Even Bikes Can Be Improved (pollution, environment, energy, compare)
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Maybe in Kansas or some other place that is completely flat. Live in a town with hills and you'll want some gears.
Yes, the last time I had a single speed bike was my "sting-ray" bike I had in about 1970. If it's flat and the single gear is well chosen, you're okay with one gear. But any place with hills, if you don't want to be walking, you'll want gears.
I will say that being old, I appreciate the simplicity of a single crank gear/single shift lever, and I am not going to the mountains anymore so I don't need that "granny gear", but I still want 8-9 gears on the back to give some flexibility for different terrain.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
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Fall 2021, bought a 20x3"tire, step-thru, aluminum, city-style, Ebike, Level 1 or 2, and level 3 if I change the factory settings and use it on roads. 7 speed hub, 5 power levels. $1000.
Spring 2023, bought a 700x30mm tire, standard, aluminum, touring, flat handlebar, Ebike, Level 1. ~$1000. Plus extra battery. 7 speed hub, 5 power levels. I modified bike for fat seat, and handlebar stem extension.
The fat tire bike is for local, cargo handling. Good for ~30-40miles, flat land, depending how much pedal assist (PAS) I use.
The skinny tire bike is for longer rides, 20miles and doubled with extra battery, dependent on PAS. However, with this bike I can put it on the city bus rack. My range and places to go becomes almost limitless for the $1 bus fare. My son has the same bike, so I can have 3 batteries. Thinking about some overnight trips.
I may charge the batteries to 100%, but always timed. Charging is done outside on the condo's deck.
My best bike was a 80's cro-mo. 26x1.5, Nice ride.
My least liked bike was a 90's aluminum, 700x20.
So far just 1 crash on ebikes and 1 minor crack wrist bone (healed properly), knees, palms, and elbow scraps. The helmet and facemask saved my pretty 73 yo face.
Last edited by leastprime; 08-11-2023 at 11:41 PM..
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
13,060 posts, read 7,493,946 times
Reputation: 9787
The major problem with using a bike for mobility is that (I) eating up before and after rides. And if it's a long ride, there is a snacks & fluid and in-between meal & fluid breaks. Just another expression of CO2.
I'm just blowing hot air.
--kinds dead around here. I guess everyone is virtue-signaled out about using paper straws while eating plastic meat brought home in their re-usable shopping bags.
One of my favorite sites is "Low Tech Magazine." They just put out this piece-- some amazing numbers.
They point out the trend in manufacturing bikes in regards location (we're paying China to do our polluting for us), materials and styles (don't electric bikes kinda defeat the purpose?) are making bikes a little less enviro-friendly than they used to be https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2023...ble-again.html
Quick summary-- manufacturing has shifted to China- now producing 75% of all bikes....Marerials have shifted away from steel to aluminum and now even carbon fiber-- each way more energy intensive to produce than steel, and don't last nearly as long, so more need to be produced as replacements each year.
Surprisingly, the bike lending programs are not nearly as efficent in terms of carbon footprint than private ownership....An Al bike in one of these programs is not even half as efficient as a car in terms of carbon footprint (!!)...
..of course, a simple steel bike is 70x more effcient in that regard.
So, really, what you're actually saying is that going "backward" in bicycle design and manufacture is an improvement in real world performance (for adults who want to use a bicycle to get from place to place as opposed to cosplaying that they're professional racers).
This is absolutely NOT news to anyone who's been riding for a few years. Other than perceived obsolescence as driven by marketeers, a 75 year old quality steel bicycle in good repair with new wear components (brake pads, tubes and tires, saddle, control cables) will satisfy 99% of the actual requirements of the brand new plastic bike with all its unnecessary doohickeys - except that it won't make you look like a professional bike racer. Of course, Overweight Dude wobbling down the bike path at 12 mph in the traditional wrong gear on his $2000 plastic bike with his insectoid eyewear and full Lycra with sponsors all over - he doesn't look like a pro no matter how much he wants to fantasize that he does.
I say unto you, again:
- Steel frame of moderate geometry
- Generous tires (for the most common 700C size, 32 mm or so is a real good compromise for all kinds of surfaces)
- Tubes (I would not have thought I'd have to point this out, but now there's this fad for "tubeless bike tires" which add complexity and unreliability for the dubious benefit of not being able to sit by the side of the road and slap a patch on a tube)
- And along that line: get a damn frame pump! Not those little litter bombs (I mean CO2 cartridges). What do you think you're going to do when you run out of litter bombs to empty and throw out by the side of the road? The sensible patch kit can easily contain 20 patches - I've never exhausted a patch kit yet, in 49 years of hard riding.
- Rim brakes (really? They're selling bikes with freaking HYDRAULIC DISK BRAKES to wobble down the bike path at 12 mph etc., etc.? Has the world gone mad?)
- Standard derailleur gears, either rear only or front and real - and geared low enough you can pedal up hills without having to strain at the pedals
- Rat trap pedals (imagine this - you can park your bike and go walking somewhere like a normal person without having to carry a second pair of shoes!)
- Proper 32 or 36 spoke wheels, three cross
- Frame pump
- Tool kit - patches, tire irons, the wrenches you need for the bike - no calling Mommy to pick you up if you get a flat
- A wide hard flat saddle so you're not having it press on parts that shouldn't be pressed on.
And you will be perfectly happy with this rig as long as you can forgo your wannabe-racer-cosplay fantasies. It's cheaper than your plastic fake racer bike, it'll outlast you and your children, you can put a rack on it and carry something home from the store...
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
13,060 posts, read 7,493,946 times
Reputation: 9787
comebacks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rabbit33
So, really, what you're actually saying is that going "backward" in bicycle design and manufacture is an improvement in real world performance (for adults who want to use a bicycle to get from place to place as opposed to cosplaying that they're professional racers).
This is absolutely NOT news to anyone who's been riding for a few years. Other than perceived obsolescence as driven by marketeers, a 75 year old quality steel bicycle in good repair with new wear components (brake pads, tubes and tires, saddle, control cables) will satisfy 99% of the actual requirements of the brand new plastic bike with all its unnecessary doohickeys - except that it won't make you look like a professional bike racer. Of course, Overweight Dude wobbling down the bike path at 12 mph in the traditional wrong gear on his $2000 plastic bike with his insectoid eyewear and full Lycra with sponsors all over - he doesn't look like a pro no matter how much he wants to fantasize that he does.
I say unto you, again:
- Steel frame of moderate geometry
- Generous tires (for the most common 700C size, 32 mm or so is a real good compromise for all kinds of surfaces)
- Tubes (I would not have thought I'd have to point this out, but now there's this fad for "tubeless bike tires" which add complexity and unreliability for the dubious benefit of not being able to sit by the side of the road and slap a patch on a tube)
- And along that line: get a damn frame pump! Not those little litter bombs (I mean CO2 cartridges). What do you think you're going to do when you run out of litter bombs to empty and throw out by the side of the road? The sensible patch kit can easily contain 20 patches - I've never exhausted a patch kit yet, in 49 years of hard riding. Maybe because the glue dried out or you used that last of it on patch #3?
- Rim brakes (really? They're selling bikes with freaking HYDRAULIC DISK BRAKES to wobble down the bike path at 12 mph etc., etc.? Has the world gone mad?)
- Standard derailleur gears, either rear only or front and real - and geared low enough you can pedal up hills without having to strain at the pedals
- Rat trap pedals (imagine this - you can park your bike and go walking somewhere like a normal person without having to carry a second pair of shoes!) I prefer to live rather than die with my foot stuck in the stirrup
- Proper 32 or 36 spoke wheels, three cross
- Frame pumpNow why would I need a pump when I don't even carry wrenches?No I don't have lever nuts.
- Tool kit - patches, tire irons, the wrenches you need for the bike - no calling Mommy to pick you up if you get a flat. Uber/Lyft don't give backtalk
- A wide hard flat saddle so you're not having it press on parts that shouldn't be pressed on.my rear needs the pillow.
And you will be perfectly happy with this rig as long as you can forgo your wannabe-racer-cosplay fantasies. It's cheaper than your plastic fake racer bike, it'll outlast you and your children, you can put a rack on it and carry something home from the store...
So, really, what you're actually saying is that going "backward" in bicycle design and manufacture is an improvement in real world performance (for adults who want to use a bicycle to get from place to place as opposed to cosplaying that they're professional racers).
This is absolutely NOT news to anyone who's been riding for a few years. Other than perceived obsolescence as driven by marketeers, a 75 year old quality steel bicycle in good repair with new wear components (brake pads, tubes and tires, saddle, control cables) will satisfy 99% of the actual requirements of the brand new plastic bike with all its unnecessary doohickeys - except that it won't make you look like a professional bike racer. Of course, Overweight Dude wobbling down the bike path at 12 mph in the traditional wrong gear on his $2000 plastic bike with his insectoid eyewear and full Lycra with sponsors all over - he doesn't look like a pro no matter how much he wants to fantasize that he does.
I say unto you, again:
- Steel frame of moderate geometry
- Generous tires (for the most common 700C size, 32 mm or so is a real good compromise for all kinds of surfaces)
- Tubes (I would not have thought I'd have to point this out, but now there's this fad for "tubeless bike tires" which add complexity and unreliability for the dubious benefit of not being able to sit by the side of the road and slap a patch on a tube)
- And along that line: get a damn frame pump! Not those little litter bombs (I mean CO2 cartridges). What do you think you're going to do when you run out of litter bombs to empty and throw out by the side of the road? The sensible patch kit can easily contain 20 patches - I've never exhausted a patch kit yet, in 49 years of hard riding.
- Rim brakes (really? They're selling bikes with freaking HYDRAULIC DISK BRAKES to wobble down the bike path at 12 mph etc., etc.? Has the world gone mad?)
- Standard derailleur gears, either rear only or front and real - and geared low enough you can pedal up hills without having to strain at the pedals
- Rat trap pedals (imagine this - you can park your bike and go walking somewhere like a normal person without having to carry a second pair of shoes!)
- Proper 32 or 36 spoke wheels, three cross
- Frame pump
- Tool kit - patches, tire irons, the wrenches you need for the bike - no calling Mommy to pick you up if you get a flat
- A wide hard flat saddle so you're not having it press on parts that shouldn't be pressed on.
And you will be perfectly happy with this rig as long as you can forgo your wannabe-racer-cosplay fantasies. It's cheaper than your plastic fake racer bike, it'll outlast you and your children, you can put a rack on it and carry something home from the store...
My 12 year old Surly Troll all-purpose, all-road bike fits most of your criteria, except it has cable actuated disc brakes instead of rim brakes. The main reason is my tires are 26" x 2.15" wide (about 55 mm) so rim brakes are too tight of a squeeze in most cases. I've been a regular bike rider for well over 4 decades, and my bike has never been touched by any mechanic besides myself. I built it up from scratch with mostly Shimano Deore LX middle grade components. I laced and tensioned the wheels too.
In the past 5 years as a retiree, I have averaged over 6000 miles per year on this bike (I don't have any other bike either). I don't have a car. I ride all over the state of Saxony in Germany, combining train trips with bike rides.
A couple of other features on my bike that I consider essentials for everyday riding including a good brass bell, good full coverage bike fenders with a long mud flap on the front fender, a front hub dymano that provides 6 volt power to an LED front headlight and rear taillight (so no batteries to discharge or go dim). Plus on my helmet visor I have a Take-a-Look rear view mirror.
PS, I never put down anyone else's choice of a bike. If that's what they want, fine with me, as long it is something they like to ride. E-bike, sure, why not, more power to them (pun intended).
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
13,060 posts, read 7,493,946 times
Reputation: 9787
^ re, good brassbell
I've taken, in addition to a bell, a electronic horn. Too many people on the trail s have noise cancelling full headphones (typically walkers) or earbuds for riders . Both are ignorant to their perils.
Also when on a bike lane, a loud horn helps in alerting drivers. But I never assume anything to something 100x more massive than me on two wheels.
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comebacks.
