Slack Randoms: Lemon-Powered Transmission, Testing a Lahar DHV M9, eBike Street Sweepers & More

Mar 31, 2024
by Ed Spratt  
We use Slack as our workplace communication tool at Pinkbike and we have a #randoms channel that we use to share an assortment of videos and stories from all corners of the cycling world and beyond... We thought a couple of the moments from the past week were too good not to share with a wider audience, so here are some of the highlights.




Lemon-Powered SRAM Transmission


bigquotesOrange you glad I showed you this hack?outsidebrendan



Testing a Lahar DHV M9


bigquotesWelcome to my 1st video on my channel about a series rebuilding old bikes mostly downhill bikes but it'll be a good spread!

This bike a lot of people might have heard of but never really seen that much, the Lahar DHV M9.

Enjoy Part 1 with more to come.
Stephen Hughes



A Powered Bike Lane Sweeper


bigquotesStationed next to us at the 2024 BC Bike Show was Cedric of Lal bikes with two very original creations at his booth. One is a bicycle derailleur system that separates the tensioning system from the shifting system, opening up all kinds of robust frame geometry. The other is an inexpensive lane sweeping device that that could be appreciated by municipalities and cyclists everywhere.

We love seeing how ebike technologies (motors, controllers, batteries) can be applied to different projects in so many domains to achieve more with less. We've seen our ebike gear used in all kinds of original agricultural machines, winches, wind generators, you name it. But for now this one takes the cake.
Grin Technologies



Jack Moir Tests a Steering Damper



Incredible Cliffhanger Switchbacks from the 2024 Cape Epic


bigquotesThe Queen Stage of the 2024 Absa Cape Epic - home of the iconic Cliffhanger switchback, a descent etched in mountain biking folklore as the craziest drop in Africa.Epic Series



Rob Warner The Way Back Bloopers and BTS




Pro Snowboarders Vs Basketball Challenges


bigquotesTime to dunk! Team Craig McMorris takes on team Seb Toots in the biggest (and maybe only) basketball standoff on a snowboard to date. Which team got the best trick shots? Can High-five the highest? And score the most giant B-ball pong shots in mid-air?Red Bull



Crushing Hammers With 300 Ton Hydraulic Press


bigquotesCrushing Hammers With 300 Ton Hydraulic Press inside our new concrete bullet proof bunker with bullet proof windows and ar500 roof and door! The hammers exploded with such a force that it generated seismic waves / local earthquake resulting in noise pollution and shaking windows around the neighborhood Big Grin So don't try this at home!Hydraulic Press Channel




Author Info:
edspratt avatar

Member since Mar 16, 2017
3,035 articles

53 Comments
  • 57 20
 Fuck switchbacks. MTB needs to get past the repeating 180 degree corner trails. Bike parks build them because they don't want trails crossing ski runs as much. 180 berms and the strip of trail going into them get clapped out way harder than anything else. Always better off running the trail out further, or going uphill to lower speed before finding a way to split the switchback into 2 separate berms. End the repeating stacks of 180 switchbacks.
  • 10 11
 Unfortunately, when gradients are too steep for most grades of trail, there's often not much can be done other than switchbacks. Isn't ideal, but often it's the only practical solution to the issue. There's a reason you don't get switchbacks like that on rolling, low gradient singletrack trails.
  • 41 2
 @inked-up-metalhead: Thats false. Grade reversal before corner to naturally bring speed down to a slow roll without braking. Make 110 degrees of your corner at the highest, slowest point so your facing just a bit more than falline out of the berm. let it accelerate downhill into another berm that is long and open to bring you back to a traverse. Keep it fast until you have to repeat for your next "switchback". No more brake bumps or 180 corners with that method. You can divide the 180 into 2 or 3 berms, shark fin, anyway you need as long as you make the biggest change in direction at the slowest point. It's faster to build than stacking some giant 180 berm. I've built on the tallest steepest BC resorts using that method. No brake bumps, G-outs, or shitty switchbacks. Always better to traverse further if you have the option though.
  • 5 0
 The man has a point
  • 6 1
 @luckynugget: couldn't agree more, grade reversal counter-turn opens the radius and slows riders down without braking. Splitting a 180 into 2 open turns with a short steep section in between creates such a better riding experience. If you have easily eroded soils put in an armored rock feature.
Too much trail building being done by handbooks and people claiming "that's the only way my machine could do it".
  • 5 2
 @luckynugget: the grade reversal can be done into a 180 berm too, and effectively eliminates braking bumps in that situation too, where I've built there was limited space plus desired terrain features meant to do that would have lost about 30% of the trail length on a section to gain 1 corner being a touch faster and smoother. I'm not disputing that they're not ideal, but to maximise hill usage (I'm in the UK, we don't exactly have the same scope of mountains that you guys have unfortunately) a few switchbacks are often needed.
  • 3 0
 All those switchbacks and not a single nose turn! What a waste!!!
  • 2 0
 @tralebuilder: And no berms. Pointless.
  • 1 0
 #frenchlinesmatter
  • 20 0
 Dude, where's my Lahar?
  • 5 0
 Goldstone and Greenland goon racing a Lahar in 2023 www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SUEppEpS90
  • 3 0
 Fellow RM'r
  • 2 0
 @integralnz: That’s actually an M8 the one before this model. The owners of that bike have an M9 the same as too in there shop!
  • 1 0
 That was a good viddy. Hope everyone Subs and Likes - that was his first video on that channel.
  • 13 0
 I watched Cape Epic highlights on YT and I really enjoyed it. That Cliffhanger trail seems so cool.
Pardon my ignorance but I didn’t know South Africa had such an amazing trail network. Really caught my attention and desire to visit. I would love to have more info on riding South Africa. I heard that violence has been a concern lately. How safe is it to travel there to ride bikes? Does anyone have any experience?
  • 32 1
 Nobody's returned yet, so there is no news on the safety situation.
  • 3 5
 There looks to be lines shortcutting those switchbacks that look very fun.
  • 9 3
 Ride within parks and you're generally okay , not always.

Ride in public adn these days its 50/50 most of the time.

Lots of epic trails are on private land so not accessible outside of the event.

Cape town and the surroundings seem to be the worst of the bike focused violence and crime now.

... don't believe media that try to paint this place as some glorious heaven , it's mediocre and getting worse yearly
  • 9 3
 As a South African living in the USA, all I can say is I can't wait to retire and ride my bike out in the Western Cape again one day. Don't believe the media that try to paint it as some murderous violent country. Of course it's there, but you're more likely to get pickpocketed if you're not careful than to get shot en masse like some other countries, won't say who...
  • 22 16
 @ruckuswithani: it’s pretty funny when Americans worry about violence in other countries … like maybe consider your own country and perhaps, just maybe, get rid of the guns??
  • 22 25
 @sanchofula: I don't think getting rid of guns will do anything, personally. We as a species are just so full of hate and brainwashed that we'll always pick up weapons (whatever we can find) instead of working for solutions. Always look for the cause behind the cause instead of the symptoms. We have a long way to go in evolving and gaining wisdom and intelligence before peace would be a tangible thing on this planet. Anyhow, back to mtbs!!
  • 16 9
 @ruckuswithani: getting rid of the guns would do a lot. One thing is that e.g. police always has to assume that the other party has a gun. So it's who shoots first.
  • 15 28
flag JonDud (Mar 31, 2024 at 10:18) (Below Threshold)
 @Nokin: eliminating guns would do nothing.... The same way that adding guns to a place like Japan would not turn the Japanese into mass shooting sociopaths. Gun access in the USA is the same between all groups, yet some groups commit more firearm homicides than other groups. It's a cultural issue.... Not an inanimate object issue.
  • 13 17
flag bikeryder85 (Mar 31, 2024 at 17:51) (Below Threshold)
 @Nokin: as a former police officer, that is false. Yes there are dangers to differing situations, but that is NOT how things are done. Guns are not the issue, insane people and a corrupt justice system is. Mental health and the degradation of the family system is the most prominent issue, but since it doesn't #fitthenarrative you never hear about it.

There is an insane about of violence in the country, and guns are just a small part of it. Handwaving the issue and blaming the only means of a sane person to protect themselves from those who would do them harm doesn't help the issue.
Removing the freedom from all just because of a few bad actors is the same faulty logic that the Sierra Club used to keep us off trails....and can be used to take anything from us.
  • 7 4
 @sanchofula: Totally. The criminals will willingly hand over their guns. “Turn your guns over to the police because they’re illegal now” will be the first law they decide to follow. Almost as silly as gun free zones.
  • 11 1
 @bikeryder85: yeah, the issue is that people think they need a gun to defend themselves against pretty much anything. They are afraid enough to shoot at somebody turning around in their driveway, because they may be communist aliens or whatever.

Getting rid of the guns, educating people, and giving them some sense of security would 100% solve the problem. But that doesn't work in a society which is focused on profits for big corporations by any means possible - keeping people in a constant state of uneducated fear is part of the plan.
  • 4 3
 @bikeryder85:
There will always be violence, violent individuals and a variety of reasons for it, but guns enable an individual to impact a disproportionate number of other individuals, hence the random horror of mass shootings.
Anyone who thinks loosing their 'right to bear arms' is loosing their 'freedom' is sorely misguided, the mass proportion of hand gun ownership is for the myth of self protection, that doesn't sound like living in freedom to me, its living in fear.
There's obviously no quick fix, (it's a lazy argument to say theres no point stopping selling guns seeing as there is already so many out there) but the process has to start somewhere, voter power is the only way to counter the political fear of making a stand that won't be supported.
  • 3 8
flag bikeryder85 (Apr 1, 2024 at 4:51) (Below Threshold)
 @Kainerm: my guess is you've never been in a situation that has required it, we live in a country that is not an island and one of the bordering Nations is a lawless gang-controlled Badland. So yes, it is required in a lot of places to defend yourself properly. To think that the criminals don't have guns is naive.
  • 4 3
 @Obidog: you're right, there is no quick fix. But I'm against taking away people's freedoms. The conversation does need to be had, and I'm not saying that gun control can't be made better. But outlawing them is not the answer. If you outlaw guns in a nation like ours then only gangs and criminals will have them. There are plenty of cities that have outlawed them, to very poor results.

My argument isn't that everybody should have guns, my argument is that there needs to be a discussion, not shoving a gun-free Utopia on to those who disagree. You guys can download me all you want, but I promise you guns will not be the last thing that people will come for.
  • 2 1
 @gnarlysipes: this...i wish we lived in a world where that was a possible solution...but I see the world for what it is.
  • 5 1
 @bikeryder85: obviously the world you see is the only one you see but... it has been molded by decades of gun loving propoganda and is not a complete truth of the world we live in. The Europeans have not grown up where the gun first belief does not exist and still live in a place with criminals who have guns, still have immigrants from poorer countries but yet their murder rates are lower than ours and their mass shooting rates are virtually nonexistent. The American gun culture is a product of decades of effort to make it that way but it's not completely true. But your view is already set and this reply will do nothing to change your view. Back to the bikes...
  • 1 3
 @Sscottt: to your points...Yes gun-culture is over the top here (but so is most marketed culture, including bike culture)...I can agree with the facts of the data from Europe, and appreciate your view, but that is still an apples-oranges argument, and doesn't address the liberty/law balance act that we try to play here. My replies were to simply offer a counter-argument to the anti-gun radicalism that loves to build a straw-man out of guns/gun owners while failing to look at the failure to enforce current law in favor of banning civil liberty. Again, the discussion should be had...but that should lead to compromise...on BOTH sides.

But enough of that, I will gladly bow out and get to bikes Smile
  • 1 0
 @mi-bike: can you say lions!!??
  • 7 0
 @bikeryder85: Joke's on you, I grew up and live in a country that borders the iron curtain. My home town was under Russion occupation following WW II. Ukraine is less than 400 miles from here. Kosovo 500 miles. So we have plenty of refugees coming over - also from Syria and Afghanistan, for example, plus literal boatloads of people from Africa. We are not and Island with a tiny border with a fairly well developed Nation - we ACTUALLY have a lot of refugees and people coming over to earn a better wage.
And you know what - Austria is one of the most peaceful places you can be. Nobody needs to carry - because we don't have herds of people struggling paycheck to paycheck. Out homicide rate is about 1/7th that of the US - despite being "surrounded" by "Mafia Badlands".
FUD and wage inequality is what is making the US a miserable place to be - not immigrants.
  • 2 0
 come ride bikes. Cape Town and surrounding trail networks are fantastic. There are isolated crime incidents in public trail areas like on Table Mountain etc... but you'll find dozens of people to ride with here and you'll be fine in small or bigger groups. But in closed areas like most of the trails you see - it's perfectly fine. There's incredible riding all over.

For the above people saying "f*ck switchbacks" blah blah... they've not ridden the trail in the clip. There is literally no other way to get up there, and down there. It's fun, nothing too amazing from a trail POV, but the sheer views and getting up and then bombing back down is awesome. If you do the whole Welvanpas loops below it, it's some of the best singletrack riding and downhills out there.

I was in a meeting with Cape Town Tourism last year and said I cannot believe they dont spend more effort marketing us as a global summer (your winter) riding destination for MTBers.
  • 9 0
 More street sweeping goodness
www.instagram.com/atlantamagnetman
  • 8 0
 That Lahar should not be made available for pubic viewing
  • 1 0
 The name checks out, though (a violent flow of mud and debris).
  • 4 0
 Please consider covering the Atlanta Magnet Man in one of these articles! He picks up nails and other ferrous hazards from the roads and bike paths using magnets. He also cleans up glass and whatnot and is super funny.

@atlantamagnetman on instagram!
  • 6 0
 Anyone else having trouble with login via username? Btw love the crazy hydraulic press guy.
  • 4 1
 Next the potato garmin? With developments in Urea based batteries soon the ebikers will be able to have a tube connected to their headset that will recharge their battery with piss.
  • 7 0
 Go Cedric!
  • 2 0
 thanks XD
  • 3 0
 @cedric-eveleigh: This is a great idea. I hope the lower buy-in catches the attention of municipalities. Maybe they could get bike cops to haul them around. It would be nice to see them do something useful.
  • 2 0
 While living in NZ 15 years ago I had a kiwi mate who had a Lahar. The bike was gobsmackingly beautiful and an absolute dream to ride.
  • 2 1
 I Hopey the Pademelon gives Jack a bit Moir control through the rough stuff
  • 1 0
 everyone thinks its the lemons that do the work but its really the metals, the lemon is just the salt bridge
  • 1 0
 What a blight on that hillside
  • 1 0
 “You would be 100% dead if you had a hammer exit hole in your head.”
  • 1 0
 The Hopey from back in the day. www.hopey.org
  • 2 2
 !st April isnt until tomorrow.
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