My bike in 2010: (new fenders for Seattle, new seat from DeRonnaise, and the new parts mentioned in the previous post)

in contrast to 2006 (kinda miss my black wheels, but those weren’t the originals either):

First impressions with the new parts:

• I noticed there was no gritty feeling when rolling the bike backward when I wheeled it out of the basement. I’m guessing this was due to the bottom bracket being replaced. I hadn’t really noticed it too much before, but definitely notice the new smoothness.
• The new cables and housings make a big difference in braking, but an even bigger difference in shifting. Probably this has to do with the new chain/cassette/chainrings too, but shifting seems instantaneous now – like I’m literally pushing the chain onto a different gear when I click the shifter levers. There’s no hesitation whatsoever, even with 8-year old front and rear derailleurs.
• My bike is silent. I notice it most when going through the bike tunnel above I-5 or when riding close to cars on my right. Usually I could hear the buzz of the chain on the gears reflected off objects as I peddled, but now there’s nothing to hear.
• I’m a little surprised it was so easy to spend the same amount of money in upgrades/repairs as I spent on the original bike. Soon there will be no original parts left except the frame…

Like Teague, I (just) put some money into my bike this summer. Rumor has it that wheels have a huge impact on the way the bike rides, and after wearing down my rims with the Seattle grit the past couple winters, I was curious what a new set would feel like. Also, I’d recently ridden a couple of friends’ bikes that were newer than mine, and even though they entry-level bikes like mine, and mine is fairly in tune, they felt dramatically nicer to me. After conferring with some mechanics, I decided another worthwhile upgrade was to replace the old cables and housings. So now my bike has the following new parts:

• Two new chain-rings (lower and middle gear)
• Two wheels: mavic open-pro rims w/ shimano 105 hubs
• New chain, new cassette
• New cables, housings
• New bottom bracket

I actually just got it back, but haven’t ridden it yet. ooh the anticipation!

I read this article on supply side economics some time ago, and wanted to share the following passage:

Tax cuts give Republicans an opportunity to distribute economic benefits through the tax code the way Democrats distribute them through appropriations, and the exaggeration of the supply-side effect gives them an opportunity to pretend like those benefits are cost-free.

Its not a particularly insightful sentence, but it resonates with me in the same way that Yglesias’ frequent posts on judging the conservative movement by their actions and not their rhetoric do. Republicans like handing out benefits too, but their favorite method is hypocritical. I remember being surprised while reading it that this is the first article I’ve read debunking the supply-side argument. It’s a little distressing to me that there is such a low signal to noise ration in politics, but also that substantive critiques are hard to come by.