Improved technology?

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Tom Keats) said:

I hear freehub axles are less prone to bending or
breaking. If that's so, I guess I could use an updated
wheelset, myself.

Quoted message said:

Guess what happened to me today.

Quoted message said:

Yup.

This is the same phenomenon that occurs when you get a
brand new pump. You are almost guaranteed to get a flat
the next day.

Quoted message said:

Fortunately I was able to scrounge a spare axle out of the
heap of parts. I'm swapping-in the cones from the busted
axle right now. I didn't even lose any bearing balls.

🙂 It's good to have a spare parts box/closet/room.

Quoted message said:

There's another current thread titled "A humbling ride".
Leading a crippled bike home for 30 blocks is sure an
humbling walk. 'Specially when lots of other riders are
blithely breezing by.

I dashed down to the Seattle Bike expo on my grocery bike (
a fairly unattractive old french road bike (nice lugs
though) ) this weekend. Of course I was in such a rush to
dash out I didn't have any patches/ tire levers/tubes.
Guaranteed flat tire, delivered.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g A
well-used door needs no oil on its hinges. A swift-flowing
steam does not grow stagnant. Neither sound nor thoughts can
travel through a vacuum. Software rots if not used.

These are great mysteries. -- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of
Programming"

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Tom Keats) said:

I hear freehub axles are less prone to bending or
breaking. If that's so, I guess I could use an updated
wheelset, myself.

Quoted message said:

Guess what happened to me today.

Quoted message said:

Yup.

This is the same phenomenon that occurs when you get a
brand new pump. You are almost guaranteed to get a flat
the next day.

Quoted message said:

Fortunately I was able to scrounge a spare axle out of the
heap of parts. I'm swapping-in the cones from the busted
axle right now. I didn't even lose any bearing balls.

🙂 It's good to have a spare parts box/closet/room.

Quoted message said:

There's another current thread titled "A humbling ride".
Leading a crippled bike home for 30 blocks is sure an
humbling walk. 'Specially when lots of other riders are
blithely breezing by.

I dashed down to the Seattle Bike expo on my grocery bike (
a fairly unattractive old french road bike (nice lugs
though) ) this weekend. Of course I was in such a rush to
dash out I didn't have any patches/ tire levers/tubes.
Guaranteed flat tire, delivered.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g A
well-used door needs no oil on its hinges. A swift-flowing
steam does not grow stagnant. Neither sound nor thoughts can
travel through a vacuum. Software rots if not used.

These are great mysteries. -- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of
Programming"

Tue, 09 Mar 2004 16:46:04 GMT,
<[email hidden]>, Dane Jackson

Quoted message said:

This is the same phenomenon that occurs when you get a
brand new pump. You are almost guaranteed to get a flat the
next day.

I bought a pump and got a puncture within 20 meters of the
shop. I bought a "Quick Stick" tire lever and was awakened
that night by a 'pop-hiss'. It's freaky.
--
zk

From: [email hidden] (Tom=A0Kunich)

Quoted message said:

More gears, easier and more accurate shifting. Slightly
better brakes. This is a hell of a lot better than the
older stuff, but it really isn't a large change.

More gears? Reallly? 15 years ago I had 18 speeds (15
distinct ratios, three repeats on the granny) 12 of them
were evenly spaced between a one hundred inch high gear
and a 30 inch low. And the three grannies below that
stretched even further down to a wall crawling twenty inch
basement gear.

Most of today's "30" speeds don't have a range anywhere near
that! Yeah, they have more combinations, but most are what
we used to call "flat spots" and repeat gears (read:
redundant rotating weight).

So where's the improvement? ;-3)

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear
for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

"Chris Zacho "The Wheelman"" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
From: [email hidden] (Tom Kunich)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

More gears, easier and more accurate shifting. Slightly
better brakes. This is a hell of a lot better than the
older stuff, but it really isn't a large change.

So where's the improvement? ;-3)

When you're climbing a steep hill and you downshift it
goes into gear instead of jumping and throwing the chain
off. When you're in a racing pack you never have to take
you hands off of the bars, pull your elbows in and
chance a bump that will knock you off of your bike. When
you are approaching a downhill slow turn at high speed
the brakes work by squeezing them lightly instead of
sitting up and pulling for all you're worth just to get
it to slow a little.

Olde equipment worked OK. The new stuff works WAY better.
If you don't think so take out one of those old Peugeot UO-
8's and see.