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| The contenders for the latest round in the Lube-Off. |
So far I have ridden on all three of the bikes which are sporting the newest contenders in the latest round of the Lube-Off. It's still early in the going, (all lubes have just over an hour or so of time on them), but I see some early trends developing here.
As I have already reported, the aMTBer Smoothe Lube is not a lube for wet gravel travel. But the other two claim wet weather capabilities. So I didn't hold back and used my somewhat muddy, wet commute route as a test track. So far the results are what I expect from a lube that is made for 'wet conditions' use. That being they are 'messy', and they don't leave your chain dry-ish and 'clean' like the aMTBer lube does. But again- different horses for different courses here.
My new boss, Andy, actually had a great suggestion. Try the C3 ceramic Wet Lube from Muc-Off. So, after I get through with one of these others (six hours of ride time) I will strip off that lube and get the C3 Wet Lube into this test as well. hopefully we don't get all dried out and go to Summer-like conditions in the meantime. But in any case, look for another contender here and I will drop all the details on the C3 Ceramic Wet Lube as soon as I put that lube into the rotation.
Sheesh! As if things couldn't get any worse..... Many states have instituted "Stay At Home" orders and all non-essential travel is discouraged in those places. So, this weekend we were hoping to have folks go out for solo C.O.G. rides. But now that may seem to be a bad idea for some folks. For some of you- it may be okay.
I cannot enforce decisions made by individuals out there, but in light of our current situations, I am going to propose we put this off as well. If you end up doing the challenge, so be it. Again- I cannot stop you. But 'unofficially-officially' I am postponing this until all-clear orders are given and restrictions are lifted everywhere.
Once that happens I'll post a date and we can do this thing right.
On another C.O.G.100 related note: N.Y.Roll has started mailing out t-shirts. You should start seeing these in your mailboxes and on doorsteps soon. I know they have all been sent so they should be in your hands within the next several days, and if not, let us know. Thanks for all your patience in this matter!
Like many of you, I have a lot of extra time on my hands now days. I was cruising the innergoogles and found an interesting tech article explaining "power assisted running". The concept is in its development stages, and not of a lot of detail about how this works is being given, but the benefit claims are, well........very familiar sounding.
The system is said to "reduce the energy costs of running" and they claim it will allow runners to run further with less effort than traditional runners. (Question: Do we call traditional running "acoustic running" now?) Benefits such as 'last mile commuting' and allowing less fit runners to run with their more fit friends are also listed here.
I'm sure these developers have pulled a few pages from the HPC/motorized bicycle playbook. That would explain a lot of the claims here. Whether or not we see exoskeleton equipped people zipping up sidewalks in the future or not remains to be seen. One thing I think of that we do not see discussed much is how the prices of these sorts of motorized contraptions are marking a distinct line between economic classes. And to think of it another way, what if everybody were using these sorts of devices? Wouldn't we pretty much end up where we are at now, only with a lot more complications, danger, and a shift from one set of economic issues to another? Kind of like when society went from horses to automobiles? I don't know, but something about this motorized stuff strikes me as "less a benefit", and not so much as a positive to humankind.
But then again, like I say, maybe I'm thinking too much......
Stay safe out there folks! Stay home if you are advised to, and hopefully we all will stay healthy too.
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