None of the above - Any cyclists?

My cycling stream of consciousness from the past few months....

The entry level Salsa Journeyer is kind of a boat anchor. Its an entry level $900 bike so I should have expected with inflation it was only slightly above a department store bike. Although aluminum, its heavy and the stock gearing wasn't well thought out. On somewhat flat pavement my commutes were averaging about 11.5 mph with partially loaded rear panniers which is pretty bad even for someone who hadn't ridden consistently for a while. My local bike shop has a guy that knows his mechanical engineering and found a better cassette after running the maths which made a huge improvement. Best $35 I ever spent and now I'm averaging mid 13 mph. I don't really like the single front chainring idea. I think its good for MTB, but it just lacks the range for everything else. I pretty much grew up on doubles or triples up front and it's hard being limited to 8 speed. I may sell off the Salsa next year. I think a Surly Midnight Special or Disc Trucker is probably a better fit for me.

I've been volunteering about 10hrs per week at the bike co-op and have learned a ton from a couple of legit mechanics. I also have access to tools that I wouldn't be able to afford for non-professional and infrequent use. Bike co-ops are a great way to connect with other bike freaks-n-geeks that you can learn stuff from.

I really love working on mid-90's mountain bikes. IMHO that was the pinnacle of performance, functionality, and serviceability. Sometimes I can find good deals on old Treks and Cannondales on FB Marketplace and build up a pretty sweet bike for less than $200.

Cycling has it's share of snobs and elitists. They're usually easy to spot and avoid. They're kind of like the audio objectivists where a lot of what they say is wrong, and you have to wonder if they are secretly trying to kill the sport by putting people off.

I don't trust carbon fiber. Yeah it's lightweight but theres a lot of crap out there that has a limited life and serviceability. I may try a carbon fork on a road bike, but for higher impact use cases I'm going to stick with steel or aluminum.

If you could only have 2 products to keep your bike running well, my choice would be Tri-flow and Finish Line One Step.

Ronsonol lighter fluid works better at removing old stickers and gummy stuff than Goof-off. It smells better too.

 

Some more pics because I'm a whore: