Sweet agony of choice - best all-around bike for under a grand?

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
Kevan Smith <[email protected]> writes:
> On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 06:01:12 -0700, [email protected] (Tom Keats) from
> wrote:
>
>>So do I. A complete set of all-copper cookware would be
>>wonderful to have.
>
> Until you have to clean it.

Who says you have to clean them? ;-)


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

 

[Brink]

Bryanska,

Proper fit is your friend. You willl have less pain and more ride time
with proper fit. You may want to find a bike shop that will do custom
fit for cheap and get measured with part of the money. A proper
measurement will take about 2 hours. You have many parts measured and
then sit on a fully adjustable bike and they move it around to find
the best fit for you. A custom bike will be out of your price range at
the amount you have listed. You can take the measurements from the
fitting and then you can search for the closest bike to your fitting.
Most companies will have the exact measurements of all of their bikes
listed on the web. You can then be secure that the bike that you buy
will be comfortable for you. This is how I found my first comfortable
road bike. I think you should be less concerned about brand and more
concerned with fit.

---Brink

 

[Fx199]

>Subject: Re: Sweet agony of choice - best all-around bike for under a grand?
>From: [email protected] (Bryanska)
>Date: 10/5/2004 7:52 AM US Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <[email protected]>
>
>I don't think I'm ready for a fixed gear. I like gears.
>
>My Schwinn's drop bars hurt my hand webs, wrists, and elbows. (And
>yes, it's sized well and I've been to two LBS to try and fix this, but
>bike people can sometimes make you feel like you're doing something
>wrong, especially if you're not planning on buying anything) So maybe
>start out with ergonomic drops & a good stem, and eventually go with
>those butterflies I've been seeing?

You should do some reading. Most fixed gears have drop bars...after all many
are track bikes.... some people use bullhorn or mustache bars.
start at bikeforums.net, and there is a HUGE thread called "pictures of my
fixed gear"

 

[Fx199]

>> Until you have to clean it.
>
>Who says you have to clean them? ;-)
>
>
>cheers,
> Tom
>

They're not dirty...they're "seasoned" :-D

 

[Fx199]

>Subject: Re: Sweet agony of choice - best all-around bike for under a grand?
>From: [email protected] (Brink)
>Date: 10/5/2004 6:33 PM US Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <[email protected]>
>
>Bryanska,
>
>Proper fit is your friend. You willl have less pain and more ride time
>with proper fit. You may want to find a bike shop that will do custom
>fit for cheap and get measured with part of the money. A proper
>measurement will take about 2 hours. You have many parts measured and
>then sit on a fully adjustable bike and they move it around to find
>the best fit for you. A custom bike will be out of your price range at
>the amount you have listed. You can take the measurements from the
>fitting and then you can search for the closest bike to your fitting.
>Most companies will have the exact measurements of all of their bikes
>listed on the web. You can then be secure that the bike that you buy
>will be comfortable for you. This is how I found my first comfortable
>road bike. I think you should be less concerned about brand and more
>concerned with fit.
>
>---Brink

How many bike shops can really do a good fit though.
I know of one guy is supposed to be very good who charges about what my bike
used to be worth until I upgraded.
Almost makes you want to consider a custom frame.

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
Kevan Smith <[email protected]> writes:
> On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 14:08:14 -0700, [email protected] (Tom Keats) from
> wrote:
>
>>In article <[email protected]>,
>> Kevan Smith <[email protected]> writes:
>>> On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 06:01:12 -0700, [email protected] (Tom Keats) from
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>So do I. A complete set of all-copper cookware would be
>>>>wonderful to have.
>>>
>>> Until you have to clean it.
>>
>>Who says you have to clean them? ;-)
>
> Ewwww! Tarnished copper is ugly!

We don't call it 'tarnish'. We call it a patina.


cheers again,
Tom

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

 

[Zoot Katz]

Tue, 5 Oct 2004 17:57:02 -0700, <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Tom Keats) wrote:

>> Ewwww! Tarnished copper is ugly!
>
>We don't call it 'tarnish'. We call it a patina.

They used to apply horse urine to new copper roofing to begin the
patina. Now there's some chemical stuff that does the same thing.
--
zk

 

[Bill Sornson]

Zoot Katz wrote:
> Tue, 5 Oct 2004 17:57:02 -0700, <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (Tom Keats) wrote:
>
>>> Ewwww! Tarnished copper is ugly!
>>
>> We don't call it 'tarnish'. We call it a patina.
>
> They used to apply horse urine to new copper roofing to begin the
> patina. Now there's some chemical stuff that does the same thing.

Which is why horses' legs are getting shorter all the time.

Bill "now they just slide off piers" S.

 

[Blair P. Houghton]

Kevan Smith </dev/null> wrote:
>As a Bianchi rider, I'll tell you it's the sexy Italian design lines. It's
>made to flow with speed, and it does. I've got a Sa Marco Concor on mine --
>black leather on a silver frame with bullhorn bars. People in the know always
>give me a first look for the frame, then they go ga ga when they see it's
>fixed.

Better it than you, huh.

But what I wanted to post about here is:

I missed about 12 years of bikie culture.

What is the deal with this fetish for fixed-gear machines?

Is it a kinky fad or are people honestly trying to connect
to the earliest days of the sport?

--Blair
"And why do we park in the driveway
but drive on the--ulp!"

 

[Mark Hickey]

Blair P. Houghton <[email protected]> wrote:

>Better it than you, huh.
>
>But what I wanted to post about here is:
>
>I missed about 12 years of bikie culture.
>
>What is the deal with this fetish for fixed-gear machines?
>
>Is it a kinky fad or are people honestly trying to connect
>to the earliest days of the sport?

It's one of those "if you've never done it, you'll never understand
things". It took me over 20 years to get around to building a fixie,
but it feels more like a bike should feel than anything else I've ever
ridden.

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

 

[David Reuteler]

Zoot Katz <[email protected]> wrote:
> Tue, 5 Oct 2004 17:57:02 -0700, <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (Tom Keats) wrote:
>
>>> Ewwww! Tarnished copper is ugly!
>>
>>We don't call it 'tarnish'. We call it a patina.
>
> They used to apply horse urine to new copper roofing to begin the
> patina. Now there's some chemical stuff that does the same thing.

huh, when we made our table from a mess of copper tubing we gave it its
first patina with .. well, let's just say i'm an urbanite and there aren't
any horses around here.

would've been nice to know about the chemical stuff.
--
david reuteler
[email protected]

 

[Zoot Katz]

06 Oct 2004 04:20:08 GMT,
<[email protected]>,
David Reuteler <[email protected]> wrote:

>>
>>>> Ewwww! Tarnished copper is ugly!
>>>
>>>We don't call it 'tarnish'. We call it a patina.
>>
>> They used to apply horse urine to new copper roofing to begin the
>> patina. Now there's some chemical stuff that does the same thing.
>
>huh, when we made our table from a mess of copper tubing we gave it its
>first patina with .. well, let's just say i'm an urbanite and there aren't
>any horses around here.
>
>would've been nice to know about the chemical stuff.

I think it's called Tecate.
--
zk

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
Zoot Katz <[email protected]> writes:
> Tue, 5 Oct 2004 17:57:02 -0700, <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (Tom Keats) wrote:
>
>>> Ewwww! Tarnished copper is ugly!
>>
>>We don't call it 'tarnish'. We call it a patina.
>
> They used to apply horse urine to new copper roofing to begin the
> patina. Now there's some chemical stuff that does the same thing.

Thankfully, copper cookware doesn't need urine of any sort.
It doesn't really need a patina (or tarnish), either -- that
would defeat its superior heat transmitting properties. And I
in fact agree with Kevan -- I think messy-looking copper does
make for a lousy presentation.

But there are all kinds of relatively easy ways to clean it,
ranging from salt & vinegar, to products sold on The Shopping
Channel and other chemical preparations. Ketchup is reputed
to sometimes work too; I dunno about catsup.

Someone living in or near Vancouver might be able to get tinned
copper cookware re-tinned at Acme Plating.

{ \tongue_in_cheek
Maybe use of copper cookware would provide power savings, and
be conducive to sustainability.
}


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

 

[Curtis L. Russell]

On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 03:15:13 GMT, Blair P. Houghton <[email protected]> wrote:

>But what I wanted to post about here is:
>
>I missed about 12 years of bikie culture.
>
>What is the deal with this fetish for fixed-gear machines?

They were riding them in the 60s and 70s (and maybe it was a cult back
then among some of the time trialers), they were riding in the 80s and
90s, and they appear to be still riding them now. Those are the only
earlier periods that I was associated with, but I'm guessing that
there has always been a group, other than trackies, that rode fixed
gears.

My first fixed had a fixed on one side and a freewheel single on the
other. Made for great flexibility, except for the forgetting which one
was being used on occasion. Only a momentary lapse that was quickly
corrected by feedback from the bike...

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
Kevan Smith <[email protected]> writes:

> Taco Bell sauce will make a penny shine bright like the sun.

Maybe that's just the stuff to clean the battery and
switch contacts in flashlight-battery bike lights.


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

 

[Mike Kaiser]

Blair P. Houghton <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Better it than you, huh.
>
> But what I wanted to post about here is:
>
> I missed about 12 years of bikie culture.
>
> What is the deal with this fetish for fixed-gear machines?
>
> Is it a kinky fad or are people honestly trying to connect
> to the earliest days of the sport?
>

It's a reaction to all the high-tech gagdetry that seems to have taken
over the bike business these days. So people are simplifying, by ...
um, buying more stuff.

 

[the black rose]

Kevan Smith wrote:
> Taco Bell sauce will make a penny shine bright like the sun.

I will never eat at Taco Bell again. *shudder*

OTOH, since I haven't eaten at a Taco Bell in like 20 years, this isn't
exactly a big sacrifice.

*grin*

-km

 

[Thomas Reynolds]

Blair P. Houghton <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I missed about 12 years of bikie culture.
>
> What is the deal with this fetish for fixed-gear machines?
>
> Is it a kinky fad or are people honestly trying to connect
> to the earliest days of the sport?
>

Neither. It's just plain fun. Try it, you might like it.

Tom

 

[Rich]

Given you already have a single, I'd recommend you and your soon-to-be
wife get a tandem. I recently got one and both me and my wife love it.
We both ride at our own abilities, we get to talk, exercise, and be
outdoors together, and it's fun! Plus it's much faster then singles and
people are friendly to you.

Read "the stoker is always right" page, and then try one out. They're
great.

We bought a raleigh for $900, which is pretty much near the low end.
But it's worked well so far. I think it's been great for the
relationsip. Plus, we've both lost a few pounds since getting it, as
we ride more often now.

And get a new seat for your single.

Rich

Bryanska wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I proposed to my girlfriend this weekend (NOT as painful as many men
> would have you believe), and we had previously discussed how this
> would be a mutual engagement gifting. I thought about asking for a
> custom suit, custom-made shoes, or top-end pans.
>
> Then as I was riding my Schwinn Tempo, I remembered how much I enjoyed
> bicycling. So I ask this question to you:
>
> Given about $900, what is the bicycle you would purchase?
>
> Please keep in mind my situation:
> 1) City dweller, mainly ride on roads and long Minneapolis bike paths.
> 2) Sometimes I need to cruise around lazily.
> 3) My properly-sized Schwinn hurts, dammit! Are all road bikes
> painful? Everyone tells me to suck it up, but my poor taint...
>
> So take that 900 bucks and run with it!

 

[David Reuteler]

Kevan Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
>>OTOH, since I haven't eaten at a Taco Bell in like 20 years, this isn't
>>exactly a big sacrifice.
>
> The seven-layer burrito is OK. Five-hundred and thirty calories of no-meat
> goodness. It's so small, though -- very calorie dense.

i'd starve to death without them. try also the bean burrito + rice.

@ burger king the bk veggie is also a trip. i don't eat them regularly
(last time was over a year ago) but when touring i'd get 'em and the counter
guy would rarely know what i was talking about. followed of course by the
cook. but all bks have 'em.
--
david reuteler
[email protected]