| Author | Message | ||
     Torquehd |
No one should be able to do this. | ||
| Aesquire |
A buddy of mine was really good at trials on his mountain bike. I can only do a few of those stunts. The really easy ones. I did have a good day once on Goat Island in the middle of Niagara Falls riding up and down the stairs and freaking out the skate boarders. What that video shows besides the skill, is how incredibly strong Aero rims are. I have a set on my Stowe, and it's faster than the higher geared Race bike I have, just because the wheels have so much less drag. And I ride mountain bike single track on the Stowe. | ||
| 86129squids |
THAT guy is a bad-aisss!!! Gave me some pucker-up moments... | ||
| Sifo |
I've been to the Red Bull Rampage in person, probably about 15 years ago. Incredible riders with great imagination on the lines they take. They've only stepped up their game since I saw them. Looks to be the same start. All the wooden jumps are new since then. | ||
| Torquehd |
I would love to have a proper, modern-day mountain bike. One of the things I love about bicycles is that they are so simple and primitive, and yet cutting edge and high tech, at the same time. Modern bicycles push the limits of engineering. I recently turned my 20 year old Schwinn rigid "mountain bike" into a "gravel bike" by installing some drop bars from a 40 year old Peugeot (it's ugly but functional).  I've been doing a lot of commuting by road bike for the last 2 months and I find that the more saddle time I get, the more I enjoy it. And after spending 2 months on a road bike, I just couldn't take the upright position and flat bars that the Schwinn came with. Been tinkering with the cantilever brakes, they're a PITA to set up but work great once you get them dialed in. The COG is so high on that steel framed Schwinn, I keep accidentally (and intentionally) doing stoppies! | ||
| Hootowl |
I’m staggered. That is insane. | ||
| Ourdee |
| ||
| Aesquire |
I love that ad. https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/the-5-worst-things-a bout-being-a-genius remembering #1 can be hard, sometimes. | ||
| Aesquire |
Oh, and #5. As the great Thomas Sowell has written, “There is usually only a limited amount of damage that can be done by dull or stupid people. For creating a truly monumental disaster, you need people with high IQs." "it's possible but very unlikely that setting off an Atomic Bomb will set the atmosphere on fire, but we're pretty sure that won't happen. 5....4.....3....." Or, short form, "Hey Oppenheimer! Hold My Beer!" | ||
| Hootowl |
Buckle up. | ||
| Sifo |
| ||
| Shoggin |
Looks like there was something wrong with the car the rednecks were filming. Pivoting in the back and drunks don't usually put the hazards on  Shouldn't have been driving that POS though. But then again, the hillbillies could have easily run over a motorcycle while having their laugh and not paying attention. | ||
| Aesquire |
Your Schwinn is the opposite of my Raleigh road bike we put flat bars and mountain bike brakes on to do dirt roads and trails. Inspired by an article from CA on "The matis" french for cross breed, used on fire roads. Years before "hybrids", or other brand names, it was not a Cyclecross bike, which was a drop bar racing bike with touring bike brakes, used in organized racing. ( which your bike is mutating towards ) There was a group of us pounding down single track, locally, with our "Matis's" that we found were notably faster than mountain bikes until the narrower, higher pressure cyclecross tires very abruptly became slow & unusable as terrain roughness increased. Then fat tire bikes suddenly became better. You might be amazed how tough the transition point was. And, yes, we influenced builders like Serotta, and other East coast frame makers to commercialize the "hybrid" ( more polite than the "bastard" translation of our "Matis" bikes ) and make it a popular design, and it still is. All the custom & production frame makers had workers and designers move from shop to shop, as business waxed and waned, and personality clashes between high ego, high skill folk tend to do. So ideas cross bred..... Um. Cross pollinated, and thus history is made, and forgotten. My Raleigh is long demolished. I still ride a Matis/Hybrid, a Stowe Rhino, frame by renowned custom frame maker Rob Stowe of Phase 3 Cycles in Rochester NY. ( also a frame maker at Serotta, and later an artist with Albert Paley Studio. http://www.albertpaley.com So.... From fire road hack to East coast single track speedster, to the most popular bike model sold in the U.S., I didn't originate the concept, I was just involved in the spreading of the ideas. "Those $%&-$ from Rochester blowing past us" at Vermont mountain bike races, perhaps the critical step. : ) Btw, my Rhino is still the fastest bike I own, with Aero rims ( used for toughness, speed was a bonus ) triple chain rings, and a lugless, fillet brazed frame. "How did you beat us to the top of the ski mountain? You rode up the face!!!???? WTF are your RIDING? ??!!!!" ( actual quote, 1980s, Killington VT ) Yes... Years later the original concept is now mutated to "29s" etc. | ||
| Aesquire |
Once upon a time..... True story. Riding mountain bikes along the NYS Barge Canal, our habit was, ride hard five+ miles, stop, chat, rehydrate, with beer. One each, then back to the ride. We had insulated beer can tube slings that held six, each. 3 house mates, duration was planned by how many of us hauled beer. Two beer ride, to six beer ride. We were between Macedon & Palmyra when we declared a break, & popped a brew. ( first beer ) I announced, fairly loudly, that there was a guy in a sniper ghillie suit over under those bushes, (30 odd feet away ) looked around, harder, "and behind that tree", and under that bush, and in camo behind that tree. We were a bit alarmed, but it's not illegal to have a beer on the canal, so not freaked. We all were looking around, when one house mate asked, "Isn't that a Pot plant?" And that one? From the brush comes a really irritated voice, "Get the Hell out of here! %&#@+-&" So we drained our beers, packed them away, and moved out. We'd stumbled into a stake out in the middle of nowhere. A State Police helicopter then followed us, periodically, for about fifteen miles. We made a point of stopping in clearings to be visible from the air. And waved. After a while, they waved back. | ||
| Court |
That's a great story . . . . . | ||
| Sifo |
Something kind of cool and unexpected (at least by me) at about 3:50 into the video. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
That's pretty cool about the o rings and all. But why does my right side fork seal always leak? | ||
| Ourdee |
Your O-ring didn't cost as much as their's. | ||
| Hootowl |
And their’s doesn't have to slide, only rotate. | ||
| Sifo |
But when NASA has O-rings fail, they do it in a spectacular manner. | ||
| Shoggin |
Panhead dan: "That's pretty cool about the o rings and all. But why does my right side fork seal always leak?" Theres no abrasive brake dust in space  | ||
| Gregtonn |
I miss those days and some of the engineering challenges. Most difficult designs rarely had to do with on orbit function. The tough part was creating designs that could withstand 20G launch vibration and then function as intended on orbit. There is no brake dust but space can present some nasty challenges. For instance cadmium, which is a common coating for earth bound fasteners, will sublimate in the vacuum of space and then settle onto electronic components and cause catastrophic failures. All O-rings epoxies, paints etc. must meet strict outgassing specs. Solar and UV radiation degradation are also much more sever than on Earth. G | ||
| Sifo |
Way too cool!  | ||
| Uncle |
Sifo, I'm currently building a garage and have a couple of extra ceiling fans I'd hoping to do that with. There's kind of a running joke on our town's community Facebook page about a lot of helicopter activity in our area. | ||
| Fast1075 |
That's not just a helicopter. It's a black assault helicopter!!!! | ||
| Court |
>>>> lot of helicopter activity in our area. Gosh . . . I am surprised I haven't been drug in front of your City Council . . . . hahahaha I'm currently operating a K-Max, MD-500 and a Sikorsky Sky Crane . . . which has, to say the least, eroded my popularity with the neighbors. We're a novelty . . . "hey, look a helicopter" for the first couple passes . . . but, about the 19th pass on a Saturday while someone is holding a birthday in the back yard for a 7 year-old . . . well, by then I'm a target. :-) | ||
| Aesquire |
Can't speak to the K-max, other than, "I wanna fly one!" But the Sky Crane is just an awesome machine. It also can blow a picnic half a state away. Just raw scale. Actually a lower pounds per square foot impact than a smaller helicopter, but it's volume that knocks down tents. I'm a witness to the damage a hovering chopper can do to a campground. The Hughes bird ( now MR ) is just sweet. I've got about a half hour at the controls with one, and there's a reason it's one of the greats. I'm not a licensed helicopter pilot, my hovering skills are epically bad.  That takes hours and hours. As the real pilot put it, "If I had a stroke, you could get me to the hospital. I doubt the bird would ever fly again, but we'd survive to recover in the same ward." I thought that high praise. Those things take the touch. | ||
| Ourdee |
Can anyone help me with sourcing for the bird under the fan. Please, point me in the right direction. =] | ||
| Aesquire |
Because Pennsic is the next 2 weeks, I'm reminded....... The Pennsic War is an annual event of the SCA. (see sca.org ) A historical society get together that has thousands demonstrating living history from Rome to the Renaissance. Not open to the public, you can think of it as where the Serious Ren-Fair folk to go show off to each other. Awesome parties, two weeks of classes in everything from carding wool to forging steel. Battles and Tournaments for fencing, Armored ( rattan ) combat, archery. Competitions in arts and sciences. Not a typical reenactment where there is scripted simulated battles, we fight to win, and even in the cases where a specific battle is recreated, either side can win. I've been doing volunteer first aid work there for over 23 years and kept busy. People trip on tent stakes in the dark, get dehydrated in the Sun, and stepped on in mellee. We have a very broad range of participants. Lots of veterans. And active service. When the ball went up for the first Gulf war in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, the call went out to the troops. There were so many at Pennsic, in middle of nowhere PA, that they organized the local C-130 unit to transport them all to their units. Ever since, they do flybys to honor their brothers. We all look forward to it. The visit from the Blackhawk guys, however, was less well received, when low hovers resulted in thousands in damage. The U.S. reconnaissance units also use Pennsic as practice to count heads in a tent camp environment. They do fly overs, then call and ask the head count at the time. ( we cheerfully keep track for them ) It's a service we provide you just can't get from Afghan or other enemy forces. Weird, but true. | ||
| Aesquire |
Ourdee, that looks like a standard commercial ceiling fan with a very nice model bolted on. Looks like 1/24? Scale? Check hobby shops online. |
