nib Group

It has always been hard to estimate impact of the most amazing things that engineers are doing on the background. Werner Vogels explains it well in his keynote. It was an inspiring talk about invisible engineering that innovates and fixes impossible problems. So great to hear it from CTO. #awssummit

Against all common sense, Rubberlover.bike is back. Like many, I’ve had a weird mix of reliance, conflict and cynicism around AI. So earlier this year I stopped overthinking it and tried resurrecting a retired side project, using AI as my tutor. Back in 2020, whilst massively overthinking tyres for a new bike build, I kind of accidentally turned a spreadsheet of tyres into a niche website I ended up calling Rubberlover. It slowly developed a nice little following in the alt-cycling community. As the site grew, maintaining 1000s of data points across dozens of brands became brutal. Bike tyres might seem simple on the surface, but you've got TPI, casing, compounds, tubeless, ETRTO, sidewalls, tread patterns... and every manufacturer represents this stuff differently. Madness. So after 18 months, I had to shut it down. Years passed. People kept asking about the site. A few folks even asked if they could take it over, but I just couldn't let go of it. It was my baby. I’d also drifted further from hands-on development. I'd spent around 18 years as a web developer earlier in my career, but I’ve been in product/platform roles for years now. And modern web development had evolved. I challenged myself to rebuild Rubberlover from the ground up in my spare time, using AI more like a tutor than a code generator, while touching as little code directly as possible. I started with Claude for design exploration, jumped into Cursor for early vibe-coding, then shifted toward ChatGPT and Codex for implementation. Most of this was unfamiliar territory for me. I kept asking questions, breaking stuff, and figuring it out as I went. What surprised me most was how much AI lowered the friction around learning. Instead of fighting code for hours, I could obsess over the actual experience. Weird tyre edge cases. Search/filter behaviour. Silly loading messages. The important stuff. I kind of became obsessed with the data architecture side too. Normalising inconsistent manufacturer data while preserving the quirks that make boutique tyre brands unique became one of the most satisfying things to tackle. It also became very obvious where these tools struggle; over-engineered solution, broken abstractions., generic UX, hallucinated certainty, and NEVER-ENDING sycophancy. It all still needs human judgement, taste and restraint. So last weekend, Rubberlover returned in all its unhinged glory. Yep, the branding is ridiculous. Tyres completely change how a bike rides, and they’re often the final kiss that gives a build its personality. We bike nerds obsess over every detail, and tyres a part of that stylistic choice. The best part has been seeing the community reconnect. Bikepacking.com shared a lovely article about the re-launch, riders started sending feedback, brands reached out, and I’ve made 10 bucks via Buy me a Coffee 😅. More than anything, this whole experience has reminded me how much I still love making stupid things for the internet. Rubberlover.bike

🚀 We’re Hiring: Business Development Professionals | QLD & VIC 🚀 We’re growing and on the lookout for experienced Business Development (BD) professionals across Queensland and Victoria to join our All Plan Management team. This opportunity is ideal for individuals with Plan Management or Support Coordination experience who are ready for the next step in their career—moving into a role focused on strategic growth, partnerships, and impact within the NDIS space. ✅ Experience in Plan Management or Support Coordination preferred ✅ Strong relationship‑building and stakeholder engagement skills ✅ A growth mindset and passion for helping organisations scale meaningfully and sustainably If you (or someone in your network) are ready to transition from service delivery into a growth‑focused BD role where your sector knowledge truly matters, I’d love to connect. 📩 Comment below or send me a message to start the conversation. #Hiring #BusinessDevelopment #NDIS #PlanManagement