Cornel.Ormsby | 6 Nov 17:36
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Bicycling Could Save Billions : Discovery News

A new study at at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) shows that if people in the upper Midwest chose to
take half of their car trips by bicycle, health care costs would drop by $7 billion, and the improved air
quality would result in 1100 fewer deaths each year. 

http://news.discovery.com/adventure/bicycle-billions-111103.html

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Cornel.Ormsby | 3 Nov 21:04
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Re: Pedicabs and politics

> I'm leery of "pedicabs" which are large trailers (always without 
> their own brakes) whose gross, loaded weight far exceeds that of 
> the mountain bike and rider towing it by the seatpost. 

There was at one time a flourishing pedicab industry in Las Vegas, but it was virtually shut down seven years
ago when they were prohibited from operating on or near the Strip, largely at the behest of the taxicab
industry. I saw a lot of pedicabs when I moved here in 1999, but I don't recall seeing any trailers on the
Strip. 

Because of the paucity of bicycling data in general, I doubt you'll have much success finding information
about trailer safety. I can only recommend you ask on the Pedicab Forum (pedicabforum.com) and hope for a
response. As an alternative, you may find useful data regarding trailer weight versus tow-vehicle
weight ("towing capacity") at your state Department of Motor Vehicles, the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (nhtsa.gov), or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (iihs.org). Good
luck. 

++ Cornel Ormsby ++
+Las Vegas, Nevada+

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bob colover | 3 Nov 17:36
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Re: hpv Digest, Vol 86, Issue 1

Thought changing

I thought this was an april fool;
I would like to know how big the lightweight laptop was [ see page 2 of
the story] that was slipped into the cyclists jersey

Bob C
From the uk; always jealous that the french have contributed so many words
to the bike vocabulary
Derailleur so much nicer than mech

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Easy Street | 3 Nov 03:22
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Pedicabs and politics

I could use some input.  This is a bit offbeat, but probably interesting 
to lovers of workbikes.

Being a tourist town, Austin has a lot of pedicabs in it.  I like 
pedicabs, as I like it when people use bikes for practical purposes, and 
I like big workbikes/trikes in general.  Like many, I'm leery of 
"pedicabs" which are large trailers (always without their own brakes) 
whose gross, loaded weight far exceeds that of the mountain bike and 
rider towing it by the seatpost.  Known trailer crashes include 
jackknifing when the bike brakes during a turn, seatpost failure, or 
falls when the rider is unable to climb with the load.  A trailer costs 
about 1/10 of what a new, purpose-built trike does but it can be leased 
out at the same rate as a trike pedicab, so they are flooding the local 
market, hurting operators (not so much owners/lessors).

Most cities with pedicabs don't allow trailer pedicabs, but Austin 
hasn't set such rules yet.  The city is in the process of revising all 
its pedicab laws in response to the explosion of cabs downtown and 
around the University of Texas football games.  This has set off a lot 
of internal politics in the industry as the tricycle-pedicab companies 
(mostly small independents, a few medium sized operations and one big 
company) are trying to get the city to restrict the use, or at least 
growth, of trailer-pedicabs.

The most compelling argument for the public is safety.  The problem 
making this argument is that since so few cities allow trailer pedicabs, 
there is very little data.  Pedicabbies working on the streets see 
trailer crashes, but the drunken chuckleheads dumped on the street 
aren't much interested on police or ambulances.  I heard a report of a 
passenger's broken arm (trailer jackknifed stopping for a surprise 
(Continue reading)

Cornel.Ormsby | 2 Nov 17:48
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brainwave gearshifting

Parlee Cycles in Massachusetts is using a smart-phone app such that "a cyclist can change gears with a
thought. One kind of brain wave commands the bike to downshift; another causes it to shift up." 

http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech/2011/1101/The-Prius-of-bicycles-switches-gears-by-reading-your-mind

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Cornel.Ormsby | 1 Oct 20:30
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flywheel energy storage

I saw this news video on Reuters yesterday about flywheel energy storage on a bicycle: 

http://www.reuters.com/video/2011/09/30/new-york-student-brings-new-energy-to-bi?videoId=222127187&videoChannel=6

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JW Stephens | 1 Sep 01:21
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Yoikes! (or be more careful, trikeman!)

I knew I needed to replace a spoke in the right wheel of my Trice ...
I could hear it clicking. Being a good, conscientious, rider, I
checked the left wheel as well. Yoikes! Where are the spoke heads that
are supposed to be looking at me on the trailing spokes, inside? Gone,
gone, gone.

A reminder: don't be like me. Safety check your wheels more often
instead of less often. If I had been what I was, I would have kept my
wheels tight and those spokes probably would not have parted ways with
their head buttons in the first place.

Edde: Who da fool?

Elrey in Colorado

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Dave Larrington | 22 Aug 11:50
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Re: High Gearing With Small Chainring

On Tuesday, July 12, 2011 6:45 PM [GMT+1=CET],
JW Stephens <jw.stephens <at> gmail.com> tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell us:
> keep us posted, pleese
>
> On Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 03:43, Dave Larrington <legs_larry <at> yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>> Mark Stonich wrote:
>>
>>> A few years ago someone finished PBP on a vintage Retro-Direct.
>>
>> That was British madman and flapjack fairy Drew Buck in 2007,
>> wearing a beret and stripy jumper and with the bike decorated with
>> strings of (fake) on!ons and garlic. He has previously done PBP on
>> fixed, on a vintage Dursley-Pedersen and on a triplet. We are
>> awaiting with interest his choice of steed for this year's event;
>> there was an ancient French racing bike of the type which would have
>> been used on the first PBP in 1891, complete with 1 inch pitch
>> chain, lurking in his garage when we stopped chez Buck for flapjack
>> on the 2007 Cheddar Gorge 300. Iy needed a fair bit of work, but I
>> wouldn't be at all surprised...

I am told that "He is on an early 1900's singlespeed french bike with wooden 
rims, a coaster rear brake and a front brake that pushes down onto the top 
of the front wheel. It has got an 85 inch gear!"  The boy's not built 
right...

--

-- 
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
World Domination? Just find a world that's into that kind of
(Continue reading)

Cornel.Ormsby | 10 Aug 08:24
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cyclist versus motorbikers

Cyclist thwarts purse-snatching robbery by two motorbikers. 
Final score: Cyclist 2, Motorbikers 0 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzMGIHfIavU

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Joao de Souza | 28 Jul 06:13
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Re: 23,762 km on a 10-speed chain

Moz.  Please provide concrete proof that 10-speed systems are unreliable.
Until then, you can insult me all you want and I will continue to say my
actual personal experience with 10-speed components contradict your
theories.

On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 11:57 PM, Moz <list <at> moz.geek.nz> wrote:

> > How about you prove me wrong first.
>
> You're the one making the claim - the onus is on you.
>
> I get less than half the distance out of my 9 speed chains than a friend
> who does very similar riding to what I do, but weighs about 2/3 as much.
> Since you claim is that weight has no effect, that seems conclusive to me.
>
> Zach's claim is quite different to yours, essentially in that he is
> claiming like-for-like and you are not. I don't have the data for what
> he's claiming, because I haven't ever used 10 speed chains. What I have
> seen is that heavier riders wear stuff out faster, including chains.
> You're claiming the opposite, which is remarkable, so I'm asking for
> something to back that up.
>
> Moz
>
>
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(Continue reading)

Joao de Souza | 28 Jul 05:46
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Re: 23,762 km on a 10-speed chain

How about you prove me wrong first.  Upgrade a bike to 10 speed, and ride
it.  See what your data tells you.  If you do get excessive wear, then feel
free to criticize  and point out how your logic is so much more valid than
mine and Zach's personal experiences.

On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 11:29 PM, Moz <list <at> moz.geek.nz> wrote:

> > Seriously?  I mean.....  seriously?
>
> Absolutely. I'm not sure which part confuses you - the logic or the
> science. You'll need to be a little more explicit if you're having trouble
> understanding my point.
>
> Moz
>
>
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Gmane