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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 291 responses total. |
russ
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response 125 of 291:
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Jul 13 20:34 UTC 2002 |
Re #124: Define "diameter" in this context. Do you mean inside
diameter or outside diameter?
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polytarp
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response 126 of 291:
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Jul 13 22:34 UTC 2002 |
This is a wordy item, but let's agree that the words are about the wrong
things.
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jep
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response 127 of 291:
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Jul 15 16:30 UTC 2002 |
re #112: Actually I haven't done it steadily at all, by gradually
expanding my horizons the way you're recommending for Bruce. I just
hop on my bike occasionally and ride away from home for a while, then I
have to ride back. It's been difficult for me to find time to ride,
but then I had a pretty busy June. I'll try to keep up (and increase)
my bike riding for the rest of the summer, as opportunity becomes
available.
re #113: I've never seen bike tubes that were marked incorrectly, but
they do always *look* too big when I first start to put them on. You
can put your hand between the tube and the rim pretty easily before
it's inflated. I'd try putting the tube in, put the tire back on, and
inflate it, and see how it seems then. If the tube is 5-6" too big,
I'd expect the tire to be separated from the rim when the tube is
inflated.
I've never heard of a bike tire bigger than 27", so a tube being 5-6
inches too big for a 26" bike seems awfully unlikely to me.
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scg
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response 128 of 291:
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Jul 15 19:25 UTC 2002 |
It would presumably be a manufacturing defect in the tube, rather than a
mislabeling at that point.
You won't lift the tire off the rim with a tube that's too big, because the
tire should be too strong for that. If the tube was just too wide, but you
managed to get in anyway in a way that didn't cause it to be pinched to the
point where it would break, you just wouldn't be able to pump the tube up to
a size bigger than what the tire would hold (remember, air is a gas, and is
thus compressable. Also, tires are a lot stronger than inner tubes). I'm
not sure what would happen if you crammed in a tube for a larger diameter
wheel. You might be able to get it to work, but probably not well.
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scott
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response 129 of 291:
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Jul 15 22:24 UTC 2002 |
For the size tires Sindi is talking about, I doubt there would be much of a
problem with somewhat oversized tubes. For those tiny road bike tires it
would be much more of an issue.
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russ
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response 130 of 291:
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Jul 16 03:32 UTC 2002 |
Any tube with too great a circumference would tend to fold over
inside the tire, which would lead to imbalance and a likelihood
of leaks at the places where it's pinched under pressure. Not
good.
One way to check the diameter is to take the tire off the wheel,
inflate the tube until it just holds its shape and put it inside
the tire. If it fits without folding over, it's okay. A tube
which is slightly too small will stretch to fit, but it might
make it difficult to get the tire onto the rim.
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keesan
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response 131 of 291:
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Jul 16 14:40 UTC 2002 |
The reason to slightly inflate before putting the tube in the tire is so that
there will be no chance of it folding over in the tire.
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gull
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response 132 of 291:
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Jul 16 18:00 UTC 2002 |
Dusting the tube with talc, and inflating and deflating the tire a few times
after mounting it, are also supposed to help.
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keesan
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response 133 of 291:
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Jul 28 02:28 UTC 2002 |
Jim just acquired a very bright orange frame which he wishes did not have the
bouncy front fork so it would be lighter, and three wheels with rusty spokes
that are at least true and don't have cones as bad as the unrusty one he was
trying to work with before he went hunting for used cones. Cones come in
various sizes and are $1 each new. The ones from bent rusty steel wheels of
cheap bikes tend not to be round in the first place and are always in bad
shape, but the tires on these wheels are often barely used. The student
apparently rode it a few times then abandoned it. One of our by-the-curb
'FREE' bikes has an imitation bouncy seat post - rusty steel with a plastic
sleeve over it that pretends to go up and down. Has anyone had any good
experiences with this style of post and front fork? We are more interested
in efficiency than in comfort.
The bent rusty steel wheels frequently have perfectly good tubes in them.
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polytarp
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response 134 of 291:
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Jul 28 02:44 UTC 2002 |
Do people REALLY care about keesan's inane talk about fixing items not worthy
of the Screaming Operator of Bhutan?
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mdw
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response 135 of 291:
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Jul 29 00:09 UTC 2002 |
I often find Keesan's messages of interest. I sure don't have her
energy to try to do the right thing, but I'm glad someone does, and that
she leaves the world just a bit nicer for it. Besides, where else could
I read about imitation bouncy seat posts?
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keesan
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response 136 of 291:
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Jul 29 02:32 UTC 2002 |
Thanks, Marcus. What is the technical term for these things?
We cleaned up a few more pieces of junk from campus in addition to the bent
wheels (we take the bad along with the good), including the first folding bike
we have ever seen in Ann Arbor, with its own little rack that fits over the
20" wheels. Maybe it is not rusted in the open position. Heavy steel - you
would think a folding bike would be made more portable. Jim is thinking of
day trips by train with it (sneaking it onboard without paying $12 for box
and special handling, in the regular compartment).
We are not getting things out quite as fast as they are coming in but we did
get Kiwanis two mountain and one 3-speed bikes. The first two sold
immediately as they had only kids' or 1-speed bikes. $15 or $10 for Jim's
five hours of work getting the brakes usable, wheels straight, etc.
Two bikes to friends of friends (one will learn to ride on it, from Kenya).
One firend of..... wants to learn to make her own bike from parts and will
bring shifters (and a watermelon). Four bikes in. And the phone number (from
Kiwanis) of someone who puts together bikes to benefit the Scouts in Northern
Michigan somewhere, who might want our leftovers.
Central Campus is somewhat cleansed of junk bikes - the diag and SAB and the
park<street conversion is where they started. But they are about all you see
in the dorm bike parking areas, missing wheels, pedals, seats, brakes. I took
valve caps because Jim insists on putting them on all the giveaway bikes,
along with front and rear reflectors.
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clees
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response 137 of 291:
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Jul 29 06:12 UTC 2002 |
Question: have you got permission to collect all those stray bikes?
Taking them from campus just because they look rusty can imho still be
regarded as bicycle theft.
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scg
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response 138 of 291:
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Jul 29 07:35 UTC 2002 |
Yeah, "cleaning up" bikes from campus doesn't sound right to me either.
Folding bikes are all over the place here, since they're allowed on BART
trains in the downtown SF stations during rush hour, while other bikes are
only allowed in non-rush hours. The really heavy old folding bikes seem to
be a thing of the past -- the current generation seem to range from things
that apparrently come close to the performance of high end road bikes to
various far more clunky things that still fold pretty compactly.
Valve caps don't do anything useful, and add some probably negligable amount
of rotating weight (the worst kind of weight to add to a bike).
Yesterday's ride for me was an 88 mile loop through the Santa Cruz Mountains
with somewhere around 10,500 feet of elevation gain. Lots of beautiful
scenery, really hard climbing, and really fun descents.
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keesan
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response 139 of 291:
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Jul 29 13:07 UTC 2002 |
And here we find it tiring to bike up out of the Huron River valley.
Valve caps make the bike look more sellable, is the idea. They distract a
bit from the rusty rims. And maybe keep a bit of dirt out of the valves.
There was a folding bike fad in the 70s, along with the fad for less wasteful
cars. The one we found is probably from then. The bikes we find are very
clearly abandoned, with bent wheels, enormous amounts of rust (you cannot bend
the chain), of no value to anyone but us. BRU paid $4.50 for three bikes in
GOOD condition - these are in terrible condition. It costs the university
to remove them. And yes, one year we did request permission to remove a bunch
of junk bikes from a dorm bike parking area and they were glad to give it to
us. If a bike is leaning against a wall, missing a wheel, other wheel bent,
it is of no use to anyone (also very rusty) except for a stray part. Someo
f them don't even have any parts we would find a use for. We don't touch
bikes in working order no matter how long they have been there, but if the
seat post and saddle and wheels and brakes are gone, and the chain is
unbendable, and the pedals are broken, we figure nobody will miss it if we
remove the remains in order to use the straight handlebar and ratchet
shifters.
The three bikes we are fixing up for me came (1) from Kiwanis, (2) from the
curb with a FREE sign, (3) from a parking lot with lots of pieces missing and
no lock. Many of our bikes were put out FREE, many were given to us.
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gull
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response 140 of 291:
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Jul 29 13:16 UTC 2002 |
Re #138: I thought the purpose of valve caps was to keep dirt out of the
seals on the tire valves.
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slynne
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response 141 of 291:
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Jul 29 14:18 UTC 2002 |
Keesan, it sounds to me that you are taking a small risk by removing
those bikes because if you remove them without permission, technically
it is bike theft. However, since the bikes are in such bad condition, I
think it is very very unlikely that anyone would ever ever report you
for taking the bike.
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keesan
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response 142 of 291:
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Jul 29 17:17 UTC 2002 |
I think so too. I think if people knew what we were doing they would all
thank us for saving the university time and money, removing eyesores, and
keeping scrap metal out of the dump. Also providing a source of income for
Kiwanis and cheap bikes for Kiwanis shoppers. The people with the FREE signs
are lucky we came along as who else would want a bike with the seat missing
and the brakes not working. We recycle the worst of the frames and pass along
those we don't want to a friend in Ypsi who fixes them up for poor kids in
a town in N. MI where he goes fishing. He trades us any parts we want and
mixte frames - the style where there is a slanty top tube that goes straight
to the wheel so that the brake cable is direct (rear brake), plus a separate
metal strut to hold up the seat, so you don't need a super-long seat post.
They were fashionable in racing bike era and Jim has made one (so far) into
a 700 mm bike by bending things a bit, to take wider tires. We may have the
largest collection of them in town (about 8?).
Today we are actually building a house instead of bikes. More later if we
have success folding the folding bike, which is more of an experiment than
a usable means of transport. (Jim at one point wanted me to buy us some new
lightweight ones to take on the train.)
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scg
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response 143 of 291:
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Jul 29 22:03 UTC 2002 |
Maybe Amtrak in the Midwest is different, but in California regular bikes are
allowed on trains without having to be boxed or checked. I've met several
people who commute that way.
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keesan
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response 144 of 291:
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Jul 30 00:40 UTC 2002 |
We are thinking of trying this with the wheels removed, the pedals turned
inwards, and a large plastic bag as disguise. There is a particularly nasty
conductor on the Chicago Ann Arbor route who won't let you turn the seats to
face each other, making up different reasons each time. Not safe. Not enough
space. Only if there are three of you. Our train was 1/4 full at most and
it was obviously safe in the end compartment where the seats are always
turned. I finally sat on the floor so I could stretch out my legs - no rule
against that, luckily. 12 hour trip.
Where on the trains do people put their bikes, at the ends?
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mdw
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response 145 of 291:
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Jul 30 04:41 UTC 2002 |
Is that Caltrain or Amtrak? (re #143 that is...)
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scg
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response 146 of 291:
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Jul 30 19:22 UTC 2002 |
Amtrak. Caltrain has a special car to hold bikes. I haven't used Amtrak in
years, but from what I hear they let people just take their bikes on and hold
them next to their seats, no disassembly required. BART allows the same thing
on non-rush hour trains.
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keesan
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response 147 of 291:
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Aug 1 02:11 UTC 2002 |
Jim has just been hired by a neighbor (for $10) to fix up a bike that turns
out to be missing a few spokes as well as having flat tires. This makes him
a professional (assuming he gets it fixed). THe neighbor wants to give it
to someone who needs transportation. Today Jim was also offered a free car
by the neighbors who plumbing and chimney he fixed. It has a working exhaust
system but a fair bit of rust (hole in the floor). We have never had a bike
rust to the point of unusability, but have seen quite a few that did.
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jep
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response 148 of 291:
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Aug 1 12:27 UTC 2002 |
John and I went for our longest ride yet yesterday, about 20 miles. It
took us a little over 2 hours, and we got back late enough that the cars
all had their headlights on.
We took the Kiwanis bike trail between Adrian and Tecumseh. A year ago,
in Clinton and Manchester, there was a big to-do because of a discussion
of extending the bike trail through those towns. The proposed path went
through several people's fields and yards, so there was heavy opposition.
One of the arguments used was that there'd be a lot of litter along the
bike path. I've ridden the Tecumseh-Adrian trail twice now (going all the
way along it just once) and have yet to see one piece of trash along the
trail. Not one.
The real point of the proposal was property rights; some of the proposed
trail was right along the river, and the people who own that land want to
keep it for themselves. I think they should be able to do so; it's
*their* property. So far, Manchester and Clinton, being farm communities,
see it that way, too.
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gull
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response 149 of 291:
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Aug 1 12:54 UTC 2002 |
Well, it's sort of their property. In a lot of cases I think the trails
follow property that was sold to railroads, who eventually abandoned it.
Now the people who live along it figure they have a right to get it back for
free.
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