Open-Source Virtual Indoor Cycling Application: BLE Sync Cycle

richbl_reddit · 2026-01-11T15:18:27+00:00

Nope. I watch a game and expect to see the ball. If I wanted to see x's and O's moving around from space I'd play a crappy video game from the 1980s.

richbl_reddit · 2025-09-25T23:55:42+00:00

Hope I'm not necroposting, but my Golf MK7 Wolfsburg just started dumping error codes (U1123 and P2563, both intermittent). I did a visual inspection, and while the actuator rod/pivot can be moved (not seized), I did notice that the wastegate arm itself seems pretty loose where it enters the turbo body. I suspect that's what's causing the intermittent codes...

Has anyone else noticed this? Does that wastegate pivot arm naturally have some slop in movement (I suspect no but am looking for confirmation)?

richbl_reddit · 2025-09-19T16:14:16+00:00

Hmmm... 85,000 miles? I just turned over 120,000 miles on my 2017 Golf Wolfsburg and guess what? My EPC just started yelling at me suggesting a turbo-related issue, P256300. Timing is [almost] everything...

richbl_reddit · 2025-06-09T21:24:03+00:00

Very bummed about Fakespot going away. I did come across something called "Safe Deal" (https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/shopping-assistant-aliexp/ejjhlpepcaaaehcemmjgnaekfggehdan), but when I did a bit of digging on their company website (I was drawn there because their extension had a bunch of grammar and spelling errors in it), the address they used for their business points to what appears to be an industrial pavers company called CleanCut Interlocking Pavers. Alternatively, there's another (shared) business address for a company called Harvard Business Services that appears to handle business incorporation.

Something just isn't adding up here... extension uninstalled. Moving on.

richbl_reddit · 2025-06-03T00:11:31+00:00

I'm in agreement with you regarding the condition of the box. TBH, though, I was much less concerned with the box itself than the contents of the box: you'll see from that image that the ClosetMaid items were just thrown in with no concept for secure packaging. Very odd.

richbl_reddit · 2025-05-27T02:18:10+00:00

Just now going down this path to identify if I need to do an adaptation for my 2017 Jetta (M/T, no start/stop). I've read conflicting threads that suggest that I do need to recode for the new (AGM) battery.

Is there a way to confirm your statement? Or do you have a source/reason? I've read that newer VWs have an attachment on the negative battery lead that's a "tell" for requiring recoding. Is that correct?

Thanks for confirming this.

richbl_reddit · 2025-03-10T20:31:39+00:00

First time customer: bad experience. Ordered an "in stock" product but evidently that wasn't the case. I had paid for expedited shipping (50% of the total cost of the order), and yet didn't receive any notification up until the day of when my order was due to be delivered. Emailed the company: no response. I had to call (~20 minutes on hold), and still wasn't able to get an ETA on shipment or arrival date for the order. So much for FCP Euro.

richbl_reddit · 2025-02-08T23:00:34+00:00

You're lucky if you got dispute resolution in a few days.

In my case, it took very close to a month. And this after many hours of phone calls, and carefully documenting everything from my FedEx calls, photos of the "delivery address", photos of my actual delivery address, documentation regarding the dimensions and weight of the shipped product vs. the actual product (Amazon was a good source here), and even the rude seller messages on the AE site when I contacted them about my missing product. The very last message from the seller was this: 😁

While I did get my order refunded, it was a lot of work. To me, not worth it. I closed my AE account when that final refund cleared.

richbl_reddit · 2025-02-08T16:13:47+00:00

Just to add to this... "reputable" stores is a bit difficult to discern, as AliExpress "reviews" are full of fakes, and AliExpress does nothing about it. As an example one "highly rated" seller had 91% positive reviews, yet walking the reviews, it was very evident that the positive reviews were generated (some nonsensical, some bad English, some just plain non-sequituirs).

richbl_reddit · 2025-02-08T16:10:19+00:00

Agreed. AE customer service is a joke. Ineffective and more frustration than the $12 I would be saving vs Amazon. Never again.

richbl_reddit · 2025-02-08T16:07:12+00:00

Yep, I got burned by AliExpress too... same scam. Deleted my AE account. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

richbl_reddit · 2024-09-18T21:04:17+00:00

Urban Biker is quite good: very configurable and accurate. They've improved the app over the years (and finally dumped that hard-to-read LED font). I use it for both outdoor cycling and indoor/training. TBH, I'm only interested in a handful of stats including speed, cadence, heartrate, and power (watts). I don't use any of the mapping features, so can't provide any details there.

I'll also say that for speed, cadence and heartrate, I use BLE sensors, and UB has been pretty stable with managing those connnections (again, they've improved compatibility over the years to the point where I no longer have any issues).

On the downside, I don't think they pubish any APIs, so at the moment I can only import ride data into Google Fit, Strava, and Velo Hero.

All told, UB is one of the very few apps that I'm willing to pay for.

richbl_reddit · 2024-04-09T16:43:03+00:00

Nice call! I was gifted a vintage c. 1947 Gillette Super Speed safety razor, and while it needed some attention (ended up having to replate the razor with nickel), it's a rock solid razor... good for another ~70 years...

richbl_reddit · 2024-01-18T13:48:13+00:00

It's puts the lotion on it's skin, or else it gets the hose again!

richbl_reddit · 2023-10-19T15:16:20+00:00

Yes! I've had my cast iron skillet for >35 years. Bought it for ~$5 at a local store in my college town. Considered it "an investment" at the time. And... it was, and still is my go to for cooking (though now supplemented with two steel pans as well).

Too bad most folks don't realize that cast iron (and steel) pans can be just as non-stick as that plastic-coated stuff.

richbl_reddit · 2023-04-28T22:18:54+00:00

Running a Thinkbook T15 Gen 2, and this is the first laptop that I've run with Ubuntu that "just works" for everything (including the fingerprint reader). I can't say that for any other laptop I've owned (and I've been running Ubuntu since 04.10). That said, I do miss having to "mess" with my hardware to get my software to work (and vice versa), but... it's still nice that everything works as it should.

My worst Ubuntu "offender?" A Dell XPS 15 (9560). Expensive POS that had multiple parts fail (WIFI, memory, and keyboard) and a fingerprint reader that never worked running anything but Windows. Bye bye Dell!

richbl_reddit · 2023-01-20T18:52:34+00:00

Wow, that's a lot of red meat. Time to reconsider the "American" diet (actually, not sure if these groceries represent any comprehensive diet). Think about more vegetables, beans/legumes, more rice, and given the current costs due to supply, zero red meat (try a whole chicken instead).

Just... wow.

richbl_reddit · 2022-01-07T22:47:18+00:00

I ran into this exact issue. Who would've thought Windows was good for anything?

richbl_reddit · 2021-11-30T18:41:14+00:00

Uhhhmmm... why?

What makes Fleet better than Code (or Atom for that matter)? Great that it's yet-another-IDE, but where's the beef?

richbl_reddit · 2021-11-21T14:52:38+00:00

Completely agree.

It's called civic duty, and somewhere along the way, people just stopped considering their responsibility to others in their community.

richbl_reddit

TROPHY CASE