Path: news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Zen Cycle <funkmaster@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Thoughts on industrial design
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2025 11:46:15 -0400
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 59
Message-ID: <vutgk7$3qis1$1@dont-email.me>
References: <vulg1t$10vvq$1@dont-email.me>
 <pkqs0kt7stbagv0sga6hb7cguvgt8jbtqq@4ax.com> <vumlg0$2220i$2@dont-email.me>
 <g6jv0k5cgd8p7iacam5t66cco85k79bga8@4ax.com> <vupfst$r1o4$3@dont-email.me>
 <vuqgf0$1pd84$1@dont-email.me>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Injection-Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2025 17:46:22 +0200 (CEST)
Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="331e6a1822e084812d3a69c14e973f68";
	logging-data="4017025"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18gIXhwBjyg4En+NszDdXwGTQDTjy5yPZs="
User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird
Cancel-Lock: sha1:vpGpTmnhslpYEO1cCswYqEXXhlY=
In-Reply-To: <vuqgf0$1pd84$1@dont-email.me>
Content-Language: en-US

On 4/29/2025 8:25 AM, AMuzi wrote:
> On 4/28/2025 10:09 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
>> On 4/28/2025 3:19 PM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:
>>> Am Sun, 27 Apr 2025 21:26:23 -0400 schrieb Frank Krygowski
>>> <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net>:
>>>
>>>> I've never owned a car with automatic transmission. Of course, my
>>>> current EV has only one fixed ratio reduction gear, so I've moved 
>>>> beyond
>>>> playing with multiple ratios. Just step on the gas ... no, throttle ...
>>>> no, accelerator, and it goes.
>>>>
>>>> Half of my bikes are friction shifting, which is a vaguely similar 
>>>> issue
>>>> for discussion.
>>>
>>> I never owned a car with automatic transmission, either. If I rent a
>>> car, I don't care, but why should I get used to something that I don't
>>> need and that only costs money?
>>>
>>> We still own a car manufactured 25 years ago, that we bought 20 years
>>> ago, for less money than we spent for the parts of the two bikes I built
>>> in early 2023.  A car that is driven infrequently, carefully and only on
>>> a few long journeys and that is properly maintained can last that long -
>>> at least some of those produced before 2000 do.
>>
>> Here in Northeast Ohio, it's difficult for a car to last that long 
>> even if given normal good care and driven infrequently. That would 
>> have described "the pinnacle of automotive achievement," the 1990 
>> Honda Civic Station Wagon that I sold when it was over 21 years old. 
>> It was a quirky thing, fun to drive, efficient, with surprising 
>> carrying capacity. But "rust never sleeps" as Neil Young said. I'll 
>> skip the long list of seriously rusted bits that caused me to finally 
>> give up on the car. (But have you ever had a car's gas tank drop due 
>> to rusted and broken support straps?)
>>
>>> Our bikes have wireless electronic 1x12 shifting with two simple
>>> switches. It  isn't automatic, if you take it literally, but simple
>>> enough. My wife likes it, and so do I.  I see no value in memorizing
>>> irregular gear ratios or guessing these on the fly while riding. I can
>>> do that but don't miss it.
>>
>> Huh. I have never had a problem figuring where my desired gear was. It 
>> may be because I seem to be very tolerant of gear ratios, cadences, 
>> etc. But my three friction shifting bikes all have essentially 
>> identical "half step" gearing, so I'm very, very used to that.
> 
> "have you ever had a car's gas tank drop due to rusted and broken 
> support straps?"
> 
> more than once.
> https://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfromthepast/NOVATANK.JPG

I haven't, but I helped repair a good friends pickup many decades ago 
with exactly that problem.


-- 
Add xx to reply