I got valve cores. Shop had to dig them out of a set of new tubeless valves and then wouldn’t charge me. Left money on the desk. Replaced em and still lost air. Turns out the side walls of these runny arse tires are done. Bit the bullet and got tubes. Got the tires off and the 3oz of sealant per tire was barely coating them so it was not a mess.
Felt like a real bike shop customer these past 24 hours
Feels bad man.
Putting juiced tubes in the ss so I can ride tomorrow cause I couldn’t get my hands on a decent 34.9 chairpole collar in less than a week
Old Stan’s was naaaasty
Yeah I think once I’m out of the business I’m done with bikes all together
Bikes are stupid. Don’t ride them.
Or move to the greater Richmond area and help me open another (competitively) low stress shop.
It sounds like Philly is half the problem.
Philly is a problem for sure but the industry at large is what has me making moves.
That being said, Richmond is on our short list for relocating.
Richmond is rad, if your specific industry and income is enough to support you— especially in the last few years it seems the cost of living has escalated way beyond wages. like the jobs/compensation is still from 2010-15 but homes cost almost as much as nova or the west coast. most of my friends have moved out of the greater fan which is sad. I left because architecture was a very small industry at the time and datacenters hadn’t hit VA yet so jobs weren’t paying
Everywhere on our list has this wages/COL problem. It’s pretty terrifying, especially coming from a place as cheap as Philly.
Richmond is definitely at the top of my short list whenever I inevitably move back east. Assuming it hasn’t changed at all since 2016 I love that place!
maybe high-rise crossbar handlebars
Rode my cross bike on green MTB trails. I remembered that the last time I did this, I wasn’t on cross tires and did it on some 45s instead. I had to be very gentle around all the roots and rocks. Even then, there was lots of bottoming out and rim strikes at 35psi. I was just trying to not put more dents in the rim and to avoid destroying an $80 challenge tires that took me 3 hours to mount.
But it was super fun. It was mostly about getting to know how the bike handles since this has been my road/gravel bike up to now. I’m excited about racing it.
Did a work trade with my friend…he’s gonna rehang my bathroom window and I’m putting a new fork on his bike.
Jeeeeesus Christ. His chain had a millimeter or two of grimey mud caked on it and wasn’t routed through the second pulley properly so it was rubbing on the cage. Front derailleur was rubbing the chain in both rings. Shift cable was frayed and the pinch bolt was holding on to the four strands of intact cable. Biggest cog was limited out. He just did a three night bikepacking trip with his chain on wrong. That blows my mind.
Doing the lords work. It’s amazing what people don’t notice isn’t it
Imagine what he’s telling his weird home repair internet friends about your bathroom right now.
I always volunteer to fix bikes for friends and it’s always a nightmare. I keep v brake pads in stock despite not owning any bikes with v brakes because people always need new pads.
I worked on a friends early 90s mongoose the other day and the original pads were so worn that the ridges were totally gone and they barely touched the rim.
That bike had seen zero maintenance since it rolled out the door of the shop 30 years ago.
put a new drivetrain on it last night, shimmed the dropper, installed the weehoo hitch, and rode kid and her friend to the playground today. didn’t get a chance to put the granola moose bars on. bike no longer creaks.
thanks for the cheap drivetrain bits @igor. moose bars go on on ~friday
