$10,000.00?

[Rome]

Parker Ranch on the Big Island of Hawaii has a long history included in Hawaiian monarchy history. To this day it's still providing beef chickens and other livestock for consumption.
In 2005 I was on Big Island Hawaii in my rented jeep. Parked it someplace on the ranch when I woke up I was startled with cows all around and some tried to get inside the jeep licking the window.
Closest encounter I had with live cows.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Even with some of the better brands the component quality should be a lot better. Granted, they don't cheap out on safety. The R&M Load 75 has a $200 suspension fork. An $11-15k cargo bike. $11,000-15,000 USD… and a $200 suspension fork!

A lot of those "reviewers" aren't independent, instead dependent on manufacturer bikes to create their revenue. Just like the auto industry journalists.

I agree a lot of the high-end brands (e.g. R&M and Stromer) cut corners for no good reason. Some acoustic bike brands (Surly) also cut corners, again for no clear reason.

There is really no excuse at all about inadequate brakes and lame wheel builds.

And on lame wheel builds, there is really no excuse for breaking spokes in normal usage with basic maintenance. Actually, I'll go further. If you buy a decent low-end mountain bike (like say in the $1000-$2000 range) you can take that beast off of enormous drops all day and you won't break a spoke and the wheel will still be true at the end of the day. Hand-built wheels can be had for as little as $150 each, and for $300 you can get as good a wheel as you'll ever need unless you are cycling competitively.

Kind of the same thing with brakes. Really good mechanical disk brakes are available for less than $75 each. As long as the bike designers didn't do something stupid with the brake and rotor mounts (and they sometimes do!) you should be able to put as big a rotor and as beefy a brake as you'd ever want on your bike.

My recommendation for e-bike brake rotors, unless you ride is someplace dead flat like South Florida or the Netherlands, is for 180mm on the front and 160mm on the rear. If you ride someplace mountainous and/or are on the large side I'd recommend a 203mm downhill rotor on the front and possibly 180mm on the rear. You'll probably need or want a decent hydraulic brake to back up that 203 or a seriously fancy mechanical brake.

 

[harryS]

Honda does make great generators.

Here's their e-scooter. Around $1000. I had a test ride, Not for fat old geezers like me.

,

 

[mfgrep]

Honda does make great generators.

Here's their e-scooter. Around $1000. I had a test ride, Not for fat old geezers like me.

,View attachment 174877View attachment 174876

I've seen those!! Such strange looking scooters. Interesting but strange.

 

[Slaphappygamer]

Honda does make great generators.

Here's their e-scooter. Around $1000. I had a test ride, Not for fat old geezers like me.

,View attachment 174877View attachment 174876

I think I saw the same folding table at Costco. I’ll take a closer look next time.

 

[AvalancheRun]

I agree a lot of the high-end brands (e.g. R&M and Stromer) cut corners for no good reason. Some acoustic bike brands (Surly) also cut corners, again for no clear reason.

There is really no excuse at all about inadequate brakes and lame wheel builds.

And on lame wheel builds, there is really no excuse for breaking spokes in normal usage with basic maintenance. Actually, I'll go further. If you buy a decent low-end mountain bike (like say in the $1000-$2000 range) you can take that beast off of enormous drops all day and you won't break a spoke and the wheel will still be true at the end of the day. Hand-built wheels can be had for as little as $150 each, and for $300 you can get as good a wheel as you'll ever need unless you are cycling competitively.

Kind of the same thing with brakes. Really good mechanical disk brakes are available for less than $75 each. As long as the bike designers didn't do something stupid with the brake and rotor mounts (and they sometimes do!) you should be able to put as big a rotor and as beefy a brake as you'd ever want on your bike.

My recommendation for e-bike brake rotors, unless you ride is someplace dead flat like South Florida or the Netherlands, is for 180mm on the front and 160mm on the rear. If you ride someplace mountainous and/or are on the large side I'd recommend a 203mm downhill rotor on the front and possibly 180mm on the rear. You'll probably need or want a decent hydraulic brake to back up that 203 or a seriously fancy mechanical brake.

A mechanic in this new EBR Aventon Aventure review shares your same complaints.

 

[PedalUma]

Guess who will be selling Specialized and a bunch of other brands of new eBikes? My friend is a dealer and wants me to watch the sales floor and couple times a week. Another friend who is the best mechanic around the North Bay will be working with me. It will be fun to get to play bike shop. He will also rent my stealth bikes to tourists this summer.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Guess who will be selling Specialized and a bunch of other brands of new eBikes? My friend is a dealer and wants me to watch the sales floor and couple times a week. Another friend who is the best mechanic around the North Bay will be working with me. It will be fun to get to play bike shop. He will also rent my stealth bikes to tourists this summer.

Well you definitely got the gift of bullshit to do so
Dont forget to mention you're friends with E U Stefan to your marks

 

[PedalUma]

Prices have fallen for those Specialized bikes, they are not bad to ride, they are just on the Dark Side. I have ridden a bunch and there is nothing 'wrong' with them, maybe a little lag; then there is that planned obsolescence shite, that will all be fully disclosed. My local reputation is more important than theirs. People want these bikes, like the new Globe cargo with a throttle option. If I sell only my favorite flavors of ice cream, I will not meet demand. Some want tooty-fruity bubble gum. But, I might like moca-chocha-locca-yaha-yaha better.

. I can't change people's tastes. Am I Darth Vader if I sell a Specialized to someone who likes it?

 

[PCeBiker]

I'm going to call you Darth Vado.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

A mechanic in this new EBR Aventon Aventure review shares your same complaints.

I'd love to see teardowns of popular e-bikes pointing out some of the shortcuts manufacturers are taking. I'd also love to see a series where they show how a DIYer can fix some of those shortcuts. But you often can't really fix a cheesy lame bottom bracket.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Prices have fallen for those Specialized bikes, they are not bad to ride, they are just on the Dark Side. I have ridden a bunch and there is nothing 'wrong' with them, maybe a little lag; then there is that planned obsolescence shite, that will all be fully disclosed. My local reputation is more important than theirs. People want these bikes, like the new Globe cargo with a throttle option. If I sell only my favorite flavors of ice cream, I will not meet demand. Some want tooty-fruity bubble gum. But, I might like moca-chocha-locca-yaha-yaha better.

. I can't change people's tastes. Am I Darth Vader if I sell a Specialized to someone who likes it?

I've always said that there's nothing wrong with Specialized...
Now the typical d_bag that buys/worships them. . .

 

[Gionnirocket]

I'd love to see teardowns of popular e-bikes pointing out some of the shortcuts manufacturers are taking. I'd also love to see a series where they show how a DIYer can fix some of those shortcuts. But you often can't really fix a cheesy lame bottom bracket.

Yet another reason to buy a mid_drive

 

[Catalyzt]

Parker Ranch on the Big Island of Hawaii has a long history included in Hawaiian monarchy history. To this day it's still providing beef chickens and other livestock for consumption.
In 2005 I was on Big Island Hawaii in my rented jeep. Parked it someplace on the ranch when I woke up I was startled with cows all around and some tried to get inside the jeep licking the window.
Closest encounter I had with live cows.

We were attacked by cows in upstate New York in about 2018. Just walking in a field, they started stalking us, and at a certain point, charged. It was no different from being charged by several bulls.

We ran to the fence, but could not all get over in time. My buddy who I flew to Portugal to help in late February when he got pneumonia and was stuck in the ICU? He was with me. And insisted I climb the fence before him, because I was on blood thinners. That's the kind of guy he is.

Another friend-- the guy who owned the property-- just instinctively raised his arms over his head and bellowed. The cows broke away at the last moment. But the risk is serious. Lots of people are gored to death by cows each year. It's a thing, check it out.

Sorry. Just doing my bit to derail the thread again. I'm a terrible person.

I don't see a downside to Pedaluma getting to know the specialized lineup backwards and forwards.

 

[Slaphappygamer]

We were attacked by cows in upstate New York in about 2018. Just walking in a field, they started stalking us, and at a certain point, charged. It was no different from being charged by several bulls.

We ran to the fence, but could not all get over in time. My buddy who I flew to Portugal to help in late February when he got pneumonia and was stuck in the ICU? He was with me. And insisted I climb the fence before him, because I was on blood thinners. That's the kind of guy he is.

Another friend-- the guy who owned the property-- just instinctively raised his arms over his head and bellowed. The cows broke away at the last moment. But the risk is serious. Lots of people are gored to death by cows each year. It's a thing, check it out.

Sorry. Just doing my bit to derail the thread again. I'm a terrible person.

I don't see a downside to Pedaluma getting to know the specialized lineup backwards and forwards.

lol. I was reading “crows” instead of cows. I should read more with my glasses on.

Your buddy sounds like a great guy. Hope he is doing well.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

We were attacked by cows in upstate New York in about 2018. Just walking in a field, they started stalking us, and at a certain point, charged. It was no different from being charged by several bulls.

We ran to the fence, but could not all get over in time. My buddy who I flew to Portugal to help in late February when he got pneumonia and was stuck in the ICU? He was with me. And insisted I climb the fence before him, because I was on blood thinners. That's the kind of guy he is.

Another friend-- the guy who owned the property-- just instinctively raised his arms over his head and bellowed. The cows broke away at the last moment. But the risk is serious. Lots of people are gored to death by cows each year. It's a thing, check it out.

Sorry. Just doing my bit to derail the thread again. I'm a terrible person.

I don't see a downside to Pedaluma getting to know the specialized lineup backwards and forwards.

Having grown up on a farm, yeah best advice with frisky cows is to charge back at them, yelling. It completely shocks them and they veer off or stop dead!

 

[Gionnirocket]

Having grown up on a farm, yeah best advice with frisky cows is to charge back at them, yelling. It completely shocks them and they veer off or stop dead!

Playing chicken with a cow...
Now that's one thing that I've never ever thought about

 

[jabberwocky]

I agree a lot of the high-end brands (e.g. R&M and Stromer) cut corners for no good reason. Some acoustic bike brands (Surly) also cut corners, again for no clear reason.

There is really no excuse at all about inadequate brakes and lame wheel builds.

Mainly its because they can. People look closely at the groupset a bike has when purchasing, but rarely subject the rest of the build to the same scrutiny. Pretty much every brands midrange bikes come with some name brand groupset that will feature heavily in the marketing materials and then a bunch of house brand generic garbage where people don't really look (stem, bars, seatpost, saddle, wheels, sometimes even the cassette and cranks).

And on lame wheel builds, there is really no excuse for breaking spokes in normal usage with basic maintenance. Actually, I'll go further. If you buy a decent low-end mountain bike (like say in the $1000-$2000 range) you can take that beast off of enormous drops all day and you won't break a spoke and the wheel will still be true at the end of the day. Hand-built wheels can be had for as little as $150 each, and for $300 you can get as good a wheel as you'll ever need unless you are cycling competitively.

Can confirm, raced downhill for many years and don't think I ever broke a spoke. You can build bombproof wheels if you want to. Its not even that difficult. It just isn't sexy to sell 32h 3cross butted spoke alloy wheel rims on average cartridge bearing hubs.

Kind of the same thing with brakes. Really good mechanical disk brakes are available for less than $75 each. As long as the bike designers didn't do something stupid with the brake and rotor mounts (and they sometimes do!) you should be able to put as big a rotor and as beefy a brake as you'd ever want on your bike.

My recommendation for e-bike brake rotors, unless you ride is someplace dead flat like South Florida or the Netherlands, is for 180mm on the front and 160mm on the rear. If you ride someplace mountainous and/or are on the large side I'd recommend a 203mm downhill rotor on the front and possibly 180mm on the rear. You'll probably need or want a decent hydraulic brake to back up that 203 or a seriously fancy mechanical brake.

180mm minimum for sure. I run 200s on all my MTBs. I like using the same size rotor front and back because I've tacoed rotors in MTB crashes and its nice to swap the rear rotor to the front if necessary (I'd rather have a functioning front brake than rear brake). Probably not important on non-mtbs but old habits die hard etc etc.

The most annoying thing about the whole "road disc brakes must be different because roadies can't emotionally handle running the same thing as MTBers" thing is the flat mount calipers which are a pain to adapt to 180mm if the frame isn't designed for it. I have a drawer full of post mount caliper adapters for every damn rotor size. I had to order adapters from Peak Torque from goddamn england to out 180 rotors on my e-gravel.

I've always said that there's nothing wrong with Specialized...
Now the typical d_bag that buys/worships them. . .

For whatever reason, Specialized does have the most annoying fanboys. I have some MTB friends I've been riding with for 2 decades now who absolutely worship at the altar of Specialized. Its honestly bizarre. Sometimes its like riding with a religious person who keeps trying to convince you to come to church.

Specialized makes a perfectly fine bike, and then spends a massive amount of money on marketing to convince people that its the most amazing bike ever.

 

[PedalUma]

Come to church with us in Guyana to drink the Cool Aid together.
At ten would use a wrist rocket to try to hit a bull's balls. The problem with barbed wire is slipping when swinging over your leg.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Playing chicken with a cow...
Now that's one thing that I've never ever thought about

Look closely. The charge & yell tactic might not work so well with a bull...