Love of cars puts brakes on bike culture

[Parbs]

"Shane Stanley" wrote ...
>
> Surely you, of all people, would build your own ;-)
>
Could you imagine how long it would take to polish all the stainless steel lugs for the chassis?

Parbs

 

[Terry Collins]

suzyj wrote:

> My perfect car would be a small hybrid diesel/electric van, with extra
> batteries and a charger so most trips could be made without starting
> the engine. On extended trips, it could then run on biodiesel.

> ....snip......

> Of course the only downside is that they've been "developing" the
> hybrid version for ages, and you can just bet when (if) they release
> one, it will be for Europe only, as we're not allowed to have
> environmentally sensible cars in Aust.

There is an Australian Electric Vehicle mob http://www.aeva.asn.au/ that
will help you with information on converting any vehicle.

It was a project I considered doing to the Niki before we gave it away.

 

[[email protected]]

Terry Collins wrote:
> Graeme Dods wrote:
> > On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 15:24:48 +1000, suzyj wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I'm currently talking up a Prius or Civic hybrid, as that appeals to
> >>his (and my) greenie side, not to mention being tre cool as an
> >>engineering toy.
> >
> >
> > Why not get a small diesel, fire up the chemistry set in the shed and run
> > it off bio-diesel?
>
> The only catch is that I haven't worked out how to get the 44 gallon
> drums of used cooking oil home from the chippie.

Bicycle cart of course
http://www.bikesandtrailers.com/bike-trailers/index.html

>
> > That would be a lot greener (a Prius is only about 30%
> > more fuel efficient than a modern diesel anway) and the semi-DIY fuel would
> > definitely count as an engineering toy.
>
> These Prius and stuff are just gimmicks in my books. I'm looking at an
> electric car, but with minimal batteries and bio-diesel gennie.

 

[Terry Collins]

[email protected] wrote:

> Bicycle cart of course
> http://www.bikesandtrailers.com/bike-trailers/index.html

Sadly, no weight ratings.
My 2c says that none on them look up to the job.

But I did get some ideas for yet another style to build aka, a trailer
that looks like a suitcase to State Rail.

 

[Theo Bekkers]

suzyj wrote:
> Stuart Lamble wrote:
>
>> Rent a Bomb charges $57/day for a "new" car; older cars are around
>> $35/day for a manual without aircon.
>
> There's a lot to be said for the little local outfits. We hire mainly
> from a place just down the road from us, called Aero Auto Rentals. A
> ~5 year old Excel costs $45 or so for a single day.

We spent 9 months in the USA in 1969-70. Bought a bomb for daily transport
(1961 Buick V8, $150) and sold it the day before we left. This left us with
the problem of getting to the airport with luggage,etc. I left it up to
Helen to rent a car we could leave at the airport and told her something
small and cheap would be good as we were only going to drive it 50 miles.
She rang from the Hire-car company to say they didn't have any 'compacts'
but would give us a 'near-compact' for the same price. I said yeah, go
ahead. She picked me up at work in the 'near-compact', a 6 litre V8 Buick
Riviera.

Mind you, petrol was $0.18 per US gallon.

Theo

 

[Stuart Lamble]

On 2005-08-26, Terry Collins <[email protected]> wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
>> Bicycle cart of course
>> http://www.bikesandtrailers.com/bike-trailers/index.html
>
> Sadly, no weight ratings.
> My 2c says that none on them look up to the job.

And when lugging around that much stuff on the back, I'd want additional
brakes on the trailer itself, not just on the bike. Stopping without
them would be scary -- especially on a long steep downhill.

--
My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and
the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet".

 

[Theo Bekkers]

Stuart Lamble wrote:

> That's pretty decent. I have no objection to slightly older cars --
> they get the job done well enough. I suspect a part of the Budget et
> al cost is in paying the depreciation on a relatively now vehicle.
> (Probably a very large part, what's more.)

If they hire a car out for two years and it does 90,000 kms in that time a
Falcadore will depreciate $15,000. That's $0.16 per km or $20.54 per day.

Theo

 

[Terry Collins]

Stuart Lamble wrote:

> And when lugging around that much stuff on the back, I'd want additional
> brakes on the trailer itself, not just on the bike. Stopping without
> them would be scary -- especially on a long steep downhill.

Yer, it is easy to see that you are approaching 30 and getting tame.
Phit, brakes on a trailer! {.


Sadly, even with brakes, nothing stops harmonics when you bounce a
trailer made out of low carbon steel, carrying a largish weight off the
kerb - eat Tarmac fungus boy! {}}}


Actually, even with brakes I've calculated that I have to contour around
the hills for about 1Km before I can find a grade that I could drag that
much weight up, unless..... I borrow a trike, then balance isn't a problem.

 

[[email protected]]

Terry Collins wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
> > Bicycle cart of course
> > http://www.bikesandtrailers.com/bike-trailers/index.html
>
> Sadly, no weight ratings.
> My 2c says that none on them look up to the job.

I think you're right. I should have checked that link.

This one from Bikes at Work may be better but I must admitt I don't
know what a 44 gal drum of cooking oil would weight. It might come in
around 300 lb? I estimate a drum of water at about 200lb.
http://www.bikesatwork.com/

>
> But I did get some ideas for yet another style to build aka, a trailer
> that looks like a suitcase to State Rail.

Now that is a good idea.

 

[Resound]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Terry Collins wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>
>> > Bicycle cart of course
>> > http://www.bikesandtrailers.com/bike-trailers/index.html
>>
>> Sadly, no weight ratings.
>> My 2c says that none on them look up to the job.
>
> I think you're right. I should have checked that link.
>
> This one from Bikes at Work may be better but I must admitt I don't
> know what a 44 gal drum of cooking oil would weight. It might come in
> around 300 lb? I estimate a drum of water at about 200lb.
> http://www.bikesatwork.com/
>
>>
>> But I did get some ideas for yet another style to build aka, a trailer
>> that looks like a suitcase to State Rail.
>
> Now that is a good idea.
>

Well 44 gallons is about 168 litres, which, in water, is of course 168kg
(~370lb) plus whatever the drum itself weighs...about 10kg? Maybe 20kg? Oil
is less dense than water (one site about biodiesel quotes a specific density
of .910, which sounds about right) so that gives us a weight of about 153kg
(336lb) plus the weight of the drum. You'd need a hefty trailer and good
brakes

 

[BrettM]

"[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote
in news:[email protected]:

>
> Terry Collins wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>
>> > Bicycle cart of course
>> > http://www.bikesandtrailers.com/bike-trailers/index.html
>>
>> Sadly, no weight ratings.
>> My 2c says that none on them look up to the job.
>
> I think you're right. I should have checked that link.
>
> This one from Bikes at Work may be better but I must admitt I don't
> know what a 44 gal drum of cooking oil would weight. It might come in
> around 300 lb? I estimate a drum of water at about 200lb.
> http://www.bikesatwork.com/
>
>>
>> But I did get some ideas for yet another style to build aka, a
trailer
>> that looks like a suitcase to State Rail.
>
> Now that is a good idea.
>

I was going to challange the maths and provide a more accurate answer or
some such sh*t. Instead I checked out the link in the post. Really
interesting stuff - thanks for that.

Cheers
BrettM