OT: Show Us Your Ride or photos of your other interests!! - Page 10

Wow, I missed this a few weeks back, sorry.
29" bikes over 26" bikes, my buddies are moving from their dual 26" to hard tail 29". Yea, 29" have been around now for a few years, but seems people were waiting to see where they were going, etc.

Besides that, component wise heck my XTR group from 1998 still holds its own, sure its 8-sp and V-Brakes, but I've rode with people who have newer gear, its the body not the gear once you are at a certain level. Of course in mud disc brakes can't be beat.

One thing, back in 1998 almost nobody had personal coaches, now lots of people do, the www made that a reality. It's a revenue stream for the coaches, those pro guys who travel 9-10 months/year, and it does motivate and improve the people who use them, so I'd say they are faster because they really do train better.

Honestly though, almost everyone who really challenges themself reaches a level where all the 1st/2nd/3rd place trophies/medals start to pile up in a box.....and when they reach a podium at big event realize....ok, now what? And move onto other stuff, seen it countless times, happened to me.

I still ride for fun of course, but priorities shift as life stage shifts.

I'll make the move to 29" when my 1998 XTR gear totally dies and I can't replace the Ti rear cogs or chain anymore....besides that its pretty bullet proof.



Nice drawing, and a fellow nite owl, cool.
How long you been viewing/shooting the heavens above?

Are you active in any astronomy clubs?

I've shoot only widefield Jan-2010 thru now, but July-2011 I got my 1st scope, a 8" SCT, the EdgeHD 800 CGEM.
My widefield work can be seen here http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=838078


btw, 3 days ago my NASA APOD Aug-5-2011 got me interviewed by local newspaper, Livingston Press and Argus, I was front page for Sept-28-2011!

http://www.livingstondaily.com/artic...text|Frontpage

Word quickly spread at work, my facebook friends, etc....14 minutes and 58 seconds of fame gone, 2 seconds left.

A lot of Porsche fans here. Awesome.

Here is my old Turbo. Sadly, she is long gone...

jennifer connely.

not my hobby, the drawing.

"A lot of Porsche fans here. Awesome. "
********
Two of the "Girls":

Steve

Mike,

I've been interested in astronomy for quite a few years, however only started to get into the astrophotography piece of it, about 5 years ago. Unfortunately 3 years ago, I moved to a big city because of work, as such my stargazing hobby has been placed on hold. Still have all the gear, just haven't made it out to enjoy the night sky in awhile. Hopefully that will change when I return stateside.

Congrats on being chosen for APOD, that must've been quite an honor!



Good guess!

Zach

For all you guys that own Porsches and Ferraris, etc. Are you hiring?

As a teenager, being a hard-core air-cooled VW guy ( Karmann Ghia convertibles were by thing ), I always lusted after a classic 911 Turbo. 1989 was the last year of the "classic" styled Turbo ( aka 930 ) and the only year with a 5-speed. I bought this one in Saskatoon back in 2002, flew out and drove it home (near Toronto). Though I'm no longer a Porsche owner, I still keep up my PCA membership and subscribe to Excellence.


3 years later, I picked up my 2000 M Coupe and still have it - sadly not getting enough seat time.
It is heavily modified, but no garish body-work.
The M Coupe was viewed as an ugly duckling, but I love the uniqueness of the bodywork, and colour combo !
My license plate ( not in the pics ) is MDORPHIN

I also have a 2003 E39 M5, now modified with Supersprint headers, Remus exhaust, Conforti chip.
It was one of those "little-old-ladies-that-had-an-M5" who sold it for ultra-cheap -> to me of course !
I never really new the luv of the E39 M5 out on the car-enthusiast world until after I bought it.
It still has quite a following on the car forums.

I see some impressive yards on some of these pics, requiring lots of maintenance. How is your Spanish?

Are we using the M word?
Ken

Yeah, 650b too. Here's my 29er. I'm a fairly recent dad, so hobbies are a thing of the past for now.

http://www.bentleygoldcoast.com/2011...el=CONTINENTAL SUPERSPORTS&

expecting delivery tonight, just in time for winter storage!

Quicker and nicer than my 2006 GT I traded. Supersports coupe 3.7 sec 0-60 mph, carries 4 comfortably too! over 5000 lbs I think.

Mark, I love walking by that dealership and looking at all the dream cars! Congrats!

They really know the place is a nice tourist eye candy site/sight! And a car dealership as well. We stay around the corner at Park Hyatt so it is easy to stop by. They offered a deal with my Bentley 2006 coupe, and a week later, the deal was sealed !

No wonder why I haven't seen or heard from you in while. You can't afford a cell phone payin' for the cool car.

Happy Hannukah!!! To you, your wife and Alex of course!!@@@

to you and your family also!!

Congrats! Beautiful car...

Jim

2009 Audi A5 3.2 Quattro. Unfortunately, because of the economy, I have had to move interstate for work. The Audi is sold and I lose it in two days... I'm not even around to drive it before then. Cest la vie.



To put things into perspective, the price in Australia for cars is so ridiculous, if I was in the US, I could be driving an Aston Martin DB8 convertible, for less than what I paid for the Audi!

Chris:

Good to see you posting...long time no speak...sorry to hear that you had to move...what are doing about -- if anything -- about building a new hometheatre in your new home...

Hi Joel, it has been a while since I've been on. I'm keeping the house in Melbourne and I hope the move to Darwin is a temporary one for a year or two. It's a fly in fly out every fortnight and the family has stayed back south (not ideal, but we'll make it work and school holidays they join me). It's all dependant on the global economy.

I'm living in an appt in Darwin and no real opportunity for a home cinema. That said, I have got my eye on the new Panasonic 65" Plasma in the new year, so I can still enjoy the PS3 and movies.

The cinema in Melbourne is still waiting on a projector and wall treatments. I'd say it will be another couple of years at least before I have the chance to finish it, as we have a few other priorities. Hopefully by the time I afford the projector, it will be 4K 3D without glasses!

I trust all is well with you and your family. I've kept an eye on the progress of your cinema and it looks brilliant. We still plan a trip to Canada one of these days and I'll be sure to drop in. Take care and look me up if you do make it to Australia - Melbourne or Darwin

Merry Christmas and a safe New Year.

Cheers,

Chris

Chris:

As always good to hear from you as it has been a while...

I am happy to hear that you have found a new job and are keeping your house in Melbourne, very nice theatre you have built for yourself there...very much agree that the economy s very difficult at present...

I think -- particularly as you are living on your own in Darwin -- that a little fun and entertainment is necessary so a 65" plasma like like the ticket...enjoy...though I must admit that I am not a gamer, never developed any interest in it...

Thanks for the kind words on theatre though I do wish I had more time to enjoy it as I am lucky -- these days -- to more than 1 to 2 hours per week, hardly the plan when I built it...and, absolutely, when you come to Canada do pop in for a visit as it would be great to spend some time together...

Too bad about the car as I know that you really enjoyed that car...completely understand the pricing issue as we have similar -- albeit smaller delta -- between Canadian and US car prices...and, I hate being reminded of it as I picked a new car and, during my research, I discovered that the exact same car in the US is roughly 20% to 25% less expensive, not good but what can you do...and, by the way, I too picked up an Audi only it was an Audi TTRS rather than the S5...

Wishing you and your family a great year...

I haven't been active on AVS much in the last 1.5 yr due to a passion I have wanted to fulfill for a long time, a cost no object home gym that uses the best commercial equipment in the world.

My project was a little premature since I did not mean to start this project until the permanent job and house were accomplished. I ended up getting the equipment before the ('permanent') house. However, once I started researching the Glute Ham Developers about 1.75 years ago, it was a slippery slope that avalanched into full blown researching, demoing, and purchasing all of the equipment.

I have been doing demos, talking with reps, visiting various gyms, and visiting colleges, pros, and manufacturers when necessary.

In any case, It took over a year and a half, and is essentially complete except for several of the last custom pieces have yet to arrive. Many of the pieces I had customized to go beyond what you find in a commercial gym. In fact, I am working with UCS Spirit, maker of the worlds best GHD (originally designed for the LA Lakers) on the ultimate GHD which will further improve the design.

The short answer is that no company makes equipment that is the best, not even close. Every single piece of equipment must be cherry picked as "best of the best" for that type of machine. While it is true their may be some subjectiveness to the choices, the vast majority of the choices are demonstrably superior to all other choices in terms of biomechanics. Sometimes there is a type of machine that you have a few good choices, so its up to the individual to pick out of the 3 choices available. For instance:

For example, upper back: I demoed every Hammer Strength Row (they have many offerings such as high, mid, low, DY, etc) along with rows from Atlantis Fitness (awesome Canadian company), Cybex, Strive Fitness, Rogers Athletic Pendulum, Star Trac, etc... Including no longer manufactured but highly reputable pieces like MEDX Avenger (produced until 2004). In a nutshell, it has been a fun and very time consuming project that has been ongoing for the past 1.5+ years... Also involved the best free weights and accessories as well.

Certainly, there is a full set of dumbbells solid with urethane covering 5 - 150) But foregoing discussion of the free weight choices (lots of Ivanko involved), the following machines are what I feel are the best in the world for that specific type of machine, and these are what I purchased:

Leg presses:

Rogers Athletic Pendulum Hip Press
Rogers Athletic Power Squat Pro
Atlantis 40 degree Leg press (with modified wide foot plates)
MedX Avenger Leg Press
Atlantis Power Squat (modified additional wide foot plate surface)

(Nebula 35 degree leg press would be a runner-up, but I feel the Atlantis is better)


Leg Curl (best bio-mechanics and everything else bar none):

Star Trac Prone Leg curl
Star Trac Kneeling Leg Curl


Leg ext:

Strive Fitness (their Plate loaded is better than any selectorized I have tried)


Leg Abducter/Adducter:

Strive Fitness by far makes the best abductor/adductor units on the planet.



Calf: (I have 2 seated calf machines because they are both amazing):

Atlantis standing calf
Sorinex seated calf
Nebula seated calf
Sorinex Donkey calf (future purchase)
Free Motion Epic calf ext


Shoulder:

Rogers Athletic Pendulum: Shoulder/Incline/Chest machine. (I had to go to USC and meet the strength coach to demo this machine. I had my doubts, but it is a true Leonardo Da Vinci machine, its pure genius).

Hammer Strength Plate loaded Iso lateral
Hammer Strength Plate loaded Super Incline
Strive lateral raise (amazing piece)

Traps:

Specialty bars and a nice piece from Elite FTS, forget the name off the top of my head.


Triceps:

Cybex VR3 arm ext, with heavy stack option.
Atlantis D-123 Pulldown with various tricep attachments.
Atlantis Dipping station (best on the market)

Biceps:

Strive plate loaded bicep
Hammer Strength plate loaded bicep

Back:

Hammer Strength Iso lateral MID ROW, with modified chest pad.
Atlantis D-123 pulldown, also comes with 310 lb stack (best pulldown on the market, hydraulic seat, etc...)
Atlantis D-132 High Row (310 lb weight stack is standard on this).


Chest:

Rogers Athletic Pendulum Vertical Chest
Hammer Strength HORIZONTAL iso lateral chest
Rogers Athletic Pendulum Shoulder/Chest/Incline (hard to describe how awesome this piece is).


Abs:

Hammer Strength MTS selectorized AB CRUNCH. (Although I demoed the plate loaded one in Vegas and it was just as good and also allows twisting of the seat for obliques).

Strive fitness Rotary Torso: amazing piece... modified to have 225 lb weight stack.


Benches:

If I could only pick one brand, it would be Nebula. I have their 3 -way bench on order along with a new prototype rack that we have been working together on that will end up being better than anything else on the current market. Its my last really cool part of this project.


Racks:

Nebula: the new Hammerhead racks are awesome, but this new style rack we are working on is going to be the best thing yet, 3-4 weeks should be finished.

Atlantis Poliquin rack is my second fave.

I'm not a fan of 4 inch spacing on Power-Lift Racks.


Well, I guess I tried to make a short nutshell. There is a lot mor etoo this, including all of the free weights, specialty bars, etc...

Here are some various pics:

Do we get to see a before and after pic of yourself? This is some serious equipment!! Best you look bigger than Brutus Maximus after all this gear... well done

Bah! I have witnessed more high end rides getting totalled, than all of your rides together...mostly because I worked for one of the most advanced crash testing facilities in the world .

My latest ride, though, is this italian fullblood prototype, but perhps not what you'd first think of (still waiting for mine to be delivered though):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-hXbr939m4

Jeff:

Crap, that is an incredible video...I was surprised how much faster the 997 Turbo S is off the line but the Lambo just crushes it at 200 mph...