JT!

Low income people (like myself) have access to state medical programs (thanks Obama). My heathcare is essentially free and they'll cover everything with little or no cost to me. If you're middle to low income, you'll generally have health insurance through your employer, which varies company to company. Some companies will actually pay you less but offer you better insurance, or visa versa, insurance is always something you'd consider when taking on a new job in the USA. I hate it because you have to read a 64 page booklet to work out if you're getting a competitive deal or not, rather than just looking at your hourly rate or salary and considering a few bonuses. The state of Minnesota has officially announced a "stay the f**k at home" order as of today. Naturally I immediately went out and bought a shit load of alcohol. I'm an essential worker because I provide food. I'm getting paid $2 more an hour for the next 5 weeks which is nice. All non essential work has stopped. The US has just about overtaken Italy for positive cases and will probably overtake China in a few days.

Bought a 27.5+ trail bike. That'll get me through this.

Where do you live now?

Been aggressively chasing bikes on pinkbike, facebook and other online classified pages. No luck so far. The market is competitive and bikes sell fast, come across many I'd have liked but they either sell instantly / already sold, or are crazy overpriced. Some people even selling the same as retail and not budging on their price even when I tell them I can buy it new for a few bucks more. So now I'm looking at this... https://www.sunandski.com/p/7705052391950/cannondale-men-s-trail-5-mountain-bike-19 (you might have to copy and paste, no idea what's going on there) ...a brand new Canondale Trial 5. The price is up there, and tax and shipping puts it at around $900. But it does have everything I need, bigger wheels (may have preferred 27.5, but I'm happy to try 29" never having anything bigger than 26") 1x up front, and the forks are actually RockShox as opposed to Suntour crap I mainly see at this price range. Shimano Deore gearing and Shimano brakes. $900 in the used market could get me something like 2018 Truck Rosco 8 which apart from having much better forks and a dropper post, they're a very similar bike from my POV. I think I'd rather put $300 into it, and have something new verses the pitfalls of buying used so save that money. What you guys think?

I've been practicing social isolation for about 7 years now so I'm good with staying home. I leave to go to work, overnight at a gas station / convenience store, and come home. I've never had the urge to go out biking as much as I do now, but it's still too cold. At work we've closed all the self service food, condiment bar, roller grill etc. But we're far from closing. My wife got really sick, but she felt non of the viruses major symptoms which seem to be severe muscle and joint pain, I also haven't caught it from her so I think she got the common cold, but who knows. Schools are closed here, all restaurants bars etc are all closed. We're still coming out of winter and temps above freezing are still a rarity so it hasn't effected people too much. I feel it's only a matter of weeks before we start to figure out which already available medications will help with treating people are we'll all become much more relaxed about it.

Not going anywhere but to work now. Issue is I work in a gas station so lots of people coming through. What a shitstorm. Good news is it seems that a lot of people who actually get this virus aren't showing any symptoms, could be as high as 75%. The bad news is that'll make it easier to spread.

I got a big shop in the other day. Hit up walmart for a couple of hundred dollars worth of food. I did an online order for pickup so I didn't have to be around other people. Lots of substitutions because they were just out of so much stuff. The lady who brought my stuff out told me a guy ordered about $700 worth of canned goods the day before.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/275-650b-bikes/fantom2p5-eagle-mtb-275.htm Thoughts on this anyone? Even comes with a dropper post. Edit: Ah never mind, crappy forks.

I may literally run out of room at that point. Yeah for the riding I'm going to be doing I don't really need anything with rear suspension. That way I can get something much better quality too. I'll see what the used bike market gods offer me. Currently looking into a 2019 29" Cannondale Trail 3 but they guy wants $200 less than RRP so he's gonna have to come down on that.

Guy never bother to get back to me, but looking into new Rockhoppers, surprised to see them start at $550, Rockhooper comp with a 1x up front (which I love) for a little over $700. No rear suspension obviously, but with the type of riding I plan on doing it probably isn't necessary.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, 500 pounds would be 650 dollars. It's apparently in excellent condition. My only issue with it is that it's a medium frame. Their website says 180cm is the max height for this frame size, i'm 181. But it is a bigger wheel size than I'm used to so I'll have to take it for a spin and see. Hard part is going to be explaining why I need a 4th bike to the wife.

Calibre? I'm in the USA. And to be honest this is probably the best deal I've seen on something that isn't a hardtail. I don't mind buying used bikes because for the most part I can upgrade parts myself, and hopefully get something a lot better for the money. I'll mostly be riding on trails, no drops or downhill stuff too old for that crap. Would take a decent hardtail if it showed up, but not gonna turn down something with rear if it's worth it.

https://duluth.craigslist.org/bik/d/duluth-2015-medium-ghost-kato-fs-5-275/7080985421.html Been keeping an eye out for something I can take off road for a while now. Saw this has been up here for a while and could get it for a little less. Pedals Wellgo platform Bottom Bracket Shimano BB52 BSA Chain Shimano CN-HG54 Tires Schwalbe Nobby Nic, 27.5 x 2.25 Frame Construction Aluminum Fork Brand & Model Fox 32 Float Evolution CTD, 130mm travel Wheels Alex MD21 Cassette Shimano CS-HG50, 11-36, 10-speed Crankset Shimano Deore, 38/24 Rear Shock Fox Float CTD XV, 120mm travel Front Derailleur Shimano Deore Rear Derailleur Shimano XT plus Handlebar GHOST Low Rizer light Handlebar Stem GHOST AS-GH1 Headset Prestine PT-F-11BH Saddle GHOST VL 3315 Seatpost GHOST light Brakeset Shimano Deore hydraulic disc Shift Levers Shimano Deore

One of his best videos so far. Really enjoyed this, loved seeing the inner workings of TartyBikes, loved the trials nostalgia chat. Got the urge to work on my bike right now for spring.... and dig out my fortune of original zoo pads.

I left a little bit of the story out, I also wanted 10" removed from both hoses. And thinking about it the next day, I don't think they had a problem with servicing the brakes off the bike, but they did have an issue cutting any length off because when I put them on the bike, I could find out that 10" was too much and blame the LBS. I explained my bike is in pieces and I measured it perfectly and i knew what I was doing, but he still refused. They've been sat in a shed for 10 years, pulled the bike out and the front one worked although it was a little squishy, the rear one had clearly been leaking around the lever piston and didn't work at all. I'm wondering if this is something I should just attempt myself.

Took my hope mono trials to my LBS today, they wouldn't touch them because they weren't on a bike. So now I have to put them back on my bike, take the whole thing in, so they can be removed from the bike to service them.

-26c walk home this morning.

Thumbnail says it all.

Yeah good points. Might go look at it tomorrow. Is there anything that would make this a deal breaker? How wrecked would it have to be to pass?

https://duluth.craigslist.org/bik/d/duluth-large-specialized-rockhopper-fsr/7022323083.html Sounds like it might need new forks, but everything else seems like it just needs to be cleaned / lubed up.

New helmet time for me, looking into the POC trabec, looks kind of trialsy. Anyone had any experience with these?

A key thing I've changed when using facebook is don't friend anyone. Let them friend you. It's been great for when I go on political rants, if they get offended I can just tell them "well, you added me". Also heavy unsubscribing from people who post shit, and selecting "see first" from close friends and family is key for a tolerable news feed.

All this because someone decided to let the country vote on something they had no business voting on.

Ah f**k. Didn't know Split was even a thing.

I'm about 80% into Glass and I have no idea what's going on and most of it was pretty boring. Only good thing is James McAvoy's acting.