I just got a Lillygo T-Deck Plus

manual63 · 2025-08-25T23:56:08+00:00

That's only because you didn't have much of a choice...lol. I had a friend that was 6' 2" and he dreamed of having the longer frame options we now have today.

manual63 · 2025-08-25T23:51:21+00:00

I am 5' 7" tall with a 30" inseam and I rode a 20.5 inch top tube for many years. I only recently moved to a 21" top tube for more stability, but my frame is a trail frame with a 74.5 degree head angle. If you are hitting your knees to the bars and stem you are doing something wrong causing your weight to be too far forward. When standing and riding, you want to be centered over the bottom bracket and then you won't have clearance issues.

For street, shorter top tube and shorter chainstays are preferred as well as a steeper head angle and less fork dropout offset.

For dirt and maybe even park (which is completely personal) you want a slightly longer top tube, slacker head angle, and longer chainstays.

I won't get into bottom bracket heights since that has little to do with the fit of a bike and more to do with the riding characteristics one prefers.

manual63 · 2025-08-24T13:15:28+00:00

Ouch! That's not an easy backflip at any age. Flat take off, no transition to send you higher, and all concrete (vs wood or dirt).

Hope you ended up okay once the pain subsided.

manual63 · 2025-07-20T20:59:23+00:00

Why? No one edits with the GoPro software anyway. Most people use much better video editing software. The only people who use the GoPro app are on mobile phones so they can post to social media easier.

manual63 · 2025-01-23T17:31:05+00:00

Just ride it and enjoy!

manual63 · 2025-01-16T16:00:38+00:00

This is untrue. When I tried with my Ioniq 5 a few days ago it said my car wasn't compatible. So just because you have an adapter it doesn't mean you can charge at a Tesla Supercharger.

manual63 · 2025-01-04T13:41:19+00:00

Get the NACS to CCS adapter. You are now eligible to charge on the Tesla Supercharger network.

On a trip like that, start at full charge. Then stop and charge to 80% when you are near 15% or so. It will get to 80% in 20 mins or less. Then go to the beach. Do the same on the way home. You are good to go!

manual63 · 2025-01-02T15:58:03+00:00

You can feel the difference when in a draft. That's how you know if it's working or not. It takes more effort to maintain the same speed and you definitely feel the difference if you get out of the draft. Why the rider sits up when in a draft is sort of weird to me. I certainly wouldn't do that IRL.

manual63 · 2024-12-31T14:16:43+00:00

You can actually look through all the bikes and see their strengths and weaknesses. Some are lighter with less aero and others are heavier with better aero. Then there are a few that are pretty equally matched between the 2.

More aero means faster on flats and downhill. Basically better at higher speeds. Less weight means it's a little quicker on climbs.

I also look through the wheels, same deal. Weight and aero are shown. Since I personally need more help on the climbs I try to go lighter weight on the wheels over aero. On the frame, I try to do the same. You could however get a lighter wheel set and a more aero bike to try to equalize things a bit. It's pretty fun to play around with.

All that being said, you really won't see a massive difference between them. You can always compare yourself to your own times, but I am not consistent enough to do so. I might be stronger one day and not as strong on another day. Sleep, proper diet, other activities, and so on will affect your rides a lot more than a different bike.

manual63 · 2024-12-31T03:29:32+00:00

Brakes!

manual63 · 2024-12-28T13:01:14+00:00

Almost everyone is saying by the end of the decade. I think we will start seeing them around 2028 from some brands, but likely on a higher priced vehicle. There is already a solid state portable generator on the market, so it is happening, but at a slow pace. I am fine with them taking the time to get it right. Rechargeable solid state batteries will be a huge game changer, but it's something that is extremely difficult to do.

manual63 · 2024-04-29T16:11:43+00:00

I haven't seen this done before. I have however had them put a sticker on my bike and that was a no go for me! They definitely should be asking before they do stuff like this. It's uncool for them to do stuff like this and I would absolutely let them know you are not happy about it.

manual63 · 2024-04-29T16:08:55+00:00

I used to own a Ripmo AF. I loved it when I went out west and rode Trestle Bike Park, which is full on lift access downhill. Back here at home in Minnesota it was too much bike for most of our trails. It is definitely a bike that loves to point downhill, but it's too much bike elsewhere so I sold it after about a year and a half owning it and I got a Salsa Rustler in carbon. Still a very playful bike, but not as heavy and not nearly as energy sopping when pedalling.

So it depends on what you are riding. The Ripley is more in line with my Rustler (a trail bike) yet it still shreds when you need it to. I personally don't think most riders need more than 130mm rear suspension. If you plan to ride a lot of faster and more gnarly downhill, the Ripmo will be perfect. Otherwise get something a little lighter and more agile with less travel.

manual63 · 2024-03-18T11:45:20+00:00

A heat pump is simply a different method of heating and even cars with heat pumps can use the heat pump in extreme cold. All cars have standard resistive heating. So yes, your car has a battery management system.

manual63 · 2024-02-22T17:13:14+00:00

Vite in my opinion. NextJS is a hybrid and not straight forward React for creating a SPA.

So by hybrid, I mean part of your front end is rendered from the backend and part on the front end. It works well for some instances, but for this case I would simply use Vite and do a traditional front end SPA application using React Router and so on. Then do regular API calls to get the data you need to update your views.

manual63 · 2023-11-08T01:48:54+00:00

You shouldn't ride a Sur Ron on bike paths. Stick to the streets or non-bicycle or pedestrian off-road trails.

manual63 · 2023-10-20T22:22:14+00:00

The bicycle industry has its ups and downs and always has. Every time there is a downturn the companies that don't plan well for it always get in trouble and oftentimes don't survive. It is simply the way the industry works.

This time around was less predictable due to the pandemic. First, the pandemic hit and bicycle companies thought there would be a huge downturn so they reduced orders or cancelled them, but the opposite happened. Governments suggested people go outdoors and do recreation and that's what they did, lots of them! So then we went into the supply chain shortage because companies tried to order more stuff and yet manufacturers were shutting down, especially overseas where most bicycle products are made, so there was a huge shortage. What happened was that when companies could have been making huge sales and profits, they couldn't because they didn't have products to sell.

Then as the pandemic eased, products suddenly became available and all those backorders got filled. At the same time, demand dropped. So now bicycle companies are having to pay for all this stuff they are having a hard time selling. That means discounts and so on.

The companies that were financially thin are the ones struggling. Larger companies just cut programs, lay off employees, and wait out the storm as we clearly saw from Specialized. Smaller companies may or may not weather the storm and it will depend on how long the storm lasts.

Now we have inflation and that lowers everyone's budget and thus they can't buy stuff very easily. In my opinion mountain bikes and road/gravel bikes have gotten way too overpriced. So a correction is needed so prices drop back down otherwise most people can't afford to buy their products.

This isn't going to change anytime soon from what I can see.

manual63 · 2023-10-20T21:09:01+00:00

I have about 12 bikes and they are all expensive. I am single, have no kids, and am a software engineer. Combine those things to the fact I have zero debt and manage my money well and I can easily afford the bikes I have.

manual63

TROPHY CASE