AustinBike

Those companies are all in England, not Scotland. And Absoluteblack manufactures most of their stuff in Poland. There are plenty of great things about Scotland and I would also bet that the Czech Republic would probably make a really shitty whisky and Germany's Haggis is probably inedible. But their precision machining is first rate.

You lost me with "Scottish startup." Scottish manufacturer? Sure. Scottish machining? Not so much. Well funded technology startup? Sure (probably, depends on the funding...) When it comes to precision machining, I'll take Germany, Switzerland, Austria, most of Eastern Europe, Japan, South Korea. I leave China out of that list because their machining is only as good as the people standing over them. Apple does a good job because they have tight engineering standards and stand over them all day long. But if you don't have someone watching the process and you are only sending the specs and doing quality checks when they arrive, you're fucked. And while the the article says that it fits the same physical space/specs, it is unclear if it is licensed. If it is licensed, it will be very hard for a startup to compete with Shimano. If it is not licensed, I'm sure they will let them ship up to a certain point and then come down hard with the lawyers. Basically let them prove out a manufacturing concept then push them into an expensive licensing to make the whole thing go away. Anyone that they were selling the design to will now be far enough down the road that they will need to pay Shimano. I think this is called "DW-Linking".

Having dealt in the world of OEM solutions, I can tell you that obsolescence is a real big problem. I am fighting with Lowes this week to get a stove delivered, all because the control panel unit, that is very specific to my current model, is broken. A refurbished one costs ~$350 and another $150 to get it installed. All with a 30-day warranty if you know how to chase the right people down. Or a new one can be had for $900. I am guessing that all of these low-volume custom designs are going to start to see very expensive parts go EOL with no warning. I have an Eagle GX derailleur and cassette in my garage waiting for the inevitable failure, I only bought those because of supply chain issues 2 years ago. Who is going to stockpile an $800 bespoke motor for their specific bike?

These are fetching over $100 on eBay these days, I'll sell at $80 to a local buyer. Hardly ever used, thus the reason I am getting rid of it. I'm just not talented that way.

Saw a tandem e-bike with a cargo back end today. THAT is an excellent use case for the technology.

I ended up at home. Internet went out and had to wait for a tech. ABW is the proper option these days, although I think Bouldin Acres on Barker could be an interesting option.

When I tighten up the chain and the sliders, I find that it will make a little noise for the first 1-2 rides. But after that it falls into the right spot where it is quiet for a few months. Then I notice the slack in the chain, oddly it seems to make the pedaling more difficult for some reason. Then it's flip the bike over, grab the Allen heads, lather, rinse, repeat.

Here is where I saw the issue: https://www.mtbr.com/threads/orbea-occum-2020-snapped-shock-bolt.1147195/ This was on a 2020 and I have a 2019, they changed the design a lot in 2020 so I generally assumed that I was safe. I did break a derailleur hanger bolt but I found that an old Honda or Nissan oil pan bolt was the same diameter with the same thread pitch. Adding a couple extra washers to take up the slack help get me back on the trail until the replacement was shipped to me. Knowing thread pitch is really important, with that data you can often find something that will work in a pinch.

That is a great use of the technology.

I store all my bikes on Steadyrack hangers, which hang the bike from the front wheel. Never had a shock or fork issue. But I cycle the bikes fairly often. The full suspension is ridden at least twice a week, the singlespeed is ridden once a week. The hardtail is ridden once every 2 months or so.

My PSA is whatever you buy, get several because they come from Spain. I had a small part break and when I saw it was going to be 3+ weeks to get a replacement, I bought two so that if I broke another I would not have to wait. The shock bolt was another part that several people had to replace and they recommended getting a spare to have on hand. But, I have to say, the bike has been incredibly robust. I have probably put less money into this bike, post-purchase, than any other bike that I have ever owned. That is also a testament to getting good components to begin with. Still on the original derailleur that is over 4 years old.

One of the things you'll find about a singlespeed is that if you have sliding dropouts, the dropouts will move over time and you will need to crank them back occasionally. I keep an eye on my chain tension and when it can move up or down more than ~1/2" I tighten it up a little more.

Eh, good riddance. Their "Bavarian" food was a major disappointment for me. It was about as authentic as the Tex Mex that you would find in München.

Check seat post. Seat. Pedals. Chain ring. Pedals. All of those things can create noise when pedaling. The first thing to try is does it creak when pedaling while standing? If it does not creak, that rules out seat post and seat. Then, after that I would try taking the pedals off, cleaning them, lubing them and put them back on. If they are clipless, try riding with regular shoes, not clipped in and see if that is the problem. If it still creaks, I'd try the chainring. I have had chainrings on my DUB crankset make noise. Not a fan of DUB.

The problem is that most of that shit is made in August. If you make it in March, like you are supposed to, then you gotta over hop it. Same concept as an IPA - lots of hops to help it keep the flavor over a longer period of time.

I have been drinking that and I have to agree with you. However, I am embarrassed to be drinking that in Oktober, please don't let anyone know.

This looks like someone used ChatGPT to design the worst e-bike ever.

Fayetteville was great, there are plenty of trails to ride and beer to drink. https://www.austinbike.com/index.php/arkansas

I used to ride it on a hardtail with ~80mm on the fork. Would love to try it now on my FS carbon 130mm squishy with a seat dropper. I wonder if I would walk away saying, eh, what was all the fuss about?

This is the same day as the Enchilada Buffet.

Also, after you have the big storm roll through and you don't have internet or TV, don't just take the "oh there's power outages, it must be that" excuse. Went outside this morning and my fiber optic cable is gone, taken down by a tree two doors down. Ugh.

Yeah, heat does not bother me as much because I am lucky enough to be able to ride every day. The acclimation got hosed a bit this year as we did a bunch of road trips, but I have consistently spent ~15-20 hours a week on the bike. Of course if I head back up north I can't take the cold like I used to.

Trailforks allows you to download the region (at the state level) before you ride. I keep Texas, Arkansas, California, and New Mexico on my phone. If you have no cell coverage, you can still see your location via the GPS and still navigate on the maps. It is great. The maps do not take up a lot of space on your phone. But you cannot download the map if you do not have a data connection, so go do that now. If you happen to be in an area where you have not downloaded the maps you *might* be ok because it *should* be caching the direct local area, but because I have downloaded maps I can't say for sure. The best way to test is put your phone in airplane mode now and see what navigating different trails looks like.

Just consider this a B line.

More dropped this morning. More tonight. Might try to hit the greenbelt in the morning. I can't believe that I actually look forward to a big rain dump that closes the trails for a few days. My yard is a shitshow.