Downshift Blog

Now is the perfect time to talk about MERINO!

The main topic of this podcast and Blog post is  the equipment made of MERINO

Autumn has arrived, and soon winter will come... the astronomical and quite cold winter!

Personally, I'm a fan of riding outdoors 365 days a year, and I really enjoy it.

But to make cycling in a few degrees below zero enjoyable, good equipment is of utmost importance!

And now is the perfect time to talk about MERINO!

As I prepared for this podcast today, I took out most of my cycling gear.

Unnoticed, another 8 months of cycling have passed, and we are already so close to the new winter of 2023.

The only difference from the previous 8 months of cycling is that my old Garmin Edge 530 - Mando has a new owner, and during the last 8 months I am actively testing the new Garmin Edge 540 with the code name Bo.

The Nikname "Bo" is short for Bo Katan Kryze.

In short, because while I remember the full name, my efforts to pronounce Bo Katan Kryze correctly and faithfully are overwhelming. :)

The tradition is that my Garmin bicycle computers receive a Nickname related to a character from the series "The Mandalorian"

This tradition goes many centuries back to the battle against the Empire for the Force. :)

It started from my second Garmin bicycle computer model: Garmin Edge 130 with the Nickname Grogu.

You can read a detailed review of Garmin Edge 130 Grogu  in the publication in the Blog named: Garmin Edge 130 - Grogu Review by a randonneur - Part One

For TPU inner bicycle tires, I found out a little over few months ago.

It happened entirely by chance - I read about TPU tires from a comment by Ivan - a fellow cyclist, under a post in one of the cycling groups on Facebook.

I had just received my new set of Continental GP 5000 tires, and the post on Facebook was precisely about a topic that is extremely important for every cyclist - tires. :)

The colleague had posted a picture of two tiny, thin, green inner tubes and explained that he had recently gotten them and hadn't even tested them yet.

Later, another fellow cyclist, Dimitar, strongly recommended these new TPU tires to me in the Facebook chat. He said he had been using them for a year and a half:

YouTube's foray into podcasting is not just a new feature; it's a whole new realm for creators.

With its vast user base, YouTube is an ideal platform for podcasters to amplify their voice and reach a global audience.

YouTube is not just expanding its content repertoire with podcasting; it's redefining the podcasting landscape by integrating it into its video-centric platform.

Here’s what makes podcasting on YouTube a game-changer:

• Integrated Global Platform: YouTube's 2 billion-strong audience is a diverse mix of individuals who are already consuming video content. By adding podcasts to the mix, creators can tap into an existing community that's ripe for audio-visual storytelling.
• Enhanced Discoverability: Podcasts on YouTube benefit from the platform's sophisticated search and discovery algorithms, which can increase visibility beyond traditional podcast platforms.

YouTube's data suggests that podcasts with video elements outperform audio-only content. This is a nod to the platform's visual-centric audience who engage more with content that has a face or story to tell visually.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Video Podcasts: Podcasts with hosts appearing on camera have shown to receive double the views compared to those with static images.
• Automated Video Creation: For RSS feed submissions, YouTube will automatically generate a video using the provided MP3 and image, crafting a seamless audiovisual experience without extra effort from the creator.

I have spend the last few weeks testing and experimenting with many different MiuiCamera Leica Mods with the main focus on the Android Opensource Project (AOSP) based ROMs like the famous Lineage OS.

At the moment I have build and I'm using my first custom Android ROM which is based on Lineage OS version 20 with a custom build kernel: Lupo-kernel which I have configured and compiled strongly focused on the super endurance battery life with good overall phone performance.

More details about the custom ROM Lineage-OS UNOFFICIAL version and the Linux kernel I use I'll write in a next Blog posts.

This post is focused on the latest MiuiCamera Leica Mods available at the moment: version 4.9 and version 5.0

In general the famous Lineage OS OFFICIAL come with a vague semblance of a photo program that is far beyond the capabilities of the Redmi Note 10 Pro Camera full hardware capabilities and potential.

If you are Inspired of the Mobile Photography and you are using a good Camera phone produced from Xiaomi like Redmi Note 10 Pro you definitely have to use together the MiuiCamera (Leica) AND the best Google Camera Mod (GCam) available at the moment which definitely is GCam LMC 8.4 Camera Mod from Hasli.

The Artificial intelligence is the new Internet... :) - a strange statement, but I absolutely agree with it! :)

By this statement, I mean the fact that after the official launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, we faced a truly significant change of second order and embarked on a new path.

Personally, I believe this change is comparable to the emergence and penetration of the Internet in the mid to late 1990s.

Very few people still realize and fully comprehend the new fundamental change that is already an undeniable fact.

Artificial intelligence is here to stay and grow with us, there is no going back!

The capabilities of Artificial Intelligence at this early stage of its creation and development are IMPRESSIVE.

Only a few of us can even imagine the fundamental changes in our lives and daily routines that the emergence of Artificial Intelligence will bring.

Several months already has passed unnoticed with the new Garmin Edge 540!

For a few months now, my faithful old Garmin Edge 530 Mando is navigating from the handlebar of its new owner.

In this review, I will describe in detail what different and new features are present in the interface of Garmin Edge 540, 840, and Edge 1040 - the cool new things that are missing in the interface of Edge 530, Edge 830, and Edge 1030 Plus.

This article is NOT another list, dry statistics, and enumeration of the news, but I will share what personally excites me the most and what new things I use daily while riding. :)

ClimbPro Free Climbing - a cool tool for climbs! :)

I wrote extensively about the news in the new ClimbPro two weeks ago.

Garmin Edge 530 review by a randonneur, initial brief conclusions.

Why does my new Garmin have the nickname Mando?

Detailed Weather Forecast for a brevet with RandoPlan.com.

Garmin Edge 130 Grogu Battery Life and Valuable Features like Garmin LiveTrack, Garmin or Strava Segment Support, and Radar

In this second part of my review of the Garmin Edge 130 - Grogu bike computer, I focus on the battery - real endurance and reliability, and then I'll tell you in detail about the LiveTrack feature and support for Garmin or Strava segments.

So, my initial introduction and basic settings of Grogu were already completed.

My overall first impression was WOW! :) Small, but on the other hand, how "harmful" such a small thing can actually be Grogu! :)

I received a very small/compact bike computer, which turned out to be full of all sorts of valuable features for the cyclists - randonneur, valuable capabilities despite its small size.

A true little Jedi. Just like Grogu - the small Jedi baby Yoda from the Star Wars series - The Mandalorian.

And so my new little, but quite powerful for its size friend, Garmin Edge 130 got its name: Grogu

Garmin Edge 530 Altimeter and %Grade Problems and their unexpected Fix