Phillyenduro

Actually impressive how quickly this went from “um, any other women here?” to Adam explaining why he thinks the women commenters are morons.

How about these 3 race categories: men, women, and women who refuse to compete together with trans people. If you think that 3rd category would unfairly single people out, then you might be on your way to understanding why “just put trans women in their own category!” ain’t the solution.

It’s possible to believe two things at once: that a trans women smoking the field in a women’s race would be unfair to the other competitors, and that changing the rules to guard against that almost entirely hypothetical unfairness would, on balance, do far, far more harm than good.

To be clear, I recognize that the vast majority of folks here who support this rule do so with sincere good intentions, not bad. (Although Adam’s priapism over it makes me wonder.)

I understand that the majority of posters here disagree with my view. My view is that the well-intentioned thing this rule does—protecting fair competition for women by excluding trans women from competing against them—sounds reasonable enough but is not very important. This is because the actual incidence of trans women unfairly winning competitions against biological women is vanishingly small. And my view is that the bad thing the rule does—segregating trans people in athletic competition—is exceptionally dangerous. This is because the far right is using anti-trans policies like this and like bathroom bills, not just to mount an attack on a vulnerable minority, but to rally support for a broader assault on democracy. And they’re succeeding. Downvote your hearts out.

Looks like … not the summer helmet.

Feck ebikes. If I’m buying aftermarket mtb wheels, I want wheels optimized for mtb—not ones approved for motorized bargebikes.

Back in the old days I would review mountain bike tires using actual mountain bikes. How foolish! You see, “the heavier bike is a quick way to assess the stability of a tire.” In fact, in the near future I plan to do all of my mtb tire testing on my Honda Civic. That REALLY speeds up the stability assessing.

Guys, I tested 6 mud tires on my ebike, so let me tell how they’ll perform on mountain bikes weighing a third less.

At first I loathed Kitsbow with all my heart, so I can't really judge the people for bashing them here. I hated anyone who'd drop that much on mountain bike shorts and hated Kitsbow for selling them. Then, funny thing, I got a pair of their shorts on a crazy discount from Backcountry, and holy crap they were pretty great. Over time, Kitsbow became the splurge that my wife and I would get eachother as gifts. Not all their stuff was amazing, but a lot of it was and the rest was easy to return. Their Haskell pants are the best article of clothing I've ever owned--maximum comfort, maximum versatility, durable and good looking (even on me). The company was employee-owned and serious about sustainability. Starting off at white-hot rage, I ended up a big fan. I think the Kitsbow people were the good guys. I'm grateful for what they did, and I'm sorry to see them go.