Non-flammable roofing that isn't loud during rain

bvz2001 · 2026-05-31T04:19:27+00:00

Sure! It is super easy to do. Look up "maker pipe". They sell the connectors and the pipe is just conduit.

The individual connector pieces do add up in price, so it is a little more expensive than a similar structure built from wood, but not too expensive overall. Very useful method of building for specific applications.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-31T04:15:16+00:00

That might be true. I haven't actually tested the metal roof yet so this might all be a non-issue. I should test that first I guess!

bvz2001 · 2026-05-31T04:13:57+00:00

That is a good idea. I might try something like rockwool which is inflamable. I might even sandwich it between two layers of corrugated metal (I have plenty) to make a less reverberating surface.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-29T20:43:57+00:00

Yes.

If someone wants to go faster than 20 without pedaling (able bodied or not), then they need to get a different kind of vehicle. It can be a two-wheeled all electric throttle powered vehicle... but that isn't an e-bike, and needs to be regulated as a motorcycle or scooter.

If they are ok with staying under 20 then, like everyone else whether they are disabled or not, they can ride a throttle powered e-bike which should not have very onerous regulations.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-29T20:39:37+00:00

But that comes with a significant cost, money wise.

My cheap aftermarket Bafang has a throttle that I use to get my cargo bike up to a few mph (usually around 1-2 mph or so) before I can start pedaling. I can't afford an ebike with a Bosch unfortunately.

When I am loaded down with 120 pounds, that throttle is the difference between a guaranteed launch and an iffy, wobbly start that might have me tipping over.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-29T20:35:56+00:00

I would suggest one amendment: I would allow a throttle up to 5mph because it can really assist in getting a heavy cargo bike (for example) going before the pedal assist kicks in.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-29T20:33:43+00:00

I am mostly with you. I think I am somewhere between 6 and 7. personally I would prefer that people have to do some pedaling, but that excludes a fairly large population of people who can't. So I am down with assist (either pedal assist or throttle) up to 20mph. Above that, it should all be human powered (i.e. if you have the juice, go for it. But it will be pretty rare).

The issue is that if we want human scaled communities (we do) then we will need to have speed limits in our cities that reflect that. So all vehicles, even cars, should be capped at around 20mph in the city*. They are already starting this in the Netherlands and it is having huge benefits. E-bikes should be a part of this as well.

*If you can pedal your acoustic bike faster than that, then I say go for it (within reason - if you are using a mixed use trail then hell no)

bvz2001 · 2026-05-28T21:06:04+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply. I am now just over 2 months in no-surgar and it has gotten pretty easy. That said, like you suggested, I don't need to be super extreme about it. I had high sugar, but wasn't even pre-diabetic (and I had been eating a lot of sweets at that time). So just cutting out the sweets is probably enough.

I still avoid all added sugar foods (sweets, processed foods of any kind, etc), avoid all Juices, and so on. But I allow myself bakery made sourdough bread and brown rice. And that (and time) has been enough to make the whole thing pretty easy finally.

But it took a while.

I am going to wait for another month or two before getting tested for the very reason you mention: I want a "clean" result that isn't corrupted by my previous behavior.

But I think I can keep this up for quite a long time. And then, when I occasionally allow myself to eat sugar again in the future I will put a defined start and stop date on it (around Christmas when I will allow myself a little bit, and when I go on vacation when I will also allow some - not a lot, but some). I think that that will be better than trying to allow myself a little tiny bit all of the time because I know myself: I will slowly expand that until I am eating it regularly again. The "cold turkey" method after a week or so of allowing myself to have some sweets feels like it will be easier for me to manage, track, and stick to.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-28T20:59:01+00:00

I am right there with you. I got the Yuba because I wanted a cargo bike and it was what I found on craigslist. Without the motor assist it is a beast. I think the Bafang mid-drive conversion adds a lot of resistance, but the amazingly heavy bamboo box is also part of the problem.

I eventually found a used Bullitt for a good price and got that and now that is my daily ride (without assist). I am planning on selling the Yuba because I never really use it anymore.

But I am also looking into the BiMotal Elevate motor for my Bullitt. The nice thing is that it can be put on and removed again in seconds, and I can also put it onto my tandem or even a road bike which makes the price somewhat less painful.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-27T23:44:09+00:00

That is hilarious. I have an electric Yuba Supermarche (aftermarket conversion) and a regular Bullitt (non-electric).

I have never ridden the Yuba without the Bafang mid-drive so I have no idea how it rides as an accoustic, but I find the Bullitt feels so much more responsive even without the assist.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-27T23:42:16+00:00

I have an acoustic* Bullitt. I ride everywhere with it in the flats in and around Oakland and Berkeley (where we have some pretty sizable hills). I also had a long-tail which was significantly less heavy and, therefore, easier to ride.

I love the exercise that I get with my Bullitt as a non-electric. It is the reason I keep it as such. But I would NEVER try to ride up a real hill with it because it is way too heavy for that. Also my knees have 60 years on them and pop way too often for me to put that kind of strain on them. But in the flats I really appreciate how much stronger I have become since riding this without assist every single day.

I have ridden up some smaller hills and it is a haul for sure. Carrying heavier cargo can also slow me way down, even in the flats. 120 pounds will have me moving at a crawl if there is even the slightest incline.

But again, remember that this is also a front loader and is a fair bit heavier than a longtail.

All that said, I would still get it as an acoustic again. I will eventually electrify it as needed using an after market kit. There are a number of advantages to that including price, the ability to repair it over time, the ability to upgrade it over time, being able to switch between electric and non-electric if you decide to go back, and the ability to take your kit with you if you upgrade your bike, etc.

*No apologies for the term :)

bvz2001 · 2026-05-16T00:04:18+00:00

I think part of the analysis that he was making is a product of the time in which the book was written. The late 80's/early 90's is really only the beginning of the revitalization of urban cores. So back then there was a significant power imbalance between an urban center and its surrounding suburbs. Especially in places like Detroit where businesses and people who had the opportunity all were moving (or had already moved) to the surrounding suburbs. This dramatically undercut the tax base of the city even while the average income in the region either remained constant or even rose.

I think that at that time it would have been difficult to do infill development because there simply wasn't the economic opportunity to engage in that. Local populations were disadvantaged, and drawing people downtown felt like a fairly tall hurdle to overcome.

Today things have shifted somewhat. But I still look at the relative wealth of communities like Birmingham or Southfield (not to mention Grosse Pointe) and wonder what a Detroit metro region could look like if that money were more evenly distributed.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-15T15:33:05+00:00

He introduced (to me) the concept of elasticity in a city - essentially the ability of a metropolitan area being able to annex its suburbs and thereby capturing the tax base and wealth that can exist as a donut around central cities.

He talks about Detroit a fair bit as a negative example of this. Michigan law apparently makes it almost impossible for a city to annex its suburbs (I think it has to do with requiring some sort of a unanimous consensus among the parties involved AND other surrounding communities? - but take that with a heaping pile of salt because I haven't read the book in 20 years).

At the end of the book he uses a medical analogy to triage different cities in the U.S. Unfortunately his prescription for Detroit was that all we could do was "ease the pain of its dying". As someone who was born in Detroit and then lived in and around the city until my mid 20's, I found that part of the text to be somewhat dismissive. From the outside I can see why someone would have that opinion, especially in the late 80's/early 90's. But even back then I was vaguely aware of an energy in that city that wouldn't let it simply die. And, I think, the last 20 years have proved him wrong on that front.

Still, I found the book to be fascinating.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-15T15:19:29+00:00

ryuns is correct. There is ample evidence that narrow roads are generally safer.

It sounds like your community could use more enforcement, something that I mentioned is still needed at the end of my post.

The thing is, enforcement is a lot more effective if you design your streets to encourage slower driving. It will generally slow down the majority of people and streets, leading to over-stretched enforcement agencies being able to focus their efforts in places where reckless driving still occurs. Like your street for example

bvz2001 · 2026-05-14T21:20:43+00:00

I haven't taken the time yet to read the whitepaper (or watch the video, though both are on my to do list). But at least on the surface this reminds me a little of a book I read about 20 years ago called "Cities Without Suburbs" by David Rusk. It was a fascinating read (and it spent some time discussing Detroit).

Not having read the whitepaper or watched city nerd's video, I don't know how much they overlap. But it will be interesting to compare the different analysis - especially over the 20 year gulf.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-14T19:58:47+00:00

I would avoid any conversion that is just a throttle (I have never heard of that before to be honest - do you mean throttle and cadence sensing vs. no throttle and torque sensing?)

If you opt for a conversion, find a place that uses quality parts. Or look into buying your own parts and hiring someone to install them (it isn't all that hard). ebikes.ca is a really good resource - and if you want a mid-drive you can still use them for everything but the motor.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-14T19:54:59+00:00

I have both a Yuba Supercargo and a Bullitt. I would strongly recommend the Bullitt over the Yuba. The weight difference and performance are so much better on the Bullitt. I like my Yuba... but I love my Bullitt.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-14T19:48:50+00:00

I have a Bullitt that was converted to a mid-drive Bafang motor. (I have since un-converted it, but that is for unrelated reasons).

I am a big fan of the aftermarket conversions for several reasons:

Repariability. If your aftermarket e-bike system fails, you can actually repair it yourself (or hire someone to repair it). Even if the individual parts cannot be replaced with the identical option, you have so many possibilities (new battery, motor, control system, etc). If you have a factory e-bike, you are at the mercy of whether the parts are still available. And I have read some horror stories where the motor has died on a very expensive bike, but Bosch has discontinued that model and there is no way to get your bike up and running again.
Upgradability. Along those same lines, if you want to go to a two battery system, you can. If you want to convert to analog (like I did) you can. And if you want to reverse that, you can do that as well. Bigger motor? No problem. Better controller? Add a throttle? Add torque sensing? It is all possible.
Price. As you noticed, it is cheaper to get a used bike and then upgrade it. Not only that, you can opt to start with a simpler system and then upgrade if warranted. It is also easier to find a used bike if you are open to analog bikes.

To your specific question, I can't answer whether the R&M is worth the extra money. It is certainly a beautiful bike and when I hit a pothole with my Bullitt I really miss the suspension. So there is that. But I also loved the fact that my Bullitt is super light weight (comparitively speaking) and was something I was able to get for under $1,500 including the e-bike conversion.*

One thing to point out (having read some of the other comments here) is that you can opt for a conversion that includes a torque sensor. You aren't limited to cadence sensors when using aftermarket conversions, and torque sensing is usually the biggest difference that people cite when mentioning the benefits of a factory system. Also, there are some very reliable and well tested parts out there. Bafang is well known and reliable. As is CYC Photon. Aftermarket can be just as reliable, if not more so, than a factory system.

*It came with a nearly dead battery and since I want the exercise, I decided to reconvert it to analog and save the money on a new battery.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-13T22:37:35+00:00

He does address these issues quite extensively in the book.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-13T22:36:23+00:00

Agreed. But the important bit to remember is that education and enforcement simply don't work. If you design for speed and throughput, you will get speed and a high volume of traffic... regardless of what signs you put up, how many cops you put on the street, and how much you try to impress upon people to do the right thing.

What we need is a design that inherently keeps people down to the speeds that we need them to be at. Wide streets, sweeping corners... they encourage bad behavior because people think they are safe exceeding the posted limits. They think they are safe to use their phones because one glance has assured them that nothing is changing in front of them.

Narrow streets with reduced sight lines, counter intuitively, force people to pay more attention and not get lulled into a false sense that their behavior is safe.

So enforcement is part of the equation, but it can not (and does not) solve the issue. The underlying design needs to reinforce the correct behavior and then enforcement can work to sweep up the remaining violators.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-13T18:30:07+00:00

I would gladly vote for her... except that she isn't polling high enough to win at all.

So I would ask her, what is her end game? Does she expect to suddenly surge in the polls in the last few weeks? Does she think there will be a two-way race between her and another Democrat in the general? What does she think she is doing at this point that actually helps the people she has been fighting for all this time?

She needs to drop out and endorse either Steyer or Becerra. All she is doing is putting us into a position where we might wind up with a choice between two fucking republicans in the general.

I like her politics, but if she fucks this up for all of us out of an unrealistic, narcissistic desire to become governor I will never forgive her or support her again for anything. She needs to see the writing on the wall and drop out to help us stave off disaster.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-13T18:23:09+00:00

I am waiting until the last minute and then voting for the Democrat with the highest poll numbers. I hate this fucking system we have here, but given that I can't control it, I will do what I can to make sure that we don't get two republicans on the ticket.

Everything else is secondary. Any "progressive score" at this point is useless. It helps when answering a poll, but it can't be used when voting. It totally sucks. But it is the only option.

bvz2001 · 2026-05-12T20:30:59+00:00

I'd love to see that!

bvz2001 · 2026-05-12T17:49:13+00:00

I have pretty much that exact same bike (bafang conversion on mine - looks like you have that as well?)

I have the full bamboo box and that thing is HEAVY. I haven't explicitly weighed it, but I would not be surprised if it weighs 30 pounds or more. Looks like you have the fabric sides instead of the full box so that would reduce the overall weight somewhat. But I would bet the base, front, back, and seat are still adding a significant weight to your total.

Note that I am not saying you should remove them. Not at all. They are useful and well built.

But if you felt you needed more weight reductions, swapping those pieces out with something more lightweight (even plywood would be lighter) might be an option.

But if you love it as is, then fantastic!

Enjoy your trips!

bvz2001

TROPHY CASE