Beer Drinker Appreciation Society - Open For Business (Page 65)

Yea, funding is usually the cause for taking so long to publish in my neck of the woods. Sometimes though its ego. Way back in the 60s the Derveni Papyrus was discovered in Greece and it included some of the oldest known texts from some really obscure but interesting sources, namely fragments of Heraclitus and some Orphic stuff. The editio princeps was finally published 5 years ago. It was taking so long to be published that some scholars went to the museum where it was displayed, took pictures, copied it out and published a bootleg copy in the back cover of a reputable journal without any attributions. For almost 20 years that was the only available text of the papyrus. It caused a lot of hu-bub in the classics community. But it became almost a weird point of pride because scholars felt cool working with a 'bootleg' copy of something --like they had got their hands on a Grateful Dead bootleg or something...

That's more a of a reason to get the app. You can connect with other folks, see what they're drinking and start sampling things. I'd give recommendations but I'm up Canada, I'm not sure what makes it across the border. For lagers I really like Mill St. Organic. 

Originally posted by whichwayisdown

Originally posted by nicole14e Awesome job! Trainers definitely help a lot, especially when you find a really good one. I also like how you took a drinking buddy and are trying to turn them into an activity buddy. I find most of my friends want to hang out at Happy Hours, so I often try to find activities for us to do together that are not drinking related (or they are followed by drinking )

Thanks! She's not cheap, but if I come away from every session feeling this good, it'll be worth it. Honestly, most of my buddies are the drinking kind! Not terribly sure how to switch them all over, but doing something active and THEN drinking seems like a start, for sure. As I'm tracking calories more fastidiously, I'm realizing how much my beer habit is tanking my diet. I had three PBR tallboys yesterday (not even worth it, just all that was around at the house show I went to) and they cost me almost 600 calories, yikes. Eliminating the mediocre stuff like that is an easy change to make, but I just don't want to cut back on my porter/black ipa habit.

I have the opposite problem. I plead and beg with my Saturday group ride comrades to go for a beer afterward but no one has ever taken up the offer. In fact, that's why I like this group so much. Some folks have mentioned their love of BDAS being that it's full of 'normal' people. I'm the type that falls into the hyper competitive over zealous annoying professional wannabe-types. But I also like beer. And none of my other hyper competitive over zealous annoying pro wannabe compadres are as excited about chilling out with a delicious IPA as I am. They're more about coffee or tea and trying to emulate the stereotypical European cycling culture... So here I am. I bought a 6 pack of Muskoka IPAs. It's a sampler of ever increasing hoppiness. The first two are 30 IBU, the second are in the 50s range and the third are 94IBU. Delicious stuff. 

I love that app. My username is adempsey10. same as here. 

My advice is drink two ipa's in one sitting...once you get past the overpowering hit of hops you can settle in and enjoy it.

Have not seen that around here...I believe I had the Mad Tom or something like that...What are the other two?

Adam hit most of the key points squarely on the head.  I'm curious as to what bike / wheels you have, but I imagine that, like most people, you have a entry- or mid-level bike with a decent drivetrain and either house-brand or Alex wheels.  I also predict you're breaking spokes on the drive side of the rear wheel.

After four broken spokes, unless it's got "Zipp" written on it, it's trash.  After I broke two spokes on my stock Alex wheels on my road bike within three weeks, I simply bought another wheelset.  The old rear wheel is regulated to trainer duty now, and the old front wheel still has lights and garland on it from when I made a wreath out of it for Christmas.

Most mid- or entry-level bikes have good components and frames, but the manufacturers have to cut costs somewhere, and that's usually wheels.  Add to that the fact that you're on the heavy end of the spectrum, and you have a recipe for broken spokes.  And once you break one, well, more tend to follow.  Trueing a wheel is done by adjusting the spoke tension in an orderly manner, so once one breaks, the even tension goes off kilter and the rest of the spokes take undue strain.  Then you fix the spoke and but strain on them the other way; then you break one again, and the process repeats, causing a cascade effect.  The rim is also being torqued around, but that's probably not as big a problem.

Since you're already down what, $200 (4x$50?) to fix spokes, don't throw good money after bad.  By the time you spend money to respoke the wheel, you can buy a new wheelset.  What I am surprised at isn't that the shop (Bike Surgeon in Carbondale, right?) thought to suggest a new wheelset after four broken spokes, but that they didn't suggest it after the first one.  

Here's a simple answer, and exactly what I did:  go buy a set of Mavic Aksiums.  $250 out the door, complete (wheels, tubes, tires, skewers, rim tape), with straight-pull bladed spokes, and 9/10/11 speed compatible.  Buy 'em, swap cassettes, pump them up, and you're good to go.  They are heavy, cheap, durable, and spin nicely.  They are not light or fast.  If you want really bomb-proof, you can look for something like a set of Velocity Deep-Vs, with 32h rims.  

Or, if you want to make a decent investment, there's always a PowerTap setup for ~$900.  That would be $650 for the powertap and $250 for the wheelset, which is a decent deal.

Like Adam said, Flos are nice wheels, but finding a set can be tricky with their "sign up and rush" online ordering.  And at $500 for a set of 30s, I think there are better deals out there.  

Personally, I would just buy a set of Aksiums and call it a day.  I'd sell you mine, but I plan on beating them senseless until the road crews can fix all the potholes here.  

Also, run some big tires.  The Mavics come with 23mm, which are okay, but if your frame can fit a set of 28mm, you can run lower pressure for a smoother ride.  Tires that big are slow, but comfy.  I run a set of 28mm Stada K from Performance Bike on my roadie, with no problems.

Adam hit most of the key points squarely on the head.  I'm curious as to what bike / wheels you have, but I imagine that, like most people, you have a entry- or mid-level bike with a decent drivetrain and either house-brand or Alex wheels.  I also predict you're breaking spokes on the drive side of the rear wheel.

After four broken spokes, unless it's got "Zipp" written on it, it's trash.  After I broke two spokes on my stock Alex wheels on my road bike within three weeks, I simply bought another wheelset.  The old rear wheel is regulated to trainer duty now, and the old front wheel still has lights and garland on it from when I made a wreath out of it for Christmas.

Most mid- or entry-level bikes have good components and frames, but the manufacturers have to cut costs somewhere, and that's usually wheels.  Add to that the fact that you're on the heavy end of the spectrum, and you have a recipe for broken spokes.  And once you break one, well, more tend to follow.  Trueing a wheel is done by adjusting the spoke tension in an orderly manner, so once one breaks, the even tension goes off kilter and the rest of the spokes take undue strain.  Then you fix the spoke and but strain on them the other way; then you break one again, and the process repeats, causing a cascade effect.  The rim is also being torqued around, but that's probably not as big a problem.

Since you're already down what, $200 (4x$50?) to fix spokes, don't throw good money after bad.  By the time you spend money to respoke the wheel, you can buy a new wheelset.  What I am surprised at isn't that the shop (Bike Surgeon in Carbondale, right?) thought to suggest a new wheelset after four broken spokes, but that they didn't suggest it after the first one.  

Here's a simple answer, and exactly what I did:  go buy a set of Mavic Aksiums.  $250 out the door, complete (wheels, tubes, tires, skewers, rim tape), with straight-pull bladed spokes, and 9/10/11 speed compatible.  Buy 'em, swap cassettes, pump them up, and you're good to go.  They are heavy, cheap, durable, and spin nicely.  They are not light or fast.  If you want really bomb-proof, you can look for something like a set of Velocity Deep-Vs, with 32h rims.  

Or, if you want to make a decent investment, there's always a PowerTap setup for ~$900.  That would be $650 for the powertap and $250 for the wheelset, which is a decent deal.

Like Adam said, Flos are nice wheels, but finding a set can be tricky with their "sign up and rush" online ordering.  And at $500 for a set of 30s, I think there are better deals out there.  

Personally, I would just buy a set of Aksiums and call it a day.  I'd sell you mine, but I plan on beating them senseless until the road crews can fix all the potholes here.  

Also, run some big tires.  The Mavics come with 23mm, which are okay, but if your frame can fit a set of 28mm, you can run lower pressure for a smoother ride.  Tires that big are slow, but comfy.  I run a set of 28mm Stada K from Performance Bike on my roadie, with no problems.