Oversized Derailleur Pulleys - 3D printing

Stock 12T compared to 14T and 15T oversized pulleys Oversized derailleur pulleys are like Hansel - So hot right now. Sure the benifits of an oversized pulley are probably pretty marginal (maybe a couple of watts... according to the folks trying to sell you them), but putting an oversized pulley jockey on your bike just gives it that certain je...Read More

Getting started with using the internet as a sensor

[caption id="attachment_1838" align="alignleft" width="300"] The value 1053 is my commute time, in seconds, returned to the photon.[/caption] There's a lot of data on the internet, and it can make your Arduino or Raspberry pi projects so much cooler. I have a project where my bedside lamp adjusts it's color based on the current weather and foretasted high temperature for the day....Read More

Does rotational weight matter on a bike

My last post sparked some interesting discussion among some of my cycling friends: Not all weight is equal. The consensus was that weight on the wheels was more important (2x-7x more important) than weight of the frame.  I'm having a hard time buying this... but wanted to clearly write out the arguments here. Acceleration and Rotational Inertia Work is the...Read More

How much does a gram matter?

disclaimer: I am going to use mixed units throughout this blog post. Get over it. I'll also be rounding a lot to the nearest order of magnitude. [caption id="attachment_1814" align="alignleft" width="300"] Stickers on my rims and frame totaled to about 10 grams.[/caption] I recently peeled all of the stickers off my mountain bike. They weighed in at 10 grams. My...Read More

A Letter To My Brother about Finances

My brother is about to finish school and start his first job. I'm writing this post to him, based on lessons and things I've learned along the way, but hopefully it's helpful to everyone! My financial goal here is to live comfortably (not excessively) and be able to retire someday! If your employer has retirement matching, max it out! This is...Read More

Getting started with the Particle Photon

I love using all flavors of Arduino in the engineering classes I teach. They're great tools, and students do some truly awesome stuff with them. More and more, students want to build connected devices.  This used to require an expensive WiFi shield or Ethernet shield, or require the students to switch to developing on a Raspberry Pi. Enter the particle Photon:...Read More

Wireless Google Calendar Display using Raspberry Pi and Arduino

When I'm not in my office, I like for people to know where to find me. Am I teaching a class? Working from home? In the manufacturing area? So I thought it'd be cool to build a little device that I could put in my office window that shows where I'm at and when I'll be back... On the window...Read More