HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: pho@mserv1.dl.ac.uk (P.Owens,C20,3492)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
Subject: Re: Is there hope (for car drivers) ?
Date: 23 Dec 1992 14:13:53 GMT
Organization: Daresbury Laboratory, UK
Distribution: world
Reply-To: pho@mserv1.dl.ac.uk
NNTP-Posting-Host: nnsx.dl.ac.uk

david@postman.gr.osf.org (David George) wrote:
> The journey covered a distance
> of 14 km (about 9 miles) and the 'driving' time was 1 hour 30 minutes.  I'm
> told this is typical for the 6pm - 7pm post rush hour period.  Sat in the
> car I thought, I could cycle this distance in 40 minutes easily and people do
> this everyday of their working lives !!!
> 
> Now the big problem with cycling around here is pollution, 60% of it caused
> by motorcars.  Catalysors and Lead Free petrol are not that common either.
> Anyone making the jump from car driving to cycling is immediately faced with
> breathing huge quantities of toxic air.  Now I'm planning on moving as I'm seem
> to have developed a whole range of pollution related illnesses, so what hope
> is there ?

The car driver still has to breath the same air (which, if anything, will be
more polluted due to being extracted closer to the ground). The reduced journey
time should more than compensate for the increased breathing rate.

---
Pete Owens
P.Owens@daresbury.ac.uk 

Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
From: apuzzo@rintintin.Colorado.EDU (Tony Apuzzo)
Subject: Re: Where to mailorder 26"x1" tubes?
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 23:21:27 GMT

In article <SCHENG.92Dec24095317@bcarh886.bnr.ca> scheng@bcarh886.bnr.ca (Spencer Cheng) writes:
>In article <1992Dec23.232952.17462@athena.mit.edu> august@athena.mit.edu (Susan K. Raisty) writes:
>
>
>   Subject line says it.  I can't seem to find these tubes ANYWHERE for 
>   a reasonable price.  Nashbar is always out whenever I call, Performance
>   doesn't carry them.  The local shop wants ~$7 (!!!!) per tube!   I have
>   no spares left and am afraid to go anywhere.
>
>Sue,
>
>Try Cyclopedia.
>
>--
>
>Spencer Cheng     scheng@BNR.CA  Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada  613-763-4046

Also try Excel Sports (# is in the FAQ)

I just bought 26x20 (inches by millimeter for some reason) Michelin tubes
from them for about $3 (US) each.


-Tony
-- 
*                                                         
* Be a non-conformist like me and don't use a .sig at all.
*
From: jwgst2+@pitt.edu (James W Gourgoutis)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
Subject: Re: Need to read : Are you an idiot?
Date: 30 Dec 92 22:50:56 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh


	The bottom line, and I don't care what anybody says, is that we have
a legal right to be there.  Bicycles are legitimate vehicles too.  Some people
make their living doing just what this poster describes:  bike messengers.
	Please don't tell me where I can and cannot ride.  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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!" 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-       
-- 
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
From: mike@drseus.jsc.nasa.gov (Mike Ross)
Subject: Re: Need to read : Are you an idiot?
Organization: Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Company
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 20:25:20 GMT

In article <1992Dec30.183114.23396@wam.umd.edu> ozcomert@wam.umd.edu (John Ozcomert) writes:
>In article <1992Dec30.105216.4788@admin1.memst.edu> jasmith@admin1.memst.edu (John) writes:
>>       less than 25 pounds.  So, my question is who are these idiots that
>>       get out on busy streets and ride in the street?  I see these people
>>       out around rush hour on the most travel roads in Memphis.  The traffic 


>>       I ride anywhere from 100 to 200 miles a week depending on how many days 
>John, I'd sign up for an English class or two while I was in college, old pal.
>It would make your ignorant ramblings a little easier to read.
>

Come on, people.  This first guy has a point.  I personally avoid heavy 
traffic if at all possible.  This is a lot like standing up to a policeman,
you may be right, but is it worth it?  

Of course, the guy coulda got his point across in about 10% of the verbage.
He shouldn't worry, I'm sure demanding the right to ride bikes in heavy
traffic is a recessive trait :-).

-- 
******************************** mike@drseus.jsc.nasa.gov *****
* Michael L. Ross/C33 | Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Co.   *
* Robotics Department | 2400 Nasa Rd. 1, Houston, TX 77062    *
*(713)333-7094 voice,(713)333-7201 fax**********boring, eh?****
From: iglesias@draco.acs.uci.edu (Mike Iglesias)
Subject: Popular rec.bicycles archive items
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Date: 29 Dec 92 21:06:11 GMT

The ftpd daemon on my system keeps a log of all anonymous ftp transfers,
so I did a quick check to see what the most popular items in the archive
are.  Here's a list of the top 20 or so items, along with a count of the
number of times that file has been retrieved:

 993 /pub/rec.bicycles/README
 407 /pub/rec.bicycles/lights
 368 /pub/rec.bicycles/pictures/bikerace.gif
 347 /pub/rec.bicycles/pictures/tour-de-france.gif
 320 /pub/rec.bicycles/pictures/c-4.gif
 313 /pub/rec.bicycles/spike.bike1
 298 /pub/rec.bicycles/wintertips
 296 /pub/rec.bicycles/pictures/calhobs_dad_bike.gif
 286 /pub/rec.bicycles/competitive.nutrition
 253 /pub/rec.bicycles/pictures/tourdupont92.gif
 247 /pub/rec.bicycles/bike_power.doc
 246 /pub/rec.bicycles/biking_log.hqx
 246 /pub/rec.bicycles/bike_power.c
 238 /pub/rec.bicycles/spike.bike2
 233 /pub/rec.bicycles/pictures/dinocar.gif
 232 /pub/rec.bicycles/spike.bike3
 230 /pub/rec.bicycles/biking_log.doc
 224 /pub/rec.bicycles/spike.bike9
 224 /pub/rec.bicycles/spike.bike4
 222 /pub/rec.bicycles/spike.bike5
 220 /pub/rec.bicycles/spike.bike8
 220 /pub/rec.bicycles/spike.bike7
 216 /pub/rec.bicycles/spike.bike6
 205 /pub/rec.bicycles/spikes.bike
 202 /pub/rec.bicycles/bike.painting
From: doc@webrider.central.sun.com (Steve Bunis)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
Subject: Re: dogs & rocks
Date: 21 Dec 1992 23:33:45 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: doc@webrider.central.sun.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: webrider.central.sun.com

In article 14621@athena.mit.edu, karen@athena.mit.edu (Karen E. Walrath) writes:
> In article <1992Dec21.143955.9155@bnr.ca> rob@bnr.ca (Robert Perkins) writes:
> >I'm sure rocks work great, and you can throw them
> >while riding, but personally I've found a "wrist-rocket" slingshot
> >with steel ball-bearings to be the best antidote to Georgia hounds
> >(when I lived in Georgia).  For those of you who don't know what
> >a "wrist-rocket" is, it is a slingshot that uses surgical tubing
> >for elastic.  
> >
> >Rob
> >
> Sounds neat.  How do you make one?  Certainly bikies have plenty of 
> used up bearings for ammunition!
> 
> Karen Walrath
> MIT

What I want to know is how you shoot it while maintaining speed and
staying in the road.  Riding with no hands is one thing, avoiding
a dog and shooting at it with the slingshot sounds like a reeeeeeal
good time.

---
Steve Bunis, Sun Microsystems

Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
From: flip@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Phillip D. Russell)
Subject: Re: dogs & rocks
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 10:03:54 GMT

In article <1992Dec21.054045.16718@news.ysu.edu> ae505@yfn.ysu.edu (Frank Krygowski) writes:
>
>But I started my biking career in northwest Georgia, and it was a 
>different world!  Getting dog-chased once per mile was ridiculously
>typical.  Not much sympathy from the owners, either.
>
>My wife got really rattled, and is still scared of dogs when biking.
>(Well, have YOU ever had a 100 pound mutt sink its teeth into your
>panniers as you rode? )   So, I developed techniques to deal with
>them.
>

When I bought my tandem, I noticed that the dogs wouldn't chase us
on it. They always stop and stare. Strange thing.

Has anyone else had anything similar occur or is this just a sign that
there are weird dogs around here?

Flip


-- 
    __@  __@        Phillip "Flip" Russell  | Purdue University
  _-\<, -\<,_       flip@sage.cc.purdue.edu | West Lafayette, IN
 (_)/---|/-(_)      The important things...
		  My bikes and my Macintosh
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
From: jkb@suned1.Nswses.Navy.Mil (John K Bunk)
Organization: NSWSES Code 4g13 - Opinions: Are Mine Alone
Subject: Re: Need to read : Are you an idiot?
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 09:35:53 -0800
X-Received: by usenet.pa.dec.com; id AA27380; Thu, 31 Dec 92 10:11:30 -0800
X-Received: by inet-gw-1.pa.dec.com; id AA10321; Thu, 31 Dec 92 10:11:22 -0800
X-Received: by suned1.Nswses.Navy.Mil (4.1/Nswses4.1.2_920723eb)
	id AA18648; Thu, 31 Dec 92 09:35:54 PST
X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.2.3 5/22/91)
X-To: rec.bicycles.misc.usenet

>       stupid stuff like that.  I see these people and some times I'd like to
>       open my passenger door and knock them down or just run them off the
>       road.  And you know what's really bad.  I'm a fellow bicyclist.

I don't know if I consider myself a true bicyclist, but when I'm stuck
in heavy traffic and see someone fighting it with a bicycle, I think
to myself:
"I should be out there on a bicycle with him (her)"
"Why don't more car driving slobs ride bikes"
"Why doesn't this road have any accomodations for bicycles"

BTW, I used to live in Western Pa. area.  If I had to avoid all roads
which had heavy traffic and no accomodations for bikes, I wouldn't be
riding.  Period.
(However, in California, bikes are somewhat tolerated)

P.S.:  Sorry I didn't post this in .soc

-- 
                      John Bunk, Code 4G13, NSWC-PHD 
                       jkb@suned1.nswses.navy.mil
    Any statements / opinions made here are mine, alone, not the Navy's.
              But that's OK, the Navy is usually wrong anyhow.
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.tech,aus.bicycles
From: pardo@cs.washington.edu (David Keppel)
Subject: Re: Automatic transmissions for bikes
Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, U. of Washington, Seattle
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 92 07:23:47 GMT

EPLUS17@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu (Richard Engelbrecht-Wiggans) writes:
>[Easy to shift?  Enclose it and welcome to the 3-speed hub.
> I think 10-speed appeal killed them.]

They didn't die, they are alive and well in Europe and Japan.  Some
expensive bikes in China are also outfitted with them, but they are
less reliable and more expensive than the traditional single-speed
setup.

Hub gears are also less efficient than clean derailleur gears.  For
competative cyclists, the lack of ratios and inferior weight and
efficiency mean that derailleurs are preferred.  For casual cyclists
they are entirely appropriate.

Hub gears also don't shift as well as clean derailleur gears.  Again,
for casual cyclists, this is not a problem.

Hub gears also hav ethe advantage that they can be combined with a
chain case to produce a bike that wears out very slowly and is very
inexpensive to operate.  This is something that the europens have
recognized for a long time but which seems to be irrelevant for the US
market.


I recall a shop manager who told me that they were unreliable.  When
pressed for details, he said it was because they never got service.  I
pointed out that he was always bitching about how people never
serviced their derailleur gearsets and that I had an SA hub that had
seen daily use for 30 years, having been lubricated maybe a dozen
times, yet it still worked.  He then decided that the problem was that
*when* they needed service they were expensive to repair because the
only thing the shop guys knew how to do was unscrew the old guts and
screw in the new guts.  Ah, so they're expensive to repair because
nobody uses them and when they do, they take years before they break.
What was that about them being unreliable?  Finally he said well *I*
don't like them.  At least he admitted his bias was personal and not
technical.

	;-D oN  ( As the topic shifts gears )  Pardo
From: Howard.Gerber@f88.n106.z1.fidonet.org (Howard Gerber)
Sender: Jpunix@urchin.fidonet.org
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
Subject: Re: Automatic transmissions for bikes
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 19:26:40 -0500

In a message to All, Ray Downes (1:106/88.0) writes:

 RD> who wouldn't or couldn't figure out how to use their
 RD> multi-gear bike. Many riders even today, owning 14-24
 RD> speed bikes, don't know how to get the next higher gear
 RD> ratio, and tend to struggle along with same maybe 3-4 gear

My eight-year-old daughter figured out how to shift her 18-speed Giant Awesome
in just one afternoon. Can it be that much harder for the average "adult" ?

 RD> For "the masses", who have no interest in swapping
 RD> gears, instead of a automatic transmission, how about
 RD> a intellegent shift lever, i.e. one that decides what
 RD> the next higher (or lower) gear-inch combo is and
 RD> single or double shifts as required.

 RD> I'm picturing a single lever, perhaps using a shift
 RD> drum as in some motorcycle transmissions, where a single
 RD> shift "up", does a single or

You are inventing a complex mechanism where none is needed. Those who have no
interest in "swapping gears" are generally quite content to ride a single-speed
bicycle. Casual riders generally buy their bicycles at department or discount
stores. Your mechanism would not only have to make the simple task of shifting
gears idiot-proof, it would also have to be able to be manufactured for less
than a $15 derailleur in order to find it's way on bicycles used by these
riders. If 15 minutes of instruction can save about 20 pounds of gizmos, why
invent the gizmos?

I think that Richard Engelbrecht-Wiggans was right when he described the
Sturmey-Archer planetary gear hub as the solution for those who really want a
simple, reliable commuting transmission. The problem is, as Richard points out,
the casual rider thinks that more gears will make him go faster without doing
any work.

From: apm@hpopd.pwd.hp.com (Andrew Merritt)
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 11:58:54 GMT
Subject: Re: Is there hope (for car drivers) ?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, CCSY Messaging Centre, UK.
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc

I wrote:
>|> What makes you think the car drivers are not also breathing in the fumes?
david@postman.gr.osf.org (David George) replies:
>Well for one thing the tendency for cars now to be fitted with filtered
>air intakes.  This practise has even 'filtered' down to the Opel (GM) Astra
>and features in their advertising.  So now the drivers are even more
>insulated from the pollution they alone cause !

I hadn't realised this feature was now fitted on such cars.  This strikes me
as an unfortunate development; the cars should be changed to stop emitting
the fumes, not to stop picking them up.  How efficient are the filters,
though?  I don't think you can filter out CO, for example.

Andrew
From: jasmith@admin1.memst.edu (John)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
Subject: Need to read : Are you an idiot?
Date: 30 Dec 92 10:52:16 -0600
Organization: Memphis State University

            The facts are that a car's weigh over a ton and a bike weigh
       less than 25 pounds.  So, my question is who are these idiots that
       get out on busy streets and ride in the street?  I see these people
       out around rush hour on the most travel roads in Memphis.  The traffic 
       is almost bumper to bumper, and you have some idiot on his bike in the 
       right hand lane slowing traffic up.  All I want to know is who are you
       people?  What is going on in your head?  Your asking for trouble doing
       stupid stuff like that.  I see these people and some times I'd like to
       open my passenger door and knock them down or just run them off the
       road.  And you know what's really bad.  I'm a fellow bicyclist.
       I ride anywhere from 100 to 200 miles a week depending on how many days 
       I have to ride.  Usually 50 miles on saturday and sunday and 20 miles
       on week days.  I don't know their may be some of you people that ride
       a lot more than I do, but I also swim for an hour twice a week and 
       run three times about 10 miles.  I consider myself a execise nut.  But
       all I'm asking is why do you people have to ride in the worse time of
       day in the worse areas.  I suggest taking back streets, finding less
       populated areas to ride, because their is no sense in giving the rest
       of us a bad name just because you want to bike down the middle of the
       interstate, or whatever.  I know what some of you are going to tell me.
       We can't ride on other streets because their not as clean and we get 
       flats more often.  My answer is give up you road bike and get a mountain
       bike.  If the streets are fit for your road bike then you need to switch
       to a mountain bike.  I've got a nice TREK racing bike and I really love
       the bike, but I can't ride it anywhere, and I get flat more often than 
       on my Mountain bike.  What I do is majority of the time I ride my
       mountain bike, and occasionally I take a cleaner route just to get 
       some riding time on my TREK.  My set up is Mountain bike for training
       and the road bike for racing.  Mainly what I'm saying to the people 
       that insist on riding on main streets during rush hour.  It's not safe,
       because there is more chance for an accident and there is a bigger
       chance somebody is going to run you off the road.
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
From: galettow@iastate.edu (Greg A Lettow)
Subject: suspension, how to choose?
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 15:54:08 GMT

I'm an off road rider who weighs about 230 I'm 6'7" and am in the market for a suspension fork for my Gary Fisher.  When I asked for advice from my local shops every one gave me a different answer as to which style (air-oil, spring, elastomer) of shock would best suit my needs as a larger rider.  If there is anybody out there who has any advice at all please respond to this post.


			Thanks,
				Greg
	 
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
From: flip@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Phillip D. Russell)
Subject: Re: Need to read : Are you an idiot?
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 17:59:28 GMT

In article <1992Dec30.105216.4788@admin1.memst.edu> jasmith@admin1.memst.edu (John) writes:
>            The facts are that a car's weigh over a ton and a bike weigh
>       less than 25 pounds.  So, my question is who are these idiots that
>       get out on busy streets and ride in the street?  I see these people
>       out around rush hour on the most travel roads in Memphis.  The traffic 
>       is almost bumper to bumper, and you have some idiot on his bike in the 
>       right hand lane slowing traffic up.  All I want to know is who are you
>       people?  What is going on in your head? 

Probably traveling to or from work just as you were in your polluter.

A lot of us bike as transportation and don't waste our cash on cars.

Flip


-- 
    __@  __@        Phillip "Flip" Russell  | Purdue University
  _-\<, -\<,_       flip@sage.cc.purdue.edu | West Lafayette, IN
 (_)/---|/-(_)      The important things...
		  My bikes and my Macintosh
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
From: jeff@is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Jeff McAffer)
Subject: Re: dogs & rocks
Reply-To: jeff@is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Organization: University of Tokyo / Object Technology International
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 08:18:33 GMT
X-Bytes: 279

In article <1992Dec28.083746.20256@schbbs.mot.com> A10377@waccvm.corp.mot.com (Michael Duke) writes:

 >The dogs don't know any better but you should.

I agree entirely.  That's why I throw the rocks at the owners if at
all possible.

--
--
ato de, |m        -- Death by stereo!
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
From: "Michael Smith" <p00004@psilink.com>
Subject: Re: A friend went down
Organization: Performance Systems Int'l
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 21:00:59 GMT
X-Mailer: PSILink-DOS (3.3)

>DATE:   18 Dec 1992 16:44:38 GMT
>FROM:   Jeff Bernhard <jeffb@csd.harris.com>

[....]
>Dale was riding on a bike
>path, and [...] a witness saw the motorist driving in a straight line
>at reasonable speed, and then suddenly swerve off the road and strike
>Dale on this path. Also unofficial is the driver's explanation that he
>fell asleep at the wheel.
[....]
>I can't help but wonder how many accidents involving cyclists and
>motorists could be avoided if the latter were more aware of cyclists,
>and law enforcement more willing to enforce the laws that protect us
>on the road.
[....]
>And I have a question: I have heard of an Effective Cycling course (named
>after the book), and wonder how our club could sponsor such a course. Does
>anyone know if any particular organization offers such a course, or does
>anyone know of any qualified instructors for same?

The nature of this accident (assuming the reports you cite above are 
true) demonstrates to me the fundamental craziness of a car-dependent 
transportation infrastructure: namely, that it makes unreasonable 
demands on human nature. Doesn't sound as if the driver was malicious, 
or drunk, or doing something illegal. He just fell asleep. Well, people 
do that all the time. Transportation arrangements that assign this kind 
of dreadful consequences to ordinary human frailties are simply nutty, 
in my opinion.

Although I certainly agree with you about law enforcement, it's hard to 
see how that would have helped in this case. Much less "effective 
cycling," unless it confers eyes in the back of one's head, and the 
power of levitation. 

--Michael Smith
From: ercn72@festival.ed.ac.uk (R.J.Hare)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
Subject: Riding in icy conditions
Date: 22 Dec 92 16:23:43 GMT

Thanks to all who responded to my recent query about 'winter tyres' (though
that post may have been to rec.bicycles, can't remember now).

I have another query. When riding in icy/frosty conditions, is it better to
stick in a low gear or a high gear. I ask this because when I came of my bike
in the ice a fortnight ago, I was in a low gear (on a hill), and seemed to
come off the bike when I exerted pressure on the pedals to get moving up the
hill. Would I have been better off in a higher gear? Is this a meaningful
question?

Please excuse my denseness - I've always put the bike away in the wintertime
in the past.

Thanks

Roger Hare.
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.tech,aus.bicycles