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ChrisF glad you are enjoying Barcelona. It’s 5am pst and after 2 weeks in Europe jet lag got me. Woke up 3am. Good to be back but we thoroughly enjoyed Madrid. U.K. is U.K. had a few good traditional things. A quite good burger and fantastic steak and ale pie. The best U.K. food tends to be not U.K. food. Lol had some fantastic specialty beers.
Barcelona is great. It reminds me. A lot of Los Angeles in many ways. For the wife and i. It would,be a hard choice Madrid or Barcelona. I think we both may give slight edge to Madrid. After spending about 12weeks all over Spain last couple years i think Madrid May come on top. Barcelona weather is similar to SoCal but they do get more humidity. Central plains of Spain are warmer but quite dry. For example San Sebastián was about 10 degrees f cooler than Madrid, but humidity gets me every time. I’m much more comfortable in dry Madrid. In the south, Cadiz is dry and warm coastal. I love the south of Spain but our lifestyle is more in the north. I think we’d need an apartment in Madrid and a coastal city. Maybe close to Cadiz or possibly Barcelona.
Now if you like that gazpacho... salmorejo is where it’s at! Both are quite easy to make our problem here is finding excellent tomato. Farmers markets or home grown. Those pretty red tomato in the store won’t do here.
I think we need a rennlist european eating trip :-) hit the top 3 food cities in Europe. And eat. Maybe we can drive a little too.
Barcelona vs Madrid. Winters are much milder in Barca, and in Madrid you can’t park your sailboat or have a swim only a 10min walk from your apartment.
Barcelona is the only major European city (airport, events, music, food, culture, business) with a year-round mild Mediterranean climate and a proper beach and marina 15min walk away from the center. One of the downsides is the prevalent communist mindset of the locals but that’s a problem with all of Spain and most of Europe. No one’s perfect.
If I had to pick spots for summer housing and travel around Europe or Asia - I get a place a place in Paris,France and Tokyo,Japan. Giving that would have a place in Manhattan for Europe jaunts.
Thx! The Alu Jeffsy are backlogged until Oct and $3.5k for the CF version is much more than I want to spend without getting some idea about how much I’m going to use it. Thoughts on the Chinese $1100 Carbon BEIOU on Amazon? *noob fire-suit on* Specs say they weigh only 22lb to the Jeffsy’s CF at 29lb and they seem to be using the same brand components (Shimano, etc.).
Btw why is CF Jeffsy only <1lb lighter than the Alu version? Seems the weight diff is not worth the price diff, unless there are some other benefits of CF over Alu.
AL comp is available now and that’s what you want if getting AL, better components make life better. Shimano etc make everything from Target brand to high end. I’ve heard $1k/lb is a good rule of thumb for bike stuff so sounds right. More I’m sure if you get to Mooty level bikes.
IMHO if you get a good bike you’re much more likely to be riding it, which is the whole point.
No brainer; Santa Cruz 5010 (27.5) or Tallboy (19.0) for the win. You will appreciate the build when you don't have to clench when you send it downhill. Also, they have a "no fault" warranty if u bust the frame. U return and they replace at cost. Try that on China brand bike.
Barcelona vs Madrid. Winters are much milder in Barca, and in Madrid you can’t park your sailboat or have a swim only a 10min walk from your apartment.
Barcelona is the only major European city (airport, events, music, food, culture, business) with a year-round mild Mediterranean climate and a proper beach and marina 15min walk away from the center. One of the downsides is the prevalent communist mindset of the locals but that’s a problem with all of Spain and most of Europe. No one’s perfect.
Sadly u have to mention that. Please hide in the OT/Polical forums on RL.
blue GT3, lovely you driving your highly depreciated POS. i will inc a pic of my which is equally depreciated and ****ty.
"I think we need a rennlist european eating trip :-) hit the top 3 food cities in Europe. And eat. Maybe we can drive a little too."
====> let's make it happen. next year, some of us are riding dolomite ;-)
"#besthreadonrennlist "
====> let's not invite the idiots on the other threads here. they they would want deviated purple tomato soup or olive green metallic jamon..
hf1, if you want to get a bike to try out... see if u can demo or rent one. if you can't then i will suggest giant, trek or specialized and just pick any one of three that 1) fit, 2) in your price range, 3) in the discipline you want to do. the boutique brands are not competitive in anything but top end stuff. and if you ever need warranty... may god help you.
components on MTB is more imporatnt than road bike , bc the abuse they take
i dont know the current levels but back in the days, XTR are for wt weenies, XT are just as good, below XT, you will need fixing and replacing often.
MTB vs Road risk is also highly dependent on location
if u are the only cyclinst in town, they you are toast.
if you live in a place where the roads on sunday have over 100 bikes or more, drivers tend to not go there.
and of course timing is important.
my 100 miles ride, i see about 30 cars over 8 hours.
i have no death wish riding in an area where cars are everywhere.
i am 15-30 min from russian ridge, purisima, saratoga gap (if you drove fast), skags, some of the very best bay area MTB trails. but i dont have time to do both dirt and road.
finally, sugar for pre-ride snack
try arsicult bakery on arguello in SF, owner armando is a porsche nut and on RL
hf1 can't remember if you're in NorCal but if you are, Santa Cruz offers factory demos of any of their bikes. Check out the Chameleon AL. Just got some raves.
07-29-2018, 09:22 AM
