I listen to what the pro’s do wayyy to much.
I run big chainrings to boost my ego even if it means I have to do 300w up every hill. Think 46t chainring 1x with a 44 out back. 15 to 20% gravel climbs are normal. But honestly, I started that way and now kinda like the gearing. I guess I always race up hills anyways. And as I get faster, a 46-10 becomes more used.
I will not fix things so I have an excuse to buy a new bike. I let my drivetrain get outdated and worn out. My wheels and so on. Then I say “well ill just buy a new bike” when I could just upgrade my parts.
For a person who makes less then minimum wage, I spend money on my bikes like I make 200k.
I think the argument of “It’s easier to work on” for things like axs and internal cable routing is dumb.
I judge people harshly for there bike set up. Like Titanium bike with deep carbon wheels. Judged.
I scroll through Pinkbike and buycyle like its instagram and just look at bike pics.
Finally, my hoods point down like 15 degree’s. And I ride on the very edge of them. Not sure why or how I started doing this but now level hoods feel pointed up and lazy.
Yeah it turned out fine. The cassette is on there and the T-Type derailleur is working perfect.
The whole thing confuses me though. I realized the reason I missed the spacer, is because per SRAM’s spec an XDR driver needs a spacer for a GX cassette. However, the non T-Type GX cassette I was replacing also didn’t have a spacer. I wasn’t expecting the spacer configuration to change, hence why I just threw it on.
I took it by my local Giant dealer and they said to run it however it came from the factory… It’s on there with no spacer and works fine. I haven’t seen a spec from SRAM on exactly how much clearance there should be between cassette and deraillurer mount, but it works.
It didn’t change, someone screwed up the old style GX Eagle cassette install also. And yeah, it seems to work without the spacer. When I missed the one a week or so ago, I ended up doing a group ride that night on it and didn’t even notice any bad shifting (and didn’t adjust anything). I didn’t realized I missed it until I was lying in bed that night and it dawned on me and I fixed it the next day. I’d think being off by that much would matter, but it seemed fine. But I was also riding on gravel, so maybe it was working but making noise and I just didn’t notice.
Brutal. If only you could have 2 chainrings, a big one for flats and a small one for climbs. Now that would be an interesting setup.
Similarly, I go to r/bikeporn on Reddit. But I go to specifically downvote all the haters. People that are just there to make fun or make mean comments.
What‘s bad with that? I thought about my next bike to be something like this.
I judge people on expensive commuters (carbon bikes). And I overtake them on my single-speed steel bike which looks and sounds like it‘s going to fall apart every moment. I‘m not going to use a „better“ bike for <15km of cycling, not worth the prep-time.
This bike also has a loud freewheel. If you overtake me while I wait at a red light and then cycle too slow, I will stay behind you and pedal as minimal as possible TICK TICK TICK I will also make absolutely no effort to overtake TICK TICK TICK you chose the be in front of me TICK TICK.
(The freewheel actually stressed people out, I had some of them stop and wave to let me pass.)
Also to be clear from my side: I’m talking about commuters. Funny enough I don’t judge people in full jersey because they could be on an “easy ride” (I actually admire people doing that).
It makes no sense I know.
Edit: I think the reason is that I feel bad for expensive bikes being used for short commuting.
I have to add myself for an embarrassing screw up today. Swapping out a cockpit, fully integrated cables, nice and hidden, and I got everything routed and hooked up (hydraulic brakes). Took a good 30 minutes just getting the hydraulic lines routed through the stem/bars. Started the bleed process on the rear brake, had the bleed cup on the right lever (maybe you can see where this is going), but the fluid wouldn’t push through. I opened the bolt but no fluid would go through. Then it hit me. I put the syringe on the front caliper and worked like a charm. I mixed up the lines. I connected the rear brake to the left, and the front brake to the right. Cue all the British riders asking what the problem is.
I’ll admit I briefly considered just leaving it but it’s my race bike and I could just see myself crashing because I forgot the levers were swapped (cue Tour de France footage of Tejay van Garderen missing a turn after taking his British teammate’s bike).
30 minutes later and a few choice curse words, I swapped them back. Thankful that I always leave some slack to make at least one cut in the hydraulic lines without needing to run new hoses.
You never know, come lunchtime they may be about to put their expensive commuter through the wringer, either a workout, or an informal race with colleagues. I was invited to the lunchtime rides of a certain government department. It was non-drop, but boy, some sections of the ride were proper smashfests.
Unless you can get in a beneficial workout on a commute, I think Z1 is the way to commute. Least impact on the workouts that count. (Perhaps that belongs in the unpopular opinions thread. )
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