Suspended chain ring

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 19:48:19 -0600, "Mike Kruger"

may have said:

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Or the answer won't come out to be 42. However you want to

look at it.

Quoted message said:

Before you can get the answer to be 42, you must know what

base to use

Quoted message said:

for the problem. (13, in this case.)

Need help.
I understand "42", which is a reference to one of the
"Hitchhiker's Guide" books.
I don't understand the base 13 reference (or it's simply been
a while since I read Adams).

In the first book, 42 is revealed explicitly as The Answer To The
Great Question Of Life, The Universe, And Everything. In the second
book, it is much *less* explicitly revealed that the question is "What
do you get when you multiply 9 times 6?"...which, in base 10, is 54,
but if you shift up to base 13, then the answer is 42. I once had the
opportunity to directly ask Douglas Adams if he'd made it work that
way on purpose, having heard that he had not. He confirmed that
indeed, he'd intended for it *not* to work, and was a bit annoyed when
it was pointed out that it *did*, in base 13. I'd been prepared to
think that he was being clever, hinting that the real problem is that
most people just don't look at things in the manner that allows them
to see the answers that they need, but no, it was nothing so subtle
after all.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:36:36 -0600, Jim Smith <[email hidden]>

may have said:

Werehatrack said:

hhu uuhh may have said:

Here's the site link:
http://www.bikedrive.com/english/index.htm

They don't look like they are joking...

Neither was Velikovsky.

Indeed, Bart Hughes and Amanda Fielding are quite serious about their
particular performance enhancing technique.

Yup, but the fact that some people seriously believe (in) something
doesn't make it true.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

RonSonic said:

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 14:20:39 -0600, Werehatrack <[email hidden]>
wrote:

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The more conventional approach (if you want Shakespeare, hire him) is
lost on the average tinkerer.

That's not his job as a type-monkey.

[snip]

Dear Ron and Werehatrack,

Actually, French typesetters have demonstrated that what we
get is "Ulysses" with thousands of typos.

James Joyce

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 20:56:39 -0700, [email hidden] may have

Quoted message said:

RonSonic said:

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 14:20:39 -0600, Werehatrack <[email hidden]>
wrote:

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The more conventional approach (if you want Shakespeare, hire him) is
lost on the average tinkerer.

That's not his job as a type-monkey.

[snip]

Dear Ron and Werehatrack,

Actually, French typesetters have demonstrated that what we
get is "Ulysses" with thousands of typos.

And, lest we forget, the instructions for Tounge of Frog.

http://members.shaw.ca/tom.t/l/tounge.html

I can attest personally that the product genuinely existed, and that
the instructions are accurately depicted.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Leo Lichtman said:

"Olebiker" wrote: Take a look at the Web site (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I just did. They claim that you store energy in the springs at top dead
center, and release it at bottom dead center. Evidently this system is
applicable only to one-legged riders, since, while the right foot is at top
dead center, the left foot would be at bottom dead center, if you had one.

I agree that the text is poorly worded, but this appears to have been
something worth trying, on a MtB anyway. I have at times came to a halt
while climbing steep hills when I lacked the momementum necessary to get
past the TDC/BDC pedal postitions. However, wether this actaully works
to solve that problem would have to be proven by actual testing. They
built it, and now people can test it. People pay to test things all the
time. That's certainly better then not trying new things.

Rich

"Rich" wrote: wether this actaully works to solve that problem would have
to be proven by actual testing. (clip) That's certainly better then not
trying new things.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I am also open to trying new ideas, when they appear promising. However,
this one just doesn't seem feasible. If you stall out on a steep hill with
your crank arms vertical, you will stop. Compressing a spring may let your
feet move a few millimeters but the bike will still be stopped.

On the other hand, I have a set of chain rings on one of my bikes that DOES
solve that problem. They are elliptical, and positioned so that you have a
lower gear when you are pushing down, and a higher gear at top-dead-center.
The effect is that you go through top-dead-center quicker, so there is less
chance to stall, and you have more time in the effective part of the
rotation. This works--I have used it.

"Garry Jones" <[email hidden]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Werehatrack said:

The mere fact that an idea has no valid basis and is nonsensical in
fact will not prevent some people from spending the money to prove
that it was not a good one...and denying the results.

Amazing statement in a thread that's not about helmets....

(yet)

🙂

Or Iraq (yet)

"Olebiker" <[email hidden]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Take a look at the Web site: http://www.bikedrive.com/english/index.htm

I'll bet you'd really fly with the version that uses feathers instead of
springs-

"Yesterday, for the first time a Bikedrive System was used for a profi race.
It was set up with the cycles of Jimmy Madsen and Marcellino Garcia, both
are members of CSC Tiscali. The Bikedrive is a crank system which is
produced by an Austrian factory. A system with two feathers which are
connected with the pedal crank, the dead point is being conquered easier,
and the driver is able to develop more power."

http://www.bikedrive.com/english/index.htm

trg said:

Or Iraq (yet)

Lol

Garry

Werehatrack said:

I once had the opportunity to directly ask Douglas Adams if he'd made it work that way on purpose,

I heard that he was 42 when he wrote it.

Garry Jones

Olebiker said:

Take a look at the Web site: http://www.bikedrive.com/english/index.htm

Rumours in Sweden are that this device is from 2002 and that the UCI
have already banned it. Any update on that?

Garry Jones
English Cyclist ResIDING in Sweden

Werehatrack said:

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 19:40:48 +0100, Garry Jones <[email hidden]>

may have said:

Amazingly, this is not a joke.

http://www.hisingensck.se/texter-bilder/ovrigt/2005/bilder/050129/IMAG0154_stor.jpg

Can anyone explain the need for suspension springs in the chain rings?

There isn't one.

It's possible that this may have been done in emulation of the
spring-equipped hubs of automotive engine clutch discs, where the
springs have a very definite level of usefulness...but their
functionality here is questionable at best. The human leg does not
engage in the same kind of power production cycle that the piston
engine does.

The mere fact that an idea has no valid basis and is nonsensical in
fact will not prevent some people from spending the money to prove
that it was not a good one...and denying the results.

ISTR the original austrian company felt that scantily clad ladies got
very exited about these cranks. The company went bust, and the cranks
are now offered from switserland
--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Rich" wrote: wether this actaully works to solve that problem would have
to be proven by actual testing. (clip) That's certainly better then not
trying new things.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I am also open to trying new ideas, when they appear promising. However,
this one just doesn't seem feasible.

So because it doesn't seem feasible, it shouldn't even be tried?

Quoted message said:

On the other hand, I have a set of chain rings on one of my bikes that
DOES solve that problem. They are elliptical, and positioned so that you
have a lower gear when you are pushing down, and a higher gear at
top-dead-center. The effect is that you go through top-dead-center
quicker, so there is less chance to stall, and you have more time in the
effective part of the rotation. This works--I have used it.

How do you know it doesn't work? Have you tried it? No. How can anybody
know if it works if nobody tries it?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

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

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:36:36 -0600, Jim Smith <[email hidden]>

may have said:

Werehatrack said:

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 15:17:31 -0600, hhu <uuhh> may have said:

>Here's the site link:
>http://www.bikedrive.com/english/index.htm
>
>They don't look like they are joking...

Neither was Velikovsky.

Indeed, Bart Hughes and Amanda Fielding are quite serious about their
particular performance enhancing technique.

Yup, but the fact that some people seriously believe (in) something
doesn't make it true.

Unless everybody believes it's true. Is the world flat? Does God exist?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training (agnostic)

Squid-in-Training said:

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

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:36:36 -0600, Jim Smith <[email hidden]>

may have said:

Werehatrack <[email hidden]> writes:

> On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 15:17:31 -0600, hhu <uuhh> may have said:
>
>>Here's the site link:
>>http://www.bikedrive.com/english/index.htm
>>
>>They don't look like they are joking...
>
> Neither was Velikovsky.

Indeed, Bart Hughes and Amanda Fielding are quite serious about their
particular performance enhancing technique.

Yup, but the fact that some people seriously believe (in) something
doesn't make it true.

Unless everybody believes it's true. Is the world flat? Does God exist?

Dear Phil,

Reality rarely depends upon wishful thinking, unless you
click your heels together three times and desperately want
to be back in Kansas.

Even then, fiction is required. In the movie, Dororthy's
ruby slippers worked just fine, even though they were
originally silver in "The Wizard of Oz" because Baum was
writing a badly tangled allegory involving the thankfully
forgotten politics of the time, with the free silver party,
the bi-metallic question, and the gold bugs. That's why the
Yellow Brick Road (gold standard) leads to the Emerald Green
City (Washingtion, where they printed greenbacks). Dorothy
skips all that and returns to Kansas, bastion of the free
silver farmers--whose belief in the magical economic
qualities of silver didn't make them prosperous.

When you wish upon a star, it makes no difference who you
are--you're still just wishing, and the star pays no
attention.

Jiminy Cricket

"Phil, Squid-in-Training" wrote: How do you know it doesn't work? Have you
tried it? No. How can anybody know if it works if nobody tries it?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Phil, the reason I posted a description of the elliptical chain rings was to
prove that I am willing to try things. But I went to school. I have a
degree in mechanical engineering. I don't have to try EVERYTHING. If the
science and engineering say it won't work, I'd rather put my money and
energy elsewhere. If you think it might work, YOU try it.

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:50:32 GMT, "Phil, Squid-in-Training"

may have said:

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Rich" wrote: wether this actaully works to solve that problem would have
to be proven by actual testing. (clip) That's certainly better then not
trying new things.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I am also open to trying new ideas, when they appear promising. However,
this one just doesn't seem feasible.

So because it doesn't seem feasible, it shouldn't even be tried?

He's saying that he's not going to try it. If you want to, you can
ignore his advice.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On the other hand, I have a set of chain rings on one of my bikes that
DOES solve that problem. They are elliptical, and positioned so that you
have a lower gear when you are pushing down, and a higher gear at
top-dead-center. The effect is that you go through top-dead-center
quicker, so there is less chance to stall, and you have more time in the
effective part of the rotation. This works--I have used it.

How do you know it doesn't work? Have you tried it? No. How can anybody
know if it works if nobody tries it?

It is not necessary to grab the flaming log to know that your hands
will be burnt. With sufficient experience, an individual's accuracy
of prediction of the outcome of relatively straightforward things will
increase. The collective experience of several posters here predicts
that this device will have no practical value. Please feel free to
buy one, test it, and report your results. We'll happily watch.

If I were inclined to bet, I'd almost be willing to wager that this is
an idea that's been tried before. It's amazing how many such
"marvelous new inventions" turn out to be neither marvelous nor new.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

If I were inclined to bet, I'd almost be willing to wager that this is
an idea that's been tried before. It's amazing how many such
"marvelous new inventions" turn out to be neither marvelous nor new.

The biopace rings were first manufactured by Worthingtons in the 1930's.
When everyone who had tried them had stopped cycling they came back. So
I would not be surprised to see these come back later.

Garry Jones
English Cyclist ResIDING in Sweden

Garry Jones said:

Werehatrack said:

If I were inclined to bet, I'd almost be willing to wager that this is
an idea that's been tried before. It's amazing how many such
"marvelous new inventions" turn out to be neither marvelous nor new.

The biopace rings were first manufactured by Worthingtons in the 1930's.
When everyone who had tried them had stopped cycling they came back. So
I would not be surprised to see these come back later.

The REALLY funny thing was that the Shimano Biopace rings started out
really pretty egg-shaped. Then every year, they "improved them" by
making them a little rounder. Pretty soon, they had re-invented the
round chainring and we were all back where we started.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

Werehatrack said:

...
It is not necessary to grab the flaming log to know that your hands
will be burnt. With sufficient experience, an individual's accuracy
of prediction of the outcome of relatively straightforward things will
increase. The collective experience of several posters here predicts
that this device will have no practical value. Please feel free to
buy one, test it, and report your results. We'll happily watch....

This reminds me, how is Andy Coggan getting along testing Rotor Cranks?

--
Tom Sherman - Earth