. The one niggle with gloves is that if you lightly catch the big lever in an attempt to use the little lever, you'll get nothing - it's like a ratchet doesn't catch and there's no resistance or (obv) shift. Excellent, otherwise.

Same.

I think the ones I used to have were 6600 with the cables coming out the side. Same kind of issue, I think. Could be wrong, It's been years. I just remember riding my CX bike in the cold and being annoyed with the shifting in some way.

Good info to know about the 5800s though. I am leaning towards putting them on the SLT since I found out that my wheels are 11 speed compatible, and the gaps in my current 7s cassette are getting annoying.

That would leave the 10s DA stuff on the Trek, and is making me think about keeping it fully retro and maybe doing a partial harlequin wrap with cloth tape and then shellacking the bars. Which for someone who can't leave well enough alone with changing components in and out would be a bit of a big step :lol:

I, like almost everyone back in the fixie fad days, thought that the Pista was the coolest thing ever. Nowadays I don't think I would buy one, especially since the pistadex is still quite healthy around here.

I don't know if you've looked into it at all, but the Kilo WT is pretty well regarded, takes 45mm tires and options for fenders and racks.

Oddly, I find myself considering becoming a chain-waxer. I'm down to three regular riders now. And I saw a pic of a chain coiled up in a tuna can on the stovetop. That I could do.

I wonder if the wife would allow me to abuse a tuna can in this fashion

They'll have to pry the downtube shifters out of my..........

Their university is inferior but sure, I guess.

I bought mine in 2009 for 200.00, it was in really good condition too.

Wow! I had forgotten what an aerobic workout weed whacking can be/is. I'm glad I'm able to do it again though. In the early recovery days, I had considered selling both the weedeater and the chainsaw. I used both this morning.

, I think my hotel is In the middle of downtown, which looked cool driving it but after walking around a bunch my comfort level was relatively low.

I paid all of $11 for a dedicated, small Crock-Pot. Also, I'm getting about 500 miles between chain swaps. No additional lubing or drive train cleaning. With the quick connect links, it's so easy. Other than the initial degreasing, it's so low maintenance.