alphabetsheep

joined 1 year ago
[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Agreed. That's one of the big benefits of cheap bikes currently - cheap, available parts that work in a wide range of bikes. There's always been proprietary shit though, this particular tech isn't new in that regard.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You're right, but I think there are some other benefits to doing away with the chain. I have an E-mountain bike and between chain stretch, chain damage, and mud I go through 2 chains per season plus a couple trail-side repairs. Also, no chain means you can optimize pedal speed/torque for each individual rider, and keep it in the ideal range all the time regardless of bike speed. Essentially it offers a much wider power band than gears and a chain. You could also optimize crank length for clearance instead of torque. The front chainring is also a big point of contact on mountain bikes, removing that could improve clearance with the right design. I'd also be interested in the regenerative braking - if I go on an Enduro ride I'm cooking my brakes on much of the downhill, regen could save those and recharge the battery at the same time. Maybe regen could even lead to a smaller battery and save some weight.

Sure there are disadvantages - weight, complexity, efficiency, probably others too. I think with time those will improve though and this just might be a viable setup for certain use cases.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Looks lovely! Have you tried washing it before? I'd be very curious about yield and quality of hash.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago (6 children)

Good resource thanks for posting! It seems like they really went out of their way to avoid mentioning EBikes. My experience has been that for folks with disabilities EBikes are a game changer as they allow people to put in as much effort as comfortable but not go past that. I also think the section about it getting sweaty could have mentioned EBikes as a potential solution. I understand they don't want to piss off cycling purists, but I think it's important to recognize the positive impacts these new technologies have.

Finally, I get their stance on helmets and agree that helmet mandates aren't ideal. That said, I think it's disengenuous to say that helmets are useless. It's true that those studies looking at city helmet use found no difference in safety overall, but I'm not convinced that wearing a helmet wouldn't improve my personal safety. I've absolutely wrecked a helmet riding on the street, and I'm very glad it wasn't my head instead.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Legally speaking sure. I've never seen that enforced though so I wouldn't be particularly concerned about the legality of it.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The plugin is just called "git" it comes with ohmyzsh out of the box. You just have to enable it in your zshrc.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Are you able to fall back to normal git commands if you don't know the shortcuts? This sounds awesome until I can't remember the syntax to do something I don't do everyday.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Ohmyzsh with the git plugin is my fave - gaa & gcmsg "a commit" feels like the right level of verbosity for me.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

My guy you shouldn't have visited New Jersey... In all seriousness though, this is at least partly satirical right? There are definitely some tough spots in America like most places, but when I went to Europe and Scandinavia it was about the same.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ariel riders look pretty great! How is it to pedal? Geometry wise it looks like it would be hard to get much power out of pedaling it. I would seriously think about buying a used rider to steal the drive train out of though, seems like they have a nice powerful platform and lots of customization options on the aftermarket.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

I mean, many folks would say that's what leclerc did successfully in 2021. That's a bit of a conspiracy, and doesn't make a ton of sense (gearbox penalty etc.) but it's not impossible.

[–] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Awesome bike! I have an E-mountain bike and really enjoy it. For this application, I'm not sure if the mountain bike design will give me enough efficiency to hit the range I need. Maybe with narrower street tires and mostly locking out the suspension, but that removes most of the mountain bike advantages IMO.

 

I live in the USA and if I want to get rid of my car I would need to be able to cover 70 miles round trip with moderate exercise in a reasonable amount of time. I think if I could cruise at 35MPH (56 KMH) that would be enough to make the switch.

It may be stupid, but I'd like to try to avoid an electric motorcycle - those need insurance, registration fees, real parking spaces, and a special license. Also, I enjoy getting some activity while riding. FWIW I'm not worried about legality, but I do plan to stay off bike paths/sidewalks to avoid endangering pedestrians and other cyclists.

My idea so far is to start with a gravel bike frame for aerodynamics, efficiency, and sturdiness in case of a pothole or rogue curb. From there I'm thinking about a 1500w hub motor, dual batteries, higher gears, bigger brakes, and permanent lights for visibility. Also a good helmet of course, crashing at that speed can be pretty bad.

Has anyone done something like this and had it go well/poorly? Anything I'm clearly missing in my plan? Also feel free to tell me if I'm an idiot, but I already know that bit.

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