Mark Atanovich blurted out: > I make it a point to wave to fellow cyclists. If they don't wave back, > I chaulk it up to A) they didn't see me, or B) they chose not to. I > have no problem with either reason. I never wave, because a prankster put superglue on the palms of my gloves. Now the gloves are stuck to my handlebars, and it's very dangerous for me to try to get my hands out of them while I'm in motion. I do wink, but since I wear reflective sunglasses that make me look like a bug, people can't even see me winking. If the oncoming cyclist is riding the same kind of bike I am, I will raise my left eyebrow 3/4 of a millimeter. Carapace Completed Umber Beverly Hills, California +-----------------------------------------------------+ | Always be sincere, even when you don't mean it. | | --Irene Peter | +-----------------------------------------------------+
nhluhr wrote: > > >It will make you > >want to remove the forbedden tags from you mattresses and pillows, > > so what? this isn't illegal! the tags are clearly marked: "Not to be > removed except by the consumer" therefore, if you own them, you can take > off the tag. why does everybody think this is illegal? It's just foolish > stupidity. No, actually it's very wise stupidity. If you tear off the tag, you are required by law to eat the mattress, which is not likely to be very tasty. Carapace Completed Umber Madras, India +--------------------------------------------------------+ | You can fool some of the people all of the time, | | and those are the ones we're after! --Anon. | +--------------------------------------------------------+
Tom Ruta wrote: > You've obviously stumbled on a pre-production cog from > Shimano's new 37 speed cassette! That's their new 6 tooth > cog designed for the Micron-drive expected in 1999. This is madness! Nobody needs a 37-speed cassette, 36 is perfectly adequate, and I can't imagine why anybody would need a sprocket smaller than 7 teeth. These 37 speed cassettes will create too much dishing in the wheel, and everybody's spokes will break. Also, the 37-speed chain is too narrow, and will surely break when used by a strong rider. I'm going to stick to the good old tried and proven 36 speed rig, because I value reliability and simplicity over having the latest gimmick. I'll be looking forward to cheap prices on the "obsolete" 36-speed parts as the trendy discard them in their mad rush to 37-speed. Carapace Completed Umber Intercourse, Pennsylvania +---------------------------------------------+ | I give myself sometimes admirable advice, | | but I am incapable of taking it. | | --Lady Mary Wortley Montagu | +---------------------------------------------+
Richard Strayer wrote: > > >Can anyone tell me the proper and "industry statndard" for weighing a bicycle. > >This will help settle a disscusion between my friends and I. If anyone can > >help shed any light on the subject it would be apreciated!!! > > > >Regards > > > >Jim > > Glad to: > > 1) Get a pre-production frame of the smallest size you plan to manufacture, > preferably unpainted and without any handlebar tape, bar-end plugs or > pedals. > > 2) Mount 12-spoke wheels, a trick titanium-railed feather-light > saddle and a full SRP ti bolt kit (you can change your mind and decide to > actually sell the bike with more conventional componenets after you've > weighed it.) > > 3) Put it on your chief engineer's wife's bathroom scale (gauranteed to > be calibrated on the "generous" side.) > > 4) List this weight in your catalog for every bike in your product line. > > I have it on good authority that this is the way most bicycle manufacturers > do it. The problem is getting the bike to stand up on the scale; can't use a kickstand...too heavy, so the pros tie a bunch of helium balloons to the saddle and handlebars. Carapace Completed Umber Lakehurst, New Jersey +-----------------------------------------------------+ | Always be sincere, even when you don't mean it. | | --Irene Peter | +-----------------------------------------------------+
Ian Penner wrote: > >...think about how many people say "ATM machine" on a daily > basis. Is redundancy more heinous in volume or by severity of each case? Yeah, and to use the "ATM machine," they have to enter their "PIN number." I really hate, loathe, detest and despise un-neccessary redundancies that serve no useful purpose or function of any kind, whatsoever. One of my favorites is "The bomb was still ticking, but it hadn't gone off yet." Carapace Completed Umber Pago Pago +-----------------------------------------------+ | ...there is humour in all things and the | | truest philosophy is that which teaches | | us to find it and make the most of it. | | --W.S.Gilbert | +-----------------------------------------------+
Mark Bulgier wrote: > Mavic Helium front wheels have 26 spokes. Which is why I would never > consider buying that otherwise interesting product, and in fact I > think > less of Mavic for coming out with such an anti-consumer, dare I say > Shimanoish "feature". Mavic builds these wheels using a special, very complicated, lacing algorithm. To keep track of the correct sequence of operations, each spoke is designated by a letter of the alphabet. They use 26 spokes because that's how many letters they are. Also, users of these wheels are supposed to practice preventive maintenance, by replacing one of the spokes every two weeks. Thus, the entire wheel gets rebuilt over the course of a year, and spokes don't fail in large numbers at the same time, an important safety feature. It is also well established that 13 spokes per side is a lucky number. Carapace Completed Umber Duotriskadekaphilia, Kazakhstan +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth - | | to see it like it is, and tell it like it is - | | to find the truth, to speak the truth, and live the truth. | | --Richard M. Nixon, Accepting nomination in 1968 | +---------------------------------------------------------------+
> My bosom buddy, Sheldon Brown, wrote: > >We've got tit in stock. See: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/tools.html#wheel Like many computer geeks, he types very fast, but his accuracy is a bit of a bust. It isn't that he's that much of a boob, but late at night he sometimes there is sometimes a cleavage bewteen what he means to type and the letters that actually get stacked up on the screen. Carapace Completed Umber, St. Tropez, France +--------------------------------------+ | Now, more than ever, America needs | | the strong moral leadership of the | | Nixon-Agnew team! --CREP | +--------------------------------------+
Walter Knapp wrote: > That's some trick adjusting a rear derailer while riding. I don't have > that good a balance or long enough arms. When I try to do it by hand it's difficult, because I like to be able to operate the shifter while adjusting the derailer. If I reach my right hand down to the rear derailer, I have to operate the shifter with my left. This requires better than average balancing skills with down-tube levers, and, with handlebar-mounted levers, requires moving my left hand to the right side of the handlebar, which also presents balancing difficulties. The trick is to use your feet. This is one of the reasons I like my Shimano SPD sandals so much, because they leave my toes free for making such adjustments. Carapace Completed Umber Palembang, Sumatra +-------------------------------------------+ | Ah, but I was so much older then, | | I'm younger than that now. | | -Bob Dylan | +-------------------------------------------+
Steve Martin wrote: > > I would like to convert my '98 GT aggressor from a threaded to a threadless. > Besides the fork and stem what else do I need to get. Can I use any of the > parts I already have? If your valve caps are in good shape, they can be reused, but everything else has to go! Carapace Completed Umber Taipei, Taiwan +-----------------------------------------+ | Well, the truth is usually just | | an excuse for a lack of imagination... | | --Garak, DS-9 | +-----------------------------------------+
[neither mailed nor posted] > Gene Tolli wrote: > > > I'm at the end of overhauling my last bike for the season. Rear tire > > is off the rim. I find myself staring at the rim tape, Velox, which > > reads "FOND DE JEUNE" (or JUENE, can't remember). Oddly enough, it > > occurs to me to wonder how this translates. I assume it means "tape > > of rim" or something close. The usually reliable Jobst Brandt theorized wildly: > Jante is French for rim. Fond is the base or "rim base tape" as > in Fond du Lac WI, located at the base of the lake. What a load of un-founded junk! Where does he come up with such taradiddle? First of all, Velox isn't French, it's Latin. Vercingetorix Velox, the founder of the firm, had a secret crush on his sister-in-law, Janet. He couldn't bear to keep this forbidden love hidden in his heart, so he declared it by having his rim tapes display the fact that he was "Fond of Janet"...at first, he figured that keeping the fateful phrase hidden inside of the tire where it was not readily visible would keep his brother, Vladimir Velox, from wising up. To further confuse his hapless brother, Vercingetorix deliberately mis-spelled "Janet" as "Jante" and had the word "of" translated into Spanish, the only European language that Vladimir didn't speak fluently. Unfortunately for Vercingetorix, Vladimir was deslixic, and failed to notice that "Janet" had had two letters transposed. Even more unfortunately, it turns out that "de" also means "of" in Italian, which Vladimir was a whiz at. Tragically, Vladimir, once he discovered the inscription, strangled both Vercingetorix and Janet in a fit of jealous rage (using the 17 mm width tape, sticky side out.) Carapace Completed Umber Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (Note: "Fond du Lac" _is_ French, and means "Fountain of Milk", a.k.a., America's Dairyland.) +---------------------------------------------------+ | It is the province of knowledge to speak and | | it is the priveledge of wisdom to listen. | | -- Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. | +---------------------------------------------------+
Someone named "Steve" asked: >What is equal with a 34t front gear to a 39t ft gear with a 28 rear cog? You'd get the same gear with a 24.4 tooth sprocket. Unfortunately, there's a vicious conspiracy between the supposed "rivals" Shimano and Campagnolo, who've combined and used their corporate muscle to prevent anybody from marketing sprockets with decimal tooth counts, so you'll have to make do with a 24 or 25. I really think the government ought to look into this situation, it must be restraint of trade, or something... Carapace Completed Umber Howe's Bayou, Louisiana +----------------------------------------+ | Millions of people say I exaggerate. | | --Marty Gasman | +----------------------------------------+
Jennifer wrote: > As it turns out I may be travelling to England for a week in August. > Since I've been thinking about buying a Brooks saddle it occured to me > > that it might make sense to look around while I'm there. Any > suggestions > on where to start other than the LBS? It's OK for a woman to buy a saddle overseas, but men should be more careful. The Brooks saddles made for the domestic market are built for men who "dress left." Since most American men dress right, British-market saddles are uncomfortable and dangerous. Carapace Completed Umber McMurdo Bay, Antarctica
Oliver Bryk wrote: > > What are the main pros and cons? I don't want to spend a lot. Pro: You stay dry, you are unlikely to crash. Con: Booooooooooooooooring Carapace Completed Umber MIR, Low Earth Orbit +------------------------------------------------+ | Nobody that has anything to do with bicycles | | has _all_ of their marbles, and some of us | | are certifiable! | | --Sheldon Brown | +------------------------------------------------+
"Me" wrote: >I would appreciate opinions on comfortable road saddles (I'm 190 lbs). My opinion is that they are a good idea! Carapace Completed Umber
Jobst Brandt wrote: > > Paul S. Cutt writes: > > > I'm trying to get more info beyond Brandt's book. If you have any > > other references, please pass them on. > > What is it that you are pursuing? I am always looking for subjects > that need expansion in the book. While the purely rational, material aspects of wheel building are, indeed covered very thoroughtly in your book, it is a bit weak on the emotional and spiritual side. You should really include a chapter on the appropriate incantations and blessings, stretching exercises, prayers etc. I find that the use of balsamic incense during wheel building produces wheels with more harmonious te, better able to stand up to the rigors of use in second-growth forest terrain. Frankincense, however, is preferred for working on road wheels, especially highly dished rears... Carapace Completed Umber Karakoram, Tibet +---------------------------------------+ | Whatever became of eternal truth? | +---------------------------------------+
Tom Gibb wrote: > > >I managed to get a radial cut in my tyre across the edge of the black > >rubber. It is large enough so that my tube blew out when I pumped > >it up to 100psi and rode down the road. Is it possible to effect a > >satisfactory repair to this or is the tire history? > > > A simple dollar bill (or local equivelent) will hold for a long time. > Patches are too flexible for large rips. > Jeez, Tom, this is rec.bicycle$.tech! Anybody knows that if a dollar bill will do the job, a double sawbuck will do it better, and prob'ly make you faster too! Don't be such a cheapskate! The pros use 200 franc notes, or sometimes 10,000 lire; much more elegant. Carapace Completed Umber St. Tropez
Ryan wrote: > > Sorry guys, but I've found the ultimate way of cleaning a chain... > > Simply remove ALL of the pins from the chain, then drop ALL of the parts > into a bottle full of the solvent of your choice. Shake vigorously. > Remove, rinse, and dry... Lube everything with the lube of your > choice... > > Occupy your next two days putting the chain back together!!! If that's too much trouble, you can buy 58 Craig Super Links for $290, and save the expense of a chain tool! Carapace Completed Umber Chicago, Illinois +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; | | an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. | | -- Sir Winston Churchill | +-----------------------------------------------------------+
Garry Lee wrote: > > Eleanor MacMaster wrote: > > > >A "wheel" welcome to you Mel. > > well spoke-n Eleanor. You are one of the people at the hub of this group, > which is of a rather skewered distribution, and you never have any axle to > grind... Quick, release me from this thread; it is too much for bearing... it has no cone-nection with the axleual purpose of this NG... You guys have a lot of balls, or maybe you're just plain nuts, to waste the precious bandwidth with this frivolity. Carapace Completed Umber Boston, The Hub Of The Universe, Massachusetts +---------------------------------------------+ | If you want to succeed | | as a jester, you need | | to consider each person's auricular; | | What is all right for B | | Might quite scandalize C, | | Because C is so very particular! | | --W.S.Gilbert | +---------------------------------------------+
Last Updated: by Harriet Fell
