Washedupcynic @ Washedupcynic @lemmy.ca Posts 5Comments 28Joined 1 mo. ago
I have only personally ridden on Gary Fishers, Treks, cannondales, and GT bikes. Among those 4 brands that I rode, there wasn't much difference between bikes made with similar materials and components other than price. A used bike that's been tuned up is just as good as a new one. As a teenager in the 1990's my first bike was a 10 speed Raleigh from the 60's. I got the bike for free and had to replace the tires, tubes, brakes, gears and chain. I was lucky that the front and rear derailleurs were in good condition after all that time, those are a bit more pricey to fix. I've purchased many high end bikes used for cheap because people with tons of money to burn want something fancy, then end up never using the damn things except to ride around their neighborhood. If you're just starting out, get a used bike. This way if you decide it isn't for you, you haven't spent a mortgage payment on the damn thing. Something like this is likely up your alley brand new: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/contend-3 The frame here I believe is an aluminum frame and it's kind of what you would spend these days for something entry level. Trek and cannondale entry level bikes are even more expensive. The last road bike I had was a women's specific trek, hybrid carbon fiber/aluminum. I spent $1400 on that bike new 20 years ago. I rode that bike for 20 years, and I would still have it if it hadn't been stolen. If you properly maintain your bike it can last a lifetime.
When purchasing a bike, imagine a triangle. One side is cost, one side is strength, one side is speed. Pick two. A cheap strong bike sacrifices speed. A cheap fast bike sacrifices strength. A strong fast bike sacrifices money.
Do not shop for a new bike at department stores like walmart, target, or places like dicks sporting goods. The bikes get assembled by random minimum wage workers that don't know what they are doing, you'll end up with something that is poorly tuned right out of the box. New bikes generally need tweaking no matter what after being ridden for a while because the break/shifter cables stretch out a bit once you start riding. Find a local shop that only sells bikes. You might be able to find models that are a few years old, but still new at a better price than the latest bike to hit the market. Bike shops might also have a good selection of decent used bikes to sell too.
Gnarly Old Pedophiles.
I'd go with an aluminum frame road bike if your intent is to work up to a 100 mile bike ride. Steel is more durable, but it is also way heavier which means over a longer ride, you are using more energy to keep things moving.
Why a road bike vs a hybrid or a mountain bike? Road bikes, hybrids, and mountain bikes all have different gear ratios, which impact your top speed. There are also weight differences between mountain bike frames, vs road bike frames, vs hybrids that also come into play. The rim/tire diameter impacts how far you travel per revolution. Even the way that tires are designed on these bikes make a difference.
-The gear ratio on a road bike can allow you to hit speeds of 50 mph while you are pedaling downhill. Depending on the mountain bike, your max speed might be closer to 20-30 miles per hour.
-Shocks on a mountain bike or hybrid will slightly rock as you pedal. This is stealing energy from you over long periods of time making your pedaling less efficient.
-Mountain bikes and sometimes hybrids traditionally have smaller rim/tire diameters, meaning you travel less distance per full turn of the wheel.
-In terms of tire design, most road tires are almost bald. This is because on a flat, dry surface you will generate enough friction to keep the tires from slipping. Mountain bikes have lots of knobs made to dig into the road/gravel/dirt, and tend to be a bit heavier. You may feel like you are less likely to slip with them, especially on wet road surface, but over a long ride they will make you less efficient and more tired. With hybrid tires, you're looking at the worst of both worlds. The center of the tire is mostly bald, while the edge of the tire is knobby. If you're trying to go for speed on a hybrid, like a road bike, you will find that the knobs on the edge fuck with the friction you're generating in a turn, and the tires are more likely to skid/slip.
If you're an every day rider going on short 10 mile rides you probably won't feel much of a difference, between a road vs MTB, but on a long ride, I promise you will feel it. I did my first ever century ride on an aluminum mountain bike where I swapped out the MTB tires for baldies to try and make it more like a road bike. My suspension system on the mountain bike could also be locked to make the fork stiff. My first ride took me 10 hours and my average speed was about 16 mph. The second year I switched to an aluminum/carbon fiber road bike and I cut my time in half, avg speed was 25 mph.
Is over training a thing? It sure is. If you aren't using cleats to clip into the pedals to take advantage of your opposite leg pulling up, while your main leg is pushing down, you end up having your quads doing all of the work, and they become overdeveloped. Overdeveloped or imbalanced quadriceps muscles can potentially contribute to a condition known as patella alta, or "high-riding patella". This condition occurs when the kneecap (patella) sits higher than normal in the groove of the thighbone (femur). While often a congenital or developmental condition, it can be influenced by muscle imbalances around the knee. As someone that experienced this first hand, it hurts, a lot. For me, this condition developed over 20 years of constant cycling; (I cycle to commute and exercise.) As long as you can do it safely, without inflaming old injuries, you should find ways to work your other leg muscles to keep things in balance to prevent this.
In terms of training for a century, everyone is different. I spent a year training on a mountain bike and gym bike/spinning before I even attempted a century ride. Before you sign up for a long ride sign up for shorter rides, sag supported rides. Start with 20, then 40, then 60 mile rides. (Sag support means there is a vehicle that follows behind the cyclists to offer support, or pit stops along the route to help with breakdowns, snacks, water ect.) Before I did my first century, on my bastardized mountain bike, I was able to do a 60 mile ride no problem. On the century ride, I hit my wall around 80 miles, the last 20 were pure torture.
Other considerations - learn to fix a flat tire, and make a point to carry spare inner tubes, a pump, and a pressure gauge, or pump with gauge for ANY ride that will take you away from where you can get reliable transportation or a ride to pick you up if you have a flat. In my area, the roads are absolute dogshit and full of major potholes, which are sometimes unavoidable resulting in a pinch flat. A pinch flat, also known as a snakebite, is a type of flat tire on a bicycle caused by the inner tube being pinched between the tire and the rim, typically due to underinflation or a hard impact. This results in two small, parallel holes in the tube, resembling a snakebite. Having your tires at the max allowable psi/barr will go a long way to prevent this, but you will experience more flats on a road vs mountain bike.
The single player, story-focused rogue-like still remains a mystery, announced for PS5 in December 2022.
Dafuq did I just read?
This is the most hilarious comment in the thread. I appreciate a good pun!
As a US resident, watching Trump fuck around with the tariffs meant pc prices were going to skyrocket. During the election I worked OT to save money and was able to buy an upgrade to a gtx4060, (I had a 1060,) and a processor that's from a chipset made within the past 2 years. Bought my new one in March. Seemed like a no brainer if the prices of things inside the country were going to go up $300-500. The average person in the US can't afford to upgrade their machines every year when a new card comes out. I make a living wage and I go 5-7 years before I upgrade. I'd bet that the uptick is being caused by financial uncertainty, and the people that have been wanting to upgrade realized that it would be financially better to upgrade ASAP before what was already on the shelves dried up, and getting hit with the tariff by waiting a few months later for the next round of imports. Couple this with AAA makers raising game prices and chopping the full game up into DLC to squeeze more out of us, plenty of people are moving to PC so they can raise the black flag, or play multiplayer games without having to pay a god damned subscription fee to the console makers. I convinced my g/f to buy a PC this past year and she loves it. I went PC after the PS3/Xbox 360 gen of consoles and never looked back. Edit: I also forgot that windows 11 was released, and may people do not have chipsets that will support win11, my old PC was one of them.
Gillibrand turned into an absolute corporate shill.
For me the point I want to make is that none of us are safe. We need to protect due process for everyone. Yes there are a subset of people that don't care about the gov. deporting non citizens. If they see it's happening to citizens, maybe they will start to care, maybe they will see how wrong it is to violate the rights of immigrants. I dunno. Like how do you reach these people to show them how wrong it all is?
This was a separate incident from the lady detained while walking to her office building.
Every projection is a confession. Gestures vaguely at ice gestapo, deportations of people to countries that aren't their origin, deportations to prisons outside the US, and the constitution allowing slavery as punishment of a crime.
Remember when the Democrats cock blocked AOC from the oversight committee in favor of a 75 year old with esophageal cancer, that ended up dying anyway? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Rep Paul Tonko is one of the NY reps that voted no to impeach. I work 2 blocks from his office and plan to spend my lunch hour every day demonstrating in front of his Albany office. I already called his office to removed. I've got printed letters that say, "Congratulations, you're a fascist collaborator." Going to be stuffing those in envelopes with glitter and putting one in the mail every single day. Give me your best for my protest signs.
ICE Arrested a Pregnant Tennessee Woman — While in Detention in Louisiana, She had a Stillbirth
Have you heard about the dangers of dihydrogenoxide?
Watching anything that fElon fail sparks joy.
Are we sure it was an ectopic pregnancy, and not gallstones caused by her diet?
For those not in the know, covenant house is a homeless shelter for kids based in NYC. They house homeless children up to age 21. I emancipated myself when I was 16 and started college. Stupid me didn't realize that the dorms closed during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays. Going back home for the holidays was out of the question because my mother let my rapist back into the house to live with her, (the reason why I emancipated myself in the first place.) I spent every holiday my freshman year of college at covenant house. I slept on a mat in a room with a bunch of other kids, but it was better than being on the streets and I didn't go hungry. I learned my lesson after that year and rented a room sophomore-senior instead of deciding to live in dorm housing. For anyone that knows any homeless children that need help, they have a crisis line called the 9 line. 1-800-999-9999.
This happens to me no matter what I drink.
Canada, please boycott, ridicule, and fuck the USA over harder. As a NYer I apologize for the absolute vile creature our population elected into office. We deserve consequences. Invest in the military and secure your borders. Once this fascist is done with his campaign of terror on his own citizens, expect him to attempt and invasion. Stay strong. Many of us are doing all we can to resist. Please pray for us.
Alternatively: And put them on Trump