On Mon, 14 Sep 2020 12:11:41 -0400,
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/13/2020 9:54 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 9/13/2020 8:23 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/13/2020 9:14 PM, AMuzi wrote:

...tandem bicycles, academic staff pensions...

Hey, tandem bicycles are a good topic for this group! Discuss
away!

Regarding academia, I'd prefer to discuss the value of
tenure. Spoiler: I'm against it, as it's currently
configured.

But we can discuss pensions too, as long as I don't have to
divulge too much personal information. (No, you can't have
the name of my first pet.)

I only mentioned them because you so frequently claim to live
outside normal economic phenomena. Tandems are a great
example, your typical quality tandem being $5000 to $12000
versus $500 for a department store 7 speed.

In 2020 dollars, our tandem cost about $3100. In those days
(the 1970s) a custom builder seemed the only way to get a
decent quality tandem. I purposely sought out a builder who
told me he would keep cost down by reducing the detail finish
work. For example, the chainstays are not beautifully sculpted
into the dropouts.

As I said, this tandem has proven to be one of the best
purchases we ever made - except for the disaster of the
severely weak front fork, previously described in detail. The
bike works very well.

Are there better ones? Yes, the technology was advancing pretty
rapidly when we bought this one. If we had waited maybe three
years, I imagine this one would have been built following
Santana's practice, and thus been rigid enough for me to pedal
while standing.

Like you, our tandem investments have been one of our best things
we ever spent money on--ballroom dance lessons being the other.

I do have to say I'd be really bummed about not being able to
pedal while standing on the tandem. We do that quite a lot, not
least to get up steeper hills without walking.

--
Ted Heise West Lafayette, IN, USA