All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

I’m in Florida so sweating happens, a lot.

I have one of these

$20 SWEAT GUTR Flex Sweatband, Night, Black

sweatbands from Amazon. It does a decent job keeping the sweat out of my eyes but if I wear it on a longer ride it seems to give me a headache, ymmv. I just deal with the sweat.

I might give the Halo headband a shot to see if it works better.

 

cool cool - sounds like this is just part of the new adventure then. lol. I'll be sure to report back if I find "magic"

 

So I ended up getting a close out on a leftover Specialized Turbo Levo 3 Alloy through Performance Bike. It’s in the same class as the Bosch CX- powered bikes so it’s a bit heavier than some, but so far I’m loving it. Just hitting the dirt roads around the house so far - may not get a chance to try any real trails until I’m back from vacation in a couple weeks.

Here’s a shot from the first ride, with Mt. Monadnock in the background on the right.

 

Don't waste your money on halo. They suck if you actually sweat a lot. And leave you with an annoying imprint of the rubber strip across your forehead. But if you do buy one, buy there because you'll be swapping them out every 15-20min when they get saturated and sweat flows around the strip in the fabric. They saturate even faster when they're still damp.

Instead get the sweat buster. It takes about 45 min to saturate, then you remove it, wring it out and you're good for another 45 min. It attached to the inside front of your helmet with Velcro. I've been using this for 10yrs now. Never going back to anything else.

https://www.traxfactory.com/

You can buy them in Amazon too.

 

Love me some brookies. They fight like a fish twice their size. Caught a bow-brook the other day, such a cool fish.

There are a few helmets that have a sweat blocker. Can't remember which, maybe TLD? It's like a thin soft rubber liner that attaches to the helmet. It diverts the sweat around your forehead so it doesn't drip on your sunnies. It works, but it's not perfect.
Sweating hard is a good sign, but it can be annoying when it's pouring off your forehead.
The best solution? Ride a lift. lol

Starting to get back out since the double knee scope. So good to get out in the mountains.

Don't miss this climb though, at all.


Lots of wildflowers everywhere.



On one of my fave rouge trails.


The Nomad.

 

Under helmet hats with that weird short brim thing is used a lot. I forget what they're specifically called but it might be under helmet hats.

Totally normal. Back in my BMX days the pads were 1/4 inch thick, when I'd press one against my forehead to drip out it was nasty. Those helmets have no ventilation, you're never moving fast for long, and they're thick pads, and you're out in 95 degree heat in black helmets.

 

PC?

 

It is the TLD, a3. Kind of feels weird tbh but you get used to it. I’ve been liking the a3 since it comes with the fidlock buckle too. I’ll probably try out the fox speedframe next though

 

Win!

Living and riding in the Phoenix, Arizona summers...lots of riders carry these in their Camelbaks, and during breaks pull the helmet and de-soakify the face, head, neck, etc...cause all that sweat and sunscreen makes for a less than optimal optical solution.

$17 Flow Hydro Sport Towel - Microfiber Quick Dry Swimming Towels for Swim, Pool, Triathlon, and Other Water Sports in Medium, Large, Extra Large, and Hooded Sizes (Lime, Large (60" x 30"))

https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Hydro-S...cphy=78660&hvtargid=pla-4583451686013146&th=1

I also carry a small microfiber sunnie wipe...because lens drips happen and then riding is like a micro dosed kaleidoscope experience.

Pearl Izumi makes some headbands and skull caps that are nice too, very thin and doesn't interfere with the helmets ability to protect you in a crash.

Sweats totally normal, its the equity you build climbing for the pay dirt on the cool wind in your face side of the mountain.

 

That's more like the setup we have except ours is a Transit. You could easily upgrade that whole build with 8020 and lighten it up a bunch, add a lagun table between the front seats, proper gear garage in the back, etc. Might be a bit more of a pain to daily due to the long wheelbase. The sprinter supposedly costs more to maintain but they're pretty reliable. You're spot on with the towing as well.

Vans are not cool or fun vehicles but they're the most versatile vehicles you'll ever own. I will always own one at this point but I definitely miss having a real truck just for the driving feel.

 

Got out on some new Schwalbe radials; MM trail ultra soft (front)/Albert gravity soft (rear). They're like having extra damping and quite a bit more grip! Curious to see how long they hold up for...

 

That was my impression as well. I didn't test them to the limits on grip, but they definitely feel more damped and comfortable. Hoping they release a trail/xc version soon.

 

super interested in how they hold up. i been keen to try a set. been on maxxis minion dhfs for 10 years. be happy to find something to replace with better bang for buck cause they go bald so fast. but nothing grips quite like they do. even with no center knobs and most side knobs missing they grip better than others.

 

Schwalbes new rubber wears very well. I've been riding the ultra softs front and rear for a good while. The knobs are showing some wear but there's no undercutting that leads to premature knob ejection like I get on a Maxxis.

 

Yeah I can see what everyone was saying about the dissector maxxgrip on the rear of my e-bike. Already undercutting with like 50 miles on it.

 

Also got a truck question/ recommendation. Wondering if any of yall have experience/recs on suspension. my truck feels super harsh.
info:
I drive about 60miles a week on washboard forest mountain road that gains 2.6k vert in 7 miles then same back down. I average about 30mph as each way is 15min pretty comfy. load varies between myself and bike to several buddies and bikes. 07 dclb sport 6spd 103k miles. imagine suspension has never changed. I got at 96k and manual swapped is all i have done. 265/70r17 tires (32in)

I always figured thats how cars offroading is/are supposed to feel ie not enjoyable lol. i love bikes and trail building. i dread that drive, just getting banged up sitting down around inside the truck isnt my definition of fun. i used to drive slower but then realized speed definitely smooths things out (until you screw up a line lol) but have road memorized so not a concern anymore.

My dilemma: I took my 94 corolla up the road for some reason yesterday. normally if im in that car, i just pedal. But i was literally able to hold the same speed and it felt 10x smoother and 35x more fun being in a little and low car. Which blew my mind as I legitimately have 15$ rockauto struts on it and tires are 175/65r14 (23in)

In conclusion: are trucks utterly worthless and should i just drive corolla and double my fuel economy and have more fun? or is the suspension on my truck somehow just worse than than 15$ rockauto. In terms of the suspension, what is worth trying that isnt going to ruin the bank account. always blown away with how much car stuff is. I figure options are:
1.) get offroad off a 3rd gen as they are so many bro dozers/pavement princess out here there is plenty of supply of low miles never seen dirt wanted to lift and put goofy rims on theirs trok leftovers. My question is, will it make an significant difference? (picked up 37k struts, upper control arms, shocks, leaf springs for like 175 but really for leaf springs. sr5 suspension was gonna flip or give to buddy)
2.) quit being soft and just deal with it and save all the money
3.) spend money on new shit but i dont even no where to start. read 5100s are good bang for buck but seem pretty expensive and not sure how much of a difference they will actually make.
4.) option i am not even thinking of
photos of rigs cause why not

 

Interesting, compound compare able or radial makes up for it? Just tired of spending so much on tires, I rotate front to rear and run them till there are quite literally no center knobs/slick and even still I go through at least a tire a quarter.

 

If I read this correctly and you are saying you already have the newer TRD off-road suspension and can install yourself, I’d start there. I know my SR5 does fine on the road but after 10 minutes on washboards the suspension heats up and does minimal damping. My truck is almost at 90k miles and has seen a decent amount of dirt so it’s probably just time for me to replace.

If that doesn’t help a bunch then maybe consider other suspension upgrades, unless you really want new suspension haha

 

cool good to know about your suspension! I dont currently have the off road suspension. I have set of sr5 off a 3rd gen sitting in garage (same as you.) I could find the off road suspension pretty easily and cheap if needed. My truck currently has the sport bilstiens that come stock. I always am skeptical on upgrades as with bikes i feel like i often have more problems with the "nicer" more expensive stuff. ideally i spend zero money and am just pissed off driving that road but have more money in my pocket. but realize that may not be realistic as ill need to change them at some point.

 

Got it, lower mileage stuff in general is worth a shot too though. I really like the ride quality of the stock suspension tbh.

I was just telling my friend the other day about nice bike suspension, like nice truck suspension, requires more work to keep nice. Rockshox ultimate does nice but if it needs a service the performance goes down noticeably. Vs cheaper suspension that isn’t as great but in my opinion doesn’t lose as much performance when it needs servicing.