u/ando_da_pando

I have a dual-boot of Windows 11 and Bazzite (currently 44.20260802). I've been running this way for the past few weeks. I'm currently playing Star Wars Outlaws, nothing else on Bazzite yet. But in all the years prior, owning the 4090 on Windows has not seen a problem with AAA games on the 3840x1600 monitor, mostly high/ultra settings (Hitman, RDR2, Death Stranding, Ghost of Tsushima, etc).

But on Bazzite, Outlaws drags, especially in the open areas on the speeder. I noticed more in Toshara and Akiva (especially on the water). Tried all sorts of settings in the game and out of the game, and though vastly improved since I had the bare Bazzite install running the game (it was unplayable then), it's still just bad.

At this point, I'm thinking I'm pretty commited to Bazzite and will be wiping the entire drive and starting over. Question for the community:

1. Would this likely improve things for me?

2. Better to get the AMD 9070 XT card in the system before attempting (it was the plan regardless, the 4090 is overkill for me and loud, and hot, and a lot of power)?

Long time Windows user (basically from 3.11) mainly because gaming and working in IT where every environment was Windows, so I just went with it.

My father and daughter are both Linux programmers (I didn't follow into programming) and I finally got fed up with Windows in light of the recent revelations. Since I've switched careers recently, I still need to use Windows, but I don't do any support so I don't need to know the intricacies of it anymore.

So now I'm on Bazzite at home and honestly, other than having to stumble through getting the same things done as I did in Windows, and breaking muscle memory for how I operate, it's been great. I have a RTX 4090 that I'm working on swapping to an AMD 9070 XT. Part to simplify my life, but also support.

Any way, just saying hi to the community and I hope to learn more as I go.

Story time kids! (TL;DR at bottom). This exercise will hopefully help others when deciding too, keep that in mind.

I've had panniers in the past, but usually the smaller ones (I was using the Ortlieb Gravel Packs for years). New job a couple of years ago saddled me with a huge Dell Precision 3570, 15.6" laptop. Which I hate. I do travel for work (about 30%-40% of the time) but getting a smaller 14" or even 13" hasn't happened.

That lead me to start using the Birds of Prey hooks on an Osprey 26+6 backpack that I have for business travel (cause it can carry that brick of a laptop and 2-3 days of travel gear and fit under airplane seats). Those hooks are a neat idea, but with a stuffed back, became "dangerous" as it swayed around on the rack. Yes, I tied it down with a bungee and Voile strap.

I jimmy-rigged a milk crate onto the rack, and that was OK, but the milk crate was plastic and flexed a lot under the weight of a full pack. So went ahead and got on Amazon and got a cheap metal one that works pretty good, if the pack isn't full, otherwise, I have to uncomfortably wedge it in. I could solve it with a larger basket, which I've considered.

But honestly, I need more space really as even extended, with all the gear I take in, laptop, tablet, charger (for the ebike battery), snacks, lunch, water, coffee, etc. Basically, two 20L bags would work also, or a much larger single basket.

So here I am, looking at various panniers. Before I pull the trigger on any pair panniers (looking at Ortlieb or Arkel), talk me into it versus just getting a bigger (maybe nicer) basket.

TL;DR: My basket is too small for my needs, do I get two panniers or just a bigger basket? Talk me into the panniers or for fun, talk me out of them.

I’ve had the Ride1Up Vorsa Lite (Slate, XR) for about two months now. Before I get into the review, let me start with my background. I've been riding, fixing and customizing bicycles since I could walk (so about 50 years). All styles too, BMX, MTB, road, gravel, folding, commute, TT. Everything. Yes, I usually have 7-8 bikes in my garage at any given time. And yes, I’m also a motorcycle rider and have been almost as long as a cyclist.

Ordered and received in three-days (ordered early in the morning, so same-day shipping) from Salt Lake City, UT to California. The bike came mostly ready to go. Surprisingly, the rear derailleur was nearly tuned right, just some slight adjustments. Anyone with mobility and the ability to use tools should be OK to DIY.

At 5’6” with a 30” inseam, it’s just barely OK for my height. The way the top tube bends, it’s right at the point that I can standover with both feet on the ground. Without shoes, not so sure. So keep that in mind, anyone shorter or shorter inseam should consider the ST version. I’m not a ST type, so XR or nothing for me.

The Pros/Cons:

>The paint quality is OK, not the best, not the worst I’ve seen.

>Grips are surprisingly good for stock. I’ll replace them, but that’s just me.

>Pedals, also good for stock, I’ll still replace them, but again, that’s just me.

>The display is bright and easy to navigate, a bit far for my reach, but it's because it's at the further inside point, beyond the throttle and brake lever. Not a big deal, I don’t fiddle with it much as I ride.

>The suspension fork is OK. Nothing great, does its job, most average riders will be OK with it.

>The saddle sucks (to me). It’s thin, too wide and just like any other included saddle with sub $2,000 bikes. This is very subjective, but I’ve ridden a lot of “stock” saddles, this is one of the worst I’ve ridden on.

>The tires are also horrific. These came with the Arisun, 2.2” knobs. Loud, no grip and just don’t feel good. Getting tan walls (I like the look) is tough in the 650b/27.5” size. I did find some in stock Schwalbe Allroads in 2.0” width, from Europe. Those tires are much better, even on gravel. Do yourself a favor, if you get it, swap this and the saddle first. And yes, 2.2” is more “cushy”, but far better tires in 2.0” will go a longer way. I wouldn’t get anything less than 1.90” though. That’s 48mm. And try to find E25 or E50 tires if you can, especially if you carry any cargo.

Now, onto the performance. The motor is strong. Like really, really strong. Uphill, on a very long inclined overpass, throttle only, with me and about 20 lbs of cargo, easily did 20 mph (the max allowed). Pedaling was effortless too. The torque sensor is pretty reactive as is the throttle.

The battery is huge. I was using about 15%-20% of the battery for a 14-mile commute, with some inclines, some throttle, pretty much maxed out on speed (20 mph on throttle, 28 mph on pedal). And yes, this is on the shitty Arisun tires. Once swapped to the Schwalbe tires, the rolling resistance is so much better (as is road noise) and smoother. Speeds didn’t change, but the ride is so much better, with a little less effort.

After a few weeks, unlocked off-road mode. I was getting about 32 mph on the throttle and about the same or slightly faster pedaling when I pushed it (I can only pedal so fast on a 48t/11t gearing). This is great for that one stretch of road that I have to be in the car lane since there is no shoulder, bike lane or sidewalk, I can at least get closer to the speed of the cars that pass way too close.

The good thing about off-road is that you can still control the speed. I’m able to hold the throttle around 20-22 mph, and just pedaling the same or under. So switching between the modes isn’t really necessary, unless you want to. I keep it there, just pedal normally, get around 20 mph. The speed is there if I need it, just pedal hard or push all the way on the throttle. No thinking, or wading through the menu to get it.

Regardless, I’m not condoning or encouraging this. I’m a highly experienced motorcycle rider too, so 30 mph on a two-wheel bike is “easy” for me. It might not be for others (especially kids - parents, stop buying your kids bikes like this or even faster ones on Amazon). I have a specific purpose for the speed, and I honestly don’t like going that fast on this bike. A motorcycle is designed for the speed, bicycles aren’t (at least most aren’t). This bike isn’t all that great at those speeds unless you have experience and knowledge on how to ride that fast. You can hurt yourself, or worse, others. I love speed and I only use it for one part of my commute, just to lessen the chance that I will get run over by cars.

In conclusion, I find that this bike is purely for commuting and cargo for me. I want to get to work without being sweaty, and I have to carry a ton of stuff for work. This gives me all the pluses I need (ability to go mostly throttle in, enjoy an easier ride home after a long day, and can carry a ton of stuff). I can easily carry 20+ lbs without the bike sweating it. The large battery also eliminates any range anxiety too, and the need to bring the charger into the office.

At less than $1500, I can’t find a reason to not buy this bike if you are looking for a commuter/cargo bike. This isn’t a “fitness” bike. It’s too heavy and clunky for that. Get a Velotric Tempo or something else if that is what you are looking for. But this is my main commuter bike now, and for anything more than a quick “get some bananas” from the farmer’s market, cargo run.

I have a Legrand structured media cabinet that I'm going to use for the new network I'm planning, which consists of (which I'm not asking advice for - this is specific to the power delivery):

• Ubitquiti Cloud Gateway Fiber
• Ubitquiti Flex 2.5G PoE 8-port switch
• Xfinity XB-8 (bridged - unfortunately forced to use it for fiber)
• Ubitquiti Instant-NVR (will be added later, but planned)
• U7 Pro XG (running on the 30w PoE of the gateway, getting 2.5Gb for now - will go to 10Gb in the future - so be nice to have headroom for a 60w injector if we do)

I know that even with the hot summer days here, the location should rarely get above 90 degrees ambient, maybe here and there, but not likely. I was thinking that I would need cooling, but again, not super likely. But having a spare outlet or way to power a fan in the future would be nice.

But I'm wondering more on the power delivery and the options. Legrand sells a surge protector that will fit (and I have the the standard NEMA-15 two outlet in the cabinet already). This 6 outlet surge protector is what I'm talking about.

First, anyone have it and how do you like it? Second, any better alternatives for the setup that I'm planning? I'm not too worried about a UPS, we have solar and back ups and my area very rarely has black or brown outs. I figure if the power goes out, that's a sign to get a candle and book any way.

Thanks for any thoughts, updates, opinions on power surge/strip whatever.

So I have like one set of cycling clothes that I use for my commute (as I'm not wearing a full kit for the ride). I'm planning on getting some shorts and a different top, but got me wondering. I have one set and it's all quick dry so I just wash it when I get home if I feel it's past the point of sweaty-ness (which is pretty much everyday).

Do you all have one set of clothes and wash? Or do you have like 4-5 sets of clothes that you use and just wash all at the end of the week? Not work clothes, actual commute clothes you change out of for the office and then for the ride home. So likely the longer commuters, not the urban ones.

Saw they removed some barriers from the protected bike lane by the Autozone/Safeway on Laguna/Franklin. Got the pic from FB, but this clearly shows you that bikes and pedestrians are second class to cars.

https://preview.redd.it/k7ujd75539fh1.png?width=1440&format=png&auto=webp&s=44f7c841777be0072f000a2a6742a52cd61b1f21

Got a Vorsa Lite, love it so far. I'm able to get to the 28 mph limit pretty easily on Sport and above. I've used the throttle here and there. I went as far as my morning commute all on throttle just to see what the battery drain would be (it only used like 30% of the battery for 14 miles).

It's capped at 20 mph on throttle now. I've ridden at 28 mph with pedal assist and 28 mph is plenty fast. I did see the video of that one guy that got up to 35 mph and showed it. But didn't see if that was possible on throttle, he did it pedaling.

I'm asking because I don't necessarily want to go 35 mph, but I can control that with my pedaling. I'm more curious if there is a cut off on the throttle, or does it just keep going faster and faster to that 35 mph? Or does it cut off at 28 mph on throttle only?

That's ideal for me, throttle up to 28 mph only. There is a scary stretch of road that I'd love to throttle through rather than pedal hard to get through on the morning commute.

UPDATE: I got it unlocked, held up the rear tire, in Boost mode, held the throttle down, looks like it capped at 34.1 mph. So there is a cap.

UPDATE #2: Took it for a ride. In Boost, throttle down, flat, smoothly, freshly paved bike lane (there were zero other riders or pedestrians - being a straight stretch about 2 miles long) that doesn't have any cross streets. Maxed out at 30.8 mph. In the highest gear, got pedaling up to about 32.8 mph or so. The guy with the 35 mph video must have been going downhill slightly or had a wind to their back. I'm a long time cyclist, so I have strong legs. I rode with zero wind and pretty much 0 degree, flat road and had plenty time to try to get as fast as possible.

Got a Vorsa Lite, lots to like so far, but the tires are garbage. I generally replace those first, and I have a ton of 700c tires from my various analog bikes, but nothing in 27.5". So need to buy new and was curious to know if anyone has swapped out the tires, and what they did to and impressions.

I'm likely to go Panaracer Gravelking SS in a 1.90" size, though I not really wanting to go lower than 2.0" on these rims. So that's another question if anyone went smaller than 2.0" on the Vorsa.

I used to shave my legs back as a younger person when I was riding roads more frequently all kitted out. Now I don't go fully kitted out, opting more for MTB pants when I ride (which isn't the old hardcore riding) for the more casual rides, commuting and errands. I feel like the hair-down-there is getting me soaked, also down there.

Antiperspirants are generally a no go for me because while would I put aluminum near my permanent exit hole? Powder works for a small bit and then into a nice rich white streak (which is better than brown I suppose). So I'm at a crossroads.

Question, for anyone that was a pretty sweaty person before, decided to shave OR trim all the hair-down-there, what was your experience? I feel with baby butt slappy clean I would just have more sweat rolling down the pants to everywhere instead of isolated to the canyon of the nethers. Trimming (I'm not particularly hairy, just average I would guess - just guess, I have no firsthand knowledge 😄) seems to me that it would do zero to nothing.

Thoughts and experience in the difference you felt between the zones?

OK, here comes the idea train, just for fun. So have the Roadster V2 Gravel, 63t-22t belt drive. It's fine, but I'm ghost pedaling when I hit about 18 mph, but can get to 22 mph if I really pump hard. The easiest way to get to 23-24 mph or higher with less ghost pedaling will be replace the rear to 20t. This will give me a 3.15 ratio over the current 2.86 ratio.

Got me thinking about swapping to a single-speed chain setup. The smallest I've seen for the HG is 12t. The front chainring is easy enough to change to whatever. And yes, I know it's more dirty, maintenance and tensioning will be a constant battle.

But I can drop to a 48t front and 15t rear and have a slightly better 3.20 ratio. The best part, I can always add/subtract either end to change out the ratio way easier than the belt. Single speed cogs are cheap (so I can buy cheap while I find the sweet spot for myself before investing in a solid, higher quality cog) and I already have some BCD 130 chainrings that I can use first.

But I'm still curious. Anyone convert the belt to chain? What ratio are you at? Or if you even just replaced the 22t rear cog with a 20t?

And yes, I know there are some that changed to a geared setup, but I'm not going that way with this, yet.

I'm in San Diego on business and saw on the side of the freeway a sign on a building for Ride1Up. I went in and sure enough it's a small showroom and place to test ride. I didn't have time to test ride.

But did try the Vorsa Lite and Roadster V3. Both are built pretty well, especially for the price.

I have a Roadster V2 Gravel edition. Though it has the same standover height as the V3, it's very much "taller". I'm glad I didn't buy it. I can barely fit on the V2.

The vorsa is really nice. They only had the cream color at the time, but fits me a bit better. Not as heavy as it looks.

I checked out the other models too. The CF Racer is really nice. I'd buy if I wasn't looking for a commute bike. These aren't high end bikes like you'd get from the major brands. They don't have that kind of polish. But look more like "every person" bikes. Like just a bike, nothing crazy or fancy or even expensive looking.

The staff was friendly, no pressure, just happy to have people inside looking.

This was luck or fate because I was going to buy vorsa lite when I got back from this trip, and now I got to test fit before I bought.

So I've ridden for decades with liners, giving the "baboon butt" look. Nice and plush when riding, but I generally like to be "modest" on the commute, so I wear pants (and from my previous post, I will be trying out shorts) that tend to show the liner a bit as I walk around. So not a great look for work or stopping to get groceries or something.

I've actually gone back to just underwear (big mistake on the sweating ass crack) which is actually fine for me too. I've fitted my saddle and geo, so I'm comfortable down there. So I was thinking go with the more "urban" liners. For those that don't know, basically cycling shorts that have less padding, so it doesn't show through your clothes, or as much. Still gives some padding.

Anyone try these out and got some recs? I'm looking at like Zoic and Pearl Izumi versions, but wanted some first hand comparisons from anyone.

Pretty big SW fan and fan of a lot of the SW games. Loved Jedi Outkast and Survivor, big fan of third-person, open-world games in general (HZD, Death Stranding, RDR2, etc.). Now Steam has a sale for Outlaws and I was interested since it's base game is less than $18. So not so much a question about getting it, as I need something new to play.

More about the DLC. The Ultimate Edition is less than $30, but wonder if it's worth the extra $12 for those DLC and the Jabba mission? Or is the base game good enough?

I've been commuting forever it seems, but I've always worn pants. Cycling pants, downhill pants, hiking pants, jeans, etc. Some with and without padded shorts underneath. But I have a big problem (well, a few) with sweat in my lower regions. Think skunk stripe by the time I get about halfway home in the hot afternoons (generally 90-100 degrees).

I'm very self conscious about shorts. First, very hairy legs, yes I did shave when I was a lot younger and more apt to wear the full spandex look on my marathon rides. I'm not that kid no more, so I have decades of sunless legs and werewolf tendencies. Like a ladies dorm shower drain in a white porcelain tub.

Before I force myself to get over my fears of being mocked by passing motorists (because their opinions are my whole reason to exist), does anyone have some comparison (not pants in winter, shorts all summer) between the cooling factor of shorts with padded vs. pants without padded? Is it going to help enough to get over my needs to please people I'll never know or see again as they pass by asking why I blinded them and to the swarms of insects that will enviably get tangled in my leg hair and die?

A cautionary tale for anyone with 10 minutes to kill...

I have an Apple TV 4K in my setup. Nothing fancy or particularly audiophile-grade: a Synology DS920+ running Plex Media Server natively (not in Docker), feeding an Apple TV 4K connected to my television, with audio passed over eARC to a Bose TV Speaker soundbar.

I was having playback problems with some media, but not all of it.

After weeks of scratching my head and coming close to pulling the trigger on a new NAS, I finally realized that the DS920+ should have no trouble serving one or two direct-play 4K streams. I don't do any remote viewing, so everything stays on my local network. Yet certain files were difficult to play, taking forever to start or buffering repeatedly.

Before going through the hassle of replacing the NAS - which also serves as the family's backup device - I decided to do a little more research.

Watching the Plex Dashboard, I noticed something interesting: it wasn't the video being transcoded, it was the audio. That got me thinking. Maybe the Bose TV Speaker was the culprit? It doesn't support a lot of audio codecs.

More digging led me to another discovery: the Apple TV 4K has its own limitations with audio formats, particularly DTS-HD MA and DTS:X. It also doesn't bitstream Dolby TrueHD Atmos. Since many newer Blu-ray rips contain these formats, that started to make a lot of sense.

To test my theory, I took one of the problem movies that had a Dolby Atmos track and would take forever to start, eventually buffering during playback. I extracted the audio, remixed it to AC3 5.1, added it back to the file, and made it the default track. The movie played perfectly. Switching back to the original Atmos track caused playback to struggle again.

At that point, it was pretty clear that audio, not video, was the issue. The DS920+ had no trouble serving the 4K video. It was the audio conversion being triggered by the Apple TV that seemed to be causing the problems.

So I removed the Apple TV from the chain, installed the Plex app directly on my TV's built-in Google TV operating system, and kept using the exact same Bose soundbar. Suddenly, all of the audio transcoding issues disappeared. Everything now plays fine. The interface is a little clunkier than the Apple TV, but it works.

The moral of the story? Don't give up too quickly. Instead of spending $700 on a new NAS, I discovered I could keep my DS920+ and, if I wanted, spend that money on a better soundbar that supports more audio formats.

In the end, I'll probably continue using the Apple TV because I prefer its interface and simply remix the occasional troublesome audio track. I also plan to upgrade the soundbar—likely something like the Sony Bar 7, or another model with broader support for modern audio formats.

We have a new house with a nice pantry in the kitchen. Of course it's built with some cheap particleboard for the shelves and 6 months in we can see them sagging, and we keep the heavy items on the sides and not in the middle.

I want to reinforce the shelves, starting at the floor and up to the first, then the second, so on. So all the centers will be braced on the one below it to the floor. I would like to not use wood. So I was thinking of these or something similar.

Mainly because I want as much of the shelf available as possible. The next thought would be to custom cut a 2x3 and paint it and hope my "measure once, cut twice" mentality works out in my favor.

Anyone with any other ideas? I have thought of the shelf brackets also, so anything other than these two ideas?

I know that the battery is already beefy and the chances they make an extended range battery for the Vorsa is slim. If you have a Vorsa, would you get an extended range battery if offered? I'm just curious and thought I would ask the community their thoughts.

First, I have purchase paralysis, meaning that I way overthink and research to death everything that I buy. It's good because I generally get the best thing for whatever need, but sucks because it will take months if not years to pull the trigger on whatever, usually after inflation has made it over priced or gets discontinued.

Any way, I got the bird of prey hooks for my backpack as a temporary solution while I figured out what panniers to get (I'm down to getting Arkel, just not sure which ones now). Turns out that is a mistake.

The hooks work as expected. That's not the problem. The problem is that backpacks aren't designed for them or to be panniers.

3 separate times today, the backpack was caught up in the spokes when I hustled across a street (so standing, pumping, bike swaying slightly side-to-side). Another time last week, it caught on the rear brake cable (even though it's short and capped) and caused it to jam the cable into the disc brake. Another time, nearly came off as it slid closer to me on a decline where my heel struck it hard enough to nearly launch me off.

All that said, I think for a lot of people they will function as necessary or for quick rides. But if you are thinking of a long commute, just bite the bullet and get some panniers made for racks and not these. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to stare at Arkel's products again for a few weeks.

Is it just me or does it seem like all the auto repair shops are out in the boonies of East EG? No offense to you all living out there, just to us Westsiders, that's the boonies.

Regardless, there seems to be a lack of pros around here. I know there are a few, but it'd be nice to have a really good shop over here (not you AAA, sit down).