Opinionhaver

Did a full drivetrain upgrade on my e‑fatbike, since the original 10‑speed 11–36 cassette was completely inadequate for a bike this heavy that’s meant for off‑road use. Swapped it out for an 11‑speed 11–51 cassette, along with a new derailleur, chain, shifter, cable, and housing.

At this point, brakes remain the only component I haven’t installed myself - though that’ll probably change soon, because these SRAM Level brakes are total trash.

The gear range on this 10-speed 11–36T cassette is completely insufficient for a heavy e-fatbike like this, so I’m upgrading to an 11-speed 11–51T.

Also, I was surprised to find out that the Shimano Deore RD-M5100 derailleur, while it does have a clutch, doesn’t have a cage lock.

The boring-looking one is the “new” one - even though it’s actually two years older than the “old” one.

I snapped the frame on my previous bike, so I bought another almost identical one - as one does when they don’t learn from their mistakes.

My old one has a 12x1 drivetrain, while the new one has a 10x1, and the gearing ratio is awful. It’s way too stiff to pedal uphill, even in the lowest gear. I’ll start by swapping the front chainring for a smaller one, but I might end up converting it to an 11x1 or 12x1 setup later on.

Other than that, there’s just a ton of duct taping to do.

Can be one that already exists or a completely custom one.

I'll fight anyone who claims otherwise.

Everyone likes to believe they’re thinking independently. That they’ve arrived at their beliefs through logic, self-honesty, and some kind of epistemic discipline. But here’s the problem - that belief itself is suspiciously comforting. So how can you tell it’s true?

What if your worldview just happens to align neatly with your temperament, your social environment, or whatever gives you emotional relief? What if your reasoning is just post-hoc justification for instincts you already wanted to follow? That’s what scares me - not being wrong, but being convinced I’m right for reasons that are more about mood than method.

It reminds me of how people think they’d intervene in a violent situation - noble in theory, but until it happens, it's all just talk. So I’m asking: what’s your actual evidence that you think the way you think you do? Not in terms of the content of your beliefs, but the process behind them. What makes you confident you’re reasoning - not just rationalizing?

Made by YouTuber Cyber Hooligan

If you have investments, let’s treat those as liquid cash for the sake of argument. Otherwise, the assumption is that you’re not selling property or possessions, but continuing to live as you do now.

I tried to hollow it out as much as possible to cut down on weight, while still making sure it’s overbuilt enough to support the corner of a 2000 kg pickup truck. I’m planning to use 98 × 48 mm lumber.

Open to suggestions on how to improve it. My only concern is the stop block - it’s not any higher than the previous steps. I could make the tire sit deeper in that “well,” but that would reduce the overall height.

Zinc primer, acrylic base coat, and 2K clear coat.

What I learned:

• Don’t cheap out on the paint and clear coat. The difference in quality between box-store products and real automotive ones can’t be overstated. They’re as much of higher quality than they're more expesive.

• Buy more product than you think you’ll need. Just do it.

• Surface prep, surface prep, surface prep. Paint and clear coat don’t hide imperfections at all. If you can feel it with your fingers, you’ll see it through the paint.

• Avoid “smart 2K” products where you don’t need to mix in the hardener. I’ve tried them twice and both times got terrible results. It’s not that they don’t work, but they’re really finicky if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.

• Close the doors so bugs don’t fly in, and wet the floor/ground to keep dust from getting airborne.

• Cover the entire vehicle before painting. Overspray dust goes everywhere and settles on every unprotected surface - ask me how I know.

• Keep an eye on the spray nozzle and wipe it down occasionally. If it starts gunking up, it’ll spit droplets and ruin your finish.

I don't get why anyone would want to listen to this kind on noise.

The "dead internet" theory gets thrown around a lot these days especially by people critical of AI. The worry is that large language models and bots will flood the web with so much synthetic content that real human interaction will disappear - that everything will become artificial, empty, and repetitive.

But I’d argue we’re already well into that phase - and it didn’t take AI to get us here.

Originality is rare. Most content is recycled, reposted, reformatted like an endless stream of re-runs. Even the way people respond has become increibly predictable. You can write something mildly controversial or just unfamiliar, and you already know what you’re going to get: knee-jerk downvotes, the same tired comebacks, some vague accusation about your motives or identity - not a genuine engagement with the point. People don’t seem to read anymore so much as scan for whether you’re “one of them” or not.

And that’s the thing. Most users aren’t engaging with ideas - they’re running scripts. They’ve absorbed certain patterns from years online and now just execute them reflexively: a snarky quote from a meme here, a one-liner they saw get upvotes last week there. It’s social media call-and-response. And it’s killing the internet way more effectively than any AI could.

And yes, I already know how some people will respond to this - with some version of “I’ve never had those issues, maybe you’re the problem.” But never facing pushback isn’t a flex when you’ve been conditioned to avoid it. It’s like priding yourself on never failing when in reality you’ve never even taken a risk. Of course it feels like everything is fine if you’ve learned how to blend in. You’ve trained yourself not to touch the wire. That doesn’t disprove the problem. It is the problem.