HAIBIKE SDURO ALLMTN 7.0 REVIEW

When releasing the HAIBIKE SDURO, Haibike wanted to reach out mainly to young, sporty riders. For the new season the Haibike SDURO AllMtn has been given a new Yamaha PW-X-motor and a slightly more aggressive geometry, featuring a longer frame and shorter chainstays. A small, stem-integrated screen displays all of the settings and crucial info. With a more than reasonable price of € 4,299, the SDURO AllMtn 7.0 offers pretty much everything we could ask from a modern E-Mountainbike. Chunky Schwalbe Nobby Nic Plus tires with reinforced Apex sidewalls provide a great amount of traction and the FOX Performance suspension combo delivers impeccable control and top riding comfort.


One light touch on the cranks and the new Yamaha PW-X-motor fires up in all its majesty. The Zero Cadence-setting provides loads of power from the first pulse on the pedal. There are a total of five support-levels to choose from, of which the lower two feel rather weak. We ended up sticking to support-level 3 most of the time, which encouraged the bike to climb eagerly.


The sitting position is centred and the elevated ground clearance allows mastery of even the mosttechnical sections without breaking a sweat. One clear drawback is the 2 speed-drive, which struggles to shift into the little cog when under load. The bike feels nicely balanced and refreshingly stable in corners, but somehow still a little clumsy and lazy despite the short chainstays. The high bottom bracket makes you feel as though you are standing on top of the bike rather than in the bike. The manufacturer justifies this choice with one rather relevant safety measure– crank clearance- a good reason to compromise handling qualities a little, at least in their opinion. The rear-end feels relatively linear and likes digging deep into its travel. This translates into a comfortable ride, maybe a tad too tame for more aggressive riders.



The Haibike SDURO AllMtn 7.0 in detail

• Fork FOX 34 FLOAT Performance 150 mm
• Rear shock FOX FLOAT DPS 150 mm
• Motor / Battery Yamaha PW-X / 500 Wh
• Brakes Magura MT5/MT4
• Drivetrain Shimano XT/SLX
• Seatpost XLC AllMtn Remote
• Stem Haibike Components The STEM 50 mm
• Handlebar Haibike Components The Bar 780 mm
• Tires Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evo
• Rims / Hubs Rodi TR40 / XLC Evo Disc

PlayStation VR PS4 REVIEW

Update: PlayStation VR is going to get a swath of new games in 2017, including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Several new virtual reality games debuted at Sony's E3 2017 keynote, although almost none of them were given a release date. The good news is that plenty of fun titles are on their way. The bad news is that we don't have a definitive release date for any of them.

With the PlayStation VR, the world of virtual reality has made its way to consoles in a big way.



Previous headsets have not only been expensive themselves, but have also required expensive gaming PCs to have enough power to run them.


The PlayStation VR is different. Not only is the headset itself much cheaper than its competitors, but it also only requires a PS4 console to run.

Frankly, it's remarkable that such an affordable solution is as capable as it is.

It has its problems – the most notable of which is the fact that you'll need to buy a PlayStation Camera if you don't already own one, and then shell out for PlayStation Move Controllers on top of that to get the full experience – but by and large PlayStation VR proves that not only is console VR viable, but it's actually enjoyable, too.

We've now tried dozens of games on the console, from Rocksteady's impressive (but short) Batman: Arkham VR to the laugh-out-loud funny Job Simulator to the tear-jerking Wayward Sky and even a horror game – Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.

Some of these titles were more fun than others, obviously, but all of them made the same point: PlayStation VR doesn't suck.


Before we go on talking about PlayStation VR's finer points (and foibles), let's get the basics out of the way.



The system is sold in two varieties: the basic PlayStation VR package that only includes the PS VR system, headphones and all cabling required for $399 / €399 / £349 / AUD$549, and a PlayStation VR Launch Bundle which includes the PS VR system, PlayStation Camera, two PlayStation Move Motion Controllers, and a copy of PlayStation VR Worlds for $499 (about £390/AU$655). Another interesting pack-in is the PlayStation VR demo disc that comes with both packages and has a dozen-or-so titles ready for you to check out.

If you don't already own the PlayStation Camera or Move Motion Controllers, the Launch Day bundle is the better bet here – especially considering that you'll get one of the best games on the platform, PlayStation VR Worlds, for free.

Besides the PlayStation VR unit itself and the PlayStation Camera, all you'll need is a PS4 (the recently released Slim version, the three-year-old original or the ultra-powerful PS4 Pro will do), a PS4 DualShock 4 controller and a 6-foot by 10-foot play space that's well lit, but not too bright.

Setting up the unit can be done in a matter of minutes and the provided instructions offer a clear visual guide to get you up and running.

How does PlayStation VR work?

Like other virtual reality headsets on the market, PlayStation VR has the arduous task of completely immersing you in a video game by producing two images simultaneously and then sending them to a headset a few feet away. But unlike the competition who require expensive graphics cards to get the job done, PS VR can do it using only the PlayStation 4's built-in GPU.

It achieves this by using the PlayStation Camera to track nine different points of light on the headset and the lights on either the Move controllers or on the DualShock 4, depending on which game you're playing.

It's surprisingly accurate given the fact that it's only using a single camera to track what's happening ... but it's not foolproof by any stretch of the imagination. We'll cover performance in detail in a minute, but be prepared for the camera to lose track of the controllers. A lot.


But the real bummer here is that because Sony only uses one camera instead of two, it's harder for PlayStation VR to track you if you get up and walk around than it is for a system like the HTC Vive which can offer true room-scale VR. That said, it still can support you if you decide to get up and wander around, but don't expect to take more than a few steps in any direction without a warning from the system that you're straying too far away.

To that end, most PlayStation VR games can recommend that you stay in one of two positions, either sitting down or standing up and stationary. If you're prone to motion sickness, sitting down might be a bit more comfortable, however, certain games are definitely better played on your feet.

What's Under the Asphalt, Metal, Wood, Rubber Or Clay Tiles on a Roof

Steel: Valleys

In precisely the same way water runs across the valleys between 2 hills, water runs across the valleys onto your roofing contractors Bronx NY peaks. Valleys generally obtain the highest concentration of water flowing through them, therefore installing them properly is vitally important!

As mentioned in the Leak Barrier segment, valleys have escape barriers installed underneath them. Though some Building Codes do not demand such a flow barrier to be installed, we recommend installing one always in every valley.

A word of warning: Many Bronx roofing contractors install valleys in a fashion called 'closed'. A closed valley consists of Shingles woven inside the valley, as opposed to an 'open' valley which has sheet metal running from top to bottom. Both the 'open' and the 'closed '' style of setup are acceptable by the most Building Codes and by most producers, however, the 'open' style installation has always performed the 'closed' style...and costs exactly the same price to install. Ask your roofing Bronx to utilize the 'open' style of installment for your roofs valleys, this could save you from needing to replace your roof system prematurely and also can avoid headaches in the long run. Usually, an 'open' valley is installed with a 30 gauge sheet metal, 4' wide, coming in 10' sheets. This metal can be ordered in any color to match the shingles on your roofing contractors in Bronx New York.

Leak Barrier

Think about a leak obstruction as a "second layer" of security for your roofing Bronx NY. A backup program, if you may, in addition to a protection against moisture develop. Leak barriers are almost always installed in addition to the Drip Edge and Rake Edge metal along eaves trough areas, gable locations and valleys due to the risk these regions pose for leaks, ice builds up, shingle corrosion and water back flow.

If you've ever looked in the roof through the winter, you'll see how snow and ice build up along the length of your eaves troughs and within the roof valleys. As with Rake Edge and Drip Edge, some Building codes need Leak Barriers to be set up and a few Building Codes do not. In Alberta, the Building Code requires a leak Barrier to be installed on all eaves trough and valley regions of a Roof Systems due to issues associated with these ice and snow build up. As an optional update, some high-end roof systems also have leak barriers installed on top of the entire roofing Bronx NY (as opposed to only along the distinctive regions we only mentioned) were generally a normal Bronx roofing contractors Protection would normally have been installed.

Virtually all roofs at Calgary, Alberta have escape barriers installed, and lots of different sorts of leak barriers can be found in the present market, each offering a different level of reliability, functionality, and warranty and generated by several manufacturers.

Choosing an appropriate Leak Barrier and installing it correctly is a significant step in each Roof System. Speak with your cement sidewalk to find out more about leak obstacles, how to choose the best one and how to pick roofers Bronx to install it.

Roof Deck Protection

Roof Deck Protection Is Extremely similar to a Leak Barrier. The difference is that Roof Deck Protection is set up on the entire sidewalk violation area instead of only on "specific areas" as we mentioned in the Leak Barrier section.

Typically, Roof Deck Protection is a measure lower in quality than a Leak Barrier. Much like Leak Barriers, however, there are lots of unique kinds of Bronx roofing company accessible to choose from ranging from basic felt/tar paper to innovative plastic weaved sheets of tear and wrinkle proof material. Picking a reliable concrete sidewalk is a Significant Part a quality Roof System.

A word of caution; many roofing companies utilize felt paper as cement sidewalk repair. Although using felt paper is a standard and acceptable practice, a few issues can arise if the felt paper gets wet during or after the installation. Ever see how paper tends to curl when it dries after it was wet? In a similar manner, felt paper could curl if water or extra moisture touches it. For this reason, and because the price tag is rather modest, we recommend installing a greater quality Roof Deck Protection like a GAF/ELK Deck Armour. For a relatively small additional cost, you'll be rewarded with a much more reliable concrete sidewalk repair.

Best Reason To Decide On A Fire TV

On the left-hand side you have your classes (programs, Prime video, audio, photos, etc.), and when you select one, you can look at that section. You've got your selection of programs, that includes almost everything you might desire (Netflix, Spotify, Showtime, YouTube, Vimeo, and so forth), except for HBO Go. And apparently that one's forthcoming--eventually.

But the best reason to decide on Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken with Kodi is in case you want movies and shows from Amazon. Since Amazon Amazon Amazon. No, really, that's what we constantly argue about the Bezos Universe. It's content on its side. And Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken banks on this in a beautiful way. The system is connected together with your Amazon account, so even though something isn't included on Prime Instant Video, you may just click and click and pay to see Groundhog Day or what-have-you. It is comfortable and effortless TV-watching. You do not need to think! That's not a bad thing.

All of that stays the same with Amazon Fire Stick with Kodi. It's only in another package.

So that the question a lot of folks have is how does Amazon Fire Stick Kodi stack around Chromecast? They're similar in terms of what they do (flow content), what they cost ($39 and $35 respectively), and exactly what they are (HDMI sticks). Amazon Fire Stick jailbroken for sale just does it a little bit better, thanks to a few convenience factors, one being distant. Chromecast must rely on your phone, tablet computer, or computer so as to throw things to your tv, and that works just fine for a few. But others? Others just want a dang remote. That is what we've been used to since we began using TVs. "Where's the clicker?" Every daddy inquiries in living rooms around the globe on Sunday afternoons. We want it. We want it. It reassures us.

Seriously, though: people at Amazon Fire Stick free channels made the exact same argument in favor of a remote to me back when they trotted out the Amazon Fire Stick fully loaded for the first time. It is just nice to have the alternative. Also, Chromecast just does not compute to some people. Think of your mother. Can she figure it out easily? Maybe. But what about your Aunt or your cousin or some Luddite buddy. Not.

The other point of contrast is the aforementioned Amazon Fire Stick for sale. It is $50 and offers a lot of the same as Amazon. Where it excels is search. Search on Roku is universal. You can look up Bill Murray, and it'll bring up a short bio and everything in his thing you could watch and all of your possible options of where to watch them on Amazon Fire Stick hack, be it HBO Go, Vudu, Amazon, or even where. It is great! But Amazon only lets you search Amazon titles, even if you'd really rather watch something on Netflix. The only downside of the Amazon Fire Stick unlocked is that it is kind of slow. And I'd rather have rate and be stuck inside Amazon's walled garden than being stuck at buffering purgatory.

Fresh Designs in Tracking, Racking and Mounting at Intersolar NA

This year’s somewhat smaller, but seemingly more intense Intersolar North America trade show held in San Francisco this week featured a wide array of innovative solar tracking RENOGY 150 WATT SOLAR PANEL, racking and mounting solutions. While offerings by new and old players from around the world include many fresh design and feature developments, here are a few of the standouts:

Tracking Developments Eke Out Higher Yields

Among tracker manufacturers, Soltec launched its new SF7 single-axis tracker at Intersolar, featuring a zero-gap design along the central shaft, with opposing rows of panels abutting one another. The design feature permits the array to generate five percent more electricity than the standard decentralized tracker design now popular in market, said Jose Alfonso Teruel, the research and development manager for the Livermore, Calif.-based subsidiary of the Spanish company.

Lead image: Soltec has unveiled its latest tracker design. Credit: Soltec

Soltec also claims to have the lowest number of driven pile supports per MW in the industry, with spacing of around 20 feet, Teruel said. The SF7 enables improved yield through its TeamTrack asymmetric back-tracking control of individual arrays, with a tracking arc of 120 degrees. The company has reached annual sales of more than 1 GW in the Americas.

Array Technologies, the godfather of the U.S. tracking industry, announced that it has forged a strategic partnership with the high-profile Shoals Technologies Group for balance of system supply. The two companies displayed their products back-to-back at the show. The cooperation between Albuquerque-based Array and Portland, Tenn.-based Shoals will streamline the project engineering design, procurement and construction of projects, suggested Ron Corio, the founder of Array.



“We have no doubt that the collaborative effort of our two teams will result in a BOS solution that will offer efficiencies never before seen in the solar market,” said Shoals Founder Dean Solon. While Shoals is seen as a market leader in centralized options for BOS solutions, Array has installed over 12,000 miles of trackers, as the world leader in cumulative installs.

Sun Action Trackers also launched a new tracker design at the show; its DualTrack 24, a dual-axis tracker with patented real-time light sensing technology. The new design from the San Antonio-based company features a 4-panel-by-6 panel table, a slew drive, and a 60-degree inclination capability. The new design follows an announcement in March that the company was offering its PST-2AL model for residential applications, an untapped market for trackers.

Image: Sun Action trackers now feature Real Time sensing. Credit: Sun Action

“There is tremendous opportunity for this technology at sites with undulating terrain or steep slopes — like the project we now have being installed on the side of a mountain in Hawaii,” said Jonathan Bunting, the marketing and communications manager for the company. The magnesium alloy posts for the system are designed to withstand high corrosive atmospheres and are five to 10 times stronger than conventional galvanized steel, the company notes

Nextracker, a Flex company and the global leader in 2016 tracker sales, unveiled its new TrueCapture enhanced monitoring and positioning system at the show, claiming that the enhancement will offer an average of four percent greater yield. The system includes intelligent learning ability and offers self-adjusting tracker control for individual arrays. The added technology, an outgrowth of the company’s acquisition of BrightBox Technologies last year, continuously refines the tracking algorithm of each individual array in response to acquired insolation and weather condition data.

The weather sensor and monitoring components are mounted beside the solar panels on the array, along with the small self-powering module each array features. The cumulative refinements in this generation of the tracker compensate for traditional energy production losses from construction variability, terrain undulation and changing weather, pointed out Dan Shugar, founder of the company.


Image: Nextracker has enhanced its monitoring and positioning ability with TrueCapture. Credit: Nextracker

Solar FlexRack also demonstrated its newest generation single-axis tracker, the TDP 2.0, which offers up to 90 modules per array, greater rotational range to 60 degrees, and more granular programmable technology to mitigate inclement climatic conditions, noted Steve Daniel, the EVP of sales and marketing for the Youngstown, Ohio-based company. Solar FlexRack is a division of Northern States Steel.

The TDP 2.0 features a redesigned bearing assembly and a larger slew drive, which help combat high wind situations, supporting up to 50 pounds of snow per square foot.

“We are seeing a lot of installs in states like Montana and Minnesota, where there is pretty heavy snowfall,” Daniel said. The company now has about 50 MW of trackers installed following its 2015 release of the initial TDP design, and orders for 2017 have already doubled last year’s total, he noted.

Racking Manufacturers Enhance Integration

Solar racking options are still proliferating at Intersolar. Alion Energy, the Richmond, Calif.-based maverick inventor of continuously extruded concrete racking, touted its latest installation in Mexico at Intersolar, noting that the project is a test case for the technology in the country. The $14-million, 8-MW Jalisco Solar 1 project, located at Zacoalco de Torres, was completed in May for Guadalajara-based Fortius, in cooperation with Trina Solar and ABB, with 100 percent Mexican financing, a first for a project this size, the partners said. Fortius is now working to double the capacity of the plant.

The rocky, desert conditions at Jalisco play into the strength of the Alion design, which is being marketed in the Middle East now, according to Jesse Atkinson, the vice president of marketing and strategic development for the company. Alion is also supplying the Jalisco plant with its Rover robotic module cleaner, which uses 30 percent less water than some other cleaning systems.

TerraSmart, known for its formidable ground screw, debuted its TF2 Landscape Rack at Intersolar this year, featuring a landscape orientation that can accommodate a 6 foot-by-8 foot table configuration, supporting more modules per foundation, the company said. Despite the large size of the table, the array has been tested for snow loads up to 100 pounds per square foot.

The TF2 L rack requires 66 percent less hardware than the competition, the company claims. The new design also includes simplified hardware stacks for easy materials handling and fast installation through connection points. Together these features reduce installation time by 35 percent, the company claims. The TF2 L flexible design also requires less civil work on constrained sites, translating into additional BOS savings.

Mounting Systems Continue to Innovate

Solar mounting systems already seem highly integrated, but Intersolar leaves no rock unturned in this highly competitive market. Supporting solar trackers and other demanding stress designs, Stanley Engineered Solutions unveiled its new NeoBolt Lockbolt Fastener System. The fastener is installed like a standard rivet, but the non-break stem is specially designed for heavy-duty structural applications. The two piece NeoBolt fastener features a collar and a pin with fine concentric pitch-locking grooves that provide vibration resistance and fatigue performance.

Unlike traditional lockbolt fasteners, there is no pin break, so there is no wasted metal, no corrosion at a pin break surface, no installation shock, and no risk of pintails being dropped into the structure.

“Installers often juggle six different pieces to install a bolted fastener, but we can fasten with only two parts,” said Ryan Bostick, the San Jose sales manager for the Danbury, Conn.-based Engineered Solutions unit of Stanley Black & Decker.

Quick-Start Business Plan

Maybe you don't need to write a complete business plan. While many business plans are written to persuade bankers or investors to lend money, many other business plans are prepared just to see whether or not a proposed business idea can be turned into a viable business.

If that’s why you want to write a business plan, this quick-start business plan will work for you whether you’re starting a business from scratch or thinking of buying an existing business.
Just answer these five questions to the best of your ability and you’ll know if this business idea is worth pursuing.

The Management Plan Section of the Business Plan

When writing the business plan, the Management Plan section describes your management team and staff and how your business ownership is structured. People reading your business plan will be looking to see not only who's on your management team but how the skills of your management and staff will contribute to the bottom line.

A convenient way to organize the Management Plan section is to break it into sections detailing your:

Ownership Structure
Internal Management Team
External Management Resources
Human Resources Needs

Prepare an Investor Ready Business Plan

A business plan, as all good entrepreneursstarting out in life should know, is the foundation, or rather a springboard, towards the establishment and growth of a new business. A business plan is an essential tool for companies raising capital – and your business plan needs to be Investor Ready.

What is an Investor Ready business plan?

A document that has been professionally prepared to meet the needs of both venture capitalists and angel investors.
In your business plan, you should be able to see your own project through the investor’s eye. Your plan must be able to answer the concerns of an investor.

Both venture capitalists and angel investors are risking their hard earned capital by investing in your enterprise in the hope of long-term returns that are worth many times their original investment. An Investor Ready Business Plan demonstrates to investors that you are an expert in your industry and that you have a clear mission. An entrepreneur addresses these needs by preparing a comprehensive and detailed view of their business objectives and goals. Some important business plan sections that address different concerns of the investors are below: