August 7th, 2008
Will electric cars really solve the problem that is our dependency on foreign oil? Do we even have that problem? Maybe, who knows. To me, electric implies that you have to plug the car into a wall outlet to charge it, like an electric golf cart. Where does that electricity come from? The electric company (not the TV show). Where do they get that energy? I’m not sure how they do it these days. It’s probably a mixture of fossil fuels (the majority), wind, and solar power.
So that brings me to this: if you scrap your gas guzzler for an electric car that you have to charge using fossil fuels, does that really solve the problem? It sounds like trading one evil for another. I could be wrong. I haven’t done any research to find out how the electric companies generate their power, but I think it’s a very valid question, AND an electric vehicle is not the solution unless it’s mostly solar powered (or I guess you could get your own windmill to charge the car). Discuss amongst yourselves.
aaron |
random |
July 3rd, 2008
Well, my new frame arrived today. I thought I wasn’t going to be able to transfer parts, and I started looking around. I figured I’d pimp the shit out of it. So I actually went out to the garage just now and measured. It turns out there I can swap over everything on my old frame to the new one. The problem is that now I kinda don’t want to. Oh yeah, and I have to cut the steer tube regardless. Hooray.
Another problem is that I don’t technically have all the tools needed. Sure, I could make a trip to Home Depot and make some homebrew tools to do the job, but they’re closed, and I’m not sure if they’re open tomorrow. I might call them in the morning and make my decision then. Making the tools is preferable to buying them, because they are FUCKING EXPENSIVE.
Headset presses start at around $60 for the cheapo brand. Crown race removers are only like $20, but the tool to put the crown race back on is like $60 or $70 (fork diagram here). Then you’ve got the headset removal tool that is as cheap as $25ish. All these tools are used on approximately 1/10 of the bike. That’s a WAG, don’t quote me on it. Don’t quote me on the prices either. I don’t remember all of them exactly, I just know they’re quite pricey.
So there’s a dilemma. Do you buy all these tools when you only need to use them once or twice a year, or every time you do a frame swap? The south bike store closed, so I can’t go in there and work on my bike anymore. That was a freakin sweet deal. Half the time they didn’t have the parts I needed anyway, so I’d bring my own and just use the tools. I’m really going to miss that place.
So I’m still debating whether or not to just buy new components. You know I want to ride this thing right now, but it ain’t happening. I might as well wait and pimp it out, right? I agree.
Here are some pictures I took of the frame. IT was packed pretty well. It’s SOOOO light with nothing on it. And it is, in fact, the brightest frame EVER. There’s no excuse for not seeing me. I think I’m going to get all black components so it looks like Halloween.
aaron |
cycling, me |
July 1st, 2008
Went for a ride in Norman on Sunday. Well, I went Saturday night too. It fuckin poured down rain for about an hour, so we had to wait, but it was a pretty nice ride after that. I took some videos on Sunday. I’m in need of a new rear tire already. 3 of them will be here tomorrow, 2 cheap ass ones and one “real” one.
This vid is just Squish. I was chillin. I didn’t really edit it at all. I just threw all the clips on the timeline and put a song over it.
aaron |
cycling, me |
