Everyone loves new technologies. However, a steel or aluminum bike is more like a typewriter, which many of us are still comfortable with. There's nothing wrong with it, really. Are we ready for a tablet? Is this our future?
Flying Machine 3D Prints Their Way Onto Mountain Bike Trails
Monday, February 16, 2015
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Monday, October 20, 2014
Silca Super Pista Repair
I realized since the adapter is already messed up, why don't I open the adapter and try to find where the problem is. At first I thought, it might require some googling and spending some time to learn about how a pump works, but taking the adapter apart is actually not hard at all. All it required is 30 seconds of your time to unscrew the head and take the washer out. As you can see in the photo, it turns out that the washer has been damaged, and I need to find a replacement for it.
I did some googling and found out there are more than one version of the washers out there:
1) Silca Leather Plunger Washer: Pista, Super $7.19 shipped
2) Silca Large Rubber Washer for Presta Head $8.98 shipped
3) Silca Rubber Washer, Fits Reversible Head $19.95 shipped
I decided to trust the picture on the page and went with the second one, (Silca Large Rubber Washer for Presta Head). The rubber washer doesn't look exactly like the one on Amazon, but I did get the right part, no more leaks, and let's start riding.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Selling Items on Craigslist or Ebay
I am still obsessed with bicycle buying. It has became a daily ritual for me to check out sfbay.craigslist.com, ebay.com, nashbar.com, performancebike.com, jensonusa.com, and treefortbikes.com every single day. If you have the patience to wait for killer deals, good things will come. Some may find this type of behavior a little too obsessive, but I am sure a lot of bicycle aficionados would do the same. Lately, because I am running out of space in my garage, I've been doing a lot of selling too :)
There are two sites for me to sell used bicycles or new/used bike parts: Ebay and Craigslist. EBay currently doesn't charge a listing fee, so you can sell an item without paying a cent, that is before your item is sold. It is also one of the best place to sell something. To a certain extent, Ebay is well known to many parts of the world. Even if you have an item that only a few people in this world appreciate, there will be someone who is willing to pay for it on Ebay. The company's popularity comes in a price too. Luckily, (or unfortunately), if someone bought your item either by auctioning or "buy-it-now," Ebay will charge two fees: 1) 10% of price sold, 2) 10% of shipping; that's 10% from the total (shipping + item price). If your buyer is sending payment through PayPal, there will be an additional 3% charge for a single transaction. If you do the math, Ebay/PayPal will be taking 13% fee out of your cut. It doesn't end here. There's also the handling charge which varies from item to item. Well, those fees are for Ebay to run its business, which includes resolving problems between buyers and sells, running the website, and possibly for its high paying CEO, VP's and other upper management, and making the company look good on paper. (I know... I know am going a little too off topic). I will provide a real world example of how much I get for selling my 2012 Trek Sawyer after all the non-sense cost for listing on Ebay, but before I go into that let's take a look at Ebay's nemesis: Craigslist.
Especially in San Francisco, Craigslist.com is one of the most popular site for selling your used items. If the price is reasonable, it's almost a guarantee that you can sell it. If it's a super awesome deal, you will literally get at least 10 emails asking about your item a second after you created your listing. The whole process of creating a post takes less than a minute, for me at least. This is a no-fee-for-listing, cash, and you'll-get-every-single-penny-you-asked-for transaction. What's the downside? Unfortunately, it's a face-to-face transactions, so safety can be an issue. In the SF Bay Area, there are people who will to kill someone for a PS4, or $400, (sad, sad reality). There are also the unavoidable solicitations, "low ballers," and scams. You have to filter them out and have at least three emails back and forth with the potential buyers until you can sell your items. Compared to Ebay, which attracts potential buyers nationally/globally, an item listed on Craigslist is only known to buyer close to your home. I have had a buyer who drove 80mi from where I live just to buy a bicycle frame, but it was still a good deal for him though. Being said that, there are a lot of awesome people out there. Fortunately, for me, most my experiences on Craigslist have been very positive.
While it's much safer to list something on Ebay, I still prefer to sell on Craigslist based on my own experience. The 10% Ebay fee + 3% Paypal do not justify for me. Ebay will take a cut out of your shipping, which I think is really unfair to the seller, but I can understand where it is coming from. Ebay didn't care about the shipping cost when it first started, so dishonest sellers used to sell their items at lower prices and charge ridiculous shipping fees, so they put more money into their own pocket. Let's say you wanted to sell your item at $80.00 total including shipping, there used to be two ways of doing it: 1) $60.00 (item price) + $20.00 (actual shipping), or 2) $10.00 (item price) + $70.00 (shipping). Even though the buyer eventually pays the same price for an item, the seller can avoid the actual Ebay fee of $6.00 if he or she go with the second option, which the Ebay fee is only $1.00. Try thinking about selling an item for 10 times more, which option should the seller chooses? I'll leave that up to you, but it's Craigslist all the way for me just for its simplicity.
Here's a break down of how much 2012 Trek Sawyer I sold on EBay.
There are two sites for me to sell used bicycles or new/used bike parts: Ebay and Craigslist. EBay currently doesn't charge a listing fee, so you can sell an item without paying a cent, that is before your item is sold. It is also one of the best place to sell something. To a certain extent, Ebay is well known to many parts of the world. Even if you have an item that only a few people in this world appreciate, there will be someone who is willing to pay for it on Ebay. The company's popularity comes in a price too. Luckily, (or unfortunately), if someone bought your item either by auctioning or "buy-it-now," Ebay will charge two fees: 1) 10% of price sold, 2) 10% of shipping; that's 10% from the total (shipping + item price). If your buyer is sending payment through PayPal, there will be an additional 3% charge for a single transaction. If you do the math, Ebay/PayPal will be taking 13% fee out of your cut. It doesn't end here. There's also the handling charge which varies from item to item. Well, those fees are for Ebay to run its business, which includes resolving problems between buyers and sells, running the website, and possibly for its high paying CEO, VP's and other upper management, and making the company look good on paper. (I know... I know am going a little too off topic). I will provide a real world example of how much I get for selling my 2012 Trek Sawyer after all the non-sense cost for listing on Ebay, but before I go into that let's take a look at Ebay's nemesis: Craigslist.
Especially in San Francisco, Craigslist.com is one of the most popular site for selling your used items. If the price is reasonable, it's almost a guarantee that you can sell it. If it's a super awesome deal, you will literally get at least 10 emails asking about your item a second after you created your listing. The whole process of creating a post takes less than a minute, for me at least. This is a no-fee-for-listing, cash, and you'll-get-every-single-penny-you-asked-for transaction. What's the downside? Unfortunately, it's a face-to-face transactions, so safety can be an issue. In the SF Bay Area, there are people who will to kill someone for a PS4, or $400, (sad, sad reality). There are also the unavoidable solicitations, "low ballers," and scams. You have to filter them out and have at least three emails back and forth with the potential buyers until you can sell your items. Compared to Ebay, which attracts potential buyers nationally/globally, an item listed on Craigslist is only known to buyer close to your home. I have had a buyer who drove 80mi from where I live just to buy a bicycle frame, but it was still a good deal for him though. Being said that, there are a lot of awesome people out there. Fortunately, for me, most my experiences on Craigslist have been very positive.
While it's much safer to list something on Ebay, I still prefer to sell on Craigslist based on my own experience. The 10% Ebay fee + 3% Paypal do not justify for me. Ebay will take a cut out of your shipping, which I think is really unfair to the seller, but I can understand where it is coming from. Ebay didn't care about the shipping cost when it first started, so dishonest sellers used to sell their items at lower prices and charge ridiculous shipping fees, so they put more money into their own pocket. Let's say you wanted to sell your item at $80.00 total including shipping, there used to be two ways of doing it: 1) $60.00 (item price) + $20.00 (actual shipping), or 2) $10.00 (item price) + $70.00 (shipping). Even though the buyer eventually pays the same price for an item, the seller can avoid the actual Ebay fee of $6.00 if he or she go with the second option, which the Ebay fee is only $1.00. Try thinking about selling an item for 10 times more, which option should the seller chooses? I'll leave that up to you, but it's Craigslist all the way for me just for its simplicity.
Here's a break down of how much 2012 Trek Sawyer I sold on EBay.
| Buyer won auction @ | $921.00 | |
| FedEx Standard (from CA to AZ) | $100.00 | |
| Total: | $1,021.00 | |
| PayPal Transaction Fees (3% for both item and shipping) | $1021.00 x 3% | $30.63 |
| Ebay | $1021.00 x 10% | $102.10 |
| Bike Box + Misc Cost | $10.00 | |
| Packing | $60.00 | |
| Total: | $202.73 | |
| $1,021.00 | ||
| $202.73 | ||
| What I am really getting back: | $818.27 |
Thursday, July 18, 2013
New shoes: Schwalbe Ultremo dd
I love tires, no doubt the schwalbe marathon series is my favorite. Because of my extremely satisfying experience with the marathons, i went with the schwalbe ultremo dd, which will be replacing my Michelin Carbons on my Torelli.
Stay tune. We'll see how things go with the new shoes.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Less Writing More Riding
What have I been doing lately?
 |
| Livermore, California |
 |
| Castro Valley, California |
 |
| Fremont, California |
 |
| My Secret Hideout (Hint: California) |
 |
| My Secret Hideout (Shhh...) |
I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoy the rides. If you are in the West Coast area, my suggestion to you is stay away from the blogs, social media, phones, pc's, and start exploring. Take advantage of the daylight savings. There's so many beautiful places out there. Second thought, have the phone with you, the gps can be quite helpful in many situations.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Schwalbe Marathon 700x50 Day One Review
Honestly, after about 2 miles of test riding on my Soma with the new Marathon tires, I think they're ok. The wider tires seem to fit the style of the bike. I have to say they are not the same as the Marathon Plus on my Marin Muirwoods 29er. The 700x47 Marathon Plus I have on the Muirwoods is about the same size as the ones I have on my Soma, but the Plus on the Muirwoods feels much faster than the regular Marathon. The wider tire also doesn't feel the same as the older and narrower Marathon I have on my Del Rey. Maybe I need to give them a little more time until they're broken in. Ok, my plan is more biking and write another longer-term review. In the meantime, check out the pics below:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)