Puma urban mobility

http://www.puma-kutani.com/

schwing
looks heavy though, and I cant read nor understand Japanese.
any translators?

gumby Wrote:
http://www.puma-kutani.com/

schwing
looks heavy though, and I cant read nor understand Japanese.
any translators?
Saw this in Germany last year. Version i saw in the Berlin Puma shop
was white. Very nice looking.


--
byron27

On Jun 15, 12:05 pm, gumby wrote:
http://www.puma-kutani.com/

schwing
looks heavy though, and I cant read nor understand Japanese.
any translators?

http://www.slingshotbikes.com/

The concept has been around for a little while. It looks very
interesting but I'm yet to see one here in the flesh. You would want
to be 110% certain that cable won't give way.

*me picturing the MTB frame imploding as I'm descending a nice hill
around Kinglake*

On 2007-06-15, gumby wrote:
http://www.puma-kutani.com/

schwing
looks heavy though, and I cant read nor understand Japanese.
any translators?

I don't understand why they put disc brakes on a bike like this, it just
ends up costing the buyer more money/hassle when things inevitably wear
out.

Other then that looks fun :-)

Cheers

Joel

--
Human Powered Cycles | High quality servicing and repairs
| Affordable second hand bikes
(03) 9029 6504 | Bicycle reuse centre
www.humanpowered.com.au | Mechanical and on-road training and instruction

"Joel Mayes" wrote in message
ldomain...
On 2007-06-15, gumby wrote:
http://www.puma-kutani.com/

schwing
looks heavy though, and I cant read nor understand Japanese.
any translators?

I don't understand why they put disc brakes on a bike like this, it just
ends up costing the buyer more money/hassle when things inevitably wear
out.

Other then that looks fun :-)

Cheers

Joel

How does discs wearing out differ from rims wearing out? Other than the fact
that replacing disc doesn't require re-lacing a rim?

Joel Mayes wrote:
On 2007-06-15, gumby wrote:
http://www.puma-kutani.com/

schwing
looks heavy though, and I cant read nor understand Japanese.
any translators?

I don't understand why they put disc brakes on a bike like this, it just
ends up costing the buyer more money/hassle when things inevitably wear
out.

Those look like Shimano cable discs to me. That wipes the only serious
objection I can think of to most discs, the complication of dealing with
a hydraulic system.

When the pads wear out, they're easier to replace than rim brake pads.
Almost all designs of rim brake require the user to adjust the pads to
hit the rim squarely. Discs don't, after initial installation of the
brake caliper itself.

If you have to remove and refit the wheels for any reason you don't have
to open and close the brakes, so there's no risk of the user riding away
with open brakes and not finding out till he/she needs them.

They're less affected by wet weather than rim brakes.

The rims don't wear, so there's no chance of them becoming so thin they
burst from tyre pressure.

If the rims get knocked out of true or round by accident or careless
riding, the brakes will still work.

Disc brakes make a huge amount of sense for urban bikes.

On 2007-06-16, Resound wrote:

"Joel Mayes" wrote in message
ldomain...
On 2007-06-15, gumby wrote:
http://www.puma-kutani.com/

schwing
looks heavy though, and I cant read nor understand Japanese.
any translators?

I don't understand why they put disc brakes on a bike like this, it just
ends up costing the buyer more money/hassle when things inevitably wear
out.

Other then that looks fun :-)

Cheers

Joel

How does discs wearing out differ from rims wearing out? Other than the fact
that replacing disc doesn't require re-lacing a rim?

Disc pads are *much* more expensive then standard pads ($50 a pair vs.
$16 a pair), and bike stores charge a lot more to fit them. Service
charges for disc brakes are also high in most bicycle stores.

For the type of riding this bike is designed for I'd expect rims and
discs to last a *long long* time. The expense is in the consumables and
the initial cost of the components.

Cheers

Joel

--
Human Powered Cycles | High quality servicing and repairs
| Affordable second hand bikes
(03) 9029 6504 | Bicycle reuse centre
www.humanpowered.com.au | Mechanical and on-road training and instruction

On 2007-06-16, Joel Mayes wrote:
On 2007-06-16, Resound wrote:

How does discs wearing out differ from rims wearing out? Other than the fact
that replacing disc doesn't require re-lacing a rim?

Disc pads are *much* more expensive then standard pads ($50 a pair vs.
$16 a pair), and bike stores charge a lot more to fit them. Service
charges for disc brakes are also high in most bicycle stores.

I should add the many disc pads wear out faster then rim padd too...

--
Human Powered Cycles | High quality servicing and repairs
| Affordable second hand bikes
(03) 9029 6504 | Bicycle reuse centre
www.humanpowered.com.au | Mechanical and on-road training and instruction

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 05:09:49 +0000, Joel Mayes wrote:


Disc pads are *much* more expensive then standard pads ($50 a pair vs.
$16 a pair), and bike stores charge a lot more to fit them. Service
charges for disc brakes are also high in most bicycle stores.

Shimano Deore cable brakes (I assume they're the model, since John said
Shimano cables) are not $50/set to replace pads. Around half that, or less
for some 3rd party pads.In my experience they last a lot longer than
V-brake pads, even excluding the fact that they *work* when conditions are
crap.

Service charges for bleeding brakes are high. If you're being charged for
replacing pads at all other than as part of a routine service I'd be
surprised. It's a 2 minute job, if not less, and requires only a 4mm
allen key. Cable discs are trivial to work on for almost all tasks (if the
internals die then it's a PITA, but that's about as common as the
internals of a V-brake dying).

For the type of riding this bike is designed for I'd expect rims and
discs to last a *long long* time.

Rims may not due to potholes, gutters, etc. I've got several rims that are
fine for disc brake use but would be unusable on rim brakes to to small
dings, etc. Yes, they're probably weaker than a brand new rim, but they're
still more than strong enough to last me, particularly as a commute rim.

Bleve, I know you've worn out rims - roughly how many km did it take you?

--
Dave Hughes |
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father.
Prepare to die.

On 2007-06-16, Dave (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 05:09:49 +0000, Joel Mayes wrote:
For the type of riding this bike is designed for I'd expect rims and
discs to last a *long long* time.

Rims may not due to potholes, gutters, etc. I've got several rims that are
fine for disc brake use but would be unusable on rim brakes to to small
dings, etc. Yes, they're probably weaker than a brand new rim, but they're
still more than strong enough to last me, particularly as a commute rim.

Bleve, I know you've worn out rims - roughly how many km did it take you?

Only 15,000km on mine, and they look like needing urgent replacement.

--
TimC
Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of someone else.
-- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary