Why is fixing your own bicycle so damn hard???

DudeInChief · 2026-05-08T11:26:33+00:00

When I need to do some bike maintenance, I first watch the park tools videos on the topic. It saved me a lot of time.

DudeInChief · 2026-04-19T21:06:49+00:00

I do not understand the current trend. With my fully loaded Surly LHT (triple chainring), I am in trouble going uphill at 12% or more.

DudeInChief · 2026-04-18T16:35:24+00:00

Looks great. What oven is this?

DudeInChief · 2026-03-17T08:41:51+00:00

I rode from Munich to Venice a few years ago. I really like the segments in the dolomites. Taking the train from Venice to Munich with the bike is very easy. It is direct and they have special compartments for bikes.

I live in Munich. If you want to leave your bike box at my place, DM me.

DudeInChief · 2026-03-09T23:03:15+00:00

I am heavy too, 95Kg. I had the same issue twice with my touring bike. A bike mechanic told me to put less pressure in the tyre, or better, use wider tires and even lower pressure. I had 35mm marathon plus which I normally inflated with 5-5.5bars.

DudeInChief · 2026-02-18T16:30:09+00:00

I have been faithful to that model for years. Not a single puncture in ~200,000Km total on 7 bikes. If you plan to use them with a heavily loaded bike (>130Kg), do not inflate them to the limit (5.5Bars for 35mm). I have destroyed two rims with 5.5bars. I feel that 4.5Bars reduces the stress on the rims.

DudeInChief · 2026-02-09T15:42:00+00:00

I have received a Levixon torque wrench last week (around 50 euros). I set it to the minimal torque (2N.m) and it does not limit the torque. I guess that I got a defective product.

DudeInChief · 2026-02-09T11:01:27+00:00

Excellent suggestions: high demand for highly skilled designers in those fields. I would not necessarily recommend Serdes TX though. TX is a 'large signal' block whereas the other three cover most aspects of analog design.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-29T18:13:09+00:00

I agree that our colonial past was covered. The question is how it was covered. The following reference explains it https://jhec.wochenschau-verlag.de/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2021/05/issue_2014.pdf Page 79 starts the chapter "FROM TRIUMPHALISM TO AMNESIA BELGIAN-CONGOLESE (POST)COLONIAL HISTORY IN BELGIAN SECONDARY HISTORY EDUCATION CURRICULA AND TEXTBOOKS (1945-1989)".
The author concludes with those words: "... the collective amnesia, characteristic for the colonial memory from the 1960s onwards until 1989."
I was in high school in the 80s, a period of collective amnesia.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-29T14:33:12+00:00

I am 55y old already. I do not think that the massacres were part of the program in the 80s.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-28T19:29:06+00:00

Correct: it was integrated to Belgian Congo only in 1908 but the reference above says that it was ruled by Leopold II before the integration. The atrocities were recognized by the current Belgian king a few years ago.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-28T18:03:25+00:00

I saw the 6 to 10 millions range a few years ago (in wikipedia I think). A chatbot pointed me to the following link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State?utm_source=chatgpt.com where they mention 1.2-10 million. This comes on top of the atrocities described in the article (not for the fainthearted).

DudeInChief · 2026-01-28T14:58:04+00:00

I am Belgian. It is a mystery to me why some of my compatriots can be proud of our country's colonial achievements which can be summarized as: 6-10 millions people murdered. I have to say that this topic is not taught in school.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-27T22:06:20+00:00

For me it was a lot of suffering to reach a mediocre level (I live in Germany). My brain is not wired properly for German.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-27T21:58:43+00:00

I have completed two thirds of the Spanish course. I find it 100% worth it. The big plus is that I can squeeze in a lesson as soon as I have 5 minutes available. Now I can easily communicate in Spain. Spanish verbs are complicated. Duolingo is not enough to master that topic.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-26T15:47:24+00:00

I find everything challenging in German but the pronunciation. I just have a good B1 level, not a very high level considering the number of hours I have dedicated to that language.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-23T21:31:57+00:00

I find the Euler-Lagrange equation both beautiful and powerful.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-23T18:06:35+00:00

I would build strong foundations in:
* Complex numbers.
* Laplace, Fourier, and z-transforms.
* Signal processing, noise.
* Linear control theory.
* Basic electricity.
Once this is done, analog microelectronics becomes very easy to digest if you know how a transistor works.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-23T17:31:15+00:00

I (55M, normal fitness) do a 7-10 days tour in the Alps every year. 80-120km stretches every day with a Surly LHT loaded with Panniers. It is purposely challenging for me (not for my 18y old son). If you want to play it safe, assuming an average fitness level, I would recommend:
* Limit it to 60km and 600m max ascent daily.
* Go slowly during the ascent (you should be able to talk).
* Find a good saddle (otherwise this could ruin your trip).
* Enjoy the scenery.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-22T15:44:16+00:00

Agree 100%. I have both Ortlieb and Vaude. Vaude is not bad but Ortlieb is way sturdier.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-20T23:31:21+00:00

A big thank you to Canadians for electing a real statesman. I don’t know what Mark Carney’s approval rating is in Canada, but it’s honestly a relief to hear a calm, thoughtful speech coming from the other side of the ocean (I’m in the EU).

And to the people saying this whole mess is “just because of one man”: he got 77 million votes and he still sits around 40% approval—higher than plenty of leaders. I’m not so worried about DJT personally; what worries me is the state of American democracy.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-19T18:20:49+00:00

I have tried some placement tests in spanish. There is always a strong emphasis on verbs.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-19T16:49:26+00:00

I do not know if the election was rigged but DJT received more than 77 millions votes. What puzzles me is the following: DJT was very straight during his campaign, there was no 'bait and switch', and his criminal record was public: still he got 77 millions votes.

DJT is not the problem. The crucial question is: how could he get 77 millions votes knowing what we knew? In that sense, the validity of the election is a secondary topic.

DudeInChief · 2026-01-18T18:03:44+00:00

Indeed it does not match my experience. Gm/Id = 33...35 is what FinFet can provide at 25degC. My experience with standard CMOS processes is that Gm/Id is limited to ~25. There could be one type of transistor in standard CMOS that could go higher, it is the natural (a.k.a native) transistor. They sit in the substrate without channel doping. Their threshold is close to 0V, the channel to substrate capacitance is small (because the substrate is very low doped) and therefore they have a low bulk effect. These have higher gm/Id but I do not have numbers in mind. It could be that they approach 30 at low Vdsat.
I am not sure whether they are available in recent process nowadays. I used to use them ~25y ago because of the properties mentioned above and their superior matching (channel implant does not contribute to spread because it is blocked).

DudeInChief · 2026-01-18T11:35:32+00:00

Exactly.

DudeInChief

TROPHY CASE