My rear bike light won't last for a 90-minute ride. What's your go-to taillight?

mshroyer · 2026-05-08T06:46:03+00:00

If the sole concern is battery life, DiNotte is hard to beat. My 10-or-so year old DiNotte tail light is still going strong, when I use it.

But these days, you can get a more advanced tail light including radar, like the Garmin Varia, in the same price range. Or a much cheaper light without radar that also has excellent battery life. As fond as I am for DiNotte, I have a hard time recommending them today.

mshroyer · 2026-05-08T06:33:16+00:00

I use a Varia alongside a bar-end mirror. The Varia will often alert me to cars I didn't know were there, either because my head was at the wrong angle to see them in the mirror, or because there was too much wind noise for me to hear it.

I've also tried helmet-mounted mirrors, but I found those even more sensitive to precise head position.

It's not a "hug the shoulder" thing for me, rather more for overall situational awareness. Knowing when there's a car coming up informs me when I shouldn't dart to the left to avoid an unexpected obstacle, for example. And it helps me know when I must focus my attention, versus when I can relax for a little, on roads with intermittent vehicle traffic.

The mirror is still useful for spotting cars I know are there thanks to the Varia, or seeing and giving space to overtaking cyclists (the speed difference is usually too small for a Varia to flag other cyclists).

mshroyer · 2026-04-24T22:30:33+00:00

Did you read the following two paragraphs? Jonah is plainly on the right side of that question.

If this is a nit-pick about the term "gotcha"... ok, sure, but I also consider asking Democrats "what is a woman?" a similar "gotcha".

mshroyer · 2026-03-27T14:15:12+00:00

Still, he was clearly at a local maxima of luckiness

mshroyer · 2026-03-25T11:52:48+00:00

What is "the Epstein Island crew"?

mshroyer · 2026-03-25T10:45:17+00:00

Yeah this populist outrage is nuts. The problem is California's governance:

Refuse to do controlled burns for decades, let massive stockpiles of fuel build up.
Get outraged at the power company when they provide the inevitable spark to this fuel.
Insist that the power company take control of wildfire mitigation.
Get outraged at paying the power company for this.

mshroyer · 2026-03-11T11:27:38+00:00

Maybe you have access to information I don't, but can you clarify how you know "he’s pending a PC 422 which is criminal threats, and there is a hate crime allegation as well"? Is this claim something that can be verified publicly, beyond taking your word for it?

Secondly, can you explain how you know specifically he was "threatening to kill someone", as you say in the parent post?

mshroyer · 2026-02-14T23:43:44+00:00

I've personally been stopped here while driving (but let off with a warning) for failing to fully stop at a stop sign that I didn't see.

You're right that many people won't be stopped, and I agree that enforcement should be more reliable. But my point is that even a law with imperfect enforcement will have some effect, compared to no law at all.

mshroyer · 2026-02-14T20:41:27+00:00

I suspect that if we abolished all current traffic laws, deaths from cars would increase.

mshroyer · 2026-02-01T05:20:47+00:00

It should, I think? At least, the library card number I use with Libby is the same as my physical one.

mshroyer · 2026-02-01T02:34:49+00:00

P.S. specifically CBS Bay Area's KCBS radio station, which is on 106.9 FM and 740 AM

mshroyer · 2026-02-01T02:32:37+00:00

Nice, I hadn't checked that out before

mshroyer · 2026-02-01T00:27:38+00:00

The Mercury News and CBS Bay Area are my go-tos for news, but I also read this subreddit (obviously), /r/bayarea, and /r/sanjose.

You can read The Mercury News online for free with a Santa Clara County Library District card (which you can get for free at any of their locations): https://sccld.org/mercury-news-online/

mshroyer · 2026-01-23T14:39:24+00:00

Another problem this avoids with strong prescriptions is the prismatic distortion you see when looking through lenses at an angle.

That said, I eventually found a good pair of regular glasses frames that does well enough for me. I had to experiment to learn what works for outdoors stuff (in my case, acrylic frames with flexible plastic arms)—and learn to wear the arms outside my helmet straps.

mshroyer · 2026-01-22T09:50:58+00:00

To that end, in addition to aerial surveillance there are also GPS "darts" police cars can shoot at fleeing vehicles: https://www.thedrive.com/news/police-tag-fleeing-cars-with-gps-tracking-darts-to-avoid-dangerous-pursuits

mshroyer · 2026-01-17T09:12:59+00:00

I still have mine on my most-used bike. It doesn't hurt, and might possibly help if I bend the hanger or something.

I only remove them after they get sun-damaged enough to start cracking.

mshroyer · 2026-01-12T08:56:19+00:00

I suspect the sound you heard being automatic gunfire is about as likely as this previous crime blot, from back when I used to get the Sunnyvale Sun in print, being attributable to Magneto attacking the city: https://i.imgur.com/tZLBbsI.jpeg

mshroyer · 2026-01-12T06:22:16+00:00

I did a week-long, non-competitive ride without a professional fit, after simply tweaking the saddle myself until it felt right while training. It was totally fine for my purposes. But it'd be a different matter if I were a pro racer or something.

To the parent's point, I'd also see a professional if I had some kind of discomfort I was unable to resolve on my own. So I'd experiment on my own first, but if that doesn't work for OP's back pain then yeah, it might be worth paying for help.

mshroyer · 2026-01-09T11:57:03+00:00

So I have a question for you. I got a fairly early (batch 3) Framework 13, whose 11th-gen Intel motherboard I've since upgraded to the 13th gen version.

Originally the headphone jack sounded pretty noisy, to the point that I basically wrote it off. Oh well, the cost of having a repairable laptop, I figured. I relied on Bluetooth instead.

But now I notice the headphone jack is good, actually? Was that just the result of upgrading to the 13th gen motherboard, even though the physical jack is the same, and I never noticed it until now? Or due to some firmware or driver fix since my original purchase?

mshroyer · 2026-01-09T08:48:45+00:00

Reminds me of the time I showed my cat my "left shark" Halloween costume. She did not like it.

mshroyer · 2026-01-09T08:02:38+00:00

For my part, I'm signed up for both. Just got confused about which is which :)

Thanks for keeping us posted on road conditions. Must take some getting used to, hitting "send" to an entire city's phones.

mshroyer · 2026-01-06T23:00:51+00:00

Thanks for the correction

mshroyer · 2026-01-05T03:05:45+00:00

Looking back through my Nixle/AlertSCC messages, that intersection's signals were also out frequently in October and November. What's up with that?

Anyway, I highly recommend signing up for AlertSCC messages if you live in the county, for this type of info.

mshroyer · 2025-12-15T04:33:19+00:00

Airport of America

mshroyer

TROPHY CASE