My partner and I don’t have ANY tv’s.

Neither of us are super into TV or film in a way that builds creativity or community (we don’t critique the technical or artistic merits of pieces, and we aren’t into anime or other genres where there’s potential to build a community around a shared passion). When we turn on the TV, it’s to turn off our brains. We decided to not build a shrine to turning off our brains.

We have a laptop with a good screen and speakers that we use when we want to watch something together.

It’s hard to overstate the impact this will have on small frame builders. Head tubes, bottom bracket shells and dropouts are brutal to fabricate in small quantities and Paragon has been THE North American source for decades. Of my 4 bikes, three have PMW hardware.

We should be friends.

animatedknots.com - amazing step by step on how to properly tie things. The downside is that there are a lot of knots that are either hyper specific or more decorative than anything. I climb and sail - both are knot-heavy. 95%of the time I use one of five or six knots/hitches. I’d focus on the utilitarian knots personally. These are the knots that can accomplish real stuff - but if you get them wrong, could be fatal in the wrong circumstances.

• Simple overhand - great for keeping a loose end from flopping around, connecting two ropes (need long tails or a secondary knot to keep it from moving), or joining webbing (known as a water knot in this context)
• bowline - great for tying around things like if you want to anchor something to a tree
• figure 8 - the go-to for tying yourself into a rope when climbing. I rarely use it anywhere else as it’s bulky and difficult to untie if loaded hard. A bowline can be used in its place for tying in, but the big advantage of the 8 is that it’s easy to visually check. Every few years a miss-tied bowline kills a climber.
• clove hitch - this one is super underrated. It looks like you just wrapped a rope around something but it self tightens thanks to the way the strands lie over each other. It’s also super easy to adjust.
• trucker hitch - it’s really just a couple of overhand knots, but this one is my default for lashing down loads because you can get the rope super tight. This is how I tie my canoe down to the roof of the car.
• fisherman knots - killer for connecting ropes - or making non-load-bearing adjustable loops (bracelets, necklaces), or tidying up loose ends.

Bonus knots *alpine butterfly - gives you a load bearing loop in the middle of a rope without requiring access to the ends. An overhand on a bight also gives a loop, but the overhand can move when loaded. Alpine butterfly stays where you put it, looks cool, and is fun and easy to tie. *prussic - this hitch can slide along a rope when unloaded and then locks when you apply weight. This let’s you move up or down a fixed line. A Texas Prussic involves one prussic attached to your harness and one free but with a foot loop. Hang on the harness prussic, slide the unloaded foot one up the rope. Stand up on the foot one (locks in place) and slide the unweighted harness loop up the rope, sit back down in your harness. Congrats, you just ascended 100mm up a rope. Rinse and repeat until you get to the top or reverse the process to go back down.

Yep, and the MSRP for this fancy new stuff is $25 USD or about $35 CAD. The WPL Dry Lube that I use (and love) is $15 CAD for the same size bottle.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll spend an absurd amount of money on my bikes just to make them pretty. If this stuff makes someone happy, have-atter, but a ton of companies have been releasing crazy expensive lubes lately and it’s unnecessary.

Woohoo another crazy expensive chain lube…

The best lube for 99.99% of riders is the one they remember to use. Bonus points if it’s biodegradable.

I’m in Canada and use WPL Dry Lube on all of my bikes. Locally made, so marginally less carbon involved in shipping, and it’s biodegradable. I can say with 100% certainty that in a blind test I couldn’t tell you the difference between it and any other dry lube - other than when cleaning.

Went through a nasty breakup, hit the dating apps, had a few terrible dates and then started spending more time pursuing hobbies. Made friends through hobby groups (skiing and mountaineering in my case) and one of those friends has now been my partner for over a decade.

Shared interest groups are the way to go IMO.