definitely not cyclists

wrote:
Theo Bekkers wrote:

I only rode single-speeds as a kid and rode from Mt Lawley to Perth
after I started work on the same bike I had in High school. When I
got back into cycling at age 40, I rode a fixie for a while from
Balga to the City. No big deal. You just need to have a manageble
gear, which means you're limiting your top speed a little.

Geoff pretty much hit the nail on the head. Most of the hills where I
live are such that a single speed would mean walking up them.

I did have a steep hill which was on my route in, but I detoured around it
on the way home. So steep became long.

Theo

On 2007-11-27, (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
On Nov 28, 9:22 am, "Theo Bekkers" wrote:
wrote:
Geoff pretty much hit the nail on the head. Most of the hills where I
live are such that a single speed would mean walking up them.

I did have a steep hill which was on my route in, but I detoured around it
on the way home. So steep became long.

Theo

I also have a steep hill on my route which I can detour around (and
usually do on the way home), however my place of employment is on top
of another hill which I can't detour around :-)

I bet mine is bigger than yours

I've got myself a digital weatherstation thingy now. It predicted
rain for today based on the falling pressure. Let's see if I confuse
it when I take it up the mountain to a pressure of 850hPa. Might have
to rezero it when I get to the top...

--
TimC
And it should be the law: If you use the word `paradigm' without knowing
what the dictionary says it means, you go to jail. No exceptions.
-- David Jones

On Nov 28, 7:22 am, "Theo Bekkers" wrote:
I did have a steep hill which was on my route in, but I detoured around it
on the way home. So steep became long.

There's a steep hill in Perth! Where? Admittedly there are probably
huge bits of Perth I've not seen, but I've not come across anything
which I'd go out of my way to avoid on a single speed. My single speed
days were when I was younger and fitter but Edinburgh is rather well
known for being built on a bunch of hills.

Graeme

On Nov 27, 9:21 am, Zebee Johnstone wrote:
In aus.bicycle on Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:39:38 -0800 (PST)

tim wrote:
Single-speed is as simple as it gets. But there's the hill issue. Cost
permitting, my preference would be hub gears.

Me too, but single speed works in a lot of places. I saw a single
speed Giant with wide slick tyres at my lbs a couple of months
ago. It was on special for $150. No gears, no gear lever or cable,
1 front brake and cable, 1 pedal brake. Can't get much simpler
than that. I was tempted.

How about frame style? Traditional diamond frame is a given; how about
step-through frames ("grandmother bikes" as the Dutch would call
them)? Not good for frame stiffness, but intended to be easier to ride
in a skirt. I've never ridden in a long skirt, so I don't know how
much of an issue this is.

I think not so much a skirt as for ease of getting on and off. Modern
bikes have high BBs so high seats. If you can get lower BBs so people
can sit on the seat with feet on the ground - yes that's not "most
efficient" but they don't care - then that would be good.

My wife and 16yo daughter won't ride a diamond frame bike. They
don't wear skirts, it is a security thing - they like to feel that
they
can easily jump off the seat and stand without falling over. For
some reason swinging their leg backwards frightens them.

Doesn't have to be the full granny style - the girl mtb with the bar
running down to about halfway between seat and pedals is fine.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

I like the dutch-style swept back handlebars.

On Nov 28, 10:07 am, Graeme Dods wrote:
There's a steep hill in Perth! Where?

I grew up in Lesmurdie. I'lll see your Edinburgh hill and raise you
a Darling scarp.

brucef wrote:
On Nov 28, 10:07 am, Graeme Dods wrote:
There's a steep hill in Perth! Where?

I grew up in Lesmurdie. I'lll see your Edinburgh hill and raise you
a Darling scarp.

Or even Flinders St in Yokine/Nollamara. If you're really seriously looking
for a walk-up hill in Perth, right in the city, you could try Spring St, or
Mount St.

Theo

On Nov 28, 6:29 am, "Resound" wrote:
If you're selling
these online, offer a certain amount of modularity with regards to bits
(would madame like north bend, flat, bullhorn or moustache bars with that?).

That's where it gets difficult.

If I get my suppliers to do the mixing and matching, I have to carry
stock of a wider range of bikes.

Any time I spend mixing, matching and assembling costs money. I'm
often told I'm cheap, but my hourly rate has to be higher than a
Chinese bike factory worker.

Every time an importer touches the product, the cost goes up. To keep
the costs down as low as possible, I can't afford to touch the product
any more than is strictly necessary. I'll be unloading, storing, then
distributing the bikes in their boxes.

Centrestands are a thing that I can see being a distinct advantage
(especially for the bakfiet while trying to load and unload it).

The bakfiets will have a big double-sided stand under the box. The
single bikes will most likely have a rear axle mounted double-sided
stand.

tim

On Nov 28, 10:48 am, brucef wrote:
On Nov 28, 10:07 am, Graeme Dods wrote:

There's a steep hill in Perth! Where?

I grew up in Lesmurdie. I'lll see your Edinburgh hill and raise you
a Darling scarp.

Hey, no fair! Theo was (I think) referring to trips *within* Perth. If
you're going to be sneaky and start introducing stuff from the suburbs
then I could introduce the Pentland Hills -
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/institut...ews19_0011.jpg I
admit that there's no road over the top, but the last bit of road on
the way up is a struggle even with a low gear. It's a hoot on the way
down too!

Graeme

On Nov 28, 11:13 am, "Theo Bekkers" wrote:
brucef wrote:
On Nov 28, 10:07 am, Graeme Dods wrote:
There's a steep hill in Perth! Where?

I grew up in Lesmurdie. I'lll see your Edinburgh hill and raise you
a Darling scarp.

Or even Flinders St in Yokine/Nollamara. If you're really seriously looking
for a walk-up hill in Perth, right in the city, you could try Spring St, or
Mount St.

Spring Street's not bad and I'm not familiar with Mount Street, but
Malcolm Street running parallel to it is getting to "stand up on the
pedals and strain" steepness. In fact Malcolm Street is what made me
realise how unfit I'd got a couple of years ago. I was walking up it
at my typical high speed whilst talking on the phone to someone and
had to stop as I didn't have the breath to do both :-( Still, I'm
slowly getting back to my old fitness levels...

Graeme

Graeme Dods wrote:
Theo Bekkers wrote:

Spring Street's not bad and I'm not familiar with Mount Street, but
Malcolm Street running parallel to it is getting to "stand up on the
pedals and strain" steepness.

Mount St used to be an extension of St Georges Terrace before the Freeway
cut it in half. Mount St is where a lot of cars would be changing down to
first gear in the sixties.

Theo