Path: ...!news.roellig-ltd.de!open-news-network.org!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Frank Krygowski Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech Subject: Re: Extensive article on Rivendell and Grant Petersen Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2024 15:58:59 -0400 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 55 Message-ID: References: <4ORIO.2217266$kpic.2028467@fx15.ams4> Reply-To: frkrygow@gmail.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2024 21:59:01 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="f4dff14032ac6234f6314049b8fe3ff9"; logging-data="4003000"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19es1O5VWYxehlafNkSgxQDLDQlsW6JXwA=" User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Cancel-Lock: sha1:Pw7lvp3ZShY+VX5OdLOO+6eibVo= Content-Language: en-US In-Reply-To: Bytes: 4083 On 9/25/2024 1:01 PM, Roger Merriman wrote: > Frank Krygowski wrote: >> On 9/25/2024 6:42 AM, Roger Merriman wrote: >>> Frank Krygowski wrote: >>>> >>>> It's good that the pendulum has finally swung back to reasonable tire >>>> clearance. But billions of cyclists are still stopping plenty well >>>> enough with rim brakes, even when they're wet. >>> >>> That shows your circle of cyclists really... >>>> >>> Never seen folks wildly cross chaining? And yes swapping chainrings about >>> if your moving fast ie having to move up and down is tedious, all but one >>> of my bikes are doubles. >>> >>> Just because it’s not something you’ve encountered doesn’t mean it isn’t a >>> thing. >> Most of my remarks on this issue relate not only my own experiences, but >> the experiences I've observed among my riding friends. So yes, they do >> show my circle of cyclists. >> >> But the question becomes, whose "circle of cyclists" is closer to >> typical? I think only a tiny percentage who are riding fast enough to >> benefit from minor aerodynamic changes, who are braking hard enough to >> benefit from improvements in brake modulation, who need ultra fast gear >> changes, etc. The folks I ride with will do 40 to 50 miles without >> worry, and that already exceeds the ability of "everyman" cyclists. >> (Heck, I had many folks amazed that I rode seven miles to get to work!) >> > > Which shows really that your experience is rather car centric no one has > ever been amazed that I rode to work, remember I see and encounter huge > number of cyclists London’s heat maps glow vividly unlike Youngstown there > are multiple large bike clubs within my area and so on. > > London population and we’re not even counting the folks who commute in from > the Home Counties is larger than Ohio let alone Youngstown. And bikes are a > common sight. I think a valid question might be: Did London's heat maps show much more activity when 1x gearing or road disc brakes get popular? IOW, did they really make a difference? I doubt it. In fact, I think if you described the typical London commute bike, it would be far from this year's fashionable bike shop offering. That's what I see among the admittedly few bike commuters around here. It's also what I saw in Portland, OR, in Amsterdam, in Paris, etc. etc. People just don't need ultra-trendy gear to ride a bike for utility. Its really needed only for competition. And I take it as an axiom that the best bikes for practical use are not racing bikes. -- - Frank Krygowski