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DirtyDigz

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Posts posted by DirtyDigz

  3. Posted

    He's supposedly going to have a press conference this monrning at 11:30.

     

    Quote
    • New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez has hired attorney Abbe Lowell to defend him against a three-count indictment on federal bribery charges.
    • Lowell is also representing President Joe Biden’s son Hunter on his tax and firearm charges.
    • Lowell was the attorney on Menendez’s first corruption case in 2015, which ended in a mistrial.

     

  5. Posted

    Good.  Another rabidly anti-gun turd about to get the flush...or will he get re-elected AGAIN?

    The full indictment:

    https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/robert-menendez-indictment-document/e9ff4e956cb8dfc9/full.pdf
     

    Pepperidge Farm remembers, circa December 2017:
     

    Quote

    WASHINGTON — “Throw’em into prison for five years” is what New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez wants for any out-of-state concealed carry permit holder who enter his state with a firearm.

    “People violate our law — we are a state that has decided that we are against concealed carry weapons. We have stronger gun laws. We believe we have made the states safer as that,” Menendez told The Daily Caller Thursday. “They violate our laws, then whatever is the law, and they are found guilty of it, they should pay the consequence.”

    When pressed about travelers with concealed carry permits who may be detoured into his state by accident, he replied: “They know what our state’s law is. They should know what our state law is if they want to carry a concealed weapon. I don’t think that they just simply get detoured and they should think in advance when they are traveling.”

    He continued, “I find it amazing that Republicans who believe in state rights all of a sudden have a problem observing the state rights of those states that think that stronger gun laws is the way to protect citizens and that’s what I have to say about it.”





     

    • Haha 1

  7. Posted

    27 minutes ago, SmokenClay said:

    I am on the fence with E-Bikes.  The majority are made outside the USA (including TREK) and I've recently heard about a rash of E-bike fires in China (most cases are when charging - left pugged in for extended periods.)

    For me I would stick with US made:

    https://pedalwithpower.com/electric-bikes-made-in-the-usa/?expand_article=1

    I admire the ethic, but you will pay for it.

    The article lists 3 bike companies that are "Made in the USA".  Only 1 of them is really an option:

    https://electricbikecompany.com/

    Their pricing is on the high side of the market, but not ridiculous.  The warranty looks great (10 years frame, 5 years battery), assuming the company is around that long, and it appears they're assembled in the USA but with a majority of Chinese sourced frames/parts.

    The other 2 companies in the article - Uh no, they're super-niche:

    https://outriderusa.com/

    Their specialty is apparently 4 wheel off-road "vehicles" that are ~$15k

    https://hpcbikes.com/pages/electricbikes
    Looks like their lowest priced model is ~$4k, and they quickly go up to >$10k for upper models. Their specialty appears to be hyper/offroad ebikes.

  9. Posted

    Welcome!

    My recommendations for staying updated on 2A lawfare:

    Rob Romano (of FPC)'s twitter feed - 2Aupdates:

    https://nitter.net/2aupdates

    (nitter.net is a twitter proxy that allows you to read feeds without logging into twitter.  It's been spotty lately as twitter keeps changing shit)

    GunForHire radio podcast:

    https://gunforhire.com/radio/

    4 Boxes Diner youtube channel:

    https://yewtu.be/channel/UCryaem-nXjC27Yci0xTNfhQ

    (yewtu.be is a youtube proxy that lets you bypass youtube ads and tracking)

    New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate facebook page:

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/364613487270249

    • Like 2

  10. Posted

    14 hours ago, Krdshrk said:

    I don't know of any brands but I would think a folding one would be better - out of sight much better than exposed even if locked.

    Lipo charging - Use a battery bag.

    https://www.amazon.com/Fireproof-Accessories-Explosionproof-transport-19-2x5-5x5-9Inches/dp/B0C4LWCTTM/

    Are there any tests where a lithium battery was actually ignited in one of these bags?  I'm skeptical that they would contain the fire for the duration of the entire burn.

    The "test" video in the linked one above is comical - a single lit piece of paper?

    Edit: Yeah, still skeptical:

    https://yewtu.be/watch?v=CXXBDq8vp2A
    https://yewtu.be/watch?v=zIOpVFlzB9I

    • Informative 1

  12. Posted

    A couple of other things:

    Depending on how hilly the areas you're going to ride on are, you'll likely want a 500W motor mininum.  The more hills, the bigger the motor. 750W is the next common step up, and 1000W is about the maximum for "standard" ebikes.  Over 1000W, you're getting into the range of "hyperbikes" which are more like electric motorcyles than bicycles.

    There's 2 common types of motors - hub drive (the motor is in the hub of the wheel, power is generated right at the wheel) and mid-drive (the motor is at the crankshaft, power is transmitted through the chain/belt from the cranks to the wheel).

    Hub drive is fine for most, however it will always put out the same torque no matter what gear the bike is in as it's independent of the gears.  Some hub drive motors have low quality internal gears made out of plastic that eventually fail.

    Mid drive typically tends to be much more expensive, but usually has much more longevity.

    Do NOT get a front wheel-only hub-drive bike.  I don't think I've ever seen one sold new, usually they're just retrofits to "regular" bikes.  If the bike you're getting has only one hub-drive wheel, it has to be the rear wheel.  There are some bikes with BOTH front and rear wheel hub drives - they can be good as long as the controller is well tuned to synchronize the 2 motors.

    • Informative 1

  13. Posted

    • Tech (of any kind) is one of the rare categories that often DROPS in price over time (think: calculators, laptops, etc.) I'm wondering if a purchasing delay would be on my side? What's your best guess? Do you think these e-bikes are going to get cheaper or more expensive over time? Also, is there a best season to buy?

    Now might be a good time - Just bought my first 2 e-bikes about a month ago after watching "the market" for a while.  There are prices dropping everywhere.

    A couple places to watch for deals:

    https://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?q=e-bike+ebike&searcharea=deals&searchin=first&isUserSearch=1

    https://www.reddit.com/r/ebikes/comments/15sh53w/monthly_rebikes_promo_thread/

    • I do worry about the ones that have caught fire (big discussion on electric vehicles in general in the 1A Lounge, and I know that's a problem, albeit a rare one). It may be rare, but when consequences are potentially catastrophic, one does need to consider! I don't have a garage, so would either need to store in an outdoor storage cabinet - or - in my walkout basement. Any firemen out there with recommendations? Do we know if those fires happened spontaneously when the bike was just sitting there? Or only when it was being charged? How to mitigate? Charge the battery outside, away from the house with an extension cord? Store the whole bike outside in a cabinet? Or pull it into the basement but remove the battery and store THAT inside a fireproof container? (or perhaps wrapped in welding fabric)? Other thoughts/ideas?

    The "cheaper" your e-bike/battery/charger, the bigger a risk this is, but yeah, it's always a concern.  Fires can happen because the battery pack is shoddily constructed, not vibration resistant, has poor quality wire/buses between individual cells, or has low quality battery management/charging electronics.

    In general you want the battery to have been constructed with either Samsung or Panasonic cells.  If the battery that comes with the bike doesn't specify one of those, then you should consider it to be "cheap" and higher risk.

    Personally I charge the bikes only in the garage over a concrete floor and away from anything flammable.  My understanding if that if a battery pack DOES ignite there is nothing commonly available to consumers that will extinguish it; it will burn until it exhausts all the energy in the cells.

    • Are there known brands out there that are considered better than others? The brand names I'm seeing mean nothing to me yet.

    It's more the e-bike components than the bike name that really matters.  Anything with Bosch batteries/controllers is probably top of the line.

    Samsung/Panasonic battery cells preferred.

    Bafang motors are also highly regarded.

    Brakes - disc brakes are pretty much "standard", but get hydraulically actuated brakes instead of mechanical/cable actuated ones if you can.

    • I've never had a rack of any type on my car (2000 Audi A4)... is it safer (in terms of theft) to have a folding model INSIDE the car and out of sight? Or do those racks with appropriate locks dissuade most bike thieves?

    Folding models tend to have smaller diameter wheels.  Great for space saving, but smaller wheels are way less pleasant to ride on.

    If you have a way to run a cable or padded chain lock around the bikes and through the rack that should be sufficient to deter theft.

    I would strongly recommend a hitch-mounted rack, and not something that just "sits" on your car with straps.

    Also, see battery concerns regarding vibration above - I'd recommend removing the battery from the bike when transporting on a car rack.

    • Any other thoughts/suggestions? Any input is much appreciated! :) These are costly items... I really want to do my due diligence and make a sound purchase whenever I'm ready.

    Do not buy an e-bike from Aliexpress unless you've REALLY done due diligence on it.  Most likely you will get the crappiest quality possible.

    There's not much standardization in ebikes yet, so high possibility of buying a "low-to-mid-tier" bike and the brand/company disappears a year later leaving you without recourse for parts.  Wheels/tires/brakes/shifters, yeah, you can probably replace those, but custom battery cases, "no-name" motors, controllers and displays are going to be a pain if they die after the manufacturer/brand goes dark.

    • Informative 1

  19. Posted

    https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=249434

     

    Quote

    Fitch didn't go far enough; both S&P and Fitch should have cut the current credit rating to "A" (single A) and made clear that in 12 months its going to BBB if the budget is not immediately balanced and a small cash-basis surplus established, and that in another year the rating will go to junk if Congress doesn't act.

    Exponential expansions always end and they always look perfectly ok until shortly before panic sets in as the inevitable looms.  Always.  Humans are terrible at sussing these out before the wall comes into full view around the corner as you're doing 80mph; its one of humanity's blind spots.  Unlike the BS run on "climate" and similar this one is real and we're there -- right here, right now.

     

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