Bichain Fixed/Free Three Speed Drive

[CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com]

Bruce Ingle, a very clever and resourceful friend of mine has come up
with the coolest drivetrain hack:

http://sheldonbrown.com/bichain

Sheldon "Epicyclic" Brown
+------------------------------------------+
| To invent, you need a good imagination |
| and a pile of junk. --Thomas Edison |
+------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com
Useful articles about bicycles and cycling
http://sheldonbrown.com

[Chalo]

Sheldon Brown wrote:
>
> Bruce Ingle, a very clever and resourceful friend of mine has come up
> with the coolest drivetrain hack:
>
> http://sheldonbrown.com/bichain

That is incredibly cool. Does using such a low primary gear on an AW
hub make the thing more likely to self-destruct?

Tell your friend Bruce that Liquid Paper is the best anti-flux for
brazing that I have tried.

Chalo

[carlfogel@comcast.net]

On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 04:36:37 -0000, Chalo <chalo.colina@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Sheldon Brown wrote:
>>
>> Bruce Ingle, a very clever and resourceful friend of mine has come up
>> with the coolest drivetrain hack:
>>
>> http://sheldonbrown.com/bichain
>
>That is incredibly cool. Does using such a low primary gear on an AW
>hub make the thing more likely to self-destruct?
>
>Tell your friend Bruce that Liquid Paper is the best anti-flux for
>brazing that I have tried.
>
>Chalo

Dear Chalo,

Okay, now you have to tell us how you came to try Liquid Paper and
whether you've tried anything weirder.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

[Sheldon Brown]

I wrote:

> > Bruce Ingle, a very clever and resourceful friend of mine has come up
> > with the coolest drivetrain hack:
> >
> > http://sheldonbrown.com/bichain

Chalo wrote:

> That is incredibly cool. Does using such a low primary gear on an AW
> hub make the thing more likely to self-destruct?

The very low gear does not use the AW's internal gear train, so that's
not an issue.

Sheldon "Direct Drive" Brown
+--------------------------------------------+
| And the end of all our exploring |
| Will be to arrive where we started |
| And know the place for the first time. |
| --T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets |
+--------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

[Chalo]

Carl Fogel wrote:
>
> Chalo wrote:
>
> >Tell your friend Bruce that Liquid Paper is the best anti-flux for
> >brazing that I have tried.
>
> Dear Chalo,
>
> Okay, now you have to tell us how you came to try Liquid Paper and
> whether you've tried anything weirder.

Liquid Paper was recommended to me when I was in art school. I don't
know who discovered it or why-- but now I kinda wish I did. Unlike
other anti-fluxes I've tried, it is pretty tenacious at staying in
place both while drying and after heat has been applied.

The traditional ye olde anti-flux is yellow ocher. It clings to
things better than plain dirt, while effectively repelling silver
solder. I find it about as easy to work with as plain dirt, though.

I've used jewelers' rouge, too-- just because I had a stick of it in
my toolbox looking like a big crayon made of filth. It's OK, but it
flakes away more than correction fluid.

The other day, I silver brazed a cracked tab back onto the brass
headlamp bezel of my wife's old Mercedes-Benz. I discovered, much to
my surprise, that chrome plating is the most dazzlingly effective
brazing mask I've yet seen. I had carefully filed a tiny bevel on the
broken edges of the bezel and its severed tab, in order to promote the
formation of a neat fillet. When I got the part heated up and I fed
in a bit of filler wire, it formed a droplet and fell clear of the
joint. I thought that tar rising from the wood block on which I was
conducting the repair had so contaminated the joint that the silver
would not wet the brass.

On cooling and cleaning the bezel, I discovered that the thin line
where I had filed back the chrome plating had filled perfectly with
silver. Since it could accept no more filler, and since the chrome
refused to be wetted, the remainder of the liquid silver had balled up
and fallen away. The brazed joint was as tidy, complete, and pleasing
as any I have made on fancy jewelry.

Chalo

[limeylew@gmail.com]

On Jul 29, 12:39 am, carlfo...@comcast.net wrote:
> On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 04:36:37 -0000, Chalo <chalo.col...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >Sheldon Brown wrote:
>
> >> Bruce Ingle, a very clever and resourceful friend of mine has come up
> >> with the coolest drivetrain hack:
>
> >>http://sheldonbrown.com/bichain
>
> >That is incredibly cool. Does using such a low primary gear on an AW
> >hub make the thing more likely to self-destruct?
>
> >Tell your friend Bruce that Liquid Paper is the best anti-flux for
> >brazing that I have tried.
>
> >Chalo
>
> Dear Chalo,
>
> Okay, now you have to tell us how you came to try Liquid Paper and
> whether you've tried anything weirder.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Carl Fogel

Hi, Carl, this may not be weirder but it does sound weird to me:-

"A useful *anti-flux* is ordinary toothpaste. Smells a bit, and the
smoke from burnt peppermint may not be healthy.......but it works. A
good lump of toothpaste can also be used, when no other method is
available, to keep a small component cool while soldering is being
done nearby."

Kind regards.

Lewis.

*****

[carlfogel@comcast.net]

On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:04:05 -0000, Chalo <chalo.colina@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Carl Fogel wrote:
>>
>> Chalo wrote:
>>
>> >Tell your friend Bruce that Liquid Paper is the best anti-flux for
>> >brazing that I have tried.
>>
>> Dear Chalo,
>>
>> Okay, now you have to tell us how you came to try Liquid Paper and
>> whether you've tried anything weirder.
>
>Liquid Paper was recommended to me when I was in art school. I don't
>know who discovered it or why-- but now I kinda wish I did. Unlike
>other anti-fluxes I've tried, it is pretty tenacious at staying in
>place both while drying and after heat has been applied.
>
>The traditional ye olde anti-flux is yellow ocher. It clings to
>things better than plain dirt, while effectively repelling silver
>solder. I find it about as easy to work with as plain dirt, though.
>
>I've used jewelers' rouge, too-- just because I had a stick of it in
>my toolbox looking like a big crayon made of filth. It's OK, but it
>flakes away more than correction fluid.
>
>The other day, I silver brazed a cracked tab back onto the brass
>headlamp bezel of my wife's old Mercedes-Benz. I discovered, much to
>my surprise, that chrome plating is the most dazzlingly effective
>brazing mask I've yet seen. I had carefully filed a tiny bevel on the
>broken edges of the bezel and its severed tab, in order to promote the
>formation of a neat fillet. When I got the part heated up and I fed
>in a bit of filler wire, it formed a droplet and fell clear of the
>joint. I thought that tar rising from the wood block on which I was
>conducting the repair had so contaminated the joint that the silver
>would not wet the brass.
>
>On cooling and cleaning the bezel, I discovered that the thin line
>where I had filed back the chrome plating had filled perfectly with
>silver. Since it could accept no more filler, and since the chrome
>refused to be wetted, the remainder of the liquid silver had balled up
>and fallen away. The brazed joint was as tidy, complete, and pleasing
>as any I have made on fancy jewelry.
>
>Chalo

Dear Chalo,

I haven't anything as strange to offer in return as entertainment, but
here's a picture of a fellow that I've been trying to track down:

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1893_1940/1893_Baby_Bliss_Ignaz.jpg

A few days ago, a different picture of Leonard "Baby" Bliss caught my
eye, but I lost the link and could only remember that he was a
celebrated bicyclist who weighed 500 pounds and was nicknamed baby,
which got me nowhere with Google.

By sheer luck, I just stumbled over Bliss again on a site with old
Schwinn catalogs. That's him at 500+ pounds, promoting the American
Bicycle brand for Ignaz Schwinn in 1893. (No idea who's standing next
him--probably some handy midget included for scale.)

Alas, Bliss died at 46 in a kitchen-gas accident:

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/02/26/news/107595.txt

Anyway, there's the kind of bike that riders 350 lbs (and over) used
in 1893.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <3imqa3d3ls6ap9gdb396dcg9na6832iivr@4ax.com>,
carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:

> On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:04:05 -0000, Chalo <chalo.colina@gmail.com>
> wrote:

> >> Chalo wrote:
> >>
> >> >Tell your friend Bruce that Liquid Paper is the best anti-flux for
> >> >brazing that I have tried.

> >Liquid Paper was recommended to me when I was in art school.

> >The other day, I silver brazed a cracked tab back onto the brass
> >headlamp bezel of my wife's old Mercedes-Benz. I discovered, much to
> >my surprise, that chrome plating is the most dazzlingly effective
> >brazing mask I've yet seen.

> >Chalo
>
> Dear Chalo,
>
> I haven't anything as strange to offer in return as entertainment, but
> here's a picture of a fellow that I've been trying to track down:
>
> http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1893_1940/1893_Baby_Bliss_Ignaz.jpg
>
> A few days ago, a different picture of Leonard "Baby" Bliss caught my
> eye, but I lost the link and could only remember that he was a
> celebrated bicyclist who weighed 500 pounds and was nicknamed baby,
> which got me nowhere with Google.
>
> By sheer luck, I just stumbled over Bliss again on a site with old
> Schwinn catalogs. That's him at 500+ pounds, promoting the American
> Bicycle brand for Ignaz Schwinn in 1893. (No idea who's standing next
> him--probably some handy midget included for scale.)

Hm. Maybe it's just my imagination, but doesn't Mr. Bliss look, um,
rather light for a 500-pounder?

The obit you linked to lists him at 6'4", and "eventually tipping the
scales at around 550 pounds."

Assuming the 6'4" is correct, I think that he looks a bit too lean for
500 pounds.

Perhaps someone with more first-hand experience with what tall 500-pound
men look like could chime in?

--
Ryan Cousineau rcousine@sfu.ca http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

[Chalo]

On Jul 29, 10:39 pm, carlfo...@comcast.net wrote:
>
> http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1893_1940/1893_Baby_Bliss_Ignaz.jpg
>
> A few days ago, a different picture of Leonard "Baby" Bliss caught my
> eye, but I lost the link and could only remember that he was a
> celebrated bicyclist who weighed 500 pounds and was nicknamed baby,
> which got me nowhere with Google.

Pure Bliss, Baby.

Chalo

[Michael Press]

In article
<3imqa3d3ls6ap9gdb396dcg9na6832iivr@4ax.com>,
carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:

> Alas, Bliss died at 46 in a kitchen-gas accident:

Tragic sauerkraut and beer incident. Notice the other
dude in the photograph keeping his distance.

--
Michael Press

[carlfogel@comcast.net]

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:06:08 GMT, Ryan Cousineau <rcousine@sfu.ca>
wrote:

>In article <3imqa3d3ls6ap9gdb396dcg9na6832iivr@4ax.com>,
> carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:04:05 -0000, Chalo <chalo.colina@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>
>> >> Chalo wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >Tell your friend Bruce that Liquid Paper is the best anti-flux for
>> >> >brazing that I have tried.
>
>> >Liquid Paper was recommended to me when I was in art school.
>
>> >The other day, I silver brazed a cracked tab back onto the brass
>> >headlamp bezel of my wife's old Mercedes-Benz. I discovered, much to
>> >my surprise, that chrome plating is the most dazzlingly effective
>> >brazing mask I've yet seen.
>
>> >Chalo
>>
>> Dear Chalo,
>>
>> I haven't anything as strange to offer in return as entertainment, but
>> here's a picture of a fellow that I've been trying to track down:
>>
>> http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1893_1940/1893_Baby_Bliss_Ignaz.jpg
>>
>> A few days ago, a different picture of Leonard "Baby" Bliss caught my
>> eye, but I lost the link and could only remember that he was a
>> celebrated bicyclist who weighed 500 pounds and was nicknamed baby,
>> which got me nowhere with Google.
>>
>> By sheer luck, I just stumbled over Bliss again on a site with old
>> Schwinn catalogs. That's him at 500+ pounds, promoting the American
>> Bicycle brand for Ignaz Schwinn in 1893. (No idea who's standing next
>> him--probably some handy midget included for scale.)
>
>Hm. Maybe it's just my imagination, but doesn't Mr. Bliss look, um,
>rather light for a 500-pounder?
>
>The obit you linked to lists him at 6'4", and "eventually tipping the
>scales at around 550 pounds."
>
>Assuming the 6'4" is correct, I think that he looks a bit too lean for
>500 pounds.
>
>Perhaps someone with more first-hand experience with what tall 500-pound
>men look like could chime in?

Dear Ryan,

Well, in such matters, exaggeration is common, so you may be right.

But . . .

The rider on the left in the picture below (currently touring the
Alps) is notoriously 6'5" and around 180 pounds:

http://tinyurl.com/dm4pp

Who would guess that the rider near the ceiling in the next two
pictures (currently entertaining RBT's Lilliputians) is only three
inches taller than Jobst, but weighs ~350 pounds, about twice as much?

http://home.comcast.net/~carlfogel/download/tallride4.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~carlfogel/download/tallride5.jpg

Now compare 350-lb Chalo's lanky figure and fashion-model legs to the
greater abdominal development and huskier calves of Leonard Bliss:

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1893_1940/1893_Baby_Bliss_Ignaz.jpg

That massive swelling behind the top of the stem is solid Bliss, not a
fluffy pillow for playing Santa at Christmas.

It's likely that the "Baby" nickname referred to the portly Bliss's
plump-infant appearance.

The bicycle in front of Bliss has 28, 29, or even 30 inch rims with
balloon tires, so he may have been taller than the 6'4" claimed in the
article.

The faded picture leaves out much of Bliss's upper outline, a white
shirt against a white cloth backdrop.

The picture is probably a bit deceptive, due to camera angle and how
close things are to the lens. Notice that the little fellow, a head
shorter than Bliss, seems to have a bigger head.

Impressive weight differences without gross obesity or anemia are
common for taller men, but it's rare to see such differences at six
feet or less--that is, you won't see many men six feet tall with one
fellow weighing twice as much as the other.

But over six feet, a little huskiness goes a long way.

This 7'4" fellow is certainly husky, but he doesn't look like a sumo
wrestler. He weighed around 500 pounds:

http://www.andrethegiant.com/bio.html

This 7'5" fellow was a lanky basketball player. He wasn't starving,
but he weighed only around 250 pounds:

http://www.freewebs.com/nbagiants/Chuck_Nevitt.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <h50ra3h8a9au8j4s7dpref1mkd57n7eb63@4ax.com>,
carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:06:08 GMT, Ryan Cousineau <rcousine@sfu.ca>
> wrote:
>
> >In article <3imqa3d3ls6ap9gdb396dcg9na6832iivr@4ax.com>,
> > carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:
> >
> >> On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:04:05 -0000, Chalo <chalo.colina@gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >
> >> >> Chalo wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >Tell your friend Bruce that Liquid Paper is the best anti-flux for
> >> >> >brazing that I have tried.
> >
> >> >Liquid Paper was recommended to me when I was in art school.
> >
> >> >The other day, I silver brazed a cracked tab back onto the brass
> >> >headlamp bezel of my wife's old Mercedes-Benz. I discovered, much to
> >> >my surprise, that chrome plating is the most dazzlingly effective
> >> >brazing mask I've yet seen.
> >
> >> >Chalo
> >>
> >> Dear Chalo,
> >>
> >> I haven't anything as strange to offer in return as entertainment, but
> >> here's a picture of a fellow that I've been trying to track down:
> >>
> >> http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1893_1940/1893_Baby_Bliss_Ignaz.jpg
> >>
> >> A few days ago, a different picture of Leonard "Baby" Bliss caught my
> >> eye, but I lost the link and could only remember that he was a
> >> celebrated bicyclist who weighed 500 pounds and was nicknamed baby,
> >> which got me nowhere with Google.
> >>
> >> By sheer luck, I just stumbled over Bliss again on a site with old
> >> Schwinn catalogs. That's him at 500+ pounds, promoting the American
> >> Bicycle brand for Ignaz Schwinn in 1893. (No idea who's standing next
> >> him--probably some handy midget included for scale.)

> >Assuming the 6'4" is correct, I think that he looks a bit too lean for
> >500 pounds.
> >
> >Perhaps someone with more first-hand experience with what tall 500-pound
> >men look like could chime in?
>
> Dear Ryan,
>
> Well, in such matters, exaggeration is common, so you may be right.
>
> But . . .
>
> The rider on the left in the picture below (currently touring the
> Alps) is notoriously 6'5" and around 180 pounds:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/dm4pp
>
> Who would guess that the rider near the ceiling in the next two
> pictures (currently entertaining RBT's Lilliputians) is only three
> inches taller than Jobst, but weighs ~350 pounds, about twice as much?

> http://home.comcast.net/~carlfogel/download/tallride5.jpg
>
> Now compare 350-lb Chalo's lanky figure and fashion-model legs to the
> greater abdominal development and huskier calves of Leonard Bliss:
>
> http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1893_1940/1893_Baby_Bliss_Ignaz.jpg
>
> That massive swelling behind the top of the stem is solid Bliss, not a
> fluffy pillow for playing Santa at Christmas.

> The picture is probably a bit deceptive, due to camera angle and how
> close things are to the lens. Notice that the little fellow, a head
> shorter than Bliss, seems to have a bigger head.
>
> Impressive weight differences without gross obesity or anemia are
> common for taller men, but it's rare to see such differences at six
> feet or less--that is, you won't see many men six feet tall with one
> fellow weighing twice as much as the other.
>
> But over six feet, a little huskiness goes a long way.
>
> This 7'4" fellow is certainly husky, but he doesn't look like a sumo
> wrestler. He weighed around 500 pounds:
>
> http://www.andrethegiant.com/bio.html
>
> This 7'5" fellow was a lanky basketball player. He wasn't starving,
> but he weighed only around 250 pounds:
>
> http://www.freewebs.com/nbagiants/Chuck_Nevitt.jpg

Nice research! I agree that after looking at your examples, 500 pounds
for Baby seems more plausible, though I would point out that Andre the
Giant was almost certainly not 7'4", and I wouldn't be surprised to hear
the weight was off as well.

Pro wrestling loves to exaggerate heights and weights at the best of
times, and Andre was subject to some of the most dramatic height fudges
in the business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_the_Giant

Wikipedia suggests that while he was billed anywhere from 7' to 7'5"
during his career, (and 310-540 pounds...) his true height was reliably
measured at 6'10" when he was 28, and owing to his medical condition, he
could have plausibly grown a few more inches after that.

Back to the question at hand, I think you're right: I've underestimated
the issue of an obviously fat man who is also quite tall. At 5'6", I
struggle with the 20 pounds that separate me from my former
nearly-emaciated bike-racer physique, versus my present, obviously
out-of-shape shape.

Chalo probably varies by 20 pounds based on how much water he drinks
that day,

--
Ryan Cousineau rcousine@sfu.ca http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

[Chalo]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
>
> Back to the question at hand, I think you're right: I've underestimated
> the issue of an obviously fat man who is also quite tall. At 5'6", I
> struggle with the 20 pounds that separate me from my former
> nearly-emaciated bike-racer physique, versus my present, obviously
> out-of-shape shape.
>
> Chalo probably varies by 20 pounds based on how much water he drinks
> that day,

I've lost more than 50 pounds over the last year, and I can hardly
discern a difference.

Chalo

[Michael Press]

In article
<1185834453.830633.16550@d30g2000prg.googlegroups.c om>,
Chalo <chalo.colina@gmail.com> wrote:

> Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> >
> > Back to the question at hand, I think you're right: I've underestimated
> > the issue of an obviously fat man who is also quite tall. At 5'6", I
> > struggle with the 20 pounds that separate me from my former
> > nearly-emaciated bike-racer physique, versus my present, obviously
> > out-of-shape shape.
> >
> > Chalo probably varies by 20 pounds based on how much water he drinks
> > that day,
>
> I've lost more than 50 pounds over the last year, and I can hardly
> discern a difference.

Appearance? Any change in your physical disposition?

--
Michael Press

[Chalo]

Michael Press wrote:
>
> Chalo wrote:
> >
> > Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> > >
> > > Chalo probably varies by 20 pounds based on how much water he drinks
> > > that day,
>
> > I've lost more than 50 pounds over the last year, and I can hardly
> > discern a difference.
>
> Appearance? Any change in your physical disposition?

I look the same to me. If I could look at myself in the mirror 50
pounds heavier, I suppose I might think, "boy, look at the size of the
dewlap on that hippo-man!" but basically I see the same thing as I
remember from before. I'm wearing pants that I had outgrown by a
little bit, but not those that I'd left in the dust of history.

During that time, I've moved from steep, glacier-carved Seattle to
gently sloped river valley Austin. Who could have predicted that I
would find riding my bike to be easier and faster here? I would not
be that surprised to discover that riding minus 50 pounds is easier in
Seattle too, but then I might not.

I haven't laid waste to many bike parts over the last year. One
cruiser saddle and one chromoly seatpost, both unproven. Not bad,
considering my record for such things.

Chalo

[Michael Press]

In article
<1185946293.046522.264710@e16g2000pri.googlegroups. com>
,
Chalo <chalo.colina@gmail.com> wrote:

> Michael Press wrote:
> >
> > Chalo wrote:
> > >
> > > Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Chalo probably varies by 20 pounds based on how much water he drinks
> > > > that day,
> >
> > > I've lost more than 50 pounds over the last year, and I can hardly
> > > discern a difference.
> >
> > Appearance? Any change in your physical disposition?
>
> I look the same to me. If I could look at myself in the mirror 50
> pounds heavier, I suppose I might think, "boy, look at the size of the
> dewlap on that hippo-man!" but basically I see the same thing as I
> remember from before. I'm wearing pants that I had outgrown by a
> little bit, but not those that I'd left in the dust of history.
>
> During that time, I've moved from steep, glacier-carved Seattle to
> gently sloped river valley Austin. Who could have predicted that I
> would find riding my bike to be easier and faster here? I would not
> be that surprised to discover that riding minus 50 pounds is easier in
> Seattle too, but then I might not.
>
> I haven't laid waste to many bike parts over the last year. One
> cruiser saddle and one chromoly seatpost, both unproven. Not bad,
> considering my record for such things.

Then congratulations are in order. Good on you.

--
Michael Press

[Tom \Johnny Sunset\ Sherman]

Chalo Colina wrote:
> Michael Press wrote:
>> Chalo wrote:
>>> Ryan Cousineau wrote:
>>>> Chalo probably varies by 20 pounds based on how much water he drinks
>>>> that day,
>>> I've lost more than 50 pounds over the last year, and I can hardly
>>> discern a difference.
>> Appearance? Any change in your physical disposition?
>
> I look the same to me. If I could look at myself in the mirror 50
> pounds heavier, I suppose I might think, "boy, look at the size of the
> dewlap on that hippo-man!" but basically I see the same thing as I
> remember from before. I'm wearing pants that I had outgrown by a
> little bit, but not those that I'd left in the dust of history.
>
> During that time, I've moved from steep, glacier-carved Seattle to
> gently sloped river valley Austin. Who could have predicted that I
> would find riding my bike to be easier and faster here? I would not
> be that surprised to discover that riding minus 50 pounds is easier in
> Seattle too, but then I might not.
>
> I haven't laid waste to many bike parts over the last year. One
> cruiser saddle and one chromoly seatpost, both unproven. Not bad,
> considering my record for such things.

Is the lower failure rate due to stronger parts or less stress on the
bikes from not having to stand and climb on steep hills?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com