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Main
Date: 26 Dec 2006 10:10:30
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
fuck it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
process!
I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
has held up just fine, AFAIK.
Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
fucking complicated! And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
care about servicing 'bents.
Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
comfortable 'bent around, but it requires a lot of attention, not like
my other bikes which I just ride and take to the shop maybe once or
twice a year. So far, I think I've spent $250 getting my 'bent
serviced and refitted in one way or another. JFC!!
I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
leave them around.
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 08:31:36
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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On Jan 29, 11:02 am, Peter Clinch <p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk > wrote:
>
> Bending the chainwheel will want a sideways force, if you apply one
> /directly/ the teeth won't be moving over the paintwork to scratch it.
> Would it be somehow okay if you'd punched a hole in the bodywork as a
> sort of revenge thing? You'd still have a bent chainwheel.
Just wondering how my ringteeth could be bent but the car not even
scratched. It's called curiosity.
I just can't imagine the physics where a direct (90-degree) hit could
result in relatively *sharp teeth* being bent but the car's paint is
intact.
> A reasonable thought, but there isn't anything intrinsically weaker to
> any significant degree about a very long chain. In some respects the
> longer run is helpful: general wear is spread over more links, and
> there's less of an angular offset from using the derailleur that will
> accelerate chain wear.
I really wish some mechanical engineer would do a doctorate thesis
investigating bike and bike component designs.
> Yet my (non DT-Swiss) rear shock doesn't have these: it's hardly HP
> Vel's fault that different suspension manufacturers aren't using quite
> the same dimensions for their units' attachments, is it? So why blame
> them for it?
'Cause, as I've often related, they sent them after all, despite
claiming not to have them!
And who's "blaming" anyone, anyway?? The facts speak for themselves:
neither Hostel Shoppe, nor DT Swiss, nor HP Velo (at first) knew about
these "spacers," without which part *no* rear shock can be installed
(then again, you have the original SM, if I recall correctly...). If
anyone looks bad...well, facts are stubborn things.
> 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 p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 08:12:24
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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On Jan 29, 10:48 am, Peter Clinch <p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk > wrote:
>
> Fact: you hit a car
> Fact: your chainring is bent
>
> Now, either you can just accept that you were unlucky, or spend weeks
> arguing how it's all about 'bents being high maintenance. The latter
> doesn't seem to have got you anywhere thus far.
Fact: Some ringteeth are bent
Fact: The car's not even scratched
Now, either you can just explain how that could happen, or spend weeks
arguing how it's all about me not taking care of my 'bent.
The latter doesn't seem to have gotten you anywhere thus far.
> Fact: shit happens.
Fact: Shit doesn't happen by itself.
> Not necessarily, it could have broken as a combination of factors,
> including lack of cleaning and lubrication. Since you don't seem to do
> maintenance, these factors become (a) more likely and (b) more significant.
What the hell do these make things out of these days, recycled
aluminum soda cans??? It's a goddamned machine, it's supposed to take
some punishment!
> 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 p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 16:37:46
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Prisoner at War wrote:
> Fact: Some ringteeth are bent
>
> Fact: The car's not even scratched
>
> Now, either you can just explain how that could happen, or spend weeks
> arguing how it's all about me not taking care of my 'bent.
You can't reasonably argue that crashing into a car is "taking care" of
something. You say you "don't understand maintenance" and try to argue
you're taking care of it.
> Fact: Shit doesn't happen by itself.
It didn't, you crashed into a car. The paintwork seemed to have
miraculous properties but in the aftermath your chainwheel was bent:
seems like cause and effect to me.
> What the hell do these make things out of these days, recycled
> aluminum soda cans??? It's a goddamned machine, it's supposed to take
> some punishment!
You paid a premium in return for something as light as reasonably
possible meant for road use. That's not the sort of configuration that
is as *robust* as possible, it's only supposed to take punishment of a
well looked after chain pulling in a line with the teeth. If you want
something tough then don't pay for a special light weight one.
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 08:05:24
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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On Dec 29 2006, 3:59 am, Peter Clinch <p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk > wrote:
>
> I can't see any way to bend a chainwheel without a really good quality
> crash. You're cursed would appear to be your problem.
Such a pessimist, Peteyboy! Is it the Scotch in you talking?
>No, the problem isn't complication, it's your personal curse. Repair
> work I have done to my similar bike in 5 years is... a couple of flats,
> a minor fettle of spoke tension and, errrrr, that's it. That includes
> plenty of off-road and fully loaded touring.
Such a charmed life...do you believe in Statistics?
> I've yet to see anything on the bike that's so non-standard a decent
> bike shop with basic mechanical competence can't work with it. Perhaps
> your personal curse extends to your choice of bike shop too? I took
> mine along to some bike maintenance classes and there wasn't anything in
> general running we couldn't deal with using standard tools. The only
> obvious changes between the original GT and e mechanically are a
> different idler wheel and the seat, neither of which are exactly rocket
> science.
Hey, I nominate you for National Bird of Scotland. Luck of the Irish
and all!
>You have no way of knowing that even for yourself: different people find
> different things comfortable and you have ridden roughly 0 other
> machines to compare to AFAICT.
I don't need to get burned by different kinds of fire to know that
fire is uncomfortable.
I don't have to try all the 'bents in the world to know that the SMGTe
is the most comfortable.
And how do you know what's most comfortable for me, anyway??
> Only if you've got a personal curse. It does happen.
You know, Petey, ever since I got into the 'bent scene, such as it is,
you've been there for me. Through thick and thin you've been there --
or here, more precisely. Through all my questions, before and after
purchase, through all the troubles I've had with the bike, with the
dealers, with local bike shops; through it all, you've been right
here, by my side, offering your advice and opinions about this crazy
hobby and all the headaches it involves.
You know something?
I think you're bad luck!
> 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 p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 16:31:40
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Prisoner at War wrote:
> Such a pessimist, Peteyboy! Is it the Scotch in you talking?
I'm not a pessimist, my Streetmachine has been running fine for years, I
don't envisage or have particular problems with it, I set out on fairly
major tours with a minimal toolkit.
> Such a charmed life...do you believe in Statistics?
Not charmed at all: I've come across quite a few SMGT owners and the
only one with persistent problems is... you. Do /you/ believe in
statistics?
> Hey, I nominate you for National Bird of Scotland. Luck of the Irish
> and all!
Since I'm English, I don't really see why...
> I don't need to get burned by different kinds of fire to know that
> fire is uncomfortable.
So, since you've sat in at least one chair in your life, that gives you
the information to say what chair is, without doubt, the most
comfortable it is possible for any chair to be? I don't think so.
> I don't have to try all the 'bents in the world to know that the SMGTe
> is the most comfortable.
In the absence of trying anything else there is no reasonable way, aside
from blind faith, for you to know the SMGTe is the most comfortable.
How do you know, for example, it's more comfortable than the Grasshopper
or Scorpion, with an identical seat, or that, say, Nazca's seat wouldn't
suit you better?
> And how do you know what's most comfortable for me, anyway??
I don't, but that's not the point: *you* do not have the information
and/or experience to declare that your recumbent bike is necessarily
more comfortable for you than *any* other, yet you persist in describing
it as the most comfortable machine that there can be. I'm not saying
it's uncomfortable, just that you don't have the information to know
it's the most comfortable there might possibly be.
For me, the SMGT is more comfortable than the SMGTe:The SMGT is more
comfy for me than my wife's Nazca, but she finds that more comfortable
than mine. We both prefer either of our bikes to the SMGTe and the
Grasshopper and Challenge Mistral. We know that from sitting on them
and trying, but we're not under the illusion that because they were the
best things we personally tried that must make them better than all the
others we never even had a chance to try.
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 07:55:24
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Hey, what do you mean do "a stutter step"??? I think that may be what
happened with me, though my ringteeth were already (slightly) bent by
then. It was precisely because they were bent, I think, that I
started experiencing shifting problems and so forth (actually, there
was a very slight shifting problem to begin with from another crash or
pothole or something), and then tried to "muscle" my way out...I
remember the chain being periodically "stuck" (I kept pedaling merrily
after the accident with the teeth being bent) and had just muscled
through, until the last time when the chain just snapped,
evidently....
Thing is, my chainteeth were already bent by then...I still don't
understand how the car's paint job is fine but my chainring's got bent
teeth! What do they make those things out of anyway??
On Jan 22, 8:28 am, Curtis L. Russell <cur...@md-bicycling.org > wrote:
>
> Agreed, but I've jammed a chain doing a stutter step in my spin while
> avoiding an accident. All you have to do is freeze a moment and then
> try to muscle your way out of the situation. Same thing can lead to
> bent teeth.
>
> Just a possibility.
>
> Curtis L. Russell
> Odenton, MD (USA)
> Just someone on two wheels...
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 11:14:45
From: Curtis L. Russell
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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On 29 Jan 2007 07:55:24 -0800, "Prisoner at War"
<prisoner_at_war@yahoo.com > wrote:
>
>Hey, what do you mean do "a stutter step"???
By a stutter step, I mean any time that you let up on chain pressure
and then reapply it. On a lot of bents, due to their drive chains,
that can be enough to give you chain slack that then hits the chain
ring less than cleanly.
On a pretty good diamond frame with parts that are generally
considered bullet proof (Italvega with Record/Nuevo Record parts), I
didn't notice one or more loose chain bolts and when I started a
sprint I hit the chain ring with some slack chain and did some serious
damage to the 51 or 52 ring. Bent it pretty good. All my fault, all
the way around.
Most of the people said there was no perceptible difference in my
sprint, though...
Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 07:49:50
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Um, hullo, the whole question is, why should the crash have not
affected the car's paint job, but got some teeth on my chainring
bent!! Also, why should three or four slightly bent teeth on the big
chainring occasion catastrophic chain failure???
On Jan 19, 4:33 pm, Peter Clinch <p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk > wrote:
>
> Maybe... though in this case he admits he crashed into something!
>
> 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 p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 16:41:07
From: gotbent
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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"Prisoner at War" <prisoner_at_war@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1170085790.501776.197310@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
>
> Um, hullo, the whole question is, why should the crash have not
> affected the car's paint job, but got some teeth on my chainring
> bent!! Also, why should three or four slightly bent teeth on the big
> chainring occasion catastrophic chain failure???
>
>
>
> On Jan 19, 4:33 pm, Peter Clinch <p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk> wrote:
>>
>> Maybe... though in this case he admits he crashed into something!
>>
>> 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 p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
Dear fomer NYCXYZKVETCHKVETCHKVETCH
I think there is something else going on here. Take a good look at a
chainring and the amount of contact that it could make with a semi-planar
surface like a car door or fender and you will find that one or two teeth
would be the point of contact, not four! Someone commented about a loose
chainring and then there is the mysterious broken chain incident. That
might be a more plausible explanation than hitting a car.
Bad luck, a cosmic mind fuck, HPVelo built a special crap bike just for you?
I bet that they didn't. Are you sure that you didn't crash into something
when riding you world cruiser capable bike around the office? Are you sure
you really ran into your car. Most new cars are built from cheese and a
collision with a chainring would not only scratch the paint but dent the
metal or the teeth would punch a hole in the metal like a can opener.
People ride Velos around the world. How can you be such a major fuckup and
then complain so much and try to heap blame everywhere except your obvious
ineptness?
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 07:47:46
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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On Jan 19, 3:15 pm, Peter Clinch <p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk > wrote:
>
>
> As you've said yourself, there are no problems with the frame. The
> chainwheel is not HP Velotechnik specific, or even recumbent
> specific: it's a standard chainwheel bought off the same shelves
> everyone else has access to, so the extent to which it's a problem
> because it's a recumbent is it's in a slightly more vulnerable spot
> if you crsh into things. Moral #1, try not to crash into things,
> moral #2, though that's a downside on the 'bent you're far less
> likely to waste your forks and front wheel crashing into things
> than you are on a wedgie... you choose, you lose.
So I don't understand how come my chainring got bent but the car's not
even scratched!
>Again, same chains as on wedgies. 2.4 chains, admittedly, but that
> doesn't cause any immediate problems of itself and because the
> chain is much better protected from goop there's less cleaning and
> lubing to do. But it still needs to be done, or just like any
> chain on any bike it might well break. Chains that aren't looked
> after won't necessarily go, but they might. OTOH, chains that are
> looked after have a vanishingly small failure rate IME, and that's
> true on a 'bent or an upright.
Well, I was just wondering whether there was something about, I dunno,
really long chains (as is common on 'bents) versus shorter ones (such
as uprights use)....
> Your complaint about all the different screw to hold things on...
> those things are, rack and seat excpeted, standard items from the
> standard any-bike parts available. It's silly to complain about
> differences being down to the bike being recumbent, they apply to
> anything.
Hello, didn't you read the part about my rear air shock's
"spacers" (or whatever the hell HP Velo calls them) and the quest it
was to get a replacement set???
> Which takes us back to Gremlins.
I thought it was elves that worked for Santa!
> 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 p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 18:19:16
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Prisoner at War wrote:
<snip ongoing tales of woe >
Things to look at, as I see it, are:
1) are your problems caused by the fact your bike is a 'bent?
And I don't really think so: chainwheels and chains aren't 'bent
specific, your rear shock isn't 'bent specific and rear suspension
is /not/ freely interchangeable on uprights any more than on
'bents. The 'bent specific stuff you have, the frame and seat, you
seem to be very pleased with, so probably not much mileage in
moaning about 'bents being particularly high maintenance.
2) What can you do about your problems?
With the chainwheel, either accept it's bad luck and replace it at
your expense, or if you feel that's not good enough take it up with
the people who sold it to you and/or the state consumer protection
authorities. That might get you a resultion, moaning in public
might make you feel better to get it off your chest but it is *not*
going to get anything fixed.
With the chain, same as any other broken chain, it takes a couple
of minutes to fix with a chain tool so the bike is workable again.
If the big chainwheel is fubarred then stick with the middle ring
instead until that issue is resolved.
If you're worried about the rear sus unit going again then get a
replacement with less tweakable features so there's less to go wrong.
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 16:02:46
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Prisoner at War wrote:
> So I don't understand how come my chainring got bent but the car's not
> even scratched!
Bending the chainwheel will want a sideways force, if you apply one
/directly/ the teeth won't be moving over the paintwork to scratch it.
Would it be somehow okay if you'd punched a hole in the bodywork as a
sort of revenge thing? You'd still have a bent chainwheel.
> Well, I was just wondering whether there was something about, I dunno,
> really long chains (as is common on 'bents) versus shorter ones (such
> as uprights use)....
A reasonable thought, but there isn't anything intrinsically weaker to
any significant degree about a very long chain. In some respects the
longer run is helpful: general wear is spread over more links, and
there's less of an angular offset from using the derailleur that will
accelerate chain wear.
> Hello, didn't you read the part about my rear air shock's
> "spacers" (or whatever the hell HP Velo calls them) and the quest it
> was to get a replacement set???
Yet my (non DT-Swiss) rear shock doesn't have these: it's hardly HP
Vel's fault that different suspension manufacturers aren't using quite
the same dimensions for their units' attachments, is it? So why blame
them for it?
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 07:41:39
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
I don't understand "maintenance"...how the heck can my chainring be
bent but the car doesn't even have a scratch?? Then the chain itself
breaks in two as a result of like three or four teeth on the biggest
chainring being slightly bent....
On Jan 18, 2:12 am, Buck <i...@ATtrikesandstuffDOT.coDOT.uk > wrote:
>
>
> Bents are subject to the same rules as other cycles, they need to be assembled correctly, often the assembly can be more complex plus they
> often require more maitainance.
>
> --
>
> Buck
>
> Give a little person a little power and create a big problem.
>
> http://www.catrike.co.uk
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 11:08:51
From: Curtis L. Russell
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
On 29 Jan 2007 07:41:39 -0800, "Prisoner at War"
<prisoner_at_war@yahoo.com > wrote:
>
>I don't understand "maintenance"...how the heck can my chainring be
>bent but the car doesn't even have a scratch??
Let some of the chain bolts get loose and then hit the pedals after
you get a bit of chain slack, and you can easily bend the chain ring
and teeth. Damaged a pretty good Campi Record chain ring that way and
it was all my fault. Starting with the whole idea of me pretending to
be a sprinter.
OTOH, I have left scratch ks on my car by brushing it with the
chain ring with no real force behind it. I wouldn't want to bet that I
could touch my car body with a chain ring while holding holding it in
my hands without scratching the paint job. The plastic bumpers are a
different issue, but then, you'd have to nail the support behind it to
to damage to the chainring. That much force would probably leave
damage on the plastic. Less, and I could see someone polishing out a
minor collision with a bike. Maybe really catching the bumper at an
sliding angle, enough to bend the chain ring while still letting the
teeth go before ripping the bumper open. Can't quite see that, but
just maybe.
I really have a problem with this whole bent chain ring and no k on
the car thing, with the damage to the chain ring coming from the
collision. Wish it were possible, but my cars pick up enough
incidental damage over the years from living with bikes that I can't
quite see it. Leaning bikes, non-moving for the most part bikes,
missing the rack fork support on the first try bikes, catching the
wheel tunnel when putting the bike in bikes...
Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...
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Date: 29 Jan 2007 15:48:21
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Prisoner at War wrote:
> I don't understand "maintenance"...how the heck can my chainring be
> bent but the car doesn't even have a scratch??
Fact: you hit a car
Fact: your chainring is bent
Now, either you can just accept that you were unlucky, or spend weeks
arguing how it's all about 'bents being high maintenance. The latter
doesn't seem to have got you anywhere thus far.
Fact: shit happens.
> Then the chain itself
> breaks in two as a result of like three or four teeth on the biggest
> chainring being slightly bent....
Not necessarily, it could have broken as a combination of factors,
including lack of cleaning and lubrication. Since you don't seem to do
maintenance, these factors become (a) more likely and (b) more significant.
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 17 Jan 2007 14:01:59
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
trailblazer021@verzion.net wrote:
> I don't care what you ride . If you don't take care of it .they all go to
> Sh#t .Learn to fix it take better care of it .A buddies of mine use to
> complain about his Mt bike but never worked on it to keep it in shape it
> really doesn't take that much.Once he started to clean it and adjust thing
> as they were being use he had better luck when he went out riding . He could
> go for a ride and things didn't break or come out of adj.
> I think this is what the he was looking for .
> Don't wait till it breaks . Ride it and pay a little attion to what's going
> on and you can tell when thing are coming loose or need adjusted.Really??
> I own 3 bikes and keep them in shape the last thing they do is let be down
> on a ride unless I crash and bend some thing .
> Don't get me wrong if you bought a cheep bike??? You get what you pay for
> !!!
> A cheap bike wont get you the mileage of a good bike?!?!
> MY 2 CENTS>
>
> --
> J/O TrailBlazer At Large!!
Nah, like I said in my other post, my $200 cheapie MTB by Diamondback
is 15 yrs. old and rides fine still, but this $3,500 SWB got a bent
chainring from a simple bump with a car! The car's paint isn't even
scratched, but the paint on the chainring has come off!
It's a TruVativ chainring, what Hostel Shoppe sells for their "Ultimate
SMGTe"...I can't believe a little tap has thrown a few teeth crooked!
I've taken harder hits from cars on my own body without drawing blood
(used to be an NYC messenger for all of half a summer), but a simple
bump leaves the car's finish perfectly fine while my chainring is bent.
Sheesh!
|
| | |
Date: 19 Jan 2007 20:18:07
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Prisoner at War wrote:
> It's a TruVativ chainring, what Hostel Shoppe sells for their "Ultimate
> SMGTe"
So you've specifically paid for minimum weight. That doesn't make
things stronger! your $200 MTB will be a never mind the weight and
make it rugged affair. If you want the same degree of robustness
you need to specify that, *not* minimum weight.
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
|
| |
Date: 17 Jan 2007 13:56:50
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
boo@fractalfreak.com wrote:
>
>
> Gremlins. You've got gremlins on your shit.
>
> Something about bents attracts them. Good luck.
I seriously wonder. Sometimes I wonder if 'bents aren't made as
carefully...even though, with such low sales volume, each one is
practically custom-built!
I swear, I still have the fifteen year-old Diamondback cheapie $200 MTB
I bought, the one where I had two major accidents and a few minor ones
(major ones including flying over my handlebars and a destroyed front
wheel) and the shit rides fine. Fucking $3,500 SMGTe hits a fucking
car (that's what'd had happened, hidden driveway on an uphill!) and the
car is fine but the big chainring is bent!
Just a little, but enough to impair operations. Continued cycling is
what caused the chain itself to break and a thingamajig spring in the
back to go boing! and hors de combat.
|
| | |
Date: 19 Jan 2007 20:15:12
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Prisoner at War wrote:
>
> I seriously wonder. Sometimes I wonder if 'bents aren't made as
> carefully...even though, with such low sales volume, each one is
> practically custom-built!
As you've said yourself, there are no problems with the frame. The
chainwheel is not HP Velotechnik specific, or even recumbent
specific: it's a standard chainwheel bought off the same shelves
everyone else has access to, so the extent to which it's a problem
because it's a recumbent is it's in a slightly more vulnerable spot
if you crsh into things. Moral #1, try not to crash into things,
moral #2, though that's a downside on the 'bent you're far less
likely to waste your forks and front wheel crashing into things
than you are on a wedgie... you choose, you lose.
> Just a little, but enough to impair operations. Continued cycling is
> what caused the chain itself to break
Again, same chains as on wedgies. 2.4 chains, admittedly, but that
doesn't cause any immediate problems of itself and because the
chain is much better protected from goop there's less cleaning and
lubing to do. But it still needs to be done, or just like any
chain on any bike it might well break. Chains that aren't looked
after won't necessarily go, but they might. OTOH, chains that are
looked after have a vanishingly small failure rate IME, and that's
true on a 'bent or an upright.
Your complaint about all the different screw to hold things on...
those things are, rack and seat excpeted, standard items from the
standard any-bike parts available. It's silly to complain about
differences being down to the bike being recumbent, they apply to
anything.
Which takes us back to Gremlins.
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
|
| | | |
Date: 19 Jan 2007 15:55:10
From: Curtis L. Russell
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 20:15:12 +0000, Peter Clinch
<p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk > wrote:
> The
>chainwheel is not HP Velotechnik specific, or even recumbent
>specific: it's a standard chainwheel bought off the same shelves
>everyone else has access to, so the extent to which it's a problem
>because it's a recumbent is it's in a slightly more vulnerable spot
>if you crsh into things.
It is a bit easier to create chain slack on many recumbents and if you
combine that with hard stop-start in your spin, you can do damage.
I've seen a few MTBs that have had the same thing happen. You have to
work harder to do it on a well-adjusted, indexed diamond frame, and
their simpler drive trains usually bend or blow out the rear
derailleur as the point of failure when it does happen. Recumbents
have a better chance of taking that force out on the chain ring.
Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...
|
| | | | |
Date: 19 Jan 2007 21:33:58
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Curtis L. Russell wrote:
> It is a bit easier to create chain slack on many recumbents and if you
> combine that with hard stop-start in your spin, you can do damage.
Maybe... though in this case he admits he crashed into something!
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
|
| | | | | |
Date: 22 Jan 2007 08:28:39
From: Curtis L. Russell
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 21:33:58 +0000, Peter Clinch
<p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk > wrote:
>Curtis L. Russell wrote:
>
>> It is a bit easier to create chain slack on many recumbents and if you
>> combine that with hard stop-start in your spin, you can do damage.
>
>Maybe... though in this case he admits he crashed into something!
>
>Pete.
Agreed, but I've jammed a chain doing a stutter step in my spin while
avoiding an accident. All you have to do is freeze a moment and then
try to muscle your way out of the situation. Same thing can lead to
bent teeth.
Just a possibility.
Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...
|
| | |
Date: 18 Jan 2007 07:12:37
From: Buck
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
On 01/17/2007 21:56:50 "Prisoner at War" <prisoner_at_war@yahoo.com > wrote:
> boo@fractalfreak.com wrote:
>> Gremlins. You've got gremlins on your shit.
>> Something about bents attracts them. Good luck.
> I seriously wonder. Sometimes I wonder if 'bents aren't made as
> carefully...even though, with such low sales volume, each one is
> practically custom-built!
> I swear, I still have the fifteen year-old Diamondback cheapie $200 MTB I
> bought, the one where I had two major accidents and a few minor ones
> (major ones including flying over my handlebars and a destroyed front
> wheel) and the shit rides fine. Fucking $3,500 SMGTe hits a fucking car
> (that's what'd had happened, hidden driveway on an uphill!) and the car is
> fine but the big chainring is bent!
> Just a little, but enough to impair operations. Continued cycling is what
> caused the chain itself to break and a thingamajig spring in the back to
> go boing! and hors de combat.
Bents are subject to the same rules as other cycles, they need to be assembled correctly, often the assembly can be more complex plus they
often require more maitainance.
--
Buck
Give a little person a little power and create a big problem.
http://www.catrike.co.uk
|
| |
Date: 29 Dec 2006 06:40:41
From: The Historian
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Edward Dolan wrote:
> I think only George W. Bush has ever ridden a bike.
There's a photo on the Internet of Nixon on a bike. It's mentioned in
at least one cycling book I have.
See what I mean about
> Tom Keats being stupid!
No, I don't. Or at least not Mr. Keats.
|
| | |
Date: 07 Jan 2007 17:44:50
From: nget
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
The Historian Wrote:
> Edward Dolan wrote:
>
> > I think only George W. Bush has ever ridden a bike.
>
> There's a photo on the Internet of Nixon on a bike. It's mentioned in
> at least one cycling book I have.
>
>
I have said this before but if I'm not mistaken Vice-President Dic
Cheney
rides a recumbent. I think it's a Street Machine.
We are in good company.
Regards,
k the biker (from another group
--
nget
|
| | |
Date: 30 Dec 2006 14:45:55
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
"The Historian" <Spamscone@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1167403241.522346.109380@i12g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> Edward Dolan wrote:
>
>> I think only George W. Bush has ever ridden a bike.
>
> There's a photo on the Internet of Nixon on a bike. It's mentioned in
> at least one cycling book I have.
Oh, for Christ's sakes, everyone knows that Nixon was no cyclist or much of
any sportsman whatever. He was a very great President, but that is about all
he ever was.
George W. Bush is the only President that I know of who ever really got into
cycling, even though I think it was only mountain biking (but I am not sure
about this).
> See what I mean about
>> Tom Keats being stupid!
>
> No, I don't. Or at least not Mr. Keats.
Mr. Keats is Tom Keats and is certainly no Mister. That would imply that he
is a gentleman - and I have NEVER seen a gentlemanly post from him. He is a
working slob (a longshoreman on the docks of soggy old Vancouver) who thinks
he is an intellectual, but I am here to prove him wrong about that each and
every time he posts his inanities to these newsgroups.
Tom Keats is the most arrogant creature I have ever yet encountered on these
newsgroups. He needs to model himself after ME and become more humble. I am
a paragon of virtue and humility and I urge all the rest of you cretins to
emulate ME!
Moreover, he needs to confine his political reks to Canada and Canadians.
We Americans do not need his asshole comments about us, let alone our
Presidents. Surely there are enough stupid things he can say about his own
Prime Ministers and about Canadians. To never be critical of your own ks
you as an insecure jerk. I would like to hear from Tom Keats just once on
how Canadians are just as wretched as all the rest of us.
Canada is a great country (geographically), but a poor nation because of
liberal freaks like Tom Keats.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
|
| | | |
Date: 30 Dec 2006 22:16:32
From: - Bob -
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:45:55 -0600, "Edward Dolan" <edolan@iw.net >
wrote:
>Oh, for Christ's sakes, everyone knows that Nixon was no cyclist or much of
>any sportsman whatever. He was a very great President, but that is about all
>he ever was.
Greatest crooked President maybe. Should have put his criminal butt in
jail as a warning to future Presidents to clean up their acts. Too bad
Gerry let him off- we've suffered for it since.
|
| | | | |
Date: 30 Dec 2006 17:10:16
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
"- Bob -" <uctraing@ultranet.com > wrote in message
news:23pdp255pss9nupabkkfuaq640rrvkll82@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:45:55 -0600, "Edward Dolan" <edolan@iw.net>
> wrote:
>
>>Oh, for Christ's sakes, everyone knows that Nixon was no cyclist or much
>>of
>>any sportsman whatever. He was a very great President, but that is about
>>all
>>he ever was.
>
> Greatest crooked President maybe. Should have put his criminal butt in
> jail as a warning to future Presidents to clean up their acts. Too bad
> Gerry let him off- we've suffered for it since.
Nixon should never have resigned. He should have fought the impeachment
tooth and nail, just like Clinton did his impeachment.
Nixon was born to be President. He was Great in every sense of the word. His
so-called crookedness was just boys will be boys, all part and parcel of the
political shenanigans which we expect of our political leaders. Unlike Teddy
Kennedy, Nixon did not kill (murder) anyone personally and unlike Clinton he
was not a depraved sexual sot.
On the other hand, Ford was in way over his head from the get-go. He was a
numskull President. The one and only good thing he did was to pardon Nixon
(for nothing in my opinion). Only Carter was a worse President. It was
really Reagan which saved us from our own idiocies. But I suspect, like all
liberal scum, that you did not like Reagan either. So choke on your g.d.
Carter and your g.d. Clinton, two Democratic Presidents who never had a clue
about anything.
What is presently happening in Iraq between the Shia and the Sunnis I can
easily see happening here in America between liberals and conservatives. I
for one would not mind in the least killing (murdering) liberals. It would
be my good deed for the day.
I absolutely loath Nixon haters almost as much as I loath Bush haters. Hey,
just plain 'Bob,' please go fuck yourself and never post to these newsgroups
ever again. We do not care about your freaking Woodstock values nor your
freaking petty hatreds. God damn liberals, sons of bitches, blackguards,
treasonous bastards, kill the fuckers ...
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
|
| | | | | |
Date: 31 Dec 2006 22:58:29
From: Ted Bennett
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
"Edward Dolan" <edolan@iw.net > wrote:
> Nixon should never have resigned. He should have fought the impeachment
> tooth and nail, just like Clinton did his impeachment.
>
> Nixon was born to be President. He was Great in every sense of the word. His
> so-called crookedness was just boys will be boys, all part and parcel of the
> political shenanigans which we expect of our political leaders. Unlike Teddy
> Kennedy, Nixon did not kill (murder) anyone personally and unlike Clinton he
> was not a depraved sexual sot.
>
> On the other hand, Ford was in way over his head from the get-go. He was a
> numskull President. The one and only good thing he did was to pardon Nixon
> (for nothing in my opinion). Only Carter was a worse President. It was
> really Reagan which saved us from our own idiocies. But I suspect, like all
> liberal scum, that you did not like Reagan either. So choke on your g.d.
> Carter and your g.d. Clinton, two Democratic Presidents who never had a clue
> about anything.
>
> What is presently happening in Iraq between the Shia and the Sunnis I can
> easily see happening here in America between liberals and conservatives. I
> for one would not mind in the least killing (murdering) liberals. It would
> be my good deed for the day.
>
> I absolutely loath Nixon haters almost as much as I loath Bush haters. Hey,
> just plain 'Bob,' please go fuck yourself and never post to these newsgroups
> ever again. We do not care about your freaking Woodstock values nor your
> freaking petty hatreds. God damn liberals, sons of bitches, blackguards,
> treasonous bastards, kill the fuckers ...
>
> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
> aka
> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
Dear Ed:
You mispelled "numbskull"
Ted
--
Ted Bennett
|
| | | | | | |
Date: 31 Dec 2006 17:42:59
From: dlhii
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Ted Bennett <tedbennett@earthlink.net > wrote:
>"Edward Dolan" <edolan@iw.net> wrote:
>
>> Nixon should never have resigned. He should have fought the impeachment
>> tooth and nail, just like Clinton did his impeachment.
>>
>> Nixon was born to be President. He was Great in every sense of the word. His
>> so-called crookedness was just boys will be boys, all part and parcel of the
>> political shenanigans which we expect of our political leaders. Unlike Teddy
>> Kennedy, Nixon did not kill (murder) anyone personally and unlike Clinton he
>> was not a depraved sexual sot.
>>
>> On the other hand, Ford was in way over his head from the get-go. He was a
>> numskull President. The one and only good thing he did was to pardon Nixon
>> (for nothing in my opinion). Only Carter was a worse President. It was
>> really Reagan which saved us from our own idiocies. But I suspect, like all
>> liberal scum, that you did not like Reagan either. So choke on your g.d.
>> Carter and your g.d. Clinton, two Democratic Presidents who never had a clue
>> about anything.
>>
>> What is presently happening in Iraq between the Shia and the Sunnis I can
>> easily see happening here in America between liberals and conservatives. I
>> for one would not mind in the least killing (murdering) liberals. It would
>> be my good deed for the day.
>>
>> I absolutely loath Nixon haters almost as much as I loath Bush haters. Hey,
>> just plain 'Bob,' please go fuck yourself and never post to these newsgroups
>> ever again. We do not care about your freaking Woodstock values nor your
>> freaking petty hatreds. God damn liberals, sons of bitches, blackguards,
>> treasonous bastards, kill the fuckers ...
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
>> aka
>> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
>
>Dear Ed:
>
>You mispelled "numbskull"
>
>Ted
Dear Ed:
You misspelled "Shi'ite"
Don
|
| |
Date: 29 Dec 2006 08:59:19
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Prisoner at War wrote:
> I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
> World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
> town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
> In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
> Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
> back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
> about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
> the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
> has held up just fine, AFAIK.
I can't see any way to bend a chainwheel without a really good quality
crash. You're cursed would appear to be your problem.
> Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
> what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
> recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
> fucking complicated!
No, the problem isn't complication, it's your personal curse. Repair
work I have done to my similar bike in 5 years is... a couple of flats,
a minor fettle of spoke tension and, errrrr, that's it. That includes
plenty of off-road and fully loaded touring.
> And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
> bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
> a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
> sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
> care about servicing 'bents.
I've yet to see anything on the bike that's so non-standard a decent
bike shop with basic mechanical competence can't work with it. Perhaps
your personal curse extends to your choice of bike shop too? I took
mine along to some bike maintenance classes and there wasn't anything in
general running we couldn't deal with using standard tools. The only
obvious changes between the original GT and e mechanically are a
different idler wheel and the seat, neither of which are exactly rocket
science.
> Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
> grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
> comfortable 'bent around
You have no way of knowing that even for yourself: different people find
different things comfortable and you have ridden roughly 0 other
machines to compare to AFAICT.
> but it requires a lot of attention,
Only if you've got a personal curse. It does happen.
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
|
| |
Date: 28 Dec 2006 23:32:24
From: Tom Keats
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
In article <sPadnZKw1rWWKQnYnZ2dnUVZ_rKvnZ2d@prairiewave.com >,
"Edward Dolan" <edolan@iw.net > writes:
....
[his usual, typical, nonconsequential razmatazz tripe]
> "Tim McNaa" <timmcn@bitstream.net> wrote in message
> news:timmcn-FB12A8.08195727122006@news.iphouse.com...
>> Or you can skip the getting feeble part. A good exercise program can
>> prevent many of the losses stereotypically associated with aging.
>> Older people derive the same benefits from aerobic and resistance
>> training as young people, and in addition derive improved vigor and
>> mental capacity. The risk of dementia, falls, injuries due to falls,
>> and of nursing home placement is reduced by regular exercise.
Looks like you struck a nerve by mentioning dementia.
Maybe that's a contributing factor in old, grumpy pudges deciding
to ride -- nay, /purchase/! recumbents (pedal-powered wheelchairs.)
I suppose they need hirelings following them around, to assist them
to pluck their lard-butts from their comfy plushy Laz-e-Boys when
they deign to park their rides.
Y'know what? I think JFK would have ridden a Peugot (or Mercier)
10-speed ('cuz that was pretty much all that was available in
his time.) Maybe he'd have been a tandem guy. Eisenhower rode
whatever it was that he rode. But at least he rode. Johnson
would have thought about bicycles as a Communist plot, as he
forked potatoes off of other people's plates or picked doggies
up by their ears. Nixon would have changed the subject if he
was asked if he ever rode a bike. Gerald Ford ... ? I liked him.
He had a way of making nothing happen, which is often a good thing.
Carter would be concerned about climate change. Ray-Gun might have
been dismayed by the current progressiveness in Bogota, and tried
to invade it to set their minds right. George Bush Sr. had a
fairly good handle on domestic policy; Clinton had a pretty good
handle on international policy. I can't see either of them giving
serious consideration to cycling.
cheersies,
Tom
--
Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
|
| | |
Date: 29 Dec 2006 02:03:37
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
"Tom Keats" <tkeats2005@hotmail.com > wrote in message
news:8ag2ne.eb5.ln@bud.garden.local...
> In article <sPadnZKw1rWWKQnYnZ2dnUVZ_rKvnZ2d@prairiewave.com>,
> "Edward Dolan" <edolan@iw.net> writes:
> ....
> [his usual, typical, nonconsequential razmatazz tripe]
>
>> "Tim McNaa" <timmcn@bitstream.net> wrote in message
>> news:timmcn-FB12A8.08195727122006@news.iphouse.com...
>
>>> Or you can skip the getting feeble part. A good exercise program can
>>> prevent many of the losses stereotypically associated with aging.
>>> Older people derive the same benefits from aerobic and resistance
>>> training as young people, and in addition derive improved vigor and
>>> mental capacity. The risk of dementia, falls, injuries due to falls,
>>> and of nursing home placement is reduced by regular exercise.
>
> Looks like you struck a nerve by mentioning dementia.
>
> Maybe that's a contributing factor in old, grumpy pudges deciding
> to ride -- nay, /purchase/! recumbents (pedal-powered wheelchairs.)
Tom Keats has a strong back no doubt, laboring as he does as a longshoreman
on the Vancouver docks. Now he needs to work badly on developing a mind to
go with his strong back but I fear this may be beyond him.
> I suppose they need hirelings following them around, to assist them
> to pluck their lard-butts from their comfy plushy Laz-e-Boys when
> they deign to park their rides.
If I were as stupid as Tom Keats, I would be jealous of everyone who was
sted than me too even though it included the whole of mankind.
> Y'know what? I think JFK would have ridden a Peugot (or Mercier)
> 10-speed ('cuz that was pretty much all that was available in
> his time.) Maybe he'd have been a tandem guy. Eisenhower rode
> whatever it was that he rode. But at least he rode. Johnson
> would have thought about bicycles as a Communist plot, as he
> forked potatoes off of other people's plates or picked doggies
> up by their ears. Nixon would have changed the subject if he
> was asked if he ever rode a bike. Gerald Ford ... ? I liked him.
> He had a way of making nothing happen, which is often a good thing.
> Carter would be concerned about climate change. Ray-Gun might have
> been dismayed by the current progressiveness in Bogota, and tried
> to invade it to set their minds right. George Bush Sr. had a
> fairly good handle on domestic policy; Clinton had a pretty good
> handle on international policy. I can't see either of them giving
> serious consideration to cycling.
I think only George W. Bush has ever ridden a bike. See what I mean about
Tom Keats being stupid! But I have never yet known a Canadian on these
newsgroups who was anything but stupid. It must be a national condition
related to the Great White North.
But Tom Keats should talk more about his own political leaders and less
about American political leaders or does not Canada have any political
leaders worth talking about? Quick now - who is the freaking prime minister
of Canada? Just as I thought. Nobody knows - or cares!
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
|
| |
Date: 28 Dec 2006 19:19:05
From:
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Edward Dolan wrote:
>
> When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking mad
> I could kill myself for being so stupid ....
Damn, we were this close. (He says holding his finger and thumb only a
mm. apart.)
Ken
|
| | |
Date: 29 Dec 2006 00:45:08
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
<threeriversguy_2000@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1167362345.503827.139210@a3g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
>
> Edward Dolan wrote:
>>
>> When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking
>> mad
>> I could kill myself for being so stupid ....
>
> Damn, we were this close. (He says holding his finger and thumb only a
> mm. apart.)
>
> Ken
I throw in lines like the above in order to give types like Ken something to
say.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
|
| |
Date: 27 Dec 2006 21:48:34
From:
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Prisoner at War wrote:
> Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
> of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
> potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
> fuck it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
> chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
> process!
>
> I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
> World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
> town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
> In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
> Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
> back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
> about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
> the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
> has held up just fine, AFAIK.
>
Gremlins. You've got gremlins on your shit.
Something about bents attracts them. Good luck.
|
| | |
Date: 28 Dec 2006 06:15:45
From:
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
I don't care what you ride . If you don't take care of it .they all go to
Sh#t .Learn to fix it take better care of it .A buddies of mine use to
complain about his Mt bike but never worked on it to keep it in shape it
really doesn't take that much.Once he started to clean it and adjust thing
as they were being use he had better luck when he went out riding . He could
go for a ride and things didn't break or come out of adj.
I think this is what the he was looking for .
Don't wait till it breaks . Ride it and pay a little attion to what's going
on and you can tell when thing are coming loose or need adjusted.Really??
I own 3 bikes and keep them in shape the last thing they do is let be down
on a ride unless I crash and bend some thing .
Don't get me wrong if you bought a cheep bike??? You get what you pay for
!!!
A cheap bike wont get you the mileage of a good bike?!?!
MY 2 CENTS >
--
J/O TrailBlazer At Large!!
|
| |
Date: 27 Dec 2006 10:05:22
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
bigjim@backpacker.com wrote:
> If I can ride a bike for 4-6 hours I consider it comfortable. My
> Lemond road bike and C;dale cross bike fit that bill fine. I have the
> bars only slightly below saddle, a Brooks seat and I;m fine. My MTB's
> are torture machines and cannot ride for more than an hour before neck
> shouler wrist pain start!!
I can ride my uprights all day continously and be comfortable.
The problem is that within two weeks my back will be aching like crazy.
And I am likely one of the few young 'bent-riders around at age 34.
I never had a problem with my wrists or shoulders from upright biking,
though. I do change hand positions for comfort, but no regular problem
has ever developed. It's only my back that's really affected. I agree
that frame geometry and a proper saddle do a lot for comfort on an
upright, and I don't blame bike-riding per se for my bad back -- it
kind of started in childhood and was really messed up in the Army but
upright bikes and even jogging exacerbates it.
My sports doc recommended a 'bent, and that was my excuse to splurge
thousands.
It's been great fun, but getting annoying now with all the break-downs.
|
| | |
Date: 28 Dec 2006 03:52:48
From: Jim Behning
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Prisoner at War wrote:
> bigjim@backpacker.com wrote:
>> If I can ride a bike for 4-6 hours I consider it comfortable. My
>> Lemond road bike and C;dale cross bike fit that bill fine. I have the
>> bars only slightly below saddle, a Brooks seat and I;m fine. My MTB's
>> are torture machines and cannot ride for more than an hour before neck
>> shouler wrist pain start!!
>
>
>
> I can ride my uprights all day continously and be comfortable.
>
> The problem is that within two weeks my back will be aching like crazy.
> And I am likely one of the few young 'bent-riders around at age 34.
>
> I never had a problem with my wrists or shoulders from upright biking,
> though. I do change hand positions for comfort, but no regular problem
> has ever developed. It's only my back that's really affected. I agree
> that frame geometry and a proper saddle do a lot for comfort on an
> upright, and I don't blame bike-riding per se for my bad back -- it
> kind of started in childhood and was really messed up in the Army but
> upright bikes and even jogging exacerbates it.
>
> My sports doc recommended a 'bent, and that was my excuse to splurge
> thousands.
>
> It's been great fun, but getting annoying now with all the break-downs.
>
I do better with the sore back issues if I keep up with core muscle
training. I got a pretty sore back on an 8 hour mountain bike ride/race
but part of that is a way to tight left quad. I need to stretch that
muscle more. Massage therapists have said I have tight hamstrings. I
need to a lot more stretching I guess.
My cross bike is more comfortable than my road bike. I need to get a
shorter stem and maybe raise the stem a bit on the road bike. Little
things can make big differences.
|
| | | |
Date: 29 Dec 2006 00:43:10
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
"Jim Behning" <jimbehning@doesthisstoppork.mindspring.com > wrote in message
news:kcHkh.4452$yx6.577@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> Prisoner at War wrote:
>> bigjim@backpacker.com wrote:
>>> If I can ride a bike for 4-6 hours I consider it comfortable. My
>>> Lemond road bike and C;dale cross bike fit that bill fine. I have the
>>> bars only slightly below saddle, a Brooks seat and I;m fine. My MTB's
>>> are torture machines and cannot ride for more than an hour before neck
>>> shouler wrist pain start!!
>>
>>
>>
>> I can ride my uprights all day continously and be comfortable.
>>
>> The problem is that within two weeks my back will be aching like crazy.
>> And I am likely one of the few young 'bent-riders around at age 34.
>>
>> I never had a problem with my wrists or shoulders from upright biking,
>> though. I do change hand positions for comfort, but no regular problem
>> has ever developed. It's only my back that's really affected. I agree
>> that frame geometry and a proper saddle do a lot for comfort on an
>> upright, and I don't blame bike-riding per se for my bad back -- it
>> kind of started in childhood and was really messed up in the Army but
>> upright bikes and even jogging exacerbates it.
>>
>> My sports doc recommended a 'bent, and that was my excuse to splurge
>> thousands.
>>
>> It's been great fun, but getting annoying now with all the break-downs.
>>
> I do better with the sore back issues if I keep up with core muscle
> training. I got a pretty sore back on an 8 hour mountain bike ride/race
> but part of that is a way to tight left quad. I need to stretch that
> muscle more. Massage therapists have said I have tight hamstrings. I need
> to a lot more stretching I guess.
Jim proves my point about uprights being essentially uncomfortable unless
you are in tip top shape. I refuse to do any kind of training just so I can
ride a bike. Perish the thought! I ride a bike strictly for the fun of it
and if I have to train in order to do it, then it is no longer any fun.
Back problems especially won't go away unless you do some kind of
strengthening exercise to get those back and abdominal muscles into shape.
Furthermore, the older you get, the more this becomes a losing proposition.
I will not do any kind of training or exercise just so I can ride a bike.
What foolishness!
> My cross bike is more comfortable than my road bike. I need to get a
> shorter stem and maybe raise the stem a bit on the road bike. Little
> things can make big differences.
All you are doing is rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship. Get a
recumbent and forget all this nonsense about trying to be comfortable on an
upright. It ain't ever going to happen.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
|
| | | | |
Date: 31 Dec 2006 02:11:12
From: Jim Behning
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Edward Dolan wrote:
> "Jim Behning" <jimbehning@doesthisstoppork.mindspring.com> wrote in message
> news:kcHkh.4452$yx6.577@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>> Prisoner at War wrote:
>>> bigjim@backpacker.com wrote:
>>>> If I can ride a bike for 4-6 hours I consider it comfortable. My
>>>> Lemond road bike and C;dale cross bike fit that bill fine. I have the
>>>> bars only slightly below saddle, a Brooks seat and I;m fine. My MTB's
>>>> are torture machines and cannot ride for more than an hour before neck
>>>> shouler wrist pain start!!
>>>
>>>
>>> I can ride my uprights all day continously and be comfortable.
>>>
>>> The problem is that within two weeks my back will be aching like crazy.
>>> And I am likely one of the few young 'bent-riders around at age 34.
>>>
>>> I never had a problem with my wrists or shoulders from upright biking,
>>> though. I do change hand positions for comfort, but no regular problem
>>> has ever developed. It's only my back that's really affected. I agree
>>> that frame geometry and a proper saddle do a lot for comfort on an
>>> upright, and I don't blame bike-riding per se for my bad back -- it
>>> kind of started in childhood and was really messed up in the Army but
>>> upright bikes and even jogging exacerbates it.
>>>
>>> My sports doc recommended a 'bent, and that was my excuse to splurge
>>> thousands.
>>>
>>> It's been great fun, but getting annoying now with all the break-downs.
>>>
>> I do better with the sore back issues if I keep up with core muscle
>> training. I got a pretty sore back on an 8 hour mountain bike ride/race
>> but part of that is a way to tight left quad. I need to stretch that
>> muscle more. Massage therapists have said I have tight hamstrings. I need
>> to a lot more stretching I guess.
>
> Jim proves my point about uprights being essentially uncomfortable unless
> you are in tip top shape. I refuse to do any kind of training just so I can
> ride a bike. Perish the thought! I ride a bike strictly for the fun of it
> and if I have to train in order to do it, then it is no longer any fun.
>
> Back problems especially won't go away unless you do some kind of
> strengthening exercise to get those back and abdominal muscles into shape.
> Furthermore, the older you get, the more this becomes a losing proposition.
> I will not do any kind of training or exercise just so I can ride a bike.
> What foolishness!
>
> > My cross bike is more comfortable than my road bike. I need to get a
>> shorter stem and maybe raise the stem a bit on the road bike. Little
>> things can make big differences.
>
> All you are doing is rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship. Get a
> recumbent and forget all this nonsense about trying to be comfortable on an
> upright. It ain't ever going to happen.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
> aka
> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
>
>
In days of old people had to work all day to feed themselves. Since
modern man has chosen to not not work to feed themselves then you have
to do some activities to replace the work activities my grandfather did.
Of course you do not have to do anything. I just believe that doing some
exercises to keep muscles besides my legs is beneficial to me. Core
exercises are not just to help a person ride a bike. They help you stay
healthy in all the activiies you might do. I built a 2700 sf barn
practically by myself. I have a bunch of stumps I need to dig out. I
have a few dug out already. Sit ups, squats, curls and bench presses
help the weekend warier tasks less painful or epic. Of course if you do
nothing but ride a bike then you may never need to be in shape. Of
course then you do not want to have kids you might want to pick up. Or
groceries you might take out of the car. I ride a bike. I race maybe 20
races a year on the mountain bike, the cross bike and maybe even run a
road race. It is real hard to be competitive on a recumbent but if you
don't do those fun races then it does not matter to you. I don't use a
Macintosh either.
|
| | | | | |
Date: 03 Jan 2007 02:20:40
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
"Jim Behning" <jimbehning@doesthisstoppork.mindspring.com > wrote in message
news:4%Elh.5455$w91.3595@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> Edward Dolan wrote:
>> "Jim Behning" <jimbehning@doesthisstoppork.mindspring.com> wrote in
>> message news:kcHkh.4452$yx6.577@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>>> Prisoner at War wrote:
>>>> bigjim@backpacker.com wrote:
>>>>> If I can ride a bike for 4-6 hours I consider it comfortable. My
>>>>> Lemond road bike and C;dale cross bike fit that bill fine. I have the
>>>>> bars only slightly below saddle, a Brooks seat and I;m fine. My MTB's
>>>>> are torture machines and cannot ride for more than an hour before neck
>>>>> shouler wrist pain start!!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I can ride my uprights all day continously and be comfortable.
>>>>
>>>> The problem is that within two weeks my back will be aching like crazy.
>>>> And I am likely one of the few young 'bent-riders around at age 34.
>>>>
>>>> I never had a problem with my wrists or shoulders from upright biking,
>>>> though. I do change hand positions for comfort, but no regular problem
>>>> has ever developed. It's only my back that's really affected. I agree
>>>> that frame geometry and a proper saddle do a lot for comfort on an
>>>> upright, and I don't blame bike-riding per se for my bad back -- it
>>>> kind of started in childhood and was really messed up in the Army but
>>>> upright bikes and even jogging exacerbates it.
>>>>
>>>> My sports doc recommended a 'bent, and that was my excuse to splurge
>>>> thousands.
>>>>
>>>> It's been great fun, but getting annoying now with all the break-downs.
>>>>
>>> I do better with the sore back issues if I keep up with core muscle
>>> training. I got a pretty sore back on an 8 hour mountain bike ride/race
>>> but part of that is a way to tight left quad. I need to stretch that
>>> muscle more. Massage therapists have said I have tight hamstrings. I
>>> need to a lot more stretching I guess.
>>
>> Jim proves my point about uprights being essentially uncomfortable unless
>> you are in tip top shape. I refuse to do any kind of training just so I
>> can ride a bike. Perish the thought! I ride a bike strictly for the fun
>> of it and if I have to train in order to do it, then it is no longer any
>> fun.
>>
>> Back problems especially won't go away unless you do some kind of
>> strengthening exercise to get those back and abdominal muscles into
>> shape. Furthermore, the older you get, the more this becomes a losing
>> proposition. I will not do any kind of training or exercise just so I can
>> ride a bike. What foolishness!
>>
>> > My cross bike is more comfortable than my road bike. I need to get a
>>> shorter stem and maybe raise the stem a bit on the road bike. Little
>>> things can make big differences.
>>
>> All you are doing is rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship. Get a
>> recumbent and forget all this nonsense about trying to be comfortable on
>> an upright. It ain't ever going to happen.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
>> aka
>> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
>>
>>
> In days of old people had to work all day to feed themselves. Since modern
> man has chosen to not not work to feed themselves then you have to do some
> activities to replace the work activities my grandfather did. Of course
> you do not have to do anything. I just believe that doing some exercises
> to keep muscles besides my legs is beneficial to me. Core exercises are
> not just to help a person ride a bike. They help you stay healthy in all
> the activiies you might do. I built a 2700 sf barn practically by myself.
> I have a bunch of stumps I need to dig out. I have a few dug out already.
> Sit ups, squats, curls and bench presses help the weekend warier tasks
> less painful or epic. Of course if you do nothing but ride a bike then you
> may never need to be in shape. Of course then you do not want to have kids
> you might want to pick up. Or groceries you might take out of the car. I
> ride a bike. I race maybe 20 races a year on the mountain bike, the cross
> bike and maybe even run a road race. It is real hard to be competitive on
> a recumbent but if you don't do those fun races then it does not matter to
> you. I don't use a Macintosh either.
I agree with Jim on everything he says above. But I have never been strong
in my life. There are really only a few physical activities I can do with
any degree of comfort. Jim is an iron man, but he has to work at it too just
like any of us would have to.
I think an excellent cross training activity for cyclists is just plain
walking. I like to do lots of that every week. If you combine recumbent
cycling with walking you will not be in such bad shape, but you will still
not be in good enough shape to ride an upright. For that, you have to do
more just like Jim says. It would be a full time occupation for me to get
strong and fit enough to ride an upright in comfort.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
|
| |
Date: 27 Dec 2006 09:54:22
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
k the biker wrote:
>
>
> The only thing I can add is that you,re the only guy I know who bought
> a bike made out of German cheese.
> I have all the confidence that your machine will be running smoothly
> before too loog.
> Happy new year
That's my New Year's Resolution: to learn to fix my own bikes!
BTW, it's only component failure here -- the frame itself is fine (and
made in Taiwan).
Happy Trails in '07!
|
| |
Date: 27 Dec 2006 08:59:05
From:
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
If I can ride a bike for 4-6 hours I consider it comfortable. My
Lemond road bike and C;dale cross bike fit that bill fine. I have the
bars only slightly below saddle, a Brooks seat and I;m fine. My MTB's
are torture machines and cannot ride for more than an hour before neck
shouler wrist pain start!!
Edward Dolan wrote:
> <bigjim@backpacker.com> wrote in message
> news:1167157428.453941.321050@a3g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
> > Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!
>
> Big Jim has a good point here, but he does not realize how much we recumbent
> cyclist insist on comfort, something that you can never get on an upright.
>
> When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking mad
> I could kill myself for being so stupid as to think an upright could ever be
> comfortable for more than half an hour. Screw all uprights all the way to
> hell and back! The g.d. things are nothing but torture racks. One thing is
> for sure, they were never designed for the human anatomy.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
> aka
> Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
>
>
>
>
> > Prisoner at War wrote:
> >> Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
> >> of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
> >> potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
> >> fuck it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
> >> chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
> >> process!
> >>
> >> I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
> >> World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
> >> town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
> >> In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
> >> Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
> >> back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
> >> about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
> >> the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
> >> has held up just fine, AFAIK.
> >>
> >> Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
> >> what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
> >> recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
> >> fucking complicated! And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
> >> bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
> >> a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
> >> sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
> >> care about servicing 'bents.
> >>
> >> Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
> >> grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
> >> comfortable 'bent around, but it requires a lot of attention, not like
> >> my other bikes which I just ride and take to the shop maybe once or
> >> twice a year. So far, I think I've spent $250 getting my 'bent
> >> serviced and refitted in one way or another. JFC!!
> >>
> >> I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
> >> all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
> >> going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
> >> hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
> >> curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
> >> leave them around.
> >
|
| | |
Date: 29 Dec 2006 00:28:35
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
<bigjim@backpacker.com > wrote in message
news:1167238745.392424.193130@i12g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
ALL TOP POSTERS ARE IDIOTS!
> If I can ride a bike for 4-6 hours I consider it comfortable. My
> Lemond road bike and C;dale cross bike fit that bill fine. I have the
> bars only slightly below saddle, a Brooks seat and I;m fine. My MTB's
> are torture machines and cannot ride for more than an hour before neck
> shouler wrist pain start!!
4 to 6 hours in one day is not nearly good enough. Can you ride 8 to 10
hours a day for 2 weeks at a time? I thought not! No, if you want to be able
to do that you will have to get a recumbent. There is no other way.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
> Edward Dolan wrote:
>> <bigjim@backpacker.com> wrote in message
>> news:1167157428.453941.321050@a3g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
>> > Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!
>>
>> Big Jim has a good point here, but he does not realize how much we
>> recumbent
>> cyclists insist on comfort, something that you can never get on an
>> upright.
>>
>> When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking
>> mad
>> I could kill myself for being so stupid as to think an upright could ever
>> be
>> comfortable for more than half an hour. Screw all uprights all the way to
>> hell and back! The g.d. things are nothing but torture racks. One thing
>> is
>> for sure, they were never designed for the human anatomy.
|
| | | |
Date: 31 Dec 2006 02:16:57
From: Jim Behning
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
Edward Dolan wrote:
> <bigjim@backpacker.com> wrote in message
> news:1167238745.392424.193130@i12g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> ALL TOP POSTERS ARE IDIOTS!
>
>> If I can ride a bike for 4-6 hours I consider it comfortable. My
>> Lemond road bike and C;dale cross bike fit that bill fine. I have the
>> bars only slightly below saddle, a Brooks seat and I;m fine. My MTB's
>> are torture machines and cannot ride for more than an hour before neck
>> shouler wrist pain start!!
>
> 4 to 6 hours in one day is not nearly good enough. Can you ride 8 to 10
> hours a day for 2 weeks at a time? I thought not! No, if you want to be able
> to do that you will have to get a recumbent. There is no other way.
>
The thing is you can ride an upright bike, get your ride done in 4
hours, get your shower, get your lunch and still see the recumbent ride
in hours later. 6 hours on my road bike is 100 miles if I am riding
easy. Yes I have ridden for a week straight 5-8 hours a day. I could
have ridden two weeks but I scheduled a week for vacation. I have no
desire to sit in a chair 8 hours a day on vacation or at work. The body
is not designed to sit for that long.
|
| | | | |
Date: 03 Jan 2007 02:39:57
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
|
"Jim Behning" <jimbehning@doesthisstoppork.mindspring.com > wrote in message
news:t4Flh.5456$w91.1802@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> Edward Dolan wrote:
>> <bigjim@backpacker.com> wrote in message
>> news:1167238745.392424.193130@i12g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>>
>> ALL TOP POSTERS ARE IDIOTS!
>>
>>> If I can ride a bike for 4-6 hours I consider it comfortable. My
>>> Lemond road bike and C;dale cross bike fit that bill fine. I have the
>>> bars only slightly below saddle, a Brooks seat and I;m fine. My MTB's
>>> are torture machines and cannot ride for more than an hour before neck
>>> shouler wrist pain start!!
>>
>> 4 to 6 hours in one day is not nearly good enough. Can you ride 8 to 10
>> hours a day for 2 weeks at a time? I thought not! No, if you want to be
>> able to do that you will have to get a recumbent. There is no other way.
>>
> The thing is you can ride an upright bike, get your ride done in 4 hours,
> get your shower, get your lunch and still see the recumbent ride in hours
> later. 6 hours on my road bike is 100 miles if I am riding easy. Yes I
> have ridden for a week straight 5-8 hours a day. I could have ridden two
> weeks but I scheduled a week for vacation. I have no desire to sit in a
> chair 8 hours a day on vacation or at work. The body is not designed to
> sit for that long.
Yes, by all means, get the day's ride over with as quickly as possible! That
is an upright philosophy, not a recumbent philosophy. I LIKE to ride my
recumbent bike. In fact, I like it so much I want to spend all day on my
bike. I am never in any hurry to get the ride over with. In fact, I like to
prolong the ride as much as possible That is what a recumbent does for you.
Riding a recumbent is not just for exercise and fitness, it is for fun. The
fun factor soon disappears on an upright after a couple of hours or so. Why?
Because they are uncomfortable.
When I was doing week long bike tours, the only cyclists ever cycling around
town after the day's ride were recumbent cyclists. Everyone else was back in
camp rubbing rubbing their butts.That is not for me as I am way too st to
put up with that kind of foolishness.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
|
| | | | |
Date: 31 Dec 2006 08:54:32
From: Peter Clinch
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Jim Behning wrote:
> The thing is you can ride an upright bike, get your ride done in 4
> hours, get your shower, get your lunch and still see the recumbent ride
> in hours later.
Depends a lot on the bike. If you check you'll find that the right
sort of recumbents hold the aces for speed. The UK End to End
Land's End to John O' Groats 800+ mile road record is held on a
recumbent (a shade over 41 hours), with Andy Wilkinson beating his
own upright record to get it, so you can can even factor out the rider.
> I have no
> desire to sit in a chair 8 hours a day on vacation or at work. The body
> is not designed to sit for that long.
Since it isn't designed for a bike saddle /at all/, that's not a
good approach to the argument!
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 p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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Date: 27 Dec 2006 07:27:37
From: Qui si parla Campagnolo
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Remember who you are talking to Tim-
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
Tim McNaa wrote:
> In article <zq6dnWrqwqzKMQzYnZ2dnUVZ_syunZ2d@prairiewave.com>,
> "Edward Dolan" <edolan@iw.net> wrote:
>
> > I have been around bikes for the past 35 years and consider myself an
> > expert on the subject of comfort. If you are young and physically fit
> > you can more or less be comfortable on an upright for several hours
> > at best, but even then you cannot be comfortable on them all day
> > every day for weeks at a time.
> >
> > A recumbent is the ONLY way to go if you want TOTAL comfort. You give
> > up some speed, especially on hills, but the comfort is more than
> > worth it. This is actually a subject not even worth talking about as
> > anyone who knows recumbents can tell you.
> >
> > Those of you presently on uprights who think you can live with them
> > will find out that as you age that you in fact cannot. At that point,
> > you will either give up cycling - or you will graduate to recumbents.
>
> Oh bullshit as usual, Edward. I find my uprights comfortable enough to
> ride up to 400 km in 24 hours. How much more comfortable do I need my
> bike to be? I'm 47. I know people in their 50s and 60s and even 70s
> who do this kind of riding on uprights quite comfortably.
>
> Once again you are overgeneralizing. What is true for you may not be
> true for others. If recumbents keep you riding I think that's great and
> more power to you. If I develop some kind of health problem which
> results in a choice between not riding and getting a recumbent, I'll get
> a recumbent. A few friends of mine ride recumbents because they just
> like 'em. Two friends of mine with cervical disk problems have gone
> this route quite happily because they don't aggravate their proximal
> and/or distal pain. I have a cervical disk problem of my own and who
> knows? I might be on a recumbent one of these days too. It's great
> that there are options!
>
> As far as the comfort question goes, for some reason most people I see
> on recumbents around here are middle aged guys who are 50-75 pounds
> overweight. I think I have spotted the problem with normal bikes being
> uncomfortable for them. I hear a lot of complaints about "recumbent
> butt" to make it clear that recumbents are no panacea.
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Date: 30 Dec 2006 14:12:41
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <peter@vecchios.com > wrote in message
news:1167233257.500570.66280@42g2000cwt.googlegroups.com...
ALL TOP POSTERS ARE IDIOTS!
> Remember who you are talking to Tim-
You bet - anyone stupid enough to want to get into a conversation with
someone who thinks Campy shit is the greatest shit? Fuck Campy and the g.d.
Italians all the way to Hell and back! "Breaking Away" anyone?
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
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Date: 27 Dec 2006 07:21:28
From: Mark the biker
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Prisoner at War wrote:
> k the biker wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > It sounds like you have the repair of your bent well under way and
> > just needed
> > to vent a little frustration. I have never had as much trouble with any
> > of my bents
> > but maybe do not ride the way you do. In the long run you are better
> > off doing
> > these repairs yourself so that you will understand why it's important
> > not to
> > fuck it up in the first place.
>
>
>
> Thing is, I just ride around town. Nothing off-road, no stunts or
> anything. Sure, there's rain and whatnot -- but that's to be expected.
> What surprised me was how quickly things break down. I mean,
> considering that my wheelset still seems fine! I would have thought
> I'd have popped a spoke or two by now, given how everything else seems
> to have gone hors de combat just outside half a year!
>
> Bents are still too fun for me to ebay mine in disgust -- but it's
> getting pretty annoying. I just hope I learn how to do repairs myself
> now. That's the only silver lining here.
The only thing I can add is that you,re the only guy I know who bought
a bike made out of German cheese.
I have all the confidence that your machine will be running smoothly
before too loog.
Happy new year
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Date: 27 Dec 2006 06:33:09
From: Prisoner at War
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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k the biker wrote:
>
>
>
> It sounds like you have the repair of your bent well under way and
> just needed
> to vent a little frustration. I have never had as much trouble with any
> of my bents
> but maybe do not ride the way you do. In the long run you are better
> off doing
> these repairs yourself so that you will understand why it's important
> not to
> fuck it up in the first place.
Thing is, I just ride around town. Nothing off-road, no stunts or
anything. Sure, there's rain and whatnot -- but that's to be expected.
What surprised me was how quickly things break down. I mean,
considering that my wheelset still seems fine! I would have thought
I'd have popped a spoke or two by now, given how everything else seems
to have gone hors de combat just outside half a year!
Bents are still too fun for me to ebay mine in disgust -- but it's
getting pretty annoying. I just hope I learn how to do repairs myself
now. That's the only silver lining here.
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Date: 26 Dec 2006 23:53:36
From: Mark the biker
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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* * Chas wrote:
> "KERRY MONTGOMERY" <kamontgo@teleport.com> wrote in message
> news:t7ikh.3987$w91.1156@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> >
> <snip>
> > I've been around bikes for the past 40 years, around this world for 56,
> and
> > in fact can live with upright bicycles.
> > Kerry
> >
> Sniveling, dirty legged kid, 55 and 63 respectively.
>
> I tried riding a bent for a few minutes about 30 years ago and I just felt
> to uncomfortable trying to keep it balanced.
>
> I can appreciate that for some people with physical limitations, a bent is
> the only way that they can enjoy cycling. That's great for them.
>
> Chas.
You would be surprised at how far the recumbent world has come in
30 years Chas. It is always a curiosity to me when people think I must
be
uncomfortable to be on a bent. Uncomfortable could be like you say,a
balance
problem. I also have upright bikes but for shame the tires are flat and
no one will
take the time or effort to pump them up.
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Date: 26 Dec 2006 20:34:36
From: Mark the biker
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Prisoner at War wrote:
> Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
> of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
> potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
> fuck it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
> chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
> process!
>
> I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
> all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
> going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
> hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
> curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
leave them around.
It sounds like you have the repair of your bent well under way and
just needed
to vent a little frustration. I have never had as much trouble with any
of my bents
but maybe do not ride the way you do. In the long run you are better
off doing
these repairs yourself so that you will understand why it's important
not to
fuck it up in the first place.
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Date: 26 Dec 2006 23:47:22
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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"k the biker" <nget@techline.com > wrote in message
news:1167194076.207884.73630@i12g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> Prisoner at War wrote:
>> Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
>> of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
>> potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
>> fuck it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
>> chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
>> process!
>
>>
>> I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
>> all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
>> going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
>> hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
>> curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
> leave them around.
>
>
> It sounds like you have the repair of your bent well under way and
> just needed
> to vent a little frustration. I have never had as much trouble with any
> of my bents
> but maybe do not ride the way you do. In the long run you are better
> off doing
> these repairs yourself so that you will understand why it's important
> not to
> fuck it up in the first place.
k has got it right. I ride a bike very gentle and I have avoided a
universe of problems by so doing.
Also, look where the hell you are going every second.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
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Date: 26 Dec 2006 14:39:56
From: bfd
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Edward Dolan wrote:
> <bigjim@backpacker.com> wrote in message
> news:1167157428.453941.321050@a3g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
> > Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!
>
> Big Jim has a good point here, but he does not realize how much we recumbent
> cyclist insist on comfort, something that you can never get on an upright.
>
> When I ride an upright and it starts to cause me pain I get so freaking mad
> I could kill myself for being so stupid as to think an upright could ever be
> comfortable for more than half an hour. Screw all uprights all the way to
> hell and back! The g.d. things are nothing but torture racks. One thing is
> for sure, they were never designed for the human anatomy.
>
Have you tried Rivendell's style of fitting? Maybe some reading
material will help:
http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_your_bike/how_to_pick_your_bike
http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_your_bike/choosing_a_frame_size
http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_your_bike/our_approach_to_fit_sizing_and_riding_position
http://www.rivbike.com/assorted_reading/common_everyday_bike_set-up_mistakes
Good Luck with all that!
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Date: 26 Dec 2006 16:14:44
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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"Prisoner at War" <prisoner_at_war@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1167156630.556290.72170@79g2000cws.googlegroups.com...
>
> Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
> of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
> potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
> fuck it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
> chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
> process!
>
> I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
> World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
> town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
> In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
> Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
> back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
> about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
> the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
> has held up just fine, AFAIK.
>
> Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
> what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
> recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
> fucking complicated! And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
> bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
> a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
> sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
> care about servicing 'bents.
>
> Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
> grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
> comfortable 'bent around, but it requires a lot of attention, not like
> my other bikes which I just ride and take to the shop maybe once or
> twice a year. So far, I think I've spent $250 getting my 'bent
> serviced and refitted in one way or another. JFC!!
>
> I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
> all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
> going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
> hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
> curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
> leave them around.
You are just learning what all of us recumbent cyclists have had to learn
the hard way. Yes, the damn things are great when they work like they
should, but they are subject to many vicissitudes.
I would never take a recumbent bike to a shop for any kind of repair. You
have to repair them yourselves. Otherwise, you will go broke.
I will never recommend a high priced recumbent to anyone because I know from
bitter experience that they are not any better than the cheap ones. Unless
you are into speed, you do not need a state of the art recumbent. Get a
cheap one and then be prepared to fix whatever. You will be far happier that
way and not regret your loss of thousands of dollars.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
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Date: 26 Dec 2006 10:23:48
From:
Subject: Re: My 'Bent Is Starting to Annoy Me
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Get a real bike and more people can fix it!!!
Prisoner at War wrote:
> Okay, so I've been putting through my HP Velo SMGTe through all kinds
> of conditions around town for almost a year now. After all the
> potholes, rain, mud, grit, heat and cold I finally managed to really
> fuck it up Sunday. A chainring got bent slightly, and eventually the
> chain itself broke and messed up some drivetrain components in the
> process!
>
> I only wonder how folks manage to take this model 'bent on them Third
> World tours if I'm having issues with it from simply riding around
> town! From the beginning the rear air shock suddenly stopped working.
> In another two weeks I managed to shred the top teflon tube somehow.
> Then the front disc brake rotor became permanently warped. Then the
> back ones. Did I mention the rear mudguard cracking in two? Sunday,
> about the whole drivetrain came undone: broken chain, a bent chainring,
> the idler spring clamp kaputt. Interestingly, the Thracian wheelset
> has held up just fine, AFAIK.
>
> Good God, but this is starting to be like dealing with your PC: "now
> what???" comes to mind more and more. And this seems to me
> recumbency's fatal flaw preventing it from wider adoptation: it's too
> fucking complicated! And I can't believe how many of the nuts and
> bolts on my SMGTe do not seem to be off-the-shelf stuff you can get at
> a hardware store. Also, there should be a re-assembly instruction
> sheet for owners included with the bikes, since not all LBSes know or
> care about servicing 'bents.
>
> Recumbents are fun when they work, but mine is finally going to make a
> grease-monkey out of me! The HP Velo SMGTe is still the most
> comfortable 'bent around, but it requires a lot of attention, not like
> my other bikes which I just ride and take to the shop maybe once or
> twice a year. So far, I think I've spent $250 getting my 'bent
> serviced and refitted in one way or another. JFC!!
>
> I've now almost completely disassembled my 'bent, so as to clean out
> all the grit and grime and reinstall the chain, etc. Damn, this is
> going to be some education in bike mechanics! I'm really learning the
> hard way...on my own. I'm kind of looking forward to it, out of
> curiosity. Just wish I had the space to lay things down properly and
> leave them around.
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