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Workaround for Acronova Nimbie USB Plus, QQGetTray, and OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) Failure with USB 3.0 Cable

I recently acquired an Acronova Nimbie USB Plus NB21-DVD to automate portions of some CD and DVD projects I’ve been working on. This has worked great on Windows 7, but on OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) I was unable to get QQGetTray to work. This software faciliates programs which support action-on-insert and eject-on-completion to work with the Nimbie autoloaders by detecting ejections (via tray opening) and triggering disc changes. Thus, it’s pretty important…

So, how does one make this work? Use a USB 2.0 cable instead of the provided USB 3.0 cable.

How did I find this workaround? After a bunch of searching and digging it just happened to be buried in a response from Acronova in the Customer Questions and Answers on the NB21-DVD’s Amazon page:

The new OS X El captain has changed the way it handles USB 3. In the meantime, instead of using the included blue USB 3 cable, use a USB 2 cable to operate Nimbie under USB 2.0 mode.
By Acronova on December 1, 2015

While writing this post I received a reply to a support ticket I opened with Acronova saying the same thing, and further messages indicated that the QQGetTray developers are still working on the issue.

Frustrating, and surprising, but it works. This workaround is not mentioned anywhere on the product’s site or knowledge base, nor is there any info listed about a fix for QQGetTray. While this keeps the drive from being able to rip at full USB 3.0 speeds, I can deal with this compromise in order to get a toolchain working to avoid manually swapping discs.

The symptoms are that OS X successfully sees the optical drive via a USB 3.0 SATA bridge, was also seeing a USB 2.0 device called NT21, yet QQGetTray would report “Status: No devices found” and fail to actuate the loader mechanism. This was on a Late 2014 iMac with Retina display, model ID iMac15,1, running Mac OS X 10.11.2. When connected via a USB 2.0 cable (instead of the provided blue USB 3.0 cable) the optical drive is then seen as hanging off the internal USB 2.0 hub along with the NT21 device. It all then runs as USB 2.0, and QQGetTray works properly.

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Aluminum Polishing Disappointment

A while back I stupidly put my Bialetti Moka in the dishwasher. Due to the alkaline detergent it discolored and pitted, no longer looking bright and shiny. In an effort to restore its look I researched restoring aluminum cookware that’d been washed in a similar manner and found that polishing with potassium bitartate (cream of tartar) should work well.

In the image above the left panel was the post-dishwasher state, and the right is after a few minutes of polishing with a mixture of equal parts water and potassium bitartate. While a bit of yellowing was removed the aluminum was not returned to its previous shiny state. The appearance change was actually minimal enough that I didn’t bother polishing the rest of the Moka.

I imagine I could remove more of the discoloration and pitting by using some proper metal polish and maybe a buffing wheel, but I’m not going to bother. While the Moka still works fine I was hoping for an easy return to the original shiny appearance. It looks like the recommendation of using cream of tartar didn’t do this.

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Bar End Plugs for Trail’s Edge Moose Mitts

Trail’s Edge Moose Mitts are a winter cycling accessory that I’d have a hard time living without and something I recommend to all new winter riders†. They are a mountain bike specific version of the pogie, designed to allow one to wear summer time gloves while riding in cold weather.

As I’ve had mine since January 2009, using them every winter, the elastic straps designed to hold the ends of the Moose Mitts to the bars have become a bit stretched. This, coupled with the Ergon GP1 that I use, has required me to position the elastic band between my middle and ring fingers to keep them comfortably in place. This isn’t bad, per se, but isn’t the most comfortable and sometimes requires fiddling around to get it properly secured. I’d prefer an empty bar, so after soliciting advice from friends I threw something together.

Based on a suggestion from Bob Keller and his Relevate Designs pogies I decided to put a small retention device on the end of the bar for holding the elastic. Coupled with a plastic push button spring lock I have something which I think will work out pretty well. Total cost, beyond parts laying around home, was the (overpriced) $3.70 to pick up a pair of locks from Jo-Ann at 8:45pm. (Purchased via Amazon these same locks would have been cheaper for 10x as many… That’s a good demonstration of the cost of convenience…)

These were assembled by taking some cheap road bar plugs and fitting three small washers, one large washer, and a small piece of neoprene under the head of the bolt on the outside of the plug (photo without neoprene). After tightening up the assembly the neoprene was trimmed flush with the edge of the head of the screw (installed photo). Without the neoprene the outer water spun, and I was concerned it’d rattle while riding.

There are effectively two ways to secure the elastic strap to the bar end: tightening the lock against the body of the Moose Mitt, or tightening it against the end of the elastic strap. As shown above I’ll start with the former because this results in a Moose Mitt position most like when I’d have the strap looped around the grip and between my fingers. One downside is that loosening the strap could result in pulling the lock off of the elastic, which’d be hard to fix when out in the cold. If this becomes an issue I’ll address it by fitting a wishbone-shaped piece in the end of the elastic then sewing it shut.

UPDATE: After my first ride with this setup I think it’s great. The bars were more comfortable to hold, and the cord only popped off once; when I was fooling with the Moose Mitt itself while stopped. I’ll likely keep using this setup for a while.

† I believe that Moose Mitts are considerably better than their primary competitor, Bar Mitts. Specifically, Bar Mitts are made of too heavy of a material (neoprene) and are smaller and harder to get in and out of. For most riding here in Southeast Michigan one warms up quickly and thus only moderate insulation and wind blocking is needed to keep hands warm. This is exactly what Moose Mitts provide. I Back in 2009 I paid full price for mine, but they do happen to be made by my buddy Mike Flack and his wife Abby at their shop Trail’s Edge right here in Southeast Michigan… Moose Mitts also now come with cord locks.

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The Worst CD Case Ever Made

Back in the late 1990s some electronic/industrial labels were fond of using nice looking metal boxes instead of the typical jewel case. These cases look great (photos: closed, open), but their design resulted in almost every disc they contained breaking.

In this case design the disc was pressed on to a crimped metal protrusion in the center of the case. Due to the tight fit this caused almost every CD in these cases to crack on removal, or sometimes simply when being stored. As shown above, radial crack running out from the center was the result. Sometimes this would result in what was effectively a very scratched disc, other times it’d cause the entire disc to split in half. It’s a terrible, terrible design.

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Canon 20D Err 99 Resolved by New Battery

I’ve been using my reliable Canon 20D for a while (11 years?), frequently employing a Tokina AF 100mm F2.8 macro lens for detail work. This is one of my favorite lenses and is great for bringing out detail I wouldn’t be able to see with the naked eye, but around six months ago I began occasionally receiving the generic “Err 99” when trying to use the lens. My other lenses (a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L and EF 50mm f/1.8 II both worked fine, so I figured the problem was with the lens.

Turns out it had a surprising (and cheap) solution: the batteries.

When the problem originally manifested itself as a simple error that’d only occasionally happen, I would then turn the camera off and on and try again, and usually the lens would work. It also appeared correlated with the aperture used, so I figured the lens was failing; perhaps the iris was binding at some point. Last week I found that the error was occurring more frequently, and would be coupled with a low battery indicator that only appeared after turning the camera back on.

Since I was using the original two batteries I ordered two new ones via Amazon (STK’s Canon BP-511 2200mAh Battery, 2 Pack for $24.99) and they arrived today. Once charged up I tried them with the Tokina lens and it’s now working great. I’m still able to reliably reproduce the issue with the older batteries, so a solution has been found.

Apparently the Canon lenses use a bit less power, or perhaps are more tolerant of lower voltages. Either way, I’m glad everything is working well. I might even think about getting a new camera body… Although I’ll probably wait until this one dies. I must have balanced use pretty evenly across the batteries too, because they both show the issue to the same degree… What’d normally be good just confused things.

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2016 45NRTH Wölvhammers have Lake MX101 Soles

When picking up the Blackborow I also grabbed a pair of 45NRTH‘s redesigned (for 2016) Wölvhammer boots. When installing cleats I noticed the cleat cap (the piece which is removed to access the cleat mounting area) is labeled “CLEAT-CAP 4 MX101 Lake Cap Trail V Part t-0603-01”. It didn’t take much digging to find that the entire sole is the same as that of the (apparently no longer made) Lake MX101.

Here is the bottom of the 2016 Wölvhammer: photo. Here is the bottom of the Lake MX101: photo.

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Consider the Paper Towel Dispenser

One of my first jobs was working at a coffee shop (photo), and part of this involved filling the paper towel dispenser behind the counter. Wanting to be as efficient as possible and not have to refill it frequently I’d do my best to stuff it full. This would result in the first few towels being very difficult to pull out, sometimes tearing off and being a frustration for the person washing their hands. But hey, that’s the price of being sure it’s nice and full and efficient, right?

I’ve been encountering similar overstuffed paper towel dispensers at work, and now that I’ve got a bit more experience I’m seeing how this is a very clear illustration of the administrator/engineer vs. user struggle. On one hand you have the maintenance person (administrator/engineer) filling the paper towel dispenser, doing what they feel is best: making the system low maintenance even if there’s a couple irritations for the end user. On the other hand you have the end user who just wants to quickly dry their hands on a paper towel, frustrated that the dispenser is doesn’t work well.

It’s very easy for those of us who run IT systems to be in a bubble, focusing solely on what we feel is important, not seeing things the way they are actually used. We should all remember to stop, wash our hands, and decide if a torn sheet of paper towel is really what the user was going for.

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Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) TPP350 as Fat Bike Tubeless Tape on DT Swiss BR 2250 Wheels

Thanks to a fortuitous meeting with a fellow cyclist and tape engineer a few weeks back I ended up with a quantity of Intertape Polymer Group‘s TPP350 (PDF Techncial Data Sheetphoto) tape in 96mm width (photo) for testing. This polypropylene strapping tape, with rubber adhesive, is exactly the product I’ve been trying to find for use in fat bike tubeless setups. I have very high hopes for this tape, as a narrower and similar tape — IPG competitor Scotch’s Strapping Tape 8898 —  has worked fairly well on my Mukluk for the past year. While similar, the narrower 8898 has been a problem for some setups because the width necessitates multiple passes which is hard to seal. For reliable tubeless setups I prefer that the air-holding part of the wheel have as few seams and gaps as possible, and using tape that’s too narrow requires overlapping passes which results in wrinkles and small gaps. These ends of the wrinkles and gaps will get filled with tubeless tire sealant (eg: Stan’s or Orange Seal), but with the side effect of exposing the adhesive to sealant. This in turn weakens the adhesive, resulting in larger gaps which eventually the sealant can’t plug. Thus a leak and a flat tire.

Fat bike rims effectively come in two styles: those with weight-reducing holes cut in them (eg: DT Swiss BR 710, Surly Holy Rolling Darryl, SUNringlé Mulefüt 80SL) and those without (eg: HED Big Deal, Nextie). Hole-less rims are relatively easy to set up tubeless, as only a thin strip of sealing tape is needed to cover the spoke holes inside the rim., but for a hole-y rim an air-tight seal needs to be built up between the tire beads. There are a few ways to accomplish this (eg: split tube, Fatty Stripper, oversized vinyl rim strip), but I prefer a simple, reliable solution that’ll both hold up to repeated tire swaps and allow the locking bead prefer something that’s as simple as possible: a rim strip and full-width tape.

In this case I’m using the stock DT Swiss TRSXXXXS68559S rim strip and 96mm wide TPP350; a very promising configuration. (The DT rim strips are 61g/ea and One wrap of TPP350 on 26″ rims is approximately 20g. Actual tape mass ended up lower, as the tape was trimmed back to the bead seat.)

One of the biggest benefits, but also the biggest downside to this setup, is the width of the tape. Ideally there would be tape that fits exactly within the rim, bead to bead while conforming to the inner shape of the rim, but except for a few cases there isn’t. While a few manufacturers make this available (eg: SUNringlé with a 78mm tape for their 80mm rims) most rims are currently without a solution. Thus, an oversized tape like 96mm TPP350 that can be trimmed to fit is a very good choice. A combination of the lack of stretchyness of the tape and width resulted in wrinkles along the inner rim surface, but as the ends of these wrinkles are outside of the formed air chamber sealant will not be able to leak in and thus are not a concern.

Here are the high-level steps that I used to set up the DT Swiss BR 2250 wheels (based on the BR 710 rim) and Bontrager Barbegazi tires on my Salsa Blackborow. Even without sealant this configuration held air, a testament to the combination of rim, tire, tape, and valve stem. I intend to use this same process and configuration for other test setups, including Specialized Ground Control Fat tires on Stout XC 90 wheels:

  1. Fit rim strip.
  2. Apply tape around entire rim, smoothly along top edge of rim wall, overlapping by a few inches at the valve stem hole.
  3. Press tape down into center of rim. Do not attempt to smooth the tape by wiping along the rim as this will promote large wrinkles.
  4. Fit tire and tube, inflating until bead is seated. This will press the tape into the bead seat with excess tape overhanging the rim.
  5. Deflate tube, but before full deflation is reached, dislodge one bead to allow air in. (If this is not done, the collapsing tube and air-tight nature of the wheel assembly will pull the rim strip and tape away from the rim).
  6. Remove tire and tube.
  7. Using a sharp blade, trim the tape at the junction of the bead seat and sidewall. Be sure that tape remains in the bead seat.
  8. Press tape into place along bead seat to ensure it’s smoothly in place.
  9. Reinstall tire and tube, inflating until bead is seated.
  10. Deflate tube, again dislodging one side before deflation is complete.
  11. Remove tube.
  12. Install tubeless valve assembly.
  13. Re-seat loose tire bead and inflate until bead is seated.
  14. Add sealant (3oz) via valve stem and reinflate tire. Shake wheel to distribute sealant.

Due to the thin rim wall the cone-shaped gasket on the NoTubes Valves cannot be sufficiently tightened with just the provided locknut. This can lead to leaking, an issue which I experienced on my Mukluk with SUNringlé Mulefüt 80SL rims. This is easily fixed by adding a rubber washer inside the rim beneath the cone-shaped valve (photo) and a nylon spacer to the outside beneath the lock nut (photo). Specifically, I used a 1/4″ interior diameter rubber and nylon washers purchased from Lowe’s small parts bin, although any similar parts will work. Another style of tubeless valve, such as those from American Classic will not need the rubber washer inside the rim.

After a few hours of semi-hard riding at Potawatomi (fast, flowing, and occasionally rough Southeast Michigan trails) I’m confident in this setup and cannot think of a better existing product for making different kinds of fat bike wheels tubeless. It allowed for the usual tubeless benefits (reduced weight, increased tire compliance) on a solid, air-tight setup. I expect it to continue reliably as a solid tubeless setup throughout the winter; a time when I definitely don’t want to be stuck with a flat. I really hope it becomes widely available, as there are many fat bike riders who’d love access to tape like this.

Here are my pro/con thoughts on using IPG TPP350 tape for fat bike tubeless setups:

Pros:

  • Tape made by a commercial manufacturer. (Although not yet available for order at this width in small quantities…)
  • Wide width should accommodate most rim sizes with a single pass, meaning minimal inner seams and lower weight. Wrinkles are a non-issue.
  • Tape film and adhesive types (polypropylene film and rubber-based adhesive) are well-tested within tubeless bicycle applications.
  • Adhesive firmly holds tape to both rim and rim strip, yet is removable.

Cons:

  • Wide tape width is challenging to handle.
  • Tape width and elasticity prevents wrinkle-free application around rim. (Additional material adds weight, may be unattractive if wrinkles are visible through rim strip.)
  • Trimming excess tape is inconvenient and potentially error-prone.
  • Rim strip required to prevent tape from stretching through cutouts. (Adds weight.)

The result is that I’m quite happy with TPP350 and would recommend it to others for fat bike tubeless use. I’ll soon be trying this out on some other rims.

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For Sale: Salsa Mukluk 2

UPDATE: Bike is now sold.

Now that my new fat bike, based around a Salsa Blackborow frame and fork, has been built it’s time to sell my Salsa Mukluk. This bike has served me very well and I’ve got some great memories with it… From deep, dark snowy exploring, leaf-covered autumn Michigan trails, countless new-to-me trail exploring, and fun times at races. It’s only for sale because it’s being replaced with something newer. Used, but with plenty of life left.

The frame is from a 2012 Salsa Mukluk 2, but most parts of this bike have been changed out from original spec; tweaked and chosen specifically for performance and all-weather durability. With the On-One Fatty carbon fiber fork and tubeless wheels this bike weights in at a trim 28.5 pounds; quite light for such solid fat bike. The SRAM X9 1×10 drivetrain was specifically chosen for reliability and to allow for maximum rear tire clearance. The deep, beautiful, anodized finish on the aluminum frame helps keep weight down while avoiding scratching. Full length housings on brake and shift cables keep things running smoothly in even the worst conditions. The tubeless setup has been working great, and coupled with 120 TPI tires makes for a soft, supple, grippy ride with decreased rolling resistance.

This bike is used and shows some minor signs of wear, but there are no notable scratches or marks outside of a small chainsuck mark that’s been colored in and protected with UHMW polyethylene tape. I have ridden it all over Michigan; from Marquette to sandy beaches, Island Lake to Highland, Stony Creek to Bruno’s Run. It’s perfectly suited for almost everything our state has to offer.

This bike is pictured with the On-One Carbon Fatty fork and also comes with the original steel Salsa Enabler. The Enabler fork features triple-boss mounts for stuff-carrying, is very well suited for bikepacking/touring purposes, and can be swapped on in a few minuets.

The bike includes three spare Wheels Manufacturing replacement derailleur hangers (DROPOUT-25), a ~$60 value. I have a 90mm Salsa stem that can be fit in place of the 100mm currently on the bike to help with fit, if needed. The bike is pictured with red-accented Crank Brothers Eggbeater 3 pedals which are not included, but a price for these can be negotiated.

Asking price is US$1400. Sold!

Please email steve@nuxx.net if interested.

Specifics:

Frame: 2012 Salsa Mukluk 2 (Medium / geometry)
Fork: On-One Carbon Fatty (also includes original Salsa Enabler)
Headset: Cane Creek 40
Seatpost: Thomson 27.2mm x 410mm
Seatpost Clamp: Salsa Lip-Lock
Saddle: Specialized Phenom (143mm, Red Accents)
Stem: Cannondale C4 100mm
Bars: Salsa Bend 2 (23 degree)
Grips: Ergon GP1-L
Brakes: Avid BB7 / Avid Speed Dial 7
Crank: Race Face Turbine (Fat Bike version, 175mm arms)
Drivetrain: SRAM X9 1×10 w/ Type 2.1 Clutch Derailleur, X9 Shifter, 30t Race Face Narrow-Wide Ring, 11-36 Shimano XT Cassette
Wheels: SunRingle Mülefüt 80 SL, Hope Fatsno Hubs, DT Swiss super comp Spokes, Salsa Skewers (Wheels built by Mike Curiak / lacemine29.com.)
Tires: 45NRTH Hüsker Dü (120 TPI, Tubeless)

Weight as Pictured: 28.58 pounds

Photos:

 

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New Fat Bike: 2016 Salsa Blackborow

Four years ago my fried Erick dropped off a very large box at my house. My first fat bike, a brand new Salsa Mukluk 2, had arrived. This was one of the first large-scale production fatbikes, and one of the first to be light weight out of the box, and I’ve had some very good times with it in all seasons. This year, with huge thanks to QBP, Tree Fort Bikes, Jeff Buerman, and Mike Wirth, I’ve acquired and built a custom 2016 Salsa Blackborow; my next fat bike. This is an aluminum framed, carbon fiber forked fatbike, using Salsa’s great geometry, ready to accept 5″ class tires.

I had originally planned to set this bike up tubeless, but after some issues with the original tubeless setup I build it up with Superlight tubes. I hope to replace this with a tubeless setup sometime in the near future, but I’m still evaluating potential rim sealing options. These may be the FattyStripper latex rim strips or possibly some wide tensilized polypropylene strapping tape (similar to Stan’s Rim Tape).

With tubes the complete bike, including bottle cages, bell, rear light, and Garmin Edge 510, is 29.46 pounds. With the tubes coming in at ~240g/ea I expect to save just under a pound by switching to tubeless. I’m quite happy with this weight, which is quite decent for a burly bike with 4.7″ tires.

My first shakedown ride on the Blackborow at River Bends (my usual bike shakedown location) went really well. There were the usual stops to adjust the grips and brakes, but otherwise I was very happy with the ride. The GX 1×11 drivetrain worked wonderfully, the high engagement rear hub felt spot-on, and I’m convinced that Salsa has gotten the geometry perfect. The only downside was the heavier-feeling wheels, but the forthcoming tubeless conversion should alleviate much of this.

I can’t wait to ride it more.

More photos of the bike can be found here: 2016 Salsa Blackborow

Here’s the details initial build for this bike:

Frame / Fork: 2016 Salsa Blackborow Frame (Medium) / Bearpaw Carbon/Aluminum Fork
Wheelset: DT Swiss BR 2250 Classic
Freehub Ratchets: Bontrager HUB51312614R (54-point for DT Swiss)
Summer Tires: Bontrager Barbegazi (26″ x 4.7″)
Winter Tires: 45NRTH Flowbeist / Dunderbeist
Rim Strip: DT Swiss TRSXXXXS68559S (68×559)
Tubes: Q-Tubes Superlight 26″ x 2.4-2.75″
Brakes: TRP Spyke (180mm front, 160mm rear)
Front Brake Spacer: Shimano SM-MA90-F180P/P2
Brake Levers: Avid FR-5 (Black)
Brake Lever Insulation: 18mm 3:1 Heat Shrink (Generic)
Handlebar: Salsa Bend 2 (23 Degree)
Grips: Ergon GP1 (Large)
Headset: Cane Creek 40 Tapered ZS44|ZS56/40
Stem: Thomson X4 (SM-E133 BLACK, 0x100)
Spacers: Aluminum (Generic)
Stem Cap: Niner YAWYD
Seatpost: Thomson Elite (SP-E116 BLACK, 31.6 x 410)
Seatpost Clamp: Salsa Lip Lock
Saddle: Specialized Phenom Expert (143mm)
Crankset: Race Face Turbine Cinch (175mm x 190mm), ICT Spacer Kit, Alloy Crank Boots
Bottom Bracket: Race Face BB92 (124mm x 41mm)
Pedals: Crank Brothers Eggbeater 3 (Black/Green)
Chainring: Race Face Direct Mount Narrow-Wide (30t)
Cassette: SRAM XG-1150 FULL PIN Cassette
Derailleur: SRAM GX 1×11 X-HORIZON Rear Derailleur
Shifter: SRAM GX 11-speed X-ACTUATION Trigger Shifter
Chain: SRAM PC-X1
Cables/Housing: Jagwire
Chainslap Protection: Scotch 2228 Rubber Mastic Tape
Bottle Cages: King Cage Stainless Steel Cage
Rear Light: Planet Bike Superflash Stealth
Bell: Mirrycle Original Incredibell
Sensors: Garmin Bike Speed Sensor (Hub Mount)

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