VanMoof encryption key exporter • Hacker News Board

Re: VanMoof encryption key exporter

#221

Post by midoridensha » Mon, Jul 17, 2023, 1:40 AM UTC

Foivos wrote: post #69

RajT88 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A buddy of mine is a hardcore rider. He goes through a $5k bike every 5 years or so. Could he refurb the titanium frames for newer parts? Maybe. At some point racing tech moves on and you need a newer frame for the latest and greatest stuff to fit.

What do you mean "go through"? What does a bike have that gets consumed to the point that you have to replace the whole thing?

Nothing gets consumed, he just gets bored with his 5 year old bike and wants something that has all the latest new tech. He probably got a new 12-speed bike in the last year just because it's 1 more speed than the older 11-speed bikes from 5 years ago, for instance.

Re: VanMoof encryption key exporter

#222

Post by newaccount74 » Mon, Jul 17, 2023, 10:37 AM UTC

sudosysgen wrote: post #205

beardedwizard wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this may be true for commuting bikes that are typically lower end, but absolutely not true for higher end bikes across the model line of all mfgs. In many cases they switch year over year.

I don't understand your last sentence. There is more than one standard for many bike parts/mounts, so even when they switch (from one standard to another), that doesn't mean it's not standard all of a sudden. I've had very high end bikes where all but a couple components were standard, and those that weren't will probably become standard soon, too.

"Standard" doesn't really help you much. To stay with thru-axles, yes, most rear thru axles are a standard size of 12mm. But they may have a M12x1, M12x1.5 or M12x2 thread. The length of the threaded part depends on the frame. The total length depends on the frame.

Another problem is that every manufacturer has their own standard, eg. Shimano has 24mm hollowtech bottom bracket axles, whereas SRAM has 30mm axles, and they come in a million different sizes (threaded BSA, threaded italian, 68mm wide or 73mm wide, press fit external or internal).

In any case, a bike shop will rarely have the part in stock, because there are so many of them.

Sometimes it's even worse, when a manufacturer just updates their "standard" every few years, eg. the Shimano i-Spec standard for mounting shifter levers has 4 incompatible variants.

Re: VanMoof encryption key exporter

#223

Post by rerx » Mon, Jul 17, 2023, 11:51 AM UTC

haspok wrote: post #185

rerx wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

45 km/h S-Pedelecs can't legally be used on most bike lanes, at least in Germany, even at lower speeds. You always have to share the roadway with cars etc. For many that defeats the purpose of cycling. The actual cut off for the assistance is typically set to 27.5 km/h, because regulations allow for 10% of tolerance... Then, depending on transmission ratios, it can be quite comfortable to ride at ~30 km/h. The accele…

Oh, lovely Germany, I remember seeing a couple of Achtung Kontrolle videos where the cops stopped scooter riders and actually checked that their scooter is not tuned or the speed limiter is not disabled... this does not really happen anywhere else in the world, unless you cause an accident. Maybe too many VanMoof riders were caught speeding and illegally tuning their bikes, and that caused the company's demise? :)

You may be kidding, but in several cities the police started pulling out VanMoof and Cowboy bikes because those models came with "US" or "off-road" modes to raise their motor speed limits. It didn't matter whether people had them activated, just having the software option easily accessible was enough (frankly, the manufacturers were very aware of this being illegal). Owners of these Cowboy models were given the option to disable the switch in a firmware update. Newer Cowboy or VanMoof models didn't come with that option anymore. Both brands lost one of their major unique selling points.

Re: VanMoof encryption key exporter

#224

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Jul 18, 2023, 1:41 PM UTC

avar wrote: post #195

midoridensha wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netherlands is a wealthy developed nation; how did it get like what you describe? It sounds like a lack of enforcement, or some kind of problem with an unrecognized socioeconomic underclass. Here in Tokyo, this kind of problem with theft is unheard of. Most bike theft is just joy-riding, and is deterred by using a wheel lock (goes through the wheel spokes, so it can't be easily ridden). Of course, this is also a plac…

(I immigrated to The Netherlands from another developed nation). It's weird, the main oddity is that it's just not considered theft in the same sense. Before E-Bikes took off ~10 years ago everyone living in a city had a €50-300 beater bike "omafiets" for commuting, if you went out you were expecting your bike to be stolen on occasion. So, you'd steal someone else's bike, either personally, or if you were downtown a…

> When pressed (especially after a few drinks) almost every city dwelling Dutchie you meet will admit to having stolen a bike, or bought a "second hand" one that's obviously stolen.

Complete bullshit. There are people that steal bikes and there are people that buy bikes they can reasonably assume have been stolen and then there is everybody else, where everybody else is by far the larger fraction.

I've lived in Amsterdam for roughly half of my life and that statement really irks me, especially since you seem to use this as a fig-leaf for your own illegal behavior. The lack of enforcement against bike thieves is vexing, but not as vexing is people that move here and that then engage in criminal acts.