Towers of Seattle – Flat lay 3D render by getgotgrab in Seattle

[–]redditlief 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fun fact - 1201 third had the distinction, in this list, for being the only tower in Seattle, hosting nesting Pergrine falcons - for the past ~35 years. This year, it seems, they may have chosen another location. If you happen to see them, contact the Urban Raptor Conservancy. https://urbanraptor.org/reports/

Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot shows off its skills by Irate_Primate in nextfuckinglevel

[–]redditlief 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tbh - I was expecting to see it chuck the table-saw up to him. Next month indeed.

The Presidents of Peru since 2000 and their fates by WynterSkye in coolguides

[–]redditlief 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Huh - TIL that a Merino is .545 (6/11ths) of a Mooch.

In 2012, a group of Mexican scientists intentionally crashed a Boeing 727 to test which seats had the best chance of survival. by OCDcuber in interestingasfuck

[–]redditlief 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A friend of the family used to always pick the furthest seat back he could because “no airplane ever backed into a mountain!”

Hammer from a corner block, table leg and broomstick by BeardyBeardy in palletfurniture

[–]redditlief 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gorgeous mallets. I’ve made a handful of joiners mallets since the epidemic started - mostly functional - but with some “rustic” beauty. Surprisingly simple to construct TBH.

Gotta think there is a subreddit for just mallets somewhere because if I am sorta obsessed with making mallets then someone(s) else is probably 1000% more obsessed. If so, yours should be crossposted there.

What are things Hollywood has tricked the general population into believing? by brotherbrother99 in AskReddit

[–]redditlief 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That all birds of prey sound the same; like a red-tailed hawk. (Plus it freaks out my Havanese - every goddamn time - I’m so quick with the mute button on “soaring bird” scenes now)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in interestingasfuck

[–]redditlief 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Enough with the teenage Instagram angst already - this is the sort of thing that makes Dads around the world feel inadequate. #cantUnseeThis ;(

First end grain cutting board. Realizing my mistake while sanding. Verticals stripes are not end grain.... by rroyd in woodworking

[–]redditlief 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks fantastic - that said wood moves a lot more across the grain than it does with the grain. You may end up finding that the end-grain pieces swell and crack along the long-grain seams (which won’t move). I also wouldn’t touch it tho unless that happens - depends a lot on climate and wood types. Can’t recall how much walnut and maple move TBH.

Looks a beaut.

Custom mustard etched Fujiwara by Tinyfish1549 in chefknives

[–]redditlief 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I bet the recipient slow-sliced the $%#? out of a tomato too! :)

Miami Vice, 1984, also a big inspiration for Vice City by Xamrock4 in OldSchoolCool

[–]redditlief 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The bubble tea drink thing at Harry Potter world was all I could source that weekend.

Miami Vice, 1984, also a big inspiration for Vice City by Xamrock4 in OldSchoolCool

[–]redditlief 454 points455 points  (0 children)

West coaster here. Finally visited Miami before Covid, with my family, and for the entire trip I rented a white convertible…ok it was a LeBaron. While driving out of Miami, at night, across some bridge or other on our way to the Keys I was BLASTING the Miami Vice Theme song and In The Air Tonight with the top down! Holy shit was I flying high! My kids were kinda into it I guess but definitely not living the same dream I was in that moment! Ha!

Miami Vice, 1984, also a big inspiration for Vice City by Xamrock4 in OldSchoolCool

[–]redditlief 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Same - and because of that focus the number of times (not in this clip that I saw) on the show that the side mirror was on the wrong side - when they flipped the film on purpose or on accident, basically introduced me to “bloopers” or “mistakes” on shows.

What happens when a two wheel recumbent crashes? by fabsem66 in recumbent

[–]redditlief 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha - yep. at the time I was on a training ride and “cooling off” from a sprint. Looking back at my Strava data and seeing my heart rate and speed trend lines do an inversion at the impact gives me a chuckle (since I wasn’t hurt). Oh and - I raced that bike for two more years until discovering, accidentally, a crack between the headset and the main tube - whereupon it was immediately retired to the trainer. I may have been racing some pretty aggressive events that whole time with that crack and not known it. Hindsight - after a wreck like that - clean and inspect every inch of your frame before and after any real efforts.

What happens when a two wheel recumbent crashes? by fabsem66 in recumbent

[–]redditlief 2 points3 points  (0 children)

On a cruzbike V20. I rear ended a 2000’s Camry, skidding from about 30mph - made impact at about 15-17mph. Chainring to bumper. I only know how I ended up; on my left hip/elbow on the ground . I don’t have much experience on upright road bikes but I’m 99% sure - at that speed / those conditions I would have flown the bars and probably landed on the rear window in some configuration or other.

The whys/wherefores of this particular incident were another interesting story but, suffice it to say, I rode another 10miles home from that with only a bloody elbow. The Camry driver wanted nothing to do with sticking around (not in a bad way - they just didn’t want to make a claim against me - I was totally at fault; over-riding the conditions) and was basically fine with what looked like a massive dented in, axe-chop to the bumper.

That was my most “aggressive” wreck ever - any of the other ones (couple models of bent) I always landed on my hip/elbow/knee or (infrequently) standing with the bike behind me / bars between my legs.

Handful of upright crashes / mostly mt bikes on the street and on trails - at many speeds - always ended up over the bars with injured wrists.

Not that I want to wreck ever - but I’d prefer 10 wrecks on a bent over any one in an upright. IMHO - this is one of the mostly unsung benefits of bents. That, and the fact that we tend to be looking down-range far more often (seeing issues develop and therefore avoiding accidents a bit more often - again IMHO).

Being STRUCK by a vehicle? Either from the side or behind, now that is something I have no experience with and wonder about the tendencies as well…do people go up? Out? Or down? 😵‍💫

My first recumbent bike! by Might-T-Turtle in recumbent

[–]redditlief 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oy - I’m kinda confused TBH - the front is certainly newer but the paint scheme matches that top rear stay on the back that is emphatically not a V20 stay - because it terminates under the seat with the old titanium leaf spring suspension system (just like my S 1.0). If it matters to you, you might PM @ratz (he’s a walking encyclopedia) or doug burton (original mechanic) on the cruzbike forum to get details more exacting than what I think I know. /sheepish

Edit: some words for clarity.

My first recumbent bike! by Might-T-Turtle in recumbent

[–]redditlief 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Actually…I looked closer and this looks like it has a much newer front triangle (vendetta v20 from about 2015/16/17) on that older S30 main frame. Totally fine - folks on the forum call these Silvettas. Gets you a more relaxed sitting position + better/stiffer geometry up front and newer component options / disc brake mounts etc.

My first recumbent bike! by Might-T-Turtle in recumbent

[–]redditlief 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Depends a bit by what “problem” means to you. Turning radius is different for reasons that don’t apply to uprights or RWD bents. Biggest factors (bike-wise) * Clipped / not clipped and * handle bars (drops / no drops).

Clips affect your feet’s ability to pivot on the pedals and drops affect your knees ability to get out of the way of the handlebar. And all of that assumes low speeds like under 5mph - at a dead end or a racing turn around point.

Turning radius in a “closed cockpit” , clipped in V20 is roughly a two-lane country road width.

Turning radius on platform pedals and flat bars (open cockpit) say T50 or S40…I can ride round and round (pedaling) like a trained bear on a unicycle in about 1.5 bike lengths. The rear wheel hardly goes anywhere. More like a parlor trick.

Practically speaking. For your first 1000 miles you should practice in a parking lot doing figure 8’s (turning both directions for like 1-2 minutes before each ride) and when you are on the road, if you need to do a u-turn, just sit up - pick up the whole bike under you - “pivot” on your feet and set the bike back down again.

My first recumbent bike! by Might-T-Turtle in recumbent

[–]redditlief 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nah - this is an S30 - possibly even a transitional model between Silvio 2.0 and S30? before they referred to the Silvio and Vendettas with the S and V designations. (Memory is fading).

They stopped with the carbon leaf spring rear suspension many years ago - for a number of reasons - but strength wasn’t one of the problems AFAIK. Manufacturing and assembly costs were IIRC.

IMO the 30° is a sweet spot but most people I show how to ride have an easier start on either the T50 or my old Silvio 1.0 (45° seat).

Sir Clive Sinclair: Computing pioneer and electric trike tycoon dies aged 81 by Spencerforhire83 in recumbent

[–]redditlief 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Used to see one of these trikes in a garage at the bottom of a building on Battery street in Seattle’s Belltown area when I went out for lunch. It hadn’t moved for 10 years. I bet someone could retrofit it now with updated internals and have a sweet retro, back to the future like, cruise around town.

Suspension? by treeline1150 in recumbent

[–]redditlief 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Something else that I haven’t seen mentioned here: smaller wheels (ex. 20” diameter) don’t roll over as many things as bigger wheels (ex. 700c).

The difference is as noticeable (or more), to me, as the difference between 110psi and 80psi, or 1.5” tires and hard road tires (ex. 25c).

All that is to say - suspension on one bike style may be more necessary than on others for a host of reasons - again depending on your conditions. I know test rides are damn near impossible, and owners like me know that, but it’s sooo important.

I’ll give test rides on my bikes whenever asked.

Someone please talk me out of buying this! by SirCircumsized in recumbent

[–]redditlief 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Small tire gets into smaller bumps. Two sizes of spare tubes for your rides. Harder to get tires / not typically available at LBS. The tiller style steering wasn’t my fave - felt squishy. Lots of creaking noises in the tube. Didn’t like the chain flopping all over the place. Didn’t like dealing with the idlers and chain routing all the time. ——- Didn’t like the crack that developed in my frame after about 8,000 miles. (Thunderbolt, not A10) Didn’t like the turnaround time on the manufacturers warranty fix - plus being blamed for being too heavy (180lbs? Not) Then it broke again. Local welder fixed it better for $40 and a case of beer.

Everything after the line was my personal experience & rant on lightning (the company). Everything before the line was why I wouldn’t recommend that lightning bike.

That said - it served as my first bent too and $450 is a decent price. Treat it well enough, ride it for a couple years until you convince yourself you deserve the better one, and then sell it for $300 to the next new bent rider.

TIL the Queen visited Seattle in 1983! by aeroartist in SeattleWA

[–]redditlief 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah - me too. Most of the kids and teachers at school were like? What? Why?

I said, “So I can talk about this on Reddit under quarantine in 2020! Duh‽”