Thread for lusting after expensive items we can't afford.

[Aglaya]

Awesome ain't cheap.

[diesel_powered]

But how else is he expected to sing songs of love?

[SPACERACE]

I was about to say I wish I'd waited on my Nano, but it's so so full with music that I can't fit everything I want on it, so having video with no more storage space would be useless for me.

well, $350 for a 160g player is pretty much a pants-shitter for me.

[diesel_powered]

At 160 gig, I still can't fit my entire iTunes library on it, so I'm gunning for one of the new nanos. I can't really justify it until my existing one bites the dust, but the fact that they dumped the stick of gum form factor on them gets me excited.

[SPACERACE]

i'm not a fan of the chode shape.

and while 160 may not be enough for an entire large music collection, it's fucking enough.

[das kranke Tier]

Oh my god I want it so fucking bad!

[Greg Nog]

Holy crap that looks cool.  That is what an Imperial Stormtrooper would play, if they played bass.

[das kranke Tier]

TOTALLY!

I'm seriously thinking about putting some coin down on that thing if the price doesn't soar over the next few days.  I will be broke, but I will be broke with the axe of an Imperial Stormtrooper.

[Gracelette]

It is really REALLY hard to be an accordion-player and to live less than three hours away from Castelfidardo where pretty much all the accordions in the world are made... many of them in small family businesses like the Ottavianelli workshop/factory.

The reason why it is hard is because shit like THIS turns up for sale secondhand in your own city:



I don't even PLAY button accordion but just look at it. It's made out of walnut wood, all the reeds handmade, because that's how Ottavianelli DO things. The seller is only asking 5500 euros...

It's stuff like this which makes me feel guilty as hell for buying a cheap probably imported 380 euro accordion... I mean, you can just tell how much love has gone into that instrument.

Oh god, I just looked at their website and they have a piano accordion version that you can order...



I think that it might be the most beautiful instrument I've ever seen. Um... does anybody have a lottery win lying around? Cos that thing probably costs a year's salary...

[milesofsparks]

this isn't pretty or amazing the way grace's is, but would enable me to play in my apartment:



edit:  but I think I'll have to just settle for this, for now:

[Maaik]

Ooh, what does that bridge go to?

[milesofsparks]

violin

[Maaik]

awesome.

[jebreject]

I just want some more pedals. And a cabinet.

[Doctor Bob]

This is my first visit to this thread ever (never even looked in before), but I have a good reason:



The Rohloff Speedhub 500/14.

There's an animation of it in action here.

Thing is, I can afford it, but it's (sort of) silly money, and my commute is about to get shorter after this weekend so it's getting harder to justify it.

[SPACERACE]

don't buy it. you or whoever fixes your bike when it breaks will have you shot

[elpollodiablo]

Don't have yourself shot DB! Think of the children!

[SPACERACE]

if he's the guy who has to pull that fucker apart and keep it all together then he'll have the kids shot too.


and they break, oh do they.

[C of heartbreak]

Actually if it's well-made (and it fucking better be for that price!), it looks like it won't ever require any internal maintenance.

And really, it can't be that complicated.

Edit: spacer read my mind! I don't know much about these products, but I did spend a month taking my car's transmission apart, and I can tell you it's not as complicated as it looks.

[SPACERACE]

it's made fine, it just is hella complicated, way moreso than a regualr pawl/bearing hub.

there is no such thing as a bike part that does not require internal maintenance.

[SPACERACE]

car transmission A) has 5 gears and B) is large. this has 14 and is fuckin' tiny.

[Doctor Bob]

Do they?  (Edit: that's in response to Space's '...oh do they' comment.)

There's a user testimony on Sheldon Brown's bike website that cites the manufacturer as saying that, of the 20,000 they've sold, none has ever failed.

I know you're not a fan of the hub gears, Space, but I've been running a Shimano Nexus 8 for over a year with no hassles at all, and the Rohloff is acknowledged as far superior to that piece of kit.

[SPACERACE]

well i have no idea what's up with the rohloff quote, i just remember years ago expressing how neat i thought they were to a guy i worked with at a shop, at which point i got a good 5 minutes about how much they hated them because they broke and then were nigh-unfixable.

so YMMV.

and i do think the nexus is a heap of cack as well, but if it works, rock & roll. personally, i ride a singlespeed.

[C of heartbreak]

See, it looks basically like a mini car transmission. Modern car transmissions generally require no internal maintenance except for fluid changes, and they don't break unless they're poorly made or used seriously incorrectly.

There are no parts on a bike that have internal components, with the exception of the bearings--which may occasionally need to be re-packed, but the speedhub looks like it uses oil for lube and is completely sealed, so that shouldn't be necessary.

Get it Dr. Bob! It will be fun! If it breaks I will fix it for you even!*

*I probably won't

[Doctor Bob]

Yup- fully sealed and oil lubed.  And made by Germans.

Space- if it's any consolation, the other thing I've been coveting lately is a single-speed, maybe even a fixie.  Entirely the other end of the spectrum from a 14 speed hub gear, eh?

There was a Surly frame that caught my eye.  Have you any other tips?  Did you build your own?