@andy256 - yep.

I'm obviously going to be rooting for america

@Batman Enjoy. I didn't see what team was sent, but since it's the Wallabies, you'll see some good League.

from what i understand its a test match

which means that it should be good players

Supposed to be tough and uncompromising.

Not like a freindly.

good.

Not like a friendly.

Managed to hit the wrong key

Do you know anything of your team?

nope. i don't know anything about rugby

beyond top gear's car rugby

which im pretty sure is nto like real rugby

Lol.

its not exactly a popular sport in the US

The United States is the reigning Olympic champion in rugby, having won gold at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics

haha

i don't even know the difference between rugby union and rugby league

or which one i'm going to see.

i guess its union

A lot of Islander names in the squad.

Yep.

bleh

power just went out

(i have my router and modem on a UPS, so I can use them when the power goes out)

and im on a laptop.

A laptop is a good ups

See usarugby.org/mens-eagles-schedule

And rugby.com.au/wallabies/Home.aspx

I'm sure @Mσᶎ will be supporting Australia, being as how he always supports the downtrodden :-)

wow these people are giants.

They eat cyclists for breakfast.

Go to go ... the kettle is calling :-)

cya

@nhinkle this time of year you should be purchasing CX bikes, not road bikes.

@GlennStevens well we did get fenders :)

nice, hopefully you won't be too lazy to put them on the bike when it rains like I am.

why take them off?

@nhinkle - it says you got 2 bikes. Novara Strada 5 and what else?

@batman I cannot even imagine the reaction I would get from the officials if I showed up at the line for a crit with fenders on my bike.

fine. assuming you're not racing...

Usually I would take them off when I was washing the bike, not put them on right away and be in too much of a rush in the morning when heading out the door.

Those Novara Strada 5's are pretty nice bikes. I really think the current iteration of the 105 drive trains is by far the best value for the money in terms of quality and reliability.

@Batman my girlfriend got the Specialized Dolce

fancy

@GlennStevens we're not racing, so no issue keeping the fenders on year-round. It rains enough here and they're a pain to take on and off.

@GlennStevens I was pretty amazed that I was able to get 105 components at that price too... it was a good $300 cheaper than other bikes I was looking at with only Sora components.

yeah. you do pay a lot for the name brand stuff

Only thing is that you're not getting 105 hubs for that bike. but for the price, its completely forgivable.

@Batman right. And I wouldn't have been getting 105 hubs with any of the other bikes in my price range anyhow.

yep. you could probably use the money you saved to buy a nice wheelset though, if you wanted to

At this point I want to put some miles on it first to see what I would want to upgrade (if anything).

Also, I'm doing the Walk to Cure Diabetes again this year. If anybody's interested in supporting diabetes research, you can read my pitch and donate here.

@Weirix The reason I haven't posted an answer to bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/33091/…

Is that I don't know.

I don't think anyone knows.

It will give you a lower position, so it will help your performance if you are still able to produce the same power.

That's kind of what I meant. Basically I am just curious if switching to a lower position, rather by flipping the stem or switching a spacer or two, would put me in a riding position that possibly would give me a little bump in power and performance. And, if it did, would that little bump be worth switching the position, or essentially not worth it.

I know a lot of it depends on my riding and pedaling and my own stats. I was just kinda looking for a general answer.

I got interrupted.

I was going to say that we don't know if the different position will cause you any problems, such as injuries.

So it's hard to recommend a change.

The only way is to try it and see. Flipping the stem is an easy way to test the idea, but it's a big change in one hit.

Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. And I guess that makes sense. I just feel like I ride pretty decent now, but just want to find ways of tweaking around to give me a decent performance

No, it was an external interrupt :-)

Ah ok. I felt like such a jerk lol.

I see your bait has caught a fish :-)

Sorry @andy256, I got interrupted myself. But yes I see I did. And, more or less, that was the kind of answer I was looking for. Best one so far :)

@andy256 whipped cream.....euggghhhh ;-)

There are many teas on sale in the UK, as you'd expect, but I'm not sure how good a lot of them are.

I always liked going to somewhere like France where the selection is far smaller, but the quality is good.

@PeteH Lol. When I was growing up in the country, my father told stories of rats drowned in the cream churns. Somewhat put me off. But I've gradually gotten over it :-)

@andy256 worst thing about this place is our proximity to the water works, we had a problem with rats in the loft space right through our winter/spring. Found a poison they didn't like in the end, but tried all sorts. Funny enough we have 2 cats but they were both, like, "huh, you want me to catch it? Forget it buddy I'm too tired"

Must admit, did not try drowning them in cream. I'll keep that on the list if they ever come back.

blah its already nearly noon -- where did my day go

@PeteH I remember you fighting the rats. But has the water works to do with them?

... s/But/But what/

@PeteH I find beer also works, but during the drought so did water.