"Like riding a bike" - you can never forget how, right? The Smarter Every Day guy forgot on purpose:
He has a bike that goes left when you turn the handlebars right, and vice versa. Trained himself to ride it over 8 months, and in the process forgot how to ride a real bike. Brains be crazy.
I once half-learned how to ride a bike like that, but also had backward pedals. I say half-learned, because I cheated and learned with my arms crossed. I never got anywhere with uncrossed arms.
The cross armed trick doesn't work if you try it thinking it is a trick. What I did was learn to ride the backwards bike cross armed, and that didn't get in the way of riding a normal bike normally with my arms straight.
So what he thinks are incompatible brain systems can both exist in the same brain, you've just got to make your brain believe you are learning something new, and not changing from one thing to another.
I say this as someone who taught myself to eat left handed aged 10, just to see if I could. Now I can eat left handed or right handed just as easily as each other. I prefer left handed now.
Welders are smarter than engineers, or something, but very few people understand how quickly jugglers can learn new physical skills. That's all we do! We learn how to learn.
I don't think I ever posted this here, but I recently built V.4 of my bike stereo. Short backstory: About 4 years ago, I was pulled over by a cop while riding for wearing headphones. He could have given me a ticket, but let me off with a warning. I could have ridden with only one ear in but it would have driven me nuts, so I took what I've seen many people do (put a bluetooth speaker in a front basket) and expanded it. Each new version was spurred into being by me being hit my a car and it breaking. The first two versions were shit: One was a PC speaker wiretied to the handles, the second was PC speaker guts in craft box behind me. V3 is when it started getting serious.
Here is V3: And the insides: This stereo survived me being hit by cars and trucks several times, but it was a skateboarder that ended up taking it out. Sad. 100 watts of power.
Here is V4. 200 watts of power total, though thats limited by the cheapo amp I bought. Each speaker has an RMS of 180 watts and a peak of 300.
Having the weight lower and on both sides makes it much more balanced and less tip-prone. But not by much.
Instead of plastic and steel, this one is wood, aluminium and steel. STRONK.
I'm planning out a Raspberry Pi based dashboard unit for up front. but, for now, it plays audio from my phone.
That's pretty cool. I've seen a lot of speakers on carts/trailers behind bikes, but that really takes the cake. Is it just battery powered? It seems like it would be rather trivial to hook up an alternator or one of those aftermarket exercise bike dynamos.
It's battery powered via two 7.5Ah 6V batteries in series, resulting in 12v. The amplifier is a BOSS 200w amp for cars, so it runs on 12v. I've never depleted it, but I charge it after each ride using a Black and Decker trickle charger/battery maintainer. I've looked into hub generators (more efficient than friction dynamos and not heavy as fuck like alternators) and they only put out 6v. Not enough to either power the bike nor charge the battery.
Today I went to test ride some bikes. I also had them fix a spoke on my current bike and put the clippy pedals on it. As predicted, I fell once. It was interesting, though. I didn't fall due to failure to unclip. It was an accidental re-clip after unclipping and stopping!
Oh, so the bikes. I test rode 4 different bikes. I think I definitely have to go with the Synapse. The other bikes were just too aggressive and uncomfortable for someone like me with weak arms and a hunch.
I also learned that while disk brakes and electronic shifting is really cool, it's not necessary. Quality caliper brakes are plenty awesome. Any of the gear sets including Shimano 105, Ultegra, or SRAM Rival are all way better and smoother than what I have now. I couldn't notice a difference that will matter for someone like me.
What was surprising to me was that the one thing that did make a big difference was the full carbon frame. All the bikes I tested were relatively equally ridiculously light, especially compared to my current bike. I couldn't tell the weight difference between carbon and aluminum. All the bikes were scarily easy to lift off the ground, even for a weakling like me.
So why was the carbon frame so amazing? The comfort difference between that and aluminum was insanely noticeable. On the aluminum frame, every tiny bump in the road when straight into my ass. On the carbon frame, I only felt the actual bumps in the road, and even those were dampened significantly. This wasn't a difference that could be attributed to psychological placebo-type factors. It was that dramatic a difference.
I also never really cared about the difference between Shimano, SRAM and Campangnolo parts. I think I actually like the SRAM shifters more. Moving the entire brake lever to shift is kind of weird. I like that on the SRAM the shift lever just shifts and the brake lever just brakes.
So I think I might go looking for a carbon Synapse with SRAM parts. I imagine that such a bike will last me the rest of my biking days, assuming it isn't stolen. Also will cost a few thousand less than getting fancy hydraulic brakes and electronic shifting, though it will be much less cool.
Also, that shop was offering a free computer, which I would need anyway.
Also, all these bikes were ridiculously quiet. They made zero noise at any speed, except when shifting they made the nicest little click so you know it worked.
So I need a "burner bike" to get around for the next 5ish months because I stupidly (so very, very stupidly) never got my driver's license and couldn't fly my bike with me to OH. Advice for getting a shitty bike? I'm assuming Craigslist is the way to go, but what should I look for? Tips in avoiding stolen bikes also appreciated.
So I need a "burner bike" to get around for the next 5ish months because I stupidly (so very, very stupidly) never got my driver's license and couldn't fly my bike with me to OH. Advice for getting a shitty bike? I'm assuming Craigslist is the way to go, but what should I look for? Tips in avoiding stolen bikes also appreciated.
Unless you buy a brand new bike, it's very hard to completely avoid it being stolen. If you go to Craigslist, just use your gut. Another option is to buy a new cheap, low-end bike. Then sell it when you're done.
For reference, I was just looking at bikes b/c I'm buying my daughter a small training bike. Peeked over at adult bikes and the shit-tier there was $75, fully assembled.
For reference, I was just looking at bikes b/c I'm buying my daughter a small training bike. Peeked over at adult bikes and the shit-tier there was $75, fully assembled.
She has a slight issue with low muscle tone in her legs and abdomen, so pedaling is needed (scooting works a slightly different group). I'm not too worried about when she will ride an actual bike, as long as she's playing outside and we're generally following the at-home guidance from her PT.
I should bike more, but it seems like everything near my new house is either walkable or farther than I want to bike. Nothing I want seems to exist in the biking sweet spot.
I should bike more, but it seems like everything near my new house is either walkable or farther than I want to bike. Nothing I want seems to exist in the biking sweet spot.
Get bike. Drive bike to biking trails on a Saturday morning. Bike a bunch. Picnic.
Once you do that regularly, you'll find that what you consider to be "too far" becomes a long, long way.
I should bike more, but it seems like everything near my new house is either walkable or farther than I want to bike. Nothing I want seems to exist in the biking sweet spot.
Get bike. Drive bike to biking trails on a Saturday morning. Bike a bunch. Picnic.
Once you do that regularly, you'll find that what you consider to be "too far" becomes a long, long way.
80 miles is "too far" for me.
Part of it is also that those "too far" places involve traveling on high speed roads where riding a bike would be suicidal.
I should bike more, but it seems like everything near my new house is either walkable or farther than I want to bike. Nothing I want seems to exist in the biking sweet spot.
Get bike. Drive bike to biking trails on a Saturday morning. Bike a bunch. Picnic.
Once you do that regularly, you'll find that what you consider to be "too far" becomes a long, long way.
80 miles is "too far" for me.
Part of it is also that those "too far" places involve traveling on high speed roads where riding a bike would be suicidal.
Unless it's a freeway, interstate, etc. where bicycles aren't permitted anyway, you can bike it.
I should bike more, but it seems like everything near my new house is either walkable or farther than I want to bike. Nothing I want seems to exist in the biking sweet spot.
Get bike. Drive bike to biking trails on a Saturday morning. Bike a bunch. Picnic.
Once you do that regularly, you'll find that what you consider to be "too far" becomes a long, long way.
80 miles is "too far" for me.
Part of it is also that those "too far" places involve traveling on high speed roads where riding a bike would be suicidal.
Unless it's a freeway, interstate, etc. where bicycles aren't permitted anyway, you can bike it.
I have no doubt that if everyone drove correctly a bike could be ridden there, but it's 6 lanes and a 45 zone. It's suicide.
I should bike more, but it seems like everything near my new house is either walkable or farther than I want to bike. Nothing I want seems to exist in the biking sweet spot.
Get bike. Drive bike to biking trails on a Saturday morning. Bike a bunch. Picnic.
Once you do that regularly, you'll find that what you consider to be "too far" becomes a long, long way.
80 miles is "too far" for me.
Part of it is also that those "too far" places involve traveling on high speed roads where riding a bike would be suicidal.
Unless it's a freeway, interstate, etc. where bicycles aren't permitted anyway, you can bike it.
I have no doubt that if everyone drove correctly a bike could be ridden there, but it's 6 lanes and a 45 zone. It's suicide.
That's an interstate. You don't bike on that in the US. In Australia, the highways had bike lanes on the side.
Comments
He has a bike that goes left when you turn the handlebars right, and vice versa. Trained himself to ride it over 8 months, and in the process forgot how to ride a real bike. Brains be crazy.
So what he thinks are incompatible brain systems can both exist in the same brain, you've just got to make your brain believe you are learning something new, and not changing from one thing to another.
I say this as someone who taught myself to eat left handed aged 10, just to see if I could. Now I can eat left handed or right handed just as easily as each other. I prefer left handed now.
Welders are smarter than engineers, or something, but very few people understand how quickly jugglers can learn new physical skills. That's all we do! We learn how to learn.
Short backstory: About 4 years ago, I was pulled over by a cop while riding for wearing headphones. He could have given me a ticket, but let me off with a warning. I could have ridden with only one ear in but it would have driven me nuts, so I took what I've seen many people do (put a bluetooth speaker in a front basket) and expanded it. Each new version was spurred into being by me being hit my a car and it breaking. The first two versions were shit: One was a PC speaker wiretied to the handles, the second was PC speaker guts in craft box behind me. V3 is when it started getting serious.
Here is V3:
And the insides:
This stereo survived me being hit by cars and trucks several times, but it was a skateboarder that ended up taking it out. Sad. 100 watts of power.
Here is V4.
200 watts of power total, though thats limited by the cheapo amp I bought. Each speaker has an RMS of 180 watts and a peak of 300.
Having the weight lower and on both sides makes it much more balanced and less tip-prone. But not by much.
Instead of plastic and steel, this one is wood, aluminium and steel. STRONK.
I'm planning out a Raspberry Pi based dashboard unit for up front. but, for now, it plays audio from my phone.
It's battery powered via two 7.5Ah 6V batteries in series, resulting in 12v. The amplifier is a BOSS 200w amp for cars, so it runs on 12v. I've never depleted it, but I charge it after each ride using a Black and Decker trickle charger/battery maintainer. I've looked into hub generators (more efficient than friction dynamos and not heavy as fuck like alternators) and they only put out 6v. Not enough to either power the bike nor charge the battery.
Here is the HackADay.io page for full parts list, if you're so inclined.
I also learned that while disk brakes and electronic shifting is really cool, it's not necessary. Quality caliper brakes are plenty awesome. Any of the gear sets including Shimano 105, Ultegra, or SRAM Rival are all way better and smoother than what I have now. I couldn't notice a difference that will matter for someone like me.
What was surprising to me was that the one thing that did make a big difference was the full carbon frame. All the bikes I tested were relatively equally ridiculously light, especially compared to my current bike. I couldn't tell the weight difference between carbon and aluminum. All the bikes were scarily easy to lift off the ground, even for a weakling like me.
So why was the carbon frame so amazing? The comfort difference between that and aluminum was insanely noticeable. On the aluminum frame, every tiny bump in the road when straight into my ass. On the carbon frame, I only felt the actual bumps in the road, and even those were dampened significantly. This wasn't a difference that could be attributed to psychological placebo-type factors. It was that dramatic a difference.
I also never really cared about the difference between Shimano, SRAM and Campangnolo parts. I think I actually like the SRAM shifters more. Moving the entire brake lever to shift is kind of weird. I like that on the SRAM the shift lever just shifts and the brake lever just brakes.
So I think I might go looking for a carbon Synapse with SRAM parts. I imagine that such a bike will last me the rest of my biking days, assuming it isn't stolen. Also will cost a few thousand less than getting fancy hydraulic brakes and electronic shifting, though it will be much less cool.
Also, that shop was offering a free computer, which I would need anyway.
Also, all these bikes were ridiculously quiet. They made zero noise at any speed, except when shifting they made the nicest little click so you know it worked.
http://www.skuut.com/
http://www.cannondale.com/nam_en/2015/bikes/mountain/overmountain/trigger/trigger-carbon-2
What's the best way to secure your bike in public?
11:45.
Once you do that regularly, you'll find that what you consider to be "too far" becomes a long, long way.
80 miles is "too far" for me.