HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jwgst2+@pitt.edu (James W Gourgoutis)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: My battery charger exploded!!
Date: 11 Jan 93 19:26:57 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

Hi!  I hate to bring up this subject again, but I was charging the battery for
my HBL (12 volt, 3 amp-hour) with a manual 1-amp automotive charger, and the
charger blew out.  My apartment lights got dim for a second, and then I heard
a popping sound, and then I smelled smoke from the charger.  What did I do 
wrong?  The charger had only been hooked up for about 2 hours, and I figure
that since the battery is a 3-amp-hour battery, it should take 3 hours to
recharge.  Is this correct?
	I was able to exchange the charger for a new one, and I want to make
sure that this doesn't happen again.  Is there some way that I can monitor
the charge-state of my battery, so I know how long I need to charge it?
The charger's package says that even if you leave it hooked up to a battery
overnight, you cannot overcharge your battery; however, I suspect that they
mean a full-sized auto battery, not a small one like I am using.  And, to 
further confuse me, the guy at the auto parts store where I bought the charger
said that it was not an overnight charger.  So I don't know what to do.
	I was thinking of getting a small voltmeter from radio shack to monitor
the voltage of the battery during charging--will this work?

	PLEASE advise!  Thanks!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
James Gourgoutis       				   
Mechanical Engineering                                O   
University of Pittsburgh                           _ /__,     
e-mail me at:  JWGST2@unixd.cis.pitt.edu          (_) /(_) 
	       or JWGST2@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Thanks!           			   "Why am I so late?  It took me 
					    25 minutes to decide which bike
					    to ride!"--me. 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-       
--
From: karplus@cse.ucsc.edu (Kevin Karplus)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Anyone tried the CV Posi-drive system?
Date: 13 Jan 1993 01:06:18 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz
Reply-To: karplus@ce.ucsc.edu (Kevin Karplus)
NNTP-Posting-Host: ararat.ucsc.edu

jmyers@tekig7.PEN.TEK.COM (Jonathan E Myers) said

> This [48:12 to 24:28] would be insufficent for any road riding since
> you need at least a (52:12).  This would also seem to be insufficent
> for mountain biking since a (24:32) is the only way to go for the
> technical steep stuff.  

Assuming that Jon uses a 26" wheel, he is asserting that the gear
range must be at least 19.5" to 112.67" a range of 5.78:1.
Almost no bikes manufactured have that wide a gear range.

A 4:1 range (which I believe is more accurate than the 4.67:1 range he
cites) is adequate for most riders, except perhaps mountain bike racers.
Until fairly recently (last 5-10 years) even a 4:1 range was almost
impossible to find---racers used a narrow range of high gears, and
tourists used a narrow range of low gears.

Getting a 4:1 range on a single lever is quite impressive.  (That's a
44-11 rear cluster, or a 60-15 crankset!)

I would like a wider range at times (I have 4.16:1), because I carry
large loads and ride in a very hilly area, but I can see why a
manufacturer would not bother, since the demand for wide range gearing
is still quite small.  


Kevin Karplus


-- 
Kevin Karplus		karplus@ce.ucsc.edu

Due to budgetary constraints the light at the end of the tunnel is
being turned off.
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
From: tthiel@cs.uiuc.edu (Terry Thiel)
Subject: MBA LX review.
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 15:30:32 GMT

Generally I think the articles in MBA aren't very good but this months
has a good review of the new Deore LX for those who are interested
in such things.  Basically they said it is light and works great but
doesn't seem very durable. In particular the painted crank and other
components "looked like hammered dogmeat" after a fair amount of riding.
Not much of a surprise there.  They liked the new brakes stopping power
but not the fact that they were painted.  Apparently they are much
simpler to set up than most recent Shimano brakes (Can you say Dia-Compe?).
Also the shifting was too light and they didn't like the non-adjustability
of the rapidfire plus shifters although they did like the shifting performance.
It's pretty disappointing that even steel bikes with this group are going
for $800!!  At least the Bridgestone MB-3 this year still has DX.  it's
also $800.  Bridgestone hates painted components.
-Terry
-- 
-Terry
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
From: EPLUS17@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu (Richard Engelbrecht-Wiggans)
Subject: Re: Wheel Wonderings
Organization: C.C.S.O.
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 01:59:08 GMT

In article <1460055@hplred.HPL.HP.COM>
jbrandt@hplred.HPL.HP.COM (Jobst Brandt) writes:
 
>
>Well I think that is a bit strong although some lubricant is
>essential to a good tight wheel.  Most of the torque of tightening
>spokes occurs at the interface between nipple and rim, not in the
>threads.  Because the nipple contact with the rim supports the same
>force as the threads, at its substantially larger diameter there is
>appropriately more torque.  Therefore, don't fail to to dab some oil
>or grease in every nipple socket in the rim using a Q-tip.
>
>jobst_brandt@hplabs.hp.com
 
Yes.  But if the primary concern is to build a tight wheel using
bladed spokes, then the torque between nipple and rim isn't the
problem that the torque between nipple and spoke is.
 
..Richard E+17
 
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
From: H.ZIERKE@BI-LINK.owl.de (Hans-Joachim Zierke)
Organization: Private Site in Berlin
Subject: Re: wide-range gearing
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 13:00:00 +0100
X-Mailer: CrossPoint v2.1 R/211
X-Gateway: ZCONNECT UI bi-link.owl.de [RFC/Connect v0.92]


On 09.01.93, pardo@cs.washington.edu writes:

> About a decade ago, _Bike Tech_ had an article by David Gordon Wilson
> in which he analyzed power curves for humans walking hills and cyclists
> riding up hills.  His conclusion was cycling up a hill was often more
> efficient than walking the bike up the hill, but you needed a low (15")
> gear to be able to do it.
> 
> I don't know how this paper analysis works always in practice


It does work, but I don't know wether it works for racers. The setup of my 
loaded touring bike is 46-42-24, 13-15-18-21-25-28-32. Years ago, 
I made an adapter for the "New Winner" freewheel of that days to fix
the 25.

Using this setup, I traveled via Col de la Bonette, Col d'Iseran, Stilfser
Joch, Timmelsjoch, Grossglockner...  <to be continued> with camping gear.

I am not a strong rider, and I'm not very fast. 24/32, the lowest gear, 
means 7,5 - 8 km/h. A rather good cadence of 70 rpm could be used at that 
hills with a loaded touring bike, and I like this. Pushing the bike up 
there is about 4 km/h for me. 

You can even travel this unfair 20-25% grade single track roads in southern 
Britain with my setup. Try to push a _loaded_ bike up one of these roads,
and you will learn this Mr. Wilson is right.

When TA brings the new touring cranks in spring, I will switch to 
42-39-20, 12-14-16-19-22-26-30.

 

Ciao
Hajo
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
From: tthiel@cs.uiuc.edu (Terry Thiel)
Subject: Re: MBA LX review.
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 16:52:19 GMT

david@postman.gr.osf.org (David George) writes:
>While any aethsetically (sp?) aware rider won't buy this stuff I expect it
>offers a reasonable solution.  Most of the Altus bikes will receive on-road
>or light usage and the owners will never change the chainrings and will be
>happy with the better performance and weighloss.  Personally I find many of the
>recent cranksets (LX, ONZA etc.) ugly and not comparable with a work of art
>such as the Cooks Bros.
>David.

True.  One of the local dealers brought up the point that most mountain
bikes are not ridden off-road so it probably won't matter if the components are
painted.  I don't know if this is true of an $800 bike though...
-Terry


-- 
-Terry
From: cs92mjd@cen.ex.ac.uk (M.J.Davis)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: MBA LX review.
Date: 12 Jan 93 10:38:45 GMT
	<1993Jan8.005740.22250@leland.Stanford.EDU>
	<1993Jan8.234735.24473@sol.UVic.CA> <C0KEpx.3KI@cs.uiuc.edu>
Organization: Computer Unit. - University of Exeter. UK

In article <C0KEpx.3KI@cs.uiuc.edu> tthiel@cs.uiuc.edu (Terry Thiel) writes:

      >...they [Shimano] should provide a thumbshifter option [for XTR]...

I take it you know that XT thumbshifters happily index an XTR mech over an
XTR 8-speed block? Obviously, without hacksaw surgery, you lose ServoWave...
oh, no what a tragedy.

On balance, I think I'll put up with my reasonable shifting from a strange
mish-mash of components (only one of which is Shimano, and that under duress)

On the LX thread, it strikes me that the big S have shot themselves in the 
foot slightly by calling the '93 group LX. It means that people expect it
to be of a similar quality and performance level to the old LX, when in fact
it's so much better its on a different planet. Mind you, here in the UK, you
can get an XT mech for less than a '93 LX one. Sensible, huh?

*Prediction*...DX will not exist in '94. The lack of upgrades to DX and XT
this year (no low-pro crank or SG-X, for instance) seems to imply that 
Shimano aren't too bothered about them, and would rather use the production 
lines to make more LX groups with higher profit margins. 

Oh, yeah...we've heard lots of complaints about the black-painted finish on
the LX group. No-ones mentioned the hideous *white* painted finish on the
Exage group, which looks horrible even when new...

That's enough rambling...


Mikey D

  
--





-----------------------------------------------------------------
M.J.Davis, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Exeter, UK
...wittypseudophilosophicalsayingboringdisclaimercrapASCIIgraphic...
-----------------------------------------------------------------





   








-- 





-----------------------------------------------------------------
M.J.Davis, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Exeter, UK
...wittypseudophilosophicalsayingboringdisclaimercrapASCIIgraphic...
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
From: cfraser@sol.UVic.CA (Golden Girls)
Subject: Re: MBA LX review.
Organization: University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. CANADA
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 23:47:35 GMT

In article <1993Jan8.005740.22250@leland.Stanford.EDU> lloyd@leland.Stanford.EDU (William Koenig Lloyd) writes:
>
>Yes, Shimano LX stuff is ugly, and it is probably less durable than XTR.  But
>what do you expect?  When it is new it supposedly works as well as XTR.  Of
>course, LX is a whole lot cheaper than XTR, too.  The decrease in price had
>to come from somewhere.  Cheaper materials are one reason.  If you want 
>something that works as well as XTR and lasts as long as XTR, there's a simple
>solution:  buy XTR.  
>

This is only slightly related to the current thread, well it is actually
kind of close.....anyhow.
I am gonna take a big risk and say something nasty about XTR. Forgive
my ignorance but I don't know if this has been discussed already this
year. 

XTR works very nicely, no doubt. 8 speed, smooth as silk brakes and
a whole lot of really small touches that really set the group apart
from anything else I have seen. BUT it costs almost twice as much
as an XT group. Now, I ask you, has anybody out there had an XTR
group last as long as 2 XT groups, a group that works 90% as well
as XTR and is more than adequate for anybody but a very very very
serious rider (ie PRO). How can somebody justify $200CDN for a
headset when it is one of the most "disposable" parts on the bike?
The rear deraileur is a work of art, but $150CDN for something
that is so commonly broken?? I used to think that there was a limit
on what people would spend on "disposable" components. Obviously
XTR has proved me wrong. But then it is your money and this is just
my $0.02CDN worth.

Chris Fraser							RAVE ON!
From: jcollias@src.dec.com (Jim Collias)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: How do I trickle-charge my gel-cell?
Date: 8 Jan 93 22:23:07 GMT
Organization: DEC Systems Research Center

Hi all,

I'm gonna buy me a 7 AH 12 v rechargable gel-cell for my home-brew lighting
system and I don't wanna spend the
extra $30 for the charger.  I've read here that you can 'trickle-charge' one of
these batteries with an existing ac-dc adapter, and I have a few of those lying
around.

How should I go about doing this, ie. what volt/miliamp adapter should I use,
is is it safe to leave it overnight, how long until full charge, etc...

Thanks,

Jim
From: ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: New Phil Wood Hub question
Date: 5 Jan 93 16:51:04 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA

In article <C0CxM5.Koq@srgenprp.sr.hp.com> frankb@sad.hp.com (Frank Ball) writes:
>The "tool" was a steel collar that allowed you to press on the outside
>race of the bearings when putting the new axle back it.  The hubs I bought
>new came with this tool in the box with the hubs.  It would be really easy
>to make one.  You just find a piece of pipe that will slip over the axle
>and will rest on the outer bearing race.
>
>I wasted the bearings in the back wheel of my mtn bike.  Too many deep
>stream crossing I suppose.  I just unscrewed the freewheel and gave the axle
>a couple good blows with a big rubber mallet on the non freewheel side.
>The axle and bearings popped out and I mailed it to Phil Wood.  No reciepts,
>I just asked them to fix it.  A week or two later I got a new axle/bearing
>assembly in the mail, no charge.  A few taps with the rubber mallet, this
>time with the special tool, and the new axle was ready to roll.  No arbor
>press needed.  

Thanks for some excellent advice on home servicing of Phil Wood hubs.

For the benefit of those without one of those steel collars, let me add that
when someone at Phil's shop replaced my bearings/axle he used an arbor press
but didn't bother with a collar.  He used the press just as Frank describes
using the mallet: to position the axle assembly within the hub body.  Using
a collar would have saved some side load on the bearings, but I guess Phil
figures the cartridge can take it that one time in its life.

Popping the axle assembly out of the hub was the hard part.  The various
parts of that assembly -- axle, two bearing cartridges, and two end caps --
are press fit together without any loctite.  I'd expect that Frank could
have saved himself postage and replaced the cartridges with some from his
local bearing supply house.  However, if he'd had the luck I'm having he'd
have paid $20 for a pair, and probably couldn't have found any as nice as
the ones Phil uses.
-- 
****************************************************************************
Eric House			"My employer doesn't share its opinions with
RAAM in '93?		   	 me, so I can share only mine with you"
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
From: Richard_Hennick@mindlink.bc.ca (Richard Hennick)
Subject: Re: measuring chain wear?
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 00:26:35 GMT

> Paul Fox writes:
>
> hi -- i once read a simple rule that could be used to determine if your
> chain needs replacing -- something like "if 10 links measure longer than so
> many inches", or something like that -- can anyone refresh my memory?

According to "Bicycle Maintenance and Repair", it's time to replace a chain
when 12 links measure 12 1/8 inches.  A moment's thought tells me this is
(approximately) equivalent to 1 percent "stretch".

--
| "To use interrupt, master the operations of 8088 and 8259A beforehand" |
| (from Sanyo MBC-550 series Operators Guide, 1984)                      |
|                                      Richard_Hennick@mindlink.bc.ca    |
| interrupt trap halt                                                    |


Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
From: H.ZIERKE@BI-LINK.owl.de (Hans-Joachim Zierke)
Organization: Private Site in Berlin
Subject: Re: Wheel Wonderings
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 13:00:00 +0100
X-Mailer: CrossPoint v2.1 R/211
X-Gateway: ZCONNECT UI bi-link.owl.de [RFC/Connect v0.93]


On 08.01.93, jbrandt@hplred.HPL.HP.COM writes:

> As you roll the wheel around you would find that the remainder of
> the spokes, including the ones below the center, to be a fraction a
> pound tighter because the rim is flattened at the bottom and because
> the perimeter of the rim doesn't shrink, the remainder of the circle
> is slightly enlarged.  

Jobst, 

I had a short look at your study again. With your measurements, I can
explain a lot - thank you for this peace of work. However, there are two 
things left to ask:

1. Apparently, the spokes next to the flatted area get a little bit 
tighter than the other ones around. The difference is small, but I
couldn't find any explanation for this effect.

2. From experimenting, I know that the difference in tension of the 
spokes in the flatted area is heavily affected by the radial stiffness 
of the rim. Looks as if the wheel does not only stand on its spokes. :-)
One example: With a carbon fiber rim I'm able to use a front wheel with
18 spokes (wouldn't try this with a normal one). 

You know all this for sure, but your way of thinking relies on the 
tension force of each spoke. As long as I am only thinking with 
tension forces of the spokes, I cannot explain to myself what happens.


Ciao
Hajo

--
Hans-Joachim Zierke  ##  Tel.: +49-30 / 394 8445  ##  Fax: +49-30 / 394 8447
                         h.zierke@bi-link.owl.de
From: sperzel@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (markus sperzel)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Spokes
Date: 11 Jan 1993 08:27:30 GMT
Organization: TU Darmstadt
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: rbhp62.rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de

Hi everybody,

Two questions:

1)  I've a problem in getting a special type of aerospokes.
    These spokes don't have a head (on the hub side) like other spokes.
    It looks like this:

        Common spoke:

                          I
                          I
                          I
                          I
      Head of spoke    I  I
      (Hub end)   ->   +--+
                       I

        Aero spoke I'm looking for:

                          I
                          I
                          I
                          I
                          I
                        +-+
                        I    <- Here isn't a head, the end looks like
                        I       if a spoke is bowed

   The advantage of this kind of spoke is, that you don't have to
   open the hub to get the flat part of the spoke through the holes
   of the hub. You just put the bowed end of the spoke through the
   holes of the hub. This won't weaken the hubring and it lasts
   longer.
   I saw this kind of spokes at Ricardo Probert's bike at the Students
   Triathlon World Championships at Darmstadt last august. He said he
   bought them in a shop. I forgot to ask him what brand they are.
   So could anybody help me where to find these spokes or what brand
   it is?

2) Ricardo's front wheel missed some spokes. I'm not sure, but I think he
   spoked a 36 hole hub with only 24 spokes (type describbed above). Every
   third spoke missed. (To make sure: I asked him aout this and he said, that
   he spoked it that way)
   Has anybody out there any experience with a wheel spoked this way?
   What would be the best way to spoke a wheel like this (How many
   crossings , what hubs, what rims etc.)?
   Would this be o.k. for somebody who weights 70 - 75 kg?

thanx for every response

/markus

sperzel@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de


Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
From: tthiel@cs.uiuc.edu (Terry Thiel)
Subject: Re: MBA LX review.
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 02:25:08 GMT

cfraser@sol.UVic.CA (Golden Girls) writes:
>I am gonna take a big risk and say something nasty about XTR. Forgive
>my ignorance but I don't know if this has been discussed already this
>year. 
>XTR works very nicely, no doubt. 8 speed, smooth as silk brakes and
>a whole lot of really small touches that really set the group apart
>from anything else I have seen. BUT it costs almost twice as much
>as an XT group. Now, I ask you, has anybody out there had an XTR
>group last as long as 2 XT groups, a group that works 90% as well
>as XTR and is more than adequate for anybody but a very very very
>serious rider (ie PRO). How can somebody justify $200CDN for a

Well that's a good point and one that can be apllied to Dura-Ace and Ultegra
as well. Dura-Ace costs twice as much as Ultegra but does it last twice as
long?  I kinda doubt it.  They're both great groups though.  So is XTR for
that matter but they should provide a thumbshifter option (yes, that again).
-Terry
-- 
-Terry
From: jyk50@quts.ccc.amdahl.com (J Kretschmann III)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Which chain tool?
Date: 6 Jan 93 01:01:42 GMT

In article <1993Jan5.112215.27572@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> pcbk1@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (bryan.s.katz) writes:
>
> ....... which of the chain tools should I get .... <

I have been using the Cyclo Rivoli chain tool for several years.  It is
inexpensive and does the job quite well.
From: Richard_Hennick@mindlink.bc.ca (Richard Hennick)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: measuring chain wear?
Date: 7 Jan 93 20:24:18 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada

> Steven W Bixby writes:
>
> Errrr.....  Since almost all the links are 1/2" long now...  Is this
> 12 links grows to 6 1/8" or 24 links to 12 1/8"?
>
> :-)

Hey, I didn't write the book; I'm only passing on what it says (p.127
in my edition).  Guess I should have given it MORE than a moment's
thought, eh?  :-)

Actually it does say "12 full links".  Perhaps that means a pair?

--
| "To use interrupt, master the operations of 8088 and 8259A beforehand" |
| (from Sanyo MBC-550 series Operators Guide, 1984)                      |
|                                      Richard_Hennick@mindlink.bc.ca    |
| interrupt trap halt                                                    |
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
From: david@postman.gr.osf.org (David George)
Subject: Re: MBA LX review.
Organization: OSF RI Grenoble
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 09:19:05 GMT

In article <truesdel-110193164719@aux-1.ics.uci.edu>, truesdel@ics.uci.edu (Scott Truesdell) writes:
|> Prior to this year there was a big jump from Exage to LX

although not as big as poor guy shelling out hard earned bucks might
think.  For instance with brake lever/shifters from Exage 300LX to
Deore LX there was the not very good STM 0-50.  However the Deore LX
version sported a different part number and a higher price tag.  The
chainset from Exage 500 to LX is also basically the same unit with
better finish (that is, all alloy, possibility of spec'ing round rings).
Theres not a huge weight difference between a Exage 500 and DX groupset
(some DX/XT parts are heavier, but more durable).


David.
From: gustilo@pop-server.upenn.edu
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Comments Wanted: Carmicahel Prod. Pulleys
Date: 5 Jan 93 03:55:54 GMT
Followup-To: rec.bicycles.tech
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

greetings,

Colorado Cyclist has these rear derailleur pulleys that are supposed to
work with Shimano SIS shifters. (Ti, sealed bearings) Anyone else using
them?

It's overkill but my pulleys have gotten ground out from all the mud that
have gotten past the seals and Bullseye pulleys don't work with Shimano
rear derailleur (the guide pulley anyway)

thanks in advance


Standard Disclaimer:
  I am not responsible for comments that I make after 3:00 AM or after five
cups of coffee, whichever comes first.
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech