Thursday, March 9, 2017

Okay, let's do this.

I realize that yesterday I said I wasn't going to cover pro cycling, but I'll make an exception for component failure porn of this caliber any day:
Supposedly the collapse came after an encounter with a pothole, and Shimano is going to get to the bottom of it:

In the full statement from Shimano, whose component wing of the business, PRO, produced the three spoke Textreme tubular wheel, Shimano said that the wheels had passed rigorous testing and emphasised its “flawless record”.

“PRO is continuing its investigation into the issue we saw with Team Sky at the team time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico. We are continuing to look closely into all factors that could cause the incident,” the statement read.

I can only hope the investigator's first question will be #whatpressureyourunning, and I'm sure it will conveniently turn out to be either just under or just over what Shimano says the wheel is rated for.

In any case, we haven't had a wheel failure investigation this exciting since the Mavic R-Sys debacle of aught-nine, which of course gave rise to the Diminutive Frenchman Unit (or DFU) as a universally-accepted unit of measurement:


I may be indifferent towards bike helmets but there's no way I'd bend a crabon spoke without first putting on safety glasses.

But hey, the joke's on me apparently, since the R-Sys is not only still available but Freds are still paying stupid amounts of money for them:

Of course I understand the temptation to spend lots of money on fancy wheels.  Indeed, back in 1999, in the heady days of my being a total Fred, I bought the first incarnation of the Mavic Ksyrium wheelset.  (I'd include an image of the original Kysriums but I can't even find one, such is the short shelf-life of high-end cycling components.)  Those wheels are positively quaint by today's standards, but I can assure you that to a young fin de siècle Fred those silver decals, fat bladed aluminum spokes, and internally threaded rims were the epitome of speed and technology and represented exactly what I'd need to make leap to big-time Category 3 bike racing.

Anyway, I seem to recall paying $700 for these wheels.  As a born-again retrogrouch that strikes me as a lot of money for wheels even today, but back then it was a fucking fortune, especially when you consider I was pretty young and had yet to become a world-famous cycling personality and media mogul.  And while the wheels certainly did look cool on my race bike they were no more round than the wheels I'd had before.  Furthermore, the affair was short-lived, for one day while riding in Manhattan a kid ran out into the street and kicked my rear wheel for no apparent reason.  This knocked the wheel out of true and it was never the same again.  So eventually I sold them at a considerable loss.

Meanwhile, if instead of buying those Ksyriums back in 1999 I had bought $700 worth of stock in, oh, I dunno, General Mills I'd have received about 35 shares.  Today that investment would be worth $2,100...which is almost enough to buy a pair of R-Sys wheels, so there you go.

Worst of all I can't even say I learned anything from this lesson, since I still spend money on all sorts of crap I'll wish I hadn't in 20 years--which I suppose is the difference between me and people like Old Man Buffet, who I mentioned yesterday:


(Disclaimer: I have not authenticated any of these quotes.)

Hey, he may be one of the wealthiest people on the planet, but is he truly happy?

Almost certainly yes.

Speaking of happiness, traditional wheelsets, and materialism, yesterday I enjoyed a ride on my road bike, which I've been thinking of retiring:


Why am I thinking of retiring it?  Because for a parent of various human children who lives in a New York City apartment building I have a lot of bikes.  Here are my bikes currently in service as well as their use:

Ironic Orange Julius Bike: Intercity travel, locking up outside in high-theft areas
Travel Bike: Travel, all-terrain rambling
Ritte Rust-Bucket (above): Fred rides, all-terrain rambling
Milwaukee: Fred rides, all-terrain rambling, winter road rides (bike is fendered in winter)
Ol' Piney: Mountain-Fred rides, all-terrain rambling, snow rides
Engin Artisanal Custom-Curated Singlespeed Mountain Bike: Mountain-Fred rides, all-terrain ramblings, races and ironic singlespeeding events
Brompton*: Bromptoneering
WorkCycles: Child-schlepping, family outings, neighborhood errand-running with an emphasis on diaper runs

*[Theoretically this still belongs to Brompton]

That's eight bikes in regular service.  The downside is they take up space and psychic energy.  The upside is that it's not like I'm putting in 10,000 miles a year these days, so wear and tear is spread fairly evenly across eight bikes, which means I'm replacing wear items pretty infrequently.

Nevertheless, in the interest of hoarding, I have retired the following bikes he last few years:

Scattante: Redundant due to Ironic Orange Julius Bike (donated)
Hardtail mountain bike: More or less redundant due to Ol' Piney (still have, just disassembled and stored)
Big Dummy: More or less redundant due to WorkCycles (re-homed)
Cyclocross Bike: More or less redundant due to overlap among my other drop-bar bikes, plus I haven't raced cyclocross in like six years (re-homed)

Anyway, I had finally decided to retire the Ritte Rust-Bucket in the interest of space and psychic energy conservation, but I really enjoyed riding it and have rationalized not doing so by deciding I need one bike with actual road pedals.

So much for that.

Lastly, I'm sorry to report a cyclist has struck and seriously injured a pedestrian:


The woman had just stepped out from between two parked cars mid-block near Sixth Avenue about 7 p.m. when the cyclist, 23, hit her with his aluminum road bike as he headed west in the right lane, police said.

Interesting that they specified the material of the bike.  Perhaps it makes the cyclist seem less evil than if they'd been riding a carbon bike.  In any case, I hit a pedestrian once while cycling many years ago.  She ran out into the street to hail a cab and I didn't have time to stop or swerve.  She went down pretty hard, but I was very fortunate that she was young and resilient and was able to spring back up and duck into the cab after giving me a withering look.  I forgave myself almost immediately, since it was technically her "fault," but as time goes on I realize that as the party on wheels there's always a little more you can do, and that you've always got to be prepared for people emerging into traffic, because it's a busy city and that's what people do.  That's not to blame either the cyclist or the pedestrian here, but that's just the way it is.

Ride safe out there.

70 comments:

Anonymous said...

Took a personal day from work. More important things to do.

dnk said...

Fuck me with a fork!

dnk said...

To the literal-minded: ignore that last comment.

dnk said...

After carefully watching the component failure porn video, I hereby reinstate my "fuck-me-with-a-fork" comment.

Fork-fucking does seem to fit the spirit of Shimano's statement regarding their "tubular wheel," which emphasizes its "flawless record".

It's also a fitting metaphor for truth & accountability in the era of President Fuckface von Clownstick.

janinedm said...

Good reminder in that last paragraph. I find I have to remind myself at this time of year, when the "cycling season starts" or rather the Freds re-emerge, that my top commuting traffic speed is not dictated by how fast I can make the bike move, but how fast I can react.

ken e. said...

present-waying! what's with all the lucid comments so early in the pack?

CommieCanuck said...

If the cyclist had hit her with a crabon bike, it would have been more vertically compliant, but the buzzy aluminum frame is what put her in the hospital.
When will we finally learn about the dangers of aluminum tubing.
They are as bad as uranium, okay, okay, uranium, you know what that is? It's bad.
After hitting the pothole, did the R-Sys wheels still spin up nicely?

Grump said...

Snobby, that Pro wheel broke just like they said that the old Spinergy Rev-X would self destruct (and hardly ever did)......Since the woman stepped out into the street in the middle of the block, will her insurance cover any damages to the guy's bike or person. If it would have been me, the first words out of my mouth would have been..."Lawyer, call a lawyer".....and "Ow, you broke my spleen".

HivemindX said...

Here the standard when reporting a car driver hitting someone with a couple of tons of metal is to say something like "a little old lady was in collision with a range rover today". They often go on to reassure people who might have been worried that the driver of the range rover was ok.

Very rarely you will read "a car struck and killed a nun and a small child".

I never see phrasing like "the cyclist hit her with his bike" when it comes to cars. It almost makes it seem that the cyclist stopped, got off, picked up the bike and whaled on her with it. It does seem especialy odd to use such direct, blame allocating language in this case where the pedestrian certainly seems to be responsible for a significant portion of the blame.

Hopefully this heralds a new era in reporting when car drivers hit people, although I won't hold my breath for "the driver, a 35 year old account executive, drove right over a pedestrian in his enormous ego fellating SUV today"

boys on the hoods said...

"And while the wheels certainly did look cool on my race bike they were no more round than the wheels I'd had before."

Great line. I have found that equally round wheels work equally well on all my bikecycles.

NHcycler said...

I second janinedm, except in my case I have to look out not for Freds or jaywalking pedestrians, but for stealthy ninja type walkers dressed completely in black on dark roads early in the AM.

JuanOffhue said...

Last week I paid about $130 including shipping for a 36-spoke Sun wheelset that is compatible with six-speed freewheels. I’m pretty chuffed.

dnk said...

Yes to janinedm and NHcycler (and Snob in his penultimate paragraph).

I broke my arm two years ago on 2nd Ave (near 7th St) when a pedestrian stepped off the curb and into my path on the bike lane. The guy full-on walked into the lane with his back to me without even looking first. Took me more than two months to fully recover from the fracture.

I've replayed it in my mind quite a few times and while I can take a degree of smug comfort in the fact that it was the pedestrian's fault (stepping into a bike lane w/o even looking, WTF?!!), at the same time I probably could have avoided it by heeding janinedm's admonition to only go as fast as I could react.

This is the Age of the Small Screen. Not to be confused w/the golden age of television. People are going to text & order a pizza & hail an Uber & swipe left on Tinder & cross the fucking street & etc without for a moment pulling their faces out of the glowing little rectangle....

Freddy Murcks said...

The universe is a cruel and ironic place. Why is it never the Ted K.s of the world who run out into traffic and get hit? In the meantime, I will continue telling Ted K. to go fuck himself whenever the opportunity presents itself. And, in the meantime, I will keep hoping that he suffers a serious and debilitating injury.

Jeff P said...

You could do a lot worse than running into an errant pedestrian. Sadly, this cyclist hit a grizzly bear. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/03/06/bike-collision-grizzly-forest-service-cop/98828300/

Knüt Fredriksson said...

I read the article about the bike/pedestrian accident, then made the mistake of reading some of the comments...
The current state of pedestrian, biker, driver blaming and hate is absurd. I own and drive a car. I ride bikes. I walk on the sidewalks. I try to be alert and cautious, but I can be just as distracted, hurried or careless as the next person. This applies to all three modes of transportation.
The only difference that I see between pedestrians, bikers and cars is how much damage you do when you fuck up. Same people making the same mistakes, just bigger consequences as speed and mass increase.

blunchbelly said...

What was the final disposition of the red maybe cracked Spec? Was that ever delivered to a worthy prize winner?

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure "smug.JPG" is the right title for an image of a shitload of diapers and paper towels, bike-hauling or not.

Sincerely,
All My Friends Are Having Kids Except Me So There's Probably Something Else Going On Here

Serial Retrogrouch said...

NHcycler, what are you doing so early in the Hasid part of Williamsburg?

BikeSnobNYC said...

blunchbelly,

Forgot about that! Gave it away at Philly Bike Expo.

--Wildcat Etc.

Drock said...

Riveted cassettes I hate you

Serial Retrogrouch said...

...I wholeheartedly agree with janinedm. Years ago I almost killed a cute old chinese couple (we're talking almost 100 years old) coming off the Manhattan bridge in Chinatown. The lady was talking with her man and took one step into the street without looking. I hit her, she hit her husband, they both went down, she on her face, and this whole time I was flying horizontally in the air while looking back at them. I shit you not, it was like the time and space slowed down because I knew what a grave situation it was.

They didn't speak any english, i didn't speak any cantonese... but a passserby spoke to them and assured me they were ok, just shellshocked.

I could've had blood on hands that day. It's one thing to deal with a broken bone yourself, it's a whole different thing to have the death of a person on your conscience.

Ride safe y'all.

Unknown said...

vsk said ...

Without first reading prior commentary,
when you warn people who jump out in front of you, they look at you like you're some ass-hole ... for riding in the heavily or lightly travelled bike lane where they think it's cool to meander care free buried in their black pieces of glass devices.
I basically just yield to everybody. Pretty easy now because people can walk faster than I can ride.

Wheels I love: Mavic Helium, or anything with a red anodized CXP22/21/33 rim. or basically anything red anodized.
I have a Ciocc Mockba 80 red metallic frame that just needs cables to be connected and a chain. I just look at it's red metallic goodness. Red Helium wheels, red 3TTT stem, red ano pedals, red Modolo brake calipers. Oh and it will get some red Benotto disco bar tape sho nuff. Or whatever the kids say today.

Alas, I'm too fat for it "right now". "Right now" seems to have no end in sight.

I hereby endorse all previous comments, except the podial fuck me with a fork. As Cleveland would say "That's just naaasty".

vsk

Pist Off said...

Carbon wheels are so unnecessary, especially in the front of a bicycle, but I'm having a hard time caring that much. Seems inconsequential in the age of Trump. Shimano should Sean Spicer the shit out of this exploding wheel situation. First, say it was a pre-production test wheel and blame the rider for hitting the pothole. Then, how do we know the rider wasn't saved from a fatal collision with a pedestrian had he not been stopped? We don't, so you can't say it's impossible. Let's not forget the team mechanics, can they confirm the glue used and tire psi were within spec? Was the tub' mounted with tools that damaged the rim? Another team could have sabotaged the wheel and I'll even bet they did.
See, easy.

Back Stabbed said...

What happens it dnk runs into a fork in the road?

Lieutenant Oblivious said...

When they finally take my bike away and put me in a nursing home, please make sure I get onlyIvanka brand adult diapers-



The founder of Foshan Bainuo Sanitary Products has applied for the trademark for the Chinese characters 伊万卡 for a range of women’s sanitary napkins, underwear and incontinence pads, using the usual transliteration of Ivanka’s name in Chinese, yiwanka (pronounced ee-wan-ka).

janinedm said...

I mean, it's a combination of things. If you've ever looked into the eyes of a cyclist who has hit a pedestrian, you know you don't want to be that guy. I saw a man nearly cry on the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway. I don't even resent so-called jaywalkers. It's New York fuckin City. Jaywalking is as emblematic of the town as the spire of the Empire State Building. I usually have a close call once or twice a year. Conditioning waxes and I start feeling myself and my range of vision narrows to only see the peak of a hill and then like a 90 year old with a baby and corgi will pop out of nowhere and I remember to simmer down.

That's not to say I've never hit a pedestrian. I've just never done it by accident. There was once a New Jersey Devils fan standing around smoking in the 8th Ave bike lane by Penn Station. I gave him the bell he looked at me and said whatever sweetie (or maybe Honey, my mind goes blank when that happens). I plowed right into him. Sped up even. Because of alcohol and size, he was fine. I skinned my shin. No regrets.

I have a new technique on 8th Ave, which I'm sure TransAlt wouldn't approve of. I loudly alternate between several phrases "Somebody wants to get hit by a bike!" "This is a bike lane; you cannot possibly be surprised to see me here." and the simple "Tryyyyyy meeeeee." I also look directly into the eyes of pedestrians walking towards me and shake my head slightly and give them a look I call "Bitch, I might be." It gets them back on the sidewalk, believe me. (If you want to try "Bitch I might be" at home, pretend that you just ate a lemon and then someone played you a song off of that album where Train covers Led Zeppelin songs.)

leroy said...

My riding has been curtailed the past few weeks, but I finally got back to my commute this morning.

Typical ride....

Puttered over the Brooklyn Bridge because of construction and pedestrians stepping into the bike lane -- but that's to be expected on the Bridge.

Was passed by two guys on Citibikes going up the Bridge, one of whom was doing a wheelie. Impressive.

Detoured to Bowling Green to make sure there still hasn't been a massacre (there hasn't) and to see the statue of the girl facing down the statue of the Bull (my dog asked for a picture; he said he wanted to share it with someone; he wouldn't say whom).

Then I meandered up the West Side Highway into the gusting wind; fell in with a fellow commuter and chatted all the way to mid-town before I had to turn to head cross-town.

Typical commute, no carbon, no personal bests, no breaking a sweat, pedestrians stepping in front of me on Bridge, on Broadway, cross-town, but except for being knocked sideways by a couple of gusts near the Battery, no excitement.

It's just so good to be riding again.

Tomorrow though my dog and I flip a coin to see who pulls the sled.

leroy said...

And when I encountered a couple walking directly toward me in the West Side Highway bike lane this morning, I just gave them my "oh my God help me, help me, I'm not sure I can control this thing" look.

Works every time.

My dog says I'm a natural.

And at 10 mph, it cracks me up.

JLRB said...

I hit a pedestrian once commuting home from summer job in college - little old lady with shopping bags stepped right in front of me as I was accelerating to make a light as it turned yellow. I had zero time to even touch brakes "she just didn't see me." Bags flew everywhere - I felt awful but shockingly she bounced back up and walked away.

A section of bike lane I ride home from work these days runs past a few bars - lots of buzzed pedestrians wander off the curb o. A regular basis - predictable so it's the slowest part of my ride.

recumbent conspiracy theorist said...

Scranus.

Mitch Miller said...

Journey's revised lyrics:

The wheel in the sky keeps on breaking...

Smoke Smoke Smoke That Cigarette said...

Janine at 216 "There was once a New Jersey Devils fan standing around smoking in the 8th Ave bike lane by Penn Station."

Were you expecting a Devil's fan to be someplace else?

News Flash: Gov. C just announced that starting immediately bike lanes have been declared sanctuary lanes for smokers.

The Artful Dodger said...

While riding in Vancouver's Chinatown, a pedestrian stepped out between two parked cars into the street and right into my path. I hammered the brakes and finally stopped with just the brake lever of my right handlebar just touching his chest. "I no see you", he said.
"Yes, so I gather", I replied and rode on.

dancesonpedals said...

Janine- What's your pedestrian spearing technique? Do you T-bone them, or just drop your shoulder like Walter Peyton?

Matt said...

Wow...I'd love to try the "Bitch, I might be" look on somebody (I even have a lemon tree, so there's no shortage of that requirement to practice) but where I live pedestrians just aren't a problem. Tho I have had a bee fly INTO my ear (stung me instantly), and also been stung in lots of other places too (note: they ALL hurt like hell!). Maybe I should save that look for the bees!

Our local TV channel keeps showing commercials of people w/ their face stuck in their cellphone just walking out in the road w/out looking, and then saying the cars need to be aware cuz the peds don't have armor. I just chuckle and think that it's Darwins law in action (IF ur gonna walk into traffic you SHOULD have armor IMO). My only real problem on the bike around here is the DRIVERS on their cell phones...I've more than a few VERY SCARY moments from those drivers (I'd seriously be dead a few times over if they hadn't had the driver window down to hear me screaming).

1904 Cadardi said...

Snob,

Are you saying you don't believe in the N+1 theory of bicycle ownership?

Steely Danzig said...

I was doing about 30 mph one morning just as the sun was coming up. Just ahead there's a deer standing in the middle of the road. I put on my brakes and swerved and at the last second he turned and jumped the other way. My front wheel just rubbed his rear leg as he ran off. Asshole never said sorry, just ran away.

1904 Cadardi said...

janinedm,

An entire album of Train covering Led Zepplin? Will someone jam a broken wheel into my ears before I have to hear that, please.

Anonymous said...

Steely,
A buddy of mine hit a deer while commuting. Said it was like running into a fur covered brick wall. The deer just looked at him with I presume janenedm's "Bitch, I might be" and wandered away. I guess deer are just jerks.

Anonymous said...

janinedm,
Sounds like riding in Manhattan would subtract years from my life. All that stress related to yelling at strangers and trying to avoid collisions accumulates over time, and would drag me down. It ain't natural. You know what else ain't natural? Donald Trump's hair. He's a native New Yorker, right?

boys on the hoods said...

I hit a goose once on a commute. Coming around a corner at speed and about 10 geese waddling across the path. In a corner so no options other than hope for the best and hit one square on. went down hard (a little like hitting a feathered brick) and got up only to see the bastard continue down to the river and swim away.

Steely Danzig said...

I also hit a dog on the M.U.P. I tacoed the front wheel and broke my helmet. Dog wasn't leashed, but I was going too fast. Don't know what happened to the dog because I think I had a concussion and was too dazed to know what was going on.
I also had a rabbit kamikaze into my rear wheel at high speed and I have hit birds that were engaged in some mating ritual. Almost hit a bear too. The first three miles of the commute are downhill and I can pick up a lot of speed.
I Also collided with a college kid on a longboard. That was kind of funny because he acted like such a baby.

Anonymous said...

Holy shit, these comments about colliding with animals just triggered a childhood memory...

I was riding down the street on my Sears Free Spirit 10 speed, enjoying a beautiful summer day. Some kids were playing with several kittens in the street in front of their home.... when one of the kittens sprinted into my path. My front wheel missed it... but I recall looking down and seeing the rear wheel roll over its neck. The weight of my body was concentrated mostly on its neck... it was a "buh-bump" feeling.

I looked back and saw the kitten flailing around in pain and/or its death throes... I hope it didn't die.

Thanks for the memories everyone!

JLRB said...

If you like your Ritte Rust-Bucket you can keep your Ritte Rust-Bucket

But fogetaboutyourhealthcare

leroy said...

Well as long as we're discussing animal encounters, my dog observed:

"Mynd you, moose bites Kan be pretti nasti..."

I don't know what he's talking about, but he assures me others will.

Blog Drafter said...

I once hit a whopping great Banyan tree to avoid hitting another cyclist. Other cyclist stopped to see if I was okay, Banyan tree stuck around too, didn't run off like they do today. Hurt, but I'm glad I didn't hit the other cyclist.

I only ride fast when there's no one else around, see, that's why people think I'm so slow, but really, it's for their protection that I ride like that.

BamaPhred said...

Animal encounters. I can't do one bike trick, no bunny hops, or wheelies. Last spring riding down a quiet lane I saw a stick in the road except when I got close to it, it was a copperhead. In terror I executed a massive bunny hop over the sumbitch. I guess you do what ya gotta do.

Dooth said...

They forgot the Buffet quote about "wasting away again in Margaritavile."

Anonymous said...

Were you on copperhead road?

Anonymous said...

buncha years ago I was mountainbikecycling around Jim Thorpe, PA and had the same experience with a Timber Rattlesnake sunning on a slab of rock in the middle of the trail. Pretty sure I cleared him by a good three feet.

Unknown said...

I suspect you're being deliberately iconoclastic with your MTBs and you should, if not rid yourself of them both, distill them down to one, more sensible, conventional trail bike.

It's high time the clown bike went back to Brompton — because it's also high time you stopped embarrassing yourself on it.

In my estimation the travel bike really only comes into its own when traveling by air. From my rigorous auditing of this blog I've concluded you don't do enough flying-with-bike to justify your continuing ownership of it. So you can get rid of it, too.

Every cyclist should be allowed one eccentric nutjob bike and the IOJB is yours. You can keep that.

It goes without saying you hold onto the WorkCycles number. Indeed, if a Trumpian order came down tomorrow that there could only be one bike per household, I'd bet the Snobby household bike would choose the WorkCycles bike. It will also be your go-to-bike during the impending apocalypse, so it definitely stays.


Now, we come to your road bikes... you may want to sit down for this.

Look, I can see how beautiful the Milwaukee is, I can understand that you're proud of it in the same way you might be proud of a trophy and I'm certain it's a very fine piece of work worthy of your affections, but it's not your greatest love, now is it? Hmm?

No, that honour goes to the cherished Ritte. Don't tug at your curls and twist your toe into the ground, admit it, you love the Ritte more than you love the Milwaukee!?

It's alright, we can understand. To fall for the plain Ritte over the provocatively slinky Milwaukee means that that Ritte's virtues are truly spectacular. And don't think we didn't notice you preserve Ritte's modesty with that one unrevealing photo of it you published — none of this explicit hardcore full drive side hi-res public exposure of your beloved Ritte. Good heavens, no!

I'm right, aren't I, Snobby? Be a man and commit to the only road bike you ever really loved and set the Milwaukee free. But be adult about it; treat it to one final ride to all the places you loved going to together and part company on good terms.



So there, you've reduced your fleet to five. But don't ever call them the Fabulous Five. That would be an unforgivable transgression.

Anonymous said...

#ShimanoPROpressurejournal #altpressurefacts

PX 10 said...

I have a fixed gear bike with MAVIC Competition brake in front. I has multiple adjustment nobs on each pads, so you can adjust out any brake squeal. I've found I can adjust it to increase squeal. So now it is really loud. For normal speed control I push back on the pedals. For emergency breaking, like a person steps in front on me, I apply the front break. People jump out of the way when they hear break squeal faster than you can believe.

Bayer // Old Dog said...

You left summer fatbiking out.

How dare you?

Doc Sarvis said...

The reason it's not Ted K. is that he thinks,unlike modern city people who rarely do...

Anonymous said...

Pedestrian alert is a great use of brake squeal. PX-10s came with Mafac Competitions I think. Their squeal is kind of legendary among old cyclocross and touring fans. The modern equivalent could be Avid disc brakes before a couple of years ago. Front cantilevers with a long steel steer tube can squeal like a mofo.

BikeSnobNYC said...

brian brians,

You're totally wrong about pretty much everything.

--Wildcat Etc.

Powerbar Farts said...

back when I ran my 18mm tires at about 120 psi I sliced a squirrel right in half at about 35 mph on a descent.

Unknown said...

Okay, I'll give fifty bucks for the Ritte...

McFly said...

Maybe they were implying the carbon byke would've "broken away" upon impact?

JLRB said...

State of the world

When riding my biek home last night I almost made the last light in a string of lights, but got slowed by a car in the beik lane

While stopped at the light, a pedestrian approached me - I presumed he needed directions - he proceeded to give me "respect" for actually stopping at a light, unlike many other riders of bieks.

While he was talking all I could think of was I should have run it so I didn't have to listen to him.

Bryan said...

Finally we get a list of your bikes!

Bryan said...

Ugh, reading brian brians suggestions....if anything maybe get rid of the travel bike, and use the brommie when going places. Fully invest yourself into the lifestyle...take it as carry on! And by get rid of the travel bike, I really mean keep it and disregard all advice others offer you.

Pist Off said...

Never give anyone else advice on their stable of bikes unless they ask. Never take advice from anyone named Brian (or Chad.)

janinedm said...

dop, I'm not saying you should intentionally ram 200+ lb hockey fans who refer to adult strangers as sweetie but if you do, I'd recommend that you drop your shoulders and tuck in like you're "getting aero" but keep your arms loose for the impact. But I'd never recommend doing such a thing.

200+ Pound Devils Fan said...

*Puff* You miss me dontcha sweetie

Ki Ho'Alu said...

Interesting how people flock to the marketing bull-sh*t around carboner frames, wheels and other load bearing appliances. ALL IT TAKES IS A SCRATCH TO CREATE A FAILURE - STRESS RISER. This is well documented in after the fact failure analysis records across the globe. Check out an engineering failure analysis book at your library or on the web. Study up on the materials section, especially fiber reinforced plastics. yes carboner is considered fiber reinforced plastics. Either way, always entertaining when grown men play on toys (bikes).

Steel and aluminum in that order. Yours truly,
Big dog.

James said...

I just acquired two more bikes and had to give one away to a friend to get back into a single digit count. Otherwise my wife would sell the whole lot while I was at work then leave me.

tubasti said...

I hit a pedestrian on my bike once, too, an eight-year-old girl who ran out in front of me. Her mother was on the other side of the street telling her when it was safe to cross. Fortunately, she was a lot less hurt than I was.