Yes very true, some locations the challenge is much more on LBS re stocking quality products and some dont put much effort into the challenge - not due to being lazy or any nefarious reasons, but simply they will believe that brands like FL must surely supply quality products - why wouldnt they? But....... i believe competent mechanics - especially in smaller stores where the mechanic will actually want to talk to the customer - it doesnt take much to start to figure out that the experience isnt great. Ie customer brings bike in for service, check chain - way worn. Ask customer how many kms on chain (wait as they check strava... :)) and then go hmmmm - wow thats pretty high wear for 3000km, what lubricant are you using? ah that one we sold you! Due to cost of components, having a chat to all customers re their bikes drivetrain wear rates i think is very customer focussed approach. Why wouldnt a bike store do this - they are there to ensure the customers bike is running sweet, and without very high unnecessary running costs. In the days of prevalent rim brakes, bike store mechanics would tell owners it is time to replace their pads as their brake shoes are about to start abrading on and destroying rim. Similarly - why not ensure customer is replacing chain by 0.5, and ensuring they attain good kms to 0.5. It doesnt take very long in the workshop with a quick chat to customers re what lubricant are they using, and how many kms on the chain, and the wear mark of the chain - to start to see what products are just delivering really poor results. And then if that is a product the store is selling - it always heartwarming to hear from bike stores that then stop and start stocking better products. So even stores (which would be the majority in the world) who have never seen nor heard of ZFC should arrive at a better place on their own. Over the years i have had emails from stores advising that yep they used to stock FL, Muc-Off etc but were just shocked with the outcomes for the customers and so switched to try other products, then found ZFC, and were so pleased to see that my testing matched what they saw for their customer experience and what drove them to move away despite good margins on product. I feel very strongly that if all bike stores were doing this basic customer focus, brands like FL, M-O, white lightning etc would have had to pull their socks up a long time ago or lose a good bit of LBS market share. I can only hope for the future! Well done re you being one of the good stores :)

legend!

Windows and antivirus software have a terrible habit of overworking the CPU while hiding from system monitors. You could try a cooling pad, but I imagine any reasonable Linux distribution would run beautifully, or at least allow you to isolate the issue to hardware or software.

Yeah that is so weird i really thought gaming laptops would have superior thermal management as typically pushed hard. makes as much sense as nissan leafs sealed with no active cooling battery packs! but yeah something very weird is going on re such low CPU and such high temps and fans needing to go nuts all the time to keep things from melting whilst at 10% cpu usage. when i get a mo i will check out your suggestions above but it seems pretty nuts to have to do for a high end laptop. So far my M.O has been to just throw money at buying a computer with waaaaayyyyyyyy higher specs than i need so i dont have to worry about it for 5 to 8 years. Has worked until this one, only 3 years in. Admittedly its been 3 years of perfection until the probs recently began - fast, quiet, flawless till then, but now..... ' sorting out a mystery creak on a bike is easier than this.....

​@@zerofrictioncycling992 Have you thought about uninstalling the third party antivirus software and just use Windows Defender? The builtin antivirus from Windows apparently has matured quite a bit over the last decade and for most users it is absolutely enough. I personally use Linux (and sometimes MacOS), but whenever I did a deeper dive on Windows antivirus for friends and family this was the conclusion I came to and so far there were absolutely no issues.

@@zerofrictioncycling992 I find propping up the back of the laptop where the fan is usually helps with cooling as a quick fix. You can also check the fans and heatsink for dust buildup.

@@longdang2681 thanks yep i have it raised, and underneath i have a large 120w computer fan blowing into the intake vents, and there is good space for the exhaust vents. All was super clean inside as the air is very clean in workshop (i have a large hospital grade air purifier running 24/7), so even fans in laptop had no dust on the blades, intake and exhaust zero dust build up - it all looked practically brand new. With the large PC fan underneath raised laptop there is a lot of air throughput, but still cpu cores really hot - GPU is cool - rarely gets above 35c, whilst cpu is constantly going above 80, seeming to throttle down as it cools to 70, then jumps back over 80, back down to 70 ish, repeat ad infinitum on all cores. Whilst cpu usage at 10 to 15%.... sigh.....

yes that is a pain! i have been asked to provide / offer "Do not oil" stickers for chain stay but i dont know a sticker printing place that does the quality needed to survive the elements of bike riding and not got to crap. I suggest writing on chainstay in white board marker - or even a permanent marker as that will clean off after with most cleaning spray ok (ie disc brake cleaner).

​@@zerofrictioncycling992I have a do not wash sign to hang from my mirror when I have to take it to the dealer for service. It's pretty common among detailing enthusiasts.

​@@zerofrictioncycling992 a standard sticker with helicopter tape over it will hold the sticker in place. It will also protect the finish of the chainstay. Win.

There absolutely are competent bike shops around I've worked at a few of them. Unfortunately the industry doesn't have the profit margin to allow owners/employees to spend an hour talking to a customer about how to clean/lubricate their drivetrain to make a $50 sale (which will leave the customer confused never to come back because they were told something that differed from what their friend/KZfaq influencer/ad/magazine article...). Also most of the bikes that I would have in my workstand whether for a flat or a more involved service had a variety of things thoroughly neglected underinflated tires, dirty unlubricated drivetrain, shift wires in need of lube... and they have the attention span of a fruit fly. In addition many bike drivetrain lubricants are incompatible with each other. If the mechanic is doing a tuneup (which hopefully includes removing the chain and ultrasonically cleaning it) - if the mechanic calls the customer will they know what lube is getting used on their bike?... if they want to switch will the shop need to show the customer how to use a wax lube?

The only way to have it done right is to do it yourself.

@@danielrussell9416 yes and no. Doing it right requires skill/practice - which most amateurs lack. It also often requires specialized tools such as taps, bearing press/pullers, frame/fork alignment table/tools, spoke tensionometer... I can't speak for other mechanics but I thought that I was fairly competent as a bike mechanic before actually doing it for a living. Then I wrenched thousands of bikes while getting tips from people watching over me or critiquing my work who had been doing it for decades. Doing something 8 hours a day 5 days a week while being advised by people who had been living bikes since before I was born for years was a different thing than doing simple maintenance/repairing stuff that broke on my own bike(s). If you find a good bike mechanic - TIP THEM. It takes a few years experience before a bike mechanic is worthwhile. Unfortunately the bike shops work on profit margins that are far too low to keep workers taken care of. Without good bike mechanics the quality of service will fall. Keeping bike mechanics in their jobs with adequate pay will allow them to take more workshops/clinics at trade shows. I will add that about 30% of the time I spent wrenching customers bikes was spent fixing someone else's shoddy repairs/actually doing stuff that should have been done before the bike had been allowed onto the showroom floor (adjusting hubs, headsets, bottom brackets, wheels that obviously weren't trued... on new bikes). Given that a good set of bottom bracket taps + the tools to face a bottom bracket shell (along with a list other tools) costs so much and yet are so expensive to make it poor economy to buy except for a bike shop - my recommendation for most is to do some basic repairs/maintenance yourself but have a good local shop to bring your bike to for complicated repairs to.

Yes indeed there are many systemic issues that affect both mechanics and customers. I have also seen in my very early cycling days that sometimes great mechanics still make basic errors because they were given about 12 hours work to do 8 hours. I know when i have rushed my own work on bikes, or anything - i screw things ups. Many bike mechanics are loaded up big time, they get paid by the hour, and the shop needs throughput for max margin to keep the lights on and the bills paid. The best mechanics are also generally very high functioning people, and there comes a time where working for not much $$ can get old, and the bike store / industry can rarely afford to pay good mechanics remotely what they are worth, which leads to retention problems and thus less top mechanics at stores and a crucial loss of experience and knowledge to pass on to the next generation. I am all for everyone learning the basics of maintenance, of course. And for more mechanically minded and avid tinkerers to go as deep as they like as part of the hobby. But i am also for supporting LBS that have a good mechanic/s as we all REALLY want them to be here in the future.

@@zerofrictioncycling992 many people lack the capability to do basic repairs on their bikes. Some people just don't have mechanical aptitude. I fixed my first flat tire when I was 7 years old with a patch kit. Alone. Nobody standing over me to guide me through the process. I wanted to figure out how everything worked as soon as I popped out of the womb. A good buddy of mine is a great dude and quite smart but mechanically kinda useless. I've shown him how to fix a flat tire many times. Show him, undo the repair and hand him the wheel. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. A few months later he'll get another flat and forget what I've shown him. I've been showing him how to fix a flat tire for at least 8 years - 2-8 times per year. Some people don't get certain things. Some people get it but don't care or are unwilling to spend the time to do some basic repairs. I will also add that when I worked as a bike mechanic about 30% of the actual time I spent wrenching on customers bikes was undoing someone else's crap repairs or doing something that should have been done before the bike made it onto the sales floor ( adjust hubs, headset, bottom bracket, greasing dropper post...). I feel that I have a natural talent for repairing things but before I spent a few years wrenching in bike shops I made a lot of mistakes and parts wore out prematurely. I wouldn't trust the repairs of a well meaning amateur bike mechanic and wouldn't let them mess with any of my bikes. I also wouldn't let most pro bike wrenches touch my bike either. Most of my bikes have never had anyone else touch them since being a frame. Assuming that a random person is going to have magical results from good intentions is foolhardy. I spent years riding bikes and repairing whatever broke plus reading all of the books and magazines about bikes I could get my hands on. Then I started working on bikes full time and getting tips/guidance from more experienced people. Then while not working on bikes for money riding 10,000+ miles per year, reading all the nerdiest bike stuff I could find and talking about bikes with friends. It still took me a few years to be good. I paid for my skills with years of time, prematurely worn parts, skinned knuckles and metal splinters. It's fine if someone lacks the ability, experience, interest... in working on their bike - that's why pro's exist. If you're going to pay someone to work on your bike I recommend that you find *A* person that you like and trust. Not just a shop but that particular mechanic. Then tip them. Some bike mechanics like beer but many don't drink/just don't like beer. It's safe to assume that every bike mechanic likes cash - tip them directly. Also avoid things that are going to be a pain in the ass for your bike mechanic such as white bar tape.

yep totally dust free on inlet, outlet and inside. Even laptop repair guy stumped. Very annoying!!! 6k aud laptop basically useless after just 3 years. FFS dell.

I remember working on bikes from restaurant workers that used leftover grease from the kitchens to lube their bike chains!

yeah for sure - there is absolutely an element of knowing your customer. If they are on a cheap bike and dont notice if its filthy mess and the idea of tracking chain wear is about as appealing to them as cleaning out a septic truck - well one doesnt need to bother trying to sell them a good product. But when a customer is buying and expensive bike and or they know they race / train big kms - it is basic customer focus to have a chat to that customer about a good lubricant (and the store knowing what is a good lubricant). If the customer is not interested, and not interested in a chain checker - well then its on them, but you have second try at bike service when you say hey i know you have only done X kms but you need a new chain, a new cassette, and have made great inroads into your chainrings. That is likely due to the lubricant being rather meh or crap, we stock X which is a proven top lubricant via independent testing, would you like to try that for your new chain etc etc. After a bill shock post round one, many cyclists wise up quick for round 2.

hahahaha thanks alex - yeah for sure - i have a small laptop for travel now but thats hooked to tv most times for gcn+ and kayo for F1 and moto gp. If this one dies / continues like it did last week, that will have to take over as work laptop until i buy a new computer and that will for sure be a desktop next time. But due to the cost of this one, i would really like to get more years out of it first so will keep trying to solve wtf is going on with 10 to 15% CPU usage having the cores at 85 degrees all the time..... its been literally flawless for over 3 years up until this recent drama - Fast, quiet, no crashes - perfect. Then wtf. Thought it would not to bad to sort but its proving much more of challenge than a mystery creak on a bike!

yeah i think it will vary a fair bit by bike store - and i may be skewed a little by the typical zfc customer who is generally pretty avid rider (whether racing or not), and really appreciates not having their lovely components worn out much more quickly than necessary. And the cleanliness etc - but also i would say we have a pretty broad customer base, and as we have been selling circa 3000 pre prepped chains per year last 2+ years, (and zfc is tiny - me trying to work part time and my retail manager working about 0.5) i would say we are filling a gap that smart bike stores should for sure be getting good action on if they took a moment to focus on, learn a little and update - and focus on the customer outcome in this area vs just easy brand name sale with big margin for them but rubbish outcome for customer.

Thanks JNKN! I ahve been advised that the all conditions is the same as the previous UFO - so that is you go to go fast wax lubricant compatible with immersive waxing (other options being silca ss drip or tru tension tungsten all weather). Wet conditions is designed specifically for that - i am needing to do a re test on that as i was given a similar batch issue on as escape collective on test one. So yes ufo clean and ufo all conditons - if you have been enjoying keep on rocking those, great products.

Many shops are porbs also in the same boat, and maybe if a large wholesaler picked a top lube or wax up here in NZ that would be a huge step froward. Its also possible that the long loved chain lube brands are blocking wholesales from supplying decent lubes/ wax...?

where abouts are you based? I havent tested RNR extreme but i believe its still pretty wet, and if its e-mtb, there is only so well that can go. WIll be good to see if there is one of the good brands that can be obtained, even if you deal with direct if no importer in your country.

@@zerofrictioncycling992 I'm based in Hamilton New Zealand. Iv got an E-gravel bike build up with a conversion kit. Yes the extreme lube is fairly wet, but does dry a little over time. Most of our customer are commuters or mainly riding sealed surfaces. Your right, we and other shops could well get direct from the manufacturer, Silca or who ever else. The problem there is effort. My boss wouldn't be super keen to buy from over seas and set up a new supplier relationship and so on vs an existing supplier that we could just add to our regular order. Maybe if we sold road bike or catered to mtb riders it would be a higher priority. I really do think that if a big supplier that everyone had, like Marleen's, Worrell's, or PRV picked up a good lube it would be very easy to convince people to stock it. On a side note a nation wide store Evo cycles is now stocking the Flower Power Lube and a few other high profomance lubes. I was very pleased to see this as it means there is probably hope of every day causal customer getting their hands on better lubricant for their bikes

i have tested tru tension tungsten all weather, and race - and i rate them both - mostly. TTAW is one of our recommendations and can be used with the immersive waxes making it a great option for many. The race lube is probably (make that absolutely) the cleanest lube ever - i dont see how a drip lube could be cleaner, but it has a very short lifespan so you re apply alot of it often, making it very expensive to run. but its cool, i still use as a top up sometimes between waxings if not a big ride next day as its just so clean, and, crucially, i get it wholesale so it doesnt hurt too much! i have their wet conditions lube here to try to test but i have a lot of testing on - i dont have any bigger plans of other lubes above those atm. Is the cleaning product a chain prep or just bike cleaner?

ah almost good! we had a great day re weather (aside from a very chilly start at around 1dg c moving to around 20dg by early arvo) - and i was feeling good and having a good ride. I was solo for a while after i let go of lead group about 1.5hrs in as was starting to bite and didnt want to blow with a lot of hours to go. Garmin navigation was perfect for basically 125km, then it screwed me and sent me on a repeat of a loop, so that added another 24km and another hour to my ride. ffs garmin...... And after that it was trying to send me all over the place and i had to check with other riders + signs to ensure i actually made it back to the finish! So i had a someone longer day than expected...... but still, luckily it was a very nice day for a ride, and i felt good all day so had a grand time, just wish i had finished in my proper spot and speed! Im a hubbard but i would have been 8th, average spd about 25.5kmh and normalised power of 215 for 6.5hrs (2500meters of climbing). After it sent me on a repeat of a hard slow section i had to back off a bit as then i ran out of water before could get back to next support stop, so finished only just over 25kmh , 3000meters of climbing, Np only 208 i think from memory for 7.5hrs as i didnt bother pushing last hour after being screwed by garmin - but for me was happy with those numbers + just felt good all day and hand a great ride day / adventure out, lots of beautiful countryside to ride through as well as private farms - its a rippa event.

Mostly yes - i can never give absolute rules for such things but for most a light spray - especially on a relatively freshly waxed chain - no issues. However a spray on a chain where wax treatment is say 200 or 300km old - you may of rollers start to oxidise if then left for days as they will have little wax protection left on them by then. And then what is in ones water varies a lot by geo location, some areas it rains fairly frequently and so is relatively clean. some it has higher mineral content so more likely to have oxidation. Some live in areas where they salt roads in winter in which case even a light spray might need attention. Or roads along esplanades etc etc. There is always a lot of variables, and so you should get to know what is fine for yours with time and experience

​@@zerofrictioncycling992 perfectly explained, thanks.

cool i have speedfan monitoring atm but will try HW monitor. Re did thermal paste on both GPU and CPU. the GPU has been cool the entire time since issues started - staying around 30dg c even when filming, exporting vid etc. CPU is constantly around 80dg c before and after thermal paste, but air coming out the back is as cool as it went in.

@@zerofrictioncycling992 dam you sure are having some weird issues on that laptop. 3 possibilities come to mind right now: 1 - the cooler has fail. Maybe the heatpipe or the interface between it and another part of the cooler. Solution here is to replace the cooler with a new one 2 - your laptops is miss reporting temperatures in software. This could be from the Bios or windows Solution here is to reinstall windows, then if that doesn't work do a bois update (bois update is getting pretty advanced) 3 - the temperature sensor on the cpu has failed completely In this case buy a new laptop unfortunately. My next step would be run the laptop with all the screws removed from the back of it, then shut it down and touch the cooler staight away. If it's hot (be very careful obviously coss if it is 80c then it will burn you) then we can be pretty confident that the cooler isn't taking the heat from the CPU to the fins of the cooler. Trying a windows reinstall isn't a bad idea ether keep in mind you will have to reinstall every app. Take a full backup of your entire PC first on an external drive. note down what apps you had installed so you can reinstall them again as well.

@@josh573a thanks josh i will refer back to the above in school hols when i take a mini break just in case things go awry. And oh i forgot to advise its an alienware area 51M. Was like 6 grand 3 years ago, was hoping for a 5 yr minimum period of joyfulness, hopefully 8... And yeah have wondered re temp sensor but i was thinking if that was reading incorrectly, in theory it should just throttle down to prevent overheating - things shouldnt be crashing constantly. not sure how to tell if the cooler has failed - it looks the business - the fans are big and sure can move, and there is an impressive network of copper to dissipate the heat. Another viewer suggested different monitoring software so will try that - atm i have been attributing the crashing to the temp (as it did all start after fans started running flat out all the time - this was sudden onset after 3yrs of perfection previously, no issues at all since bought its been lovely - then it started crashing. Then installed speed fan to check temps - and whoa - so that matched the fans going flat out, and i have linked that overheating to the crashing. But i cant understand why it is overheating with such low cpu strain, and everything is clean, clear and now thermally re pasted). However this is far from my area of knowledge so it is going to be a journey of discovery...... but for the cost and previous 3 years love affair i am hoping that all this couples counselling will save our relationship hahahahaha

Hey Nito! best way will just be to quickly wipe chain and reapply another quick coating. If there are cogs in particular starting to spot rust - put chain on a different cog each time adding a quick coating, this will impart enough lubricant to also protect cogs. So it might be simply have a bottle at work, and a bottle at home. This is pretty rare, most dont have any issues just taking care of at home vs needing to also do at work, but some area's - there might be some stuff in the water that promotes oxidation, or - and not sure if this is your chain, but the shimano m8100 12s chain has been a bit prone to very quick oxidation. If its not that chain, it really must be a very rust promoting area as most as long as quickly take care of at home with a quick wipe and re lube they dont have to worry about oxidation or rust.

@@zerofrictioncycling992 thanks for the reply, really appreciated. I've always been frugal in how much I use which may not help. I've just degreased ( as I started using something else ) and reapplied, this time I ran chain over all the cassette and then used a little more, I'll try using a little more often like you said. Btw still interested in your opinion about the peatys range! Also regards location I'm in the south of the UK. About 8 miles from the coast. There's a few valleys between us and the sea and another town so I'm not sure if that has an influence.

@@nito_gocni5460 yep for sure if close is to the see, you can have more salt in the water vapor in the air and more salt on the roads which can definitely speed up oxidation. Peatys - i have them on my long list to maybe look at one of theirs in future - but on a surface look, i cant see anything that would separate them from 500 other products. Maybe they are great. Maybe they are meh. maybe they are poor. There is just not really any way to assess off their website & marketing as it is just basically the same as hundreds of other brands / products. And of course, there is zero to substantiate the marketing. I always ask if curious (alas i just lack the time to email hundreds of companies) - if you are interested in a brand / product, email that company and ask them some basics; > What testing do they have that substantiates their marketing claims. What was the testing (protocol etc), what was the data. > How did they assess the performance of their product vs key competitors? > Have they had any independent testing done, and if yes what was the testing, the data and results 99.9% of the time you will get either no response, or if you do - you will get a marketing fluff response along the lines of "we worked extensively with professional athletes and teams and have conducted thousands of miles of real world testing, feedback and development of our products". What that translates to is they got a lubricant - normally it is X lubricant from industry as a base, and they add Y modifier too it to make it their own. Then the staff at the company rides it, and they give it to some athletes or a local race team / pro team atheletes. They assess it feels just like a lubricant, and wow does that feel like a lubricant. There is no data. There is no wear tracking. There is nothing tangible. Then they go to market with claims matching or exceeding or whatever marketing angle they can find. If it is not the above, and Peatys reply with something of actual depth - please le me know and i will for sure give them a deeper look. But yeah every test is a lot of time and resources, i have to be careful with what i choose to test as i just cant work my way through 500+ random products that are more likely to just be another meh - its a lubricant - product - the market is probably 90% like this.

yeah there was no dust - no dust even in the intake and exhaust vents - hospital grade air purifier running here so there is not really any dust in the air!

I follow what IT support tells me :). All my computers have previously had pre installed norton or mcafee as part of the purchase - i assumed they were the normal go too - but then put onto kaspersky - that was nightmare, an absolute nightmare, so have got rid of that. I will check specifically if i should get rid of latest recommended antivirus and just run microsoft, thanks for raising. My overall IT knowledge you could write on a postage stamp!

@@zerofrictioncycling992 no need to run any 3rd party antivirus these days- they are huge resource hogs. Windows built in antivirus is all you need.

thanks rico! yes i do apologise and i do promise i am trying to work on that but its worse when i am super time pushed so i can do re takes on poorly done clips! desktop might be happening if i cant fix my too young very expensive alienware gaming laptop. I went laptop at the time as i needed portability, but i have another travel laptop now so i dont need the big heavy still nowhere near as good as a desktop alienware laptop. it has crashed so much yest / today i dont know if this fri vid will happen!!

yeah everything looked like brand new - not even any dust on fan blades. I have a large hospital grade air purifier running 24/7 in the workshop so there just so little dust in here - and there was none on intake vents, fans, inside was perfect, there is none on exhaust vents etc. So its super clean there, something perplexing still going on!

If it is a Dell, look for a slipping fan@@zerofrictioncycling992

Bad sounds from a newly waxed chain? Have you flexed the chain thoroughly before putting it back on your bike? Lately I’ve been riding the Crank Brothers Eggbeater pedals, and as they have a small diameter inner bearing sleeve, they are ideal for flexing the chain before re-mounting it, as the chain rolls on the pedal instead of scraping or rubbing over an immobile cylinder, and it’s right there where I need it!

Sounds like something is going rather wrong with your waxed chains! Aside from the initial few mins break in period, a quality wax will then be silky smooth and all parts of the chain running on a solid coating of slippery wax, keeping chain metal wear out of the equation, it has highest possible contamination resistance, is the cleanest etc etc. customers should indeed rightly ask why shops are using it themselves - i can say the smartest best bikes shops i know of are indeed doing so, absolutely love it, and love the super happy customer experiences of their customers they put onto waxing.

@@zerofrictioncycling992 It’s not something I had a problem with when using homebru wax, that was silent from the go, although I did get a lot of flakes initially. But since moving to Silca hot melt - even with breaking each link before refitting, I get dragging. Not for long in the height of the summer but up to 5km on standard Scottish days.

@@AlbaTech freshly waxed chains from msw, hot melt, rex etc - they will for sure be draggy initially as the wax breaks in. typically noticeable for about 5 to 10minuts, hitting optimal around 30 mins in "normal" temps. Draggy is somewhat different vs terrible sounds - im not sure what you are meaning / experiencing there. Aside from initial break in - at the end of the day, the wax is simply a chain lubricant. It isnt by default a terrible noise generator. Depending on what your wax base is, if it is a softer base wax, you will not have the same break in experience. You will still get excess pressed out initially, but softer wax will, obviously, not be as stiff, you wont have that initial drag / break in effect as much. But they MAY be slower as not get to a harder polished surface, and they may be dirtier / gunkier over time depending on their oil / impurity (palm oil / soy etc) content. however if your experience with yr own wax is positive, and commercial negative, stay with your own homebrew!

alas, i just cant do it.... :) My very low level of creator will always be such i am not shifting my world to apples ecosystem!

I bought a second-hand 2012 MacBook Pro 2.6ghz quad core, 8 gig ram, 1.5gig video card retina display, 500gig ssd and it absolutely rocks. Running Catalina OS. Best $500 I ever spent. Video editing with final cut pro without dramas. I will never return to Microsoft. Had been using Microsoft for literally decades. I cannot come to terms with apple phones however. Android phone has no problem connecting to MacBook. The transfer from Microsoft is practically pain free. Added another 500gig external SSD for more room. No need to rely on backups if you export videos to external drive.

I've been wanting to say that myself but I figured there was a reason that he hadn't.

@@clintmichigan9112 yeah my IT lady is very pro mac. I dunno - i just HATED apple ecosystem back in the day - their BRUTAL with OS updates, i remember a lady i used to work with bought a new ipod, but that was on new OS, here 3yr old macbook was on the old OS and that was not going to get the OS, so her new ipod physically could not connect to her laptop to get music from i-tunes. She had to go and buy a new laptop. Wtf. That goes against a lot of fibres in my being re useful lifespans and low waste. There is a lot i think is so bad re i-phone (like you cant put an app icon on screen where you want it for easy of reach with your right thumb if it is a frequent app you use!) - and on and on and on (oh and their green bubble group chat thing deliberately screwing android users so teenagers are mostly forced into buying apple if they want to group chat with their friends) i just......... really, really, really, really dont like apple - but i can understand why many love them. The mac vs windows, android vs i-phone debates are quite fascinating when i stumble across them hahahaha. For my level of creator - i just cant see how i need a mac book. Im super low level need. And in decades on windows - normally i have been getting circa 8 years from a pc or laptop before any issues, and then its fine to get something way upgraded. This a first premature issue in basically 30 years, so whilst a PITA at the moment, one drama in about 3 decades isnt going to have me switching to anything apple just yet :)

@@zerofrictioncycling992 That's crazy about the iPod. I haven't had any issues 11yr old MacBook updated to latest OS without problems. I can relate to your point of view though. I'm so old school I started racing with new winner 6 speed screw-on clusters and sedis chains. So coming from that to immersive hot waxing a 12 speed chain was a quantum leap for me from just using sewing machine oil back in the day. In the interim, while you get your laptop sorted, maybe just grab an external 500gig SSD (they're cheap at Officeworks) and record/export your videos to it directly. At least in that circumstance you won't lose videos/edits when/if it crashes. It'll take the load off your internal hard drive.