Coasting

(Roger) said:

At 55 I am a new to ridding a bicycle. I do ride a motorcycle but
never have ridden a bicycle. I bought a Townie 3 and had no problem
getting started. At 8 miles an hour the bike starts to coast in third
gear (I can not feel any resistance on the peddles). The bike only
has 3 gears. Is this normal? Do I wait until it drops in speed and
peddle again? Only been riding three days.
Thanks for the help.
Roger

"third" as in highest or lowest gear?

and curiously: how do you learn to ride a motorcycle without riding a
bicycle first?

-Luigi

"Roger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

At 55 I am a new to ridding a bicycle. I do ride a motorcycle but
never have ridden a bicycle. I bought a Townie 3 and had no problem
getting started. At 8 miles an hour the bike starts to coast in third
gear (I can not feel any resistance on the peddles). The bike only
has 3 gears. Is this normal? Do I wait until it drops in speed and
peddle again? Only been riding three days.
Thanks for the help.
Roger

If it's a 3 day old bike, what do the guys at the shop wher you bought it
say?

Pete

On 15 Aug 2004 21:41:32 -0700 in rec.bicycles.misc,

(Roger) said:

At 55 I am a new to ridding a bicycle. I do ride a motorcycle but
never have ridden a bicycle. I bought a Townie 3 and had no problem
getting started. At 8 miles an hour the bike starts to coast in third
gear (I can not feel any resistance on the peddles). The bike only
has 3 gears. Is this normal? Do I wait until it drops in speed and
peddle again? Only been riding three days.

get a real bike with real gears.

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 22:29:25 -0800, [email hidden]

(Dennis P. Harris) said:

On 15 Aug 2004 21:41:32 -0700 in rec.bicycles.misc,

(Roger) said:

At 55 I am a new to ridding a bicycle. I do ride a motorcycle but
never have ridden a bicycle. I bought a Townie 3 and had no problem
getting started. At 8 miles an hour the bike starts to coast in third
gear (I can not feel any resistance on the peddles). The bike only
has 3 gears. Is this normal? Do I wait until it drops in speed and
peddle again? Only been riding three days.

get a real bike with real gears.

Hey, it's got two wheels. And two more gears than my favorite bike
these days! And- he's riding it. That makes it a real bike in my book.

(Roger) said:

At 55 I am a new to ridding a bicycle. I do ride a motorcycle but
never have ridden a bicycle. I bought a Townie 3 and had no problem
getting started. At 8 miles an hour the bike starts to coast in third
gear (I can not feel any resistance on the peddles). The bike only
has 3 gears. Is this normal? Do I wait until it drops in speed and
peddle again? Only been riding three days.
Thanks for the help.
Roger

When you say third gear, are you in the gear that is the hardest to
pedal? If you go to the 'first' gear, do you spin out even sooner?

If you are in the hardest gear and spinning out at 8 mph, I'd say that
something is wrong. You should go into the bike shop and see what they
say.

Dennis P. Harris said:

On 15 Aug 2004 21:41:32 -0700 in rec.bicycles.misc, [email hidden]

(Roger) said:

At 55 I am a new to ridding a bicycle. I do ride a motorcycle but never
have ridden a bicycle. I bought a Townie 3 and had no problem getting
started. At 8 miles an hour the bike starts to coast in third gear (I
can not feel any resistance on the peddles). The bike only has 3 gears.
Is this normal? Do I wait until it drops in speed and peddle again?
Only been riding three days.

get a real bike with real gears.

Dennis, you officially qualify as an [censored]!

Cyclists on three speeds in this world GREATLY outnumber little snooty
racer boys like yourself--and guess what? They're real cyclists!

I'd say a three speeds gears are more real than a derailleur bike.
Sturdier and worry free. 😄

To the original poster, congrats on the Townie--that's a great round town
machine. I've thought of getting one myself. Most of Europe rides similar
bikes, and they know a thing or too about daily utility riding there eh?

You might see if the shop that sold you the bike can "gear it up", i.e.
put a larger chainwheel up front or a smaller one in back.

Unless you plan on climbing mountains, 3 speeds is plenty round town,
keeps your eyes on the road where they belong. Hill too steep? Walk--no
shame in that.

Have a good one, and realize most of us here on these groups love to ride
whether it be on a $3000 carbon ride, or a $15 thrift store special--you
still get the wind in your hair and the grin on your face. 😄

THREE SPEEDS ROCK MY WORLD!!!

Luigi de Guzman said:

(Roger) said:

At 55 I am a new to ridding a bicycle. I do ride a motorcycle but never
have ridden a bicycle. I bought a Townie 3 and had no problem getting
started. At 8 miles an hour the bike starts to coast in third gear (I
can not feel any resistance on the peddles). The bike only has 3 gears.
Is this normal? Do I wait until it drops in speed and peddle again?
Only been riding three days. Thanks for the help.
Roger

"third" as in highest or lowest gear?

and curiously: how do you learn to ride a motorcycle without riding a
bicycle first?

-Luigi

who cares? the OP will out counter-steer the best of us with those snazzy
MC skills! LOL.

maxo said:

THREE SPEEDS ROCK MY WORLD!!!

errrcckkk.. let's not go overboard.
--
david reuteler
[email hidden]

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 22:29:25 -0800, [email hidden]

(Dennis P. Harris) said:

On 15 Aug 2004 21:41:32 -0700 in rec.bicycles.misc,

(Roger) said:

At 55 I am a new to ridding a bicycle. I do ride a motorcycle but
never have ridden a bicycle. I bought a Townie 3 and had no problem
getting started. At 8 miles an hour the bike starts to coast in third
gear (I can not feel any resistance on the peddles). The bike only
has 3 gears. Is this normal? Do I wait until it drops in speed and
peddle again? Only been riding three days.

get a real bike with real gears.

Three-speed hubs gears are real gears, and really useful for a lot of
riding.

I commuted on a hub-geared bike for a year, and I was pretty pleased
with it.

-Luigi

maxo said:

THREE SPEEDS ROCK MY WORLD!!!

I don't think I've ever heard anyone over the age of 25 say that.
ever.

-Luigi

David Reuteler said:

maxo said:

THREE SPEEDS ROCK MY WORLD!!!

errrcckkk.. let's not go overboard.

would banging my head and pumping my fist whilst saying that qualify as
overboard?

😄

Seriously though, I doubt many folks posting here have ever had the
pleasure of a bomb proof three speed that just works year after year.

I've owned two favourites and many other beaters. My two dearest were a
Raleigh Tourist and a Norwegian Kroon. The Kroon was liberated, but the
Raleigh is still with me.

I find getting up in the morning, putting on regular clothes and jumping
on the 3-speed to get some milk and a newspaper without having to worry
about gearing up to be immensely satisfying.

I've got my racer and lycra for the afternoon cardio rides, but somehow I
can't see fetching a carton of milk on the lightweight.

Luigi de Guzman said:

maxo said:

THREE SPEEDS ROCK MY WORLD!!!

I don't think I've ever heard anyone over the age of 25 say that. ever.

-Luigi

I'm a boyish 33 and have never given up on what I consider to be the
ultimate in two wheel transportation, the three speed.

There will come and go more sophisticated and "technologically advanced"
bikes--but come ON, what do you really need to bop 3 miles across the
neighborhood to see your buddies? Do it with style and comfort.

If I could find a way to contract out some bikes, get a container load
from Taiwan--I'd love to design a classic homage to the 3spd. Not a stupid
cruiser.

Large black steel frame,
Nitto dove bars,
Freddy fenders,
a cheap weatherproof sprung vinyl saddle,
rack with folding baskets, and
700c wheels with black 32c tires and a shimano nexus 3-speed.

Should sell for $300 and satisfy most utility cyclists. The fact that the
discount chains don't sell such a practical ride is unfathomable!

Seriously, if anybody knows how I could do this, I'd love to know.
Honestly, all I'd really need is the frame and fork to my specs, the other
parts are easily available.

Let's start the 3sp velorution!!

😄

maxo said:

I'm a boyish 33 and have never given up on what I consider to be the
ultimate in two wheel transportation, the three speed.

There will come and go more sophisticated and "technologically advanced"
bikes--but come ON, what do you really need to bop 3 miles across the
neighborhood to see your buddies? Do it with style and comfort.

If I could find a way to contract out some bikes, get a container load
from Taiwan--I'd love to design a classic homage to the 3spd. Not a stupid
cruiser.

Large black steel frame,
Nitto dove bars,
Freddy fenders,
a cheap weatherproof sprung vinyl saddle,
rack with folding baskets, and
700c wheels with black 32c tires and a shimano nexus 3-speed.

Should sell for $300 and satisfy most utility cyclists. The fact that the
discount chains don't sell such a practical ride is unfathomable!

Quoted message said:

Seriously, if anybody knows how I could do this, I'd love to know.
Honestly, all I'd really need is the frame and fork to my specs, the other
parts are easily available.

You might be able to bring the price down even further if you're less
fussy about componentry. I'd go with that same North Road pattern,
but I wouldn't go to Nitto with it. There are bound to be cheaper
fabricators out there that'll do.

Likewise fenders. Maybe cheap stamped Al?

But you're in a bit of a strange market. A lot of the guys I see
riding to work don't have $300 to spend on a new bike. Their
transport budget is closer to $50.

There's a half-dozen Salvadoran carpenters around here who ride their
bikes to the job site together. They all wear the same red,
long-sleeved t-shirts most of the time. When I first noticed them
they rode at brisk walking pace on the sidewalk in thrift-store
bike-boom 10 speeds. Now they ride *xmart bikes which to my eye
wouldn't cost more than $80, each. How are you going to convince
these guys, who see the bike as transport already, to part with three
times that sum?

For that sort of money, they're already beginning to think of payments
on a beat-up used car or small pickup, which they then share, piling
all their tools into it as well. It earns them a lot of money,
eventually, since they're now able to take on bigger jobs farther away
from home, and still arrive reliably.

As far as the rest of the market is concerned, bikes are toys or
sporting equipment. Eccentrics like the regulars on rbm may use them
to get around, but you don't want to hang out with that sort of
person.

I'd be in the market for a three-speed, though, sure, but if the price
were closer to $100 or $150, even for a naked bike with no fenders or
racks. For that, though, I have my friendly neighborhood used bike
dealer (he really is pretty neat) who has a whole rackfull of old
three-speeds in various states of repair or decay that he might offer
me.

Durability makes it hard to justify new stuff!

-Luigi

Quoted message said:

Let's start the 3sp velorution!!

😄

maxo said:

The Kroon was liberated, but the Raleigh is still with me.

just an aside here. "liberated" as a euphemism for "i stole the damn thing
and i feel pretty justified in doing so" should probably only apply to
items *YOU* stole .. (ie, i liberated the long neglected 3 speed) but
never to items stolen from you *UNLESS* you, yourself deserved to have it
stolen (ie, the long neglected 3 speed was yours when i liberated it).

Quoted message said:

I've got my racer and lycra for the afternoon cardio rides, but somehow I
can't see fetching a carton of milk on the lightweight.

fixed gear, fixed gear. i've gone out for beer and wine, breakfast cereal
and milk on mine. i feel like a domestique with the contents of a six pack
shoved every which way in my jersey, but hey ..
--
david reuteler
[email hidden]

Luigi de Guzman said:

You might be able to bring the price down even further if you're less
fussy about componentry. I'd go with that same North Road pattern, but I
wouldn't go to Nitto with it. There are bound to be cheaper fabricators
out there that'll do.

true, the plain steel chrome ones are fine and wholesale for around 8
bucks

Quoted message said:

Likewise fenders. Maybe cheap stamped Al?

I've owned a bike with those, they get bend really quickly, it has to be
something durable like a strong resin, you can cheat with cheapie steel
bars and seatpost--who really cares--but fenders that look like a
moonscape after a year are no good.

Quoted message said:

But you're in a bit of a strange

market. A lot of the guys I see riding

Quoted message said:

to work don't have $300 to spend on a new bike. Their transport budget
is closer to $50.

I feel for those guys, but I'm not Kmart and can't order 10.000 bikes from
Asia to keep the cost down, though if they had them built, I bet the price
would be about 150usd in the shops. Honestly, most guys like that would do
exactly as you said--buy a car asap. I don't blame them, if you've been
lower income for a while, an auto can be a real sign of upward mobility
and a source of pride. I wish those guys would buy bikes instead, but
come'on let's get real. 😉

I figure if I could get 100-500 or so made, or assemble them myself,
they'd easily sell at the more eccentric urban bike shops in the big
cities, Chicago especially--I can see dozens of them roaming Wicker Park
in my mind's eye already. 😄

A niche market to be sure, but if Electra can sell Townies, and Rivendell
can cater to its fetishists, I'm sure I can find my market.

I think the secret is just to make the ride utterly simple, classy, and
reliable. Save money where you can, but don't scrimp on the
important stuff, like a SS chain. Steel bars and seatpost are OK--cheap
and durable. Rubber block pedals from Germany wholesale at $6 or
so--comfortable, cheap and perfect. Vinyl saddle is not elegant, but
low-brow and theft resistant in big cities. Tektro cantilever front brake
works and costs $10, rear brake is a coaster 3sp. 36 spoke wheels with
inexpensive, but durable rims like Alex or Sun. I'm not sure about the
cranks--but a steel one piece set wouldn't be out of the question for such
a simple bike. Chainguard, a rack similar to the old "Pletschier" with
spring clamp, and perhaps a cheap dynamo would round it all out.

The bike would come in one of perhaps...two colors, black or cream. The
logo decal would be nice gold curly script--"The Regular" That's what I'm
thinking of as a working name at least.

David Reuteler said:

fixed gear, fixed gear. i've gone out for beer and wine, breakfast cereal
and milk on mine. i feel like a domestique with the contents of a six
pack shoved every which way in my jersey, but hey ..

fixies are fun and fine, I've got an old Univega fixie. I just don't need
to work on my stroke when fetching milk. 😉

I tend to wear Swedish wooden clogs and PJ bottoms on my morning
excursion--I need a rack and the ability to coast.

maxo <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I figure if I could get 100-500 or so made, or assemble them myself,
they'd easily sell at the more eccentric urban bike shops in the big
cities, Chicago especially--I can see dozens of them roaming Wicker
Park in my mind's eye already. 😄

A niche market to be sure, but if Electra can sell Townies, and
Rivendell can cater to its fetishists, I'm sure I can find my market.

Isn't this sort of what Momovelo is doing with the BUB?

http://www.momovelo.com/bub.html

I wonder how many of these he sells?

--
Mike Barrs

foldedpath said:

maxo <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I figure if I could get 100-500 or so made, or assemble them myself,
they'd easily sell at the more eccentric urban bike shops in the big
cities, Chicago especially--I can see dozens of them roaming Wicker Park
in my mind's eye already. 😄

A niche market to be sure, but if Electra can sell Townies, and
Rivendell can cater to its fetishists, I'm sure I can find my market.

Isn't this sort of what Momovelo is doing with the BUB?

http://www.momovelo.com/bub.html

I wonder how many of these he sells?

Hopefully enough to pay the bills. 😄

That's somewhat in the spirit, though some of the parts are a bit precious
like the shellac tape and flashlight. A rear LED blinkie and Ritchey True
Grips would be my choices. Front lighting via dynamo of course 😉.

I don't like the frame--mine would have a traditional flat top bar. They
probably got a good deal on the MTB frame so I can understand why one
would use it. I also can't see using wheels smaller than 700c, they just
look wrong on a city bike. I'd use roadster wheels in a perfect world, but
that's a little obscure. Schrader valves of course.

I'd also just have one model, complete with fenders, rack, dynamo, and
perhaps a bell.

don't get me wrong--I LOVE to browse the momovelo site and they have some
good ideas and very practical bikes. They do cater to a very select crowd,
which is OK by me (I'm part of that crowd probably LOL), I'd broaden my
target audience a bit.

"Roger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

At 55 I am a new to ridding a bicycle. I do ride a motorcycle but
never have ridden a bicycle. I bought a Townie 3 and had no problem
getting started. At 8 miles an hour the bike starts to coast in third
gear (I can not feel any resistance on the peddles). The bike only
has 3 gears. Is this normal? Do I wait until it drops in speed and
peddle again? Only been riding three days.
Thanks for the help.
Roger

One of two things is happening:

(a) normal: The bike has begun to go 10 miles an hour. You are still
pedalling at a rate which would support 8 miles an hour. This might be due
to going down a slight hill. This is normal if you are in the lowest gear,
although third would be highest gear and you would have to be pedalling
extremely slowly.

(b) abnormal: The gears are out of adjustment. I had this type of problem
with a 3 speed I was trying to restore (which, sadly, had too many problems
to justify further effort). This is a tune-up type adjustment that a bike
shop could do for you, although you might find out how to do it on Sheldon
Brown's site.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/english-3.html