Burns Projects that will never be finished

[trytochaseme]

Wow, that looks like a nightmare to try to make, how many steady rests were you using? haha Good on you for getting it knocked out for them.

JB

that's where its gets interesting, there wasn't one. Had to use our old Mazak lathe that only has a tailstock. I had the issue where the tailstock pressure was too much that it would bend the shaft when I would extend the quill.

 

[Klokwerk]

Read through your thread...seems I was saying wow and that's cool every page. Impressive stuff!
On your GTI, that's looking really good. That picture you showed with the roll cage in it...I wouldn't do anything like that in your street car. Maybe half cage.
The LibertyWalk body kit (if I got that right) looks the business....
Then the bike races, the putters....then the rifles...again, wow every page. Thanks!

 

[trytochaseme]

Read through your thread...seems I was saying wow and that's cool every page. Impressive stuff!
On your GTI, that's looking really good. That picture you showed with the roll cage in it...I wouldn't do anything like that in your street car. Maybe half cage.
The LibertyWalk body kit (if I got that right) looks the business....
Then the bike races, the putters....then the rifles...again, wow every page. Thanks!

haha thanks man I appreciate the kind words!

Yea I would never do a full cage in a street car, Id really like a half cage/roll bar in the gti. There is a good chance I end up selling it this year though, I am driving a lot farther for work now and also doing some driving for work. Im getting to the point I kinda just want a solid fun daily I can keep mostly stock. The corolla GR has been on my eye for awhile, I looked at them pretty heavily last year and I think I might pull the trigger on one. AWD would be great for the winter, can get it in a manual and 300hp is enough to keep a daily fun. Down the road Id like to pick up a cheap frs/brz from auction to have a a play/track car but I don't have the time for that right now. Plus I really wanna get the tacoma cleaned up and maybe do some fun stuff to it.

 

[Klokwerk]

Those corolla GR's are really good for the price. But isn't Miata always the answer? Either way I think you'll have fun.

 

[trytochaseme]

Barn floor is finally done. Now to start prepping it for the CNC's so we can move them once all this snow melts.



Current side project I am working on is a new PC case. I bust built up a new PC and have always really enjoyed the SFF (small form factor) stuff. Decided I wanted to design and make my own case. The plan being a sheet metal exterior with an internal Frame that is 3d printed. I was working on a design for awhile when I realized it looked very similar to the old g5 Mac pros. So I decided to fully lean into that and make a miniature version of the g5 Mac Pro.

Here is a render of it compared to a g5.



Here is current layout of the interior.





I wanted to make it smaller but my graphics card is so big and to get proper airflow had to increase the size a bit. Also wanted to have room to run an AIO cooler.

Working on a fully 3d printed prototype right now to verify everything before getting sheet metal panels made.



Have some tweaks to change on the interior, always find things you don't like or small details you missed but overall its working very well!

Got the first piece of the mesh panel printed, Need to add in a power button and some IO to it.




Posted a pic of it on another site and had a decent amount of interested. Planning on posting the model up so you can 3d print your own. Quite a few people asked if I would sell the aluminum panels so that might be an option or I will just post those files up too and people can have them made themselves.

 

[trytochaseme]

Here is the first prototype all printed up. Pretty stoked on it. Time to start working on V2.

 

[lancehill]

This is an awesome project! You've got some awesome skills.

 

[trytochaseme]

Never posted a follow up on the PC case. I got some panels made but the shop did not do the radii correctly. Little bummed on that but not enough that I've done anything about it lol. Just been using the pc for a couple months now.



Getting back into bike weather now. Training to do the Coast to Coast 200 mile race across Michigan.



Got the garage cleaned up a bit, it had gotten pretty messy over winter.





Got a tv for free and mounted it up. So nice finally having a tv. Gonna pick up another one so I can use one for zwift/personal dashboard and then the other as an actually tv. Been riding the trainer in there more often finally. Actually getting electrical ran is high priority. I am sick of the extension cords.


Built up a fat bike on the cheap. Ofcourse it's a specialized.




The crux got some fresh rubber as it's about to travel the world with me. Have a really cool bag system on the way too.




Will be going to Copenhagen for work for 2 weeks. Brining the crux with me so I can do some riding around the country well im there. Otherwise I'll just be sitting in my Airbnb all my free time.

Will be a hectic month, going down for the Masters later this week, will get home for 3 days then off to Denmark.

 

[zanyad]

Will be going to Copenhagen for work for 2 weeks. Brining the crux with me so I can do some riding around the country well im there. Otherwise I'll just be sitting in my Airbnb all my free time.

Will be a hectic month, going down for the Masters later this week, will get home for 3 days then off to Denmark.

How cool! Safe travels!

 

[trytochaseme]

How cool! Safe travels!

Thanks!


Been doing a lot of rearranging in the garage. Just trying to keep it tidy and easy to move bikes in and out but also easy to get to what I need.




Went from no Tvs to 2 real fast.


The plan is the top one has an Apple TV hooked up and used for TV stuff. The bottom one will have a computer hooked up for swift on trainer rides but the rest of the time it will live as a Dashboard. I am working on a my own program that ties all my various apps and stuff together to give me an overview of everything. Here is a screenshot of it as a WIP.




This is roughly how the TV will look but a lot of changes still. I also have a version I am using on my computers as my browser start page. Has my hot links, todo list, notes and some other stuff well also giving me an overview on all my health/training stats.




I also have a Web app version I am running on my phone. It pulls all my ride data from strava and health info from Apple health and puts it in one location as well as really allowing me to customize it and see what I want. I also am using it as my own macro/nutrition tracker. On my phone app I can scan barcodes, look up foods etc just like a normal nutrition app. It will auto calibrate after I workout/ride and make adjustments to the daily macros based on it. It pulls my health data from apple health for calculating macros as well as options to decide if your doing a light/heavy cut or mainting weight or building muscle. Super stoked on it so far but has a ways to go still.

I have been eyeing these frame bags for awhile and finally picked them up as I need them for the long race I am doing. I also wanted them for Denmark since I will be in a foreign country I wanted to make sure I had space to bring some extra tools and such.





I think they look sweet but they have their flaws too. The top tube bag is tiny and is just a "magnetic" enclosure, but it's extremely weak. Dont really trust putting anything in it. I also knew it was gonna cut off my bottle holder, for the race I will be running a hydration pack so its not a big concern but it does make these annoying to keep on for normal use. I think I can get a small side load bottle/cage setup and keep the 2nd bottle though.

 

[trytochaseme]

Just got back from my time in Denmark. Had a blast, I could totally live there, really enjoyed my time out there.

Got to do a lot of sight seeing the bike.

 

[trytochaseme]

I was very slow to adopt 29" wheels when they started hitting MTB. When I started this thread I was running a mullet and was still hesitant to go full 29. With 32 being on the horizon I didn't want to sit around this time. For about a year now I have been trying to get a 32" wheel set for myself. Finally was able to get a front wheel made.







Here's the plan- I am going to do some back to back testing on a loop by my house. Testing between the 29 and 32 front wheel. There will be no changes made to compensate for the 32 wheel. I will just be going up in air pressure on the fork so as to not bottom out, I know sketchy but come on you gotta live a little sometimes. I plan on making a video about this with my findings. If the 32 feels good and is faster I will then modify the fork by limiting the travel to 100mm, down from 120mm, and machining new dropouts to push the wheel farther out. I will then make a new stem to bring the bars back down a bit. I also have some thoughts on a custom rear triangle to try a 32 out back.

If I am really blown away by the 32 I also have been brainstorming geometry to have an another steel gravel bike frame made by marino. I think 32 makes the most sense for gravel but I run XS frame size for gravel and I think it's going to be really hard to make 32 work in a 49cm frame. Either way I am really excited to try this out and do some experimenting. I love building weird franken bikes and it's been awhile since I have done something different like this.

 

[boyboi]

love the experiment! I am really curious how the 32 mtbs will handle, especially with the long wheelbases. i was a somewhat early 29er adopter with a 2007 gary fisher and i hated it so much i went back to 26 for the next 10 years.

 

[trytochaseme]

Few weeks on the 32" front wheel and I gotta say I am liking it. It is for sure faster, I have been setting a ton of new Strava PRs with it. But I also wanna be honest and say it's a pretty minimal difference. My testing is showing 1-3 seconds faster per minute compared to 29, so for the average rider out for fun it doesn't make sense. Not that I am much of a racer either so I can't talk really.

Right now I have a spacer I printed inside the air chamber that keeps it from bottoming out the wheel on the crown. It also does change the feel of the fork and how it ramps up but its only temporary. Intend has a 32" specific model and its based on the same chassis but has longer dropouts. My plan was to make my own but after talking with them they said I could technically swap the legs from the 32" model over so I am ordering a set of those.

I was able to pick up a matching Intend Hover Monocoque rear shock which is another work of art from those lads over in Freiburg, Germany. They really are the gold standard for high end mtb parts in my opinion.




I also took off the electronic drivetrain, giving the old school mechanical stuff a try again.



I had this sram 90 derailleur/shifter already from my enduro but never rode it. Going to spend some time on it but I think I am going to end up upgrading to one of the boutique small manufactures. Madrone, vivo, and ratio are all making beautiful cnc machined derailleurs that are also highly reparable. Right now I am leaning towards the Ratio mech as it is UDH and then pairing it with the vivo shifter.

I am also trying to get a new stem to help get my bar position back down. I was set to order this one from another German manufacturer, ActoFive. But I am not getting a response now. If I had the Haas running in the barn I would just make my own but not an option at this moment.




Been spending quite a bit of time in the garage lately. Big shocker here.... I have rearranged it again lol

First I got the snowboards mounted on the wall, found a nice model which saved me time from drawing up my own.



Then I finally made a simple way to hold all my spare wheels off the ground. It's just been a pile in this corner. Need to paint it and also fix up the tire storage next.



I moved the wall bike rack to the opposite side of the garage so it now sits between the side door(which is currently bolted shut) and the garage door. These are only the bikes that don't get ridden much. I like having the epic and crux on the ground in the stands as I am using them almost every day.

I moved the motos around and pulled the TVs down as well.



The reason for all this is I am finally getting the "man cave" part of this done. Have a cheap amazon couch that will be here tomorrow. I also picked up a new 65" TV. The 55" tv I had robbed from our back porch to try out. Now that the weather is nice my wife complained and wanted it back. I decided I don't actually want the 2 tv setup like I posted previously. I also have some wood paneling coming in tomorrow, here is the rough mockup of how it will look.



Just want somewhere I can have some guys over to hang out and work on bikes or watch races. Also will be nice that my wife can come chill out and watch TV well I am working on stuff so that way she doesn't complain I am trying to hide from her in the garage ha.

I am also making progress on getting rid of stuff I don't use. The Specialized Enduro is sadly now sold. 1 guy is coming to take the Chinese Carbon fatbike frame onto of the cabinet, another is supposed to come take the Chinese carbon road bike hanging from the sealing and a buddy is interested in the Purple State gravel bike.

 

[zanyad]

here is the rough mockup of how it will look.

Looking good!

 

[trytochaseme]

I mentioned earlier that I was planning to do a 200-mile gravel race at the end of June. That race requires a support crew, and it was going to be a hassle to organize, so I ended up not signing up. Instead, I decided to really push myself — I have a 320-mile (515km) route planned that starts right at my house. It goes out to the coast and up the lakeshore past the Manistee National Forest, then back inland and down, making one big loop around the forest.



I've watched so many videos of ultra-endurance cyclists and I just want to push myself and prove I'm capable of something like this. A few races have been on my radar — the Unbound XL and the Traka are the first that come to mind. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. Am I biting off more than I can chew? Only one way to find out.

I did a test ride this weekend. The goal was eight hours on the bike to work on pacing, fueling, and gear. I loaded up the bike with all the bags I'll be using and tested out a few different fuel options. My FTP is around 265w, so for the 500km route I'll want to keep power very low — around 120w average. For this weekend's ride I aimed for 150w, which takes some getting used to. Riding that conservatively doesn't come naturally, especially early on, and I struggled with it for a while. 120w is going to be really tough to stick to at the start, so I think I'm going to swap out my gearing before the attempt.



On the garage side of things, I finally knocked a few long-overdue items off my list.

First up, I got a chill lounge area set up. I picked up some wall panels — I might grab more to extend them all the way to the floor and ceiling — then found a cheap couch on Amazon and scored a 65" TV. I also pulled a coffee table out of our storage container where it had been collecting dust.



Next, I finally started tackling the holes in the wall where the windows into the barn used to be. I was originally going to cover them completely, but decided they'd actually be useful for storing gear. I put a back on each one so I can screw things in without going through into the barn. On one of them I ran some wire through that I'll get hooked up tonight to add an outlet — it'll become a charging station for all my electronics.

I also started printing some mounts for lights and accessories. One will hold all my on-bike gear — everything I normally take on a ride — so I can just grab and go. For the other, I'm thinking shelves to display water bottles. I don't have a huge collection yet, but races always hand out bottles and I'd love to start grabbing one from each place I travel to.







I think this wall is going to become the gear wall overall, I figured I should just paint it while I'm at it.

It doesn't look perfect — I used some plywood I had laying around and it didn't fit quite right. I might go back in with some shoe molding to clean up the edges. It doesn't look as bad in person though, and it's a garage, so I'll take it.



It doesn't look amazing, I used some plywood I had laying around and it didn't fit perfectly, maybe I go back in with some shoe trim to clean them up. It doesn't look as bad in person and it is a garage anyways.

 

[kppolich]

Looks like a nice space to relax or prep before a ride.
I was thinking of doing something similar, but putting a hinged photograph/painting in front of the cubby to hide stuff and it can be opened for access.

Hidden bourbon cabinet, charging cabinet, etc

 

[trytochaseme]

Looks like a nice space to relax or prep before a ride.
I was thinking of doing something similar, but putting a hinged photograph/painting in front of the cubby to hide stuff and it can be opened for access.

Hidden bourbon cabinet, charging cabinet, etc

ha I was thinking the same thing with a painting or something over it. Will have to see how it looks once its all done, if I can make it look neat I'll leave it as is but if it becomes a mess of cables I will try to find something to hide it.

 

[trytochaseme]

Alright got some goodies in from overseas for the Epic!



New stem is on and fork is converted to 32". I think it looks pretty... Epic. It looks very aggressive but the numbers are not bad, the large wheel pushes the front up so much this just brings the bar back down to close to what it was originally. Will get some trail time on it hopefully this weekend. I also got the new stanchions and dropouts installed to fully convert the fork to 32".







My gravel bike is a Specialized Crux and is a 2021 model year. It has had a small refresh since then but nothing major. I have been really hoping they would come out with a more aero gravel bike and they finally did exactly that. I called my local speciazlied dealer and got on the list. Sadly sounds like I will be waiting until August though. My plan is to buy one of the lower tier models and then swap all my parts on to the new bike and then all the new parts on my old bike and sell the old bike.

Here is a custom build a shop already built up. Looks so good and lots of tire clearance.

 

[boyboi]

i don't know how dedicated you are to your LBS, but specialized seems to have the full run in stock online. I also have the previous crux but since it doubles as my road bike i'm not sure i'm ready to give up 2by.

Edit: just realized they're listed as preorder

 

[trytochaseme]

i don't know how dedicated you are to your LBS, but specialized seems to have the full run in stock online. I also have the previous crux but since it doubles as my road bike i'm not sure i'm ready to give up 2by.

Edit: just realized they're listed as preorder

I was actually looking around spesh website and they had the comp in amethyst frost in my size in stock. So I called my LBS to see if they could get it and he said no but to go ahead and just order it and have it shipped to them. So it should be here next week!

 

[trytochaseme]

Edit

 

[boyboi]

thats a great colorway! looking forward to the build

 

[trytochaseme]

Last summer my wife decided to buy a pool. Neither of us had ever owned one, and living in Michigan, it needed to be prepped for winter — which we did not do. Partly because we got hit with snow earlier than expected, and partly because my light research online turned up plenty of people saying they don't cover their pools or do anything special and have no issues. That was not the case for us.

The entire pool froze — over three feet of solid ice. When it started melting it didn't melt evenly, pulling the whole pool to one side, punching some holes in it, and breaking several legs. Personally I was hoping we'd just get rid of it since it was only $400, but my wife was determined to keep it. We patched the holes, ordered new legs, and did some landscaping around it to make it look a little less rough around the edges.



The rear deck had a fiberglass roof that after 30+ years in the sun was not looking good, so we had that replaced with a metal roof. We also just wrapped up painting the whole house, which I hope to never do again. New siding is coming up down the road, but we'll definitely be paying someone else to handle that one.

Ignore the mess — we have a graduation party at the house this weekend, so we're in full crunch mode trying to get a bunch of projects wrapped up



Chicken Coop 2.0 is almost done. I scored a bunch of free wood so I haven't had to buy any materials for this one, though I can't say I'm thrilled with how it came together — the design was figured out as I went, which led to some regrets later on. That said, it does have some real improvements over the first one.



It's bigger, it has a dedicated egg hatch so you don't have to go inside to collect anymore, and on the inside there's a bigger poop shelf, more roosting bars, and a dedicated area underneath that we can block off to keep chicks separated. I'll be building a much bigger run for it too.








And it wouldn't be a normal post without a garage rearrangement update.



I just wanted a little more open space to make it easier to move bikes in and out and work on them, so I moved the workbench behind the couch and tucked the motos against the wall.



There is so much more room to move around now — it made a big difference. I can even pull a car or truck in if I want to do some work in here rather than the barn. The gear wall inset is slowly getting built out as well.




Last but not least, my new gravel bike shipped out on Monday. This is the first brand new bike — and the first complete bike — I've ever bought, so I'm really excited. Really hoping I get the call from the local shop today or tomorrow that it's ready for pickup!