What are your embarrassing or shameful bike confessions?

You forgot to note that your “two years” also covered like 30,000 kilometers. For most folks, “two years” barely racks up 1/10th of that. :slight_smile:

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Covered 38,000km and yes many barely touch a tenth of thst.

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I have some bike socks for race days, but I mostly train in Walmart socks and cheap non-bib shorts. I’ve also never shaved my legs. I put my glasses inside my helmet straps. I take pictures with my crankarms at non-3 o clock angles. Lol

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So, what is #3 going to be?

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I secretly feel smug and superior for still riding a bike with rim brakes and mechanical shifters. Damn kids and all their new fandangled tech. “I’ll show you how fast I am on this old school beast!” as I get dropped on every f-ing climb :joy:

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Grim stuff. I’m doing LEL this year, planning on carrying a complete spare kit, and having one in each drop bag too - plus probably taking some detergent to wash one somewhere convenient.

I can’t imagine not wanting a fresh clean chamois pad at regular intervals to stave off saddle sores.

I ride a recumbent so a sweaty chamois is not something I need to worry about

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Rim brakes and mech shifting here too!

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We are a dying breed (although I suspect rim brakes may make a comeback)!

Long live the spoon brake.

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On solid tyres I presume?

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As much as I still like my rim brakes and never had a problem* with them, the best thing about disk brakes is the clearance for modern wider rims and tires.

*I’ve actually had tons of problems with bleeding brakes, out of true rotors, squealing rotors, etc.

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Agreed on both counts. I’m currently running 28mm, and I’m going to see if I can fit 30mm on the next tire change. If they fit, the clearance will be 2-3mm :sweat_smile:. I’d love to try 32’s, but I’m ok as is.

And yes, rim brakes are super easy to work on, and replacement pads and cables are super cheap. I prefer to do most of the maintenance on my bikes myself, and frankly, I don’t really want to invest in new tools and learn a whole new system of cleaning/maintenance (and I’m sure replacement parts are way more expensive).

I’ll stick with rim brakes for as long as I can. I had a really hard time finding carbon wheels with a rim brake surface last year, so by the next time I want to buy wheels I may need to go with used, or very expensive “rare” wheels.

I’ll reconsider if I move to a place with long fast decents or a very rainy place. I’ve got all the stopping power I need.

I ordered a 32mm tyre for my rim braked bike by mistake and I thought it 'd be too tight, but when I fitted it last year I found out there was plenty of room. IIRC around 36mm + would be the failure point.

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I bought some Hunt Aerodynamicist 62s this spring. I’ve had my eyes on Hunt for some time since they’re about the only wheel manufacturer that still makes rim road wheels.

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I don’t know what their shipping charges are but another to consider is CORE SuperLight Rim Brake – Scribe Cycling

Often I can’t be bothered to look for socks when riding the turbo. So I ride without them.

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About a month ago I had the bright idea to take apart my rival, explorer rear derailer jockey wheels to clean them up because it sounded so squeaky. It turned out that it was just my chain that needed to be waxed. However, I had a hell of a time putting it back together and I couldn’t ever get the shifting dialed in. It was barely rideable so I wrote it of course and I just now got around to taking a closer look at it. It ends up the upper shocky wheel has a dust cap with a slightly larger hole than the other side, which allows the jockey wheel to fit snuggly onto a mount. I didn’t realize it at the time and just finally figured it out. This is after I re-waxed my chain, which is a flat top, installed it upside down like a bone head, and I was forced to reckon with my miserable shifting. This is not to mention the fact that I try to attach my upper jockey wheel to the pivot the first time around anyhow all is good now I can’t believe what I’ve gone ahead I am sometimes.

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I loose vast amounts of watts because I HATE tight fitting clothes, especially jerseys, and often ride long road rides in flappy trousers and t-shirts.

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In te same way audaxers ride side by side chatting rather than working as a group into the wind.

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