Nervagon's Directionless, and Doomed Build

Quick fitness update:



week 3: 217lbs, down 23lbs.

It’s becoming hard to track progress based solely on weight numbers now, as I am back in the gym hitting the weights. So I’m going to focus on general health experience so far.

As advised by @neptronix electrolytes and magnesium supplements make a huge difference. Also, I’m not getting enough protein for lifting weights on my limited calorie carnivore diet (weird, I know), so I found a protein powder that doesn’t make me sick made by TumLove.

Cheat foods this week: small portion of brown rice, and avocado. No more white rice. Even a very tiny amount spikes my blood sugar. Oh, also a handful of toasted almonds. And the pea protein is also technically cheating, but it isn’t giving gut problems so far, so I don’t care.

Anyway, I feel awesome, and that’s what matters most. I’m going to turn my focus now towards building up muscle.

Big thumbs up to adding weight training to the routine, it increases your resting metabolic rate for a very long time.. you'll be burning more fat while you're sleeping than before for sure.

Have you seen a total 180, digestion wise?

neptronix said:

Have you seen a total 180, digestion wise?

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Yes, IBS in full remission, thanks. My guts are doing great. I can't believe I left the most important thing out! But I had kimchi with my Korean BBQ yesterday, so fingers crossed, hopefully doesn't mess me up. If it doesn't mess me up, I might add it to my rotation of cheat foods.

Thanks again for the encouragement and continuing advice.

I decided to do some wiring work on my BBSHD cargo bike.



I made some custom cladding out of ABS.



And then added a left-side panel:



I forgot how much I love this tank. I still need to wire up a new tail light because I stole it for the police bike Photon build.

Speaking of tail lights, I'm starting to think that the higher up, the better. After hearing about the latest tesla autopilot incident of ramming from behind and killing another motorcycle a couple weeks ago... I watched this video:


It seems that the common factor in at least 2 of the cases was low-mounted tail lights on the motorcycle. Low tail lights are completely invisible to tesla's auto-pilot. Maybe mounting the lights up higher can help to keep you from getting rammed.

But the latest incident is concerning because driver testimony stated that his tesla actually accelerated and rammed the motorcycle before he could take over. We've seen the same behavior in FSD beta test videos where the car violently steers right towards a cyclist riding on the shoulder, requiring quick-reflex intervention to not injure/kill the bike rider.

It was bad enough when I had to worry about distracted or aggressive sociopath drivers, but things are getting even more dicey (literally with cybertruck when that finally gets SFSD).

"Supervised Full Self Driving" basically requires you to be a hyper alert driving instructor, ready to take over in a split second to avert a crisis. I simply cannot understand the value of level 2 autonomy hyped as auto-pilot. Pedestrian and cyclist deaths are on the rise, and now we have these stripped-down junk toy-robot-cars that are at best blind to us, and at worst aiming for us.

This is a real problem.

AI is not capable of accurately performing any task as well as a human. The real innovation that made AI work in the last couple years was throwing insane computer power and human-cultivated training sets at it, to bolster it's weakness, it's inability to reason.

Thankfully, It looks like the NHTSA is finally looking into this instead of continuing to let the public experiments with this technology run.

I think it is a good idea to have high tail lights not just because you may have killer automobile robots on the road, but because people keep buying taller/larger vehicles over time. I think for this reason the minimum height for a rear light should be at the absolute top of the seat post, and no lower.

neptronix said:

I think it is a good idea to have high tail lights not just because you may have killer automobile robots on the road, but because people keep buying taller/larger vehicles over time.

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More Fortnine video in support of that point specifically:
If you don't feel like watching the video, the message is that while bigger and bigger cars lead to more deaths, one of the main reasons is because the grill/hood/front of these huge trucks and SUVs is so damn big. You can't see over it. And there's almost no reason for having such a large front end in some of these models: at the end of the video, Ryan demonstrates that a fully grown person can literally stand INSIDE the engine bay of a new truck, while the engine is still in it. If there's that much empty space available, then it probably doesn't need to be so big.

nervagon said:

After hearing about the latest tesla autopilot incident

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Thank you for sharing, I wasn't aware of this new one.

I found out the Himiway ebikes headquarters are a 10 min drive away, so I dropped by to check out their bikes/operation.

Most of the models were pretty unremarkable except for the Cobra Pro with a bafang ultra. I don't care for the massive fat tires, and it's just not for me (especially at $4K), but everything else was just underwhelming. They had just finished setting one up for a customer and let me lift it. OMG, that thing is like 90lbs!

So I came home and weighed my bikes for comparison and was surprised by the results:

Police bike (Kona Shield/Safari) with CYC Photon and 21AH battery: 60lbs. (I've added roughly 20lbs of ebike equipment)

Mongoose Envoy long tail cargo bike with BBSHD and 20Ah battery: 68lbs.

What is shocking is that my beast cargo bike is only 8lbs heavier than my 'normal' 29er Kona Safari, and 20lbs lighter than that Himiway Cobra. I went through all that trouble (and drama) building a more agile ATB and only shaved 8 pounds.

So I decided to look up the weight of the awesome new Tern Orox adventure cargo bike: 82lbs for the medium size.

How about the compact Surly Skidloader: 59lbs in size medium.

Specialized Globe Haul ST: 77lbs

Momentum PakYak E+: 79lbs

And Himiway sells a small 20-inch wheeled cargo bike that weighs almost 89lbs

Wow, I really haven't appreciated my Mongoose Envoy build. To have all that power and battery in a long tail at 68lbs is pretty decent. Despite my Arrow Racing downhill rims, heavy tires, and double-thick, heavy inner tubes... the Envoy is lighter than it looks. If Bikee ever get things sorted, and release a gen 2 Lightest kit with quieter gears, improved, external torque sensor, dual-chainring support, etc, I could get the Envoy's weight down closer to 60lbs. But it's really hard to beat the silence and dependability of the BBSHD.

It's possible to build lighter. My FS off road Trek with BBS02 is <40 pounds (less battery), so 43 or so when I use a 52V, 4 ah for a 10 - 15 mile ride. The errand bike (a bit blingy) is about the same even with an 18 pound rear wheel).

2old said:

It's possible to build lighter. My FS off road Trek with BBS02 is <40 pounds (less battery), so 43 or so when I use a 52V, 4 ah for a 10 - 15 mile ride. The errand bike (a bit blingy) is about the same even with an 18 pound rear wheel).

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What year/ model is the FS Trek?

2old said:

It's possible to build lighter. My FS off road Trek with BBS02 is <40 pounds (less battery), so 43 or so when I use a 52V, 4 ah for a 10 - 15 mile ride. The errand bike (a bit blingy) is about the same even with an 18 pound rear wheel).

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Are those both small-framed 26" bikes?

With the Kona Safariland, it is a large 29er with a coil fork and an integrated rear rack rated at 200lbs payload. Their are a couple things I could do to reduce the weight, like a premium fork, and a smaller battery, but it is still a tank designed to carry the weight of 2 large (cops) adults in a pinch. It weighs about 40 pounds before ebike conversion.

It's weird but now that I've ridden my short wheelbase 29" x 2.25, and long wheelbase 24" x 2.6 offroad, I prefer long wheelbase 24" x 2.6. The longtail just climbs like a mountain goat, and plows through wherever you point it like a freight train.

nervagon said:

It's weird but now that I've ridden my short wheelbase 29" x 2.25, and long wheelbase 24" x 2.6 offroad, I prefer long wheelbase 24" x 2.6. The longtail just climbs like a mountain goat, and plows through wherever you point it like a freight train.

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I have an Xtracycle Free Radical kit on an old Trek MTB, it is by far my preferred whip for the 17% grade dirt trail on my work commute.(ascending AND descending, have you ever tried to endo a longtail? mash down on that front brake!).
Once the rear axle is behind your center of gravity far enough, limiting power to the rear wheel(human or electric) to keep from lifting the front wheel, becomes a non-issue.

A-DamW said:

have you ever tried to endo a longtail? mash down on that front brake!).
Once the rear axle is behind your center of gravity far enough, limiting power to the rear wheel(human or electric) to keep from lifting the front wheel, becomes a non-issue.

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Speaking of endos, the Himiway Cobro Pro was completely front-heavy. When you lift the bike from the center top tube, only the rear of the bike lifts. Probably the consequence of a 20Ah downtube integrated battery and heavy forks with a mid-drive. It must nose-dive when you get any air.

I think the perfect battery pack placement is right behind the seat tube like the Surly Skidloader:



The Skidloader looks perfectly balanced, and I bet it handles like a dream.

Another well-balanced ebike that looks like it handles great, the Benno Boost:

Zambam said:

What year/ model is the FS Trek?

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2006 EX (8 or 9 AIR; it was the last year they were made in the US so I grabbed in 2006 or 7). The major changes were fork and wheelset, but probably some cockpit ones over the years too.

nervagon said:

Are those both small-framed 26" bikes?

With the Kona Safariland, it is a large 29er with a coil fork and an integrated rear rack rated at 200lbs payload. Their are a couple things I could do to reduce the weight, like a premium fork, and a smaller battery, but it is still a tank designed to carry the weight of 2 large (cops) adults in a pinch. It weighs about 40 pounds before ebike conversion.

It's weird but now that I've ridden my short wheelbase 29" x 2.25, and long wheelbase 24" x 2.6 offroad, I prefer long wheelbase 24" x 2.6. The longtail just climbs like a mountain goat, and plows through wherever you point it like a freight train.

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The Trek is L/XL, but you're right, the Specialized is S and both are 26". I don't fit great on the blue bike, but it's not a big deal since the pedaling platform isn't bad.

Carnivore week 4 fitness update:



I am successfully building muscle at a calorie deficit and near-zero carbohydrates. I don’t feel handicapped or held-back in keto.

When I’m feeling Keto funk, electrolytes snap me right back and boost me up. I have replaced butter with ghee, since it is easier to digest. I think the only mineral I’m deficient in is probably potassium. I’m getting it, but probably not enough. Will get a potassium supplement.

I feel awesome though.

Week 5 carnivore/keto progress:

Kona isn't dead!

It has been bought back by the original owners:

Speaking of Kona... So i wonder what happened to sour the partnership between Kona and police/rescue/etc.

CA police depts have ditched Kona in favor of a collaboration with Bulls on a new service ebike:


It doesn't look as robust as the Kona Shield, and I wonder why Kona couldn't just design an ebike version of the Shield. I guess because those partnerships were under the old owners, and the conglomerate that took over wasn't interested in taxpayer money and bulk purchases... the reality is probably that the new owners ran the company into the ground, and they were on the verge of bankruptcy. Hard to design custom bikes/orders with no funding.