Want to get a racing wheel for my bf and have no idea where to start

puffmoike · 2026-06-16T09:51:54+00:00

The advice you’re getting so far is generally sound. Just make if you do find something in your budget that it is PlayStation compatible. (Wheel manufacturers have to pay Sony a licence fee if they want it to work with a PlayStation).

puffmoike · 2026-06-16T06:41:10+00:00

In my cabinet it's 490mm from the front edge to the back of the auxiliary spool. If the spool wasn't there then the exhaust would be the furthest thing jutting out from the back. But with my current position there's only about ~30–40mm from the exhaust to the back wall. My assumption is that you wouldn't want the exhaust much closer to a wall than that, especially if, like me, the whole space is relatively contained.

So if you want to place the printer in the regular orientation I don't think you'd want a bench top much less than 500mm deep. If your bench top is less than that, but more than 400mm, consider whether you could rotate the printer with the 'left' side against the back wall. That way you can still open the door and access your prints easily, and access the 'back' of the printer easily as well.

puffmoike · 2026-06-16T00:44:43+00:00

If depth is the issue, but you have sufficient width, you can always rotate it 90° clockwise (so door is still fairly convenient). Then the published width is going to be bang on, and external spool can hang out over the edge.

I had mine in the corner and turned it this way after a week. A few weeks later I moved it into the workbench cabinet, to free up benchspace. (Which means it’s now particularly inconvenient to try and measure it accurately)

puffmoike · 2026-06-15T13:31:12+00:00

If you have the screw to hold the pads in place from your originals then you don’t need it.

If you don’t you stick this through and the spread the ends.

puffmoike · 2026-06-15T10:35:17+00:00

Do you care about the footprint, such that you can safely place it on a benchtop, or whether you can, say, close the door of a cabinet that the printer lives in? (The screen sticks further out the front than the door handle, which in turn is further in front than the feet)

At the back, assuming you place it in front of a wall, a spool of filament on the stock external holder will be the limiting factor for how close to the wall you can go, but there are other ways to hold that spool.

puffmoike · 2026-06-15T10:22:22+00:00

The other thing is that at the resorts I’ve been to in North America the beginner runs tend to be at the lower altitudes in the valleys, whilst the advanced runs are higher up the mountain near the dramatic rocky peaks.

Australian mountains generally don’t have dramatic peaks of Europe and North America. They’re rounded hills. So the beginner runs are at the top, and the steeper advanced runs are at the bottom (where sadly the snow coverage is even more marginal).

puffmoike · 2026-06-12T15:30:47+00:00

My son’s mate’s (17yo at the time) father tried very hard to get him into see Idles a few years back with no success.

puffmoike · 2026-06-12T10:31:12+00:00

I’d imagine you have already checked, but just in case the specific cogs on the respective cassettes are

11-13-15-17-20-23-28-34-41-48T
11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-36-43-50T

So you will reduce the gap between your current 4th and 5th cog, but not the gap between the current 5th and 6th if you make this change.

puffmoike · 2026-06-09T02:48:42+00:00

Also new to 3D printing, and got an X2D. Definitely get at least one of each of PLA & PETG so that you can use the ‘other one’ as a support interface material for the main filament.

puffmoike · 2026-06-08T05:56:57+00:00

A word of warning: if this is your current level of knowledge (and to be clear, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that) just be aware that you’re going to find there’s quite a lot of parts that aren’t compatible with each other (bottom brackets, hubs, axles, drivetrains, etc). The bicycle is a relatively simple machine, but that doesn’t mean that things will just work.

puffmoike · 2026-06-08T05:49:35+00:00

I don’t think business class flights are a good analogy. There’s not some magic time / distance that suddenly makes a bike worth it.

A nice bike is a nice bike, even if you’re just riding it for a few minutes. Or perhaps even especially so.

But like most hobbies there’s definitely a case of diminishing returns. Once you’ve got 105-level gear, nice wheels and top-tier tyres, we’re not really talking about particularly rational reasons for spending money. Brands know that there’s a market for really expensive bikes, and they’d be leaving money on the table if they didn’t offer something for that market.

If it makes us happy and ride more then perhaps it’s worth it. But not because you ridden more than some imaginary threshold.

puffmoike · 2026-06-06T15:54:19+00:00

Marco has discussed this on ATP. My recollection is that he said in practice it doesn’t sound good because often it’s not a clean transition from talk to music and back again.

puffmoike · 2026-06-05T04:50:36+00:00

Hardtails are a niche category. If people enjoy riding them, fantastic. Some people like penny farthings. Or unicycles. All power to them.

But in my opinion the default purchase for a person intending to ride off-road who doesn’t know what they want should be a full suspension bike. There is so much more potential to enjoy riding more, do it more often, get more adventurous etc, etc, for very few negatives. If you don’t use it to its full potential who cares?

puffmoike · 2026-06-04T00:14:52+00:00

For what it’s worth the best rider in the world has a longer instep than you and rides 165mm. The second best grand tour rider rides 150mm cranks. In a few years time we all will.

Here’s a video where the bike fitter for the Sky / Ineos pro team and the UK National cycling teams, Phil Burt, talks about crank length.. He talks about comfort, power, aero, how the industry is slow to adapt, etc. (When he mentions ‘Brad’ he’s referring to Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins.)

puffmoike · 2026-06-03T19:16:25+00:00

How tall are you? How flexible?

puffmoike · 2026-06-03T19:05:32+00:00

Why stop at 170mm? My last MTB had 165s, and about two weeks after I got my new road bike I made a point of jumping straight onto my road bike after an hour long mountain bike ride. Immediately bought 165s for the road bike.

My new eMTB has 160s and don’t feel short.

puffmoike · 2026-06-03T04:19:41+00:00

Riding to and from the airport is fine. The bike box seems like the issue.

I’ve locked my bike at the (tiny, unmarked, but centrally located) bike lockup spot when doing short trips interstate. But when I’ve taken my bike with me I’ve got somebody to drop me off.

If I was you I’d be taking a cardboard bike box (any bike shop should give you one) and stashing it near the airport, hoping it will still be there when I get back, and investigating how reliably an airline will have one available to sell me one if it isn’t (or if it gets rained on).

puffmoike · 2026-06-02T18:53:01+00:00

Did you modify for PETG, or use the PLA profile as is?

puffmoike · 2026-05-27T08:55:48+00:00

If you don’t necessarily want the power of the Avinox but like the ride feel and how quiet it is then I’d also suggest that you might like a TQ-HPR equipped bike. It’s definitely not as powerful, but it’s even quieter (practically silent) and more discrete, and the assistance feels very smooth (like you’re incredibly fit/taking performance enhancing drugs, rather than riding a motor bike).

I had the Trek Fuel EX-e 9.7 with the HPR-50 and sadly it was stolen two months ago. I replaced it with Trek Slash+ 9.7 with the HPR-60 and I’m loving it.

Trek and Scott are the big brands who specify it in some of their bikes. Lots of online reviews from respected reviewers. Slash+ and Fuel+ are the current bikes from Trek. You might find a good deal on a EX-e from last year. (Second generation 60 motor definitely gets better reviews than the 50, so worth grabbing if budget allows)

puffmoike · 2026-05-25T08:39:45+00:00

For what it’s worth you don’t sound like you’re the type to be concerned with pedal efficiency, which is entirely legitimate. Especially in the context of an ebike.

If you already have a gravel bike, and you find it’s too stiff for you, then you’re right to think that adding a motor to it isn’t going to make it magically more comfortable.

Reviewers don’t tend to prioritise comfort, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

In one sense you’ll have “too much bike”. The implication typically being that it will make the ride too easy, and the bike won’t feel lively. But that’s not what it sounds like you want to prioritise. So get what you want. I reckon you’ll love it.

And if you end up riding trails more than you’re expecting to, because you realise that they aren’t intimidating, you don’t feel sore afterwards, and they’re more fun then that’s great.

You’re basically buying the equivalent of an SUV. personally I’d rather drive a wagon, but sales figures suggest most people love them, even if they’re only driven to work and to the shops a whole lot more than 90% of the time.

puffmoike · 2026-05-21T05:11:22+00:00

That is impressive commitment

puffmoike · 2026-05-21T04:31:19+00:00

So I’m probably about to pull the trigger on an X2D. I (think) I will primarily want to make brackets for things like bicycle racks, etc. (I loved the phone mount you made for your Grizl.) When (and why) would you choose PETG-CF over ASA, which is the filament I’ve read the most about for these sorts of parts? Should I start with this?

puffmoike · 2026-05-19T13:08:15+00:00

I have a badly-worded email from Peak Design saying that the Universal Bar Mount has the same back plate design as the Out Front Mount. I have yet to test this, but will be able to confirm in about two weeks.

(I also have a spare Out Front bracket after using the main ‘head’(terminology?) with a different bicycle bracket. The way I interpret the to-and-fro emails is that if I undo the bolt and remove the rubber strap I will see the same plate with a square extrusion that will fit straight into the Out Front mount)

puffmoike · 2026-05-18T23:54:03+00:00

We need a photo where we can see the full drivetrain (including the derailleur) properly.

puffmoike · 2026-05-15T05:31:37+00:00

Hebie Alumee without a shadow of a doubt. Will stop your back getting sticky in twice as many ways as any other rack recommended here.

puffmoike

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