ROLLCALL: Who's Driving / Peddling / Floating / Flying What [Archive]

Explorer

07-29-2005, 03:34 PM

I kinda sorta built my own bicycle a while back, starting with a Rockford alloy frame and added parts as I went -- top-line Shimano pedals, 24-speed drive train, derailleur, and alloy rims; Hot Chili suspension, somebody-or-another's alloy handlebars, etc. Now it's a real road warrior, basically a mountain bike with smooth street rubber instead of knobby tread.

Got a van and a car as well.

jtr1962

07-29-2005, 04:35 PM

Here's my wheels:

http://home.nyc.rr.com/jtr1962/Raleigh.JPG

Drive train: 14-speed manual shift, 12-23 7-gear rear sprocket, 42-53 front chainring

Performance Specifications:

Acceleration (level ground, no wind, rider feeling good):

0-20 mph.......4.5 seconds
0-30 mph......11.0 seconds

Top Speed

~35 mph (level ground)
65 mph (maximum attained speed on long downhill with tailwind)

Cruising speed (level ground, no wind)

(continuous)....22 to 25 mph
(5 minutes)..............30 mph
(30 seconds)...........35 mph

No car, no driver's license.

Buck

07-29-2005, 04:39 PM

Hey, those are the same performance specs that I get with my car!

Corvair

07-29-2005, 05:42 PM

Hey, those are the same performance specs that I get with my car!

Probably not as bad as this one...

http://www.classiccarsrotting.com/ccrtour3/images/web/0478.jpg

Corvair

07-29-2005, 05:51 PM

Here's my wheels:

Every once in a while, I'll see someone pedaling along on a bike with wheel fairings (¿spoke fairings?).

I've always wondered if wheel fairings might cause you to vere off course if a gust of wind should hit you.

http://www.merit.edu/~rjd/TTbigger.GIF If there was ever a bike for lunatics, here's one <chuckle>

Drakantus

07-29-2005, 06:14 PM

I still have my VW Jetta GLI. I still love it, but for monetary reasons I'll be selling it as soon as I can find a new place.

Mercutio

07-29-2005, 06:30 PM

Mostly I am immobile. It suits me.

I own three cars. I really only drive one of them. There's a silver one, a black one and another black one.

Transportation is boring.

ddrueding

07-29-2005, 07:33 PM

I sold my GTI for a 2003 VW Golf: better milage and I needed to be ticket-free for a while to get my licence back. I've done over 78,000 miles in the last 2 years, and I don't see gas prices coming down any time soon, and I have my licence back so I can afford some more performance...so I think I'll be switching to one a 600cc sport bike.

Practical? Not really, but I can use the excuse of better milage, better traffic management, cheaper insurance, and no payments to justify such a choice.

I keep meaning to take my rollerblades out. I live a block from a beautiful bike trail that follows the ocean for a dozen miles or more, I could certainly use the excercise.

jtr1962

07-29-2005, 07:35 PM

Every once in a while, I'll see someone pedaling along on a bike with wheel fairings (¿spoke fairings?).

I've always wondered if wheel fairings might cause you to vere off course if a gust of wind should hit you.

Generally it's only a problem if you have a fairing on the front wheel. I tried that, BTW. In crosswinds the handlebars were literally yanked right out from my hands so I decided to go with the rear fairing only. For a given amount of pedaling output, the rear fairing seems to offer about a 1.5 to 2 mph speed increase. The front one gave about twice that but required dead calm conditions to be safe. Combined, I'd say they were good for a 4 to 5 mph speed boost which is nothing to sneeze at.

http://www.merit.edu/~rjd/TTbigger.GIF If there was ever a bike for lunatics, here's one <chuckle>

Actually, next time I get a bike that's exactly what I want. My present bike is fine and I won't spend the money for another unless it gives me a huge speed increase over what I have now. Sadly, bikes like that are not really affordable yet. I don't know why they're not mass produced as they're superior in every way to conventional bikes.

Groltz

07-29-2005, 09:31 PM

...Still haven't sold it (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/groltz/FrontRight2.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/groltz/Thinkingof_.gif

Santilli

07-29-2005, 10:19 PM

1988 Toyota Tercel, ez. Has 240 thousand miles, no oil rings, but excellent compression. Homage to Castrol GTX 20-50W oil.

I've got a Casati sitting in storage, and a Gitane Tour DeFrance, waiting to get to a place that's safe to ride them, like the beach. Looked at houses in Pacifica today.

My SO's car is a 1989 Mercedes 300S, IIRC. Even with a good mechanic, the repairs are terrifying...

I've REALLY got to pass the bar ASAP. This special ed teaching stuff isn't cutting it, money wise...

s

Santilli

07-29-2005, 10:20 PM

http://www.ciclicasati.it/EN/azienda.htm

s

Will Rickards

07-30-2005, 12:45 AM

1999 Saturn SL2
1994 Honda Accord LX
Target special ($60) mountain bike for exercise.

Tannin

07-30-2005, 02:06 AM

2005 Subaru Forester
Trackball for exercise. Sometime I do a few rounds of the keyboard just to tone my body up.

tazwegion

07-30-2005, 07:32 AM

Well here's my daily transport...

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4048/jroo23dw.jpg

And we take this out on weekends... to go fishing :P

http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/7131/temp5oo.jpg

Fushigi

07-30-2005, 08:45 AM

Motorized: '99 Mitsubishi Galant LS, 104K miles.
Human-powered: Miyata TripleCross from around 1994. With our heat wave, it hasn't seen much activity this year.

MaxBurn

07-30-2005, 08:46 AM

In the tag line.

jtr1962

07-30-2005, 09:21 AM

Human-powered: Miyata TripleCross from around 1994. With our heat wave, it hasn't seen much activity this year.
Don't feel bad. The rear derailleur on my Raleigh is broke so combined with the heat wave it hasn't seen much use either. Hopefully in the fall I'll be able to do a good 1000 miles or so. Not riding makes me feel lethargic.

Howell

07-30-2005, 10:23 AM

2001 VW Jetta GLX VR6 5SP
1987 Subaru GL 4WD 3AT
1985 Subaru GL-10 3AT
1970 BMW R75/5
Spare 2.2L Subaru engine

1995 Gary Fisher 17.5" Mountain bike built from the frame up in '95.

jtr, I may have a spare road derailleur in storage if that is all you are waiting for. Also did you try a deep walled rim or just the full disk. They were invented for the problem you/Gary describe.

e_dawg

07-30-2005, 12:18 PM

2002 Jetta GLS VR6 5sp (http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=401818)

Next car, in order or probability:

Acura TL
BMW 325i
Mercedes SLK 280
Infiniti G35c
Volvo S40 T5

LOST6200

07-30-2005, 01:24 PM

Mostly I am immobile. It suits me.

I own three cars. I really only drive one of them. There's a silver one, a black one and another black one.

Why are there three cars for a single guy? I imagine the insurance is a killer for all three cars, or are some unlicensed?

Mercutio

07-30-2005, 02:10 PM

One of them is in long-term storage and not driveable. Insurance is just another check I have to write. Not a big deal. At one time I even had another car, but I gave it to my ex-.
Someday I'm going to get rid of one of my cars for a van or something a little more practical for my needs (I need to haul things around fairly often, and I hate trucks and SUVs), but I don't place any kind of premium on transportation, so it's not likely to happen any time soon.

tazwegion

07-30-2005, 03:04 PM

Geez Merc'... that was nice to give your X a car, ummm... were the brakes okay? :lol: :roll:

LOST6200

07-30-2005, 03:17 PM

I don't know how to pilot an airplane or a boat, or even ride a bicycle. :(

Steve,

Are you selling the truck or the plane behind it? :mrgrn:

Mercutio

07-30-2005, 03:43 PM

Geez Merc'... that was nice to give your X a car, ummm... were the brakes okay? :lol: :roll:

Trust me, you don't want to get into it.

Groltz

07-30-2005, 03:56 PM

Steve,

Are you selling the truck or the plane behind it?

The truck, Eric. :wink:

I don't think my boss would like me hanging a "For Sale" sign on his 757.

LunarMist

07-30-2005, 04:22 PM

Geez Merc'... that was nice to give your X a car, ummm... were the brakes okay? :lol: :roll:

Not funny at all. You really have not been around long enough to make those kind of bad-taste jokes. ;)

Groltz

07-30-2005, 05:13 PM

Not funny at all. You really have not been around long enough to make those kind of bad-taste jokes. ;)

@tazwegion

Our friend Mercutio has had some extraordinarily lamentable life experiences in the last few years concerning the factor you/he mentioned.

To be neighborly, it might be suggested to not draw focus on that topic regardless of his occasional references.

-- My http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/groltz/twocents.gif

blakerwry

07-30-2005, 05:59 PM

I'm still driving the ScionTC... now up to 4000 miles.

http://justblake.com/ScionTC2/

I recently sold my old mountain bike (too small to be practical for me anyway) at garage sale.

I might think more about riding a bike after I move depending on the space available. We really have some nice parks just a short distance from where I live that are pretty inviting for bike riders and the like.

Handruin

07-30-2005, 07:41 PM

I'm still driving my 2004 TSX (http://www.handruin.com/link_img/tsx/tsx2.jpg), 6 speed MT (http://www.handruin.com/link_img/tsx/tsx1.jpg). I considered selling it a few months ago, but I decided to keep her. I have 37,000 on it right now, and so far it's still running good.

tazwegion

07-31-2005, 10:57 AM

Not funny at all. You really have not been around long enough to make those kind of bad-taste jokes. ;)

I'm sorry... but no time, is a good time for my dark humour :P

As for extraordinarily lamentable life experiences... take a number and get in line buddy, I just choose not to dwell on it looking for the upbeat side in everything ;)

I guess, I'm just used to the free-for-all (though moderated) style of larger forums, I will however endeavour to adjust to the conservative ethos @ this on-line community :)

Taz.

Mercutio

08-01-2005, 10:27 AM

Thank you Lunar and Groltz.

Taz, you have to understand that there is forum history on that one particular subject.

Normally we do strive to have open fora - 95% of our moderator action is to remove spam/commercial speech or (Santilli's) duplicated posts. That's because the people who visit here tend to be fairly respectful in tone most of the time (in fact, I'm probably the worst offender in that regard). We almost never NEED moderation.

This may be a different style of forum than what you're used to, but for the most part (save the occasional descent in to silliness a la recent discussions of vegemite), our signal to noise ratio is very high. I think the people who come here are proud of that, and that is probably a reason we have survived as a community.

Splash

08-01-2005, 10:56 AM

Splash

08-01-2005, 11:17 AM

http://www.merit.edu/~rjd/TTbigger.GIF

Actually, next time I get a bike that's exactly what I want. My present bike is fine and I won't spend the money for another unless it gives me a huge speed increase over what I have now. Sadly, bikes like that are not really affordable yet. I don't know why they're not mass produced as they're superior in every way to conventional bikes.

Hmmm... Methinks you'd sweat to death inside that aerodynamic shell. This would be a bike better suited for those near-freezing -- and colder -- days.

Even though I see them around more, I believe recumbent bikes are quite expensive still.

e_dawg

08-01-2005, 11:46 AM

e_dawg

08-01-2005, 11:47 AM

Correction:

there = the

Santilli

08-01-2005, 12:12 PM

Yes, it certainly is interesting how there are so many Aussies on this forum. Has it been through word of mouth (e.g., Tannin, Pradeep, et al spreading the word) or does SF project a massive banner ad onto the Opera House at night? :)

For that matter, there number of Canadians on this forum are slightly higher than average as well...

And yet, this community is so inclusionary of foreigners. This isn't the American way, is it? 8)

What ever do you mean? We invite in half of Mexico, and they are now the majority of Kalifornia, and you say we don't include foreigners? We even include illegal foreigners, in particular, giving them celebrity status. They get drivers licenses, never get deported, unless they commit murder, full health and education benefits, etc. They are pretty much immune from prosecution, unless a DA really wants to go after them.

Come to Kalifornia: Be a Mexican gang member, take over the state, sell drugs, we love you!!! :wink:

Heck, we don't have enough border patrol to make sure terrorists don't get in, leaving that to the intelligence community, I HOPE!!!

s

Santilli

08-01-2005, 12:14 PM

I forgot to mention: MUCH better to be illegal, then legal here. To actually become a legal US citizen takes years of buercrappacy to get through.

s

CougTek

08-01-2005, 04:53 PM

It would be really pissing to see JTR on his bike with wings, in New York, trying to pass between two lines of yellow cabs taxis.

I have a silver Minelli mountain bike, but I haven't ride it enough this summer.

Tannin

08-01-2005, 05:16 PM

Huh? Who said anything about the American way? This is a forum for the worldwide Englidh speaking community, Santilli, but we also try to welcome Americans.

Tannin

08-01-2005, 05:17 PM

Woops .... I mean E_dawg.

Tannin

08-01-2005, 05:21 PM

As for being originally from Tasmania, so am I.

In fact, my great, great, great grandfather was sent on a nice long trip to Port Arthur for stealing a piece of cloth. (Not sure if I have the correct number of "greats" in that sentence.)

Santilli

08-01-2005, 05:53 PM

Huh? Who said anything about the American way? This is a forum for the worldwide Englidh speaking community, Santilli, but we also try to welcome Americans.
Actually, this is a far more liberal community then that. We have Dolphins, Orange people, Owls, etc. In fact, we english speaking humans maybe in the definite minority. We even have 15th Century Dead Italians running around...
:wink:
Computer Generated Babies, Giants, etc.

I forgot my punchline to the entire illegal alien thing: We even let illegal aliens in, and allow them to govern the state of Kalifornia. :mrgrn:

s

Handruin

08-01-2005, 11:41 PM

Since this topic covers floating, does anyone here partake in kayaking? I'm looking to get into this, as I've had fun using a friend's kayak in the past and I'd like to eventually buy my own.

Howell

08-01-2005, 11:59 PM

Since this topic covers floating, does anyone here partake in kayaking? I'm looking to get into this, as I've had fun using a friend's kayak in the past and I'd like to eventually buy my own.

Every once in a while. Are you considering whitewater or open water or perhaps creek boating?

Handruin

08-02-2005, 06:40 AM

No whitewater, mostly calmer open water/ocean/bay areas. I was looking at Old Town (http://www.otccanoe.com/), since that's the only exposure I've had to Kayaks so far. I was considering a day touring boat such as the Nantucket (http://www.otccanoe.com/kayaks_nantucket.php).

I've read Pros and Cons over plastic kayaks vs. Fiberglass and I'm leaning towards a plastic boat. The fiberglass are significantly more expensive (roughly $1500 more, or 2.5x the cost) and considering it will be my first kayak, I'd rather not wreck a $2500 boat until I learn how to truly use one.

I'll need to see the boats in person before making a choice. If you have other recommendations/suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

tazwegion

08-02-2005, 08:28 AM

Tazwegion:

Even though your sidebar says that you hale from somewhere in the midst of Victoria, your name implies that you are/were Tasmanian. Just in case you haven't discovered it yet, our own Pradeep / Dwunken Baztard is (was?) from Taz.

Hmmm... nah never been a resident of the Apple Isle merely a tourist, the name is actually derived from 2 sources... firstly my fascination with the Warner Bros. character Taz, and secondly during the late 80's 27Mhz Citizens Band radio was into yet another boom... 'tazwegion' @ the time was used to describe a distant station, at times it feels that Australia is so far from the rest of the world I figured it still kinda' applied ;)

AS for finding this site... it was hyperlinked from Tannin's I guess it's hard to keep a good thing secret! :mrgrn:

Tannin

08-02-2005, 09:04 AM

So, you're saying it's all my fault?

Tannin

08-02-2005, 09:04 AM

Tea, we could get in trouble for this.

Tea

08-02-2005, 09:05 AM

What do you mean we? I had nothing to do with it.

Buck

08-02-2005, 10:04 AM

So, you're saying it's all my fault?

It really puts you in a bind when you blame all your schizophrenic sock puppets, and they rightfully plead not-guilty.

Santilli

08-02-2005, 10:09 AM

Since this topic covers floating, does anyone here partake in kayaking? I'm looking to get into this, as I've had fun using a friend's kayak in the past and I'd like to eventually buy my own.

Ny version of kayaks....

http://www.rawsonsurfboards.com/boards.html

:wink:

s

Buck

08-02-2005, 10:13 AM

Buck's idea of a surfboard:

http://www.pintailyachts.com/images/duchbg.jpg

Tea

08-02-2005, 10:13 AM

Well excuse me!

Who is the schizophrenic one? Which one of us does the imagining, huh? Do I walk around all day talking to an imaginary human? Do I have stupid sock puppets of myself popping up at the slightest opportunity? Do I finish every second post by shouting bring back (some ever-more absurd anacronism)?

tazwegion

08-02-2005, 02:58 PM

So, you're saying it's all my fault?

No... never (nor your sock puppet) :P

I was merely replying to Santilli's query as to why there were so many Australians on this forum @ present, and detailing the logical sequence of events that led me here eventually :eekers:

BTW how's that site update going? :lol:

adriel

09-02-2005, 06:59 AM

I have a Giant hybrid bicycle. However, I have left it at home and stopped using it because it is more expensive than operating a vehicle. The cost of maintaining the bicycle, buying food on the go, energy drinks, power bars, and the time lost due to slower speed was many multiples more expensive than gasoline.

So I bought my first car. It is a 2005 Mazda RX8 6-spd. Eats gasoline and 5w20 oil, but I don't care since it is still cheaper than the bicycle, plus it is fun to drive.

In the water, I have several methods at my disposal, whether performing surface or subsurface travel.

http://www.underway.us/3dss/rx8_2.jpg

exterior (http://www.underway.us/3dss/rx8_1.jpg)