I found these painted on the breakwall along Nantasket Beach while visiting Hull, MA this past weekend. Man I wish I’d have had a 2 Johns stencil and a can of spray paint.

brought to you by missingsaddle.comSit down and gorge yourself on a Thanksgiving feast of Listener Feedback - Tour of Utah update from the WSF, contact from French Lick, the King of Hosers drops us a line with his top 5 list, Iowa Kent sneaks in 2 emails, Kristen (NZ) and Stuart (AU) flip us the bird, Mitch has me re-explain Katie C. thoughts, Smug Todd defends himself, the Rasta declares himself International Assigner of all Nicknames and asks us some questions about insideride.com, the Flying Tank exploits his mass and searches for heroes, cyclocross bike dropout spacing, Ti to Carbon, Jon is anti-Fred, the other John slams Orbeas, and… tied and soldered wheels - is it valid?And for dessert? Here’s a picture of Todd cyclocrossing in China. Yes that China.

For some reason, it took me an entire season to get my brakes dialed in. I am using a set of Paul Neo Retro Canti’s with Kool-Stop Tectonic pads. I find the Kool-Stop pads work really well with my carbon race wheels.First step was removing the top mounted levers. The extra bends and cable housing segments produced a very sluggish, spongy feel. The other change that vastly improved positive braking feel and force was running the stradle cable longer. The two other things I’ve done have to do with cable routing around the seat stay collar and at the fork crown. The housing segment around the seat collar is aluminum Nokon. It handles the short run with a sharp bend really well.

Hop on. The Podcast is leaving the station.

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1 hour of podcasting power - International: Katie Compton wins a World Cup Race, auf wiedersehen Adidas Local: cx training in Cincy, cx racing in NC, cx crashing is a good teacher Feedback: I’m johng@twojohnspodcast.com, he’s johnk@twojohnspodcast.com, Cyclocross Magazine makes a strong debut, we speak Canadian, Glenn Quagmire lubes up, the birds in Australia are Magpies, Light and Motion Vega lights, remember Campagnolo’s MTB group?, we hear from an aging Florida cyclist, Jon calls us cartridge weasels - let’s get pumped up Technology: lifted from the pages of Cyclocross Mag - Campy 10 levers, Shimano 8 or 9 rear mech… it works! NEW EMAIL ADDRESS — questions@twojohnspodcast.com

What weighs less than a pile of toenail clippings and costs $400 retail? My new handlebars. **I did not pay retail, nor did I pay wholesale, manufactures cost, etc… They were a gift from a friend who works for Trek. Thank you TM! 170 grams, $399. That’s right folks. Top end bars now cost $400!

Ok, skip forward if you don’t want do hear another diatribe about how long I’ve been racing bikes. Still reading… you asked for it. I worked in a shop in Cincinnati in the early eighties. We sold nice stuff. We were one of the first Serotta dealers anywhere. My junior team was sponsored by Serotta. Man I wish I still had that bike. Anyway, we sold Gianni Motta’s, Colnalgo’s, Viner’s, Cinelli’s, Benotto’s, Gios Torino’s, etc. Like I said, nice stuff. You could get out the door with a full Nuovo Record bike for $1,050. Wheels, pedals, everything. $1,300 to $1,600 for Super Record. And you really had to try to drive the price up that much. Binda Extra straps, two TA bottle cages, Criterium Seta sew-ups, and a Cinelli 1R stem. The handlebars, whether Cinelli 64-40, 66-40, or criterium drop cost $19.95 retail. You could go on the cheap and buy some TTT for $14.95, but no self respecting bike racer would ride that crap.

Move forward 25 years, whoops… 27 years (am I really that old?), bars now cost $400 American dollars. They do look cool and I’m sure will feel very nice. The reason I went to them actually is to go back to a standard-bend drop. Road test report to come soon.