niels@nsmb.com profile

I have no experience with the Rift Zone XR but it looks like a fun bike - I'd love to try it sometime.

From a quick google search, 15.47 kg for size large without pedals per a recent Bikeradar review. That's the same weight as the XL Fluid I tested. I haven't looked at the specs in detail - it could be that the Rift Zone's weight is more in the parts and less in the frame.

Brilliant. I did not check the bottle cage bolts, ha!

Interesting. I don't think there was a shim behind the cassette. Sounds like it would act as a seal preventing dirt from entering via the back of the cassette.

I don't have any absolute data but the press kit said this:

"Increased leverage curve progression provides support to the rider without depending on very progressive air springs and large volume spacers"

I lost my notes from the Zoom call with Norco but I'm pretty sure I remember one of the engineers holding up a coil shock for the camera to go on his personal Fluid frame.

I did take the cassette off, cleaned and greased the body and the cassette lockring but did not grease the interfaces between individual cogs (XT cassette is partial block and partial individual cogs). So who knows! ;-)

I liked the XL but it took a while to get used to. Once I had the cockpit and suspension settings figured out I was completely comfortable on it but I do think I've found the far end of my personal reach range with the XL Fluid. If I was going to buy one I'd still go with the XL over the L but if I could customize the geo I'd probably shorten the reach by ~1 cm.

I should add that due to some persisting damage from a back injury in the past, I'm not the most flexible guy around the lower back and hips despite many years of yoga.

I tested an XL.

It felt a bit off so I tried different micro-adjustments until it felt right.

Pretty vague, I know, but what I think it did is give me a more natural hand position combined with bringing the grips just a little bit closer to me and giving my arms a more natural bend at the elbows. It seemed to help with bringing my weight over the front when needed.

Ha ha, yes, I knew that was coming ;-)

I'll readily admit my mechanic skills and experience are average at best but chasing an elusive creak requires time more than anything else and that resource was only available in a finite amount.

Yes those tires do roll well so I'm sure that contributes to the spritely feeling, although intuitively I think the way the bike pedals is at least as significant, if not more.

Trying to prevent injury/death in case of a car hitting a cyclists is the wrong approach. What needs to be prevented is the car hitting the cyclist.

Decades of research and practical experience in more cycling friendly places has shown that by far the most effective solution is separating road users that have different speeds: pedestrians (slowest), cyclists (slowish), cars & motorcycles (fast). Where they can't be separated, you take measures to reduce the speed of the faster road users so the speed difference is smaller or disappears.

Here in Canada we (mostly) separate pedestrians but for some reason not cyclists. I've never heard anyone bring up helmets when a pedestrian gets struck by a car.

Proper infrastructure is the only answer.

Politicians love mandatory helmet laws for one reason only: they don't cost anything.

Just imagine if we removed all sidewalks and pedestrian crossings and made helmets and body armour mandatory for pedestrians.

https://meatengines.com/f/i-was-hit-by-a-car-tonight

Yikes, that sounds terrifying! Healing vibes to Andrew.

Nice pics, good to see you got out Vik. We've been walking, not riding, in the snow every day and this morning was the best so far with blue sky and the snow nicely packed.

I spent a whole November in NZ 4 years ago, was so nice to do Spring all over again! If it wasn't so far away I'd do it every year.

Posted by: heckler

hell my mom gets some money from Germany for when she was a bricklayer for a year after highschool!

Lol, from my 67th I'll receive a €54/year pension from a part-time job I worked while in high school & university! 🤑

What resonated with me is the "you are expected to be a mini-capitalist" summary at the bottom. This mindset is (was?) not very common in my "socialist" European home country.

Agreed on "don't get sold high cost mutual funds" but one could argue that's implicitly included in "benefit from compound growth".

End yes, /r/personalfinancecanada is full of idiotic posts but better to ask a stupid question than to not ask it at all I guess. An occasional glance at it is often amusing and sometimes you find something useful.

I came across this and thought it was a pretty good "Canadian personal finance in a nutshell". When I was a new immigrant it took me a few years to figure this all out by myself. I may not fully agree with the last point ("property ladder") but it's an accurate description of how many people here think.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/z24973/comment/ixekut1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Individuals who have immigrated to Canada, what do you wish you knew about our financial system before coming here?

• credit score is a thing, it's stupid and annoying but learn how it works
• credit cards have nice perks here, paid for by users who don't repay in time and are charged a fortune in interest - use the free perks and pay in time
• you shouldn't rely on government for your retirement
• capital is favored over labor (from a fiscal point of view at least)
• save early and benefit from compound growth, it's supposed to be part of the retirement strategy
• use fiscal incentives like TFSA RRSP
• home ownership is used as a financial tool here, and capital gain exemption skews the property market
• home equity being viewed as so safe and stable, it's the cheapest way to leverage and get financing for other things
• it's ok to get early in the property ladder with 5% downpayment when you don't have rich Canadian boomer parents to help you get in, the system is pretty safe and regulated here

Unlike other countries, you are expected to be a mini-capitalist and invest for your future to be somewhat brighter, often a life of earnings from labor isn't enough, you also need capital and wealth accumulation. However, the labor market being very flexible here, if you don't, you can always greet people at Walmart in your 70s :(

Yep we changed beneficiaries to successor holders on our TFSAs last year. Recommended.

Posted by: heckler

I'm curious if we're all invested in carbon frames and tubeless tires, or if there are people other than the two others I can think of that are on the financial independence program.

Some fun numbers for the duration of the thread (in percentages of my after tax income):

2014 - 34% savings rate / 5.6% spent on bike related stuff

2015 - 46% / 6.6%

2016 - 45% / 2.0%

2017 - 48% / 6.9%

2018 - 40% / 3.7%

2019 - 53% / 0.8%

2020 - 49% / 7.3%

2021 - 69% / -1.9%*

2022 - 63% / 2.3% (so far)

* Bike spending is net after selling used gear, the 2021 negative number is due to buying new bike in 2020 but only selling the old one in 2021 due to Covid