they're conversions of existing bikes. or repairs to broken ebikes.

the number of ebike fires where it turns out the fire started from plugging a 48V charger into a 36V battery is uh

yeah. a sign to me that we need a universal charging port standard with a) different sockets for different voltages and b) automatic overvoltage protection.

Importers that do QC kind of hit the sweet spot for me:

"we expect you to know what you're doing and aren't going to lock everything down, but also we're going to make sure what we sell actually does what it says it does and is at least reasonably safe"

I will fully admit a lot of the criticism of no-name ebikes is warranted. Bad wiring, questionable design decisions, fly-by-night alphabet soup companies. Equally, I hate how locked-down stuff like Bosch is, and how hard repairs can be.

[...] which originated as a thought experiment for modelling hypocrisy (or, more innocently, cognitive dissonance).

My unproven hunch is people are terrified of losing face a lot of the time. "I'm so highly educated. How could I have gotten it wrong?"

It.... occasions a lot of mischief, let's say.

In my experience it definitely is - ego is so pernicious. I've been having a hell of a time trying to get my own work done because while nominally about cycling, my work has ended up being about modelling multivariate systems and weighting the factors that go into it [...]

side note: these cheap controller boxes are meant to be held closed with 4mm self-tapping screws. use a large one and you can also tidy cables into it.

the plastic is soft enough that you can use M4x16mm socket bolts to close them instead. it'll tap a thread into the plastic standoffs.

trying to strike the balance of "clean presentation" with "ease of repair" these days.

which is why I'm working on my own CNC setup. it means I can tidy away (modular) cables behind panels and boxes and such if needed, openable with a hex key and that's it

I'm doing a PhD right now, and the most eye-opening thing is how being very smart in one area in no way precludes bekng very stupid in others.

"I'm too smart to be taken in by [x,y,z]" is.... usually how said stupidity starts.

picture of big and little bison unrelated

Back in 2022 I built a heavy-hauler bike called Bison, now with a new owner in Scotland.

Given this bike is smaller version of the same basic principle, I think it's only fair to call it Baby Bison.

indeed.

the wild thing is that there's a lot of stuff that's *actually* daring and interesting by modern standards (certainly a lot more biting the hand that feeds, at least), and then suddenly they ruin it by putting someone in a bad wig and going "AHAHAHAH LAUGH AT THE RACIST CARICATURE" like wtf

who is him? you know. you know.

it's *him*

same hat.