Marvelous Manatees - Stronger than Ever! (Page 19)

Seeking advice for a situation that Kevin has created.  He ordered a gravel bike yesterday.  The situation is that we need to be able to haul more bikes since he wants to bring two bikes with him everywhere --  along with my one bike and extra set of wheels. (And dog and dog gear and other bike gear. ) 

I'm looking for recommendation for racks that can hold 3+ bikes.

While catching up with the Manatees, I found out that Tuesday was "buy a gravel bike day."  It sounds like Leanne's household may be getting an addition as well!

Kevin has joined the gravel ranks - woo hoo! Regarding bike racks, I used to have the Yakima Double Down bike rack. It, in theory, holds 4 bikes. I think that is ambitious, but I routinely was able to get 3 bikes on it. All 3 were always road bikes, so I’m not sure whether mountain and gravel bikes would make the fit tighter. Can you add a platform to his platform rack?

I will ask about the additional platform. His current rack is really old and beaten up. I think that is part of the whole replacement idea.

The bike shop said that he was going to the Dark Side with this purchase.

I *think* it's a Yakima Hold Up.  It's been rear ended at least once

I don't know that he has a preference of staying with Yakima or not.

I don't know that Kevin has a strong preference for Yakima.

What is your favorite of the group?

I think Kevin is looking at the 1Up.  I forwarded your list to him and sent him down the rabbit hole!

He seems pretty excited about the new bike.  I said as long as he uses it...

I have a Kuat Sherpa 2 and love it. It is significantly lighter than the old Thule I had.  But, it doesn't allow for an add on rack, for that he'd need to go for the NV2.  When I was looking a couple of years ago I almost went with the 1UP, but the Kuat was on sale, so I went with it.

Anyone in the market for a power meter? I came across this company who has one sided pedal power meters for just over $200! That is crazy. There is a video from the north American distributor that is interesting as well as a chart comparing these pedals to the more well-known players in the market.  This intrigues me enough to consider buying for when I use my gravel bike as a regular road bike.  Has anyone heard of this company? They look like they have only entered the market in the last year.

Thanks for the link -I will stay away!!

I'm a little late to the bike rack discussion, but I have been very happy with my Thule.  I mainly use the 2 but also have the +2 and haul 4 bikes.  I've had mine quite a few years and it's held up very well.  I had to laugh, when I bought the original rack, fat bikes weren't a thing but when I bought the +2, it has cups that allow for regular or fat bikes - the old one really shows its age in that way!

I like that you can put any size or shape bike on there with ease.  Prior to the Thule I had a hanging rack which SUCKED!!  It scratched paint and it was incredibly awkward to haul two MTB with their frame geometry. 

I have a $250 Stages factory refurb on my gravel bike. I really didn't care about any "blemish" considering the gravel that would be hitting it.  It looks like with inflation, it's up to $315 or more.

https://stagescycling.com/en_us/product/power-meters/shimano/grx

I'm assuming that your gravel bike is GRX but maybe it's a model year before GRX was release?

Racing Manatees!!!

June 10-11
Janyne - Loudoun gravel grinder - Sunday
Anne - Ride the Rockies (Sunday through Saturday)

Doooo eeeettttt!!!!!!

Is anyone else racing or doing anything else fun this weekend?

So pretty much it's a good better best situation with a bit of discussion of the ranking 

Go Manatees go! Fingers crossed the smoke disappears for Loudoun.

Oooh!  Oooh!  Me!  Me!  (for once).  Yesterday I did the John Apple (local beloved swim coach who has passed away) 'Swim-A-Bridge' challenge.  Swimmers pick from the Brooklyn Bridge (.5 mi), Wrightsville Bridge (1 mi), Golden Gate Bridge (1.7 mi), Pensacola Bay Bridge (3 mi), Chesapeake Bay Bridge (4.4 mi), or the 7 Mile Bridge (6.8 mi) and raise money for the mission of the John Apple Swim Fund, which is to provide scholarships for swimmers in need of them.

The most fun parts are it's at an outdoor pool (which I don't have opportunities to swim at regularly) and my crew of friends make up the majority of the swimmers.  The weather was perfect for it yesterday with sunshine, a breeze, and brisk pool water, around 67*F.  There was still an air quality alert in the orange, but it didn't look or smell smoky like a couple days ago.  It did affect my breathing some but I was able to persevere and complete the Pensacola Bay Bridge Challenge.  I was happy I could finish it (admittedly it got a little rough in the waning 600-800 meters) since I hadn't been swimming more than once a week and only  a mile and a half max a couple weeks ago.

Great day with friends for a good cause, complete with 'part 2' of food and drinks at a local brewery!

No option for the San Mateo - Hayward Bridge (7 miles)?  I guess it is not needed if you have the 7 miles bridge (6.8).  When I lived in the Bay Area I crossed that bridge east bound by mistake on a few occasions. The  last exit to not take the bridge is like a mile before you get to the bridge.  You can't even see the bay when you have to get off for the last exit.  Then you are stuck with not exit for like a half hour.  Every time I missed that last exit it was torcher.  :-)  I am a mile swim type of guy though.  I would have done the Wrightsville Bridge.