returning to riding...

"Bill Baka" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Doesn't your Huffy ever get flats? Don't tell me that with all the

stuff

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

you carry in your back pack, you don't carry the basics to fix a flat.
If
you call your wife from thirty miles away with something as simple as a
flat, she should tell you to walk home. 8^)

Dave

Yes, it gets flats but not nearly as often as the Schwinn. I just can't
get tires for that size that will take my off road diversions, and that
is half the reason I ride in the first place.
Bill Baka

You've lost me, Bill. Do you or don't you carry stuff to fix flats? Do
your off road diversions involve smoking weed?

Dave

On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 18:23:30 -0400, Roger Zoul <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Bill Baka wrote:
|| On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 04:50:18 -0400, Roger Zoul
|| <[email hidden]> wrote:
||
||| Jeff Starr wrote:
||||| On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 15:12:49 -0700, Bill Baka <[email hidden]>
||||| wrote:
|||||
|||||
||||||
|||||| Well, now it is official, I am a Fred, forever. I prefer having
|||||| only 5 gears in the back and a granny ring on the front,
|||
||| What? Gears represent function in my mind. Only 5 in rear and only
||| a granny
||| in the front is going to leave you pedaling like crazy too much of
||| the time,
||| it seems.
||
|| I forgot to mention the obvious, that I have a triple in the front.
|| Think before you reply.

It is not obvious that you have a triple on front...some people don't.
You
said you prefer a granny on front....

In addition to a 40/48 ring set.

Quoted message said:

|||
||| and I could care
|||||| less that somebody spends kilobucks to get the latest carbon
|||||| frame with a 10 gear cassette. Saving grams means nothing to me
|||||| and having 30 speeds to choose from is borderline insane.
|||
||| It's not insane...it's better than 5 but not much of am improvement
||| over 21,
||| 24 and 27.
||
|| I have 15 and that is enough.
|||
||| Spending all kinds of
|||||| money to have a super light road bike really makes me doubt the
|||||| sanity
|||||| of the rider since wind resistance on the flats makes the
|||||| difference. Once you start climbing hills of any merit you are
|||||| getting closer to the mountain bike range. If you ride where I do
|||||| and the way I do on the trails or lack thereof, most bikes would
|||||| break from the pounding. Levis, Black redneck hat, back pack,
|||||| and a Huffy pretty much defines me. Oh, and the Huffy is even a
|||||| girls model but the frame is still holding up. Call me
|||||| a Fred for that,
|||
||| I can live with it, but my Schwinn Super Sport
|||||| with the way too skinny TT tires (700 x 25?) just can't handle
|||||| much beyond new pavement. Having a flat on that when I am 30 or
|||||| more miles out is not
|||||| in my category of having fun, since I go way out of cell phone
|||||| range and could not call the wife if I wanted to.
|||
||| What? You plan to call your wife if you get a flat? That's just
||| cheapness,
||| not Freddom, since you aren't interested in function whatsoever.
|||
|||
|| Read the post with your eyes open next time. I only call her if I get
|| multiple flats or something outright breaks.

Where does it say that? Maybe you should simply say what you mean!

At some point I expect people to be able to deduce the obvious. I have
had to walk for 15 miles carrying a broken bike (pedal snapped off,
not too common)before I got into signal range. After I got it home I
found that one of the experienced mechanics I had let work on the bike
had installed the wrong side pedal and forced it into a wrong thread
position, ruining the crank arm too. Now I do all of my own work except
for cassette changes which still require about $300.00 of expensive
custom tools to cover all the possibilities. I do work on all the bikes
in the neighborhood for all the kids so have a lot of experience making
things work. No kilobuck bikes for the 12 year old crowd, yet.
Bill Baka

--
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Raoul Duke said:

"Bill Baka" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Doesn't your Huffy ever get flats? Don't tell me that with all the

stuff

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

you carry in your back pack, you don't carry the basics to fix a flat.
If
you call your wife from thirty miles away with something as simple as

a

Quoted message said:

flat, she should tell you to walk home. 8^)

Dave

Yes, it gets flats but not nearly as often as the Schwinn. I just can't
get tires for that size that will take my off road diversions, and that
is half the reason I ride in the first place.
Bill Baka

My huffy gets flats, but not nearly as much as a 700x23 tire would.
And I can fix them up to a point.

Quoted message said:

You've lost me, Bill. Do you or don't you carry stuff to fix flats? Do
your off road diversions involve smoking weed?

Dave

Only when it is available, which it hasn't been for years now. I did have
a happy encounter with a hippy couple in a vw bus last year and they smoked
some with me for old times sake and we had a few SODAS and I rode home
happier.
Bill Baka

Quoted message said:

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Badger_South said:

Bill Baka said:

Read the post with your eyes open next time. I only call her if I get
multiple flats or something outright breaks.
Bill Baka

I think ppl tend to overreact to the things you say, b/c you seem to be
fishing for compliments. It's ok, a lot of ppl do, b/c biking everyday is
not easy. I think it's cool that you bike with abandon and you ride out
into the country.

Perhaps it's time to talk about something else, though, if you want the
folks here to be less antagonistic. Me, I'm guilty of similar gabbiness,
so
I'll be trying to take my own advice.

I've off to the beach to ride until I turn into a puddle of sweat, and
maybe go down to the waterfront and watch Jeanne come in!

Best,

-B

Yeah, there are a lot of over-reacters here and I do tend to post longer
than average since I actually passed typing in high school, lots of girls
in that class. It is just that some things I would not take too seriously
get jumped on by one or more people and then it becomes a war of sorts.
I can do without that too.
Bill Baka

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In article <[email hidden]>,

Eric S. Sande said:

I actually don't care what Frank has to say about whether riding
a bicycle is dangerous or not. I mean I respect him and so forth,
but Frank does not ride a bicycle in DC traffic.

It in fact is not that bad, I wouldn't call it dangerous.

So Frank is right.

So then I guess there's no need to be 'terrified'.
Or confident. Just somewhere in-between.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Bill Baka" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Now I do all of my own work except
for cassette changes which still require about $300.00 of expensive
custom tools to cover all the possibilities.

Seriously? How do you figure that?

Bill Baka said:

Quoted message said:

At some point I expect people to be able to deduce the obvious. I have
had to walk for 15 miles carrying a broken bike (pedal snapped off,
not too common)before I got into signal range. After I got it home I
found that one of the experienced mechanics I had let work on the bike
had installed the wrong side pedal and forced it into a wrong thread
position, ruining the crank arm too. Now I do all of my own work except
for cassette changes which still require about $300.00 of expensive
custom tools to cover all the possibilities. I do work on all the bikes
in the neighborhood for all the kids so have a lot of experience making
things work. No kilobuck bikes for the 12 year old crowd, yet.
Bill Baka

Bill, to change a cassette, you need a chain whip and a lockring tool.
That comes to about $20, at most. Much less, see below.
So, tell me what other, besides the basic hand tools, do you need to
cover all possibilties? What am I missing here?

Buy one of these kits and you may need to add a few specific tools for
your Huffy or older Schwinn, but not many. Take a look:
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=99&subcategory=1232&brand=&sku=3521&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

With the sale, and search out a 10% off coupon, you have a genuine
good deal.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Peter Cole said:

"Bill Baka" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Now I do all of my own work except
for cassette changes which still require about $300.00 of expensive
custom tools to cover all the possibilities.

Seriously? How do you figure that?

Solid gold lockring tool and 'whip made with one of those $300 chains?!?

Bill "nice catch, Peter...although I'm sorry you had to actually READ Bill's
stuff" S.

Bill Baka said:

If you are that worried about being the first
to the top, lose a few pounds.

Getting a bit personal, aren't we? It's rather stupid to assume that
someone willing to fork out for a light bike isn't already in excellent
shape, don't you think?

Quoted message said:

Since riding = exercise for me the few extra pounds don't
mean squat.

But anyone also interested in performance is some sort of deluded nut.
Yes, that clearly follows from your preferences.

--
bpo gallery at http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/mvw1/bpo

Peter Cole said:

"Bill Baka" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Now I do all of my own work except
for cassette changes which still require about $300.00 of expensive
custom tools to cover all the possibilities.

Seriously? How do you figure that?

That's just for the special adapters to change cassettes, not a whole
bike shop setup, or course.
Bill Baka

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Bill Baka said:

Read the post with your eyes open next time. I only call her if I get
multiple flats or something outright breaks.

You can only fix /one/ flat before you're stranded? Haven't you heard of
patch kits? Christ, I haven't had a flat for months, and I carry one
everywhere (along with a tube).

--
bpo gallery at http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/mvw1/bpo

Jeff Starr said:

Bill Baka said:

Quoted message said:

At some point I expect people to be able to deduce the obvious. I have
had to walk for 15 miles carrying a broken bike (pedal snapped off,
not too common)before I got into signal range. After I got it home I
found that one of the experienced mechanics I had let work on the bike
had installed the wrong side pedal and forced it into a wrong thread
position, ruining the crank arm too. Now I do all of my own work except
for cassette changes which still require about $300.00 of expensive
custom tools to cover all the possibilities. I do work on all the bikes
in the neighborhood for all the kids so have a lot of experience making
things work. No kilobuck bikes for the 12 year old crowd, yet.
Bill Baka

Bill, to change a cassette, you need a chain whip and a lockring tool.
That comes to about $20, at most. Much less, see below.
So, tell me what other, besides the basic hand tools, do you need to
cover all possibilties? What am I missing here?

I asked at the LBS I go to, rarely, because he is too far to lug a
broken bike. There are about 20 different cassette adapters, many of
them not that common, but hey go for about $15.00 each, or so he said.
Most of the other stuff does not look expensive but it would add up,
and I would need to store it where it was accessible. It just isn't
that much of a thrill to be working on a bike when I could be riding.
Bill Baka

Quoted message said:

Buy one of these kits and you may need to add a few specific tools for
your Huffy or older Schwinn, but not many. Take a look:
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=99&subcategory=1232&brand=&sku=3521&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

With the sale, and search out a 10% off coupon, you have a genuine
good deal.

Life is Good!
Jeff

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 15:03:25 GMT, Bill Sornson <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Peter Cole said:

"Bill Baka" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Now I do all of my own work except
for cassette changes which still require about $300.00 of expensive
custom tools to cover all the possibilities.

Seriously? How do you figure that?

Solid gold lockring tool and 'whip made with one of those $300 chains?!?

Bill "nice catch, Peter...although I'm sorry you had to actually READ
Bill's
stuff" S.

Try looking at some cassettes and see how many of them can be pulled with
only one tool then come back here and admit you spoke with little
knowledge.
Bill Baka

--
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On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 01:03:13 +0930, Michael Warner <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Bill Baka said:

If you are that worried about being the first
to the top, lose a few pounds.

Getting a bit personal, aren't we? It's rather stupid to assume that
someone willing to fork out for a light bike isn't already in excellent
shape, don't you think?

Quoted message said:

Since riding = exercise for me the few extra pounds don't
mean squat.

But anyone also interested in performance is some sort of deluded nut.
Yes, that clearly follows from your preferences.

You need to get a life off of the bike. I am married, kids, grandkids,
cars (those hated smog machines), lawn to mow, etc. I am not married
to the bike or a time trial. If I want better performance on a heavy
bike I will just have to train harder, not spend more. I get to have
my toys, just not a $5,000 bike.
Bill Baka

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

"Bill Baka" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You need to get a life off of the bike. I am married, kids, grandkids,
cars (those hated smog machines), lawn to mow, etc.

Bill, dump the baggage and buy a condo.

Bill Baka said:

Bill Sornson said:

Peter Cole said:

"Bill Baka" <[email hidden]> wrote

> Now I do all of my own work except
> for cassette changes which still require about $300.00 of expensive
> custom tools to cover all the possibilities.

Seriously? How do you figure that?

Solid gold lockring tool and 'whip made with one of those $300
chains?!?

Bill "nice catch, Peter...although I'm sorry you had to actually READ
Bill's
stuff" S.

Try looking at some cassettes and see how many of them can be pulled
with only one tool then come back here and admit you spoke with little
knowledge.
Bill Baka

Bill, if by any chance you meant to say *THIRTY* dollars' worth of
"expensive custom tools" and not *300*, then MAYBE you're not any /more/
wrong about this than with most other things. (Hint: a chainwhip and
lockring tool can be had for ~15 bucks.)

Bill "pull your own tool" S.

Sun, 26 Sep 2004 16:56:05 GMT, <FwC5d.537554$gE.237206@pd7tw3no>, The
Pro "Fabrizio Mazzoleni" <[email hidden]> perspicaciously advised:

Quoted message said:

"Bill Baka" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You need to get a life off of the bike. I am married, kids, grandkids,
cars (those hated smog machines), lawn to mow, etc.

Bill, dump the baggage and buy a condo.

Sounds like you finally met that real-estate babe in the Honda! Cool.
--
zk

Bill Baka wrote:
|| On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 18:23:30 -0400, Roger Zoul
|| <[email hidden]> wrote:
||
||| Bill Baka wrote:
||||| On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 04:50:18 -0400, Roger Zoul
||||| <[email hidden]> wrote:
|||||
|||||| Jeff Starr wrote:
|||||||| On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 15:12:49 -0700, Bill Baka <[email hidden]>
|||||||| wrote:
||||||||
||||||||
|||||||||
||||||||| Well, now it is official, I am a Fred, forever. I prefer
||||||||| having only 5 gears in the back and a granny ring on the
||||||||| front,
||||||
|||||| What? Gears represent function in my mind. Only 5 in rear and
|||||| only a granny
|||||| in the front is going to leave you pedaling like crazy too much
|||||| of the time,
|||||| it seems.
|||||
||||| I forgot to mention the obvious, that I have a triple in the
||||| front. Think before you reply.
|||
||| It is not obvious that you have a triple on front...some people
||| don't. You
||| said you prefer a granny on front....
||
|| In addition to a 40/48 ring set.
|||
|||
||||||
|||||| and I could care
||||||||| less that somebody spends kilobucks to get the latest carbon
||||||||| frame with a 10 gear cassette. Saving grams means nothing to
||||||||| me and having 30 speeds to choose from is borderline insane.
||||||
|||||| It's not insane...it's better than 5 but not much of am
|||||| improvement over 21,
|||||| 24 and 27.
|||||
||||| I have 15 and that is enough.
||||||
|||||| Spending all kinds of
||||||||| money to have a super light road bike really makes me doubt
||||||||| the sanity
||||||||| of the rider since wind resistance on the flats makes the
||||||||| difference. Once you start climbing hills of any merit you are
||||||||| getting closer to the mountain bike range. If you ride where
||||||||| I do and the way I do on the trails or lack thereof, most
||||||||| bikes would break from the pounding. Levis, Black redneck
||||||||| hat, back pack, and a Huffy pretty much defines me. Oh, and
||||||||| the Huffy is even a girls model but the frame is still
||||||||| holding up. Call me
||||||||| a Fred for that,
||||||
|||||| I can live with it, but my Schwinn Super Sport
||||||||| with the way too skinny TT tires (700 x 25?) just can't handle
||||||||| much beyond new pavement. Having a flat on that when I am 30
||||||||| or more miles out is not
||||||||| in my category of having fun, since I go way out of cell phone
||||||||| range and could not call the wife if I wanted to.
||||||
|||||| What? You plan to call your wife if you get a flat? That's just
|||||| cheapness,
|||||| not Freddom, since you aren't interested in function whatsoever.
||||||
||||||
||||| Read the post with your eyes open next time. I only call her if I
||||| get multiple flats or something outright breaks.
|||
||| Where does it say that? Maybe you should simply say what you mean!
|||
|| At some point I expect people to be able to deduce the obvious. I
|| have had to walk for 15 miles carrying a broken bike (pedal snapped
|| off,
|| not too common)before I got into signal range. After I got it home I
|| found that one of the experienced mechanics I had let work on the
|| bike had installed the wrong side pedal and forced it into a wrong
|| thread position, ruining the crank arm too. Now I do all of my own
|| work except for cassette changes which still require about $300.00
|| of expensive custom tools to cover all the possibilities. I do work
|| on all the bikes in the neighborhood for all the kids so have a lot
|| of experience making things work. No kilobuck bikes for the 12 year
|| old crowd, yet.
|| Bill Baka

Wow...I'm a total noob at bicycling and I've already installed a new
cassette when I had a new wheelset built. What are all of the possibilities
that need to be covered, and why do you feel the need to cover them?

Bill Baka said:

Quoted message said:

I asked at the LBS I go to, rarely, because he is too far to lug a
broken bike. There are about 20 different cassette adapters, many of
them not that common, but hey go for about $15.00 each, or so he said.
Most of the other stuff does not look expensive but it would add up,
and I would need to store it where it was accessible. It just isn't
that much of a thrill to be working on a bike when I could be riding.
Bill Baka

Quoted message said:

How many different types of cassettes do you have? You don't strike me as
the type of guy with a shop full of different wheels/hubs. I'd be surprised
if you needed more than two. 6 bikes in my garage and I only need one.
That and a cheap chain whip and you've liberated yourself from another trip
to the LBS, all for under 20 bucks if you look around long enough.

So can you admit you are confused now that your $300.00 scenario has been
pretty well wrecked?

Tom

Sun, 26 Sep 2004 08:40:30 -0700, <[email hidden]>,

Bill Baka said:

I asked at the LBS I go to, rarely, because he is too far to lug a
broken bike. There are about 20 different cassette adapters, many of
them not that common, but hey go for about $15.00 each, or so he said.

You're confusing "cassette" with "freewheel". There are many different
"freewheel" removal tools but typically you only need the one that
fits your bike. There are only two different styles of "cassette"
lockring removal tools. You won't have to worry about buying the model
that fits Campagnolo.
You can make a chain whip easily enough.

Quoted message said:

Most of the other stuff does not look expensive but it would add up,
and I would need to store it where it was accessible. It just isn't
that much of a thrill to be working on a bike when I could be riding.

But when you can't ride, wrenching bikes is more productive than
sitting mesmerised in front of the idiot box.
--
zk