Boonen uses great big fat tubular tire in Paris-Roubaix

James wrote:

Call it a road racing bike instead, if you like. Thankfully a large
majority of roads here are fine for the use of such bikes. In fact we
race road racing bikes on the roads around here. Have done for years.

ISTM, from your description, US roads are in poor shape by comparison.
I'm glad I live here.

I've never been to Australia. I will say, although I think my area is
one of the nicest I've seen for cycling, the roads surfaces in my locale
are worse than most other areas I've ridden. That's including many
other areas of the U.S. plus several countries in Europe.

We face several problems. First, we're at an area where there are lots
of freeze-thaw cycles through the winter. I was amazed to find
Michigan's northern roads smoother than ours. Then someone told me it
tends to freeze in the winter and stay frozen, unlike our area.

Second, our county is one of 88 in Ohio. In a lecture I attended, our
county engineer pointed out that state aid for roads gets divided
equally by 88; but we have more miles of county roads than most other
counties. So our county engineer has less money per mile to work with
than other county engineers - or so he claimed. (BTW, that's not the
former county engineer who went to prison for extorting money from
paving contractors. Although that probably affected pavement quality too.)

Now, some roads are maintained by cities or villages, others by
townships, others by the county, others by the state. But all those
entities around here are still hurting from the crash of the steel
industry many years ago. Loss of good paying industrial jobs really
hurts the tax base. Only now, 35 years later, are we recovering strongly.

Related to that is the same flight to the suburbs that many areas have
experienced. That takes taxes away from the central cities, making
repaving less frequent. It also dilutes the funding for roads, because
the infrastructure is stretched further and further out as McMansion
developments spring up along former farm roads.

The most interesting new factor is horizontal drilling and hydraulic
fracturing, or fracking, to access the natural gas and oil in the
Marcellus and/or Utica shale. Within the past two years, this has
exploded. Within 50 miles of me are farmers who have scratched out a
living for decades, barely making ends meet. Now gas companies are
paying them thousands of dollars per acre as signing bonuses for their
mineral rights, plus perhaps 15% of the profits from extracted gas and
oil. Big money!

If they spend it here (and maybe even if they don't), tax revenues
should rise significantly. Maybe we'll get smoother roads to ride, and
I'll install a pair of 18mm tires to use when dodging the fracking
trucks and the new SUVs being driven to the even newer McMansions along
what used to be my favorite country roads.

--
- Frank Krygowski

James wrote:

Chalo wrote:

I concur with an earlier comment to the general effect that "road
bike" is an inappropriate term for a bike that is unfit for many kinds
of roads, being optimized instead for racing.

Call it a road racing bike instead, if you like. *Thankfully a large
majority of roads here are fine for the use of such bikes. *In fact we
race road racing bikes on the roads around here. *Have done for years.

ISTM, from your description, US roads are in poor shape by comparison.
I'm glad I live here.

US roads have been allowed to rot as one of the consequences of
refusing to tax rich people.

At the same time, there are plenty of poseurs in cars that have been
lowered to the point that they can't clear speed bumps or curb cuts.
Owners of these cars go to lengths to cope with the complications
arising from their silly, impractical and pretentiously "race ready"
toy vehicles. And there are also plenty of two wheeled, pedal powered
equivalents of such cars and their owners. You can see them riding
around, to nowhere in particular, in parasite-class neighborhoods on
weekends when weather conditions are pleasant.

Chalo

On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:28:19 -0700 (PDT), Chalo
wrote:

James wrote:

Chalo wrote:

I concur with an earlier comment to the general effect that "road
bike" is an inappropriate term for a bike that is unfit for many kinds
of roads, being optimized instead for racing.

Call it a road racing bike instead, if you like. *Thankfully a large
majority of roads here are fine for the use of such bikes. *In fact we
race road racing bikes on the roads around here. *Have done for years.

ISTM, from your description, US roads are in poor shape by comparison.
I'm glad I live here.

US roads have been allowed to rot as one of the consequences of
refusing to tax rich people.

At the same time, there are plenty of poseurs in cars that have been
lowered to the point that they can't clear speed bumps or curb cuts.
Owners of these cars go to lengths to cope with the complications
arising from their silly, impractical and pretentiously "race ready"
toy vehicles. And there are also plenty of two wheeled, pedal powered
equivalents of such cars and their owners. You can see them riding
around, to nowhere in particular, in parasite-class neighborhoods on
weekends when weather conditions are pleasant.

Chalo

A Proper Bicycle is still available.
http://tinyurl.com/c27o2bw
--
Cheers,

John B.

On Apr 22, 7:28*pm, Chalo wrote:
James wrote:

Chalo wrote:

I concur with an earlier comment to the general effect that "road
bike" is an inappropriate term for a bike that is unfit for many kinds
of roads, being optimized instead for racing.

Call it a road racing bike instead, if you like. *Thankfully a large
majority of roads here are fine for the use of such bikes. *In fact we
race road racing bikes on the roads around here. *Have done for years..

ISTM, from your description, US roads are in poor shape by comparison.
I'm glad I live here.

US roads have been allowed to rot as one of the consequences of
refusing to tax rich people.

It would be pretty tough to adjust the gas tax based on wealth --
"fill it up with regular? What is your annual income?" Weight-mile
tax paid by truckers just gets passed along in the price of goods.
Local road maintenance is usually a general fund obligation, but that
varies from state to state and town to town. In sales tax only states
(e.g. Washington), increasing revenue to fix roads would probably hit
the poor harder than the rich.

At the same time, there are plenty of poseurs in cars that have been
lowered to the point that they can't clear speed bumps or curb cuts.
Owners of these cars go to lengths to cope with the complications
arising from their silly, impractical and pretentiously "race ready"
toy vehicles. *And there are also plenty of two wheeled, pedal powered
equivalents of such cars and their owners. *You can see them riding
around, to nowhere in particular, in parasite-class neighborhoods on
weekends when weather conditions are pleasant.

Parasite class? I would hazard a guess that many of these parasites on
bikes pay large tax bills, consume less in the way of public resources
and actually employ people. Some may even be your customers.

-- Jay Beattie.

Jay Beattie wrote:
:On Apr 22, 7:28Â*pm, Chalo wrote:
: James wrote:
:
: Chalo wrote:
:
: I concur with an earlier comment to the general effect that "road
: bike" is an inappropriate term for a bike that is unfit for many kinds
: of roads, being optimized instead for racing.
:
: Call it a road racing bike instead, if you like. Â*Thankfully a large
: majority of roads here are fine for the use of such bikes. Â*In fact we
: race road racing bikes on the roads around here. Â*Have done for years.
:
: ISTM, from your description, US roads are in poor shape by comparison.
: I'm glad I live here.
:
: US roads have been allowed to rot as one of the consequences of
: refusing to tax rich people.

:It would be pretty tough to adjust the gas tax based on wealth --
:"fill it up with regular? What is your annual income?" Weight-mile
:tax paid by truckers just gets passed along in the price of goods.

And is woefully below the actual costs the trucks impose on the road
maintaining authority. None of that is inconsistent with refusing to
tax the rich.


--
sig 39

Jay Beattie wrote:

Chalo wrote:

US roads have been allowed to rot as one of the consequences of
refusing to tax rich people.

It would be pretty tough to adjust the gas tax based on wealth --
"fill it up with regular? *What is your annual income?" *Weight-mile
tax paid by truckers just gets passed along in the price of goods.
Local road maintenance is usually a general fund obligation, but that
varies from state to state and town to town. *In sales tax only states
(e.g. Washington), increasing revenue to fix roads would probably hit
the poor harder than the rich.

Gas taxes and motorist-specific fees don't begin to cover the costs of
roadways and other public automotive infrastructure. Some fraction of
sales taxes, property taxes, income taxes, etc. are diverted to such
use, along with money "borrowed" from Social Security and whatever
other public trust funds that in fact will never be paid back.

Buy toilet paper and aspirin, pay tax on them. Buy equities, pay no
tax. Earn wages by the sweat of your brow, pay tax on them. Win
money by taking a gain on your equities, pay no tax. Own your home,
pay tax on it. Move a corporate facility into town, get property tax
abatements. You get the idea.

At the same time, there are plenty of poseurs in cars that have been
lowered to the point that they can't clear speed bumps or curb cuts.
Owners of these cars go to lengths to cope with the complications
arising from their silly, impractical and pretentiously "race ready"
toy vehicles. *And there are also plenty of two wheeled, pedal powered
equivalents of such cars and their owners. *You can see them riding
around, to nowhere in particular, in parasite-class neighborhoods on
weekends when weather conditions are pleasant.

Parasite class? I would hazard a guess that many of these parasites on
bikes pay large tax bills, consume less in the way of public resources
and actually employ people. Some may even be your customers.

Perhaps, perhaps (but not likely), perhaps, and perhaps. In no case
does that mean there isn't a parasite class, or that its neighborhoods
aren't good places to spot cycling poseurs.

Chalo

On Apr 23, 9:13*am, David Scheidt wrote:
Jay Beattie wrote:

:On Apr 22, 7:28*pm, Chalo wrote:: James wrote:

:: Chalo wrote:

:
: I concur with an earlier comment to the general effect that "road
: bike" is an inappropriate term for a bike that is unfit for many kinds
: of roads, being optimized instead for racing.
:
: Call it a road racing bike instead, if you like. *Thankfully a large
: majority of roads here are fine for the use of such bikes. *In fact we
: race road racing bikes on the roads around here. *Have done for years.
:
: ISTM, from your description, US roads are in poor shape by comparison.

John B. wrote:

A Proper Bicycle is still available.http://tinyurl.com/c27o2bw

Most of my customers would probably get along better with a Flying
Pigeon than they would with the bike they'd get themselves if money
were no object. I don't know for sure because I've never kept company
with a Flying Pigeon. But a nice quality version of a traditional
roadster would suit most folks better than a brakeless tarck bike with
dildo bars, ultralight plastic disposabike with USB 3.0 shifting, or
weenie hybrid with mile-high bars, suspension everything, and a
birthday cake for for a saddle.

One of my regular customers rides a 1970s Polish made bike. It's
pretty awful in most regards, but it looks nice upon casual
inspection. And it's chic in that ineffable Eastern Bloc way.

The only similarly cool bike I can recall coming into my shop was a
1980s made-in-Zimbabwe roadster complete with its original Dunlop
Zambezi tires (recommended pressu "INFLATE HARD"). Oh, and the
ancient Swiss Army bike with three brakes (both coaster and drum built
into the Sachs Torpedo rear hub) and very strange clincher tires with
overlapping edges.

Chalo

On 4/23/2012 3:00 PM, Jay Beattie wrote:
On Apr 23, 9:13 am, David wrote:
Jay wrote:

:On Apr 22, 7:28 pm, wrote:: James wrote:

:: Chalo wrote:

:
: I concur with an earlier comment to the general effect that "road
: bike" is an inappropriate term for a bike that is unfit for many kinds
: of roads, being optimized instead for racing.
:
: Call it a road racing bike instead, if you like. Thankfully a large
: majority of roads here are fine for the use of such bikes. In fact we
: race road racing bikes on the roads around here. Have done for years.
:
: ISTM, from your description, US roads are in poor shape by comparison.
: I'm glad I live here.
:
: US roads have been allowed to rot as one of the consequences of
: refusing to tax rich people.

:It would be pretty tough to adjust the gas tax based on wealth --
:"fill it up with regular? What is your annual income?" Weight-mile
:tax paid by truckers just gets passed along in the price of goods.

And is woefully below the actual costs the trucks impose on the road
maintaining authority. None of that is inconsistent with refusing to
tax the rich.


Taxing the rich has no effect on federal highway funding, being that
the Highway Trust Fund is comprised of revenues from various gas and
use taxes, heavy equipment, tire tax, etc. It does not receive
general fund dollars, at least not yet (AFAIK). You would have to
change funding mechanisms and not just up the marginal income tax
rates.

Not even close, as even a cursory perusal would reveal.


On a local level (which is Chalo's issue, because he is probably not
riding his bike on interstate highways), municipalities get gas tax
dollars, general fund dollars, SAFETEA-LU for certain projects,
funding from taxes imposed by special taxing districts or bonds backed
by property taxes, levies, etc. States can soak the rich as much as
they want -- and they do, particularly here in Oregon with our new,
higher corporate and personal tax rates. We also pay high property
taxes and water rates, much of it for infrastructure, including mass
transportation and bicycle avenues, etc. People get taxed plenty
around here, and with the AMT, the middle class can't even fully
deduct it on their federal returns.

-- Jay Beattie.

Cry me a river. There's a yearly summary of tax burdens at various
income levels for the most populous cities in each state. Portland, OR
is 20th of 50. About exactly the middle at the $100K level. Boston is
23. Move to Anchorage if you want, I'm staying here.

Chalo wrote:
John B. wrote:
A Proper Bicycle is still available.http://tinyurl.com/c27o2bw

Most of my customers would probably get along better with a Flying
Pigeon than they would with the bike they'd get themselves if money
were no object. I don't know for sure because I've never kept company
with a Flying Pigeon. But a nice quality version of a traditional
roadster would suit most folks better than a brakeless tarck bike with
dildo bars, ultralight plastic disposabike with USB 3.0 shifting, or
weenie hybrid with mile-high bars, suspension everything, and a
birthday cake for for a saddle.

One of my regular customers rides a 1970s Polish made bike. It's
pretty awful in most regards, but it looks nice upon casual
inspection. And it's chic in that ineffable Eastern Bloc way.

The only similarly cool bike I can recall coming into my shop was a
1980s made-in-Zimbabwe roadster complete with its original Dunlop
Zambezi tires (recommended pressu "INFLATE HARD"). Oh, and the
ancient Swiss Army bike with three brakes (both coaster and drum built
into the Sachs Torpedo rear hub) and very strange clincher tires with
overlapping edges.

Chalo

"1970s Polish made bike"

Was that a Tyler? One of ours emerged from hibernation in a
craigslist sale yesterday. Running well now with a modicum
of attention and oil. I had forgotten how nice they were.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971