#21
|
|||
|
|||
"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 |
Ads |
#22
|
|||
|
|||
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 |
#23
|
|||
|
|||
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 |
#24
|
|||
|
|||
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 |
#25
|
|||
|
|||
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 |
#26
|
|||
|
|||
"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! |
#27
|
|||
|
|||
"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. |
#28
|
|||
|
|||
"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! |
#29
|
|||
|
|||
"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. |
#30
|
|||
|
|||
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 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
FA: less than a day, lots of clothing still under a buck | DanSchmatz | Marketplace | 0 | June 30th 04 07:48 PM |
Cycling to Heathrow/Thanks for the advice | mark | UK | 2 | May 28th 04 07:11 PM |
Wachovia Cycling Series - Come meet the teams! | Steve | Marketplace | 0 | May 28th 04 02:46 PM |
More Paris Cycling - Along Southern Rim | Elisa Francesca Roselli | General | 3 | May 26th 04 02:01 AM |
SBS TV's Track Cycling Coverage, May | hippy | Australia | 2 | May 9th 04 04:16 AM |