"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show

Tom Keats wrote:
In article ,
"Tom \"Johnny Sunset\" Sherman" writes:
Andrew Muzi mused:
Chalo wrote:
They put vertical dropouts and a chain tensioner on a bike that comes
*from the factory* with a gearhub?!?!! Are they on crack? (I mean,
this is Pacific Cycle we're talking about, so it's probably a
combination of betel nut and counterfeit Valium, but still... WTF?)
Or just PCP and toluene?...
Local knowledge?

Around here, and especially at this time of year,
"local knowledge" is about the best places in which
to harvest mushrooms.

And no, I'm not even gonna drop any hints.
Mushroom-pickin' places are sacrosanct,
'n that's that.

Well, according to Mapquest it is 5½ miles from Andrew's shop to Pacific
Cycles HQ (with the "avoid highways" option).

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
A Real Cyclist [TM] keeps at least one bicycle in the bedroom.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

In article ,
Don Wiss wrote:

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007, (Tom Keats) wrote:

Thank you, I will. At least, the mechanised/motorized ones that
slide out like a CD player tray. I also like to make fun of
electric toothbrushes, electric backscratchers, electric card
shufflers, etc.

Actually electric toothbrushes can be useful as they generally will
do a better job then you can do by hand.

I looked this up once and found that most of the research indicated that
a standard Oral-B toothbrush worked as well or better than electric
toothbrushes, once the test subjects were taught proper brushing
technique.

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 14:13:36 -0400, Gooserider:

"Andreas Oehler" wrote in message
Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:38:43 -0400, Gooserider:

$1900 Breezer Finesse. You're welcome.

. Crappy light

You don't know, what you are talking about. The Lumtec Fly IQ used here is
the brightest and best-shaped light for hub dynamos you can find. Will
beat most 20 W halogen lights!


Will it beat the DiNotte 200L? The NiteRider Minewt?

I haven't had the possibility to try out those lamps - so I won't call
them "crappy"... But I presume they have the usual cheap and simple
rotational symmetric optics, which are by principle far from optimal for
illuminating the road ahead in an efficient way.

more lumens are better.

Only if you shape the beam in an appropriate and efficient way. A laser
pointer with as much lumens as you might get won't help you much - similar
a naked 200 Watt bulb... Rotational symmetric optics in most cases mean
half of the lumens is wasted up into the sky and the eyes of uncoming
cyclists. It also often means too bright light nearby disturnbing your
night vision for illuminated object further away.

The only case in which
dynamo lights would be superior, in my mind, is touring.

Touring is mostly done during the day and the extra hassle of a battery
lamp is no problem because yoi have all the time in the world. If you are
carrying a tent you might also have the advantage of using the battery
lamp to read after dark. I use a dynamo-chraged battery lamp for touring.

But here in town I have other things to care for than to look after my
lights. If I always have to mount and dismont the lamps on every stop
(shopping at three differnt shops, going to the library, restaurant,
friends, sport, ...) I would go cracy!

Otherwise, a good
LED rechargeable system is going to give you more light.

I don´t think so. Where are all the battery powered LED lights with newest
technology LEDs and well engineered optics? I just know stupid pocket
torches with inappropriate optics (for road riding) and inefficient
electronics.

Now, if I was
touring, or going to be places without access to electricity for long
stretches, then I'd run the dynamo.

How do you handle your usual dayly ways (shopping, visiting friends, etc.)
in regard of lights? Fidling with the lights 5 times per day?

The high-end luxury hybrid commuter is a product desperately seeking a
market.

Fully equipped hybrids (in the 750-2000 Euro price range) are a big market
here in germany. They are at least as important as racing bikes now. On
the road lower-end hybrids (equipped with Alivio to Deore or 7-speed
hub-gears) are dominant.

Every morning I see the mayor of my city riding the 3 km to his office in
the town hall on his hybrid...

Trek lost a LOT of money trying that.

Trek owns the german manufacturer Diamant - and they more or less only
make hybrids. I don't think they are loosing money.

I remember seeing Trek L200s
being blown out for $350. Bike shops aren't going to play that game again.

It might take a few years until people (and especially city planners) in
the US recognise, that it is better to overcome the old strategy of
separating habitation, work and shopping so much.

Andreas

Gooserider wrote:

Will it beat the DiNotte 200L? The NiteRider Minewt? I'm sure Frank
Krygowski will chime in---but more lumens are better. The only case in which
dynamo lights would be superior, in my mind, is touring. Otherwise, a good
LED rechargeable system is going to give you more light. Now, if I was
touring, or going to be places without access to electricity for long
stretches, then I'd run the dynamo.

The problem with most of the dynamo lights is they are a _big_
compromise in terms of optics. They illuminate a very limited area very
well, but don't have sufficient peripheral illumination. They do the
best they can with the limited available power from the dynamo.

I was pleased to see the SolidLights 1203D
("http://www.solidlights.co.uk/products/1203d.php") which appears to be
the first dynamo LED light with sufficient power, and optics which
provide an optimal beam for cycling.

For touring, if you plan to to long amounts of night riding then I guess
a dynamo light is a good idea, but most touring is daytime riding. Since
you have to carry a flashlight anyway then you may as well get a better
light that can serve two purposes.

I'd be more interested in a commute bicycle with a 3W Cree LED light (or
two for the Son hub dynamo), than a touring set-up.

"Andreas Oehler" wrote in message
...
Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:38:43 -0400, Gooserider:

$1900 Breezer Finesse. You're welcome.

$1900 and no chain guard? Fail.

. Crappy light

You don't know, what you are talking about. The Lumtec Fly IQ used here is
the brightest and best-shaped light for hub dynamos you can find. Will
beat most 20 W halogen lights!

Andreas
Your comment stimulated me to look at the B&M site. Looks like a really
great light. I might want to replace my Schmidt E6 and B&M Lumotec N Plus
halogen lights with this LED light depending on the price.

Do you know anything about when and where I could buy one of these lights.
I live in the U.S.A.. Searching the B&M site and Peter White's site didn't
help answer this question.

BobT

In article ,
Andreas Oehler wrote:

It might take a few years until people (and especially city planners)
in the US recognise, that it is better to overcome the old strategy
of separating habitation, work and shopping so much.

Good luck with that. 60-100 km "commutes" are not that unusual here in
the US.

In article ,
SMS wrote:

The problem with most of the dynamo lights is they are a _big_
compromise in terms of optics. They illuminate a very limited area
very well, but don't have sufficient peripheral illumination. They do
the best they can with the limited available power from the dynamo.

You keep saying that over and over and over, as if mere repetition
constitutes proof. But your claim is simple bull****. It would seem
from your many posts that you ought to be seeing an ophthalmologist
about your vision problem.

On Sep 30, 3:22 am, (Tom Keats) wrote:
In article ,
SMS writes:



Don Wiss wrote:
On Sat, 29 Sep 2007, (Tom Keats) wrote:

Thank you, I will. At least, the mechanised/motorized ones
that slide out like a CD player tray. I also like to make
fun of electric toothbrushes, electric backscratchers,
electric card shufflers, etc.

Actually electric toothbrushes can be useful as they generally will do a
better job then you can do by hand. One thing that is useless, like the
other two you list, is electric can openers. And then maybe electric
knives, though I've never used one.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Electric knives are useful when cutting up things like turkeys or large
roasts. Also good for cutting homemade bread without destroying the loaf.

It seems you don't know how to sharpen a kitchen carving knife,
nor the cooling stage at which to carve or cut cooked stuff.
It's an ancient, time-honoured skill which predates electric
gadgetry.

Nah, electric knives are the bomb! And I own several fancy sharpening
stones and knives which you can literally shave with. The electric
knife is good for filleting fish, carving up whole salamis, and
slicing hams. It's for folks that want a deli slicer, but won't use it
enough. Thrift stores always have one for $2 or so.

Tim McNamara wrote:
In article ,
Andreas Oehler wrote:

It might take a few years until people (and especially city planners)
in the US recognise, that it is better to overcome the old strategy
of separating habitation, work and shopping so much.

Good luck with that. 60-100 km "commutes" are not that unusual here in
the US.

The problem is more that you can't plan your life around one company
that will stay in the same place forever. I've worked for companies that
have moved five times in the five years I've worked for them. You can't
move every time your job changes or your company moves, and with two-job
couples it's even more difficult. It complicates things even more with
the vast disparities in quality of life and quality of schools in
different communities, plus in California you have a tax code that
discourages people from moving close to their jobs because you lose your
Prop. 13 tax protection every time you move.

What would work better is to spend more on infrastructure for
alternative means of personal transportation, or combinations of
public/personal transit. Bicycle/train commutes are popular where I
live. A small investment in improved bicycle routes would encourage more
cycle commuting, which many people see as too dangerous.

If city bikes could at least get people to ride 1 mile to the store for
a gallon of milk, rather than driving, it would be a big accomplishment.
But this isn't going to happen with $700 city bikes. It'll happen when
the city bike is the default mass market bicycle like in the Netherlands
and China, and in much of Japan.

The city planners, in many cases, are owned lock, stock, and barrel by
developers. They'll advocate high-density housing because it's so
profitable for the developers, but they have no interest in advocating
for transit, retail, schools, parks, etc., to serve these developments.
Where I live, we defeated two condo complex rezoning attempts because
the developers had no plans at all, other than to sell the units then
get out of town. One councilwoman, owned by the building trade unions,
was proud because she had convinced the developer to provide bus passes
to the future residents for one year. Later this year, she was
instrumental in drastically cutting bus service to our city, proclaiming
in her usual idiocy, 'the important thing is that people won't be seeing
half-empty buses on the roads anymore.'

Too many people have been brainwashed by the developers and certain
environmental organizations to accept the buzz words of "smart growth,"
"mixed-use," etc., without making even the slightest effort to
understand the implications. They actually believe that if you allow a
developer to build high-density housing that somehow existing green
space in other places will be safe from development. Very naive.

Tim McNamara wrote:

You keep saying that over and over and over, as if mere repetition
constitutes proof.

See "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/experts.html".