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  2. At least the wars fought over oil rich lands did no harm to the people and environment of Vietnam, the Middle East, Afghanistan (pipeline ROW), etc., right? Nor has there ever been any displacement of people or destruction of water supplies due to drilling. Thank goodness. Lithium, fortunately, can be found on every continent and in seawater. Nobody will be fighting over it, nor does it create toxic by-products when used. Batteries produced today are expected to last for a million vehicle miles. But, they are just getting started, and will make better ones in the future. Article on Cobalt in Lithium batteries: https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/reducing-reliance-cobalt-lithium-ion-batteries From the EPA Website: https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths Click the link for more EV myths being busted, and colorful charts that present the supporting data graphically. Excerpt from above: Myth #2: Electric vehicles are worse for the climate than gasoline cars because of battery manufacturing. FACT: The greenhouse gas emissions associated with an electric vehicle over its lifetime are typically lower than those from an average gasoline-powered vehicle, even when accounting for manufacturing. Some studies have shown that making a typical EV can create more carbon pollution than making a gasoline car. This is because of the additional energy required to manufacture an EV’s battery. Still, over the lifetime of the vehicle, total GHG emissions associated with manufacturing, charging, and driving an EV are typically lower than the total GHGs associated with a gasoline car. That’s because EVs have zero tailpipe emissions and are typically responsible for significantly fewer GHGs during operation (see Myth 1 above). For example, researchers at Argonne National Laboratory estimated emissions for both a gasoline car and an EV with a 300-mile electric range. In their estimates, while GHG emissions from EV manufacturing and end-of-life are higher (shown in orange below), total GHGs for the EV are still lower than those for the gasoline car. Estimates shown2 from GREET 2 2021 are intended to be illustrative only. Estimates represent model year 2020. Emissions will vary based on assumptions about the specific vehicles being compared, EV battery size and chemistry, vehicle lifetimes, and the electricity grid used to recharge the EV, among other factors. Above, the blue bar represents emissions associated with the battery. The orange bars encompass the rest of the vehicle manufacturing (e.g., extracting materials, manufacturing and assembling other parts, and vehicle assembly) and end-of-life (recycling or disposal). The gray bars represent upstream emissions associated with producing gasoline or electricity (U.S. mix), and the yellow bar shows tailpipe emissions during vehicle operations. Recycling EV batteries can reduce the emissions associated with making an EV by reducing the need for new materials. While some challenges exist today, research is ongoing to improve the process and rate of EV battery recycling. For more information on EV battery development and recycling, visit: U.S. Department of Energy’s ReCell Center National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries, 2021-2030 (pdf) (June 2021, report published by the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries)
  3. The point of the NPR piece is that mining for the types of raw materials needed to make batteries can and does have adverse/detrimental impacts, and those impacts are borne on the backs of poor/powerless people in places where there are zero regulatory processes to protect humans and environment and that those impacts are invisible to end users in countries like the US.
  4. Yesterday
  5. I disagree, 100%. Watch a few videos on cobalt mining in Africa. Compare that to the BP rigs on the North Slope in Alaska. Night and day difference in environmental impact and human safety/ impact. I'm not saying Big Oil's hands are clean but I'd rather live next to a refinery (I actually did for 4 years in college) than anywhere near a heavy metal mine. None of the kids being raised in Blaine, WA or Ferndale, WA have birth defects from the refinery. Greenwashing by switching to batteries as fast as we have is having a much bigger global and individual impact than anyone realizes. Money goes where the demand is much faster than any regulations. Here's a few to choose from: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cobalt+mining+in+congo Oil refinery in Alaska: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=oil+refinery+north+slope+alaska
  6. This is such a good point. I went to the Trek website and read about the Marlin. Battery life is only 2 - 4 hours, depending, which is hugely suboptimal. Of course, the power option would be for climbing only, but still. The Marlin battery is not removable. Trek will have an additional battery option: "When you want to pedal farther, partner your Marlin+ with a 250 watt-hour Bosch PowerMore range extender battery (sold separately) to increase range by over 60%. (Coming soon!)" That battery mounts on the down tube and just plugs in. Fortunately, there are a lot of websites comparing various e-bikes, battery life, weight, and all the things. Things will be moving along in the ebike bike packing world when the e bike battery can be charged with a small solar panel. Someone has done it already: HERE This is Scandanavia; a hot Texas sun or clear sky in the desert Southwest might work faster.
  7. If you only use them to ride BCRT and peddlers, you are fine.
  8. I would suggest that there is a bigger determinant out there: modularity and standardization. If I were investigating an e-bike, one of my top criteria would be the modularity of the batteries. My wife has an Electra Townie Go e-bike and she loves it. But the battery is integrated into the downtube and not really user accessible. I also have some friends with REI city e-bikes that have modular, removable batteries - a much better design. But what the industry needs is some standardization. That will drive adoption faster than anything. Additionally, while it is not optimal, if you had a removable battery you could actually carry a spare with you on an overnight trip if you needed to. Sure, its not optimal because of the weight, but it would be a consideration.
  9. I know someone who lives in Burnet TX and they said, word on the street is to expect 50k people to show up in their community for it! Some people in Burnet are selling parking spot on their land for $100 buck each. Didn't know this was such a thing.... -CJB
  10. I think most of the "battery materials mining is eco-unfriendly" stories are written by oil companies. Consider how fossil fuels are mined to provide the power to mine the oil, transport the oil, refine the oil, and then continuously mined to provide fuel that is burned and cannot be recycled for the life of a gas/diesel powered vehicle. Battery materials are only mined to create the first battery, after which 98% of the battery can be recycled into new batteries. As the supply of produced batteries grows, the mining needs will eventually be reduced. This is the part of the story rarely shared. As for the e-bike, I regret purchasing one with a 500 Ah battery. The most utility will be derived from having a larger capacity battery. Also, for extended trips a second battery can be carried along if necessary. Most are very easy to swap out. Batteries are very pricey though.
  11. Listened to an interestig piece on NPR discussing the shift to battery-powered cars and the price paid by the people who live where the raw materials are mined and the ecological impact of mining those materials vs the impression that battery power is completely green and clean. But, I digress. These last few weeks, I've really started looking at e-bikes, knowing one is in my future. Advancing age + difficulty in recovering due to some health issues + plus the side effects of medication for those health issues -- I'm there. My main concern is how long a ride will a battery support because I'd like to use one for short, overnight bikepacking trips that would likely be on two-track or bladed roads with no options to stock up on water. Yup, we're talking SE Utah and SW Colorado. Thanks for the TREK Marlin link, it looks like a possibility, but I'll be looking around. A few weeks ago I did find a website on hardtail e-bikes, comparing battery storage capacity.
  12. I don't plan on leaving my neighborhood that day. a bunch of schools have closed because the traffic will be so nuts. I feel bad for people stuck on the highways in Hill Country.
  13. I think the extent of the insanity finally hit me today when I saw Flat Rock has tent camping for the eclipse for $400 for 2 nights. $500 for dry RV camping.
  14. Last week
  15. Oh, quit being such a drama queen, Carl. I have certainly never stated that you do ‘nothing for the community’. There are various efforts underway to stop the Southie trails from becoming a national trash embarrassment, and your refusal to allow these efforts to be posted, or to allow your forum to be used for coordination of trash pickup, deserves your being called out in public. As I have said, we’ll manage without you.
  16. I have an Occam - carbon. This is the best bike I have ever owned. And I have owned a bunch. Maybe it is overkill, but there are times when overkill beats almost enough. Highly recommend it. Also, I have hammered on this one a lot, bought in September of 2019 and it is still going strong. I have broken frames on just about everything else I have owned, except for my Santa Cruz Blur. And I am not a big jump guy, I just ride a ton.
  17. I’m looking at a new bike for my wife, which will be used for mellow trails- easy parts of SATN, green trail at Reimers etc. There are some decent looking sales on Orbea Occam and Rocky Mountain Element and Instinct at the moment. Does anyone have these (I’m looking at the cheaper alloy specs) and if so would they be overkill for mainly green trails? I’m leaning towards more travel than necessary as we won’t be doing long rides so I don’t care much about efficiency, and I think a more plush ride will get us on the trails more.
  18. Meanwhile back at the ranch, the madrones are in bloom!
  19. i was being cheap, when i finally swapped my rear, and i was like: woah, so much more confidence braking on the downhills. i realized i had waited too long.
  20. Not trying to stoke any coals here but The Tip shared almost 70 miles of trail maps with me, and i wasn't on any social media. Most of which I'd never even heard of. Pretty cool
  21. sigh. I really didn't want to address this but, to protect what little reputation I have, I am compelled to do so. I am not sure why I am having to endure TAF's unrelenting wrath. It started with his suggestion for a cleanup of a particular spot in the SATN. I didn't immediately jump on it and make it happen. He has been very angry at me since. I'm not sure why he didn't organize this event himnself if it was so important to him. But I'm amazed that he accuses me of "doing nothing for the community." The irony being that I would be willing to bet that there are less than five people in town that have given as many hours to trail building, maintenance, organizing clean ups, putting on community building events, and participating in other's events too, (ARR etc), as I have. For example, I've used Strava to track my walking miles at trail work for eight years now. I average over a hundred miles a year. That includes just walking to do hours long projects at single spots. It would be fun if Strava tracked all time hours at each activity too. He wants The SATN Facebook page to be an open forum. Well, that is not why that page was created. It is only for information dissemintation. There are at least two other local mtbing Facebook pages that are designed for open discussions. So his ire about that perplexes me too. I have nothing against the man. This all just seems so strange to me.
  22. Less shame if he would work with others toward a common goal.
  23. I have dropped a bunch of tires off there and have more on the shelf. I am slowly cleaning out the garage and when I hit the bike area I will have another big shipment to drop off.
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