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#61
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
On 2018-02-18 14:21, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Sat, 17 Feb 2018 23:55:46 -0800 (PST), wrote: That is an accurate description how it went in the old days. For me 30 years ago. I know no serious cyclists these days that do not allow themselves STI shifters or the like because they can break and keep riding Fred Flintstone bikes. Only people that are into vintage do. I use DT shifters on all my bikes except for my tanem, which came with STI. I bought a bike with STI in 1992 when I started racing and it was a decided advantage over DT shifters in competitive situations. I was never that comfortable with STI's using the break lever for shifts; I preferred the Campy Ergo system and switched to that for the rest of my racing career. Since stopping racing, though, I've converted everything back to DT shifters. I use a handlebar bag on two of my bikes and the extra cables interfere with that. Since I'm not racing, the minor inconvenience of reaching down to shift is a moot point for me. Plus- maybe this is a function of my generation- I prefer the looks of DT shifters due to the reduced cables sticking out the front. Once we have wireless shifters that are reliable, ... Then one sunny day it don't shift no more and the display bluntly scrolls "An irrecoverable error has occurred. Please can 1-800 ..." :-) ... then I'd probably think about brifters again (this doesn't necessarily mean bluetooth or something like that; I think it would be easily possible to connect an electrical circuit through the frame to control the derailleurs. Possibly using something like the Rene Herse circuit for powering headlights from a rear triangle-mounted generator, which used a brush inside the headtube as the connector from the frame to the fork). What is that triangle-mounted generator and can one still buy those? In web links all I could see was a rear-mounted bottle dynamo. http://www.jimlangley.net/ride/ReneHerseBicycle.html I have looked for roller dynamos to mount in the triangle but they seem to have vanished from the marketplace. The only ones I saw were expensive used or NOS versions, often from unknown sources. The battery I have on the road bike has sufficient capacity for my longest rides but a roller dynamo would allow me to mount a much smaller one. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
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#62
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
On 2/19/2018 10:10 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 2/19/2018 10:24 AM, jbeattie wrote: Di2 is nice, and I have no worry about batteries going dead, but it is a luxury I can live without. It is not game-changing in the same way as STI/Ergo except for those people who can use the remote switch for sprinting or tri or what-have-you. It also allows programming and software updating, etc., which is fine for the Garmin set, but I've run out of brain cells for learning new technology, or I'm running low. I'm not part of the Garmin set. But I'm getting more and more bothered by the "soft" aspect of software. What I mean is, with anything from word processing to computer drafting to music notation software to smart phone apps to even a weather predicting web page, I have to deal with "updates" and "improvements." So the look and feel changes. Or what was once in this menu is now in some other menu. Or the steps I took to make something happen no longer work, and the "help" file hasn't been updated to tell me the alternative. This is bad enough on stuff I use regularly. On things I would do only rarely (like fine tuning shift parameters on a Di2 system) it can be really frustrating. One you learn to use a ratchet wrench, you always know how to use a ratchet wrench. I wish software was like that. Just as some riders on some rides are best served by fixed gear or an SA gearbox or friction 2x5 or Ergo or Di2 or whatever, keeping an obsolete OS version computer, off-net, for actual work makes sense to me. No 'auto downgrades' overnight and one may run classic versions of software to take advantage of previously written routines, macros, historic data sets in previous format, etc. Our modern machines here play video well but we wouldn't put anything important or sensitive on them since they are online. YMMV and likely does. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
#63
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
On Mon, 19 Feb 2018 10:57:36 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote: On 2/19/2018 2:34 AM, John B. wrote: On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 22:45:55 -0500, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 2/18/2018 8:04 PM, John B. wrote: So, one might say that for riding in hilly terrain the STI shifters are mandatory for success while if riding on level ground are far less important. Even in hilly terrain, STI is not mandatory for non-competitive success. I've crossed the Appalachians with friction shifting. People succeeded in riding in hilly terrain even before there were derailleurs, let alone STI. But my experience was that we pushed up a lot of the hills :-) I know guys who love climbing hills. They enjoy the challenge. If you grew up in upstate New Hampshire like I did it wasn't a matter of love it was a matter of necessity. The hills had been there since the last Ice Age :-) I was never a hill lover, but I guess I climbed well enough. My personal challenge was, and still is, to never dismount and push. On our coast-to-coast trip, my wife and daughter walked a couple hills but I never did. In fact, in my first 40 years of riding I can remember only two times I pushed up a hill. One was on a tandem ride in very hilly Amish country in summer, riding with friends on another tandem. Steep hills (certainly over 10% grade), very hot weather and sticky tar pavement combined to make us push. The other incident was a solo camping trip, climbing out of a valley on a gravel road. I could have handled the steep grade, but the gravel gave so little traction I couldn't keep going. All this with a single speed bike? Now last fall, I explored a new route and hit a climb that was about 17% to 18% by the little inclinometer on my handlebar. I was in my granny gear and standing, and my legs were yelling at me. But I made it. That's using friction bar-end shifters. -- Cheers, John B. |
#64
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
On Mon, 19 Feb 2018 07:24:36 -0800 (PST), jbeattie
wrote: On Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 11:32:00 PM UTC-8, John B. wrote: On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 21:14:44 -0800 (PST), jbeattie wrote: On Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 7:45:57 PM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 2/18/2018 8:04 PM, John B. wrote: So, one might say that for riding in hilly terrain the STI shifters are mandatory for success while if riding on level ground are far less important. Even in hilly terrain, STI is not mandatory for non-competitive success. I've crossed the Appalachians with friction shifting. People succeeded in riding in hilly terrain even before there were derailleurs, let alone STI. Nothing is mandatory. I've crossed all the major mountain ranges with friction shifters, too. I just prefer STI. And I would say that it would be handicap to race without them. BTW, I would have used the old brake hose to pull the new, but the meth-heads pulled the old tube. Why? Who knows. The thief or an associate cut the tube at the bars, took the rear caliper and yanked the tube out of the frame. The grommets are lost, and by pulling out the hose, the thief left the foam outer hose (a foam sleeve that keeps the hose from rattling) inside the frame. I had to fish that out with my Harbor Freight dental tool. -- Jay Beattie. Boy, these modern bikes sound complex. I don't have any pipes or tubes but my cable (1) just tie to the top tube :-) -- Cheers, John B. Look at it this way, modern bikes allow you to develop your electrical and plumbing skills -- not just simple mechanical skills. I've already developed the plumbing and electrical skills from the Honeydo projects around the house :-) I replaced the stolen (now returned) Roubaix with a Synapse, and since I got it on a crash-replacement deal and had insurance dollars, I totally splurged and got Ultegra Di2. Electric is nice, but I don't like it as much as my cohorts -- who are effusive. Learning new levers always takes me a while because I ride every day during the week on old STI. Anyway, I went out for a muddy ride last week, threw the bike on the washstand and was doing my usual routine with a brush in the cassettes, turning the crank, and I dragged the rear wire into the cassettes and tore it up. GD! It's $16 for a cable run to the junction, and a PITA to fish the wire through the chain stay and the junction out of the downtube through the BB. So, since there is a bunch of redundant wire, I just pulled a little out, cut it back, soldered it together and did a tidy shrink-tube job, and it works like a charm. I did get a new wire to have around, though, and I may throw it in one day. But it was odd getting out the electrical tool box for the bike. What's next? Drywall? Di2 is nice, and I have no worry about batteries going dead, but it is a luxury I can live without. It is not game-changing in the same way as STI/Ergo except for those people who can use the remote switch for sprinting or tri or what-have-you. It also allows programming and software updating, etc., which is fine for the Garmin set, but I've run out of brain cells for learning new technology, or I'm running low. -- Jay Beattie. Now we got the 'lectric shifting the next thing is the 'lectric pedals :-) -- Cheers, John B. |
#65
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
On Mon, 19 Feb 2018 11:10:18 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote: On 2/19/2018 10:24 AM, jbeattie wrote: Di2 is nice, and I have no worry about batteries going dead, but it is a luxury I can live without. It is not game-changing in the same way as STI/Ergo except for those people who can use the remote switch for sprinting or tri or what-have-you. It also allows programming and software updating, etc., which is fine for the Garmin set, but I've run out of brain cells for learning new technology, or I'm running low. I'm not part of the Garmin set. But I'm getting more and more bothered by the "soft" aspect of software. What I mean is, with anything from word processing to computer drafting to music notation software to smart phone apps to even a weather predicting web page, I have to deal with "updates" and "improvements." So the look and feel changes. Or what was once in this menu is now in some other menu. Or the steps I took to make something happen no longer work, and the "help" file hasn't been updated to tell me the alternative. This is bad enough on stuff I use regularly. On things I would do only rarely (like fine tuning shift parameters on a Di2 system) it can be really frustrating. One you learn to use a ratchet wrench, you always know how to use a ratchet wrench. I wish software was like that. In the software field one thing I've found out is once you get a version of an application that you like NEVER update it :-) I feel that bicycles are very much the same. -- Cheers, John B. |
#66
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
On Mon, 19 Feb 2018 08:01:12 -0500, Duane
wrote: The fact that we got by without new tech isn't a reason to avoid new tech if it works. If it works better than the old tech FOR YOUR PURPOSES, that is. I was very excited when I first heard of clipless pedals -- until I realized that I'd always have to wear the same shoes. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ |
#67
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
On Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 5:43:27 AM UTC+1, Joy Beeson wrote:
On Mon, 19 Feb 2018 08:01:12 -0500, Duane wrote: The fact that we got by without new tech isn't a reason to avoid new tech if it works. If it works better than the old tech FOR YOUR PURPOSES, that is. I was very excited when I first heard of clipless pedals -- until I realized that I'd always have to wear the same shoes. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ Huh??? Always the same shoes??? http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dJ...o/IMG_1984.JPG Lou |
#68
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
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#69
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
Joy Beeson wrote:
On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 10:24:43 -0800 (PST), wrote: Huh??? Always the same shoes??? You mean that there are clipless pedals that will work with whatever shoe I already have on? You missed Lou's picture. He has 20 pairs of shoes expressly for his clipless pedals. |
#70
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my fixie doesn't need improvement
On Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 5:07:37 PM UTC-8, Ralph Barone wrote:
Joy Beeson wrote: On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 10:24:43 -0800 (PST), wrote: Huh??? Always the same shoes??? You mean that there are clipless pedals that will work with whatever shoe I already have on? You missed Lou's picture. He has 20 pairs of shoes expressly for his clipless pedals. Neatly arranged on a custom fabricated,CNC milled aluminum shoe rack in his garage operating room. My house isn't as clean as his garage. -- Jay Beattie. |
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