ihadabadidea Member

If I rode like everyone else here, I would always be on the sidewalk. Also, I would ride a Next "mountain" bike, and I would leave it in the lowest gear so I could spin like mad to go 2 mph. :smile:

That's actually a genetic issue: some people have taste receptors for a chemical in Brussel sprouts and some don't. If you do, they taste really bitter. Before I found this out, I was confused as to why they always tasted freezer-burnt to me no matter how I prepared them. The same goes for cilantro tasting soapy to some…

I haven't ridden those trails, but in this region of the country, "crushed rock" means pea-size gravel made from chert dug up from old mines. You will have no problem at all with a standard tire or even a road bike tire provided it isn't super skinny.

Air up the tube enough to be round-ish Place the tube inside the tire Slide the valve through the hole in the rim and screw on the valve cap Get one side of the tire past the rim Slide the tire around until the valve is straight Get the other side of the tire past the rim starting at the valve Hold the valve in place as…

tl:dr: Ride them and see which one feels better. Steel comes in several grades, which come down to making the tubing stronger so that it can be thinner, although older high end tubing was usually so thin that it would have low weight limits, sometimes as little as 150 lbs. for the rider. Now that aluminum and carbon fiber…

LOL When I ring my bell (a Bell-brand bell which says "Bell" on it, because it was louder than any other bells I tried, and I like Xhibit jokes) on the local trails, there's about a 50% chance that the person in front of me is listening to music and will nearly crap their pants when I pass by them, despite plenty of room.…

Sodium is an electrolyte that in excess amounts can cause your body to retain water. Excess water in your blood can lead to higher blood pressure, and some people are more susceptible to this effect than others. People with cardiovascular problems are usually told to limit sodium in their diet to keep from putting extra…

TVP is also a good option - 1/4 cup (about 1/2 cup rehydrated) has 12g of protein and 4g of fiber for just 80 calories. All the pre-flavored versions I've tried have tasted awful, but it's easy to season the plain stuff and use it as a substitute for ground beef in recipes. My meat-eating wife loves TVP tacos.

M is for M & M's because everyone knows a satisfying serving size is one of those big bags.

I remember many years ago my mom and I made Salad Nicoise using Julia Child's recipe. Despite pretty normal ingredients (tuna, egg, anchovy, lettuce, etc.) it somehow ended up tasting exactly like how a home permanent smells. It made me cringe any time the salad was mentioned while reading "Layer Cake."

I just noticed the seat tube. Wasn't there a trend toward getting the wheelbase shortened as much as possible in the late 80s?

THIS. I haven't had to resort to underoos, but I was a bit freaked out when I tried on some pants and realized I was now in boy sizes. On that note, I hate it when people buy clothes for me because it's always WAY too big. Of course, it also means I get to pay a lot less for pants.

If you want comfort, a cruiser tire will be good for both street and trails. So long as it isn't a square section tire, it will likely be a lot lighter than your current tires.

This is a sport called auto pacing - the cyclist has a crazy high gear ratio and drafts behind a car to not only cut aerodynamic drag, but to use the effect of the low pressure area behind the pacing vehicle to help push the bike, much in the same way the air coming off a windshield on a convertible causes the air to move…

I bought a Recyclemirror a couple months ago. It took quite a bit of bending and poking for it to fit properly on my Giro Venti; I'm sure it would be almost drop in on a normal-sized helmet, Since I got it into place, I haven't had to touch it. The lens doesn't vibrate at all, and I can get get a good view of my…

Oil is no good because it doesn't do anything to shield the metal from contaminants. 3-in-1 is still advertised as a chain lube, but it's slightly acidic and is a dust magnet. I use White Lightning because the dirt around here adhears to anything else I've tried, even other wax lubes. When I get a new project bike…

I recently realized that I now fit into boys' jeans, and I feel really weird looking for them at clothing stores. I'm sure there are small women that feel the same way about having to buy clothes in the kid's department.

I can't understand why any conversation about fast food turns into "McDonalds is terrible for you but really good." It's just as terrible taste-wise as it is health-wise.

My road saddle is a Cloud 9 Charity which has pink lacing and a big pink breast cancer ribbon on it. It may look goofy for a man's bike, but it fits me perfectly.

Specialized saddle dealers (Note: not the same as a Specialized bicycle dealer) have an "*kitten*-o-meter" for measuring sit bones which will help you get a lot closer to finding the right saddle. Once you know an approximate width, you can narrow down possible saddles to a few models.

You may also need to adjust the bar angle: sometimes all-over numbness can be caused by having a little more pressure on one part of your hand. Ideally, you should be able to reach straight out from your torso and grab the drops without flexing your wrists.

Exactly this. The bikes at BikesDirect cut a lot of corners to hit a price point and that means cheaper components than you'd find in a seemingly similar bike shop bike, usually in less noticed things like spokes or headsets. They're still much better than you'd get at a big box store, but you're getting a $500 bike for…

Also, if you ever put your bike on a car rack, your bike must be worth more than the car. I'm waiting for my mail person to show up with a brake cable for my latest project bike and some Nimbus tires to replace the awful Kwests that came with my 3 speed. Come to think of it, my project bike has the Nimbus tires that made…

I just moved to a new town, so my goal is to learn the streets and use my bike as much as possible for errands; mostly, it's about learning how to avoid a few major roads and streets with lots of stops and dead ends. My wife was shocked that I made a 5 mile round trip to pick up something from Home Depot - this from the…

In b4 "Should I eat my exercise calories?" That's the point of this site: enter in your details and goals, and it calculates automatically. Basically, it works like this: You can safely lose 1-2 lbs. per week. 1 lb. of fat = 3,500 calories, which means eating 500-1,000 fewer calories per day than your body needs to…

For soup, just measure your bowls so you know how much they hold. By the time you're finished, you'll know how much was in the pot and divide accordingly. Don't forget that you can edit your recipes, but they won't change what you previously logged. Quite often, I'll go back an edit the portions if they change: This is…

Tried a Nirve and HATED it. I think I could get used to a crank forward it if I rode one for a while, but it just felt weird. Ended up with a Gran Royale Aristocrat from Nashbar, which was selling for about half what comparable bikes were going for. It reminds me a lot of my old Columbia 3 speed, except it's half the…

Looks a lot like the lymphadema pump my mom had, albeit much, much cheaper. Granted, if you're using one of these, you aren't in danger of having severe nerve damage if the pumping action isn't precise. Medically, these are used as a replacement for massage: The chambers fill and deflate in succession, squeezing the legs…

"Cheat" meals usually go alongside lots of exercise because I end up going somewhere, walking all over the place, and then eating food I can't get at home. Earlier this week, my wife and I took off to go to an amusement park and some nearby shops. It was easy to fit in ice cream, omelets, and Korean food after walking 4+…

That looks way too heavy. Fortunately, I know a quick way to lighten it up without resorting to pricey carbon fiber.