What can you do with an electric bike?
12 January 2020
11 January 2020
The Mountain Bike Becomes A City Slicker
A while back, I got a '90's Cannondale mountain bike for not very much. I could have ridden it as-is, replacing only the shifter. But I decided to make it into a second city bike-commuter, sharing duties with my Fuji Allegro.
One thing I really didn't was the suspension fork that came with the bike. For my intended purposes, I don't need a suspension fork. Also, I didn't want to hunt down parts (like elastomers) for a fork that hasn't been made in about 20 years.
I know the steel fork that's on the bike now looks out of proportion to the oversized aluminum tubes of the frame. But it'll do the job and I'm not too worried about the looks of this bike. If anything, I'm hoping that its steampipe visuals will allow me to park it on the street without too many worries.
Some of the parts--like that seatpost and seat collar--I had lying around. (I'm not lying.) As was typical of mountain bikes of the time, the Cannondale came with a quick-release seat collar--which makes it easy for casual thieves to take your seat and seatpost!
I would have kept the wheels, which consisted mostly of no-name components. But I got a really good buy on a pair of Sun CR18 rims. They're a 26 inch version of the 700C rims on the Fuji, which have served me well.
Whatever this bike lacks in aesthetics, I think it more than compensates in simplicity and usefulness. Yes, that's a Velo Orange Porteur handlebar, in the 22.2 size.
On a bike like this, I don't expect a ride anything like that of any of my Mercians. For that matter, I didn't expect anything even as nimble as the Fuji--which isn't set up for that. But I have been pleasantly surprised. My commutes and errands don't seem any slower than they've been on the Fuji. An added bonus is that I can ride through just about any pothole or other obstacle without a second thought.
One thing I really didn't was the suspension fork that came with the bike. For my intended purposes, I don't need a suspension fork. Also, I didn't want to hunt down parts (like elastomers) for a fork that hasn't been made in about 20 years.
I know the steel fork that's on the bike now looks out of proportion to the oversized aluminum tubes of the frame. But it'll do the job and I'm not too worried about the looks of this bike. If anything, I'm hoping that its steampipe visuals will allow me to park it on the street without too many worries.
Some of the parts--like that seatpost and seat collar--I had lying around. (I'm not lying.) As was typical of mountain bikes of the time, the Cannondale came with a quick-release seat collar--which makes it easy for casual thieves to take your seat and seatpost!
I would have kept the wheels, which consisted mostly of no-name components. But I got a really good buy on a pair of Sun CR18 rims. They're a 26 inch version of the 700C rims on the Fuji, which have served me well.
Whatever this bike lacks in aesthetics, I think it more than compensates in simplicity and usefulness. Yes, that's a Velo Orange Porteur handlebar, in the 22.2 size.
On a bike like this, I don't expect a ride anything like that of any of my Mercians. For that matter, I didn't expect anything even as nimble as the Fuji--which isn't set up for that. But I have been pleasantly surprised. My commutes and errands don't seem any slower than they've been on the Fuji. An added bonus is that I can ride through just about any pothole or other obstacle without a second thought.
10 January 2020
Bike Thieves Meet The Id
Alert: I will talk politics and religion in this post.
Donald Trump may well be the first American president to rule entirely by his id.
That's the part of our psyche that reacts to immediate needs and impulses. Much of our education and acculturation is, essentially, training in not living by our ids. Of course, your teachers, parents and other authority figures don't tell you that (unless, perhaps, they're psychologists or psychiatirists). In my milieu, I don't think anyone had even heard of that two-letter term, just as they never used words like milieu. I didn't hear such words until I went to college.
Because of such training, most of us will only go so far in response to being wronged. I don't think any previous president would have assassinated the military leader of another country because, well, the leaders of their country did things we didn't like. (And he said he was doing it to prevent a war: Even Rudy Giuliani would have a hard time being more Orwellian!) Likewise, most sexual abuse victims won't do what a 19-year-old in France did to the priest who sexually abused him and his father: He rammed a crucifix down the prelate's throat.
I have retaliated with physical violence once in my life, when someone tried to sexually assault me. I'll admit I've thought about reacting with force, but didn't, on more than a few occasions. And I have made threatening gestures against potential aggressors--including a would-be bike thief I scared away.
I'll admit that at the moment I confronted the perp, I thought about doing what a couple in Visalia, California did. Corey Curnutt and Savannah Grillot baited would-be bike thieves with a bike planted in their front yard. When someone tried to steal it, they rushed out and beat, with baseball bats, the person who tried to take it.
According to police, they did this four times between July and November of the past year. I'm guessing that the vigilante couple would have been caught eventually, but they probably hastened their arrests by posting videos of their deeds on YouTube.
Now I'll confess that if I were on a jury, I really wouldn't want to vote to convict Curnutt or Grillot--or the young man in France. But one reason why we're taught not to live by our ids is that part of our psyche is incapable of restraint. Plus, almost every ethical and moral system of which I'm aware condemns retaliatory violence.
All right, I'll end with one more confession: I cheered when Thelma shot Harlan. Then I felt ashamed of myself--just a little. At least I knew "Don't try this at home."
Donald Trump may well be the first American president to rule entirely by his id.
That's the part of our psyche that reacts to immediate needs and impulses. Much of our education and acculturation is, essentially, training in not living by our ids. Of course, your teachers, parents and other authority figures don't tell you that (unless, perhaps, they're psychologists or psychiatirists). In my milieu, I don't think anyone had even heard of that two-letter term, just as they never used words like milieu. I didn't hear such words until I went to college.
Because of such training, most of us will only go so far in response to being wronged. I don't think any previous president would have assassinated the military leader of another country because, well, the leaders of their country did things we didn't like. (And he said he was doing it to prevent a war: Even Rudy Giuliani would have a hard time being more Orwellian!) Likewise, most sexual abuse victims won't do what a 19-year-old in France did to the priest who sexually abused him and his father: He rammed a crucifix down the prelate's throat.
I have retaliated with physical violence once in my life, when someone tried to sexually assault me. I'll admit I've thought about reacting with force, but didn't, on more than a few occasions. And I have made threatening gestures against potential aggressors--including a would-be bike thief I scared away.
I'll admit that at the moment I confronted the perp, I thought about doing what a couple in Visalia, California did. Corey Curnutt and Savannah Grillot baited would-be bike thieves with a bike planted in their front yard. When someone tried to steal it, they rushed out and beat, with baseball bats, the person who tried to take it.
According to police, they did this four times between July and November of the past year. I'm guessing that the vigilante couple would have been caught eventually, but they probably hastened their arrests by posting videos of their deeds on YouTube.
Now I'll confess that if I were on a jury, I really wouldn't want to vote to convict Curnutt or Grillot--or the young man in France. But one reason why we're taught not to live by our ids is that part of our psyche is incapable of restraint. Plus, almost every ethical and moral system of which I'm aware condemns retaliatory violence.
All right, I'll end with one more confession: I cheered when Thelma shot Harlan. Then I felt ashamed of myself--just a little. At least I knew "Don't try this at home."
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