spengy.net

Immich is a pretty cool open source, web-based photo library management software designed to easily be self-hosted. 100% of that appeals to me, but unfortunately their recommended installation process uses Docker Compose.

I'm a curmudgeon and I don't like Docker. I prefer Podman because I don't want my containers running as root and I don't like Docker's daemon. Yes, I know it's technically possible to do no-root Docker, but it's slightly off the beaten path and I'd rather just use Podman, which was designed for non-root execution from the get-go.

Podman can do pretty much everything Docker does, often with the same interface, but it doesn't have built-in support for Docker Compose files. Instead, podman compose shells out to an external “provider”, either docker-compose itself, or podman-compose, a big complicated python-based reimplementation.

I wanted to avoid all of that, so I just configured Immich to run in a podman pod.

Here's my shell script for creating the pod:

#!/bin/bash

systemctl --user disable pod-immich
systemctl --user stop pod-immich

cd /home/someuser/.config/systemd/user
rm pod-immich.service
rm container-redis.service
rm container-immich-server.service
rm container-immich-machine-learning.service
rm container-database.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload

podman pod stop immich
podman pod rm immich
podman pod create --name immich --publish 0.0.0.0:2283:2283

podman run --replace --detach --pod immich --name immich-machine-learning --env-file /home/someuser/immich/.env --volume /home/someuser/immich/model-cache:/cache --memory-reservation=2g --memory=4g ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning:release

# docker.io/redis:6.2-alpine@sha256:148bb5411c184abd288d9aaed139c98123eeb8824c5d3fce03cf721db58066d8
podman run --replace --detach --pod immich --memory-reservation=2g --memory=4g --name redis docker.io/redis@sha256:148bb5411c184abd288d9aaed139c98123eeb8824c5d3fce03cf721db58066d8

# docker.io/tensorchord/pgvecto-rs:pg14-v0.2.0@sha256:739cdd626151ff1f796dc95a6591b55a714f341c737e27f045019ceabf8e8c52
podman run --replace --detach --pod immich --name database --env-file /home/someuser/immich/.env --volume /home/someuser/immich/postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data --memory-reservation=2g --memory=4g docker.io/tensorchord/pgvecto-rs@sha256:739cdd626151ff1f796dc95a6591b55a714f341c737e27f045019ceabf8e8c52  postgres -c shared_preload_libraries=vectors.so -c 'search_path="$$user", public, vectors' -c logging_collector=on -c max_wal_size=2GB -c shared_buffers=512MB -c wal_compression=on

podman run --replace --detach --pod immich --name immich-server --env-file /home/someuser/immich/.env --volume /home/someuser/immich/upload:/usr/src/app/upload --volume /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro --volume /home/someuser/Pictures:/mnt/media/megapictures:ro --requires redis,database,immich-machine-learning --memory-reservation=2g --memory=4g ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:release

podman generate systemd --files --name --name immich
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable pod-immich.service

This creates a pod, then creates four containers within it for the services that Immich requires. It also registers it with systemd.

Some notes:

• I run this whenever Immich cuts a new release. I may have to edit the container digests to reflect the new version. You can find those in the docker compose file of the Immich release. This script corresponds to Immich v1.131.3.
• You'll need to customize the paths and the .env file to suit your needs.
• It's likely that this will break at some point as Immich updates their docker compose file. For example if they add another container, I'll have to update this.
• I put the whole thing behind a reverse proxy.
• I don't remember what else I had to do. Good luck.
• I'm using Ubuntu 22.04.

You may ask: “Isn't this essentially just re-creating the docker compose file in a script that makes a Podman pod?” Yep.

Heads up if you're trying to mount an NTFS-formatted drive in Linux. Filesystem type ntfs3 is quite different from ntfs-3g.

ntfs3 is the newer in-kernel implementation of NTFS written by Paragon Software.

ntfs-3g is an old FUSE (userspace) driver. It's generally considered to be slower than the in-kernel driver and is an older implementation.

If you just use ntfs or auto in your mount command or fstab, which filesystem implementation you'll use is a tossup AFAIK. My system seemed to default to ntfs-3g. Better to choose which one you want explicitly.

For my purposes, the in-kernel ntfs3 driver is better because I wanted a non-root user to be able to mount an external drive with an fstab entry. I was able to make that happen with an entry like:

UUID=7CC845FDC845B5E4 /media/someuser/backup ntfs3 noauto,user,rw,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8,windows_names,umask=000,iocharset=utf8,dmask=027,fmask=137,noexec 0 2

With ntfs-3g, giving non-root users the ability to mount drives is a bit more complicated and annoying.

More info about ntfs3 available in the kernel docs: https://docs.kernel.org/filesystems/ntfs3.html

Original review

I bought my Priority 600 in June, 2023. Since then it's been my primary commuting bike. My commute is a bit over 6 miles (10km). About half of that is paved. The other half is dirt/gravel. According to my Garmin account, the bike has at least 2300 miles on it now.

I still like the bike a lot but it's definitely not been as trouble-free as advertised.

New and Continuing Gripes

1. Dynamo Light Trouble As mentioned in my original post, the outside part of the front dynamo hub (the part where the wires connect) continued to rotate occasionally/gradually as I rode. Due to the rotation of the wheel. I tried to get the front axle quick-release tightened enough to prevent this without being too tight, but I guess I failed, because one day it rotated so much that the wires ripped. At this point I was sick of the dynamo hub altogether, so I ripped the wiring and the built-in lights off the bike altogether. I've been using my old battery-powered lights since then.

2. Belt Squeak The Gates Carbon Drive is really quiet when it's clean, and even when it's dirty, depending on what type of dirty it is. But as I mentioned before, certain types of dry dust will make it squeaky. You know the sound of an old clapped-out minivan with a loose fan belt squeaking as it drives by? Imagine that sound on every pedal stroke. Unfortunately for me, the dirt/gravel trail that makes up half of my commute seems to have the perfect type of dust for making Gates drivetrains squeak.

   The recommended “solution” for this is to wash the belt, or at least spray it with some water or squirt it with a water bottle. Indeed, this will quiet the squeaking, for a time, until it gets the same dust on it again. The other recommendation I've seen from Gates and others is to use silicon spray lubricant on it. My routine is to wash and dry the belt and then apply silicon to it every couple of weeks. This keeps the squeaking to a minimum, but I'm a bit annoyed that I have to do this. A big draw of belt drives is the promise of reduced maintenance when compared with a traditional chain/derailleur drivetrain. Overall, this isn't as annoying as degreasing and lubing a chain, but it's still not great.

3. Creaking Frame? My bike has developed an annoying cracking/clicking/creaking sound that happens intermittently. It seems to depend a lot on torque – when I'm putting a more power through the pedals it happens more often. Temperature and even incline of the terrain I'm riding on also seem to affect it. It's a very annoying noise and I haven't been able to find the cause.

   I emailed Priority about this and they responded with advice to lube and check the cranks, the seatpost, and the pedals. I did all this, and it didn't help. Their next recommendation was to try adjusting the belt tension. I increased the tension quite a bit (to 60-65Hz, the upper end of recommendations). The increased tension did seem to help a lot! But, it seemed to make the belt squeak (discussed previously in this post) much worse.

   Another idea is to reduce the belt tension below the usual recommended value. I haven't tried this yet because I'm worried about belt skip, but I should probably try it.

   I also read online (and saw a YouTube video) about this kind of noise being caused by dirt/dust getting in between the frame and the housing of the Pinion gearbox. One YouTuber was successful in getting rid of the sound by removing the gearbox from the bike, cleaning the housing and frame, lubing it, and reattaching it. I bought the the Pinion lockring removal tool (around $40!) and did this operation. It was a lot more work and a lot less fun than expected, and did not solve the problem. However, I did notice that some parts of the frame under the Pinion housing seemed to show some wear (shiny aluminum instead of black paint). This lends credence, in my opinion, to the theory that the sound is caused by the gearbox housing and the frame rubbing slightly. I have a hare-brained idea to remove the gearbox again and place some thin rubber or other material there to try to suppress the noise.

4. Early wear of Gates CDX:SL sprockets While adjusting my belt tension in a (vain) attempt to solve the aforementioned creaking sounds, I noticed that my rear sprocket was badly worn. The front looked OK, to my untrained eye. I emailed Priority about it the rear sprocket. They recommended filing a warranty claim with Gates. I did so, and Gates promptly replied and said that there have been issues with the “economical” CDX:SL sprockets wearing faster in “avid cyclist” or “everyday commuter” scenarios. I guess I fall into those use cases. They sent me a new stainless steel CDX sprocket free of charge and with very fast shipping. They said it should be more durable.

   I paid my local bike store to install the new sprocket. The bike mechanic there said that while the wear on the rear was a lot more obvious, in their opinion the front sprocket was not far behind in wear. So I've reached out to Gates again about the front sprocket – maybe I should replace it with stainless steel, too.

Update: Gates kindly replaced the front sprocket under warranty, too. They sent me a stainless steel CDX front sprocket. Now that I've got both sprockets replaced, the bike is much less squeaky! Possibly the fine dust that causes squeaking doesn't stick to the steel as easily as it did to the aluminum? However, I've only put 80 miles on the new rear sprocket, and only 40 miles on the new front. Time (and mileage) will tell how much better these stainless steel ones hold up.

Solved Problems / Things Gone Well

Some of the small issues I had originally have been solved or haven't popped back up again.

1. Fenders Originally, I complained a lot about the fenders rattling and rubbing on the tires. This is no longer a problem. Maybe I've got the fender adjustments dialed in really well now, or my tires are just getting smaller due to 2300 miles of wear. Either way, this isn't a problem any more.

2. Squeaking Pedals Since I disassembled and greased them the first time, as reported previously, they haven't made a sound and are working great.

3. Loose Kickstand The kickstand hasn't been a problem since I tightened it the first time.

4. Pinion is Still Great The Pinion C1.12 is still working great! It's fantastic. I did the 1 year oil-change a few months ago. It was a fairly painless process. I love this thing so much more than derailleurs.

Conclusion

Owning this bike has been far from a carefree experience, unfortunately. I like it a lot, but maybe some of that is Stockholm syndrome. The Pinion is the most expensive/premium part on this bike by far – all the other parts seem to be of middling quality. It's a cheap bike built around an expensive gearbox. Part of me wonders if I should have paid a bit more to find a different (more “premium”) bike with a Pinion+Belt drivetrain. One that doesn't creak and doesn't cheap out on sprockets! But there aren't many bikes with a Pinion at this price point.

Book: Dark PR: by Grant Ennis

Published: 2023

ISBN: 978-1990263484

Book website: https://darajapress.com/publication/dark-pr-how-corporate-disinformation-harms-our-health-and-the-environment

Dark PR: How corporate disinformation undermines our health and the environment is the book for you if you want to learn the many ways in which your life is influenced by corporate propaganda. The tobacco industry, the sugar industry, motor vehicles, and fossil fuel companies are used as motivating examples. Ennis describes the “devious frames” that these industries use in PR campaigns to prevent meaningful regulations from being enacted. This book is really eye-opening. You think you're a saavy, well-informed citizen and then you read this book and realize the many ways that you've been manipulated. The first half of the book deals with these devious frames, and is a pretty fascinating read. The second half deals with the ways that corporations counteract citizen efforts to organize against them. One memorable detail is the relationship between low-density zoning laws and the decline in civic organizations. Overall, the second half was not as easy/interesting a read for me, but it was successful in making me upset about the decline in our civil society.

Overall: this is a pretty important book and I think many people should read it.

As referenced previously on this dumb blog, I have a Tern HSD P9 “Performance” cargo eBike.

With over 1000 miles on the bike, recently the rear brakes have been noisy and terrible, a sure sign that the pads are wearing out. I've been meaning to take care of it for a couple of weeks but didn't know which pads to buy, couldn't find that information online, and was too lazy to go outside to the bike and figure it out.

Well, today I finally went and removed the pads from the calipers. For any other people out there who wish they could find this information online: The Tern HSD P9 Performance uses Shimano B-Type pads on both the front and rear calipers. The pads I replaced were model B01S, but they have been superceded. Buy the B03S-RX or B05S-RX, instead. The B05S-RX are supposed to last longer than the B03S-RX, so they're probably the better choice.

After replacing both front and rear pads the brakes feel (and sound) great again. Ahhhh. Satisfying.

P.S. As of this writing, Shimano has a nice part compatibility guide at https://productinfo.shimano.com/download/pdf/com/2.7/en. It lists all the current B-type pads (currently only the B03S-RX and B05S-RX). Could be a good resource for you if you've got other Shimano parts.

Book: Lightbringer by Pierce Brown

Published: 2023

ISBN: 978-0425285978

Website: https://www.piercebrown.com/redrisingsaga

Lightbringer is book 5 of the Red Rising series, or book 3 of the tetralogy following the first trilogy, or something like that. Although this post is mainly about Lightbringer, I'm also gonna use it to share thoughts about the series as a whole. There might be some spoilers.

The first Red Rising trilogy, to me, started out as yet another dystopian teen sci-fi novel. Society divided into distinct groups? Check. Protagonist at the bottom? Check. Tragic romantic backstory? Check. Decadent capital and ruling class? Check. Violent battle royale? Check. I was on the verge of putting the first book down until Darrow reached the Institute. Even though this plot still rhymed very much with The Hunger Games, it was executed so well that I couldn't put it down. The 2nd and 3rd books of the first trilogy cemented the series in my mind as top-flight violent sci-fi/fantasy space opera melodrama. Unlike The Hunger Games, this series found new conflicts and new challenges for the protagonists instead of contriving new excuses to put them back into the same situation over and over again. Somewhere in here the series lost most of its teen sci-fi flavor and picked up notes of grimdark instead. Overall: Lovable characters. Lots of brutal action. Devious political machinations. Plenty of heart.

Although the first trilogy ended on a high note and brief moment of kumbaya, such carefree notions were quickly dispelled with Iron Gold and the beginning of the 2nd part of the series. I appreciated the realism in showing that overthrowing the evil empire is really the easy part, and that governing the mess that's left over is much harder.

Skipping ahead a bit to the actual topic of this post, Lightbringer was a breath of fresh air for me after the brutality of the preceding book, Dark Age. Dark Age had a lot of important plot events, a lot of action, and a lot of setup for future payoffs, but overall it was a pretty depressing read because basically nothing good happened. The protagonists spent their time losing, failing, and suffering against a backdrop of solar system-wide war and genocide. Arguably, Lyria had a somewhat happy ending, having avenged herself on the terrorist sect that killed her family in Iron Gold. But otherwise, pretty much every character sinks further into peril and badness (note to self: find thesaurus). Dark Age feels like The Odyssey if it ended half way through with Odysseus trapped on an island far from home, his crew having all been killed. It starts low and ends mostly lower.

Lightbringer takes those same characters and gives them a more traditional upward trajectory. There's still a lot of bad stuff happening, but the good guys are getting some wins again and it feels nice. In terms of narrative structure, it makes sense, because if there is only to be one more book after Lightbringer, some plot threads definitely needed pruning. This book does that with aplomb, with several big bad antagonists being dispatched. True to usual Pierce Brown form, their deaths are exciting and violent.

One good thing about all the horrible stuff that happens in Dark Age is that the reader comes into Lightbringer fully aware that Pierce Brown is willing to make beloved characters die or suffer terribly (if you needed a reminder from the first trilogy). As a result, Lightbringer features some scenes that were nearly unbearable for me because the tension was dialed up to 11.

Favorite scenes in particular (SPOILERS AHOY)

Mustang and the battle for Phobos

Mustang spent Dark Age losing the seat of her power to a violent coup and then narrowly escaping, leaving friends behind to be horribly tortured. Now here she is having fallen back to her home turf, defending it against implacable and wily enemies, and nothing seems to be going well. Can this woman catch a break? No, she cannot. The chapters in this section of the book switch POV back and forth between Mustang and her foe in the battle, Lysander, and were so full of tension that it was hard for me to stop myself from skipping ahead to find out the outcome. I really appreciate how Pierce Brown showed Mustang's leadership in making the tough decisions. Sacrificing some soldiers to save others, knowingly sending technicians to die to get vital systems back online to save thousands of lives, etc. She really burnished her credentials as a formidable leader here, managing a tactical retreat that prevented a defeat from becoming a rout. The scenes of her escape and near capture of (and by) Apollonious were incredibly tense. Great stuff.

Darrow and Sevro's fight against Fá

I went into this pretty sure that Darrow would survive. I think if he's going to die it'll probably be in the last book, ya know? But the duel between Darrow and Fá was still immensely exciting and satisfying. Every time Darrow got a hit in on this heretofore invincible-seeming monster, my brain dispensed dopamine. I enjoyed how they snuck into Fá's presence. I didn't guess the plan until shortly before the trap was sprung, and it was a really rewarding realization.

I didn't love some of what Pierce Brown did with Volga in this book, but the scene with Volga and Lyria right before the Darrow/Fá duel was pretty intense. I was pretty sure that Brown wouldn't have Volga use an evil mechanical bone-saw glove thing to rip the beating heart from Lyria's chest in a ritual of mass human sacrifice, but this is Pierce Brown we're talking about, so I was still worried. With most other authors, this scene wouldn't have had the same tension because of plot armor.

Lysander and Atlas and Cassius

By this point in the story, Atlas has been built up as a terrifying antagonist. Always three steps ahead, willing to stop at nothing. Lysander and Cassius taking him down was epic. What happened afterwards was heartbreaking but cemented Lysander firmly beyond the moral event horizon as a bad dude. There was a lot of “will he or won't he” be a bad guy, but I think it's safe to say now that Lysander will be the main antagonist in the final book.

Conclusion

This was my favorite book of the tetralogy so far, with Iron Gold in 2nd place. Tons of tense action, and finally some good things happening for our protagonists. I hope that the final book can continue to provide the action and tension we crave with a good payoff at the end. And with luck, a happy ending for at least some of the protagonists and the Society at large.

Book: A City on Mars by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith

Published: 2023

ISBN: 978-1984881724

Book website: acityonmars.com

I heard about this book because I've read a lot of webcomics. Maybe too many webcomics. Zach Weinersmith is well-known for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, a.ka. SMBC, a webcomic that he has been running for years at smbc-comics.com.

I learned through announcements at SMBC that Zach was writing a book with his wife, Dr. Kelly Weinersmith. The topic: settling space, humans living in the solar system, mars colonies, etc.

You might expect a book coauthored by a web cartoonist to be full of jokes and not take the topic seriously. While there are plenty of jokes (and fun illustrations by Zach), no, these authors took the topic very seriously. Subtitled Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?, the book dumps buckets of cold water all over everyone's over-optimistic near-term space colonization fantasies.

You want to settle Mars? It's cold, the soil is toxic, there's no protection from radiation, it takes months to get there, and there are only intermittent practical launch windows for resupply from earth. Similar problems are laid out for the moon.

Other problems: nobody knows how long-term life in micro-gravity affects human health, especially reproduction. International law governing space is unclear and in some ways open to dangerous interpretation about how space can be exploited. We don't know how to built closed-loop environmental and recycling systems, meaning that space settlements will require expensive resupply from Earth.

I was fascinated to learn about Biosphere 2, a facility and set of experiments in running a closed ecosystem. The tl;dr is that supporting even a small number of humans in closed or semi-closed ecosystem (like, say, a self-sustaining space settlement) is very difficult and very much an unsolved problem.

The authors cover all of these topics and more. They do a good job of pointing out a lot of un-sexy problems that any space settlement will need to overcome. Problems that are mostly or outright ignored by many prominent proponents of near-term space colonization.

I think the book's conclusion is that the authors favor a “wait and go big” approach. Basically, do everything we can now on Earth and in short-term space exploration to study, solve problems, advance our technology, and set up a better framework of international law. Then, send a lot of people all at once. The authors do a good job of selling this approach. Until we perfect the science of running something like Biosphere here on Earth where it's merely difficult instead of you're-in-space-6-months-from-help-and-you're-gonna-die difficult, it seems like we should invest a lot of focus there rather than half-baked mars colony ideas.

The book gave me some good chuckles and was very informative. The authors really did their homework (check the extensive list of sources in the back!). It did drag a bit for me in some places, but this book is closer to an entertaining textbook than a sci-fi thriller, so I don't think pacing was the main concern.

Overall, if you have any interest in science, technology, space settlement, sci-fi, etc. you'll probably enjoy this book and I recommend it.

2024-10-20: See update.

Updated 2023-10-10: the issue I was having with the dynamo rotating and getting disconnected seems to have been resolved since I tightened the skewer.

Updated 2023-10-18: I had some trouble with my pedals squeaking. I disassembled them, cleaned and degreased, then applied new grease and they've been nice and quiet since then. Also the kickstand started coming loose.

Introduction

Earlier this year, I once again had the opportunity to commute to work by bike. My route is just over 6 miles (~10km) and a bit over half of that is on a gravel “rail to trail” trail.

I love commuting by bike. I really appreciate that I have a good pedestrian/bike trail to use, as it keeps me away from cars driven by inattentive speeding psychopaths on most of the commute. However, there is a downside to riding 12 miles on a dirt/gravel trail every day: dust on your drivetrain.

I had been primarily using my ol' reliable 2013 Kona Dew Plus, but it was getting absolutely slimed by the dust and dirt of the trail and I was getting tired of constantly cleaning and lubing my chain. So, I became interested in belt-driven bikes.

Belt Drive

Most bikes use chains. Chains are simple, affordable, lightweight, and efficient (at least when they're clean and lubricated). Chain-based drivetrains with chainrings, cassettes, and derailleurs are the most common type that everybody is familiar with.

However, belt-driven bikes are becoming increasingly common with the rise of carbon-fiber reinforced belts from companies like Gates. The big advantage of a belt is that it doesn't need to be lubricated or cleaned (with caveats). The downside is that derailleurs can't be used with belts. So instead, some kind of geared hub or gearbox must be used if you want a belt-driven bike with more than one “speed.” These systems generally cost a bit more, weigh a bit more, and are more complicated to repair than their traditional derailleur-based shifting systems.

I weighed these factors and decided that I was really tired of cleaning, lubing, and adjusting derailleur limit screws, etc. and decided to try a belt-drive bike.

Enter: The 600

Priority Bicycles sells bikes basically by mail. You order the bike online and then it's shipped to you “mostly” assembled. You finish the assembly or pay a bike shop to do it. One of Priority's differentiators is that all of their bikes use belts instead of chains.

Priority have a bunch of models but the one that caught my eye is the 600.

Pinion Gearbox

The thing that made the 600 stand out to me is the 600% ratio across its 12 gears, and the fact that those gears are contained within a sealed, internal gearbox: the Pinion C1.12. Pinion gearboxes are basically like having a miniaturized manual transmission from a car bolted on to the bottom of your bike. The 600% ratio is massive (outclassing most derailleur setups) and provides ludicrous torque in the low gears and good crusing speed in the high gears. Pinion gearboxes are sealed and require no regular maintenance aside from an oil change every year or 10,000km (whichever comes first).

The lack of regular maintenance needs, very wide gear range, and overall cool factor made this bike irresistible to my lazy self and my hilly, dusty commute.

Other Features

The 600 comes with front and rear fenders, which is very helpful as it rains a lot here. A dynamo built into the front hub provides 6v to the integrated front and rear lights. There's a kickstand. The wheels are 650b.

Initial Impressions

On my first ride, I was struck by how quiet the belt was compared to even a clean and lubed chain, and how smooth it felt.

The Pinion gearbox shifts like a dream, but takes a bit of getting used to. Unlike a derailleur-based shifting system, the Pinion shifts best when not under load. I.e., it shifts better when you're not pedaling. Pinion cleverly designed the gearbox so that you can shift up under load, and can also shift down under load between most gears (consult the manual for details!) but it shifts most smoothly/easiest if you pause your pedaling very briefly. Shifts are very fast. The bike/gearbox comes with a grip shifter which isn't my preferred kind (I prefer trigger shifters) but it works fine.

It's great at climbing even quite steep hills. The low gears on the C1.12 are very low – generally I don't have to go below 6 to climb fairly steep hills. I think on steep hills that are also very long I've gone as low as 3 or 4. I can't imagine what I'd use gear 1 for. Maybe climbing a vertical wall?

Gear 12 is adequate for a commuter bike, but if you're a pro cyclist going down a grade you'll spin out sooner than you'd like and get mad. I wish, maybe, for a 13th gear on rare occasions.

The bike is a bit expensive. You could get a very nice chain-based commuter bike for much less money. I think a lot of the added cost is due to the Pinion gearbox.

500 Miles / 800 km Later

Overall, I still really like the bike. I do have a few gripes.

Noisy Belt Syndrome

The great promise of belt-drive bikes is to free us from lubing and cleaning our drivetrains. But I found that certain types of fine, dry dust can cause a hideously annoying squeaking when it gets all over the belt, as it inevitably will when you're biking on a dusty trail every day. This doesn't seem to affect the functionality of the drivetrain at all, but it drove me bonkers. Reading online, I found that Gates recommends applying a spray-on silicon lubricant to clean belts to prevent dust-related squeaking. I bought the spray, cleaned my belt (☹️), and applied the spray to the belt. For the next week or two, my squeaking problems were solved! But it gradually came back as the silicon wore off. It also seems to wash off a bit if there is rain.

I've fallen into a routine of cleaning the belt and reapplying the silicon every couple of weeks, or whenever the squeaking comes back. I'm not super chuffed about this but it's still a lot easier and less messy than cleaning and lubing a chain. Overall, it's an improvement, but not quite the promised utopian vision of no cleaning and lubing. Maybe if all of your riding is on city streets this won't be an issue for you.

Rattly Fenders

The fenders that Priority include with the 600 rattle and rub on the tires if you look at them the wrong way. If you adjust the fender stays juuuust right, then they will only rattle when you go over decently-sized bumps. But sometimes they come out of adjustment and become incredibly annoying. And adjusting them to the juuuuust right state is not particularly easy. I understand that Priority sells the 600 with two different sizes of tire, 47mm or 50mm, depending on which is cheapest at the moment, I guess? Mine are 50mm wide and from reading online many other 600 owners agree that 50mm is probably just too wide for these fenders. Others report replacing the included fenders with more sturdy ones from Velo Orange. When my 50mm tires wear out I'll try narrower tires and see how it goes. If I still have annoying rattles, I'll likely look at replacement fenders.

Dynamo Hub Likes to Rotate Sometimes

Update: tightening the skewer solved this.

There are two wires that run down the inside of the front fork and connect to the dynamo built in to the center of the front wheel. These wires power the front and rear lights. This part of the hub is not intended to rotate, because wires have to plug into it, and how would that work, right? For the most part it doesn't rotate, but a couple of times after long rides I've found that this part of the dynamo hub has rotated quite a bit. On two occasions, it rotated enough that the wires came unplugged, meaning that my lights stopped working until I fixed it.

I've tightened up the front wheel skewer a bit more, and that seems to have helped a bit, but this has turned the integrated lights from an easy thing that I don't have to think about into a constant worry. We'll see – maybe in a few months I'll find that tightening the skewer has solved it.

Weight

The bike is heavy, a bit over 30 lbs (13.6kg). I do feel the weight as compared with my old Kona. I think a lot of the weight is due to the Pinion, which weighs more than derailleurs.

Squeaky Pedals

The pedals started squeaking at around 600 miles. They were driving me crazy, so I had to disassemble them, clean and degrease, and then apply new grease and reassemble. Since then they've been nice and quiet. When I took them apart, they looked pretty nasty inside. The grease was brown-ish and dirty-looking.

Loose kickstand

The kickstand is secured to the frame with two hex screws. It started coming loose and rattling. I tightened up the screws and that solved it for now, but if it happens again I'll probably have to apply some kind of threadlocker.

Conclusion

It's a great bike. I ride it preferentially vs. my Kona. The belt drive and pinion gearbox make for a fantastically smooth drivetrain. That drivetrain requires a greater-than-advertised-but-still-minimal level of maintenance. It hasn't let me down yet on months of commutes or rides around town. I expect that I'll get many more miles and years out of it.