Tech ogling confessions

Stopped at the LBS on the way home today, to look at a Trek gravel bike
in person. There are a lot of unpaved roads here in the Willamette
Valley as well as in the mountains around it.

It was nice, certainly drool-worthy in the
I'm-not-really-serious-yet-about-buying sort of way.

There were lots of attachment points for use on long, hot summer rides
that don't go by a 7-Eleven.

I like the wider bars (they looked wider than the 46's I have on my
Domane, but maybe they were the same). Hydraulic disks (see our latest
RBR discussion, heh), nice wide tires.

THEN

when I was talking about fender mounts, the guy mentions putting fenders
on a "Domane +" E-bike, so I go take a look at that.

It's a full carbon fast road bike with a electric assist. Forgive me,
RBR, for I have sinned and coveted this bike. I'm going to try hard to
wait until at least 70 before getting one, partly 'cause I fear the
decline into potatohood that it could spark, but I was tempted. Having
another 100-200W in one's pocket would be something.

Mark J.

On 2/6/2019 7:04 PM, Mark J. wrote:
Stopped at the LBS on the way home today, to look at a Trek
gravel bike in person. There are a lot of unpaved roads
here in the Willamette Valley as well as in the mountains
around it.

It was nice, certainly drool-worthy in the
I'm-not-really-serious-yet-about-buying sort of way.

There were lots of attachment points for use on long, hot
summer rides that don't go by a 7-Eleven.

I like the wider bars (they looked wider than the 46's I
have on my Domane, but maybe they were the same). Hydraulic
disks (see our latest RBR discussion, heh), nice wide tires.

THEN

when I was talking about fender mounts, the guy mentions
putting fenders on a "Domane +" E-bike, so I go take a look
at that.

It's a full carbon fast road bike with a electric assist.
Forgive me, RBR, for I have sinned and coveted this bike.
I'm going to try hard to wait until at least 70 before
getting one, partly 'cause I fear the decline into
potatohood that it could spark, but I was tempted. Having
another 100-200W in one's pocket would be something.

Mark J.

you'll still need a road bike:

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/e-bike/aria-e-road/

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Wed, 6 Feb 2019 17:04:45 -0800, "Mark J."
wrote:

Stopped at the LBS on the way home today, to look at a Trek gravel bike
in person. There are a lot of unpaved roads here in the Willamette
Valley as well as in the mountains around it.

It was nice, certainly drool-worthy in the
I'm-not-really-serious-yet-about-buying sort of way.

There were lots of attachment points for use on long, hot summer rides
that don't go by a 7-Eleven.

I like the wider bars (they looked wider than the 46's I have on my
Domane, but maybe they were the same). Hydraulic disks (see our latest
RBR discussion, heh), nice wide tires.

THEN

when I was talking about fender mounts, the guy mentions putting fenders
on a "Domane +" E-bike, so I go take a look at that.

It's a full carbon fast road bike with a electric assist. Forgive me,
RBR, for I have sinned and coveted this bike. I'm going to try hard to
wait until at least 70 before getting one, partly 'cause I fear the
decline into potatohood that it could spark, but I was tempted. Having
another 100-200W in one's pocket would be something.

Mark J.

if one desires electric assist why not go all the way and invest in
something that has comfortable seats and air conditioning :-)
--

Cheers,

John B.

On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:04:48 PM UTC-8, Mark J. wrote:
Stopped at the LBS on the way home today, to look at a Trek gravel bike
in person. There are a lot of unpaved roads here in the Willamette
Valley as well as in the mountains around it.

It was nice, certainly drool-worthy in the
I'm-not-really-serious-yet-about-buying sort of way.

There were lots of attachment points for use on long, hot summer rides
that don't go by a 7-Eleven.

I like the wider bars (they looked wider than the 46's I have on my
Domane, but maybe they were the same). Hydraulic disks (see our latest
RBR discussion, heh), nice wide tires.

THEN

when I was talking about fender mounts, the guy mentions putting fenders
on a "Domane +" E-bike, so I go take a look at that.

It's a full carbon fast road bike with a electric assist. Forgive me,
RBR, for I have sinned and coveted this bike. I'm going to try hard to
wait until at least 70 before getting one, partly 'cause I fear the
decline into potatohood that it could spark, but I was tempted. Having
another 100-200W in one's pocket would be something.

Mark J.

The Bike Gallery (Trek) shop downtown also has one of the Orbea Gain series.. https://www.orbea.com/us-en/ebikes/r...ain-m20-usa-19 Orbea also has a groovy gravel e-assist: https://www.orbea.com/us-en/ebikes/r...ain-m21-usa-19 Also available in aluminum, although I'm not a 1X fan. The stealth e-assist bike is becoming really popular. Muzi's Bianchi is beautiful. Some of the e-assists aren't that stealthy. The Cannondale Synapse looks like a pregnant guppy. I'd get a full-on eBike if I lived somewhere like Vancouver and commuted to downtown -- beat the traffic over the bridge and fly into town. It's kind of like cheating. But for my current short commute and weekend riding, yes, going electric would move me one step closer to the potato abyss.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Thu, 07 Feb 2019 08:12:58 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote:

if one desires electric assist why not go all the way and invest in
something that has comfortable seats and air conditioning :-)

No problem. Comfort saddle:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=aluminum+tractor+seat
and mist cooling:
https://spruzzamist.com


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 2/6/2019 8:35 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 07 Feb 2019 08:12:58 +0700, John B. Slocomb
wrote:

if one desires electric assist why not go all the way and invest in
something that has comfortable seats and air conditioning :-)

No problem. Comfort saddle:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=aluminum+tractor+seat
and mist cooling:
https://spruzzamist.com



meh.
If I were ever to buy a powered two wheeler it would be
something stunningly beautiful:

https://barnfinds.com/vintage-v-powe...idson-panhead/

But I won't.
Still, they are just sexy to ogle aren't they?

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 2/6/2019 5:12 PM, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 6 Feb 2019 17:04:45 -0800, "Mark J."
wrote:

Stopped at the LBS on the way home today, to look at a Trek gravel bike
in person. There are a lot of unpaved roads here in the Willamette
Valley as well as in the mountains around it.

It was nice, certainly drool-worthy in the
I'm-not-really-serious-yet-about-buying sort of way.

There were lots of attachment points for use on long, hot summer rides
that don't go by a 7-Eleven.

I like the wider bars (they looked wider than the 46's I have on my
Domane, but maybe they were the same). Hydraulic disks (see our latest
RBR discussion, heh), nice wide tires.

THEN

when I was talking about fender mounts, the guy mentions putting fenders
on a "Domane +" E-bike, so I go take a look at that.

It's a full carbon fast road bike with a electric assist. Forgive me,
RBR, for I have sinned and coveted this bike. I'm going to try hard to
wait until at least 70 before getting one, partly 'cause I fear the
decline into potatohood that it could spark, but I was tempted. Having
another 100-200W in one's pocket would be something.

Mark J.

if one desires electric assist why not go all the way and invest in
something that has comfortable seats and air conditioning :-)

It's a slippery slope, to be sure. I'm trying hard not to step onto it,
but I'm feeling the pull.

Mark J.

On 2019-02-06 18:02, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:04:48 PM UTC-8, Mark J. wrote:
Stopped at the LBS on the way home today, to look at a Trek gravel
bike in person. There are a lot of unpaved roads here in the
Willamette Valley as well as in the mountains around it.

It was nice, certainly drool-worthy in the
I'm-not-really-serious-yet-about-buying sort of way.

There were lots of attachment points for use on long, hot summer
rides that don't go by a 7-Eleven.

I like the wider bars (they looked wider than the 46's I have on
my Domane, but maybe they were the same). Hydraulic disks (see our
latest RBR discussion, heh), nice wide tires.

THEN

when I was talking about fender mounts, the guy mentions putting
fenders on a "Domane +" E-bike, so I go take a look at that.

It's a full carbon fast road bike with a electric assist. Forgive
me, RBR, for I have sinned and coveted this bike. I'm going to try
hard to wait until at least 70 before getting one, partly 'cause I
fear the decline into potatohood that it could spark, but I was
tempted. Having another 100-200W in one's pocket would be
something.

Mark J.

The Bike Gallery (Trek) shop downtown also has one of the Orbea Gain
series.
https://www.orbea.com/us-en/ebikes/r...ain-m20-usa-19
Orbea also has a groovy gravel e-assist:
https://www.orbea.com/us-en/ebikes/r...ain-m21-usa-19
Also available in aluminum, although I'm not a 1X fan. The stealth
e-assist bike is becoming really popular. Muzi's Bianchi is
beautiful. Some of the e-assists aren't that stealthy. The
Cannondale Synapse looks like a pregnant guppy. I'd get a full-on
eBike if I lived somewhere like Vancouver and commuted to downtown --
beat the traffic over the bridge and fly into town. It's kind of
like cheating.


It is. Might as well get the real deal then, zero to 60mph in 3.4 seconds:

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...if5oi1tjpg.jpg


But for my current short commute and weekend riding,
yes, going electric would move me one step closer to the potato
abyss.


A buddy is trying to convince me to retrofit my bikes with electric like
he did. I keep telling him "When I am 85. Maybe. Or maybe not".

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Thursday, February 7, 2019 at 4:51:02 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-02-06 18:02, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:04:48 PM UTC-8, Mark J. wrote:
Stopped at the LBS on the way home today, to look at a Trek gravel
bike in person. There are a lot of unpaved roads here in the
Willamette Valley as well as in the mountains around it.

It was nice, certainly drool-worthy in the
I'm-not-really-serious-yet-about-buying sort of way.

There were lots of attachment points for use on long, hot summer
rides that don't go by a 7-Eleven.

I like the wider bars (they looked wider than the 46's I have on
my Domane, but maybe they were the same). Hydraulic disks (see our
latest RBR discussion, heh), nice wide tires.

THEN

when I was talking about fender mounts, the guy mentions putting
fenders on a "Domane +" E-bike, so I go take a look at that.

It's a full carbon fast road bike with a electric assist. Forgive
me, RBR, for I have sinned and coveted this bike. I'm going to try
hard to wait until at least 70 before getting one, partly 'cause I
fear the decline into potatohood that it could spark, but I was
tempted. Having another 100-200W in one's pocket would be
something.

Mark J.

The Bike Gallery (Trek) shop downtown also has one of the Orbea Gain
series.
https://www.orbea.com/us-en/ebikes/r...ain-m20-usa-19
Orbea also has a groovy gravel e-assist:
https://www.orbea.com/us-en/ebikes/r...ain-m21-usa-19
Also available in aluminum, although I'm not a 1X fan. The stealth
e-assist bike is becoming really popular. Muzi's Bianchi is
beautiful. Some of the e-assists aren't that stealthy. The
Cannondale Synapse looks like a pregnant guppy. I'd get a full-on
eBike if I lived somewhere like Vancouver and commuted to downtown --
beat the traffic over the bridge and fly into town. It's kind of
like cheating.


It is. Might as well get the real deal then, zero to 60mph in 3.4 seconds:

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...if5oi1tjpg.jpg

Neat, but you get stuck in traffic, at least in Oregon where lane-sharing is NOT legal. In California you can split the lanes on your eMotorcycle which, BTW, scares the hell out of visitors -- like me. I don't remember it being legal when I lived there.

Around here, you could take the bike lanes/paths and beat the traffic. Come over the I-205 bridge from Vancouver (where living is cheaper) and take bike paths and lanes almost all the way downtown PDX. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...dge_aerial.jpg (I-205 bridge between Oregon and Washington -- bike line up the middle). Watch for trucks, though: https://pcdn.columbian.com/wp-conten...YAAJtQx_1.jpeg


But for my current short commute and weekend riding,
yes, going electric would move me one step closer to the potato
abyss.


A buddy is trying to convince me to retrofit my bikes with electric like
he did. I keep telling him "When I am 85. Maybe. Or maybe not".

The hardest part of growing old is learning to be slow and happy. I've got the slow part down, but happy is eluding me. I may have to get a stealth e-assist bike to get happy. Or medication. We'll see.

-- Jay Beattie.

On 2/7/2019 8:23 PM, jbeattie wrote:


Come over the I-205 bridge from Vancouver (where living is cheaper) and take bike paths and lanes almost all the way downtown PDX. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...dge_aerial.jpg (I-205 bridge between Oregon and Washington -- bike line up the middle).
How do they handle entering and exiting that central bike lane?

--
- Frank Krygowski