Weights of my bikes

On 5/24/2021 8:30 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
On Sat, 22 May 2021 02:28:05 -0700 (PDT), Lou Holtman
wrote:

In tourist locations like hostel, B&B holiday apartments etc. they often offer the use of a washing machine and a dryer. In hotels they have a washing service. In a family household however a washing machine and a dryer is considered a necessity of life. I can't imagine a family household with a couple of kids using a laundromat. If a washing machine breaks there is a panic and it has to be repaired or replaced within a couple of days otherwise the whole system breaks down. We have dry cleaners though but laundromats nah.

If you have a couple of kids, that's when you need a laundromat. Fill
up a half dozen or so machines, go back to the first one and put it
into the dryer, when all are in dryers, start folding the first load,
all done and dusted in two or three hours.

Wow, we have a couple of kids, as do most people around here, and never
used a laundromat. You don't let the laundry pile up all week.

As opposed to the entire day I intend to spend on washing clothes for
two people for one week strikethe day after tomorrow/striketoday.
And strikeI'll/strike have strikea lot of the/strike folding
to do strikeon the day aftertomorrow.

I didn't buy my own machine until the water heater at the laundromat
broke down and the owner declined to have it repaired. When you put
your dish towels into a washer last used by heaven knows who to wash
heaven knows what, cold water just doesn't cut it.

I read something that said that the reason laundromats never were in
China is because no one would want to wash their clothes in a machine
used by "heaven knows who."

We should have brought that thirty-year-old Maytag with us when we
moved. My current smart-alec washing machine refuses to allow me to
use hot water. For a while I tried to fool it by shutting off the
cold water, but the timing is tricky because it checks that cold water
is available before starting to fill, and the valves are really hard
to get at.

The old wringer washer provided in the trailer park where we spent
winters after Dad retired is starting to look pretty good.

They are still being made, but the price is higher than a kite's back,
and I have my suspicions about the quality.

On 5/21/21 8:20 PM, wrote:
On Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 12:01:08 PM UTC-5, Joerg wrote:
On 5/17/21 10:39 AM, Tom Kunich wrote:
Colnago CLX3.0 bare - 15.8 lbs
Lemond Zurich bare - 20.3 lbs
Douglas Vector with seatpack. - 17.4
Douglas Ti with water bottle and seat pack. - 20.3 lbs.
Eddy Merckx with bottle half full and heavy seatpack - 20.8

My 2018 Trek Emonda bare was 17.5 lbs.

As you can see, aluminum bikes do not necessary have a weight penalty. Nor are titanium bikes particularly light.

I would say that since about 2001 that most decent bikes couldn't be declared as "heavy". The complete Look KG585 which was a light climbing bike was 16 lbs even bare.

My road bike and the MTB are each between 30-40lbs depending on
destination. With full tool kit, first aid gear, pump, big lighting
battery, tow rope (no joke ...), sturdy lock, MP3 player and often more
than a gallon or water. Sometimes also a bottle of homebrew beer plus
sandwiches.

Considering that I weigh 210lbs myself it all doesn't really matter.
Interestingly I have so far only used the tools and first aid for others
and they were not always cyclist. Pumping up a motorcycle tire with a
pocket rocket pump is serious exercise.

--
Regards, Joerg

Motorcycle riders in California who get a flat, can repair it on the side of the road?


Any dual-sport or dirt riders worth their salt, yes, they do and must
frequently do that. Side of the road is often not a luxury they have,
sometimes all they've got as a work place is a muddy patch of dirt.


And then air the tire up to continue on their way. I've never given much thought to punctured tires on motorcycles.


In most areas even in California you might get away with it but in
Nevada or Arizona, not so much if you are way out there on a dirt road
or trail. At least not unless you carry lots or water for the long hike
out, and then you still have to retrieve your bike somehow. Many of
those places have no cell coverage so if you don't have a ham radio and
license you can't even call anyone.


With cars you just carry a whole inflated tire in the trunk (or under
the bed if a pickup truck) and install the new unpunctured tire. But
motorcycles must be different with flats. They can't carry a spare
wheel in case of a flat.


Sure they can, and do:

https://patineto.smugmug.com/Motorcy...es%20004-M.jpg

On the MTB that would have spared me a long hike years ago when the MTB
became inadvertantly airborned and there was a loud explosion upon
landing. A fist-sized chunk of the rear tire had blown off. What made it
hard was that the MTB with the remnants of a rear tire on there wouldn't
even properly roll when pushed. On the upside the slow pace made me
enjoy some of the vistas much better. So much that I want to walk that
trail some day if I can find someone who joins me.


Do motorcyclists today carry those tubeless tire patch plugs and insert them into the hole in the tire?


Yep, that is what the guy used that I helped pump it up afterwards. We
took turns.

https://ridermagazine.com/2020/05/18...torcycle-tire/

Dual-Sport, dirt and adventure bikes often still have tubes. Since those
guys rarely ride alone they use the kickstand or center stand of another
bike to push off the bead and get the tire off. It's a tough job but
depending on where it happens it's like John Wayne said, man has got to
do what man has got to do.


And then carry an inflator that plugs into the 12 Volt outlet?


Nah, that's for wusses ...

Heck, I don't even have one of those at home. I use my bicycle stand
pump for everything including car tires. However, in a hopeless drop
towards decadence I now use a chain breaker tool to open bicycle chains,
no more hammer, punch and anvil. But only because it came with a kit.


How did motorcyclists deal with flats long ago?


Like today except no plugs, they all had tubes back then. They were real
men :-)

I am not a motorcycle rider myself but most of my ancestry was. They
were of the opinion that any worthy vehicle has two wheels. Unless it
uses rails, since they were also railroad men. Their bikes looked more
like this and a dirt road was sometimes considered a highway:

https://hips.hearstapps.com/amv-prod...g?resize=768:*

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Tue, 25 May 2021 10:45:52 +0700, John B. scribed:


The old wringer washer provided in the trailer park where we spent
winters after Dad retired is starting to look pretty good.

My mother had a wringer washing machine and to the best of my knowledge
she used it until she died. Which would have been something like 60
years - assuming that she got it about the time us kids were born.

I inherited my grandmothers wringer. No idea how long they had it.
Eventually we replaced it with a twin tub as it was murder on buttons.
Overhere, if it quickly economical to afford your own washing machine
compared to the quickly growingamount spent at a laundromat.

I wonder whether a modern washing machine will last 60 years?

You should wonder about any modern manufacture. They design a new model,
produce a batch and flogg them off and then repeat the cycle. By the
time you determine which are the good models, you are chasing used
machines.