ROLLCALL: Who's Driving / Peddling / Floating / Flying What

[Explorer]

I kinda sorta built my own bicycle a while back, starting with a Rockford alloy frame and added parts as I went -- top-line Shimano pedals, 24-speed drive train, derailleur, and alloy rims; Hot Chili suspension, somebody-or-another's alloy handlebars, etc. Now it's a real road warrior, basically a mountain bike with smooth street rubber instead of knobby tread.

Got a van and a car as well.

 

[jtr1962]

Here's my wheels:

Drive train: 14-speed manual shift, 12-23 7-gear rear sprocket, 42-53 front chainring

Performance Specifications:

Acceleration (level ground, no wind, rider feeling good):

0-20 mph.......4.5 seconds
0-30 mph......11.0 seconds

Top Speed

~35 mph (level ground)
65 mph (maximum attained speed on long downhill with tailwind)

Cruising speed (level ground, no wind)

(continuous)....22 to 25 mph
(5 minutes)..............30 mph
(30 seconds)...........35 mph

No car, no driver's license.

 

[Buck]

Hey, those are the same performance specs that I get with my car!

 

[Corvair]

Hey, those are the same performance specs that I get with my car!

Probably not as bad as this one...

 

[Corvair]

Here's my wheels:

Every once in a while, I'll see someone pedaling along on a bike with wheel fairings (¿spoke fairings?).

I've always wondered if wheel fairings might cause you to vere off course if a gust of wind should hit you.

If there was ever a bike for lunatics, here's one <chuckle>

 

[Drakantus]

I still have my VW Jetta GLI. I still love it, but for monetary reasons I'll be selling it as soon as I can find a new place.

 

[Mercutio]

Mostly I am immobile. It suits me.

I own three cars. I really only drive one of them. There's a silver one, a black one and another black one.

Transportation is boring.

 

[ddrueding]

I sold my GTI for a 2003 VW Golf: better milage and I needed to be ticket-free for a while to get my licence back. I've done over 78,000 miles in the last 2 years, and I don't see gas prices coming down any time soon, and I have my licence back so I can afford some more performance...so I think I'll be switching to one a 600cc sport bike.

Practical? Not really, but I can use the excuse of better milage, better traffic management, cheaper insurance, and no payments to justify such a choice.

I keep meaning to take my rollerblades out. I live a block from a beautiful bike trail that follows the ocean for a dozen miles or more, I could certainly use the excercise.

 

[jtr1962]

Every once in a while, I'll see someone pedaling along on a bike with wheel fairings (¿spoke fairings?).

I've always wondered if wheel fairings might cause you to vere off course if a gust of wind should hit you.

Generally it's only a problem if you have a fairing on the front wheel. I tried that, BTW. In crosswinds the handlebars were literally yanked right out from my hands so I decided to go with the rear fairing only. For a given amount of pedaling output, the rear fairing seems to offer about a 1.5 to 2 mph speed increase. The front one gave about twice that but required dead calm conditions to be safe. Combined, I'd say they were good for a 4 to 5 mph speed boost which is nothing to sneeze at.

If there was ever a bike for lunatics, here's one <chuckle>

Actually, next time I get a bike that's exactly what I want. My present bike is fine and I won't spend the money for another unless it gives me a huge speed increase over what I have now. Sadly, bikes like that are not really affordable yet. I don't know why they're not mass produced as they're superior in every way to conventional bikes.

 

[Groltz]

...Still haven't sold it

 

[Santilli]

1988 Toyota Tercel, ez. Has 240 thousand miles, no oil rings, but excellent compression. Homage to Castrol GTX 20-50W oil.

I've got a Casati sitting in storage, and a Gitane Tour DeFrance, waiting to get to a place that's safe to ride them, like the beach. Looked at houses in Pacifica today.

My SO's car is a 1989 Mercedes 300S, IIRC. Even with a good mechanic, the repairs are terrifying...

I've REALLY got to pass the bar ASAP. This special ed teaching stuff isn't cutting it, money wise...

s

 

[Santilli]

http://www.ciclicasati.it/EN/azienda.htm

s

 

[Will Rickards]

1999 Saturn SL2
1994 Honda Accord LX
Target special ($60) mountain bike for exercise.

 

[Tannin]

2005 Subaru Forester
Trackball for exercise. Sometime I do a few rounds of the keyboard just to tone my body up.

 

[tazwegion]

Well here's my daily transport...

And we take this out on weekends... to go fishing

 

[Fushigi]

Motorized: '99 Mitsubishi Galant LS, 104K miles.
Human-powered: Miyata TripleCross from around 1994. With our heat wave, it hasn't seen much activity this year.

 

[MaxBurn]

In the tag line.

 

[jtr1962]

Human-powered: Miyata TripleCross from around 1994. With our heat wave, it hasn't seen much activity this year.

Don't feel bad. The rear derailleur on my Raleigh is broke so combined with the heat wave it hasn't seen much use either. Hopefully in the fall I'll be able to do a good 1000 miles or so. Not riding makes me feel lethargic.

 

[Howell]

2001 VW Jetta GLX VR6 5SP
1987 Subaru GL 4WD 3AT
1985 Subaru GL-10 3AT
1970 BMW R75/5
Spare 2.2L Subaru engine

1995 Gary Fisher 17.5" Mountain bike built from the frame up in '95.


jtr, I may have a spare road derailleur in storage if that is all you are waiting for. Also did you try a deep walled rim or just the full disk. They were invented for the problem you/Gary describe.

 

[e_dawg]

2002 Jetta GLS VR6 5sp

Next car, in order or probability:

Acura TL
BMW 325i
Mercedes SLK 280
Infiniti G35c
Volvo S40 T5

 

[LOST6200]

Mostly I am immobile. It suits me.

I own three cars. I really only drive one of them. There's a silver one, a black one and another black one.

Why are there three cars for a single guy? I imagine the insurance is a killer for all three cars, or are some unlicensed?

 

[Mercutio]

One of them is in long-term storage and not driveable. Insurance is just another check I have to write. Not a big deal. At one time I even had another car, but I gave it to my ex-.
Someday I'm going to get rid of one of my cars for a van or something a little more practical for my needs (I need to haul things around fairly often, and I hate trucks and SUVs), but I don't place any kind of premium on transportation, so it's not likely to happen any time soon.

 

[tazwegion]

Geez Merc'... that was nice to give your X a car, ummm... were the brakes okay? :lol: :roll:

 

[LOST6200]

I don't know how to pilot an airplane or a boat, or even ride a bicycle.

Steve,

Are you selling the truck or the plane behind it? :mrgrn:

 

[Mercutio]

Geez Merc'... that was nice to give your X a car, ummm... were the brakes okay? :lol: :roll:

Trust me, you don't want to get into it.

 

[Groltz]

Steve,

Are you selling the truck or the plane behind it?

The truck, Eric. :wink:

I don't think my boss would like me hanging a "For Sale" sign on his 757.

 

[LunarMist]

Geez Merc'... that was nice to give your X a car, ummm... were the brakes okay? :lol: :roll:

Not funny at all. You really have not been around long enough to make those kind of bad-taste jokes.

 

[Groltz]

Not funny at all. You really have not been around long enough to make those kind of bad-taste jokes.

@tazwegion

Our friend Mercutio has had some extraordinarily lamentable life experiences in the last few years concerning the factor you/he mentioned.

To be neighborly, it might be suggested to not draw focus on that topic regardless of his occasional references.

-- My

 

[blakerwry]

I'm still driving the ScionTC... now up to 4000 miles.

http://justblake.com/ScionTC2/


I recently sold my old mountain bike (too small to be practical for me anyway) at garage sale.

I might think more about riding a bike after I move depending on the space available. We really have some nice parks just a short distance from where I live that are pretty inviting for bike riders and the like.

 

[Handruin]

I'm still driving my 2004 TSX, 6 speed MT. I considered selling it a few months ago, but I decided to keep her. I have 37,000 on it right now, and so far it's still running good.

 

[tazwegion]

Not funny at all. You really have not been around long enough to make those kind of bad-taste jokes.

I'm sorry... but no time, is a good time for my dark humour

As for extraordinarily lamentable life experiences... take a number and get in line buddy, I just choose not to dwell on it looking for the upbeat side in everything

I guess, I'm just used to the free-for-all (though moderated) style of larger forums, I will however endeavour to adjust to the conservative ethos @ this on-line community


Taz.

 

[Mercutio]

Thank you Lunar and Groltz.

Taz, you have to understand that there is forum history on that one particular subject.

Normally we do strive to have open fora - 95% of our moderator action is to remove spam/commercial speech or (Santilli's) duplicated posts. That's because the people who visit here tend to be fairly respectful in tone most of the time (in fact, I'm probably the worst offender in that regard). We almost never NEED moderation.

This may be a different style of forum than what you're used to, but for the most part (save the occasional descent in to silliness a la recent discussions of vegemite), our signal to noise ratio is very high. I think the people who come here are proud of that, and that is probably a reason we have survived as a community.

 

[Splash]

Tazwegion:

Even though your sidebar says that you hale from somewhere in the midst of Victoria, your name implies that you are/were Tasmanian. Just in case you haven't discovered it yet, our own Pradeep / Dwunken Baztard is (was?) from Taz.

 

[Splash]

Actually, next time I get a bike that's exactly what I want. My present bike is fine and I won't spend the money for another unless it gives me a huge speed increase over what I have now. Sadly, bikes like that are not really affordable yet. I don't know why they're not mass produced as they're superior in every way to conventional bikes.

Hmmm... Methinks you'd sweat to death inside that aerodynamic shell. This would be a bike better suited for those near-freezing -- and colder -- days.

Even though I see them around more, I believe recumbent bikes are quite expensive still.

 

[e_dawg]

Yes, it certainly is interesting how there are so many Aussies on this forum. Has it been through word of mouth (e.g., Tannin, Pradeep, et al spreading the word) or does SF project a massive banner ad onto the Opera House at night?

For that matter, there number of Canadians on this forum are slightly higher than average as well...

And yet, this community is so inclusionary of foreigners. This isn't the American way, is it? 8)

 

[e_dawg]

Correction:

there = the

 

[Santilli]

Yes, it certainly is interesting how there are so many Aussies on this forum. Has it been through word of mouth (e.g., Tannin, Pradeep, et al spreading the word) or does SF project a massive banner ad onto the Opera House at night?

For that matter, there number of Canadians on this forum are slightly higher than average as well...

And yet, this community is so inclusionary of foreigners. This isn't the American way, is it? 8)

What ever do you mean? We invite in half of Mexico, and they are now the majority of Kalifornia, and you say we don't include foreigners? We even include illegal foreigners, in particular, giving them celebrity status. They get drivers licenses, never get deported, unless they commit murder, full health and education benefits, etc. They are pretty much immune from prosecution, unless a DA really wants to go after them.

Come to Kalifornia: Be a Mexican gang member, take over the state, sell drugs, we love you!!! :wink:

Heck, we don't have enough border patrol to make sure terrorists don't get in, leaving that to the intelligence community, I HOPE!!!

s

 

[Santilli]

I forgot to mention: MUCH better to be illegal, then legal here. To actually become a legal US citizen takes years of buercrappacy to get through.

s

 

[CougTek]

It would be really pissing to see JTR on his bike with wings, in New York, trying to pass between two lines of yellow cabs taxis.

I have a silver Minelli mountain bike, but I haven't ride it enough this summer.

 

[Tannin]

Huh? Who said anything about the American way? This is a forum for the worldwide Englidh speaking community, Santilli, but we also try to welcome Americans.