Quantcast

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
But if you’d like to take a lap down Longhorn astride the rear of the bike while I pilot it, we definitely can arrange that, should I get that Surly.

:D

(I think the Rad Power one would fall apart for sure with that.)
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
CFB62E4F-AA82-41A6-858C-AAB6D6A785F3.jpeg


@Westy thoughts on physics plausibility of this system doing as it claims? Mister for outside AC compressor.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,016
Sleazattle
View attachment 145850

@Westy thoughts on physics plausibility of this system doing as it claims? Mister for outside AC compressor.

The physics is sound, some large industrial chillers use a similar system. I don't know if you ever noticed the large evaporative coolers on the UW power plant adjacent to the Burk Gillman.

I have considered a DIY mister for my AC unit but have concerns that mineral scale could build up reducing thermal efficiency during the heating cycle. I would not install one until I knew that it wouldn't be a long term problem.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Medium size felt pretty good, certainly not too big. I don’t think that my wife would be comfortable riding this regularly so I should size it for myself. I’ll have to pore over reach and standover stats a bit.
DF22DC00-FBE9-413B-A001-81E8E349DADC.gif


E417442C-3EA8-4597-8A1C-71D2B7256433.jpeg


Check out that chainstay length! For context, my Pivot is 445 mm reach and I had fun on the 470 mm reach (iirc) Commencal DH bike last summer as well.

One of our local friends has a size L Big Easy that I will take for a spin tomorrow afternoon. How much does that 5 cm of lost standover hurt?
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
The 5 year old is at that awkward time with regard to bike choice. She fits fine on her 16” wheeled bike but it’s a single speed. She ends up pedaling at a crazy cadence to keep up with her sister.

This wasn't even when she was going fast. Those little legs go whirrrrrrr
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
What happened with the grip shifter experiments?
I've got a 9 speed X0 grip shifter on the counter across this room. Universal has a 40 mm riser bar (current one maybe 10 mm rise?) and some lock on asymmetric Grip Shift-specific lock on grips en route. I'll cut down that 780 mm bar a bit :D for Mariko and install the shifter at the same time.

In working that shifter unmounted I'm not sure if requires less activation force, if you will. So she may get her Di2 after all, once bike shops catch up with their backlog of work.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
One of our local friends has a size L Big Easy that I will take for a spin tomorrow afternoon. How much does that 5 cm of lost standover hurt?
I headed over to said friend’s house with Things 1 and 2 (their first car rides since March 13, I believe!). We forgot our helmets, whoops, so didn’t actually test ride anything.

But I did swing a leg over the large Big Dummy (non-electric version), and that standover would not agree with me at all. I would have no extra clearance for unstable footing, etc—bar right at crotch, and that’s with the L Big Dummy’s 802.9 mm standover, not the L Big Easy’s 821! (I kind of wonder if he actually has the 835.8 mm XL Big Dummy, but his wife insists it’s the L.)

A medium it’ll be for sure if I go the Big Easy route.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
IMG_3004.JPEG


IMG_3006.JPEG


@canadmos will appreciate this: via a snazzy little HumanCentric adapter I got one of my two 27" 4K displays up on its VESA-mount arm. I have the mount for the other as well but it's needed in a non-arm-reachable position due to my office having been turned into a temporary PACS workstation setup:

the other HP 27" 4K in landscape | random HP 24" 1920 x 1200 monitor in portrait | two Barco 2048 x 1536 diagnostic monitors both in portrait

Once my office gets returned to its usual usage down the road it'll be nice having those two big displays mounted on arms, should I ever actually come into my office to work instead of lounging at home on the couch.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Do you have an opaque window in you office? The background looks interesting in the first picture.
Windows circumferentially above eye level to ceiling, sliding glass door with opaque sheen, and then what was in the photo is the other 3 walls, which are either white panels or one with a radiograph of plants.

Modern fishbowl office with privacy from mid calf to head height, basically.
 

Katz

Monkey
Jun 8, 2012
371
788
Arizona
....
The Sno-buggy's wheels eventually were repurposed on Bigfoot IV and V after a stint in the junkyard.
A little tour of the inside of the TC-497 displayed in Yuma. It could make a nice #vanlife rig.


The article reminded me of this fake monster truck sitting in a junkyard I used to drive by a lot. These appear to be the tires used on the VC-22 mentioned in the article.

junkyard.png
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
My and my wife's variable rate 1 mo LIBOR + 0% student loans reset this month to 0.45%! Also, I still have a job at 1.0 FTE and the same base salary.

Still owe a shit ton of money overall to various parties. Current overall tally is $744,863 per mint.
A month later and those loans have now reset to 0.18% (!), and I've paid off about $6,544 in principal. Refinancing the mortgage will help up that principal a bit more yet.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
1374B017-75D2-4CE9-A572-D51D64B9DFFD.jpeg



A nice take on a commuter by Cannondale. Neo 1. 28 mph Bosch, 29 x 2.35” tires with stock fenders over them, even a vestigial rack rail system for light panniers (and eyelets on the seatstays).
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
B7C34F6F-B3C1-4AD7-AFBF-CD7034DE0DA7.jpeg


Mariko’s bike, now with a 40 mm rise Spank bar (quite the pain to cut down! Used up most of a cutting wheel on my Dremel-clone), cut-down Gripshift grips, and a SRAM X0 9 speed grip shifter. I hope she has enough hand strength for it!
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
SRAM X0 9 speed grip shifter. I hope she has enough hand strength for it!

Cliffs Notes: she can shift! She can’t shift to gear 1 (biggest cog) as that takes more effort for the last detent, but from 2-9 she is good now!
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
288FC7E7-929F-4DC2-B27C-98344436B02A.jpeg


A very pleasant ride this morning.

Tons of hikers and trail runners on the trail, and tons of motorcyclists, road bikers, and even one very tan young lady on a elliptical-bike contraption going up GGCR.

I was within GPS error of my PRs on the two clean downhill sections I got in between the hiker traffic. Still about 20% slower than Todd Munson, and I am quite ok with my pace nonetheless.

Snowshoe Hare downhill bit showed me at 8th overall for acoustic bikes before I changed the ride type. For being 38 in Colorado with a moderate risk tolerance that is a-ok.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
I forgot to mention: halfway down the Mountain Lion DH my “bike” started making a noise like a rock is stuck inside the front triangle. Can’t see anything wrong with it externally.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
View attachment 145850

@Westy thoughts on physics plausibility of this system doing as it claims? Mister for outside AC compressor.
The physics is sound, some large industrial chillers use a similar system. I don't know if you ever noticed the large evaporative coolers on the UW power plant adjacent to the Burk Gillman.

I have considered a DIY mister for my AC unit but have concerns that mineral scale could build up reducing thermal efficiency during the heating cycle. I would not install one until I knew that it wouldn't be a long term problem.
I just ordered one, so shall blame you if my unit scales up like Homer Simpson’s eyes after LASIK. $199 - 26% Fed tax credit as it counts as a wind energy efficiency device somehow.

data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_n2l1hLVyzWG5ha2l5clJKVkk/view
 
Last edited:

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,016
Sleazattle
I just ordered one, so shall blame you if my unit scales up like Homer Simpson’s eyes after LASIK. $199 - 26% Fed tax credit as it counts as a wind energy efficiency device somehow.

data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_n2l1hLVyzWG5ha2l5clJKVkk/view

I looked into later and it does come with a mineral filter. I am a bit skeptical how effective it may be as I bought a similar technology filter for washing my car to prevent water spots, it made no difference. However the size to flow rate ratio will be critical to efficacy. I'd keep an eye on it to make sure you don't see any scale building up, not sure how hard your water is there.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
It is hard. But we also have low relative humidity going for us, which will make the unit more effective, I believe.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
You know... since you're in Colorado, you could just NOT use the A/C. :clue: :D
Ain’t nobody got time for that. Plus with the new solar on the roof (still not turned on pending Xcel inspection) I basically have to use power else be paid poorly by the grid at year end.
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,827
13,063
You know... since you're in Colorado, you could just NOT use the A/C. :clue: :D
We don't have it, but we do desperately need to put blinds on our big west facing windows as they allow the house to heat up like a mofo.

But I'd also rather spend money on more interesting things...
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,378
12,533
In a van.... down by the river
We don't have it, but we do desperately need to put blinds on our big west facing windows as they allow the house to heat up like a mofo.

But I'd also rather spend money on more interesting things...
Yup - we installed double-cell shades shortly after moving into our house, and we can *generally* get by the whole summer by closing things up mid-morning and pulling all the shades. House will occasionally get to the low 80's, but by that point in the day, it's generaly G&T time anyways... :D
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
There must be multiple factories in China just cranking out this oddly upright style of cadence sensing e-bike, and clearly multiple Western-based outfits trying to cash in by importing them. Do Chinese people actually ride them or are they just for the export market?

(Note one is from Rad Power Bikes. To their credit their Rad Wagon design still seems to be unique, if also built from those same factories.)

((Also note they’re not exactly identical. Racks, bars, one has a Bafang style mid drive. But very, very close.))

2487016D-C25A-4F18-8B19-AD3983E8D8F2.jpeg
8EDF64E5-5596-4D47-BD8B-6EAE05B68275.jpeg
09D21D74-B7B5-48BA-8627-A0E852AF1A57.jpeg
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
I'd keep an eye on it to make sure you don't see any scale building up, not sure how hard your water is there.
Installed it today. It mists away from the radiators so scale on the compressor itself shouldn’t be an issue.

Cute design. Little turbine atop compressor supplies power and makes it tax credit eligible—no mains power. Buffer via small li-ion battery in control unit. Airstream from compressor would have been wasted anyway.

8EC37894-1555-4831-9ABD-EACC246930FE.jpeg


79F70197-6F49-44A7-91BE-D19A67410D29.jpeg
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,016
Sleazattle
Installed it today. It mists away from the radiators so scale on the compressor itself shouldn’t be an issue.

Cute design. Little turbine atop compressor supplies power and makes it tax credit eligible—no mains power. Buffer via small li-ion battery in control unit. Airstream from compressor would have been wasted anyway.

View attachment 146457

View attachment 146458

If it is misting away from the heat exchanger it isn't doing anything. The evaporate cooling effect needs to occur in the upstream airflow. You want to increase the temperature differential in the airstream as it flows through the head exchanger not reduce the difference by cooling the exhaust. Think of it as an intercooler, reduce intake air temperature.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
If it is misting away from the heat exchanger it isn't doing anything. The evaporate cooling effect needs to occur in the upstream airflow. You want to increase the temperature differential in the airstream as it flows through the head exchanger not reduce the difference by cooling the exhaust. Think of it as an intercooler, reduce intake air temperature.
Isn’t the path of air in from the sides, out the top?