MexicanDragon

Happy early belated b-day, Al! **BRENT**

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Larry, I consider 225$ more of a "HC Budget" as opposed to "actual budget" range. If this was something I would use a ton, possibly, but I do most of my listening at work, so vinyl is more of a tertiary medium for me, since it will be another source at home. **BRENT**

Heh. Real budget, not "HC Budget." Thanks, dan. **BRENT**

Hey guys. I traded a buddy for a turntable a while back, but it doesn't have a cart. It's a NAD 5040, which I think is a copy of a budget Rega an ADC 1700 made by BSR (but with an ADC designed arm) from back in the day. I don't know what much of this means, other than "it's a turntable," and it's better than the lack of a turntable that I had before that. So, before I go researching a ton of budget carts, and blah blah blah, I was going to see if you guys had any decent budget carts you had around, or would recommend looking for. I also don't have a phono stage, but I do have a little older Sony integrated amp with a phono stage that I was going to use with some Wharfedale Diamond II bookshelf speakers (10$ at a thrift store, killer bloody deal). I do have a NAD receiver I came across a year ago which is completely outdated for video (tops out at S-Vid), but still is decent for audio. Perhaps I'll wind up with a NAD phono pre for that one day. Thanks. **BRENT**

I have some Audible credits. I should grab them again for work listening. **BRENT**

CJ, did you read the book? I used to live Thomas Harris (if memory serves.) Red Dragon was a great book. Wasn't PSH also in that movie? **BRENT**

Thanks, Larry! **BRENT**

So two months out and the weather is finally starting to normalize to where it's not sub-freezing/equally stupidly cold. Time to really work on training and get ready for a ride that's about 20% longer than last year, with *gasp* more elevation gain! I'm not quite looking forward to that part, but I remembered being at the closer turn-around point last year, and realizing that I was dealing with something tough for a few hours, while other people had been struggling/dealing with an issue for years, if not their whole lives. I kicked things off with a self-donation today, and appreciate any and all donations. Thanks! Brent

Wifi or hardwired? **BRENT**

Dan, when did you move to within 50mi of Chattanooga? **BRENT**

I have gigabit. I'm waiting until I can afford a laptop that can handle gigabit wireless, then I'll get some bad-ass router to serve it up, all so I can win the thread. All this overtime has got to be good for something, right? Oh, wait, all the overtime is to pay bills? *sigh* Oh well. EPB Fiber Optics serves up 100Mbit for 57.99$, or 1Gbit for 69.99$/mo (no taxes/extra fees). No cap, just a dumb pipe. OK, I think I must've been downloading something in the background. That's probably getting close to a hardware limitation on a 2.5 year old laptop that won't even support my 5GHz network. **BRENT**

Bah. Stupid router. I need to fix the settings. (Wifi, btw. I still need to do hardwired.) **BRENT**

He loves it! A lot better than his last bike. He's going up one hill back by home then up another. <3 **BRENT**

http://www.schwinnbikes.com/usa/bikes/kids/mesa-24-boys We picked this up today. He test rode quite a few bikes, and went back and forth on what he liked, but he settled on this one. It works out for me, because it's the closest shop (just over a mile away), and I like the people there, and it was on the floor at 10% off, then marked down another 20% off that price. 20% off a new lock, and a spare 24" tube. Out the door with extras for less than the next cheapest 2013 close out, pre tax, bike only. Now, some of you may notice the Schwinn name and remember that they sold out and are in large box stores (Target, etc) now. That's true, but they have recently started back with the "Signature" line, which is only sold in bike shops. The build is a good bit better than the Target "Schwinn Brand", and the parts spec is only beat out by the 92$-more-expensive-even-at-closeout-price Trek MT240. The shop stayed open a little bit later to take care of us (first time customers, but I'd been in there a few times to look at bikes... once to pre-shop, once to bring Xavier during the "try 'em all" phase, and one when he'd narrowed it down to this one and another one). The shop I've been going to since the late 90s didn't even treat me as well as these guys did. So, Schwinn isn't "cool" in my mind, anymore, but it's the bike that Xavier liked the most, and wanted to ride the most, so we got it. The deal was that he pays part of the bike cost, though. After talking to a few people, this seemed like a great idea. If he "owns" a piece of it, maybe it will mean more to him than if he just got it as an early Thursday present. I couldn't (and still can't) find my bike rack, so we couldn't take it home today, but it gives them a chance to run through the gears and give it a quick tune-up before we pick it up tomorrow. They were very attentive with adjusting the brake levers when they weren't quite right for his reach. I'm excited to take our first ride of the season together tomorrow afternoon. He already has his bike gloves and helmet laid out, and is ready to get out and ride. Since it was 75 today, it will probably snow tomorrow and kill our chances of a good ride, but I'll try to post pix tomorrow. **BRENT**

Happy b-day, you filthy animal! I hope we get to meet up soon! **BRENT**

I need to jack into my gigabit to see what I'm getting hardwired. **BRENT**

I got the largest they had. If I don't fit then I guess I should just lose some weight, no? **BRENT**

Arm twisted. I need shorts badly and don't have a favorite. 36$ shipped with tax (new to TN) for two pairs, can't pass that up. Thanks! There was also a pair of Canari shorts for ~22/each in all sizes with prime shipping if anyone was interested. Almost out of the Sugoi but there seems to be plenty of stock on the other. **BRENT**

Come to Tampa tomorrow. Colin will fix it for you. **BRENT**

I would rather listen to KSC-75s than HD800s. **BRENT**

YES! I had forgotten but I almost had flashbacks to near mild panic attacks when I realized it. I don't remember the music changing as much as the panning shots being cut by about a third each to add a few more in. All but the Nationals one and the final one seem WAY too short, if memory serves. They dropped frames from the Nationals one it felt like, but not as many, or as large of a percentage. The opening one cut out the cop car at the red light. Seriously, I had to quit watching the opening. I rather enjoyed S2, though, even if it may have felt like it rushed a few things. **BRENT**

G'luck, guys. Here's what we're looking at getting down here this week. **BRENT**

This is basically a public PM to Chris, but here's some stuff I've seen while looking at bikes for my 8 year old... there may be some other parents who ride who may be interested as well. He is currently on a craigslist special Gary Fisher 20" bike. Chris, I don't have the $$$ to throw down for these without a test ride by Xavier, and I don't think the "cool" factor would be there, but these guys seem to "get it." http://islabikes.com/ These guys seem to do it right, and Isla Bikes tend to hold their resale value better than many. If Zoe rode at all, things would be easier, as I could buy something they both like and hand them down, but that's not in the cards. FWIW, the Kona Hula 2013 (350$ down from 429$ and the 2014 model is up to 449$) is 27.68 pounds, and the Schwinn Mesa 24 2013(289$ down from 400$*) is 27 pounds. The Jamis X.24 (350$) is 30 pounds. The Isla bikes with rigid forks (which is better than most of the heavy, but virtually ineffective suspension forks on the other bikes, with perhaps the Kona being the exception. There is a Spinner fork with preload adjustment) save 6-9+ pounds, for an extra 150$ish. Now, if you want road-ish (Street), there is a bike that I ALMOST want to buy, but it's more than I'm willing to spend on a bike that will last 3 to 4 years, tops. Cannondale Street 24 http://www.cannondale.com/24-m-street-matte-black-28570 A rigid Lefty fork is DEFINITELY cool. MSRP of 530$ is definitely pushing it, but it's probably worth it. Another cool option, if you're willing to spend the cash, comes from Trek. They have the Superfly moniker attached to the kid bikes now. http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/collections/kids/superfly_24_disc/#/us/en/model/features?url=us/en/collections/kids/superfly_24_disc **BRENT**

http://www.fujibikes.com/bike/details/ace-650 I TRIED to get him to ride this today. Two false starts and we decided to try another day. I think this would be a better fit for him than a mountain bike, if he would ride it, but he wanted to go slow, which made it really twitchy. Alas. He did like this bike, though. http://www.harobikes.com/mtb/bikes/kids/flightline-24-2014 He liked this one better than the Kona, but it's 6 speed vs 7 speed, heavier, lower end components, and the shop has it at 30$ over MSRP (and it's more than the Kona above. Still looking, but we've narrowed it down to a couple at this point. Marc, how old is your son? Is it a 20" wheeled bike? **BRENT**

Has anyone ever bought a kids' bike? I'm in the market for Xavier, and while I'm keeping an eye on Craigslist, there's just not much out there in the area. We have been looking and he found a bike he loves, a 2013 Kona Hula. We're looking at some other stuff, but this is a bike that he rode and just didn't want to get off of. There was one a little cheaper that he liked, but didn't love. He's 8, and this is a 24" bike, which is for average 8-12 year olds. With the sloping top tube, he can get on and off it pretty well right now, and Zoe (who it 11 years old and 5'1) hopped on it, and if she had the seat up, she would still fit it. I figure 3 good years could be squeezed out of it... and I think Kona is one of the "cool" brands for the kids these days. http://2k13.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=hula He's on a Craigslist Gary Fisher now, but it needs more in maintenance than I have in the bike, and we maxed it out adjustment wise towards the end of last year, so he's pretty much outgrown it at this point, but may be a good "leave at grandma's" bike. I trust the bike in a flat, grassy yard... not so much out on the roads with traffic, or on a trail. **BRENT**