3D Printed Thru-Axle Adapter
Recently I got me one of those bikes with disc brakes. However my Tacx Spider Team Repair Stand (T3050) only came with a quick release fork mount, which doesn’t work with the new disc brake fork (12mm × 100mm).
Sure, one could go and buy the updated stand (which comes with all kinds of handy tools), or other weird looking adapters, but since I’m a frugal Dutch guy, and already spent all my money on a new bike, I decided to 3D print an adapter.
First up, I grabbed a hammer and bashed out the aluminum quick release axle from the front frame holder. It sat in pretty pretty tight so had to use some force (which is not easy for scrawny cyclists), but eventually it came out.
Next, I measured all the things and created a 3D model, visited my local 3D printer and got the adapter printed.
Fresh off the press, this print is solid. Only took a couple hours to print. Cost was $60 (you can probably find better deals online), cheaper than buying a new work stand.
All that was left to do is insert it in the holder and presto! My fancy bike now works with the old stand.
How to Print Your Own
I’ve uploaded the 3D file to Thingiverse so you can go and print your own.
The dimensions are for 12mm × 100mm thru-axle forks, but you can easily adapt the 3D file for other sizes.
Use 3D Hubs, Google Maps, or Yelp to find a 3D printer.
Hit me up on the socials @huphtur if you printed one.
Four Fun Phobias
My Top 5 ’90s Hip-Hop Tracks
My friend Matt Bochneak sent me a link to Hauschka’s Top 5 ’90s Hip-Hop Tracks. He thought the picks weren’t that great. I replied that it’s actually pretty hard to make picks because that era is so good. Which got me thinking, could I pick 5 tracks?
Introducing Skate or Bike
Super stoked to officially launch a little side project. It’s called Skate or Bike and will feature people who sometimes ride 4, and sometimes ride 2 wheels.
The first interview on the site is with Miki Vuckovich. I emailed him a huge list of questions and the next day, while on a airplane flight, he answered them all on his iPhone 😳. Thanks again Miki, you set the bar high for the next set of people to answer my questions.
A bunch of new interviews are already in the pipeline, so follow Skate or Bike via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or RSS.
Should Dopers Be Banned From Strava?
Amateur cyclist Nicholas Brandt-Sorenson got busted for doping, then got busted again for selling dope. Peter Flax wrote a great article about him on CyclingTips. This and many similar articles got shared and discussed at great length on /r/Velo/.
LA Times reporter Paresh Dave contacted me via reddit looking to write an article riffing of the Sorenson situation that takes a look at what social apps (Facebook, video games, Strava) should do to deflect bad actors (terrorists, cheaters, harassers).
He emailed me a bunch of questions that I answered for him. Not sure if Paresh is still working on the article, or if it got denied by his editors, but here my answers (in all its unedited glory, ESL included).
My Rdio Replacement(s)
Some of us must have done something bad last year, because Santa shut down Rdio right before Xmas. It was one of the better music services with a clean design and amazing comunity with whom I discovered and shared so many great tunes with.
After Rdio shut down a lot of people went with the obvious choices: Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, etc. I played around with them for a bit but non did it for me. So I decided to go with some other options.
AWS-CLI + Gulp + awspublish for Dummies
One of the better Gulp plugins to upload your files to Amazon S3 has to be awspublish. Unfortunately, since I’m not the brightest when it comes to CLI stuff, it took me a while to get it working properly. Here’s a quick tutorial that will hopefully save other developers in spe some time.
Where's the Fun in Skateboarding?
Yesterday I enjoyed a great lunch with Parra, one of the guys behind Tired Skateboards. While reminiscing about our time skating together, he noted that kids nowadays don’t really understand “skateboard humor” anymore.
The comments on this tongue-in-cheek article about Nyjah Huston pretty much prove Parra’s theory. Fair to say we old guys miss Big Brother Magazine?
I Have Never…
Selected Ambient Works 85–92
One of my all time top favorite music albums is “Selected Ambient Works 85-92” by the enigmatic Aphex Twin. I purchased it right after it came out (1992) at a small record store in Amsterdam. Had no idea who or what the record was about, I purely bought it for the cover art.
