New to cycling

"Mrs X" wrote ...

I have cycled around the district this evening much to the amusement of
the
local children and the shame of my teenage daughter ( the bike is a
luminous
shocking pink)

what kind of parent would you be if you didn't embarass your teenage
daughter once in a while?

I intend to paint the bike to tone down the colour so any help on how to
do
it cheaply would be appreciated. It doesn't have to be a brilliant job as
I
foresee myself purchasing a lighter possibly new bike in the near future,
if
of course I continue.

Are you sure you want to repaint this bike? Leave it as is, you'll always
know which bike is yours outside the supermarket, and your friends will
always know *who* is cycling towards them long before you get close enough
for them to see your face.
--
mark

Wed, 25 Aug 2004 02:35:11 GMT,
k.net,
"mark" wrote:

Are you sure you want to repaint this bike? Leave it as is, you'll always
know which bike is yours outside the supermarket, and your friends will
always know *who* is cycling towards them long before you get close enough
for them to see your face.

She hints that she may not be keeping the bike for a long time so, to
me, painting would seem a wasted effort. A DIY paint-job generally
detracts from the resale value of the bike. As mentioned, there are
benefits in owning an exuberantly coloured bike.

If anything, I'd be tempted to do a splotch, squiggle and dab job with
a variety of bargin-bin metal-flake and pearlescent pink and red nail
polishes. Accentuate its flair. Make it an "art bike". Attach a
plastic flamingo and garlands of pink roses. Sing aloud. Send your
children into spasms. Be shunned in public by your mah-jong club.

The sole advantage of changing the colour to something she finds more
aesthetically pleasing would be that it induces her to ride further,
faster of more frequently. There's also a personalisation process
involved with a previously owned item. Stickers and reflective tape?

When choosing between new bikes, it often comes down to one's colour
preference. The range of colours offered for any one model is
extremely limited unless buying a semi-custom bike.
--
zk

Tue, 24 Aug 2004 11:41:46 -0400, ,
Frank Krygowski wrote:

Tanya wrote:
Apparently the City of Toronto police found it amusing to hand out a
whole whackload of tickets for not having that almost-useless device.
http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/cyclin...004_july.htm#5

I have a bell and wear a helmet to avoid those type of useless fines
or excuses for police hassle.

Riding with a Portland enthusiast I noticed that he used his bell in
traffic situations when I wouldn't have. What surprised me is seeing
cars respond to a bell on which I'd have bet against being heard above
the usual din. Granted, it's summer and windows were open but still
I'd have not had faith in it being heard at all.

Yes, I heard about that. It's similar to the "You must touch your foot
to the ground at a stop sign" ruling, when used against a person who did
a 60-second trackstand instead.

I've noticed many "track stands" are pathetically inept. It's my
experience that in many situations, planting a foot expedites the flow
of traffic. It's easier for drivers to read cyclists when their foot
is flat on the ground. They don't hesitate, fearing the cyclist will
just dart out in front of them. It cuts short the vigilante full-stop
enforcer prix. One example of where "track stands" and slow rolling
stops work is in rush hour with heads-up drivers properly yielding in
routine sequence. Track stands are confusing to timid drivers
expecting bicycles to run stop signs.

My recent experience with a backing van would have been worse had I
not been able to propel the bike backwards by kicking my foot on the
ground. I was still accelerating while the van was decelerating at the
moment of contact which accounts for the minimal impact damage.
--
zk

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 13:52:45 +0100, "Mrs X" wrote (more or less):


"Frank Krygowski" wrote in message
...
....
unless you never ride further than you can walk, you need
to have a pump as well as the other few things necessary to fix a flat.

Someday bikes won't get flat tires. I hope I live long enough to see
that - but I doubt it!

I've heard of car tyres that don't go down when they have a puncture so I
see no reason why bikes don't have the same, except I guess the tyres would
be rather expensive.

Schwalbe now do tyres with an extra layer of foam just under the crown
of the tyre, thich enough to stick drawing pins into without the
pointy bit reaching the inner tube.

(Making the tyre thicker isn't al that clever, but they do it with
foam so it's a) not as heavy as just making the rubber thicker, and b)
make it with a cleverly chosen foam so the rolling resistance of the
tyre is not increased.

It does cost an extra £8 per tyre or so.

Didn't long life lightbulbs meet a sticky end?

Long life domestic light bulbs are commonplace these days - tho'
the're the 'low power' type based on fluroscent light technology.

And for bikes, even better news, we now have LED-based bike lights,
and they last a long, long time on a set of batteries.

(Today (for one day only, biketrax.co.uk are doing 10% off for
everything on their web-shop, including the Cateye front LED lamp
that's British Standard compliant. The HL-EL300BS.)

I guess
puncture repair kits and inner tubes could go the same way
Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I certainly hope I never have to bother with them 'again'. (I haven't
actually had a puncture since I was a kid. Mind you, I've only
recently started doing milages bigger than to-the-shops-and-back.)


--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

Zoot Katz wrote:
I've noticed many "track stands" are pathetically inept.

probably 'cause the poor *******s are crippled by their freewheels. it's a
lot easier w/o one.

It's my
experience that in many situations, planting a foot expedites the flow
of traffic. It's easier for drivers to read cyclists when their foot
is flat on the ground. They don't hesitate, fearing the cyclist will
just dart out in front of them.

i agree to an extent, but it's not that clear cut. i usually have to wave
cars through (when they have the clear legal right of way) they're just so
conditioned to bikes ignoring traffic rules. in that case whether i stop,
put my foot down, hell get off the bike and wave 'em through or just wave
'em through while i'm track standing* makes little difference. they're
looking for an explicit signal from me.

* not that i'm taking this moment to brag but my track stands are truly a
thing of beauty with hardly any movement.

It cuts short the vigilante full-stop
enforcer prix. One example of where "track stands" and slow rolling
stops work is in rush hour with heads-up drivers properly yielding in
routine sequence. Track stands are confusing to timid drivers
expecting bicycles to run stop signs.

those timid drivers are more timid & confused than that around here. quite
frankly i'm scared of some of the riders around here. they almost hit me as
as well ..
--
david reuteler

"Jeremy Parker" wrote in message
...

"Mrs X" wrote in message
...
There's an outfit called Life Cycle UK, 86 Colston St, Bristol, phone
0117-929-0440, web site www.lifecycleuk.org.uk that does bike
training. In fact they've just been working with the CTC - the
Cyclists' Touring Club, a famous name - to reform and revitalise all
Britain's bike training. They used to be known as Cycle West, and in
the days of Avon County used to write the free quarterly newsletter
that the county used to put out. That was a good publication. It's
a shame it's defunct.

According to their web site, individual training, like a personal
trainer, I suppose, is £20 per session, 90 min in the first session,
follow ups one hour. That's about £5 cheaper than London prices for
such things. They also do training for groups.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't heard of them before. I'll look into it



Regarding danger on the bike path, I would think it depends on when
you go. Weekend daytime, and weekday commuting times, at least,
ought to be busy enough, I would have thought, for there not to be a
problem. You could phone up Sustrans, also Bristol located, and see
if they have a volunteer ranger for your locality, and ask the ranger
for better information .

I think it's the Bristol 'town end' that's the biggest problem but probably
no worse than walking the streets down that way. My elderly Mother was
mugged on a Sunday afternoon at the entrance to the Cyclepath last year,
quite a few others had the same treatment

Regarding gears, it might be a good thing if you could put your bike
on some kind of stand, with its wheels off the ground, and then,
while turning the pedals by hand, watch what the chain does, jumping
from cog to cog, as you work the gear changers. The stands they have
in bike shops are ideal, but using a piece of rope dangling from
something can also serve. There's nothing like actually watching it
to understand what's going on, and you can get an idea of the
relationship between how fast the pedals go round, and how fast the
wheel goes round, for different gears.
Thanks. I will try to rig something up. I did try with the bike upside
down the other day but it was hard moving the gear switch!

"mark" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Mrs X" wrote ...

I have cycled around the district this evening much to the amusement of
the
local children and the shame of my teenage daughter ( the bike is a
luminous
shocking pink)

what kind of parent would you be if you didn't embarass your teenage
daughter once in a while?

She said I could paint "Barbie" down one side to really show her up.


I intend to paint the bike to tone down the colour so any help on how to
do
it cheaply would be appreciated. It doesn't have to be a brilliant job
as
I
foresee myself purchasing a lighter possibly new bike in the near
future,
if
of course I continue.

Are you sure you want to repaint this bike? Leave it as is, you'll always
know which bike is yours outside the supermarket, and your friends will
always know *who* is cycling towards them long before you get close enough
for them to see your face.
The boys at the top of the road are offering to help spray paint the bike.
One lad has done his in gold. They think the colour pink is neat.
I am still thinking on it.

"Zoot Katz" wrote in message
...
Wed, 25 Aug 2004 02:35:11 GMT,
k.net,
"mark" wrote:


If anything, I'd be tempted to do a splotch, squiggle and dab job with
a variety of bargin-bin metal-flake and pearlescent pink and red nail
polishes. Accentuate its flair. Make it an "art bike". Attach a
plastic flamingo and garlands of pink roses. Sing aloud. Send your
children into spasms. Be shunned in public by your mah-jong club.

OMG
She'd kill me!

"Gawnsoft" wrote in
message ...

(Today (for one day only, biketrax.co.uk are doing 10% off for
everything on their web-shop, including the Cateye front LED lamp
that's British Standard compliant. The HL-EL300BS.)

ooops. That was yesterday?
I was away all day. Coming home on the evening a dark lane was brightly lit
by a cyclist with very twinkly loud lights front and rear. Best lights I've
ever seen from a car drivers viewpoint.
I almost stopped to ask what sort they were but it was late..and dark so
maybe not safe.

Mrs X wrote:
"mark" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Mrs X" wrote ...


I have cycled around the district this evening much to the amusement of

the

local children and the shame of my teenage daughter ( the bike is a

luminous

shocking pink)

what kind of parent would you be if you didn't embarass your teenage
daughter once in a while?


She said I could paint "Barbie" down one side to really show her up.

PERFECT!!!!

;-)

-km

--
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts