what r they

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:47:21 -0500, "RB" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

What are the little gizmos called that seem to be some kind of "see and be
seen" thing for bikes---they're small, orange flags on approx 4' long
fiberglass rods, and I see 'em on the back wheel area of bikes???

I need a couple. Where find and what do I call for?

Dear RB,

Froogle is your friend. Here's a bunch of 'em:

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=bicycle+safety+flag&hl=en&btnG=Search+Froogle

Sheldon Brown is also your friend:

"These trailer cycles come with "safety flags" that attach to the rear
axle."

"As far as I know, there is no evidence whatever that these flags
enhance safety in any way, and I wouldn't bother installing one. They
are quite cumbersome and make the trailer cycle very awkward to store
or to transport."

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/adams-trail-a-bike.html

Excelsior!

Hank Longfellow

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:47:21 -0500, "RB" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

What are the little gizmos called that seem to be some kind of "see and be
seen" thing for bikes---they're small, orange flags on approx 4' long
fiberglass rods, and I see 'em on the back wheel area of bikes???

I need a couple. Where find and what do I call for?

Dear RB,

Froogle is your friend. Here's a bunch of 'em:

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=bicycle+safety+flag&hl=en&btnG=Search+Froogle

Sheldon Brown is also your friend:

"These trailer cycles come with "safety flags" that attach to the rear
axle."

"As far as I know, there is no evidence whatever that these flags
enhance safety in any way, and I wouldn't bother installing one. They
are quite cumbersome and make the trailer cycle very awkward to store
or to transport."

Ah, yes! The all-knowing Sheldon Brown. The expert's expert. What's
that dark spot on the end of your nose, Fogel?

http://tinyurl.com/qdh74

How's that inflatable doll holding up, Big Boy?

Quoted message said:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/adams-trail-a-bike.html

Excelsior!

Hank Longfellow

RB said:

What are the little gizmos called that seem to be some kind of "see
and be seen" thing for bikes---they're small, orange flags on approx
4' long fiberglass rods, and I see 'em on the back wheel area of
bikes???

Those are called small orange flags on approximately 4' long fiberglass
rods.

(Sorry, had to be done.)

:-D :-P <eg> :o) 8-) 8-O

I use 'em on my boat trailer. They make good position references when
backing the trailer. Thanks for the names. Bet Walwart has 'em.

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:40:37 -0500, "RB" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I use 'em on my boat trailer. They make good position references when
backing the trailer. Thanks for the names. Bet Walwart has 'em.

Dear RB,

You'd think that WalMart would have them, but I can't find any trace
of bike flags at the www.walmart.com site.

You might try calling a local bike shop if mail-order is too slow.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Walwart has a terrible search engine. I've never been able to find anything
with it, even stuff I know they have. I'll stop by there tomorrow. Someone
here in town will have them. Thanks again. Now I know what to call 'em.

[email hidden] who claims '100% Service and 0% "Attitude"

Quoted post said:

...
Ah, yes! The all-knowing Sheldon Brown. The expert's expert....

Do I perhaps detect some professional jealousy? The above comment
hardly seems to be "0% Attitude".

Does reading this make you feel better:
<http://sheldonbrown.org/journal/health.html>?

--
Tom Sherman - Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Impact is not a synonym of affect or effect

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:40:37 -0500, "RB" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I use 'em on my boat trailer. They make good position references when
backing the trailer. Thanks for the names. Bet Walwart has 'em.

Dear RB,

You'd think that WalMart would have them, but I can't find any trace
of bike flags at the www.walmart.com site.

You might try calling a local bike shop if mail-order is too slow.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

You can also check out dune-buggy stores. They've got all sizes, it
seems, so you can see when another guy is coming over the top of a hill
and try not to run into him.

Matt

Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman said:

[email hidden] who claims '100% Service and 0% "Attitude"

Quoted post said:

...
Ah, yes! The all-knowing Sheldon Brown. The expert's expert....

Do I perhaps detect some professional jealousy? The above comment
hardly seems to be "0% Attitude".

My comments were actually aimed at Fogel's constant brown nosing of SB.
Who needs a link from Fogel to see what SB thinks about safety flags??

I have no problem whatsoever, personal or professional with Sheldon.

Quoted message said:

Does reading this make you feel better:
<http://sheldonbrown.org/journal/health.html>?

Sorry to hear about his problems.

Quoted message said:

Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman said:

[email hidden] who claims '100% Service and 0% "Attitude"

Quoted post said:

...
Ah, yes! The all-knowing Sheldon Brown. The expert's expert....

Do I perhaps detect some professional jealousy? The above comment
hardly seems to be "0% Attitude".

My comments were actually aimed at Fogel's constant brown nosing of SB.
Who needs a link from Fogel to see what SB thinks about safety flags??

Well, "Dear Carl's" shtick has worn thin, which is one of two primary
reasons I pretty much ignore his posts.

Quoted message said:

I have no problem whatsoever, personal or professional with Sheldon....

Good to hear, as the above seemed to be directed towards Sheldon and
not Dear Carl.

--
Tom Sherman - Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Impact is not a synonym of affect or effect

Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman said:

Quoted message said:

Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman said:

[email hidden] who claims '100% Service and 0% "Attitude"
' wrote:
> ...
> Ah, yes! The all-knowing Sheldon Brown. The expert's expert....

Do I perhaps detect some professional jealousy? The above comment
hardly seems to be "0% Attitude".

My comments were actually aimed at Fogel's constant brown nosing of SB.
Who needs a link from Fogel to see what SB thinks about safety flags??

Well, "Dear Carl's" shtick has worn thin, which is one of two primary
reasons I pretty much ignore his posts.

Quoted message said:

I have no problem whatsoever, personal or professional with Sheldon....

Good to hear, as the above seemed to be directed towards Sheldon and
not Dear Carl.

I agree that my post was poorly worded and easily mis-construed. (And
made even worse when someone sees only a snippet, sans the brown nose
reference.)

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:47:21 -0500, "RB" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

What are the little gizmos called that seem to be some kind of "see and be
seen" thing for bikes---they're small, orange flags on approx 4' long
fiberglass rods, and I see 'em on the back wheel area of bikes???

I need a couple. Where find and what do I call for?

Bike safety flags. Some sporting goods stores carry them. I haven't
seen any at local bike shops here, but I haven't looked for them
either.

Most reputable shops of my experience neither encourage nor discourage
their use. It's not clear that the flags have any real value in
improving cycling safety, and they can be a hazard themselves. One of
them plucked the glasses off my nose and tossed them into a vat of
cooking oil...which happily, haddn't started heating yet, so I was
able to fish them back out undamaged and clean them off. (They
smelled like crawfish until I ran them through the ultrasonic bath to
get the last of the oil out.)
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:40:37 -0500, "RB" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I use 'em on my boat trailer. They make good position references when
backing the trailer. Thanks for the names. Bet Walwart has 'em.

Dear RB,

You'd think that WalMart would have them, but I can't find any trace
of bike flags at the www.walmart.com site.

In my experience, the walmart.com site has less than one fifth of the
items carried by the typical Wal-Mart store, which is hardly
surprising. Try finding a bike tire or tube on it at all, for
instance.

It appears that Wal-Mart regards its website as a specialty adjunct
channel rather than a realistic alternative to actually visiting a
store.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On 14 Aug 2006 00:47:43 -0700, "Matt Jones" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

You can also check out dune-buggy stores. They've got all sizes, it
seems, so you can see when another guy is coming over the top of a hill
and try not to run into him.

Sadly, such stores are not plentiful in all areas.

OTOH, I've seen them on snowmobiles as well.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 14:47:03 GMT, Werehatrack <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On 14 Aug 2006 00:47:43 -0700, "Matt Jones" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

You can also check out dune-buggy stores. They've got all sizes, it
seems, so you can see when another guy is coming over the top of a hill
and try not to run into him.

Sadly, such stores are not plentiful in all areas.

OTOH, I've seen them on snowmobiles as well.

Tragic shortage of such stores in some areas as well.

Ron
Tampa, Fla

[email hidden] wrote:

SNIP

You sir are a genuine [censored].

Dan said:

[email hidden] wrote:

SNIP

You sir are a genuine [censored].

BTW, the above is simply my opinion. Please note that an opinion is a
belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by
positive knowledge or proof.

Werehatrack said:

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:47:21 -0500, "RB" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

What are the little gizmos called that seem to be some kind of "see and be
seen" thing for bikes---they're small, orange flags on approx 4' long
fiberglass rods, and I see 'em on the back wheel area of bikes???

I need a couple. Where find and what do I call for?

Bike safety flags. Some sporting goods stores carry them. I haven't
seen any at local bike shops here, but I haven't looked for them
either.

Most reputable shops of my experience neither encourage nor discourage
their use. It's not clear that the flags have any real value in
improving cycling safety, and they can be a hazard themselves. One of
them plucked the glasses off my nose and tossed them into a vat of
cooking oil...which happily, haddn't started heating yet, so I was
able to fish them back out undamaged and clean them off. (They
smelled like crawfish until I ran them through the ultrasonic bath to
get the last of the oil out.)

Dear Werehatrack,

Like most people, I naturally assumed that flags on thin poles ought
to make bicycles much easier to see.

But when I searched Sheldon's site to see if he sold them and saw his
comment that he knew of no studies showing any such thing, I realized
that there was probably more--er, less--to the flags than I thought.

But a search of the RBT archives led to no explanation.

Since you agree with Sheldon, I thought about the flags a little more
and--duh!--realized what the problem is.

Pictures of the flags are usually taken from the side of the bicycle,
an angle that shows the flag nicely.

But from the back or front, the point of view of oncoming or
overtaking traffic, there's just a thin pole whose flag is almost
invisible because it's streaming straight back.

Taping the flag across the rider's back would probably do more good.

Drat! Another idea that seemed sensible at first.

But the original poster's idea of using a couple of flags to help him
back a boat trailer still seems sound.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Werehatrack said:

On 14 Aug 2006 00:47:43 -0700, "Matt Jones" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

You can also check out dune-buggy stores. They've got all sizes, it
seems, so you can see when another guy is coming over the top of a hill
and try not to run into him.

Sadly, such stores are not plentiful in all areas.

OTOH, I've seen them on snowmobiles as well.

In the greater Houston, Texas area? '😉

--
Tom Sherman - Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Impact is not a synonym of affect or effect