I too have shit roads around me. Full of potholes, littered with broken glass and goats head thorns. Flats were a way of life. When building a new set of rims last year I decided to try tubeless. The set up is a pain, but I havent gotten a flat since and I have pulled thorns, staples, and glass out of my tires and watched it seal itself right up with only a couple of psi lost. Side benefit is that I can run a lower psi too so it’s a more comfortable ride.

I like my bottom brackets square tapered, my shifting friction, and my brakes actuated by wire, but tubeless won me over.

I’m working up to my first century in early August. Prior to starting training in May I would do around 40 miles a week on a fixed gear. Most rides around 30-40 min. I am not in great shape and I have always enjoyed anaerobic sports more than aerobic.

I do a long slow ride on Sundays and then two one hour interval sessions on rollers during the week. With my starting long rides at 20 miles I increased roughly 5 miles a week up to 50 miles and then started increasing roughly 10 miles a week. I am very inconsistent at following this plan and this week I am doing a little over 75 this week. This is some shit training. My time is going to suck, but I am confident that I will finish the 100.

As far as overtraining goes, I’m not even very sore on Mondays and Tuesdays. Any misery I have felt so far in training has come from not eating and drinking enough. The symptoms there were akin to heatstroke and it took me a couple bouts to figure out what was going on.

The days where I start eating and drinking as soon as I get on my bike and repeat every 20 minutes have been my most comfortable and best paced rides.

As far as bike purchase goes, you are gonna be spending a lot of time on that bike. You want to be comfortable. I wouldn’t risk buying online. Go to a bike shop where they can help you buy something that fits. Not necessarily getting fitted though, that may blow a good chunk of your budget. If a shop can make a fit and bike work with your budget then definitely go for it. Whether you buy new or used, never buy an entry level model if you care about resale. The used market is flooded with entry level bikes and components. If you get into something higher level it will sell/ part out much more easily when you want to upgrade.

Edit: Washedupcynic had a really good point about clipless pedals/ toe cages/ straps. On long rides you want to be able to both push and pull. Don’t need anything fancy there though.

That is just the aluminum oxidizing. Essentially rust for aluminum. It will happen no mater what with aluminum cookware unless it is anodized or coated in something. Even then it will still happen eventually. To be fair, the dishwasher is going to affect the appearance of even the most expensive pots and pans over time. It’s one of those things where you either accept it or put in the work (and waste the water) to keep it looking nice. The solution for me was buying stainless steel, throwing it in the dishwasher most of the time then hitting it with barkeeper’s friend every once in a while.

Sorry I said pinned m & t, but what I meant was more specifically a drawbore m & t which is a type of pinned tenon. The pin is slightly tapered and offset from the hole drilled in the tenon and will actually pull the tenon tightly into the mortise. Think of it as a more visually streamlined tusk tenon (which is also pretty common in this style). They are a very easy way to make a nice tight joint without needing extreme accuracy or glue.

Don’t know what your living situation is, but if you think the legs or stretchers on your furniture are likely to get damaged at some point and need replacement or you want the option of partial disassembly, strategically used drawbore or tusked unglued joints can make these tasks much simpler.

Craftsman/ mission style began as simple furniture built by people with limited tools. Luckily this means you also don’t need many tools to do it well. You will be doing a lot of parallel cuts, right angles, and through or pinned mortise & tenon joints.

100% agree with SkyNTP that on the power tool end you will primarily use the table saw, router, planer. I would add a good set of squares, marking gauge, a good 1/2 in or 1/4 in paring chisel for cleaning up corners after routing, and a doweling jig if you think you will be going for pinned mortise and tenons.

Save the rest of that cash for all the QS white oak you will need.

👆This. It’s not going to affect this particular bike’s value too much in either direction. If you think the paint prep is worth the effort then go for it!

From a practical standpoint, you might want to consider at least cleaning up any exposed steel and applying a little clear coat.