On 2017-01-17 08:21, jbeattie wrote:
On Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 7:50:18 AM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-01-16 19:28, jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, January 16, 2017 at 4:23:53 PM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-01-16 13:39, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Monday, January 16, 2017 at 2:39:18 PM UTC-5, jbeattie
wrote:
On Monday, January 16, 2017 at 11:03:05 AM UTC-8, Joerg
wrote:
On 2017-01-16 10:43, David Scheidt wrote:
Joerg wrote:
:Yup. Standard bicycle tubes are usually junk. Would
you accept it if you :had to pump up the tires of your
car every two weeks? Yet most cyclists :think this is
"normal".
Automotive tires have a much lower ratio of surface
area to volume than bike tires. They're also run a
lower pressure, for the most part.
Truck tires are often operated around 50psi or higher.
Like my MTB tires are.
A truck tire weights as a much as TWO UCI minimum race
bikes -- or one DH bike. Now throw in the rim. You have
peculiar expectations for bicycles. You're theoretically
perfect bike would weigh about 250lbs.
-- Jay Beattie.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. What Joerg's wants
in a bicycle are would be met by a 250cc dirt-motorcycle
converted to pedal power and the engine removed.
I find it astounding that so many others who ride in very
harsh conditions do NOT have the breakages or other problems
that Joerg does.
According to several bicycle shop owners they do. Many said
that two factors allowed them to survive as a business:
1. Mountain bikers breaking stuff all the time.
2. Department store bike buyers who needed help and found that
the store that sold their bikes was less than helpful.
Unlike cars, which never need to be fixed, and that's why there
are no auto repair shops. http://tinyurl.com/jba5fgb
Care to compare the number of vehicles plus the miles traveled?
Maybe then it becomes more clear. Cars are way more reliable than
bicycles. Especially if you buy top quality cars like we did. Other
than regular scheduled maintenance there were no breakdowns in the
whole two decades we own them. None, as in zero. Not even one flat
tire. Try that with a bicycle.
I just spent $1,200 on a clutch because my dopey son lives in a city
with 20% grades up to stop lights. That does not include the motel
bill and towing when the clutch went belly-up outside of Baker City.
That was after new rear drums, bearings, etc., etc. I've stupidly
re-bought that car -- not including gas and oil changes.
Get a new son 8-)
I drive a stick-shift and have hauled copious amounts of fuel pellets,
lumber, industrial equipment, plus half-ton loads of firewood over some
really bad dirt roads. We have a very hilly terrain including some steep
roads that can scare people. Nothing ever broke.
An F-1 patch costs me $.08. A decent bike is $1K, and I don't pay
insurance, registration, licensing, etc.
You do pay insurance. Bike mishaps are simply covered by other insurance
such as home owner's but you must pay the premiums. Else you might lose
all you've got if you screw up in traffic and cause a serious crash. One
of the many reason for umbrella policies. As a lawyer you should know :-)
What I pay in car insurance annually would buy me an all new bike
every year. Skip cleaning the chain -- just put last year's bike out
with the garbage. Plus, my bikes are reliable. I reliably change the
chain when the wear indicator indicates and change the tires when
they are worn out. I fix a flat now and then and do other routine
maintenance. It's not like some monumental inconvenience, and if
flats were epidemic, then I would switch to a hard-case tire. I
would not agonize over the fact that the 20lb tire on my Subaru goes
flat less often.
My point is that when I say I am going to be there for an important
meeting at 11:30am I don't want to leave half an hour earlier just in
case I get a flat. And good luck getting that Gatorksin tire back onto
one of my rims.
That is not to say that bike tires are not ridiculously expensive. I
do have issues with the cost of certain bike-related things.
For the MTB I have (almost) found the solution. The best tires seem to
come from Asia and they also happen to be cheap. The MTB still costs a
bit much to operate per mile but oh well. Still looking for a solution
for the road bike and I'll have to find that soon because I just mounted
the last Gatorskin from the stack.
--
Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/