u/78Staff

So, finally taking the plunge and updating my CP to GRX Di2 12sp...

Since I'll be replacing the crankset, was thinking might be good time to replace the Praxis T47 inboard thread in bottom bracket. Not looking to move into Ceramic Speed territory or anything, but was looking at Wheels Mfg, Wolfs Tooth, and Chris King as a few options. OR, alternatively just replacing the praxis Enduro ABEC-3's with some ABEC-5 Angular bearings (which, I already have, as I bought them in the past planning to upgrade at some point anyway).

TBH, I don't know that there's anything really wrong with the Praxis T47 setup - I don't have any noise from it, however it does not hardly free-spin at all when I set the Shimano crank pre-tension per the manual. By comparison, I did upgrade my Domane bearings to the ABEC-5 Angular's, and did pick up more free-spin (Ultregra Di2 group) over the stock (Trek - assuming Enduro) bearings. However it is a press in, so not an apples to apples comparison.

Or, maybe just chasing at shadows? I doubt the Praxis is slowing me down or anything lol... maybe I am being lulled into a "more freespin is better" trap unnecessarily :).

Watching seasons 29/30, this is where TYB seems to have been born - S29 (Invasion) being Hunter and Nelson's first full season, and Cory's 3rd. But Cory and Nelson were essentially in opposing alliances for most of the season, and although they teamed up late in the season, Nelson betrayed Cory in the last elim before the finals (although both made the final), and while they seemed to bury it, the beef continued at the Reunion. Hunter I don't think had any issues during the season, but apparently had beef with Nelson for hooking up with Ashley after Hunter was eliminated.

Yet, on S30 (Dirty 30), they arrive like peas in a pod, all "3 musketeers" like in the soon to be called 'Team Young Buck'. The best of buddies. Makes you wonder what happened between the reunion and S3 they they all of a sudden became besties...

Kinda of like Tori and Aneesa. There was some serious beef between them after Tori's initial season, but they showed up next season as besties somehow. (I've mentioned this is the past, and was told apparently they were both on a Champs vs Stars season together after Tori's initial season (Tori not a champ but a fill in for either Ashley or Camilla - can't recall), and bonded on that season.

Anyway, just seems odd the 3 of them were able to bury the hatchet after S29 so quickly/easily. Unless a lot of it was manufactured drama, which I suppose is possible.

It's interesting to think - Cory in his initial season or two was more aligned with Bananas' and crew, and directly opposite Nelson for most of S29. Not sure what happened that shifted him to opposing JB vs working with him. Have to wonder how is Challenge Career could have been different if he would have stayed in the Bananas camp...

In prep for the new season coming up on PP, I re-upped my sub and thus have been rewatching a bunch of old seasons... Long time watcher, going back to the single digit seasons, tbh. (Although, I can't recall if I've ever seen seasons 1-4. But from 5 on - I've watched them all over the years, most multiple times.

Anyway, in my current "re-watch" phase, got to thinking - what's the worst season. There is obviously different criteria, ie format, players, outcome, etc. I know a lot of folks disliked S16/The Island, and plenty seem to dislike the USA/CBS shows, etc. But for me, I think it has to be S23/Battle of the Seasons. This is actually as season right in the "sweet spot" of the Challenge seasons for me, ie mid-teens to 30 or so... so actually is somewhat surprising to me how much I dislike this season.

Partially the format - having the same 4 elims for the whole show got old. The "locked in" teams and odd alliances just seemed out of character of the show... But mainly, this season has so many players that I just don't care for... Frank mostly, but also Big Ego/Big Excuse, DerekC, and Danny to a lesser extent. On the ladies side - Jonny, Sarah, Nany, Camilla, Jemmey - not a fan of any of them. Actually was a Camilla fan early on/at the time, but her later behavior... ugh.

Ruling out the single digit seasons (and the "All Stars"), which imo are really a different show, format and content wise) - single digits seasons really more of a summer camp type show, imo. All Stars, don't even get me started. Not bad shows, but player choices are suspect - but that's a whole 'nother discussion that has been hashed out plenty already lol. The TJ era really started the current model of show imo. maybe S10/Inferno II, or TJ's debut on S11/Gauntlet II really set the mold for the show moving forward, I think.

Although I'm probably most disappointed with S40/Eras. Not that it was a bad season, but they could have done so much more with it - imo it didn't live up to the hype.

I still need to rewatch the USA's... I don't recall hating them, but don't recall them being my favorites, either. But def S23 is my least fav.

yeah yeah, another rewatch thread lol... But 33-35 are so rare to find these days, figured I'd post one up...

As mentioned in another thread, I have mostly watched mosts season multiple times, other than the embargoed s33-s35. I don't think I've seen these since their original airings, or soon after, tbh. And boy how much I had forgotten lol...

First of, and I should probably put this in a separate post since I'm sure it will bring the dv train - is how close we were to never seeing Josh again... Coming in dead last on the initial challenge and essentially had his plane ticket home, until Alan's broken arm let him back in. I suspect if that early exit stuck it's likely we would have not seen Josh again, which to me would have been preferable. I know Josh has his fans, but imo he's probably one of the worst multiple season contestants of all time. He's a male version of the Aneesa/Nany mold - terrible gameplay, suspect loyalty, lack of skill/physical prowness, and never a threat to win. Skates by on relationships, which is surprising since he flip/flops so much. His attempts to hook up with Amanda on this season (and others on later seasons) were embarrassingly hilarious. And calling down Ash/Cam, what a bonehead. Anyway, downvote away, Josh-Nation :).

Speaking of Amanda... man I always wanted to pull for her... but she always seems to be on the other side of most folks I am fans of. And she's a bit of a whackjob, tbh, but in a fun way... sometimes lol. But seems to be happy now with her son now so happy for her.

Elephant in the room - Bear & Dee. Yeah Bear's a dirtbag, but he's entertaining TV, and built for this type of show you have to give him that. Why Georgia wanted to be with him at all based on this show is mind boggling, tbh. Dee's issues hadn't occurred yet (and, tbh I think Dee got shafted a bit by MTV - a victim of "the message" - more dv's), and she was obviously a formidable player - more so paired up with a tactical player like Wes.

Some shocking early exits - as fans of JB and CT (jeez, more dv's) I wasn't thrilled, but it did make for a different kind of show with those two titans out so early. And Zack, who despite being a physical specimen, always seems to get in his own way in some way or another... Although this time it was mostly due to Cara/Paulie.

Speaking of (and I really don't want to), but what a sh$tshow that whole relationship was. Her (and thus Paulie's) vitriol towards Kyle really seemed over the top. I get that he treated her bad, but at the same time there seems to be some inconsistency in Cara's version of their actual dating status. Have read a lot of it was "for TV" as off show Kyle and Paulie didn't seem to dislike each other as much as on the shows. I was a Cara fan early on, was a "pull for the underdog" kind of thing... but her "Paulie years" really turned me off of her. Funniest quote from Jenna re Cara picking on her and Zack's relationship "talk to me in 5 years let's see how your realtionship is..." or something along those lines. Kinda prophetic lol.

I might be wrong, but this seems to be the start of the era of the "big alliances", ie the UK alliance, vacation alliance, etc... definitely takes the show in a different direction, and works well (for the audience) for pair teams with multiple alliance connections.

I felt bad for Leroy - never really been a Kam fan. They obviously worked everything out in the end though. Really wish Leroy would have pulled of a win in his Challenge career. Seems like a genuinely nice guy.

Hunter... what a head case. I don't think he ever really understood the game. Hasn't been around the past few seasons, I guess he's done.

Turbo, another physical specimen... would probably win plenty if he could adjust to the game social-wise. I wonder if he ever threw that party for the EMTs like he promised when they helped him after the Hurricane Fan challenge...

Davonne didn't seem as annoying as she did on other seasons, not sure what changed I just can't recall. Or maybe I just felt bad for her being stuck with Bear for most of the season lol. Kinda wish she was on more seasons.

The Cara v Kyle got old pretty fast, and seemed to be the main storyline this season. And that taped in the chair elimination with Georgia and Nany was was weird... over so fast, suspiciously fast really - and probably left some torn skin as well. Pretty underwhelming really, probably why we haven't seen it again. And Ninja's meltdown on Turbo was hilariously pathetic. The Kyle/Theo Hall Brawl was a good one... I think Kyle would have likely beaten Paulie, at least based on Paulie's HB performances in later seasons lol.

TBH, I kinda lost interest in the later episodes, and wound up FF'ding through them quite a bit - so I probably missed some stuff. I skimmed through the final, but caught enough to recall how hard that final was... hardest to date I think. Funniest takeaway, Cara getting all hysterical re the iv needles... but has no problem with needles and ink lol...

Seems the general online reviews consensus on the Go Ultra vs the AP2 is the AP2 clearly wins out in the video image quality at a given resolution. Not that the Go was necessarily bad, but just not as good as the AP2.

The smaller form factor of the Ultra appeals to me, primary use would be the pendant setup for cycling, or as a companion to my x5 to quickly be able to some vlog style footage, etc. Have there been any improvements via firmware updates, etc that have improved the Go Ultra image quality since it's initial release, or does the AP2 still have better image quality?

More concerned about motion, than I am about things like night shooting or photos, etc...

https://preview.redd.it/jhnl3dp9vn7h1.jpg?width=1531&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9bf1241f04237e786c7225e404156dacc5c13438

https://preview.redd.it/y8p4ja9avn7h1.jpg?width=1591&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8476abcf56b96a5eca11793f47554f831756c91d

Saw the other State Park post and it reminded me I finally took some bike pics of the CP in action lol... quick ride up Amelia and around Talbot Island State park... was supposed to be 30+ miles, but I rode a tailwind all the way up basically, and due to weather coming in sooner than expected and realizing I would face a strong headwind all the way back I cut it a bit short...

Also was trying out the x5 rear seat mount, and it had been raining the past few days so figured the roads would be messy, so threw the Quick Rack on for the fender mainly, but also was convenient to move the saddle bag to it as well since the x5 mount takes up so much space under the seat. Jury's still out on the rear setup, that pole moves around a lot. The connection to the seatpost is a sh$tshow really, going to look at trying some different mounting setups back there.

Still rocking the Wheetop TX groupset, but still thinking about that GRX Di2 upgrade. The Wheeltop is... serviceable, but rough around the edges, so to speak.

Here's a Relive, been playing around with this as well. Would likely be more interesting/useful on longer rides... Not sure if the free version is a shareable one, though...

Talbot Island State Park Relive

Pls let me know if the Relive works... I mean it works for me, but not sure if works for anyone else with the free version...

Might fall under the beating a dead horse dept, but will we ever see Seasons 33-35 again? Seems no streaming or common viewing outlet ie YTTV, Paramount, etc have them available... Have heard all the possible reasons, from the "Bear years", to streaming/broadcasting rights, etc...

TBH have grown tired of watching all the other seasons, as I've seen them multiple times... but would like to watch those 3 again - as best I can recall, I've only watched them when originally aired. TBH, while not a popular opinion, I wouldn't mind seeing the CBS seasons again as well.

Was looking to try the Stem Cap mount, as I am trying not to use the Bike Mount on my road bike (works fine on my Gravel setup, but it doesn't quite fit my road bike setup). Plus it seems most prefer having the camera a bit further out than the standard bike mount places it.

So, it says the Action Invisible Selfie stick is required...

https://preview.redd.it/g11v7xjpwa7h1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=e6cc97fcb52e6401ea304c54d91d3c6f08e73f05

I'm like ok seems legit as since it's carbon, I expected it to be lighter, shorter, etc based on the description. So it arrives, and it's actually 1oz heavier than the $25 common aluminum one. And, while it's shorter in extended length, it's actually longer in collapsed length, which causes issues when I want to put it away in a bike bag.

I guess I thought the requirement for the carbon one was for the shorter length, lighter weight, etc due to the camera sticking out on a pole, but none of that appears to be the case. Esp since the rear mount uses the aluminum one anyway.

So what is the point of the Carbon one? Twice the price, getting bashed in reviews b/c it apparently breaks very easily, heavier, etc... what gives?

Anyone converted a Gen 2 ALR to Di2, out of curiosity? No mention of Di2 compatibility in the docs. There is this outlet on the seat tube - anyone know it's actual purpose? Fender screw maybe?

Rear chainstay has opening for cable housing, which could be used along with some zip ties I suppose. There is the fender eyelet when a Di2 grommet hole usually resides, but of course it's not large enough. Battery/seat tube install should be no issue, but I am concerned about wire clearance at the BB. IIRC last time I had the BB out it was pretty tight in there lol...

I suppose there is always GRX Di2 12sp 1x, which is wireless, as an option. Assuming switching from current oem GRX 800 group to wireless would be no issues, same chainline, etc.

Just in the what if I could...stage of thinking about it :). Have Ultegra 12sp Di2 on the Domane and find when I switch to the CP I really miss it haha.

Not actually the bike, but a similar one showing that screw.

https://preview.redd.it/qyz4cgx3996h1.png?width=629&format=png&auto=webp&s=445da6b6b4d9650cc5f29f43287e72cd8fca4606

So, I see there's X5's looping mode, as well as road mode. It seems neither work exactly like I was expecting

I'm trying replicate, or get as close as possible to GoPro's looping mode. with GoPro, you set a duration (say 20 min), and it will record in 5 minutes chunks, and when it completes the last 5 minute chunk, it will start overwriting the 1st, and so on. When you want to save something, you just stop recording, then start recording, and GoPro starts with a fresh set of recoreded videos. So, if you start it and do nothing else all day, you'll wind up with 4 (actually 5 due to how it handles overwriting the older files) video files, and they will encompass the last 20 (25) minutes of your recording. But, if you stop and restart recording, it saves the 1st set, and starts a new group of video files.

With X5 looping mode, I tested this, but it basically just keep writing an infinite number of videos of the length I specified, which is not what I expected at all. I tested with 1 minute length, and it just kept creating 1 min video files until I stopped recording.

So I tried Road mode, which appears to work somewhat more like GoPro's looping mode, although it does not separate the file into smaller chunks. And I'm not sure what happens when I stop recording and then start recording again. Does it overwrite the existing file, or start a new one?

Use case is fishing - I just have the camera wired and running all day... when something exciting happens, ie a fish catch, afterwards with the GoPro I just stop recording/start recording, and I get a fresh set of videos, and the catch is saved on the previous set. Can do this all day every time I catch a fish, or decided i want something saved, etc...

Can either of the X5 modes work in this way?

Edit - did some more testing... Road mode overwrites the existing file, which would be fine for dashcam, but not for my use case.

Tested looping mode again - i think it's possible I didn't have it set up correctly the first time, as this time it did appear to overwrite as it recorded, and when I stop/start it does start a new file. It just doesn't appear to break apart the files into more manageable chunks I guess, so if you select 20 min like my gp example, you will have one 20 min long video.

But I can live with that, maybe drop the time down to 10min. Will be on the water weather permitting tomorrow so with test with it some more...

So, after experimenting with Wheeltop, I decided to go ahead and make the move to Di2. It looks like when my gen Domane was released the idea was to install the battery in the downtube, under the "Control Center" cover. There appears to be a battery holder, which of course I don't have, but appears I can order it from Trek.

But today the common install seems to be putting the battery in the seat tube - I see there are a few rubber/silicone adapters that allow you to stuff the battery down into the Trek seat tube, which allows you to then drop on seat mast like normal... Trek actually has one - the "MKIV", Shimano makes one, etc...

Not sure if one way is better than the other? Since most bikes seem to go with seatpost mounting location as of late, is that now the preferred location? Heck they are so cheap maybe I just pick up both so I have either option...

Downtube version

Domane MKIV version

And this generic one I saw being installed on BCR channel...

https://preview.redd.it/omjfk7u6ye0h1.png?width=914&format=png&auto=webp&s=38c774eb98ffde264c2406119377c9db719a92d8

Trying the x5 again - previously I bought a 5070 (to replace a 6800XT) and while the 5070 did work with instastudio, it did suffer occasional "black screens" when working with "8K" 360 files, so I wound up returning it when I bailed on my original x5.

What nvidia card are folks using that do not have any issues. Not interested in Insta360 support's answer of "1060", I am asking for real world nvidia users and what cards they are having success with.

TBH I am not looking to spend $1500 on a xx80 or xx90, so realistically looking at another 5070 or maybe a 5070TI. The $1500 cards are just not in the budget. Of course prices have jumped in the past month or two as well :(.

I suppose a backup option is an Mac Mini M4, but having been firmly entrenched into the PC/Android ecosystem my whole life, I'm not keen on pickup up a mac "just" to edit x5 files, tbh.

Other specs - 5950X CPU with 64GB Ram, with multiple Samsung NVMe drives plus Samsung 870 EVO 4Tb's

Thanks all...