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In article <[email hidden]>,

Tom Sherman said:

Clips and straps are obsolete, and rightfully so.

No they're not.

Besides, double straps + cleats are still
de rigeur in track racing. And rightfully
so in that particular avocation, where the
second-to-last thing one wants is pull-outs
from one's pedals.

Chinook Jargon isn't obsolete either. It often
has more concise nuance than plain English.

Clipless pedals are too skookum.

klahowya,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Tom Sherman said:

Clips and straps are obsolete, and rightfully so.

No they're not.

I think we have had this discussion before. Interested parties can
search the Google Group archives.

Quoted message said:

Besides, double straps + cleats are still
de rigeur in track racing. And rightfully
so in that particular avocation, where the
second-to-last thing one wants is pull-outs
from one's pedals.

Not too many stop signs or traffic signals on the velodrome, eh?

Quoted message said:

Chinook Jargon isn't obsolete either. It often
has more concise nuance than plain English.

Clipless pedals are too skookum.

See <http://powergrips.mrpbike.com/pg_benefits.shtml>.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

In article <[email hidden]>,

Tom Sherman said:

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Tom Sherman said:

Clips and straps are obsolete, and rightfully so.

No they're not.

I think we have had this discussion before.

And I won.

Quoted message said:

Interested parties can
search the Google Group archives.

I just got off afternoon shift. I dunno what
your excuse for being up at this unGoldy hour
is, or even if you ever sleep at all, but I
recommend it's occasional indulgence.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Besides, double straps + cleats are still
de rigeur in track racing. And rightfully
so in that particular avocation, where the
second-to-last thing one wants is pull-outs
from one's pedals.

Not too many stop signs or traffic signals on the velodrome, eh?

Pull-outs while traversing intersections ain't
much fun either. Neither is having to don special
clabber just to go somewhere.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Chinook Jargon isn't obsolete either. It often
has more concise nuance than plain English.

Clipless pedals are too skookum.

See <http://powergrips.mrpbike.com/pg_benefits.shtml>.

Whatever turns your cranks.

I'm too sexy for my shoes.

cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Tom Sherman said:

Automatic transmissions suck out too much power, cause a huge delay in
increasing acceleration while they down shift (extremely annoying when

Ah, you're starting to understand the appeal of a fixed gear!

When I first got my fixed gear I rode it for a week straight. Then I
got back on my nearly brand new touring bike and actually stopped twice
to figure out what was dragging... turns out, nothing was dragging. All
of those extra bends and turns in the chain along with a crooked
chainline really do add up! The difference really does feel much like
the power of a manual vs. automatic, the 'direct' connection to the
wheel does translate into more immediate feedback to input.

-Rex

PS: What's wrong with double clutching?

--
Work and recreation are not often effected at the same time.
One using a bicycle in business makes an exception to the rule.
- Dr. Edgar H. Earl, Rochester. (~1892)

Tom Sherman said:

Those people should be banned from driving for life. If a person can not
drive a vehicle lacking syncromesh, he/she should not be issued a license.

Are there any still manufactured? The last car with a "crash" gearbox
I drove was a FIAT 500 from the 1960s.

Rex Kerr said:

[...]
PS: What's wrong with double clutching?

Do not ask me - I do it all the time out of habit, even with syncromesh.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

Andrew Price said:

Tom Sherman said:

Those people should be banned from driving for life. If a person can not
drive a vehicle lacking syncromesh, he/she should not be issued a license.

Are there any still manufactured? The last car with a "crash" gearbox
I drove was a FIAT 500 from the 1960s.

Most heavy trucks lack syncromesh, except Volvo's. The clutch is only
used when starting out, which potentially saves in maintenance costs.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

Hmm, maybe I should buy it, it has been quite a few years since I've
felt the pavement rushing by...

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Claire said:

Over yonder: http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bik/637385956.html

At one point I thought /my/ bike was cursed.

Before I even opened the craigslist page I knew that was ad for
Henry's bike.

Quoted message said:

Until it and me got head-on'd by a car.

Maybe just the parts I had to replace were cursed.

But I'll tell ya what -- that frame is as solid as
a brick sh!740u23, and that's the truth.

I wish I could say the same, my latest broken frame is sitting at
Recycled Cycles waiting for them to go through all the motions with the
Surly warranty department.

Quoted message said:

There's somewhat to be said for the hi-tens end
of the chro-moly spectrum.

Black spokes would look good with my rhinestone-eyed
black skull valve caps. I need more skull/death's-head
themed stuff for my bike.

In the frippery department, I've been contemplating what I would need to
make my own headbadges. Probably not as swanky as this:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6128877

But I might be able to turn out something interesting.

Quoted message said:

The Craigslist seller should just get himself a bike
that he could ride and enjoy. Well, I guess he should
just enjoy whatever his reasonable volition suggests.

He bought a Long Haul Trucker earlier this year, and AFAIK hasn't
crashed it yet.

Quoted message said:

Anyways, nothing is ~cursed~. We just tend to put our
own baggage on stuff. You know that; why am I telling you?

Exactly, the same sort of reason we shouldn't anthropomorphize machines
and computers. They really don't like that.

Quoted message said:

If those black spokes were octagonal ...

As long as they aren't forged out of Octiron or give off Octarine
colored emissions we're probably okay though.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
"Veni, vedi, vasectomy. I came, I saw, I clipped."

Tom Sherman said:

Quoted message said:

Peter Cole wrote:

Quoted message said:

I just can't wait for the fad to end... I hate to look like I'm one
following the crowd. The kids that came over to chat with a fellow
fixie rider in the park yesterday were nice, though I cringe to think of
them riding brakeless in skater shoes on platform pedals.

The thought of trying to clip in and out of rotating pedals [1] is
enough to make me not want to even try a fixie.

It's not too bad below 28 mph or so (on a 68 gear-inch bike [1]). Above
that I don't have the speed required to clip in before my feet bounce
off the pedals.

Quoted message said:

[1] I have tried doing so as a tandem stoker and it did not go well.

[1] I can't be arsed to do the mph -> RPM calculation right now.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
"You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous
Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers
are buried daily except Thursday."
-In the Lobby of a Moscow Hotel Across from a Russian Orthodox Monastary

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dane Buson said:

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Claire said:

Over yonder: http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bik/637385956.html

At one point I thought /my/ bike was cursed.

Before I even opened the craigslist page I knew that was ad for
Henry's bike.

I hope it isn't cursed. I wouldn't wish a cursed
vehicle on anybody. Well, maybe I'd sorta wish the
James Dean Spider on whomever's trodding-down Sudan.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Until it and me got head-on'd by a car.

Maybe just the parts I had to replace were cursed.

But I'll tell ya what -- that frame is as solid as
a brick sh!740u23, and that's the truth.

I wish I could say the same, my latest broken frame is sitting at
Recycled Cycles waiting for them to go through all the motions with the
Surly warranty department.

Quoted message said:

There's somewhat to be said for the hi-tens end
of the chro-moly spectrum.

Well, there ya go. I'm not particularly partial
to double or triple-butted frame tubing, and I
opine straight-gauge tubes are less failure-prone.
It makes for a heavier bike, but what is gained
by putting weaker and more flexy spots in a frame?
That's just my personal opinion, and I respect other
people's opinions.

Of course, when rear triangle stays separate from
the main triangle, that's just poor construction.
I don't know at the time of this writing if that's
what happened to you.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Black spokes would look good with my rhinestone-eyed
black skull valve caps. I need more skull/death's-head
themed stuff for my bike.

In the frippery department, I've been contemplating what I would need to
make my own headbadges. Probably not as swanky as this:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6128877

Y'know what? There's no such thing as tarnish-resistant
sterling silver, at least if it's not coated with laquer
or something. Their profferings are indeed pretty,though.

Quoted message said:

But I might be able to turn out something interesting.

Back in the '70s Bike Boom, we Canadians got these imported
Japanese Sekines, the finer editions of which had escrutcheons
sporting a brilliant-cut rhinestone. With it, and in the
right angle of the sun, you could reflectively direct an
annoying solar beam into the rv mirror of the car ahead
of you that hesitates too much when they can get across
the darn intersection. That was before the advent of
laser pointers. My beloved 27"-wheeled mixte has one
of those headbadges.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The Craigslist seller should just get himself a bike
that he could ride and enjoy. Well, I guess he should
just enjoy whatever his reasonable volition suggests.

He bought a Long Haul Trucker earlier this year, and AFAIK hasn't
crashed it yet.

Quoted message said:

Anyways, nothing is ~cursed~. We just tend to put our
own baggage on stuff. You know that; why am I telling you?

Exactly, the same sort of reason we shouldn't anthropomorphize machines
and computers. They really don't like that.

I never, *ever* swear at computers. It just distracts them
from their background tasks, and makes things worse. Having
done a bunch of inventory counting, I also know when to not
bother people. As Archie Bunker said: "Patience is a virgin."

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If those black spokes were octagonal ...

As long as they aren't forged out of Octiron or give off Octarine
colored emissions we're probably okay though.

I think I'd prefer my spokes to be somewhat but not overly
work-hardened by drawing, rather than forging. If coloured,
I'd think heat-blueing would do the trick. Colourations can
be effected with cyanides, but that's a little scary to do
at home.

cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dane Buson said:

Before I even opened the craigslist page I knew that was ad for
Henry's bike.

I hope it isn't cursed. I wouldn't wish a cursed
vehicle on anybody. Well, maybe I'd sorta wish the
James Dean Spider on whomever's trodding-down Sudan.

I think it's more that Henry shouldn't be riding fixed gear bikes. Lack
of attention, lack of respect for the inertia of rotating mass, poor
bike maintenance, who knows what the bugbear is. I think the broken
collarbone was the sticking point though.

Quoted message said:

Of course, when rear triangle stays separate from
the main triangle, that's just poor construction.
I don't know at the time of this writing if that's
what happened to you.

Dropout separation, the same thing that happened last time. I describe
it a bit more in the "A bike for sunny days" post.

Quoted message said:

Back in the '70s Bike Boom, we Canadians got these imported
Japanese Sekines, the finer editions of which had escrutcheons
sporting a brilliant-cut rhinestone. With it, and in the
right angle of the sun, you could reflectively direct an
annoying solar beam into the rv mirror of the car ahead
of you that hesitates too much when they can get across
the darn intersection. That was before the advent of
laser pointers. My beloved 27"-wheeled mixte has one
of those headbadges.

Oooeeer, shiny. I don't suppose you've obtained a camera with which to
take pictures of said shiny things?

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
X windows. More than enough rope.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dane Buson said:

Quoted message said:

Back in the '70s Bike Boom, we Canadians got these imported
Japanese Sekines, the finer editions of which had escrutcheons
sporting a brilliant-cut rhinestone. With it, and in the
right angle of the sun, you could reflectively direct an
annoying solar beam into the rv mirror of the car ahead
of you that hesitates too much when they can get across
the darn intersection. That was before the advent of
laser pointers. My beloved 27"-wheeled mixte has one
of those headbadges.

Oooeeer, shiny. I don't suppose you've obtained a camera with which to
take pictures of said shiny things?

I'm afraid I haven't yet had such an opportunity,
but if you Google on "Sekine bicycle" and throw in
the secondary keyword: "rhinestone," I'm sure you'll
get some worthwhile hits & pix.

IIRC Sekine was so popular in western Canada,
they set-up shop somewhere in Manitoba.

Sekine was a very progressive mfg, sending-out
all kinds of experimental stuff into the market.
E.g: my mixte originally came with Shimano's
'70s Front Freewheel System (FFS) which allows
a rider to shift gears while stationarily leaning
against a pole or something, and back-pedalling.
It also comes with allen-wrench-removable (One
Key Release[tm]) cranks. The fancily knurled &
chromed, round headset nuts require a 3 pinwrench.
The frame is beautifully lugged, and painted in
luscious raven black.

I can only describe the beauty of Sekines to
people who've never seen nor experienced them.
It kinda makes me feel alone.

Of course, later models were decadent.
As with any human creativeness, there's
a formative age, a classic/golden age,
and a decadent age.

I suspect Sekine kept old SunTour in business
for quite a while after SunTour might have
been faded out. Some of that SunTour [censored]
was actually pretty good [censored]. And still is.

cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Tom Keats said:

Dane Buson <[email hidden]> writes:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Oooeeer, shiny. I don't suppose you've obtained a camera with which to
take pictures of said shiny things?

I'm afraid I haven't yet had such an opportunity,
but if you Google on "Sekine bicycle" and throw in
the secondary keyword: "rhinestone," I'm sure you'll
get some worthwhile hits & pix.

I found one or two, okay one really. It looks nifty.

Quoted message said:

IIRC Sekine was so popular in western Canada,
they set-up shop somewhere in Manitoba.

Sekine was a very progressive mfg, sending-out
all kinds of experimental stuff into the market.
E.g: my mixte originally came with Shimano's
'70s Front Freewheel System (FFS) which allows
a rider to shift gears while stationarily leaning
against a pole or something, and back-pedalling.

That sounds a bit terrible. It sounds like a solution in search of
problem really.

Quoted message said:

It also comes with allen-wrench-removable (One
Key Release[tm]) cranks. The fancily knurled &
chromed, round headset nuts require a 3 pinwrench.
The frame is beautifully lugged, and painted in
luscious raven black.

I can only describe the beauty of Sekines to
people who've never seen nor experienced them.
It kinda makes me feel alone.

Quoted message said:

Of course, later models were decadent.
As with any human creativeness, there's
a formative age, a classic/golden age,
and a decadent age.

Decadent is better I think when it refers to Chocolate, plush
bedding, or bed partners than bicycles. Hmm, actually all three of the
first together sounds especially good to me.

Quoted message said:

I suspect Sekine kept old SunTour in business
for quite a while after SunTour might have
been faded out. Some of that SunTour [censored]
was actually pretty good [censored]. And still is.

Hey, the front derailleur on my Sunny Day bike is Suntour and it seems
to be shifting just fine. So I'll not complain about it. And the
suntour barcons on my Tandem seem to work fine.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
Any member introducing a dog into the Society's premises shall be
liable to a fine of one pound. Any animal leading a blind person shall
be deemed to be a cat. -- Rule 46, Oxford Union Society, London