@Criggie ok... piece of cake.. for Strava at least.. I just needed to pretend that I forgot my password, and from there I was able to change my email from the privaterelay.appleid.com one.
yeah - I could turn one out of metal, but want to see how a cheap PLA printed plastic one would work.
I have a couple of rubber ones that work fine.
Trying to use road bike tubes in the weird commuter bikes work owns. 23c 622 tyres, with Schrader valves. If I can use Presta valves, then I don't have to hunt out unusual tubes.
Work doesn't pay for parts, I'm sick of buying tools and parts
busy uphill intersection, had a yield sign, yielded to 2 cars and a cyclist and somehow managed to overlook the pickup truck coming around the corner after them
maybe he was also going too fast, but fortunately he paid attention and hit the brakes :D
starting uphill and clipping in with the road bike shoes sucks
@Criggie "Somewhere"?? Lol, they waste crazy amounts left and right
Buy a part made with rapid prototyping techniques for an ungodly sum, to get it a few months earlier than the regular, cheap part. Then let it sit and collect dust.
Shopping question: Before summer starts and the sun burns, or there is a big difference in tanning above the knees than elsewhere, can you recommend a brand of sunblock that worked particularly well for you?
@gschenk I don't think any of these products sold in my country has a label originating in my continent. I usually have to switch to French just to pronounce the brand names.
for short rides high spf should do. For long rides a physical sun blocker that also includes white pigment might be necessary. These are not as effective blocking UV but the molecules that block sun in regular sun blocker are consumed by absorbing UV.
Other important aspects are how detrimental it is to sweating (reason a lot of pros hardly ever use sun blocker) and if it stays when sweating.
There are fancy sun creams with lots of needless stuff added for marketing purposes.
Otherwise sun blockers are so low tech that there's not much difference. In german tests the best ones were house brands of drug store chains (DM, Rossmann). They were cheaper and didn't have to add other bullshit like anti aging stuff that degraded sun blocking efficiency.
A better sun-screen applicator would be nice. Sticks to rub on, like glue?
It would be especially useful for facial application. That is tip of ears and most of the nose.
Nose is especially tricky with the thin stuff. You definitely don't want it under the pads of your glasses, but close to the bridge of glasses. (Provided you need glasses.)
But anything where you don't get that stuff on fingers would be great. It's so difficult to wash off, but at the same time comes off enough to foul everything that's touched.
Lipstick is a much better comparison. It is good at applying a dense pigment layer precisely where one wants it. Wouldn't that be perfect for sunscreen?
Byt the way, many lipsticks are excellent sun blockers. However, I am slightly reluctant to paint my nose deep red with it.
@gschenk You can get sunscreen in a stick format, though it's uncommon.
@gschenk There are other colours. :-)
I've mentioned it before, but I'm still really happy with my UV sleeves/legs. The only bits I need to apply sunscreen to are my face, neck and hands/wrists.
@DavidW well, lips ought to be protected too. Lipstick wouldn't look out of place there. I'm still too much of a coward to look too different from expectation. One may make a similar case for finger and toe nails.
@DavidW isn't that unbearably hot? Last I checked were still half as thick as my winter leg warmers. Those are uncomfortably hot at >12C (dry).
Oh, I did the painted fingernails thing in my 20s, so I'm not too bothered. You can get better lip protection cheaper in a dedicated sunscreen product than with colour though, so I'd go for that.
@gschenk I'm sure they'll be less comfortable as they age and the fabric stretches out, but they'll also be losing protection capability at that point so I'd probably replace them. But right now they're tight to the skin and really good at wicking moisture away. If it's at all cool or breezy the sleeves feel colder than bare skin.
There's one important aspect we're overlooking: Sunscreen is not made for sports. One of the main requirements for regular sunscreen doesn't exist: It doesn't have to be transparent in visual spectrum.
Sunscreen was also designed to be transmissive in UVB-A so people would get a tan but not a sunburn.
We want blocking, or bettter reflection, of UV-A and -B. Reflecting IR would be a plus too (heat).
So it would be much better to have a tick layer of zinc oxide.
I remember in the past there were titanium oxide sun blockers, that were very lacklustre since they weren't applied in a thick enough layer to protect well enough.
@Erlkoenig that's been last year through press. But that isn't uncontested. Main argument I heard against 'no tan' is that it is a high risk strategy. A significant portion of people will at some point forget to protect themselves and get so much more sun damage that they far outweigh potential skin cancer from low exposure.
Aren't there any pigments that form a protective layer but leave pores open?
You're right about the chemicals in the lip stuff, though. I just try not to think about it, because the mineral stuff lasts about half an hour if you're drinking regularly while riding. (You do drink, right?)
@gschenk It's been years that there's been the back-and-forth between the "mild exposure has no lasting effects" and "all risks are cumulative" camps. I just try to be careful, and figure that every additional year I don't get a tan and I don't get a burn is a net win.
Gold nano clusters do super fun things in electromagnetic fields, shining UV on them is fun.
I'd rather not get nano particles in but bigger chunks. The smaller the easier they are displaced and end up in my liver or brain. Gold is mostly inert, but not nano particles. You can throw most of chemistry over board when you have magic cluster sizes.
TiO2 is going to be outlawed in food and cosmetics. Is anything planned for ZnO too?
good read: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/php.13208
the crux with all organic filters is nicely summarised here:
> Being photo-unstable means the filters are unable to resist the permanent effects of UVR in terms of their structure and function.
Now, the whole point of photo active substances is that a low concentration, that is thus not visible, can absorb a lot of UVB while absorbing very little of lower wavelength.
Reading all that, I've even more respect for the melanin protection mechanism in skin cells.
My solution: gravel rather than road riding (shade, forests) and avoiding rides before mid-afternoon.
@Erlkoenig that's the orange stuff made popular by Trump?
@Erlkoenig oh, that's not increasing melaning production, but just dying skin cells with carotenoids.
wait what ...
> DHA (dihydroxyacetone, also known as glycerone) is not a dye, stain or paint, but causes a chemical reaction with the amino acids in the dead layer on the skin surface. One of the pathways is a free radical-mediated Maillard reaction.
that's not fake tanning, this is a fake roast!
actual tanning aids, that stimulate melanin production, seem not well researched. That would be perhaps the best path.
@Sam that was more extensive and slightly less useful than you may have expected.
The article provides the briefest answer to most of your questions: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/php.13208
Here's the solution! pnas.org/doi/10.1073/… Antimicrobial second skin using copper nanomesh They were even applying it to their fingers. Also measured vapour and heat transfer, which are nearly as good as bare skin.
@Criggie I hope you'll get it!
Didn't you say the other day that you'd like Campa and that it's rare in NZ?
