Bike Part Availability & Prices

Shss.. 5 years for a helmet.. is that considered old? if so I need some new ones..
if uncrashed still good .. they do stink though...

 

Replace after 5 years regardless of use.

 

Science or marketing?

 

Just got the shoes from Jenson my wife ordered back in November. I actually found them at REI a couple of weeks ago and ordered them but right after I did Jenson emailed my wife and said they would be in soon. Since they were $50 off at Jenson I am returning the ones I bought from REI (unused).

 

It’s science, the reason is that the foam degrades due to sun, heat, salty sweat and other environmental factors, added to the usual knocks of regular cycling activity. I actually do mine every two years regardless of use.

 

What if it's in a controlled environment most of the time and not used often? No exposure to elements. Just sitting comfortably in a closet.

 

It still degrades, even in the dark, dry, balmy, calm closet. Even in a warehouse prior to being sold, the shelf life is part of the use life in my opinion, granted I assume it degrades at a slower rate. Like play dough that is rarely pulled out of its jar. If I bought one on sale and saw that it was manufactured 2 years prior to purchase, I’d use it for 4 years and then discard. It’s calibrated DDD science to account for variables in a dynamic environment.

 

I figured if it's not falling apart and hasn't been exposed to sun, it's probably GTG. I have two full face helmets I am concerned about. I haven't used them in two years or so.

I find it fascinating that things need to be used or they decay. Tires, zippers, straps, wetsuits...even ski clothes. If they sit, they rot. Even in a climate-controlled indoor storage unit. Someone should make up a law of physics that explains that.

 

So if you sit and don't move for 2 years, do you degrade or stay fit and move easily? Pretty much the same thing for many items that have a dynamic use. Use it or lose it.

Iron will rust, muscles will atrophy, food will rot. So, eat the food, move your body and who cares about Iron. give me Titanium and carbon. ( or gold coins, I like gold coins, they last, forever )

 

Riding along those chica the number of cargo ships not sure about half it was a bit ago so hopefully things start moving a little better

 

I recently wanted to purchase a specific tire. So I did at my LBS. And I wanted to purchase a specific rim. So I did - one from Jenson and a second from DT Swiss.

Didn't have to hunt. Didn't have to wait. Didn't have to pay exorbitant prices. Lucky me I guess.

 

Those chicas from Bolsa Chica!

 

This is poetic!!!

 

Few seem to remember the original name of that stretch of sand: Tin Can Beach.

 

Forget it. No more parts. No more bikes. No more teacher's .... no, different song.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/...html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage

The Evergreen "Ever Given" has given us a headache of monumental proportions. No more Suez Canal for the near future. The smallest stupid errors make the biggest impact.



With Suez Canal Blocked, Shippers Begin End Run Around a Trade Artery
The most common option for ships trying to avoid the logjam is to reroute themselves around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

"As the world absorbed the reality that the Suez Canal will almost certainly remain blocked for at least several more days, hundreds of ships stuck at both ends of the channel on Friday began contemplating a far more expensive alternative: forsaking the channel and heading the long way around Africa.

A journey from the Suez Canal in Egypt to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands — Europe’s largest port — typically takes about 11 days. Venturing south around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope adds at least 26 more days, according to Refinitiv, the financial data company.

The additional fuel charges for the journey generally run more than $30,000 per day, depending on the vessel, or more than $800,000 total for the longer trip. But the other option is sitting at the entrance of the canal and waiting for the mother of all floating traffic jams to dissipate, while incurring so-called demurrage charges — late fees for cargo — that range from $15,000 to $30,000 per day.

“You are either stuck with the commodity and waiting for things to evolve, or you take the cost and you move your commodity, and you free up your ship,” said Amrit Singh, lead shipping analyst at Refinitiv in London. “People have started making decisions.”

Since Tuesday, the Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, has been stuck in the Suez Canal horizontally, run aground by powerful winds.

The disruption now roiling the global shipping industry provides a reminder of why the Suez Canal was constructed in the first place. Only the Panama Canal looms as large in the transport of goods around the planet.

Already, industries that rely on shipping to deliver parts and finished products are bracing for trouble. The auto industry is especially vulnerable, given its reliance on so-called just-in-time manufacturing. Retailers of clothing and exercise equipment were already contending with delays, given a surge of orders spurred by the pandemic.

A world whose initial experience with the coronavirus featured the hoarding of toilet paper now braces for fresh shortages of that vital commodity. Like many consumer goods, paper products are transported through the Suez Canal in giant shipping containers.

More than 200 ships are now stuck at either end of the Suez Canal, with no clarity on when they will be able to continue their journeys. Some 80 additional ships are scheduled to arrive over the next three days, Mr. Singh said.

For ships that had been on their way to Europe from Asia and are stuck at the southern end of the canal, the route around Africa involves crossing through an area off Somalia that is rife with piracy. Some ships are carrying security teams that enable them to pass through the piracy zone. Those that lack guards must detour around it, adding three more days to their journeys.

Crews may be unfamiliar with the waters around Africa’s southern tip, where the convergence of warm and cool currents produces turbulent and unpredictable conditions. Early Portuguese navigators called this region “the cape of storms.”

These are the sorts of factors that shipping companies are now considering.

“It is like choosing the queue at the post office,” said Alex Booth, head of research at Kpler. “It is never the right decision.”

Already, seven giant carriers of liquefied natural gas appear to have decided to change course away from the canal, according to Kpler.

One of these ships, chartered by Royal Dutch Shell, had picked up a cargo of gas at Sabine Pass in Texas and was heading toward the canal when it made a sharp turn in the Atlantic Ocean toward Africa. Another, operated by Qatargas, a state energy company, and loaded at Ras Laffan, the Qatar energy hub, was headed for Suez but then veered away toward the Cape of Good Hope before reaching the Red Sea.

Container ships are also changing their plans. HMM, a South Korean shipping company, ordered one of its vessels that was headed to Asia from Britain via the canal to go around Africa instead, according to NOH Ji-hwan, a spokesman for the company.

Mr. Booth said a ship that was already waiting at the canal would be unlikely to backtrack all the way around Africa. That would mean a nearly six-week journey to reach Amsterdam compared with just 13 days from the canal.

If the call is made in the early part of a journey, though, it may make sense. For instance, Kpler estimates that a trip around the cape from the Saudi oil terminal Ras Tanura would require 39 days, versus 24 days by way of Suez.

Ultimately, the decision hinges on an assessment of the time required for engineers to extract the Ever Given, allowing traffic to resume. The most optimistic outlook took a hit on Friday, with the failure of the latest effort to get the enormous ship floating.

“People are saying that something will be done by Sunday,” said Mr. Singh of Refinitiv. “But I have my little doubts. The tide and nautical conditions are more favorable toward the middle of next week.”"

 

Interesting article on the stuck boat and the "bank effect" vs the new large container ships. https://www.ft.com/content/171c92ec-0a44-4dc5-acab-81ee2620d3c1 Might be paywalled, search google for "The bank effect and the big boat blocking the Suez" and you should be able to see it. TLR is the new massive cargo container boats can move unpredictably and uncontrollably in shallow water such as the Suez canal.

 

Let Liberia take care of it, they are all flying under that flag of convenience!

 

I've been around the Cape of Oh Sh!t (I mean, Good Hope)....no bueno, and not something you do unless you absolutely have to.

 

There's some rad surf down there, bru!

 

But in this case it was a big-ass ship, a narrow canal, and a strong wind. Same thing is pushing the limits of the Panama Canal. Ship size is approaching the limits of the canal's ability to handle. In this case, ship too big. Canal too narrow. Wind too strong.

Might be time to trot out the dredge.

 

The boat's owner is blaming high winds and I'm sure that was a factor, but if you read the article it suggests the wind speeds recorded at the time are not unprecedented and the hydrodynamics and increasing ship size are likely more to blame - ie, this could just as easily happen without high winds.

 

I saw one early report that Ever Given had lost generator and then steerage.
All that would lead to big problems.
And if poor maintenance, something a ship owner would not want to come out and just blame it on wind.
And, has everyone seen the track of the ship before entering the canal?

 

Ok I gotta say I am a bit disappointed that all this discussion a no one mentioned this...

Cargo ship drew a penis and butt before getting stuck in Suez Canal

https://nypost.com/2021/03/24/cargo-ship-drew-penis-before-getting-stuck-in-suez-canal/

I mean I did grow up with Beavis and Butthead

 

You really don't need to read this because you got me reporting on it but I guess the WSJ couldn't ignore me out reporting them any longer

https://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject....ips-floating-just-off-los-angeles-11617183002

 

Hah!
Who is to say this is not a tactic to drive up prices?
I was at ARCO AM PM Tuesday (where I "typically" find the best gas prices) and paid $4.09 per gallon for Diesel . I spent $100 bucks of my hard earned cash to not even be able to fill my tank. It was just a very short time ago I was paying $2.65 per gallon.

 

So the heads of the shipping companies decided to collude with the port authorities of the US and the 100s of international corporate CEOs and marketing execs whose products are on the ships to delay the offloading of the ships to drive up the prices? Those sneaky bastards! I would have LOVED to be on that Zoom call. Or was it done by secret code?

 

That's not too far off.
Shippjng companies got us by the basket balls and have jacked prices up to about double.
And interstate freight is also up about the same. Did their costs go up? Hardly. They are taking advantage of the situation to gouge the consumer. That along with a massive added tax ( read Tarrifs) on many imported goods and its no wonder prices have sky rocketed. The seller isn't making more, its the government and freight companies.

 

Individual corporations or even industries such as petroleum taking advantage of situations (i.e. Suez Canal blockage) to jack up prices is believable and customary. Collusion among multi-national corporations, governments, port authorities and teamsters/longshoremen is quite another. But Americans seems to be hell bent on believing conspiracy theories now - the wilder the better! I'm sure there is speculation that the canal blockage was intentional and linked to some other nefarious world-wide acts.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to get back to pedaling my singlespeed. Wait - are you already done with the route? Man that new Levo really is fast! Want to meet at Comet Pizza after I'm done with my ride?

 

tires and rims i can find. I wanted a Chris king 110x15 front hub. Hunted around for a week calling probably like 10 shops. Finally found one. In England. Lol. Payed a bit more but I’m not waiting a month.

its funny had no problem finding the fox 38s i wanted or the rim. But damn does king only make products 1 time a year?