What really makes me angry about this is around 35% of Americans rent. That’s a third of people who have no ability to avoid the rapid increase in electricity costs. And I have no idea just how many with their own house have the capital, or legal ability (HOAs), to install solar.
Good luck with your solar install. Signed, a grid tied user with $0.56/kwh power.
You’ll end up with less housing that way. Let alone the extra costs you’re taxing on people who don’t or cannot drive.
Flip the law around. Deny registering a car without proof of a parking spot. No spot for your car? No car for you.
That blows. I recently had a pinch-flat on clean asphalt (!!!) that wouldn’t take a patch in the field and was forced to walk the last 5 km.
Two things I’d check into besides the tube: the tire casing and the tube install. Sometimes a puncture through the tire’s fabric breaks too many strands or cuts through both biases. In that case the tire is toast as any tube will push through the puncture the moment you start riding on it. It’s this kind of tire failure for why I keep a tire boot in my repair bag.
I’ve also seen tubes get damaged when using tire levers. Those usually fail with tears and little bubbles of weakness. If at all possible, do not use a tire lever for anything but removing a tire. I’ve had very good tubes be fatally damaged in this way.
It’s a comic from WokelyCorrect. I’d be surprised if they even know how to ride transit.
A new gas motorbike in Vietnam is less than 1,000 USD. Used ones go for a few hundred USD. Or at least it was when I was visiting Vietnam last year.
That’s great to know. I’ll keep that in mind when I need a new set of tires.
The 38 tires should really help on the rougher paths. Maybe I’ll pick them up when I wear out my current set.
I haven’t tried the front rack yet. Not out of dislike but because I usually pack nothing or way too much. 🤣
Same goes with fenders. I haven’t installed them, and probably won’t. It’s too sunny where I’m from.
The frame is made in Vietnam. The quality is alright, not amazing but certainly appropriate for the price point. No issues with it so far and better than some frames I’ve seen from the PRC.
It can roll without a rolling rack, but not easily. Good enough for a few feet here and there. I suggest going for the rolling rack if you want to push it around train platforms and such. The saddle is padded on the underside though. It’s nice when going up stairs.
One more thing: the drive train is exposed when folded. Watch out for dirty chains and be careful when loading it into a car. It’s easy to damage the derailleur hanger or disk brake if it tips over. Support the bike with a box or tie it down when transporting it.
I own a Tern Verge D9. It’s a functional and sporty folder.
The Verge is a snappy feeling ride. Think road-bike handing. The tires are also good, but at 30mm it won’t like anything rougher than hard-pack dirt. They’re also ISO 451, not the more common 406. This size has fewer tires to choose from for a slightly nicer roll. It’s up to you to not if that’s a worthy hassle.
FYI, the magnetic latch is terrible. You will have chipped paint on the fork. I don’t mind but you may.
Careful folding and unfolding. The stem fold likes to bite the brake and shifting lines. That will screw up shifting.
The matching rack they sell uses oversized tubes. You may need to replace the hooks on existing panniers. Also the racks sits closely to the pedals, so large things may have some foot overlap.
I’m sure I have other thoughts floating around about the Verge D9. Ask anything you’d like to know about it and I’ll try answering.
A white paper from a civil engineering arm of a university closely associated with TX DOT citing MDOT?
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair
The southwest of the US gets really hot for long periods of time. For example, Pheonix Arizona has four months of the year with a daily mean temperature above 30 C and highs around 45 C. Pheonix is also part of the Sonoran Desert, meaning water itself is hard to get. Running a water tap for minutes to fill a cup of mildly cool water is deeply frowned upon.
It’s unpleasant to say the least. Although the heat is not as bad as the rumors I hear about Finnish mosquitoes.
Come to the southwest during summer where taking a shower doesn’t involve the hot water tap.
A very common mistake is to commute what you’d drive. In many cases you’d do better on paths and neighborhood streets. For example, maybe part of an unavoidable highway segment has a frontage road. Hop off onto the frontage for that segment, even if it’s technically 60 seconds slower.
Google Maps is a decent start, though imperfect in detail (routing through a busy park on footpaths, or not routing through a park that has a good dirt path). Use street view and OpenStreetMaps to explore ways that auto routing won’t pick.
+1 to the suggestions on starting with shorter trips. They’ll work out any kinks in your setup and give you time to become confident on your bike.
Hear, hear! San Jose Bike Party is great. If you’re anywhere near a BART station or Caltrain, drop in sometime. South bay nights are great in the summer.
Yeah, there’s a lot of pots that are coated and it sucks. However, the tests and methodology are not tied to them. It’s more about how to select different stoves and pots (e.g. lid or no lid?) than a particular product pick. For me, I didn’t even buy a new kit. All I did was learn how to optimize my existing kits.
Regarding temperature, I luckily haven’t had too much of an issue. Gas gets to sleep with me or hang out in my jacket if it’s that cold out. No need for white gas stoves, yet! Maybe someday if the very high mountains call to me.
There are great alternatives to Jetboil and other heat exchanger systems. Some systems are also cheaper and much lighter. I highly recommend checking out Gearskeptic’s Backpacking Stove Efficiency series.
Sorry about your injury. It’s a bummer to lose out on something that brought joy.
I’ve talked with the shop folks about checkout notes. They said they can try to pick out but cannot guarantee it. For the most part it’s highschool/college kids at the front desk and will grab the first sandal for an ordered SKU.
It’s further complicated by their logistics. The last time I was in the shop there was only one pair of sandals in the model and size I wanted, and the source models were all mixed together (no made-in USA wall; that wall was a new special release). If I wanted a different color, then I’d have to buy a foreign made sandal. The quality is still great, but I like to support locals if at all feasible.
My trick is to make a trip to the factory store. I have family in socal and the sandals last so long that I just buy a spare pair to keep in my closet once every year or two. More hassle, but it comes with the benefit of great beaches and downtowns. ;)
All that said, they do maximize their US production. The reason they’re limited in capacity is the glue that’s used. VOCs in the glue are restricted in quantity and hence they can only make so many sandals a day before they run out of their daily limit of glue. The family made a choice to expand their brand and the only way to do that was to build another factory. China makes sense in this context.
I love my Rainbows. They’re great.
FYI, most of their sandals are made in China now because of their limited production capacity.
You have to look for the “USA” mark in the middle of the sole at their factory store for their locally made sandals. Online orders don’t allow you to specify a country of origin.
Funny, I just watched Evan Edinger’s video on this tunnel. It’s shocking how poorly thought out it is.
Keep fighting the good fight, Londoners!
Sean Dunn was charged with a misdemeanor, which doesn’t require injury to the agent. This is the most minor crime possible of federal assault, and the jury acquitted him.
Dunn committed no crime.