aus.bicycle FAQ (Monthly(ish) Posting)

aus.bicycle FAQ
Last updated 23-FEB-2004

Welcome to the aus.bicycle FAQ

This is a compendium of Frequently Asked Questions from the
newsgroup
aus.bicycle, some of them even have answers. The lastest
version is
always available from:

Text
http://maddogsbreakfast.com.au/ABFAQ/aus.bicycle.FAQ.txt
HTML
http://maddogsbreakfast.com.au/ABFAQ/aus.bicycle.FAQ.html

This document is Copyright (c) 2004 Kingsley Turner.
Permission is
granted to distribute this document on the criteria that it
is remains
unmodified, and it is not sold for profit.

1 - Bicycling Resources & Propaganda
1.1 What other bicycle newsgroups are there?
1.2 What are some good cycling websites?
1.3 What are some good mailing lists?
1.4 What are some good cycling (paper) publications?

2 - Riding

2.1 Miscellany
2.1.1 What do I do about this f@#$%^ing Magpie?
2.1.2 Why do you shave your legs?

2.2 Kids
2.2.1 What are the options for carrying (non-riding)
children by bike?
2.2.2 Which is better: child seat or trailer?

2.3 Touring

2.4 Organised Rides

2.4.1 Miscellany
2.4.1.1 What are the major events on
the Australian Cycling
Calendar?
2.4.1.2 What is Critical Mass?

2.4.2 Clubs & BUGs

2.4.3 Polaris

2.4.4 Road Racing
2.4.4.1 The TdF: What do the coloured
jerseys mean?

2.4.5 Couriers

2.5 Laws, Accidents & Road Rage
2.5.1 I've been involved in an accident, what do I
do?
2.5.2 I've been a victim of road rage, what do I do?

2.6 Training, Fitness & Weight
2.6.1 Reducing Body Fat
2.6.2 How do I calculate my BMR (Basil Metabolic
Rate)?

3 - Gear

3.1 Miscellany
3.1.1 What does bike insurance cover?

3.2 Shopping
3.2.1 What online bike stores are there?
3.2.2 Can I save money by importing gear myself?
3.2.3 Where can I buy a 2nd-hand bike?

3.3 Custom Built
3.3.1 Does anyone know a good frame builder?
3.3.2 Does anyone know a good wheel builder?

3.4 Parts & Maintenance

3.4.1 Miscellany
3.4.1.1 When should I use the yellow
lenses with my glasses?

3.4.2 Lights
3.4.2.1 Where can I get a cheap
Vistalite Nightstick
battery?
3.4.2.2 Can someone recommend a smart
charger?

3.4.3 Brakes
3.4.3.1 My brakes are squealing!

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1 Bicycling Resources & Propaganda:

1.1 What other bicycle newsgroups are there?
* aus.bicycle
* uk.rec.cycling - Much like aus.bicycle
* rec.bicycles.marketplace - Bike stuff for sale
* rec.bicycles.misc - General bike discussion
* rec.bicycles.off-road
* rec.bicycles.racing
* rec.bicycles.rides - About touring, but sometimes not
* rec.bicycles.soc - The social ascpects of cycling
* rec.bicycles.tech - Technical Q&A
* alt.collecting.bicycles
* alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent
* alt.mountain-bike

1.2 What are some good cycling websites?
* Cycling News: www.cyclingnews.com - Packed with news &
reports.
* Audax Australia: www.audax.org.au
* Bicycle Fish: users.chariot.net.au/~gloria - Australian
Bicycle Touring.
* Aussie Cycling: www.aussiecycling.com.au/cycling - Books,
links & for sale.
* Tandem Club of Australia: home.vicnet.net.au/~tandem/
* Biking Asia with Mr Pumpy: www.mrpumpy.net - Bicycle touring
South-east Asia.
* Bicycle Victoria: www.bv.com.au
* Bicycle NSW: www.bicyclensw.org.au
* Pedal Power ACT: www.pedalpower.org.au
* Bicycle SA: www.bikesa.asn.au
* Bicycle Tasmania: www.biketas.org.au
* OzHPV: sunsite.anu.edu.au/community/ozhpv/ (non-aussie
pages)
* MTB Review: www.mtbreview.com - User reviews of bike gear.
* Ken Kifer's Bike Pages: www.kenkifer.com/bikepages
* Sheldon Brown's: www.sheldonbrown.com - Bike gear and
repairs

1.3 What are some good cycling mail lists?
* Phreds Bicycle Touring:
www.phred.org/mailman/listinfo/touring - Bicycle Touring,
and sometimes unrelated topics (can be very high volume).
* Hobbes Tandem List:
www-acs.ucsd.edu/home-pages/wade/tandem.html - Tandem
Everything (moderate volume).

1.4 What are some good cycling (paper) publications?

Magazine What's it about
Australian Cyclist Bit of a mix: bike politics, touring, lists of
clubs and diary of club
rides, occasional gear review. Not usually any
road racing news. Six
issues a year, available at most newsagents and
bike shops.
RIDE Cycling Review Completely covers the bicycle racing scene,
including both road and track.
Has great gear reviews, although it does tend
towards the top-end stuff.
Six issues a year, available some newsagents, and
bike shops
Cycling Australia Covers racing, road & track. Always has reviews of
high-end bikes, the
occasional maintenance tip, and a bit of cycling
gossip. Published five
times a year
Mountain Biking Australia As above, but for mountain bikes.
Australian Mountain Bike Covers the mountain bike racing scene in detail,
usually has interviews
with Aussie riders, gear review, maintenance and
(technical) riding tips.
Six issues a year.
Velovision (UK) This is an exceedingly interesting magazine, it
focus is mainly bicycles
as transport (or maybe 'bikes as a part of life'😉,
with a heavy bent
towards recumbent and other non-mainstream
cycling. It does have a British
and European focus, but contains articles sourced
from all over the world.

Available (at least) at Cheeky Monkey in Sydney.

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2.2 Riding: Kids

2.2.1 What are the options for carrying (non-riding) children by bike?

This mostly depends on your childs age and capability:

Child Seats:
There are two types of child carriers, the ubiquitous rear-rack
mounted seats, and the
seats that mount on the handlebars so that the child sits between
the arms of the
rider.

Trailer Bikes:
A trailer bike is basically the back-half of a diamond-frame
bike. There is no front
wheel, but a tow arm that commonly connects to the seatpost or
under the seat. These
require some bike riding skills and balance, but not steering.

Trailers:
These are usually tethered to the bike by a socket-jointed
tow-arm to the left
chainstay. They can hold one or two children, who are held in
with a seatbelt, but are
still requried to wear a helmet. It's common for trailers to come
with instructions
that specify the minimum child age of 1 year.

2.2.2 Which is better: child seat or trailer?

Kingsley Turner wrote in aus.bicycle:

Both of these have pros and cons:

Both:
* Child needs decent head control, approx 1 year old although
I read about someone
who strapped their car capsule into a trailer.
* Adds at least a little weight to the bike, effecting
handling.

Seats:
* Cheap - sub $100 for rear model, around $200 for a front.
* Back & front (Bobike mini) available
* Child is exposed to the elements
* Child goes over with the bike in a crash (seen this happen
twice)
* You can talk quite easily with your child
* Must be cautious that legs are properly strapped in (and not
near spokes/wheels)
* Loose usage/access to rear rack

Trailer:
* Expensive ($500-$1000)
* Can hold 2 kids (Trek models up to 45kg)
* Bike can stack, but trailer stays put
* Slim chance of rolling it if you clip a gutter in exactly
the wrong way at speed
* Difficult to talk to your kids, near impossible with the
plastic weather-shield
down
* Child is not exposed to the weather (don't forget hot sunny
days too) and is
toasty warm in winter/rain.
* Weighs about 10-12kg depending on the model
* Has plenty of 'boot' space for nappy bags, drinks, food,
spare change of clothes,
big doll, and the other doll.
* Food & drink tends to get trampled into the floor (but you
can just about hose it
out)
* High wind-resistance
* Makes your bike into a wide load, watch the bollards on bike
paths!
* Weight of children is not directly on the bike
* Can convert some trailers into a stroller (very important
for touring)

As you can probably guess most of my experience is with trailer.
We towed both the
brats 1200km touring last year (and many km since) When they
weren't being towed, they
were being parambulated with the stroller conversion kit engaged.

For quick trips, the seat is probably better/quicker but for
longer ones the trailer
is great.

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"kingsley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Text http://maddogsbreakfast.com.au/ABFAQ/aus.bicycle.FAQ.txt
HTML http://maddogsbreakfast.com.au/ABFAQ/aus.bicycle.FAQ.html

If someone (not connected via Dart Internet / Connect.com)
would like to have a go at posting the text version of the
FAQ that would be good.

Well, it posted fine from netspace except for the dodgy
fomatting changes that Outlook probably made.. grrr!

hippy

Quoted message said:

I'm still unable to post the FAQ to the group.
It hit a low point when the support from my ISP asked
"what is the IP Address of aus.bicycle"... *sigh*

lol. now I would think that is a high point. I think I would have had to
laugh at them for a while.

How do the other groups do it? They seem to be automated.

Peter