MEAT Engines 2023...

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: shoreboy

I can't think of a better way to spend my strata fees than to have someone running around the building and picking up dogpoo to run a DNA test on....

You'd get the $$ back from fines. I'd expect the program to be an income stream to the strata. More importantly less shit left behind.

It works as a deterrent.

Our apartment complex has the DNA thing, the risk of being identified and having to pay a fine seems to be sufficient to make dog owners behave.

Our previous building did not have the DNA thing and we had occasional dog poo issues around and even in the building. The (strata-paid) cleaner had to clean it up.

I'll take the DNA thing. I think they should do the same for smokers.

Posted by: [email protected]

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: shoreboy

I can't think of a better way to spend my strata fees than to have someone running around the building and picking up dogpoo to run a DNA test on....

You'd get the $$ back from fines. I'd expect the program to be an income stream to the strata. More importantly less shit left behind.

It works as a deterrent.

Our apartment complex has the DNA thing, the risk of being identified and having to pay a fine seem to be a sufficient to make dog owners behave.

Our previous building did not have the DNA thing and we had occasional dog poo issues around and even in the building. The (strata-paid) cleaner had to clean it up.

I'll take the DNA thing. I think they should do the same for smokers.

Yeah the smoking thing is very annoying. So does the strata come around with a swab kit and take a DNA sample from your dog?

Posted by: shoreboy

For the sake of argument, what's to stop a dog owner from submitting some other poo for the baseline? I mean, do the members of strata all gather around and watch the dog take a shit then swoop in to take the baseline sample?

We don't have a dog so I don't know exactly how it works but from what I remember reading in the materials we received, when moving in, a dog owner must present their dog to have a DNA sample taken. I assume it's just a saliva swab or something like that, no actual poo involved.

I don't know if it's a 100% foolproof system but as said it appears to be effective enough as a deterrent.

If you want to game the system you could submit a DNA sample for you (smoker) and your dog (shit), but pull the ol’ switcheroo with the sample labels when nobody is looking. 

Then as long as your dog doesn’t start smoking and you don’t start shitting on the lawn you’re free to litter as much as you want!

= Profit, to finally buy an ebike!

I like the raccoon, though possibly the novelty of mammalian visitors skews my perspective from cute>annoying. 

Our local equivalent is the Kākā, similarly likely to snatch up unattended trinkets or food, less likely to carry transmissible (to humans) diseases. 

When our daughter was two, one decided it wanted a bite of the apple she was eating on the deck, she held up the offering, then dropped it in a hurry when the beak got within finger range. Probably for the best, it's like a sharp Knipex.

Oh, man. Geometron G2 w/Pinion looks fabulous. 

Posted by: velocipedestrian

Oh, man. Geometron G2 w/Pinion looks fabulous. 

Timely - we were having a discussion on a ride the other night about where bikes go from here - following on from the Downtime Podcast on the state of the industry.  I still really think gearboxes are the future.  Hopefully this is the one that kick-start the revolution.

Posted by: fartymarty

Posted by: velocipedestrian

Oh, man. Geometron G2 w/Pinion looks fabulous. 

Timely - we were having a discussion on a ride the other night about where bikes go from here - following on from the Downtime Podcast on the state of the industry.  I still really think gearboxes are the future.  Hopefully this is the one that kick-start the revolution.

It's visually similar to a Zerode, but alloy (yay!) Horst (yay!) and probably much longer for a given seat tube length (yay!). 

I've only ridden a Zerode DH bike, so it's hard to compare, but I would really like to sample the difference between the sprung:unsprung weight of a wide range drive vs 'box. 

I'm too lazy to setup a FS SS / geared comparison, but my inner idealist says it'd be great.

and Chris Porter is behind it therefore the suspension is gonna work.

It would be a good one for Paul Aston to test.

Posted by: velocipedestrian
I've only ridden a Zerode DH bike, so it's hard to compare, but I would really like to sample the difference between the sprung:unsprung weight of a wide range drive vs 'box. 

The G2 looks outstanding. I’d have it shortlisted if more bikepark or wet weather days were on my calendar. As I sit, the overall weight and inefficiency from the gearbox and lack of versatility from the mega-aggressive geometry are concerns. See comments about my unworthiness above! 😄

Posted by: fartymarty

It would be a good one for Paul Aston to test.

I wonder what he’d think of shaving 2” from his chainstay after riding his custom rigs?

Posted by: Blofeld

I wonder what he’d think of shaving 2” from his chainstay after riding his custom rigs?

He'd need some mutators for the mutators.

Anniversary

Congrats on making it a full year since you got hurt and recovered Andrew. That was a shitty injury to deal with. Here's to a healthy remainder of 2023 and all of 2024!

Posted by: fartymarty

Timely - we were having a discussion on a ride the other night about where bikes go from here - following on from the Downtime Podcast on the state of the industry.  I still really think gearboxes are the future.  Hopefully this is the one that kick-start the revolution.

i think the current state of the gearbox art (pinion) still has too many drawbacks to make any significant dent in derailleur dominance. zerode has had a really nicely refined iteration for a while (i reviewed the taniwha 5 years ago) - which is arguably quite a bit better poised for mainstream adoption than the nicolai (ie, cheaper, lighter, more "conventional" aesthetically) - but still hasn't gained much traction. gearboxes make lots of sense with ebike integration, but i don't see widespread conventional adoption on the horizon. (and this coming from an ex-gearbox evangelist).

"i don't see widespread conventional adoption on the horizon."

Exactly. Hundreds of years of industry, automobiles, and motorcycles have been unable to overcome the fundamental problem with gearboxes - power loss & efficiency. Our meagre meat engines can't deal with the same kinds of losses that are tolerable when a motor is involved; it'd be sweet but I'm not sure its more than fantasy to think the bicycle industry is somehow going to engineer through this problem suddenly.