sinclair launches world's smallest folding bike

[Julesh]

Simon Brooke wrote:

> in message <[email protected]>,
> Jon Senior ('jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove')
> wrote:
>
>
>>In article
>><mKbHc.12528$I%[email protected]>,
>>[email protected] says...
>>
>>>Cynical ex-owner of
>>>
>>>Sinclair Oxford 300 calculator ZX81 - needed bag of
>>>frozen peas to stop it over heating. Suffered RamPack
>>>wobble Sinclair Spectrum 48k (got through four of those
>>>before one worked properly) Sinclair QL (oh remind me -
>>>microdrives!) Winners of the world' cheapest keyboard
>>>membrain award
>>
>>A QL. I've got one of those in my flat... keyboard
>>membrane died... the tracks cracked where the ribbon bends
>>to join to the board.
>
>
> I have in my collection several Sinclair calculators, a
> ZX80, a ZX81, a QL, a Z88, and the original prototype of
> the OPD. Surprisingly, all of them still work. I don't
> have a Spectrum, however.
>
Oh,no!

Not the "One Per Desk" - as in it was (allegedly) cheap
enough that a whole office didn't have to share a single
computer. I liked the Z88 - but not enough to buy one. You
don't have a "Black Watch"?

Jules

 

[Julesh]

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:

> Julesh <[email protected]>typed
>
>
>
>>Jules
>
>
>>45 - by the way.
>
>
> Precisely. I am 46...
>

I was bought the Oxford 300 by my parents. It replaced a
slide rule and a set of five figure log tables

Jules

 

[Ningi]

Simon Brooke wrote:
> in message <[email protected]>,
> Jon Senior ('jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove')
> wrote:
>
>
>>In article
>><mKbHc.12528$I%[email protected]>,
>>[email protected] says...
>>
>>>Cynical ex-owner of
>>>
>>>Sinclair Oxford 300 calculator ZX81 - needed bag of
>>>frozen peas to stop it over heating. Suffered RamPack
>>>wobble Sinclair Spectrum 48k (got through four of those
>>>before one worked properly) Sinclair QL (oh remind me -
>>>microdrives!) Winners of the world' cheapest keyboard
>>>membrain award
>>
>>A QL. I've got one of those in my flat... keyboard
>>membrane died... the tracks cracked where the ribbon bends
>>to join to the board.
>
>
> I have in my collection several Sinclair calculators, a
> ZX80, a ZX81, a QL, a Z88, and the original prototype of
> the OPD. Surprisingly, all of them still work. I don't
> have a Spectrum, however.
>

Ah.. the WumperDesk. It was, sort of, the QL built to a
tolerable quality level. And it had a phone. I used one at
my first job. They were a snip at about 4 times the price of
a QL IIRC

Pete

 

[Jon Senior]

Julesh [email protected] opined the following...
> I was bought the Oxford 300 by my parents. It replaced a
> slide rule and a set of five figure log tables

My dad once offered to help with my homework during my A-
Levels. I explained that I was doing trig. He disappeared
upstairs and returned with his log + sin books. He was
somewhat put out when I demonstrated that my calculator gave
me 11 significant figures in less time than he took to find
the right page.

As a peace offering I downloaded a software slide rule for
him!

Jon

 

[Tumbleweed]

"Alan Braggins" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> davek wrote:
> >story here:
>
><URL:http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?typ-
>e=topNews&storyID
=
> >543638&section=news>
> >
> >or here: <URL:http://tinyurl.com/2dmqx>
> >
> >or here: Briton peddles world's smallest folding bike
>
> The picture atp://www.straitstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-
> 07-03/h20.jpg looks a bit like a Strida, only with
> ridiculously small wheels and a less plausible looking
> pedal position. I don't care what cunning suspension
> mechanism is packed in there, those wheels aren't going to
> work anywhere with potholes or kerbs.

He is having us on, that is just a shopping trolley cut in
half lengthwise.

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

 

[Johnb]

Alan Braggins wrote:

> The picture atp://www.straitstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-
> 07-03/h20.jpg looks a bit like a Strida, only with
> ridiculously small wheels and a less plausible looking
> pedal position. I don't care what cunning suspension
> mechanism is packed in there, those wheels aren't going to
> work anywhere with potholes or kerbs.

Clearly someone needs to develop the folding wheel.

John B

 

[James Annan]

Ian G Batten wrote:

> He's what's wrong with Britain: we hate it when our
> friends become successful, but we love the plucky
> underdog.

Granted he has gone rather off the rails in recent years
with his batty transport ideas[1], but what he did back in
the early 80s must have played a large part in the growth of
computing in the UK, all those kids (including me)
programming on ZX80s and subsequent models.

James
[1] He is not alone, and "solutions" like the segway are so
clearly solving the wrong problem that it is painful to
see people churning them out in wide-eyed (and
expensive) innocence.
--
If I have seen further than others, it is by treading on the
toes of giants. http://www.ne.jp/asahi/julesandjames/home/

 

[Jon Senior]

JohnB [email protected] opined the following...
> Clearly someone needs to develop the folding wheel.

Easy, just run into kerbs more!

Jon

 

[Tim Hall]

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 20:52:56 GMT, JohnB <[email protected]> wrote:

>Alan Braggins wrote:
>
>> The picture at://www.straitstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-
>> 07-03/h20.jpg looks a bit like a Strida, only with
>> ridiculously small wheels and a less plausible looking
>> pedal position. I don't care what cunning suspension
>> mechanism is packed in there, those wheels aren't going
>> to work anywhere with potholes or kerbs.
>
>Clearly someone needs to develop the folding wheel.

Easy. Take a wheel. Overload drastically by, say, riding
into something immovable. Wheel folds.

Clearly someone needs to develop a foldable and un-foldable
wheel. As opposed to an unfoldable wheel, obv.

Tim
--
For those who have trouble distinguishing, cynicsm, sarcasm,
humour etc, try mentally inserting smilies thoughout my post
until it either matches what you'd like to read, or what
you'd expect me to write.

(Jon Senior urc)

 

[Marc Brett]

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 11:04:02 +0000 (UTC), "davek"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Zipped into a bag, it looks like a
>large umbrella. Unfolded, it plies the streets like any
>other bicycle.

itv.com gives us this picture of a recumbent that fits into
your hip pocket:

http://www.itv.com/news/1627773.html

but styling it to look like a C5 has got to be a
mistake...

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 14:13:56 +0100, Jon Senior
<jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove> wrote (more or less):

>In article
><mKbHc.12528$I%[email protected]>,
>[email protected] says...
>> Cynical ex-owner of
>>
>> Sinclair Oxford 300 calculator ZX81 - needed bag of
>> frozen peas to stop it over heating. Suffered RamPack
>> wobble Sinclair Spectrum 48k (got through four of those
>> before one worked properly) Sinclair QL (oh remind me -
>> microdrives!) Winners of the world' cheapest keyboard
>> membrain award
>
>A QL. I've got one of those in my flat... keyboard membrane
>died... the tracks cracked where the ribbon bends to join
>to the board.

My QL still works. I've even got a 512kB memory expansion. -
which is about a quarter the size of the QL!

>
>Despite this I've got a soft spot for Mr Sinclair. He's a
>true British institution. Despite having the inverse Midas
>Touch [1] he plods onward undaunted.
>
>Jon
>
>[1] Everything he touches turns to sh..

--
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links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
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[Gawnsoft]

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 16:05:02 GMT, Simon Brooke <[email protected]>
wrote (more or less):

>in message <[email protected]>, Jon
>Senior ('jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove') wrote:
>
>> In article
>> <mKbHc.12528$I%[email protected]>,
>> [email protected] says...
>>> Cynical ex-owner of
>>>
>>> Sinclair Oxford 300 calculator ZX81 - needed bag of
>>> frozen peas to stop it over heating. Suffered RamPack
>>> wobble Sinclair Spectrum 48k (got through four of those
>>> before one worked properly) Sinclair QL (oh remind me -
>>> microdrives!) Winners of the world' cheapest keyboard
>>> membrain award
>>
>> A QL. I've got one of those in my flat... keyboard
>> membrane died... the tracks cracked where the ribbon
>> bends to join to the board.
>
>I have in my collection several Sinclair calculators, a
>ZX80, a ZX81, a QL, a Z88, and the original prototype of
>the OPD. Surprisingly, all of them still work. I don't have
>a Spectrum, however.

Weirdly, I can't find my Z88. I /know/ it's about here
someplace...

I was never a Spectrum person. I wanted a 6502 too much. So
I had an Oric (or two).

--
Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122 Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

[Jon Senior]

Gawnsoft [email protected]
opined the following...
> My QL still works. I've even got a 512kB memory expansion.
> - which is about a quarter the size of the QL!

My pride and joy in the computer relic department is an
Acorn Electron complete with +3 and +5 (IIRC) add-ons. The
mini-drive doesn't work and the whole thing's been sat in
the loft for a while so I don't know if it will still work
at all. I must remember to dig it out next time I'm home.

Jon

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 17:41:40 +0100, anonymous coward
<[email protected]> wrote (more or less):

>On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 17:30:26 +0100, Alan Braggins wrote:
>
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> davek wrote:
>>>story here: <URL:http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArt-
>>>icle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID= 543638&section=news>
>>>
>>>or here: <URL:http://tinyurl.com/2dmqx>
>>>
>>>or here: Briton peddles world's smallest folding bike
>>
>> The picture at://www.straitstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-
>> 07-03/h20.jpg looks a bit like a Strida, only with
>> ridiculously small wheels and a less plausible looking
>> pedal position. I don't care what cunning suspension
>> mechanism is packed in there, those wheels aren't going
>> to work anywhere with potholes or kerbs.
>
>I think it looks quite neat, but I'll wait for the
>recumbent version. Clearly this cannot be the bike of
>the future
>
>I don't ask that a bike wheel need be able to mount kerbs,
>but I agree about the potholes. I wonder if a nice
>aluminium skid would save the day by helping the front
>wheel out of potholes? Otherwise it looks a recipe for
>superman impressions and helmet tests*.
>
>AC
>
>* I do not presume to know what the outcome of these tests
> is likely to be.

I cycle lots of places where there are potholes. I've yet to
cycle /into/ a pothole. I find cycling around the potholes
to be a far superior technique. However, you may feel your
kung fu is superior to my kung fu...
--
Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122 Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 15:46:03 GMT, Julesh
<[email protected]> wrote (more or less): ...
> The Oxford 300 was a sub £30 "Scientific" calculator - it
> had a memory and trig functions if I recall - and it
> didn't need everything entered in Reverse Polish notaion
> (this isn't a troll - I did once program in Forth and I
> don't want to do it again!).

Why on Earth not? One of the fab things about the Oric
was the fact there was a decent version of Forth
available for it.

>The ZX81 was a "real computer at under £100" or £70 if you
>soldered it together yourself. The ZX-Spectrum offered
>"colour" at under £175 - which was unheard of at the time.
>I (and I guess about a million other people - we were all
>crazy then) waited 12 weeks for delivery - which was about
>half the time/cost needed to wait for a (admittedly far
>superior) BBC Model B.

>The QL promised a 32-bit 68000 processor

Surely you mean 16-bit?

>(although I believe Sinclair bought the model with the 8-
>bit data bus so he could wire it together with cheap
>support circuitry),

Just like IBM did with the IBM PC (they used the Intel
8088 - 16-bit internals and memory addressing, and 8-
bit data bus.

>an operating system with a witty name, storage that
>didn't involve cassette tapes, "high resolution" graphics
>and "business-strength" applications for £399. This when
>PC's were about £3000.
>
>I didn't buy a C5. That was a bridge too far on the
>marketing front. IIRC (and this was 20 years ago) it had a
>double page spread showing lots of city gentlemen cruising
>to a commuter-belt railway station in their C5s. Even I
>wasn't going to fall for that one!
>
>The funniest thing at the time was the argument about the
>motor. IIRC the entire thing was made by Hoover in South
>Wales and some people pooh-poohed it as having a "washing
>machine" motor. Sinclair came back and said that the
>company also made motors for torpedos. This was much
>better as its obvious these are designed for a long
>working life
>
>
>
>
>Cheers
>
>
>Jules
>
>45 - by the way.

--
Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122 Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
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[Paul]

In article <[email protected]>, Jon
Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> says...
> JohnB [email protected] opined the following...
> > Clearly someone needs to develop the folding wheel.
>
> Easy, just run into kerbs more!
>
> Jon
>
The folding wheel isn't a problem, its the folding fully
inflated pnumatic tyre that is.
--
.paul

If at first you don't succeed... Skydiving is probably not
the sport for you.

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 05:44:36 +0900, James Annan
<[email protected]> wrote (more or less):

>Ian G Batten wrote:
>
>
>> He's what's wrong with Britain: we hate it when our
>> friends become successful, but we love the plucky
>> underdog.
>
>Granted he has gone rather off the rails in recent years
>with his batty transport ideas[1], but what he did back in
>the early 80s must have played a large part in the growth
>of computing in the UK, all those kids (including me)
>programming on ZX80s and subsequent models.

I certainly swapped from civil engineering to electronics
and comp sci off the back of the summer twixt school and uni
being spent on a ZX81...

>
>James
>[1] He is not alone, and "solutions" like the segway are so
> clearly solving the wrong problem that it is painful to
> see people churning them out in wide-eyed (and
> expensive) innocence.

--
Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122 Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

[Gawnsoft]

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 23:08:19 GMT, Simon Brooke <[email protected]>
wrote (more or less):

>in message <[email protected]>, James Annan
>('[email protected]') wrote:
>
>> Ian G Batten wrote:
>>
>>
>>> He's what's wrong with Britain: we hate it when our
>>> friends become successful, but we love the plucky
>>> underdog.
>>
>> Granted he has gone rather off the rails in recent years
>> with his batty transport ideas[1], but what he did back
>> in the early 80s must have played a large part in the
>> growth of computing in the UK, all those kids (including
>> me) programming on ZX80s and subsequent models.
>
>There is this commonality between all his ideas; that he
>takes technology which is useful but moderately expensive,
>and production engineers it so that it can be produced
>extraordinarily cheaply.

Yes - one of the things that leaps out from the article
about the A-bike is that it's pricing is currently
claimed as £160!

For something that folds smaller and lighter than a Brommie,
in almost as fast a time.

> When the ZX80 came out it was a quarter of the price of
> the next computer kit out there. Yes, when you saw it it
> was unbelievably cheap and nasty, but it did do what it
> said on the tin. Likewise the C5 is undoubtedly - and by a
> long lead - the cheapest velomobile ever produced.
>
>You've also got to give him credit for sticking with the
>idea of providing cheap, simple pedal assisted electric
>transport for the masses for a long time.
>
>I don't think I've ever bought any Uncle Clive product
>new, and I doubt I ever will. But I have some respect
>for the man.

--
Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122 Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
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[Anonymous Cowar]

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 23:22:18 +0000, Gawnsoft wrote:

> On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 17:41:40 +0100, anonymous coward
> <[email protected]> wrote (more or less):
>
>>On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 17:30:26 +0100, Alan Braggins wrote:
>>
>>> In article <[email protected]>, davek
>>> wrote:
>>>>story here: <URL:http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageAr-
>>>>ticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID= 543638&section=news>
>>>>
>>>>or here: <URL:http://tinyurl.com/2dmqx>
>>>>
>>>>or here: Briton peddles world's smallest folding bike
>>>
>>> The picture at//www.straitstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-
>>> 07-03/h20.jpg looks a bit like a Strida, only with
>>> ridiculously small wheels and a less plausible looking
>>> pedal position. I don't care what cunning suspension
>>> mechanism is packed in there, those wheels aren't going
>>> to work anywhere with potholes or kerbs.
>>
>>I think it looks quite neat, but I'll wait for the
>>recumbent version. Clearly this cannot be the bike of the
>>future
>>
>>I don't ask that a bike wheel need be able to mount kerbs,
>>but I agree about the potholes. I wonder if a nice
>>aluminium skid would save the day by helping the front
>>wheel out of potholes? Otherwise it looks a recipe for
>>superman impressions and helmet tests*.
>>
>>AC
>>
>>* I do not presume to know what the outcome of these tests
>> is likely to be.
>
> I cycle lots of places where there are potholes. I've yet
> to cycle /into/ a pothole. I find cycling around the
> potholes to be a far superior technique. However, you may
> feel your kung fu is superior to my kung fu...

Quite the opposite, if you manage to avoid _all_ of them!

Riding a recumbent with 406 size wheels, quite small bumps
can become a big issue. For example if there are roadworks
and there's 2cm bump where the surface changes, I have to
slow right down to avoid getting a pinch flat. I used to
have a bike with a 451 size wheel (not much bigger) and it
seems to cope much better.

On the other hand, kiddie-scooters seem to cope OK, so maybe
it can be made to work.

AC

 

[Peter Clinch]

Julesh wrote:

> You don't have a "Black Watch"?

Someone my dad worked with threw his away in frustration,
dad rescued it and did a little work on it and presented it
to me. We called it "the cornflake packet watch" because it
looked like something you'd get free in a packet of cereal.
I thought it was great at first, being about 9 at the time
and in an era when watches were still fairly unusual for
kids and it was cool and exciting to have to push a button
to see the time! Of course, being 9 I had to push that
button a lot, and if you did it ate batteries pretty fast.
It wasn't /that/ long before it broke.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer Tel 44 1382 660111
ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382
640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net
[email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/