That’s so sexual.
That’s so sexual.[/quote]
See 0:48 and 1:08 for my appraisal
Josh probably has some good stories. I never seem to be around when the good stuff happens. Probably because i hate fun. I did meet a lady who claims she’s the spawn of a wolf and a bear. And another woman who wanted a saddle that would not hurt her vagina bone.
TC: I really want to build another one of those front wheel contraptions for just fucking around outside.
Yeah. I get a lot of those dudes at my real job and I just feel bad for them. They’re usually pretty lonely and fucked up and having a hard time of everything.
Used to see dudes like that all the time at the coop. You feel sorry at first, but repeat offenders get really tiresome. There was one crazy middle-aged dude in Santa Cruz who always smelled terrible and would always special order like $7 worth of stuff and then keep badgering us every day about whether we had gotten it in yet, no matter how many times we would tell him that we sending out the order on the nth of x-tober and not any sooner than that. Then he would start talking about his adventures in Nisene Marks state park that seemed to mostly consist of riding his mountain bike on the road and nothing ever happening. Then he would typically start talking about tires and how his Specialized tires were super awesome because of the siping on the tread, then he would explain what siping was. Every fucking day, usually for about a week at a time. He would usually be outside the door at 10:30, even though we opened at 11. We just stopped asking him what he wanted until 11:00 on the dot.
I eventually took on the task of steering him out of the coop and having the siping conversation outside, where his smell was easier to deal with and he didn’t scare away customers. I usually just went around the back of the shop, smoked a fatty spliff and then came back and ate my lunch while he rambled on and on and on and on and on. It was much easier to be interested in his aimless rambling while SAF.
i’m perty sure that the most annoying/insane bike shop customer is jesus
and he is coming back to test bike shop employees
to see if you are worthy to get into heaven
better treat them nice
Totally. But if Jesus walked in that door and wanted to talk about siping for an hour, I would get SAF and eat a burrito first.
[quote=deadforkinglast]Totally. But if Jesus walked in that door and wanted to talk about siping for an hour, I would get SAF and eat a burrito first.[/quote]pretty sigg worthy, atmo
Siping is a process of cutting thin slits across a rubber surface to improve traction in wet or icy conditions.
Siping was invented and patented in 1923 by John F. Sipe [1][2] The story told on various websites is that, in the 1920s, Sipe worked in a slaughterhouse and grew tired of slipping on the wet floors. He found that cutting slits in the tread on the bottoms of his shoes provided better traction than the uncut tread.
The process was not applied to vehicle tires on a large scale until the 1950s, when superior tread compounds were developed that could stand up to the siping process. On roads covered with snow, ice, mud, and water, sipes usually increase traction. A US patent to Goodyear claimed sipes improve tire traction as well, and tend to close completely in the tire “footprint” on the road. A 1978 study by the US National Safety Council found siping improved stopping distances by 22 percent, breakaway traction by 65 percent, and rolling traction by 28 percent on glare ice.
Tire tread block shapes, groove configurations, and sipes affect tire noise pattern and traction characteristics. Typically, wide, straight grooves have a low noise level and good water removal. More lateral grooves usually increase traction. Sipes are small grooves that are cut across larger tread elements. Up to a point, more sipes give more traction in snow or mud.
As is often the case, there are compromises. Winter tires, and “mud and snow” tires, may have thousands of sipes and give good traction. But, they may feel “squirmy” on a warm, dry road. Treadless racing “slicks” on dry roads give maximum traction. These have no sipes, no grooves, and no tread blocks. They also have very poor traction however on even slightly wet surfaces. Tire manufacturers use different tread rubber compounds and tread designs for different tires’ usages.
Large sipes are usually built into the tread during manufacturing. Sipes may also be cut into the tread at a later date, called “microsiping”. Bandag developed a machine for microsiping which places a curved knife blade at a slight angle on a rotating drum. The drum is placed so when it is pressed against the tread the tire is pressed into an exaggerated hollow, as if driving down a rail. The drum is lubricated and rotated and the knife makes a series of diagonal cuts across the tread. For improved traction, the tire may be siped twice, leaving diamond-shaped blocks. A significant problem with field siping is that the tread picks up rocks, glass, and other hard road debris in use, and even with thorough cleaning the knife service life is often poor.
Microsiping can dramatically improve tire traction in rain and snow. However, microsiped tires may also have increased road noise and tire wear when operated on dry surfaces. ConsumerReports.org recommends against adding more than “the sipes that your tires come with” because of longevity and dry performance. [3] Some companies such as Les Schwab claim that microsiped tires reduce tire friction heat and tire wear and extends the life of the tire. [4]
In Massachusetts in the 1970s, it was legal to operate a school bus with bald tires, provided they were double microsiped.
Both Bridgestone and Michelin sell snow tires that are siped at the factory, while Saf-Tee Siping and Grooving sells machines that can sipe most standard vehicle tires. Siping can also be done by hand. Be aware that siping the tires can void the manufacturer’s warranty.
/heath
Yep. A normal person, even one who doesn’t know what they’re doing, will stop after a second of “pffft”, but this guy just lays into it like he’s just going to will his tube into inflating. It’s alarming at first, then I look and see it’s him and get ready to explain the presta valve process again.
[quote=stiffytruck]i’m perty sure that the most annoying/insane bike shop customer is jesus
and he is coming back to test bike shop employees
to see if you are worthy to get into heaven
better treat them nice[/quote]
Goddammit, I try.
Read the entire thing, found it enlightening
Read the entire thing, found it enlightening[/quote]
totally, thanks wikiheath.
Yep. A normal person, even one who doesn’t know what they’re doing, will stop after a second of “pffft”, but this guy just lays into it like he’s just going to will his tube into inflating. It’s alarming at first, then I look and see it’s him and get ready to explain the presta valve process again.[/quote]
The pattern that I’ve noticed is that people who decide in advance that they cannot use a pump are typically correct. Most (not all) stupid people are stupid by choice, even if they don’t know it. I think it’s easier for them to declare themselves stupid in advance of trying, which usually gets someone else to do it for them.
“hey guys, do you have a pump i can use?”
(wheels walmart special into the shop towards the mechanic area, both tires are clearly flat and the bike is more rusty than a sunken ship)
“uhh, yeah bud. right as you walk in the door there is a pump underneath the 3 ft. wide sign that says ‘free air’”
“oh, thats what that sign said”
every. damn. day.
I’ve walked up to shops to discover that their free air only works for shrader or only went up to like 60psi so I’ve asked to use a floor pump. But I usually carry a road morph so it’s mostly a non issue, but it has happened.
“i need a bike for my 10 year old son that will last him until college”
everyday.