[anomad]

@ian74 174764 wrote:

I have to disagree with you. Smokey Bob (or Smokey Joe as some of us call him) has been around all winter. It seems his cut off is about 35-40 degrees. Trey and I pass him almost every morning as we cross the 14th street bridge. He is always walking from the DC side and seems to leave at exactly the same time everyday, as we always pass him every time at approx 5:45 am. I assume this because we leave the same time everyday and always pass him in the same spot. He’s friendly and we wave and say Hi everyday.

Yes, I passed him yesterday, but also on Tuesday and Wednesday if I remember correctly. Also, I can tell you the paper started showing up yesterday and was already on the ground near the airport long before Smokey Joe would have made it there. I am convinced Smokey Joe and the paper shredder/bottle breaker are not the same person. I won’t make any assumptions about him being a junkie as I haven’t stopped to ask him about it but he seems alert and coherent when we pass and say hi.

I don’t know his backstory, but he seems ‘mostly harmless’

Interesting! He must have been ahead of my schedule, I hadn’t seen him in months. Then again I haven’t seen you in months either.

I’ll go back to the drawing board with my conspiracy theories.

[anomad]

@Emm 174601 wrote:

Oh god. Limebike just launched dockless e-scooters. . I can’t tell if they plan to launch in DC though…The website is a bit confusing.

How in the heck do dockless e-scooters get charged? I wonder if they’ll ever be like those robotic vacuum cleaners?

[anomad]

I’d say let’s give eBikes 5 or 10 years of unregulated use before we start thinking about banning this and banning that. Let’s get as many people out there pedaling something as possible. There are a couple slightly more important issues I’d prefer my legislators and civil servants spend their time on than how many watts your bicycle has.

That said, there’s a dude that passes me northbound through ye olde towne Alexandria early in the mornings on an eBike. He hauls ass and doesn’t even break cadence for the 4 way stops (huge ballz). Where is he in such a rush to get to you ask? Crossfit Oldtown! Yeah, getting huge and ripped after a solid warm up on the eBike. This gave me a brilliant idea this morning. Ever have trouble lifting those heavy weights at the gym? I know, they’re f*&%ing heavy right. “eWeights” my new line of “eWeight Machines” will be coming to kickstarter soon. I am going to help people lift those huge ass weights with eAssist technology. You’ll get the same great workout as weight lifting, but the added assist will allow you to push some really huge weights. If the kickstarter is successful I hope to branch out into other areas like the ePushUp and ePullUp machines. Imagine doing 100’s of reps instead of struggling through 25?

[anomad]

@cmj7gh 174425 wrote:

Just an update that I do plan to keep this up. In an effort to stop spamming this forum, I figured out how to make a recurring Facebook event, so I’ll post future updates there: https://www.facebook.com/events/2044054158943741/

Also this coming Monday should feature improvements in all three dimensions that I highlighted before:

• Find a more efficient way to boil water, or bring hot water in a thermos with me. preferably both.
  Check! I’ve invested in a Jetboil stove which claims that it can boil water in 100 seconds, which is approximately 1/10th of the time that my DIY alcohol stove took last week…
• Make it at least 10 degrees warmer, or turn the wind off. preferably both.
  Check! Looks like it’ll be around 40 degrees on Monday morning. If the rain holds off, it might actually be pleasant!
• Make the ground less slippery, or make me a better bike rider. preferably both.
  Maybe! It shouldn’t be icy, but it’ll probably take more than a week for me to git gud.

Keep “spamming”… I think this is excellent content.

I’ve heard great things about the JetBoil system for boiling water, they are very popular. I’ve also heard its not the best for regular cooking since its kind of hard to regulate the temperature.

[anomad]

Coffee out by the river is right up my alley. But that is pretty far off my beaten path.

I will attempt to meet you all there with a couple big thermos’ of my home roasted coffee on one of my alternative work schedule days off.

[anomad]

This thread reminds me of our last version release during the open application period at work…

[anomad]

I think I would go straight to keg brewing. The idea of bottling sounds painful. And, kegging is how my roomie did it, so I am more familiar with that. I’m not a fan of cider, but that does sound like a simple recipe to experiment with.

Please keep me in mind when you are going to start cooking and give me a shout. Maybe we could collaborate and make it an espresso stout??

[anomad]

@BobCochran 173738 wrote:

Hi anomad,

Thank you. I want a full custom bicycle.

This thread is to get ideas about components for same.

Bob

If I were going for a full custom steel I would probably choose my Oregonian friends at Co-Motion. https://www.co-motion.com/
There are dozens of top notch outfits to deal with out there. But that is where I would start. Like Hozn said, there are a brazillion variables when it comes to the parts you’ll hang on the frame. He would probably choose a 1×11 with big hydraulic brakes and go fast parts. I would probably choose heavy duty parts for anomad + luggage capacity and a tiny gear range for crawling up hills. We’d both want something with geometry and tires to tackle anything (within reason) in the DC metro area comfortably.

[anomad]

@phog 173634 wrote:

My wife did some bicycle commuting to uptown DC from Northern VA last year., and wants to do more but withan e-bike kit to assist. To test the waters I just got a used 1000 watt,, 48v. rear brushless motor kit off of Craigslist that would have cost $200 new (motor, rim, tire, controller, throttle, cutout-switched brake levers, sundry accessories) (batteries not included). Her bike has 700cc wheels and this wheel/hub is 26″ so I’m putting it on an old Schwinn Frontier (small 15″ frame) bike that I had, with a new, suitable aluminum rack and panniers and some lithium batteries. When i get it hooked I’ll test it out for range and drivability on a run from West Falls church to my work near the Capitol.

If there is enough room in the frame and the axle spacing is compatible you can probably put that 26 inch wheel right in your wifey’s bike with 700c wheels. With as big a tire as you can stuff in there it should have almost no impact on riding characteristics. Except the comfort of a larger volume tire. I am assuming you are talking about a rear hub/motor set up. I have a big 26″ Schwalbe Road Apple tire if you want to try mocking up the fitment of that combination. You can have it if it works. Also assuming disk brakes!

[anomad]

@NovaEbike 173682 wrote:

Welcome! I bought a refurbished e-bike back in June to start commuting from Vienna to SW DC and lose some weight (about 20 miles each way). It’s been great and I’ve lost ~60 lbs since I started in July. I’d suggest using 11 or 12 gauge spokes for the rear wheel and checking tension every couple weeks as the torque places a lot of stress on them. I’ve broken about 10 so far. Also, since you’re retrofitting an existing bike, ensure that a torque arm is included in the “sundry” items. It will spread torque from just the axle nuts at the rear stays to a second fixed point on the stay. For battery, I got a 17.4AH battery with my bike and that allows me to go back and forth to work on a single charge easily. As I’ve been dropping the amount of assist it gives me, I can actually stretch it out to 2 days back and forth, but I have terrible range anxiety.

That’s impressive weight loss and probably fitness gains to go with it. Good on you. Weren’t you the guy trying to figure out how to haul your required wardrobe on the bike? How’d that work out?

I’m interested in your rig and whatever phog comes up with. I have an old Kona mountain bike that would be a decent platform and a fatbike that is so heavy its like riding in slow motion.

I’ve been watching the Global Cycling Network spin off YouTube channel, Electric Mountain Bike Channel. Both the presenters are accomplished cyclists and motorcyclists, like me. Although the “accomplished” part is questionable. Seems like I would find a good electric motor on the fat bike a fun half step in between the two. Or put racks and fenders on the Kona and it would be a decent car replacement for short trips to the store or whatever. I’ve been eyeballing the Luna Cycles kits now and then. I balk at the cost, but I spent more than the cost of one of the kits on the rear shock of my motorcycle and forgot all about the expense after the first ride.

[anomad]

Unless you have very unusual dimensions or just want the luxury of a true custom frame, I’d say you can get more bang for the buck with a catalog frame from the builder of your choice.

I would absolutely love a full custom experience, but there’s no way I could justify the cost. I’d say spend your money on an off the shelf frame and having it fitted to you and equipped exactly to your specifications.

Read Hozn’s posts about his Walty. That is a third type option.

[anomad]

How are your rims holding up? If you’re destroying bearings after 2 months without beating up the rims or popping spokes I would guess there was an issue with the original quality or improper installation of the wheel bearings.

The extra diameter of the thru axle doesn’t make any difference on the bearing reliability. Even “old fashioned” cup and cone bearings last a long time.

Edit to add a couple links of recent wheel discussions.
http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?12700-What-do-I-need-to-know-about-wheels
http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?12360-Help-me-with-my-wheel-dilemma-(what-to-buy)

[anomad]

I’m rolling on the “Schwalbe Marathon Touring Tyre – GreenGuard”. I’ve never flatted with them, but the ride quality is so bad I wish I hadn’t bought them. So I can look forward to that for another 10000 miles or so.

[anomad]

I think Judd and others mentioned it already, but Pandora, Spotify, and Google music are all great at finding other songs you might like based on things you thumb up or whatever. Their algorithms are pretty damn good. I would have never found half the dub/reggae bands or metal bands I listen to without the suggestions. Having the worlds musical library at your fingertips changes the experience, not unlike NetFlix etc. changed the way we consume movies and shows.

NOFX’s “I heard they suck live” and “They’ve actually gotten worse live” are fun live albums. Some live albums flow into a nice long soundtrack.

[anomad]

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?12322-What-commuting-sound-system-should-I-get

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