bachetta front brake inquiry

Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so you
can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives? This
special brake seems like a kludge.

Regards Chris

 

Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so you
can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives? This
special brake seems like a kludge.

Regards Chris

 

I've mounted studs on the rear of the fork for my homebuild. The price on Cane Creek's is enough to
scare most people off - the odyssey looks OK though - I wonder where I can get hold of one east of
the pond for my wife's suspension fork.

Pardon my french - Oxford Adv. Learners Dictionary doesn't know "kludge" - too British maybe?

Torben

"Chris Crawford" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
> the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
> tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so
> you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives?
> This special brake seems like a kludge.
>
> Regards Chris

 

I've mounted studs on the rear of the fork for my homebuild. The price on Cane Creek's is enough to
scare most people off - the odyssey looks OK though - I wonder where I can get hold of one east of
the pond for my wife's suspension fork.

Pardon my french - Oxford Adv. Learners Dictionary doesn't know "kludge" - too British maybe?

Torben

"Chris Crawford" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
> the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
> tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so
> you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives?
> This special brake seems like a kludge.
>
> Regards Chris

 

in article [email protected], Chris Crawford at [email protected]
wrote on 1/17/03 12:02 AM:

> Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
> the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
> tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so
> you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives?
> This special brake seems like a kludge.

Here are a couple snaps of the front brake on my Strada. I've had no complaints about the front
brake at all, it has plenty of stopping power & control. All the complaints I've heard have been
with the rear brake. My rear brake was pretty mushy for a while, but my LBS (who actually doesn't
carry bents at all) helped me get it adjusted properly, now it's great.

I don't know about alternatives on the front, having no complaints I never considered it.

http://www.enteract.com/~cjester/IMG_0198.jpg http://www.enteract.com/~cjester/IMG_0199.jpg

-Carl

 

Chris Crawford <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
> the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
> tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so
> you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives?
> This special brake seems like a kludge.
>
> Regards Chris

Any time I see someone ask "Why?" I have to assume the answer is "Money". It would be damn near
impossible to have aluminum or carbon fiber forks made for 650C wheels *and* cantilever brakes for
any reasonable price. The Giro, with a 20" front wheel, uses a V-brake on the front.

BTW: I think the caliper Bachetta uses is a modified Alhonga, similar to this:
http://tinyurl.com/4kd1

Jeff

 

in article [email protected], Chris Crawford at [email protected]
wrote on 1/17/03 12:02 AM:

> Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
> the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
> tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so
> you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives?
> This special brake seems like a kludge.

Here are a couple snaps of the front brake on my Strada. I've had no complaints about the front
brake at all, it has plenty of stopping power & control. All the complaints I've heard have been
with the rear brake. My rear brake was pretty mushy for a while, but my LBS (who actually doesn't
carry bents at all) helped me get it adjusted properly, now it's great.

I don't know about alternatives on the front, having no complaints I never considered it.

http://www.enteract.com/~cjester/IMG_0198.jpg http://www.enteract.com/~cjester/IMG_0199.jpg

-Carl

 

Chris Crawford <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
> the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
> tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so
> you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives?
> This special brake seems like a kludge.
>
> Regards Chris

Any time I see someone ask "Why?" I have to assume the answer is "Money". It would be damn near
impossible to have aluminum or carbon fiber forks made for 650C wheels *and* cantilever brakes for
any reasonable price. The Giro, with a 20" front wheel, uses a V-brake on the front.

BTW: I think the caliper Bachetta uses is a modified Alhonga, similar to this:
http://tinyurl.com/4kd1

Jeff

 

I have the Strada with the below mentioned brake, it works just fine. The reason for the custom
made brake is it solves clearance problems. Most of us Bachetta owners think the back brake is
mushy with the travel agent booster on it. Some People even replace it, I just use it because it
still stops the bike.

"Chris Crawford" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
> the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
> tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so
> you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives?
> This special brake seems like a kludge.
>
> Regards Chris

 

I have the Strada with the below mentioned brake, it works just fine. The reason for the custom
made brake is it solves clearance problems. Most of us Bachetta owners think the back brake is
mushy with the travel agent booster on it. Some People even replace it, I just use it because it
still stops the bike.

"Chris Crawford" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which has
> the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has anyone
> tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti bosses so
> you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any alternatives?
> This special brake seems like a kludge.
>
> Regards Chris

 

Kludge is something thrown together, 'jury rigged', a baling wire and spit solution. "Torben Scheel"
<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I've mounted studs on the rear of the fork for my homebuild. The price on Cane Creek's is enough
> to scare most people off - the odyssey looks OK though - I wonder where I can get hold of one east
> of the pond for my
wife's
> suspension fork.
>
> Pardon my french - Oxford Adv. Learners Dictionary doesn't know "kludge" - too British maybe?
>
> Torben
>
> "Chris Crawford" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which
> > has the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has
> > anyone tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti
> > bosses so you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any
> > alternatives? This special brake seems like a kludge.
> >
> > Regards Chris

 

"Torben Scheel" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Pardon my french - Oxford Adv. Learners Dictionary doesn't know "kludge" - too British maybe?
>
A kludge (pronounced klooge) is a makeshift solution, usually workable but not fully or properly
engineered, with a small dose of Rube Goldberg thrown in. (R.G. being known for overly-elaborate
devices to perform simple tasks.)

 

Kludge is something thrown together, 'jury rigged', a baling wire and spit solution. "Torben Scheel"
<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I've mounted studs on the rear of the fork for my homebuild. The price on Cane Creek's is enough
> to scare most people off - the odyssey looks OK though - I wonder where I can get hold of one east
> of the pond for my
wife's
> suspension fork.
>
> Pardon my french - Oxford Adv. Learners Dictionary doesn't know "kludge" - too British maybe?
>
> Torben
>
> "Chris Crawford" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which
> > has the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has
> > anyone tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti
> > bosses so you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any
> > alternatives? This special brake seems like a kludge.
> >
> > Regards Chris

 

"Torben Scheel" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Pardon my french - Oxford Adv. Learners Dictionary doesn't know "kludge" - too British maybe?
>
A kludge (pronounced klooge) is a makeshift solution, usually workable but not fully or properly
engineered, with a small dose of Rube Goldberg thrown in. (R.G. being known for overly-elaborate
devices to perform simple tasks.)

 

Kludge? A little more complicated than previously hinted...

!--------------------------------------------------------------------!
:kludge: 1. /klooj/ n. Incorrect (though regrettably common) spelling of {kluge} (US). These two
words have been confused in American usage since the early 1960s, and widely confounded in Great
Britain since the end of World War II. 2. [TMRC] A {crock} that works. (A long-ago "Datamation"
article by Jackson Granholme similarly said: "An ill-assorted collection of poorly matching parts,
forming a distressing whole.") 3. v. To use a kludge to get around a problem. "I've kludged around
it for now, but I'll fix it up properly later."

This word appears to have derived from Scots 'kludge' or 'kludgie' for a common toilet, via British
military slang. It apparently became confused with U.S. {kluge} during or after World War II; some
Britons from that era use both words in definably different ways, but {kluge} is now uncommon in
Great Britain. 'Kludge' in Commonwealth hackish differs in meaning from 'kluge' in that it lacks the
positive senses; a kludge is something no Commonwealth hacker wants to be associated too closely
with. Also, 'kludge' is more widely known in British mainstream slang than 'kluge' is in the U.S.

:kluge: /klooj/ [from the German 'klug', clever; poss. related to Polish 'klucz' (a key, a hint, a
main point)] 1. n. A Rube Goldberg (or Heath Robinson) device, whether in hardware or software. 2.
n. A clever programming trick intended to solve a particular nasty case in an expedient, if not
clear, manner. Often used to repair bugs. Often involves {ad-hockery} and verges on being a {crock}.
3. n. Something that works for the wrong reason. 4. vt. To insert a kluge into a program. "I've
kluged this routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably a better way." 5. [WPI]
n. A feature that is implemented in a {rude} manner.

Nowadays this term is often encountered in the variant spelling 'kludge'. Reports from {old fart}s
are consistent that 'kluge' was the original spelling, reported around computers as far back as the
mid-1950s and, at that time, used exclusively of _hardware_ kluges. In 1947, the "New York Folklore
Quarterly" reported a classic shaggy-dog story 'Murgatroyd the Kluge Maker' then current in the
Armed Forces, in which a 'kluge' was a complex and puzzling artifact with a trivial function. Other
sources report that 'kluge' was common Navy slang in the WWII era for any piece of electronics that
worked well on shore but consistently failed at sea.

However, there is reason to believe this slang use may be a decade older. Several respondents have
connected it to the brand name of a device called a "Kluge paper feeder", an adjunct to mechanical
printing presses. Legend has it that the Kluge feeder was designed before small, cheap electric
motors and control electronics; it relied on a fiendishly complex assortment of cams, belts, and
linkages to both power and synchronize all its operations from one motive driveshaft. It was
accordingly temperamental, subject to frequent breakdowns, and devilishly difficult to repair -- but
oh, so clever! People who tell this story also aver that 'Kluge' was the name of a design engineer.

There is in fact a Brandtjen & Kluge Inc., an old family business that manufactures printing
equipment - interestingly, their name is pronounced /kloo'gee/! Henry Brandtjen, president of the
firm, told me (ESR, 1994) that his company was co-founded by his father and an engineer named Kluge
/kloo'gee/, who built and co-designed the original Kluge automatic feeder in 1919. Mr. Brandtjen
claims, however, that this was a _simple_ device (with only four cams); he says he has no idea how
the myth of its complexity took hold. Other correspondents differ with Mr. Brandtjen's history of
the device and his allegation that it was a simple rather than complex one, but agree that the Kluge
automatic feeder was the most likely source of the folklore.

{TMRC} and the MIT hacker culture of the early '60s seems to have developed in a milieu that
remembered and still used some WWII military slang (see also {foobar}). It seems likely that 'kluge'
came to MIT via alumni of the many military electronics projects that had been located in Cambridge
(many in MIT's venerable Building 20, in which {TMRC} is also located) during the war.

The variant 'kludge' was apparently popularized by the {Datamation} article mentioned above; it was
titled "How to Design a Kludge" (February 1962, pp. 30, 31). This spelling was probably imported
from Great Britain, where {kludge} has an independent history (though this fact was largely unknown
to hackers on either side of the Atlantic before a mid-1993 debate in the Usenet group
alt.folklore.computers over the First and Second Edition versions of this entry; everybody used to
think {kludge} was just a mutation of {kluge}). It now appears that the British, having forgotten
the etymology of their own 'kludge' when 'kluge' crossed the Atlantic, repaid the U.S. by lobbing
the 'kludge' orthography in the other direction and confusing their American cousins' spelling!

The result of this history is a tangle. Many younger U.S. hackers pronounce the word as /klooj/ but
spell it, incorrectly for its meaning and pronunciation, as 'kludge'. (Phonetically, consider huge,
refuge, centrifuge, and deluge as opposed to sludge, judge, budge, and fudge. Whatever its failings
in other areas, English spelling is perfectly consistent about this distinction.) British hackers
mostly learned /kluhj/ orally, use it in a restricted negative sense and are at least consistent.
European hackers have mostly learned the word from written American sources and tend to pronounce it
/kluhj/ but use the wider American meaning!

Some observers consider this mess appropriate in view of the word's meaning.

!--------------------------------------------------------------------!

from "The Jargon File", v 4.31. Now we all know

Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

Kludge? A little more complicated than previously hinted...

!--------------------------------------------------------------------!
:kludge: 1. /klooj/ n. Incorrect (though regrettably common) spelling of {kluge} (US). These two
words have been confused in American usage since the early 1960s, and widely confounded in Great
Britain since the end of World War II. 2. [TMRC] A {crock} that works. (A long-ago "Datamation"
article by Jackson Granholme similarly said: "An ill-assorted collection of poorly matching parts,
forming a distressing whole.") 3. v. To use a kludge to get around a problem. "I've kludged around
it for now, but I'll fix it up properly later."

This word appears to have derived from Scots 'kludge' or 'kludgie' for a common toilet, via British
military slang. It apparently became confused with U.S. {kluge} during or after World War II; some
Britons from that era use both words in definably different ways, but {kluge} is now uncommon in
Great Britain. 'Kludge' in Commonwealth hackish differs in meaning from 'kluge' in that it lacks the
positive senses; a kludge is something no Commonwealth hacker wants to be associated too closely
with. Also, 'kludge' is more widely known in British mainstream slang than 'kluge' is in the U.S.

:kluge: /klooj/ [from the German 'klug', clever; poss. related to Polish 'klucz' (a key, a hint, a
main point)] 1. n. A Rube Goldberg (or Heath Robinson) device, whether in hardware or software. 2.
n. A clever programming trick intended to solve a particular nasty case in an expedient, if not
clear, manner. Often used to repair bugs. Often involves {ad-hockery} and verges on being a {crock}.
3. n. Something that works for the wrong reason. 4. vt. To insert a kluge into a program. "I've
kluged this routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably a better way." 5. [WPI]
n. A feature that is implemented in a {rude} manner.

Nowadays this term is often encountered in the variant spelling 'kludge'. Reports from {old fart}s
are consistent that 'kluge' was the original spelling, reported around computers as far back as the
mid-1950s and, at that time, used exclusively of _hardware_ kluges. In 1947, the "New York Folklore
Quarterly" reported a classic shaggy-dog story 'Murgatroyd the Kluge Maker' then current in the
Armed Forces, in which a 'kluge' was a complex and puzzling artifact with a trivial function. Other
sources report that 'kluge' was common Navy slang in the WWII era for any piece of electronics that
worked well on shore but consistently failed at sea.

However, there is reason to believe this slang use may be a decade older. Several respondents have
connected it to the brand name of a device called a "Kluge paper feeder", an adjunct to mechanical
printing presses. Legend has it that the Kluge feeder was designed before small, cheap electric
motors and control electronics; it relied on a fiendishly complex assortment of cams, belts, and
linkages to both power and synchronize all its operations from one motive driveshaft. It was
accordingly temperamental, subject to frequent breakdowns, and devilishly difficult to repair -- but
oh, so clever! People who tell this story also aver that 'Kluge' was the name of a design engineer.

There is in fact a Brandtjen & Kluge Inc., an old family business that manufactures printing
equipment - interestingly, their name is pronounced /kloo'gee/! Henry Brandtjen, president of the
firm, told me (ESR, 1994) that his company was co-founded by his father and an engineer named Kluge
/kloo'gee/, who built and co-designed the original Kluge automatic feeder in 1919. Mr. Brandtjen
claims, however, that this was a _simple_ device (with only four cams); he says he has no idea how
the myth of its complexity took hold. Other correspondents differ with Mr. Brandtjen's history of
the device and his allegation that it was a simple rather than complex one, but agree that the Kluge
automatic feeder was the most likely source of the folklore.

{TMRC} and the MIT hacker culture of the early '60s seems to have developed in a milieu that
remembered and still used some WWII military slang (see also {foobar}). It seems likely that 'kluge'
came to MIT via alumni of the many military electronics projects that had been located in Cambridge
(many in MIT's venerable Building 20, in which {TMRC} is also located) during the war.

The variant 'kludge' was apparently popularized by the {Datamation} article mentioned above; it was
titled "How to Design a Kludge" (February 1962, pp. 30, 31). This spelling was probably imported
from Great Britain, where {kludge} has an independent history (though this fact was largely unknown
to hackers on either side of the Atlantic before a mid-1993 debate in the Usenet group
alt.folklore.computers over the First and Second Edition versions of this entry; everybody used to
think {kludge} was just a mutation of {kluge}). It now appears that the British, having forgotten
the etymology of their own 'kludge' when 'kluge' crossed the Atlantic, repaid the U.S. by lobbing
the 'kludge' orthography in the other direction and confusing their American cousins' spelling!

The result of this history is a tangle. Many younger U.S. hackers pronounce the word as /klooj/ but
spell it, incorrectly for its meaning and pronunciation, as 'kludge'. (Phonetically, consider huge,
refuge, centrifuge, and deluge as opposed to sludge, judge, budge, and fudge. Whatever its failings
in other areas, English spelling is perfectly consistent about this distinction.) British hackers
mostly learned /kluhj/ orally, use it in a restricted negative sense and are at least consistent.
European hackers have mostly learned the word from written American sources and tend to pronounce it
/kluhj/ but use the wider American meaning!

Some observers consider this mess appropriate in view of the word's meaning.

!--------------------------------------------------------------------!

from "The Jargon File", v 4.31. Now we all know

Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

WOW! "Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Kludge? A little more complicated than previously hinted...
>
> !--------------------------------------------------------------------!
> :kludge: 1. /klooj/ n. Incorrect (though regrettably common) spelling of {kluge} (US). These two
> words have been confused in American usage since
the
> early 1960s, and widely confounded in Great Britain since the end of World War II. 2. [TMRC] A
> {crock} that works. (A long-ago "Datamation" article
by
> Jackson Granholme similarly said: "An ill-assorted collection of poorly matching parts, forming a
> distressing whole.") 3. v. To use a kludge to
get
> around a problem. "I've kludged around it for now, but I'll fix it up properly later."
>
> This word appears to have derived from Scots 'kludge' or 'kludgie' for a common toilet, via
> British military slang. It apparently became confused with U.S. {kluge} during or after World War
> II; some Britons from that era use both words in definably different ways, but {kluge} is now
> uncommon in Great Britain. 'Kludge' in Commonwealth hackish differs in meaning from 'kluge' in
> that it lacks the positive senses; a kludge is something no Commonwealth hacker wants to be
> associated too closely with. Also,
'kludge'
> is more widely known in British mainstream slang than 'kluge' is in the
U.S.
>
> :kluge: /klooj/ [from the German 'klug', clever; poss. related to Polish 'klucz' (a key, a hint, a
> main point)] 1. n. A Rube Goldberg (or Heath Robinson) device, whether in hardware or software. 2.
> n. A clever programming trick intended to solve a particular nasty case in an
expedient,
> if not clear, manner. Often used to repair bugs. Often involves
{ad-hockery}
> and verges on being a {crock}. 3. n. Something that works for the wrong reason. 4. vt. To insert a
> kluge into a program. "I've kluged this routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably
> a better way." 5. [WPI]

> n. A feature that is implemented in a {rude} manner.
>
> Nowadays this term is often encountered in the variant spelling 'kludge'. Reports from {old fart}s
> are consistent that 'kluge' was the original spelling, reported around computers as far back as
> the mid-1950s and, at that time, used exclusively of _hardware_ kluges. In 1947, the "New York
> Folklore Quarterly" reported a classic shaggy-dog story 'Murgatroyd the Kluge Maker' then current
> in the Armed Forces, in which a 'kluge' was a complex and puzzling artifact with a trivial
> function. Other sources
report
> that 'kluge' was common Navy slang in the WWII era for any piece of electronics that worked well
> on shore but consistently failed at sea.
>
> However, there is reason to believe this slang use may be a decade older. Several respondents have
> connected it to the brand name of a device called
a
> "Kluge paper feeder", an adjunct to mechanical printing presses. Legend
has
> it that the Kluge feeder was designed before small, cheap electric motors and control electronics;
> it relied on a fiendishly complex assortment of cams, belts, and linkages to both power and
> synchronize all its operations from one motive driveshaft. It was accordingly temperamental,
> subject to frequent breakdowns, and devilishly difficult to repair -- but oh, so clever! People
> who tell this story also aver that 'Kluge' was the name of
a
> design engineer.
>
> There is in fact a Brandtjen & Kluge Inc., an old family business that manufactures printing
> equipment - interestingly, their name is pronounced /kloo'gee/! Henry Brandtjen, president of the
> firm, told me (ESR, 1994)
that
> his company was co-founded by his father and an engineer named Kluge /kloo'gee/, who built and
> co-designed the original Kluge automatic feeder
in
> 1919. Mr. Brandtjen claims, however, that this was a _simple_ device (with only four cams); he
> says he has no idea how the myth of its complexity
took
> hold. Other correspondents differ with Mr. Brandtjen's history of the
device
> and his allegation that it was a simple rather than complex one, but agree that the Kluge
> automatic feeder was the most likely source of the
folklore.
>
> {TMRC} and the MIT hacker culture of the early '60s seems to have
developed
> in a milieu that remembered and still used some WWII military slang (see also {foobar}). It seems
> likely that 'kluge' came to MIT via alumni of the many military electronics projects that had been
> located in Cambridge
(many
> in MIT's venerable Building 20, in which {TMRC} is also located) during
the
> war.
>
> The variant 'kludge' was apparently popularized by the {Datamation}
article
> mentioned above; it was titled "How to Design a Kludge" (February 1962,
pp.
> 30, 31). This spelling was probably imported from Great Britain, where {kludge} has an independent
> history (though this fact was largely unknown
to
> hackers on either side of the Atlantic before a mid-1993 debate in the Usenet group
> alt.folklore.computers over the First and Second Edition versions of this entry; everybody used to
> think {kludge} was just a
mutation
> of {kluge}). It now appears that the British, having forgotten the
etymology
> of their own 'kludge' when 'kluge' crossed the Atlantic, repaid the U.S.
by
> lobbing the 'kludge' orthography in the other direction and confusing
their
> American cousins' spelling!
>
> The result of this history is a tangle. Many younger U.S. hackers
pronounce
> the word as /klooj/ but spell it, incorrectly for its meaning and pronunciation, as 'kludge'.
> (Phonetically, consider huge, refuge, centrifuge, and deluge as opposed to sludge, judge, budge,
> and fudge. Whatever its failings in other areas, English spelling is perfectly consistent about
> this distinction.) British hackers mostly learned /kluhj/ orally, use it in a restricted negative
> sense and are at least consistent. European hackers have mostly learned the word from written
> American
sources
> and tend to pronounce it /kluhj/ but use the wider American meaning!
>
> Some observers consider this mess appropriate in view of the word's
meaning.
>
> !--------------------------------------------------------------------!
>
> from "The Jargon File", v 4.31. Now we all know
>
> Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
> ===========================================================
> Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
> http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
> ===========================================================

 

WOW! "Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Kludge? A little more complicated than previously hinted...
>
> !--------------------------------------------------------------------!
> :kludge: 1. /klooj/ n. Incorrect (though regrettably common) spelling of {kluge} (US). These two
> words have been confused in American usage since
the
> early 1960s, and widely confounded in Great Britain since the end of World War II. 2. [TMRC] A
> {crock} that works. (A long-ago "Datamation" article
by
> Jackson Granholme similarly said: "An ill-assorted collection of poorly matching parts, forming a
> distressing whole.") 3. v. To use a kludge to
get
> around a problem. "I've kludged around it for now, but I'll fix it up properly later."
>
> This word appears to have derived from Scots 'kludge' or 'kludgie' for a common toilet, via
> British military slang. It apparently became confused with U.S. {kluge} during or after World War
> II; some Britons from that era use both words in definably different ways, but {kluge} is now
> uncommon in Great Britain. 'Kludge' in Commonwealth hackish differs in meaning from 'kluge' in
> that it lacks the positive senses; a kludge is something no Commonwealth hacker wants to be
> associated too closely with. Also,
'kludge'
> is more widely known in British mainstream slang than 'kluge' is in the
U.S.
>
> :kluge: /klooj/ [from the German 'klug', clever; poss. related to Polish 'klucz' (a key, a hint, a
> main point)] 1. n. A Rube Goldberg (or Heath Robinson) device, whether in hardware or software. 2.
> n. A clever programming trick intended to solve a particular nasty case in an
expedient,
> if not clear, manner. Often used to repair bugs. Often involves
{ad-hockery}
> and verges on being a {crock}. 3. n. Something that works for the wrong reason. 4. vt. To insert a
> kluge into a program. "I've kluged this routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably
> a better way." 5. [WPI]

> n. A feature that is implemented in a {rude} manner.
>
> Nowadays this term is often encountered in the variant spelling 'kludge'. Reports from {old fart}s
> are consistent that 'kluge' was the original spelling, reported around computers as far back as
> the mid-1950s and, at that time, used exclusively of _hardware_ kluges. In 1947, the "New York
> Folklore Quarterly" reported a classic shaggy-dog story 'Murgatroyd the Kluge Maker' then current
> in the Armed Forces, in which a 'kluge' was a complex and puzzling artifact with a trivial
> function. Other sources
report
> that 'kluge' was common Navy slang in the WWII era for any piece of electronics that worked well
> on shore but consistently failed at sea.
>
> However, there is reason to believe this slang use may be a decade older. Several respondents have
> connected it to the brand name of a device called
a
> "Kluge paper feeder", an adjunct to mechanical printing presses. Legend
has
> it that the Kluge feeder was designed before small, cheap electric motors and control electronics;
> it relied on a fiendishly complex assortment of cams, belts, and linkages to both power and
> synchronize all its operations from one motive driveshaft. It was accordingly temperamental,
> subject to frequent breakdowns, and devilishly difficult to repair -- but oh, so clever! People
> who tell this story also aver that 'Kluge' was the name of
a
> design engineer.
>
> There is in fact a Brandtjen & Kluge Inc., an old family business that manufactures printing
> equipment - interestingly, their name is pronounced /kloo'gee/! Henry Brandtjen, president of the
> firm, told me (ESR, 1994)
that
> his company was co-founded by his father and an engineer named Kluge /kloo'gee/, who built and
> co-designed the original Kluge automatic feeder
in
> 1919. Mr. Brandtjen claims, however, that this was a _simple_ device (with only four cams); he
> says he has no idea how the myth of its complexity
took
> hold. Other correspondents differ with Mr. Brandtjen's history of the
device
> and his allegation that it was a simple rather than complex one, but agree that the Kluge
> automatic feeder was the most likely source of the
folklore.
>
> {TMRC} and the MIT hacker culture of the early '60s seems to have
developed
> in a milieu that remembered and still used some WWII military slang (see also {foobar}). It seems
> likely that 'kluge' came to MIT via alumni of the many military electronics projects that had been
> located in Cambridge
(many
> in MIT's venerable Building 20, in which {TMRC} is also located) during
the
> war.
>
> The variant 'kludge' was apparently popularized by the {Datamation}
article
> mentioned above; it was titled "How to Design a Kludge" (February 1962,
pp.
> 30, 31). This spelling was probably imported from Great Britain, where {kludge} has an independent
> history (though this fact was largely unknown
to
> hackers on either side of the Atlantic before a mid-1993 debate in the Usenet group
> alt.folklore.computers over the First and Second Edition versions of this entry; everybody used to
> think {kludge} was just a
mutation
> of {kluge}). It now appears that the British, having forgotten the
etymology
> of their own 'kludge' when 'kluge' crossed the Atlantic, repaid the U.S.
by
> lobbing the 'kludge' orthography in the other direction and confusing
their
> American cousins' spelling!
>
> The result of this history is a tangle. Many younger U.S. hackers
pronounce
> the word as /klooj/ but spell it, incorrectly for its meaning and pronunciation, as 'kludge'.
> (Phonetically, consider huge, refuge, centrifuge, and deluge as opposed to sludge, judge, budge,
> and fudge. Whatever its failings in other areas, English spelling is perfectly consistent about
> this distinction.) British hackers mostly learned /kluhj/ orally, use it in a restricted negative
> sense and are at least consistent. European hackers have mostly learned the word from written
> American
sources
> and tend to pronounce it /kluhj/ but use the wider American meaning!
>
> Some observers consider this mess appropriate in view of the word's
meaning.
>
> !--------------------------------------------------------------------!
>
> from "The Jargon File", v 4.31. Now we all know
>
> Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
> ===========================================================
> Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
> http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
> ===========================================================

 

> > Hi - I understand Bachetta makes their own dual caliper front brake (I haven't seen it) which
> > has the cable run in from the left bottom. I assume this is to avoid chain interference. Has
> > anyone tried putting a standard brake on the front? Why don't they just use a fork with canti
> > bosses so you can use a reversible V-brake like the Odyssey or the Cane Creek? Are there any
> > alternatives? This special brake seems like a kludge.
> >
> > Regards Chris

I just installed the Bacchetta front brake on my Aerocycle and it is a tremendous improvement over
the lefty single pivot Dia-Compe that was original equipment. The stopping power and aesthetics are
both greatly improved. So far my experience with Bacchetta's efforts to manufacture quality
recumbent components has been very positive (I also have the tweener bars and fixed riser). I hope
that my finances and wife's appreciation of things cycling soon improve so that I might experience a
complete Bacchetta bike.

Bruce Shannahoff Los Angeles