Variable-Visual

@edspratt: I think they could hire a photographer to take one picture with the 200CHF fine they gave to Remy Meier Smith Brother this season.

And no headset internal cable rooting

@hamncheez: When I used the word “hire,” it was meant ironically, to describe how the U.S. used those scientists to gain access to advanced skills, rather than handing them over to Europe to be tried in court. I suppose that was part of the so-called “American Dream.” So I guess that without this amnesty, which looked a lot like modern slavery, the U.S. might not have reached the Moon before the Russians. Your joke about the Imperial system helping the U.S. reach the Moon wasn’t the best argument. The success of the Moon landing has a much darker side than just the famous catchphrase, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” And if you want a European perspective on American virtue, remember that Native Americans were “pushed aside” by your ancestors. There’s no pride to be found in that history, it was just Europeans crossing the Atlantic to conquer yet another land, a land that now claims to be the first country to reach the Moon. So maybe it should make you think about how the U.S. is more European than you might think. In the end, the Imperial system might just be your true American singularity.

@mariomtblt: Sure, using just one measurement system definitely makes things easier. I remember when I was in Canada, they use both metric and imperial side by side, and honestly, it can get pretty confusing. The only imperial unit I can convert quickly is the inch (2.54 cm, got that one locked in), but once it gets to feet and miles, I’m totally lost. It’s like switching languages mid-sentence, doable, but far from efficient.

@hamncheez: Are you talking about the same country that hired European scientists between 1945 and 1959 through Operation Paperclip to reach the Moon? The same scientists who were trained using the metric system? In a country where 20% of the population believes the Moon landing never even happened? Funny how the French not only helped you win your independence, but also gave the world the metric system a few years later, yet somehow, you still insist on measuring things in feet, teaspoons, and Fahrenheit. And let’s not forget: even NASA used the metric system for key calculations to land on the Moon. Imperial pride, metric precision. @ mariomtblt: We’re not lovers of the metric system. You live in a country that uses the imperial system, which might seem normal to you, but for foreigners, it makes little to no sense. There’s no logical progression between inches, feet, and miles, or between teaspoons, cups, and gallons. It’s as if the imperial system was built from whatever objects people had lying around: sticks, rocks, sand, you name it and then turned into official units. The only reason it feels natural is because you grew up with it. The metric system, on the other hand, is based on consistent, logical rules. It’s superior because it was designed to be simple, universal, and easy to apply. And that's why it's globally use,

@suspended-flesh: When handlebar diameters increased from 1 inch (25.4 mm) to 1.25 inches, the bike industry standardized to the nearest practical metric size. While 1.25 inches equals 31.75 mm, the commonly used standard became 31.8 mm (roughly 1.2519”). This kind of rounding is typical in the industry to simplify manufacturing and compatibility. Honestly, I’d love to see brands publish crank length charts showing both metric and imperial values, with consistent 2.5 mm steps (about 0.0984”), for easier cross-reference. The imperial system is annoying, it’s mostly disappeared from the bike world, except for nominal wheel sizes and steerer. The reality is simple: convert any imperial dimension to metric, and you get a clean, usable number. Convert metric to imperial, and you often end up with long, awkward decimals that make standardization harder. @mariomtblt: Only six countries, including the U.S., still use the Fahrenheit scale. Even the UK has moved away from it. Same story with mph only 17 countries still rely on it. As for UNF/UNC threads, no thanks. Metric ISO threads are far more practical and globally standardized, especially in bike components. Take a close look at your bike and you’ll notice: most parts use metric specs, or are legacy imperial sizes that have been adapted to metric dimensions over time. The shift is already well underway, we’re just stuck with a few holdouts. At least we can all agree on time and angle measurements. Small victories.

Interesting to see some riders using Tubolitos tubes to save some rotation weight on each wheel.

Yep, we all felt that, but now I can build a 6 point as a first FS bike for my kid, and the bike's still be awesome 20 years from now !