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Month: April 2009

32:16 (2:1)

Published April 19, 2009

Sixteen-tooth Shimano freewheel (SF-MX30 16T) installed on a Surly hub on the rear end of my Bianchi D.I.S.S. single speed.

Today I finally got around to installing the Shimano SF-MX30 16T freewheel on the Bianchi D.I.S.S., replacing the 18T that was there. This takes the gear ratio from 32:18 (1.778:1) to 32:16 (2:1), which should be nice for flatter single track stuff where I’d end up practically spinning out. Hill climbs may be difficult, but hopefully I’ll still be able to make it. If I can’t I guess I can just go back to the 18T.

Since a threaded rear hub is required to use a freewheel like this, I’m tempted to get a track cog and lockring to try it as a fixed-gear mountain bike. This could go very, very wrong, though.

While fitting the freewheel I ended up cleaning up the drivetrain, washing the chain in solvent and then re-lubricating it. After the winter riding it was pretty grimy and needed a bit of work. After cleaning it up I tried out the Park Tool CC-3 which, as can be seen here, nestles into the chain to show if it is beyond 0.75% or 1% stretched. As the 0.75% side didn’t fit into the chain, it’s just fine to continue using.

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Leads To Trim

Published April 19, 2009

Leads from the resistors, crystal, and diode sticking out of the back of the production SDrive NUXXs. Time to trim these before fitting the capacitors.

After fitting the crystal, diode, and all resistors to eighteen SDrive NUXX PCBs there are lots of leads to trim before I can move on to the capacitors. Here is the pile of cut leads.

Leads are trimmed in batches as eventually there are enough sticking off the board that they get in the way. Next comes the capacitors, LEDs, and DIP switches before flux is cleaned off and the non-washable parts are fitted.

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Assembled SDrive NUXXs In Progress

Published April 16, 2009

Nineteen SDrive NUXX PCBs being assembled.

After assembling the first SDrive NUXX v1.1 (Production) PCB and ensuring that it worked as expected I started assembling the other eighteen PCBs. I only managed to get the SD slots and DIP28 sockets fitted before calling it an evening, but it’s coming along nicely. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I’ll have a good bit more done.

It’s really nice to have a final / complete PCB which doesn’t require any jumpers or other hacks to work.

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Sore Trapezius

Published April 16, 2009

It seems that the rocky / rooty trails at Island Lake and Maybury which we rode on Monday took a bit of a toll on me. Yesterday morning my back/neck was a little bit sore, and a bit of research showed that it was likely my trapezius muscle on the right side of my body. Since it wasn’t too sore yesterday I headed out for a paved ride on the Macomb Orchard Trail, which ended up being a bit over 20 miles.

Once back at the car I found that I was a good bit more sore, but just wrote it off as a problem from leaning over the bike for a while. However, when I woke up this morning I found that I can’t really turn my head without a good bit of stiffness and soreness.

I think that this point I just need to stay off my bike for a few days and rest up, then maybe do some elevated leg pushups or something else which will build up these muscles a bit. This is a bit disappointing as today and Friday are forecasted to have really nice biking weather, but that’s just how things go. At least I’ve got other things which I can be working on in the mean time.

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Freshly Turned Planters

Published April 15, 2009

Someone, possibly the lawn care people, removed the old plant roots and turned the soil in my planters. In the process some soil was spilled on the porch.

When I arrived home from work yesterday I found that someone had turned the dirt in my planters (more detail) and removed the roots from last year’s flowers. I think it may have been the lawn care people, as they seem to have cleaned up the leaves left over from autumn.

I’m looking forward to early May so that I can plant some new things. I’m not yet sure what I’ll plant this year, but hopefully it’ll look nice…

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Island Lake and Maybury

Published April 13, 2009

Jon and Bob standing outside of Bob's van after a cold (but nice) day riding at Maybury. Prior to this we were at Island Lake.

Having today off (Easter Monday Holiday), I ended up heading out to some mountain bike trails with some friends from the MMBA, Bob and John. Starting quite early this morning we took off towards the west side of the Detroit area, and ended up riding Island Lake and Maybury (both loops of each), with a break to eat lunch at Leo’s Coney Island and stop by Trail’s Edge.

Since I’d never ridden either of those trails it was a nice new experience, and I’ll definitely be visiting them in the future. They are both about the same level of technical difficulty that I’m accustomed to, but much longer in length. I imagine that once the weather is a bit nicer (read: warm enough for shorts) they’ll be a whole bunch of fun.

Today wasn’t so nice, necessitating shorts and a jacket and full finger gloves. Since I only have wind/waterproof full finger gloves Bob loaned me his Fox Digit gloves, which worked out great. If I’m needing to buy some for myself I think I’ll get these.

After arriving home at 6:30ish I showered, picked up some fish and chips from Chicken Shack, then watched a bunch of Season 3 of The Office. Now, bed. I’ve got lots of work waiting for me in the morning.

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SDrive NUXX Parts

Published April 9, 2009

All the SDrive NUXX parts, except for the PCBs and enclosures, sitting sorted and ready to go.

Hey, look, it’s all the parts for SDrive NUXXs, except for the PCBs and metal end panels. The parts have been sorted, kits assembled, and all AVRs programmed and labeled. The PCBs should ship on the 16th and the end panels on the 27th.

And yes, that is a belt of SD connectors.

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