Trek folding bikes: Experiences?

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote

> Really? Better than Bike Friday??

The "standard" drive train is a big plus IMVAIO, as is the stronger
frame. The Nexus type rear hub is attractive to manufacturers, but it
is too complex, and it makes changing a flat in the rear a pain (I have
a Dahon Speed TR with the internal hub).

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote

> Really? Better than Bike Friday??

The "standard" drive train is a big plus IMVAIO, as is the stronger
frame. The Nexus type rear hub is attractive to manufacturers, but it
is too complex, and it makes changing a flat in the rear a pain (I have
a Dahon Speed TR with the internal hub).

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

I submit that on or about 16 Jul 2005 23:12:42 -0700, the person known
to the court as [email protected] made a statement
(<[email protected]> in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

>The "standard" drive train is a big plus IMVAIO, as is the stronger
>frame. The Nexus type rear hub is attractive to manufacturers, but it
>is too complex, and it makes changing a flat in the rear a pain (I have
>a Dahon Speed TR with the internal hub).

Dogmatic assertion from Scharf: engage scepticism.

There are several pluses of the Nexus hub gear, of which low
maintenance and the ability to use wider chains are two. A hub gear
is also less vulnerable to mechanical damage in transit.

Hub gears are hugely popular with utility cyclists for these and other
reasons. So, if utility is your bag, then don't discount the hub
because of the fact that it makes changing a flat marginally more
difficult. I have not had a flat in six months of daily cycle
commuting, and I can only recall maybe two flats when commuting that
were not in Schwalbe Stelvio tyres. How many people here use racing
slicks on their folding bikes?

So fit the Nexus, which is as reliable as you'd expect from the
Japanese, and fit Schwalbe Marathon tyres

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

I submit that on or about 16 Jul 2005 23:05:54 -0700, the person known
to the court as [email protected] made a statement
(<[email protected]> in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

>The one other thing about the KHS Cappuccino that bothers me is the 18"
>wheels, since 18" tubes and tires are very hard to find.

So are the 16" ones for Bromptons, and the 406/28 Stelvios for my
recumbent. I carry a Park tyre boot, buy tubes in packs of five by
mail order, and keep a spare tyre on the shelf.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

 

[A Muzi]

> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
-snip-
>>To equip a Brompton with a very wide gear range would
cost a lot, as
>>you need to install the Florian Schlumpf Mountain Drive
>>("http://www.schlumpf.ch/md_engl.htm").

C.J.Patten wrote:
> I think it's used here as a proper name but did you know "Schlumpf" is
> German for "Smurf?"
-snip-


Smurf is a word??

Dictionary-dot-com says:
<jargon> /smerf/ (From the news:soc.motss Usenet
newsgroup, after some obnoxiously gooey cartoon characters)
A newsgroup regular with a habitual style that is
irreverent, silly, and cute. Like many other hackish terms
for people, this one may be praise or insult depending on
who uses it. In general, being referred to as a smurf is
probably not going to make your day unless you've previously
adopted the label yourself in a spirit of irony.
Compare: old fart.

I had never heard that term before!

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[A Muzi]

[email protected] wrote:

> C.J.Patten wrote:
>
>
>>FWIW, based on all the reading I'm doing, the KHS seems to have a comparable
>>ride to the Brompton at half the price.
>>They don't fold quite as small or elegantly but they get the job done.
>
>
> The one other thing about the KHS Cappuccino that bothers me is the 18"
> wheels, since 18" tubes and tires are very hard to find. The only place
> I've seen them is the exact place that many of us go for esoteric items
> "http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/tires/355.html" and I don't know if
> these also fit the KHS Cappuccino.
>
Which 18 is it?

If it's 18 x 1.75 that is now a common XMart size available
at any competent LBS which commonly services bicycles.

The 18x1.125 and the older 18 x 1-3/8 are not at all readily
available outside a few of us specialty shops.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[SMS]

A Muzi wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
>> C.J.Patten wrote:
>>
>>
>>> FWIW, based on all the reading I'm doing, the KHS seems to have a
>>> comparable
>>> ride to the Brompton at half the price.
>>> They don't fold quite as small or elegantly but they get the job done.
>>
>>
>>
>> The one other thing about the KHS Cappuccino that bothers me is the 18"
>> wheels, since 18" tubes and tires are very hard to find. The only place
>> I've seen them is the exact place that many of us go for esoteric items
>> "http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/tires/355.html" and I don't know if
>> these also fit the KHS Cappuccino.
>>
> Which 18 is it?

CST-639, 18x1.5"

Which one is that?

 

[Pat]

: C.J.Patten wrote:
: > I think it's used here as a proper name but did you know "Schlumpf" is
: > German for "Smurf?"
: -snip-
:
:
: Smurf is a word??
:
: Dictionary-dot-com says:
: <jargon> /smerf/ (From the news:soc.motss Usenet
: newsgroup, after some obnoxiously gooey cartoon characters)
: A newsgroup regular with a habitual style that is
: irreverent, silly, and cute. Like many other hackish terms
: for people, this one may be praise or insult depending on
: who uses it. In general, being referred to as a smurf is
: probably not going to make your day unless you've previously
: adopted the label yourself in a spirit of irony.
: Compare: old fart.
:
: I had never heard that term before!
:
: --
: Andrew Muzi

I believe that what he meant was that the cartoon character called a "Smurf"
in the States is called a "Schlumpf" in Germany. This is NOT the same as
saying that "smurf" in the German language is "schlumpf".

Pat in TX

 

[Pat]

: Hub gears are hugely popular with utility cyclists for these and other
: reasons. So, if utility is your bag, then don't discount the hub
: because of the fact that it makes changing a flat marginally more
: difficult. I have not had a flat in six months of daily cycle
: commuting, and I can only recall maybe two flats when commuting that
: were not in Schwalbe Stelvio tyres. How many people here use racing
: slicks on their folding bikes?
: Guy

I just bought a Bike Friday with that set up. Can you tell me if there are
any tricks or short cuts I need to know to change the tube or fix a flat on
the rear wheel?

Pat in TX

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

I submit that on or about Mon, 18 Jul 2005 12:39:30 -0500, the person
known to the court as "Pat" <[email protected]> made a statement
(<[email protected]> in Your Honour's bundle) to the
following effect:

>I just bought a Bike Friday with that set up. Can you tell me if there are
>any tricks or short cuts I need to know to change the tube or fix a flat on
>the rear wheel?

With the Sram Dual-Drive? There are two tricks, I'd say: first,
practice removing and refitting the shifter torpedo. If you get it
wrong you can apparently damage the gears after refitting I always
select 2 and check that the indicator is between the marks. The other
is, carry at least one decent workshop grade spanner for the wheel
nuts. It weighs more than the bike-specific equivalent, but on a cold
wet day (which is when *all* punctures happen, after all!) it's easier
to grip and easier to use without damaging the nuts or your fingers.
I use Britool, but Snap-On is good too

Some people just pull a bit of tube out and use a self-adhesive patch
as a temporary repair (I used to do that on my 3-speed Raleigh, years
back).

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Sun, 17 Jul 2005 21:25:25 -0500, A Muzi <[email protected]> wrote:

>Smurf is a word??

> <jargon> /smerf/ (From the news:soc.motss Usenet
>newsgroup, after some obnoxiously gooey cartoon characters)

>I had never heard that term before!

The obnoxiously gooey cartoon characters would be where the term comes
from. It was originally a french comic, "Les Schtroumpf", but especially
after the animated success has been translated all over the freakin'
place.

The Smurfs main characteristics are that they're small, blue skinned, and
wear white pants with integrated booties plus a white cap -- except for
the Big Smurf who dresses in red and Smurfette who's got blond, long hair
in place of the cap. All the other 100 or so smurfs in the village are
non-alpha males, which suggests some interesting things as to their
societal arrangement. Also, I've been told that Smurfette actually
resulted from one of the Evil Wizard Gargamel's experiments, which makes
the perpetuation of the species even harder to swallow.


Jasper

 

[Andrew W]

>To equip a Brompton with a very wide gear range would cost a lot, as
>you need to install the Florian Schlumpf Mountain Drive

Not necessarily, I have a range of 26 to 82 gear inches on mine by
combining a 52/28 chainring with 13/15 sprockets at the back plus the
Sturmey Archer AW3 hub gear.

This really does get you up almost anything.

See http://heh.pl/&Q4 for details

Andrew Webster

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Jasper Janssen <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Sun, 17 Jul 2005 21:25:25 -0500, A Muzi <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Smurf is a word??
>
> > <jargon> /smerf/ (From the news:soc.motss Usenet
> >newsgroup, after some obnoxiously gooey cartoon characters)
>
> >I had never heard that term before!
>
> The obnoxiously gooey cartoon characters would be where the term comes
> from. It was originally a french comic, "Les Schtroumpf", but especially
> after the animated success has been translated all over the freakin'
> place.
>
> The Smurfs main characteristics are that they're small, blue skinned, and
> wear white pants with integrated booties plus a white cap -- except for
> the Big Smurf who dresses in red and Smurfette who's got blond, long hair
> in place of the cap. All the other 100 or so smurfs in the village are
> non-alpha males, which suggests some interesting things as to their
> societal arrangement. Also, I've been told that Smurfette actually
> resulted from one of the Evil Wizard Gargamel's experiments, which makes
> the perpetuation of the species even harder to swallow.

I believe the canonical cartoon explanation is that new Smurfs are born
"once in a blue moon," and pretty much appear under nearby toadstools.

http://www.smurfs.com/infos/who/qui2.html

C'mon! They're magical, Methuselan blue creatures 3 apples high pursued
by an alchemy-obsessed wizard, and you find their reproduction
implausible?

http://www.smurfs.com/infos/qui.html

Also, they're as French as fries:

http://www.smurfs.com/infos/bio.html

The Flash game is kinda fun...

http://www.smurfs.com/homepage.html

Look, my lovely bride is into Smurfs, okay? My wife!

Smurf & Enjoy,

--
Ryan Cousineau [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 00:55:05 GMT, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]> wrote:

>I believe the canonical cartoon explanation is that new Smurfs are born
>"once in a blue moon," and pretty much appear under nearby toadstools.
>
>http://www.smurfs.com/infos/who/qui2.html

Every single Smurf cartoon with the smurflings or baby smurf in was awful,
so I consider those uncanonical.

>C'mon! They're magical, Methuselan blue creatures 3 apples high pursued
>by an alchemy-obsessed wizard, and you find their reproduction
>implausible?

No, but I like making Europeans who grew up with the smurfs have
apoplectic fits.

>Also, they're as French as fries:
>
>http://www.smurfs.com/infos/bio.html

Yeah, well, wallons, french, what's the diff. The Flemish are the only
*real* belgians, as I'm sure they'll tell you.


Jasper