Your gearing is obsolete

On Friday, 12 June 2020 18:02:06 UTC-4, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 9:54:15 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:26 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:42:31 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 6:53 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:06:54 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/


For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels, there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist. Be quiet. You probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!

I seem to remember talk about an increase in cycling when the gasoline
price went sky high. Perhaps that is an easier solution than building
bicycle paths. Just raise the price of fuel :-)

We actually are seeing a surge in bicycling right now.

Errr... what is a surge? Or rather how large is a surge :-)

Well, there's this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/n...ronavirus.html

This past week, I was asked to offer advice for the friend (call him #2)
of a friend (#1). #2 wants to buy bikes for his twin sons, age about 7.

Just to be sure, my wife and I drove to four bike shops. There are no
bikes for those kids. The area's largest shop normally has maybe 200
bikes on the display floor. They had maybe a dozen, with none due in for
months. The only kid's bike was one girl's bike, pink and flowery.

The salesman in that shop said to wait till next year. There will be
tons of used bikes for sale.

--
- Frank Krygowski

You DROVE to four bike shops. WTF? What happened to the utility cyclist? You could have ridden to those shops. I did a meager 17 mile lunch ride in the pouring rain and passed three shops. I could have picked off another by tacking on a few miles.

I was on my fashion Synapse -- deductions for discs and UDi2, fancy shoe covers, Showers Pass jacket, tights and jersey. Points for fenders. No Chihuahua carrier, bells, whistles, mirrors, kickstands, etc. I could have used windshield wipers on my glasses, though. Got throttled again and did not stop for a gallon of milk. Totally wasted ride. It was just fun. I should have done an errand. Next time I'll stop at the weed shop on the way home.. It's still open and essential.

-- Jay Beattie.

I've often ridden many miles with a bicycle attached to my rear carrier like a tagalong trailer bike. That's utility riding. I've also bought a number of bikes from a fellow out in the country and brought them home the same way.

Cheers

On Fri, 12 Jun 2020 19:18:03 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

On Friday, 12 June 2020 18:02:06 UTC-4, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 9:54:15 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:26 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:42:31 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 6:53 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:06:54 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/


For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels, there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist. Be quiet. You probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!

I seem to remember talk about an increase in cycling when the gasoline
price went sky high. Perhaps that is an easier solution than building
bicycle paths. Just raise the price of fuel :-)

We actually are seeing a surge in bicycling right now.

Errr... what is a surge? Or rather how large is a surge :-)

Well, there's this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/n...ronavirus.html

This past week, I was asked to offer advice for the friend (call him #2)
of a friend (#1). #2 wants to buy bikes for his twin sons, age about 7.

Just to be sure, my wife and I drove to four bike shops. There are no
bikes for those kids. The area's largest shop normally has maybe 200
bikes on the display floor. They had maybe a dozen, with none due in for
months. The only kid's bike was one girl's bike, pink and flowery.

The salesman in that shop said to wait till next year. There will be
tons of used bikes for sale.

--
- Frank Krygowski

You DROVE to four bike shops. WTF? What happened to the utility cyclist? You could have ridden to those shops. I did a meager 17 mile lunch ride in the pouring rain and passed three shops. I could have picked off another by tacking on a few miles.

I was on my fashion Synapse -- deductions for discs and UDi2, fancy shoe covers, Showers Pass jacket, tights and jersey. Points for fenders. No Chihuahua carrier, bells, whistles, mirrors, kickstands, etc. I could have used windshield wipers on my glasses, though. Got throttled again and did not stop for a gallon of milk. Totally wasted ride. It was just fun. I should have done an errand. Next time I'll stop at the weed shop on the way home. It's still open and essential.

-- Jay Beattie.

I've often ridden many miles with a bicycle attached to my rear carrier like a tagalong trailer bike. That's utility riding. I've also bought a number of bikes from a fellow out in the country and brought them home the same way.

Cheers

"A number of bikes"? All at the same time :-?
--
cheers,

John B.

On Friday, 12 June 2020 23:15:28 UTC-4, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 12 Jun 2020 19:18:03 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

On Friday, 12 June 2020 18:02:06 UTC-4, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 9:54:15 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:26 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:42:31 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 6:53 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:06:54 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/


For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels, there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist. Be quiet. You probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!

I seem to remember talk about an increase in cycling when the gasoline
price went sky high. Perhaps that is an easier solution than building
bicycle paths. Just raise the price of fuel :-)

We actually are seeing a surge in bicycling right now.

Errr... what is a surge? Or rather how large is a surge :-)

Well, there's this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/n...ronavirus.html

This past week, I was asked to offer advice for the friend (call him #2)
of a friend (#1). #2 wants to buy bikes for his twin sons, age about 7.

Just to be sure, my wife and I drove to four bike shops. There are no
bikes for those kids. The area's largest shop normally has maybe 200
bikes on the display floor. They had maybe a dozen, with none due in for
months. The only kid's bike was one girl's bike, pink and flowery.

The salesman in that shop said to wait till next year. There will be
tons of used bikes for sale.

--
- Frank Krygowski

You DROVE to four bike shops. WTF? What happened to the utility cyclist? You could have ridden to those shops. I did a meager 17 mile lunch ride in the pouring rain and passed three shops. I could have picked off another by tacking on a few miles.

I was on my fashion Synapse -- deductions for discs and UDi2, fancy shoe covers, Showers Pass jacket, tights and jersey. Points for fenders. No Chihuahua carrier, bells, whistles, mirrors, kickstands, etc. I could have used windshield wipers on my glasses, though. Got throttled again and did not stop for a gallon of milk. Totally wasted ride. It was just fun. I should have done an errand. Next time I'll stop at the weed shop on the way home. It's still open and essential.

-- Jay Beattie.

I've often ridden many miles with a bicycle attached to my rear carrier like a tagalong trailer bike. That's utility riding. I've also bought a number of bikes from a fellow out in the country and brought them home the same way.

Cheers

"A number of bikes"? All at the same time :-?
--
cheers,

John B.

Could have had I wanted to. Get a long strong flat bar of steel, get L-shape pieces, with holes for a quick release skewer drilled through them, welded onto it each pair being wide enough apart to accept the front fork of the bike. Bolt that flat piece to the rear rack. I could bring up to three bikes home with such a thing.

Cheers

On Fri, 12 Jun 2020 21:07:04 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

On Friday, 12 June 2020 23:15:28 UTC-4, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 12 Jun 2020 19:18:03 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

On Friday, 12 June 2020 18:02:06 UTC-4, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 9:54:15 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:26 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:42:31 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 6:53 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:06:54 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/


For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels, there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist. Be quiet. You probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!

I seem to remember talk about an increase in cycling when the gasoline
price went sky high. Perhaps that is an easier solution than building
bicycle paths. Just raise the price of fuel :-)

We actually are seeing a surge in bicycling right now.

Errr... what is a surge? Or rather how large is a surge :-)

Well, there's this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/n...ronavirus.html

This past week, I was asked to offer advice for the friend (call him #2)
of a friend (#1). #2 wants to buy bikes for his twin sons, age about 7.

Just to be sure, my wife and I drove to four bike shops. There are no
bikes for those kids. The area's largest shop normally has maybe 200
bikes on the display floor. They had maybe a dozen, with none due in for
months. The only kid's bike was one girl's bike, pink and flowery.

The salesman in that shop said to wait till next year. There will be
tons of used bikes for sale.

--
- Frank Krygowski

You DROVE to four bike shops. WTF? What happened to the utility cyclist? You could have ridden to those shops. I did a meager 17 mile lunch ride in the pouring rain and passed three shops. I could have picked off another by tacking on a few miles.

I was on my fashion Synapse -- deductions for discs and UDi2, fancy shoe covers, Showers Pass jacket, tights and jersey. Points for fenders. No Chihuahua carrier, bells, whistles, mirrors, kickstands, etc. I could have used windshield wipers on my glasses, though. Got throttled again and did not stop for a gallon of milk. Totally wasted ride. It was just fun. I should have done an errand. Next time I'll stop at the weed shop on the way home. It's still open and essential.

-- Jay Beattie.

I've often ridden many miles with a bicycle attached to my rear carrier like a tagalong trailer bike. That's utility riding. I've also bought a number of bikes from a fellow out in the country and brought them home the same way.

Cheers

"A number of bikes"? All at the same time :-?
--
cheers,

John B.

Could have had I wanted to. Get a long strong flat bar of steel, get L-shape pieces, with holes for a quick release skewer drilled through them, welded onto it each pair being wide enough apart to accept the front fork of the bike. Bolt that flat piece to the rear rack. I could bring up to three bikes home with such a thing.

Cheers

Seems like a lot of extra work. I'd just have thrown them in the back
of the pickup and driven home :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

On 6/12/2020 2:51 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 6/12/2020 11:55 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/12/2020 12:41 PM, wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 4:41:57 PM UTC+2, Frank
Krygowski wrote:
On 6/12/2020 6:09 AM, wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 12:06:56 AM UTC+2, Frank
Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2,
jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7,
wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2,
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/




For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels,
there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when
my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky
handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to
your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist.Â* Be quiet. You
probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling
gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if
you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an
enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build
Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!


--
- Frank Krygowski

What has that to do with the fact that I prefer using my
car for groceries and not my bike. I only use my bike
for non fun rides if it is more practical.

??? Your question amazes me. You are a direct rebuttal to
their claims.

Of course you don't use your bike if your car is "more
practical." And
as I recall, you mocked things like handlebar bags - so
carrying more
than one liter volume means your car will almost always
be "more
practical." For almost all Americans, that is also true.
They will use
it as an excuse to never bike for utility.

Also, any trip requiring muscular exertion will make
their car "more
practical." Temperatures above 22 C will be too hot to be
practical.
Temperatures below 20 C will be too chilly. Rain, or the
possibility of
rain will have the same effect. So will snow, of course.
And darkness.

The U.S. will never be a bicycling nation. Your own
preference for the
car, except for "sport" rides, even in a nation renowned
for its cycling
culture adds evidence.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Last year:
mileage car: 7500 km
mileage bike(s): 12000 km.

Give me the numbers for utility riding, as opposed to sport
riding.



You're back in the realm of taste and fashion there.

Who's to say that one cyclist's experience is better or more pure or
more admirable than another's? Not me.

My point immediately above was that America's dominant "taste and
fashion" will be driving cars for the foreseeable future. That's true
even if quasi-protected bikeways are magically built to every destination.

If a 12000 km/year cyclist won't bike to the grocery in a country famed
for world-record bike facilities, the average American isn't going to do
it no matter what gets built in the right-of-way.

That's fact. Whether it's good or bad can be discussed, but the good or
bad is beside the point.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On 6/12/2020 10:20 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
jbeattie writes:

On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 1:17:59 PM UTC-7, Radey Shouman wrote:
AMuzi writes:

On 6/12/2020 11:55 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/12/2020 12:41 PM, wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 4:41:57 PM UTC+2, Frank
Krygowski wrote:
On 6/12/2020 6:09 AM, wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 12:06:56 AM UTC+2, Frank
Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2,
jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7,
wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2,
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/



For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels,
there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when
my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky
handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to
your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist. Be quiet. You
probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling
gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if
you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an
enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build
Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!


--
- Frank Krygowski

What has that to do with the fact that I prefer using my
car for groceries and not my bike. I only use my bike
for non fun rides if it is more practical.

??? Your question amazes me. You are a direct rebuttal to
their claims.

Of course you don't use your bike if your car is "more
practical." And
as I recall, you mocked things like handlebar bags - so
carrying more
than one liter volume means your car will almost always
be "more
practical." For almost all Americans, that is also true.
They will use
it as an excuse to never bike for utility.

Also, any trip requiring muscular exertion will make
their car "more
practical." Temperatures above 22 C will be too hot to be
practical.
Temperatures below 20 C will be too chilly. Rain, or the
possibility of
rain will have the same effect. So will snow, of course.
And darkness.

The U.S. will never be a bicycling nation. Your own
preference for the
car, except for "sport" rides, even in a nation renowned
for its cycling
culture adds evidence.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Last year:
mileage car: 7500 km
mileage bike(s): 12000 km.

Give me the numbers for utility riding, as opposed to sport
riding.



You're back in the realm of taste and fashion there.

Who's to say that one cyclist's experience is better or more pure or
more admirable than another's? Not me.

I just sold a tall short reach stem to a woman from Minneapolis who
complained that her road bike handlebars are too far away and too
low. She looked up at my old friend's photo:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/grylls.jpg

and exclaimed, "How could anyone ride a bicycle like that?"
I started to mention that it's a Gold Medal finish photo but another
customer laughed and said he did the same when he was racing and it's
a necessary learned technique.

I enjoy driving, especially my cute little Corvair Corsa. That takes
nothing from my enjoyment of cycling. The world is a big place, humans
are wonderfully varied and in my opinion any sort of bicycling is
good. YMMV.

I don't know what it is about bicycles that triggers these arguments,
maybe it's the relative cheapness of the equipment. I have known guys
that raced cars, and guys that raced boats. In all cases these vehicles
were optimized, within the owner's budget, to go fast according to the
rules in one particular racing discipline. If the car really only wants
to turn left, or the head is a five gallon plastic bucket, then hey,
that's just the way they are.

But I can't imagine those guys sneering at someone's vehicle by saying
"where's your go-fast car?", or laughing at a canoe because it won't win
a race to Bermuda.

Sure, but if you showed up at a go-fast rally in your Vanagon, you
would get serious eye rolling, particularly if you walked around and
sneered at the McLarans because they had no rear seat or cargo
rack. "That is not a versatile car!" "Why don't you have a brush guard
on that!" "Pretender!"

r.b.t is not a go-fast rally.

Right! And neither are most bike club rides, in my experience. Neither
were most rides at national or regional bike rallies, back when I used
to attend such things. Neither are most recreational rides among friends.

In fact, back when I used to lead tough rides (by our standards) for our
club, there were guys who had trouble keeping up and bought bikes to
improve their their performance. They still had trouble keeping up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On 6/12/2020 6:02 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 9:54:15 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:26 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:42:31 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 6:53 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:06:54 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/


For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels, there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist. Be quiet. You probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!

I seem to remember talk about an increase in cycling when the gasoline
price went sky high. Perhaps that is an easier solution than building
bicycle paths. Just raise the price of fuel :-)

We actually are seeing a surge in bicycling right now.

Errr... what is a surge? Or rather how large is a surge :-)

Well, there's this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/n...ronavirus.html

This past week, I was asked to offer advice for the friend (call him #2)
of a friend (#1). #2 wants to buy bikes for his twin sons, age about 7.

Just to be sure, my wife and I drove to four bike shops. There are no
bikes for those kids. The area's largest shop normally has maybe 200
bikes on the display floor. They had maybe a dozen, with none due in for
months. The only kid's bike was one girl's bike, pink and flowery.

The salesman in that shop said to wait till next year. There will be
tons of used bikes for sale.

--
- Frank Krygowski

You DROVE to four bike shops. WTF? What happened to the utility cyclist? You could have ridden to those shops.

Yes, I could have. Including the stop we made at a friend's house, it
would have been maybe 40 miles. It would have killed the entire day. I
chose to drive.

I did a meager 17 mile lunch ride in the pouring rain and passed three shops. I could have picked off another by tacking on a few miles.

Yup. I've been to Portland. This is not Portland.

I was on my fashion Synapse -- deductions for discs and UDi2, fancy shoe covers, Showers Pass jacket, tights and jersey. Points for fenders. No Chihuahua carrier, bells, whistles, mirrors, kickstands, etc. I could have used windshield wipers on my glasses, though. Got throttled again and did not stop for a gallon of milk.

You keep getting throttled despite your racing-level equipment. Old age
is gaining on you despite your constant training (self-flagellation) and
upgrading.

Give it up, Jay. Raise your handlebars, install a big saddlebag, slip on
some wool and a cloth cap, slow down and enjoy the view for a change!


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 6/12/2020 10:18 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, 12 June 2020 18:02:06 UTC-4, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 9:54:15 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:26 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:42:31 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 6:53 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:06:54 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/


For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels, there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist. Be quiet. You probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!

I seem to remember talk about an increase in cycling when the gasoline
price went sky high. Perhaps that is an easier solution than building
bicycle paths. Just raise the price of fuel :-)

We actually are seeing a surge in bicycling right now.

Errr... what is a surge? Or rather how large is a surge :-)

Well, there's this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/n...ronavirus.html

This past week, I was asked to offer advice for the friend (call him #2)
of a friend (#1). #2 wants to buy bikes for his twin sons, age about 7.

Just to be sure, my wife and I drove to four bike shops. There are no
bikes for those kids. The area's largest shop normally has maybe 200
bikes on the display floor. They had maybe a dozen, with none due in for
months. The only kid's bike was one girl's bike, pink and flowery.

The salesman in that shop said to wait till next year. There will be
tons of used bikes for sale.

--
- Frank Krygowski

You DROVE to four bike shops. WTF? What happened to the utility cyclist? You could have ridden to those shops. I did a meager 17 mile lunch ride in the pouring rain and passed three shops. I could have picked off another by tacking on a few miles.

I was on my fashion Synapse -- deductions for discs and UDi2, fancy shoe covers, Showers Pass jacket, tights and jersey. Points for fenders. No Chihuahua carrier, bells, whistles, mirrors, kickstands, etc. I could have used windshield wipers on my glasses, though. Got throttled again and did not stop for a gallon of milk. Totally wasted ride. It was just fun. I should have done an errand. Next time I'll stop at the weed shop on the way home. It's still open and essential.

-- Jay Beattie.

I've often ridden many miles with a bicycle attached to my rear carrier like a tagalong trailer bike. That's utility riding. I've also bought a number of bikes from a fellow out in the country and brought them home the same way.

I'm sorry to hijack the thread into a (gasp!) technical discussion, but:

If the front dropouts of the towed bike were anywhere near your rear
rack's height, I'm surprised the rear bike would follow properly through
a turn. The geometry seems all wrong. Also, how did it handle elevation
changes, like the beginning of a driveway ramp?

I gave some thought to towing kids' bikes that way, but decided they
would probably not track well. So instead I modified a bike trailer to
carry them.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Saturday, 13 June 2020 00:56:37 UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/12/2020 10:18 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, 12 June 2020 18:02:06 UTC-4, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 9:54:15 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:26 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:42:31 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 6:53 PM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:06:54 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/


For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels, there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist. Be quiet. You probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!

I seem to remember talk about an increase in cycling when the gasoline
price went sky high. Perhaps that is an easier solution than building
bicycle paths. Just raise the price of fuel :-)

We actually are seeing a surge in bicycling right now.

Errr... what is a surge? Or rather how large is a surge :-)

Well, there's this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/n...onavirus..html

This past week, I was asked to offer advice for the friend (call him #2)
of a friend (#1). #2 wants to buy bikes for his twin sons, age about 7.

Just to be sure, my wife and I drove to four bike shops. There are no
bikes for those kids. The area's largest shop normally has maybe 200
bikes on the display floor. They had maybe a dozen, with none due in for
months. The only kid's bike was one girl's bike, pink and flowery.

The salesman in that shop said to wait till next year. There will be
tons of used bikes for sale.

--
- Frank Krygowski

You DROVE to four bike shops. WTF? What happened to the utility cyclist? You could have ridden to those shops. I did a meager 17 mile lunch ride in the pouring rain and passed three shops. I could have picked off another by tacking on a few miles.

I was on my fashion Synapse -- deductions for discs and UDi2, fancy shoe covers, Showers Pass jacket, tights and jersey. Points for fenders. No Chihuahua carrier, bells, whistles, mirrors, kickstands, etc. I could have used windshield wipers on my glasses, though. Got throttled again and did not stop for a gallon of milk. Totally wasted ride. It was just fun. I should have done an errand. Next time I'll stop at the weed shop on the way home. It's still open and essential.

-- Jay Beattie.

I've often ridden many miles with a bicycle attached to my rear carrier like a tagalong trailer bike. That's utility riding. I've also bought a number of bikes from a fellow out in the country and brought them home the same way.

I'm sorry to hijack the thread into a (gasp!) technical discussion, but:

If the front dropouts of the towed bike were anywhere near your rear
rack's height, I'm surprised the rear bike would follow properly through
a turn. The geometry seems all wrong. Also, how did it handle elevation
changes, like the beginning of a driveway ramp?

I gave some thought to towing kids' bikes that way, but decided they
would probably not track well. So instead I modified a bike trailer to
carry them.


--
- Frank Krygowski

The single towed bike tracked just like a tagalong trailer bike does. In fact I did not notice any difference in the handling of the bike I was riding and there was virtually no added effort riding up the inclines/hills on the journeys home.

Cheers

On 6/12/2020 11:31 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/12/2020 2:51 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 6/12/2020 11:55 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/12/2020 12:41 PM, wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 4:41:57 PM UTC+2, Frank
Krygowski wrote:
On 6/12/2020 6:09 AM, wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2020 at 12:06:56 AM UTC+2, Frank
Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 4:32 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 9:35:56 PM UTC+2,
jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 11:13:38 AM UTC-7,
wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 7:23:34 PM UTC+2,
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/11/2020 11:53 AM, AMuzi wrote:
https://bikerumor.com/2018/06/23/com...nx-gx-x01-xx1/




For those who fondly recall 13~17 freewheels,
there's a new 10~50 cassette!

50 teeth! Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when
my 34 tooth biggest
cog was considered too small.

I'm getting a little out of date. I gotta catch up.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Ah, you give us a voucher to make fun of your dorky
handlebar bag and all the other stuff you bolted to
your bike one more time. Keep up the good work.

You are not a true utility cyclist. Be quiet. You
probably wear a helmet, also known as a head-shackle.

-- Jay Beattie.

I'm certainly not a true utility cyclist. Hauling
gallons of milk or crates of beer seems silly to me if
you have a car on your driveway.

That's interesting. The U.S. currently has an
enthusiastic industry and
publicity machine saying we should build
Netherlands-style bike paths
everywhere.

Why? Because then people will stop driving their cars!


--
- Frank Krygowski

What has that to do with the fact that I prefer using my
car for groceries and not my bike. I only use my bike
for non fun rides if it is more practical.

??? Your question amazes me. You are a direct rebuttal to
their claims.

Of course you don't use your bike if your car is "more
practical." And
as I recall, you mocked things like handlebar bags - so
carrying more
than one liter volume means your car will almost always
be "more
practical." For almost all Americans, that is also true.
They will use
it as an excuse to never bike for utility.

Also, any trip requiring muscular exertion will make
their car "more
practical." Temperatures above 22 C will be too hot to be
practical.
Temperatures below 20 C will be too chilly. Rain, or the
possibility of
rain will have the same effect. So will snow, of course.
And darkness.

The U.S. will never be a bicycling nation. Your own
preference for the
car, except for "sport" rides, even in a nation renowned
for its cycling
culture adds evidence.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Last year:
mileage car: 7500 km
mileage bike(s): 12000 km.

Give me the numbers for utility riding, as opposed to sport
riding.



You're back in the realm of taste and fashion there.

Who's to say that one cyclist's experience is better or
more pure or more admirable than another's? Not me.

My point immediately above was that America's dominant
"taste and fashion" will be driving cars for the foreseeable
future. That's true even if quasi-protected bikeways are
magically built to every destination.

If a 12000 km/year cyclist won't bike to the grocery in a
country famed for world-record bike facilities, the average
American isn't going to do it no matter what gets built in
the right-of-way.

That's fact. Whether it's good or bad can be discussed, but
the good or bad is beside the point.


I disagree.

I ride to a grocery and just hang the plastic bag from my
handlebar but I don't have a problem with people who drive.
meh. I hardly ever buy more than what I'll eat for dinner
but some people shop for a week at a time, for more than one
person (children?) and that's fine by me. whatever.

Cycling to the exclusion of all other transport seems a
ridiculous goal to me. Cycling when the mood strikes, on one
bike or another, use of motor vehicles sometimes, walking
occasionally and so on are all fine by me.

IMHO we ought to embrace cycling in any and all forms and
un-reify 'Cycling' to accept bicycles as a regular part of
normal life for average people.

Waiting for a special dedicated linear park for every
cyclist to every destination is to wait forever. Waiting for
a legislative deus ex machina to remove all motor vehicles
first is forever and a day. To advise that riding to work
cannot be done without a special commuter model bicycle
dissuades new riders. We need not repeat 'too dangerous
without headgear' and all that. I like cyclists, those who
ride once in a while slowly and those who ride every day.
Let's remove barriers/stigma/shaming first and worry about
who rides what later.

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