I'M BACK ON MY BIKE!

Maybe he couldn't ride his bicycle 35 miles down an interstate to work.
Maybe it would be unsafe. Maybe you should go for a ride on the interstate.

"Automator" wrote in message
...
A bit later, driving to work, I realized: I'm back on my bike.

No you're not, you're just another sloth justifying your existence by
being
another annoying recreation-only cyclist.

Get rid of your car, truck, SUV ... whatever, and start biking to work --
then you'll be "back on [your] bike"

"Hotshot" wrote:
Maybe he couldn't ride his bicycle 35 miles down an interstate to work.
Maybe it would be unsafe. Maybe you should go for a ride on the
interstate.

Uh ... I do? Sometimes there is no alternative, or no quick alternative to
riding the Interstate. It's actually pretty safe when you notice that
interstates have 12+ foot wide shoulders.

Its illegal in my state and we don't have twelve foot shoulders. Speed
limit is 70 mph and they run about 80 mph most days. If I had to ride my
bike 35 miles to work and back I'd have to leave in the dark and return in
the dark.(Most days) That isn't safe either. My problem with the OP (if
that was you) is that the guy was just happy to be back riding and the OP
cut him down. People should be encouraging people to ride bikes as much as
possible, not cutting them down.

"Automator" wrote in message
...

"Hotshot" wrote:
Maybe he couldn't ride his bicycle 35 miles down an interstate to work.
Maybe it would be unsafe. Maybe you should go for a ride on the
interstate.

Uh ... I do? Sometimes there is no alternative, or no quick alternative to
riding the Interstate. It's actually pretty safe when you notice that
interstates have 12+ foot wide shoulders.

Did anyone read CR's July 04 edition on bike helmets? I bought a Bell
*Influx* ($60) about a year ago and not find out that it is not recommended
because it was found to come off in an accident. It came in last-place when
compared to 14 other helmets. Louis Garneau's *Zen* and Trek's *Interval*
were at the top of the list respectively. Third and fourth place went to
Specialized *M1* and Giro *Pheumo* Needless to say, I am concerned about
CR's findings. My *Influx* fits me well and I use it for the summer
months. For the Winter months I use a Garneau *Aki* (which was not one of
the helmets tested by CR.)

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 09:34:16 -0400, "Glenn Civello"
wrote in message
:

Did anyone read CR's July 04 edition on bike helmets? I bought a Bell
*Influx* ($60) about a year ago and not find out that it is not recommended
because it was found to come off in an accident. It

If you want a helmet which offers the least negligible amount of
protection, I have been told by someone who tests helmets against the
standards that Specialized is the only major brand he'll recommend.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 09:34:16 -0400, "Glenn Civello"
wrote:

Did anyone read CR's July 04 edition on bike helmets? I bought a Bell
*Influx* ($60) about a year ago and not find out that it is not recommended
because it was found to come off in an accident. It came in last-place when
compared to 14 other helmets. Louis Garneau's *Zen* and Trek's *Interval*
were at the top of the list respectively. Third and fourth place went to
Specialized *M1* and Giro *Pheumo* Needless to say, I am concerned about
CR's findings. My *Influx* fits me well and I use it for the summer
months. For the Winter months I use a Garneau *Aki* (which was not one of
the helmets tested by CR.)

I quit listening to Consumer Reports awhile back when they did a
review of bicycles.

Among their criteria for a safer bike was a requirement for those
dorky extended brake levers that went along the bottom of the
handlebar tops, toward the stem, which they referred to as
"center-pull" brakes, and solemnly noted that the usual brake levers
were dangerous because they were too hard to reach.

"Glenn Civello" wrote in
:

Did anyone read CR's July 04 edition on bike helmets? I bought a Bell
*Influx* ($60) about a year ago and not find out that it is not
recommended because it was found to come off in an accident. It came
in last-place when compared to 14 other helmets. Louis Garneau's
*Zen* and Trek's *Interval* were at the top of the list respectively.
Third and fourth place went to Specialized *M1* and Giro *Pheumo*
Needless to say, I am concerned about CR's findings. My *Influx*
fits me well and I use it for the summer months. For the Winter
months I use a Garneau *Aki* (which was not one of the helmets tested
by CR.)

CR can be a good resource for some things, like the user surveys for
reliability and repair histories. I always take their reviews with a grain
of salt. They could have mis-adjusted the straps on the test helmet, or the
tester's head (or dummy head?) may have been shaped wrong for the helmet
shell and foam padding strips. There is a lot of variation in what helmet
manufacturers think a "normal" head looks like.

If you can't dislodge your helmet with a quick, strong upwards push with
the heel of your hand on the front, back, or side edges, then I wouldn't
worry about it.

--
Mike Barrs

Did anyone read CR's July 04 edition on bike helmets? I bought a Bell
*Influx* ($60) about a year ago and not find out that it is not
recommended because it was found to come off in an accident. snip

CR can be a good resource for some things, like the user surveys for
reliability and repair histories. I always take their reviews with a grain
of salt. They could have mis-adjusted the straps on the test helmet, or the
tester's head (or dummy head?) may have been shaped wrong for the helmet
shell and foam padding strips. There is a lot of variation in what helmet
manufacturers think a "normal" head looks like.

If you can't dislodge your helmet with a quick, strong upwards push with
the heel of your hand on the front, back, or side edges, then I wouldn't
worry about it. (Mike Barrs)
==
Thanks for your input Mike. I bought the Bell Influx because it fit well
and was easy to adjust. I had reasoned that such was a good criteria for my
selection. I had completely overlooked the "buckle-factor, assuming that all
buckles on bike helmets were pretty much alike (that's what failed in the CR
test i.e. buckles broke when force was applied)

"Glenn Civello" wrote in
:

Thanks for your input Mike. I bought the Bell Influx because it fit
well and was easy to adjust. I had reasoned that such was a good
criteria for my selection. I had completely overlooked the
"buckle-factor, assuming that all buckles on bike helmets were pretty
much alike (that's what failed in the CR test i.e. buckles broke when
force was applied)

The buckle failed? That's interesting. It could have been a statistical
fluke, where they got a defective buckle that doesn't show up often in the
production run. But it would probably be smart to test your buckles by
applying fairly strong force to see if they hold. If they fail, I'm sure
Bell would provide a replacement or refund.

--
Mike Barrs
(thinking I should go test my helmet buckles now... I use a Bell KingHead)

Glenn Civello wrote:


Thanks for your input Mike. I bought the Bell Influx because it fit well
and was easy to adjust. I had reasoned that such was a good criteria for my
selection. I had completely overlooked the "buckle-factor, assuming that all
buckles on bike helmets were pretty much alike (that's what failed in the CR
test i.e. buckles broke when force was applied)

As I (and others) have said before, CR is OK for some things, but not
very competent at others. You simply can't trust everything they say.

I have a research article reporting on tests of forces on bike helmet
straps in simulated crashes. They claim the typical force is about 10
pounds.

Hang a ten pound weight from your helmet straps. If the buckle breaks,
take it back. If it doesn't (and it won't), don't worry about it.


--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]