If you have to ask...that Volvo page to build your new grocery getter sucks balls.
I built one with all the specs I'd like, and got a summary WITH NO PRICE.
Toshi's thread
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For certain values of "all set"...
It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is…For certain values of "all set"...
Does this help at all?that Volvo page to build your new grocery getter sucks balls.
I built one with all the specs I'd like, and got a summary WITH NO PRICE.
That'd be the one I'm leasing.
Haldex plus lack of suspension articulation looks like shit.
Skip to about 7:45 in. I drove that trail in ye olde Land Cruiser, btw, and found it to be super tame. Not sure if I climbed this particular hill segment, though.
Speaking of the Land Cruiser, my ex-neighbor who bought it emailed me today. Nothing nefarious, just wondering why I picked Tundra wheels as the second set. (Answer: because I liked how they looked.) He’s planning on an Old Man Emu lift, ARB bumpers, and a winch, apparently, sort of what Dan-o was encouraging me to do.
That was an hour east of Des Moines. Now shacked up in Omaha for the night in a Hawthorn(sans e) Suites room that smells vaguely like wet dog.
Thoughts on vehicle so far:
- 20" wheels with 245/45R20 tires make for quite a lot of road noise, significantly more than the 19"s on the other R-Design I test drove in Denver
- Pilot Assist is really weird feeling, because it fights you, basically. Not sure if I like it, although I'm certainly using it all that I can on this trip, replete with it admonishing me to "Apply steering" quite often
- feels light on its feet, taut suspension and those big tires == no tire squeal even with pretty aggressive cornering
- Sensus is oddly designed. Example: there are sound controls on one tab and then surround settings on yet another "app" instead of within the settings, per se. Still haven't quite figured out how to move gracefully around within it
- the midwest is as flat as I remember from the last time I drove through it
More thoughts on the XC40, in no particular order:
Wheel/tire package is still loud, albeit very variable with road surface with a range from whisper quiet to full-throated roaring/singing.
The cameras (backup and surround view +/- any combination of individual ones) are bar none the nicest I've seen: very high resolution and looks like a 60 Hz refresh rate to my eye. This in-car wash shot with water on lenses doesn't capture it perfectly but it's better than on our prior Leaf and far better than on the PacHy.
Still haven't figured out how to reset the trip meter, which is telling about the UI.
I, environmental warrior, disabled the auto stop/start since it's jarring and uncouth, and leads to one leaving the line a half second later than intended.
Pilot Assist is most in its element in traffic on I-25, which is fortunate, I guess, since there's plenty of that. Ultimate verdict is of marginal added utility for freeway driving, on the other hand, so it or its similar cousins from other marques will not be on my "must have" list for the next vehicle.
26 mpg and change over the Illinois-Denver trip including the ~65 miles on it when I picked it up (at 12 mpg average at that point!), with those miles included again because of my confusion with the trip meter's interface.
Wheel/tire package is still loud, albeit very variable with road surface with a range from whisper quiet to full-throated roaring/singing.
The cameras (backup and surround view +/- any combination of individual ones) are bar none the nicest I've seen: very high resolution and looks like a 60 Hz refresh rate to my eye. This in-car wash shot with water on lenses doesn't capture it perfectly but it's better than on our prior Leaf and far better than on the PacHy.
Still haven't figured out how to reset the trip meter, which is telling about the UI.
I, environmental warrior, disabled the auto stop/start since it's jarring and uncouth, and leads to one leaving the line a half second later than intended.
Pilot Assist is most in its element in traffic on I-25, which is fortunate, I guess, since there's plenty of that. Ultimate verdict is of marginal added utility for freeway driving, on the other hand, so it or its similar cousins from other marques will not be on my "must have" list for the next vehicle.
26 mpg and change over the Illinois-Denver trip including the ~65 miles on it when I picked it up (at 12 mpg average at that point!), with those miles included again because of my confusion with the trip meter's interface.
3rd party support for my whinging:
"If there are fingers that need pointing at the drive experience, it would be Volvo XC40’s tyre noise. On the big 20s there’s a bit of roar on coarse-chip surfaces"
"We list road noise among our few complaints, with a constant white noise that can sometimes be intrusive. The European-spec summer tires may be contributing somewhat, but we're certain the U.S.-bound models with all-season tires will still make some noise."
"… the Volvo is rather more refined [than the Tiguan] apart from noticeable road noise intruding into the cabin."
"Again, the XC40 isn’t perfect, stirring up noticeable road noise from its vast 20in wheels, but wind noise is well contained, and overall it’s the most peaceful on the motorway. While both the Tiguan and X1 whip up slightly more wind noise than the XC40, it’s the X1’s atrocious road noise that really narks you, to the point that you have to crank up the radio over coarse surfaces."
(Yikes! Glad I didn't get a BMW X1 on run-flats, then!)
"Alloy wheels come in 18-, 19-, 20- and 21-inch varieties and our two test cars rode on the stylish 20-inch rims and tyres. While pretty to look at, we found that our launch route was peppered with potholes and rough surfaces that upset the smooth ride quality and the coarse bitumen elicits some loud cabin noise."
Relevant to the above is that I put in an offer on eBay for a set of 18" OEM takeoff wheels + tires with 50 miles on 'em. 18" snows are cheaper anyway than 20"s…
I ordered 18” takeoffs (wheels and tires alike) from eBay. I’ll stick with the 20”s until winter then will shelve them until lease end. I already am predicting that I won’t buy out the lease at the end of the term, not that it’s not a nice vehicle. It’s just small and not magic enough.
In other news I went to Mojo Wheels and tried on their full faces. Nothing fit. XL Troy Lee was the closest, so I ordered an XXL carbon D3 through them. Expensive day as I also paid for the exorbitant hitch as well... but I’m now set to go riding tomorrow. Booyah.
In other news I went to Mojo Wheels and tried on their full faces. Nothing fit. XL Troy Lee was the closest, so I ordered an XXL carbon D3 through them. Expensive day as I also paid for the exorbitant hitch as well... but I’m now set to go riding tomorrow. Booyah.
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Nice. nothing fits my big head like a D3.
I believe those are the same shell with different pads (not positive)
I really don't get the huge wheel trend.I ordered 18” takeoffs (wheels and tires alike) from eBay. I’ll stick with the 20”s until winter then will shelve them until lease end. I already am predicting that I won’t buy out the lease at the end of the term, not that it’s not a nice vehicle. It’s just small and not magic enough.
In other news I went to Mojo Wheels and tried on their full faces. Nothing fit. XL Troy Lee was the closest, so I ordered an XXL carbon D3 through them. Expensive day as I also paid for the exorbitant hitch as well... but I’m not set to go riding tomorrow. Booyah.
Degraded comfort and performance? No thanks.
I will be swapping out the 19s on the Aargh as soon as tires need replacing.
I had very limited choice of vehicles available on the ground for this model, and painted myself into a corner because this was the model and trim with the great lease terms. Stock on this trim would have been 19”, with 20” extra (punishment).
Thinking ML for tomorrow. Ease into the season instead of flogging myself, er pushing up Belcher.
That.
Do that.
What time?
Going during the day so as to be back and showered for food truck Friday. Probably at trailhead before 11.
Can confirm the new Toshi-mobile is very nice and worked well for shuttling us between trailheads today.
Haven't tried annoying people whilst on my commute since both bikes are at Golden Bike Shop at the moment, but I did try out the speaker a bit with some Mahler 2 on the kitchen counter. They sound ok for being a tiny but hefty speaker, I guess, but certainly are nothing magical.
JBL Flip 4. Going to mount it to my commuter bike's handlebars and rock out to some Hamilton while spinning into work.
(Both bikes are getting their wheels trued and tensioned because GBS put themselves on the hook to do this for free indefinitely when I had those wheelsets built. The 5010 is also getting a bottom bracket/lower pivot/crank creak hunted down, because this is apparently my perpetual problem with it.)
You are indeed correct: "(Note: Just as we found out that an XXL helmet is an XL shell with XXL lining and cheek pads an XS helmet is a S helmet with XS lining and cheek pads.)"
During our travels yesterday 6thElement mentioned that the day tickets to Trestle were actually pretty cheap. For non-Ikon passholders who aren't renting bikes, like the 6thElements, then breakeven is 7.5 days (309/41). I see why they didn't spring for it.
For me, not having a DH bike and having an Ikon pass, the math is a bit more complex.
Edit: math error. 10 days on pass should be +269 from what is there, or $1,049.
The bottom line is that the break even point when renting a DH bike on mountain is just over 3 days. (There's also 3 free Crested Butte and 3 Steamboat days on the pass, too, although I probably won't make it out to use 'em given family constraints. These will probably be weekdays I head up myself.)
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$78 per day also answers pretty solidly whether I should buy a DH sled for myself down the road. That would be "no", as it seems pretty clear that bikes would depreciate more than $780 per year (at least in the first few years). Might as well lease, as it were, and have the benefit of staying current with the latest 36" wheel fads automatically.
@6thElement Any tips on which park would be more fun between CB and Steamboat? Turns out the wife + kids (+ MIL) are headed down to Atlanta over Labor Day weekend, and I'm not on call…
Some douchebag had a radio playing 'Take It Easy' by the Eagles on his boombox in a backpack during my Mt. Bike ride yesterday. . Luckily, he was doing just that, so passing him quickly was no problem.
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Haven't ridden the park at Steamboat, when we headed there last year the park was running late on installing their new gondola so no DH runs were done, only a single one on trail bikes where we'd pedaled to the top.
Crested Butte is pretty fun, we'll be there the weekend after Labor Day.
If I were you I'd consider Angel Fire for a few days. (I'll let you do your maths if it's worth getting the mtbparks pass to cover that and your days at Trestle).
edit: I've got a bunch of $25 gift cards for their passes, so I can save you $25 in your purchase calculations.
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Summer biking schedule hammered out with my wife tonight. She didn't want me taking a weekend day every weekend. I also am not going to get many of my academic/"free" midweek biking days since we'll be short staffed for a few months, so I lined up some midweek vacation a la the winter months.
Trestle days:
Sat June 16 (opening day)
Sat June 30
Sat Aug 4
Wed Aug 8
Wed Aug 15
Sat Aug 18
Fri Aug 24
Sat Sept 8
Wed Sept 12
Wed Sept 19
and assuming they're still open Wed Oct 3
Non-Trestle biking days:
Wed May 30 (Mountain Lion)
Fri June 15 (Mountain Lion--see a pattern?)
Tues July 10 (Mountain Lion with WV online buddy)
Sat July 21 (something local in the early-ish morning, probably White Ranch)
Sat-Sun Sept 1-2 (Crested Butte)
Wed Oct 17 (?)
Wed Oct 24 (?)
Whatever free academic biking days I get on top of this will be icing on the somewhat meager cake--I'd like to ride more but may not get much of a chance to do so. With 10-11+ Trestle days I'm going to go for the Ikon pass add-on as planned, especially given that 40% DH bike rental discount.
Trestle days:
Sat June 16 (opening day)
Sat June 30
Sat Aug 4
Wed Aug 8
Wed Aug 15
Sat Aug 18
Fri Aug 24
Sat Sept 8
Wed Sept 12
Wed Sept 19
and assuming they're still open Wed Oct 3
Non-Trestle biking days:
Wed May 30 (Mountain Lion)
Fri June 15 (Mountain Lion--see a pattern?)
Tues July 10 (Mountain Lion with WV online buddy)
Sat July 21 (something local in the early-ish morning, probably White Ranch)
Sat-Sun Sept 1-2 (Crested Butte)
Wed Oct 17 (?)
Wed Oct 24 (?)
Whatever free academic biking days I get on top of this will be icing on the somewhat meager cake--I'd like to ride more but may not get much of a chance to do so. With 10-11+ Trestle days I'm going to go for the Ikon pass add-on as planned, especially given that 40% DH bike rental discount.
BMW introduces wireless car charging for their 530e PHEV: https://electrek.co/2018/05/28/bmw-wireless-electric-car-charging-system-convenience-cost-efficiency/
85% wall to battery efficiency, as compared to 92% for a wired setup. (Note that the commenters at electrek are blowhards and can't accept that 7% efficiency in exchange for ease of use might be a worthwhile tradeoff for some... especially those who would pick a 5 series in the first place!)
:notbadobama:
Meanwhile I'm just excited I can wirelessly charge my phone in my car. (Also got charging pads for the bedside table and at work--one less cable!)
Several times before I've posted about Windsource, which is Xcel Energy's program to offset anywhere from 100 kWh to all of one's electricity use with RECs.
As of last year apparently they have another, competing program, Renewable*Connect. It appears to be a smoking deal, actually.
Windsource charges a $1.50 premium/100 kWh electricity used. (This has gone down a bit over the years.) 1.5 cents/kWh.
Renewable*Connect, on the other hand, charges between 4.1-4.4 cents/kWh premium dependent on term length... but then issues a credit for the "fossil fuels costs and power plant costs that are no longer needed because of the addition of the Renewable*Connect resource".
This year the credit is 4.1 cents/kWh. So if I sign up for 10 years--any why shouldn't I?--then the net price for offsetting all of our electrical consumption with solar will be zilch. In this case it's in-state production fed directly into the grid, too, so even more of a "real" thing in as much as RECs are a nebulous concept.
As of last year apparently they have another, competing program, Renewable*Connect. It appears to be a smoking deal, actually.
Windsource charges a $1.50 premium/100 kWh electricity used. (This has gone down a bit over the years.) 1.5 cents/kWh.
Renewable*Connect, on the other hand, charges between 4.1-4.4 cents/kWh premium dependent on term length... but then issues a credit for the "fossil fuels costs and power plant costs that are no longer needed because of the addition of the Renewable*Connect resource".
This year the credit is 4.1 cents/kWh. So if I sign up for 10 years--any why shouldn't I?--then the net price for offsetting all of our electrical consumption with solar will be zilch. In this case it's in-state production fed directly into the grid, too, so even more of a "real" thing in as much as RECs are a nebulous concept.
Creak hunting complete at Golden Bike Shop:
- bottom bracket reinstalled and regreased
- handlebar/stem interface, not sure how fixed
- seat rails, regreased
- lower pivot, overhauled with 4 new bearings (I think these were replaced last season, too!)
- bottom bracket reinstalled and regreased
- handlebar/stem interface, not sure how fixed
- seat rails, regreased
- lower pivot, overhauled with 4 new bearings (I think these were replaced last season, too!)
@Nick How are you liking your Elevensix? Unfortunately Push seems to not be in the business of dicking around with the internals of anything but Fox forks and the Elevensix these days--I think @Westy is probably right in that I could use my suspension revalved for my weight and riding style. (Today I probably just didn't have enough pressure after not topping either side off after a winter of lying fallow.)
I'll resist the same impulsiveness that led me to buy powder skis on a lark this winter and stick it out with the 5010 as is this riding season, but I'm curious...
I'll resist the same impulsiveness that led me to buy powder skis on a lark this winter and stick it out with the 5010 as is this riding season, but I'm curious...
Are you having bobbing issues? I think your non-typical center of gravity could have a lot to do with it too. A bike with more anti-squat might be a better solution without the associated harshness of increased damping. At least I think, I never got too into the whole e-engineering of suspension designs. A Missing Link might be what is missing in your life.