Random commuter bike pics.

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Ended up taking a train ride on the day my new camera came in, so I
took pics of all the commuter bikes I came across. Needed to get used
to the new cam, and bikes interest me. That's about it - nothing
special. What I found interesting was the complete lack of fenders.
Not a lot of bikes, since I was going against the Boston commute,
which allows you to take your bike on the train.

http://picasaweb.google.com/DanKMTB/CommuterBikes#

[[email protected]]

On Oct 24, 12:03*pm, " > wrote:
> Ended up taking a train ride on the day my new camera came in, so I
> took pics of all the commuter bikes I came across. Needed to get used
> to the new cam, and bikes interest me. That's about it - nothing
> special. *What I found interesting was the complete lack of fenders.
> Not a lot of bikes, since I was going against the Boston commute,
> which allows you to take your bike on the train.
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/DanKMTB/CommuterBikes#

Well, almost complete lack of fenders. One of the bikes had them.
I'd expect them to be standard issue on lock-at-the-station type
commuters though.

[Dien Cai Dau]

> wrote in message
...
> Ended up taking a train ride on the day my new camera came in, so I
> took pics of all the commuter bikes I came across. Needed to get used
> to the new cam, and bikes interest me. That's about it - nothing
> special. What I found interesting was the complete lack of fenders.
> Not a lot of bikes, since I was going against the Boston commute,
> which allows you to take your bike on the train.
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/DanKMTB/CommuterBikes#

Try visiting http://www.geofflawrence.com

[[email protected]]

On Oct 24, 2:52*pm, "Dien Cai Dau" > wrote:
> > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Ended up taking a train ride on the day my new camera came in, so I
> > took pics of all the commuter bikes I came across. Needed to get used
> > to the new cam, and bikes interest me. That's about it - nothing
> > special. *What I found interesting was the complete lack of fenders.
> > Not a lot of bikes, since I was going against the Boston commute,
> > which allows you to take your bike on the train.
>
> >http://picasaweb.google.com/DanKMTB/CommuterBikes#
>
> Try visitinghttp://www.geofflawrence.com

Not sure if that was intended to be helpful, or just a dig at my
admittedly sub-par camera skills, which surely are not helped by
having no idea how to use a camera that's brand new to me. What you
see there are the very first shots I ever took with this camera,
without even having had access to the manual (came on CD) yet.

That said, helpful site. Dig or not, thanks. An amateur such as
myself can definitely use the help.

[DennisTheBald]

Yep, the one with drop bars & fenders looked like the best ride in the
bunch. I've got a springy rack like that on the '74 LeTour that I
use

Thanks for sharing, Dan.

[[email protected]]

On Oct 24, 3:34*pm, DennisTheBald > wrote:
> Yep, the one with drop bars & fenders looked like the best ride in the
> bunch. *I've got a springy rack like that on the '74 LeTour that I
> use
>
> Thanks for sharing, Dan.

My pleasure. Wasn't sure if anyone would care at all, but I had to
snap some shots w/ the new toy, and bikes are a pretty consistant
interest for me.

I almost agree with you, by the way. I'd put your #1 as #2, right
behind that DK General Lee. Then again, I may be partial to that one
for some reason. Did I mention there was a skate park between the
stop of I got off and my destination? As in, right on the way,
against the path? No? Well, there was.

[landotter]

On Oct 24, 11:03*am, " > wrote:
> Ended up taking a train ride on the day my new camera came in, so I
> took pics of all the commuter bikes I came across. Needed to get used
> to the new cam, and bikes interest me. That's about it - nothing
> special. *What I found interesting was the complete lack of fenders.
> Not a lot of bikes, since I was going against the Boston commute,
> which allows you to take your bike on the train.
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/DanKMTB/CommuterBikes#

I liked the high end integrated silver seapost on 4! Stylin!

Way too many cable locks. Snip snip snip.

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On Oct 24, 4:22*pm, landotter > wrote:
> On Oct 24, 11:03*am, " > wrote:
>
> > Ended up taking a train ride on the day my new camera came in, so I
> > took pics of all the commuter bikes I came across. Needed to get used
> > to the new cam, and bikes interest me. That's about it - nothing
> > special. *What I found interesting was the complete lack of fenders.
> > Not a lot of bikes, since I was going against the Boston commute,
> > which allows you to take your bike on the train.
>
> >http://picasaweb.google.com/DanKMTB/CommuterBikes#
>
> I liked the high end integrated silver seapost on 4! Stylin!
>
> Way too many cable locks. Snip snip snip.

That is one serious seat post. Had I had the proper tools with me and
had I been a theif, I'd have snagged it for sure. However, it's
doubtful a theif would have such tools, or the knowledge to use them,
so it's probably safe.

The General is easily the best of class though.

I agree with the cable locks. At the same time, all but the Shogun
were taken in a very low-risk town. Doesn't mean it won't happen, but
when you're locking your $30 yard sale bike up in a town where you
don't lock your front door before leaving the house, it can be hard to
justify a $40 lock.

[DennisTheBald]

On Oct 24, 1:38 pm, " > wrote:
> On Oct 24, 3:34 pm, DennisTheBald > wrote:
>
> > Yep, the one with drop bars & fenders looked like the best ride in the
> > bunch. I've got a springy rack like that on the '74 LeTour that I
> > use
>
> > Thanks for sharing, Dan.
>
> My pleasure. Wasn't sure if anyone would care at all, but I had to
> snap some shots w/ the new toy, and bikes are a pretty consistant
> interest for me.
>
> I almost agree with you, by the way. I'd put your #1 as #2, right
> behind that DK General Lee. Then again, I may be partial to that one
> for some reason. Did I mention there was a skate park between the
> stop of I got off and my destination? As in, right on the way,
> against the path? No? Well, there was.

I dunno, I'm a BIG fan of gears (the more the merrier) and even the
real General Lee (second in his class at my son's alma mater). But
it's hard for me to get behind using the stars and bars for decoration
and a single speed bike might be fun to play around on, but for
hauling my butt around &/| bringing home the bacon... I gotta have a
wide range of effective wheel sizes.

One thing for certain, bikes locked up at the train station is a solid
indication of inter-modal commuters in the area, good deal.

[SMS]

wrote:
> Ended up taking a train ride on the day my new camera came in, so I
> took pics of all the commuter bikes I came across. Needed to get used
> to the new cam, and bikes interest me. That's about it - nothing
> special. What I found interesting was the complete lack of fenders.
> Not a lot of bikes, since I was going against the Boston commute,
> which allows you to take your bike on the train.
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/DanKMTB/CommuterBikes#

A lot of people are fair-weather commuters. I offered to put fenders on
my wife's bike, and she declined because she said that she'll drive when
it's raining. She's not in a job where she can arrive at work all messy.

I should have taken some pictures in Santa Cruz on Sunday of all the
surf-board carrying bikes and the devices they've made to carry boards.

[[email protected]]

On Oct 28, 5:11*pm, DennisTheBald > wrote:

> I dunno, I'm a BIG fan of gears (the more the merrier) and even the
> real General Lee (second in his class at my son's alma mater). *But
> it's hard for me to get behind using the stars and bars for decoration
> and a single speed bike might be fun to play around on, but for
> hauling my butt around &/| bringing home the bacon... I gotta have a
> wide range of effective wheel sizes.

OK, full disclosure, although I figured I'd hinted to this enough by
now. The General Lee pictured isn't a commuter bike - it's my skate
park & dirt jumping bike. From where I got off that train, I had ~1
mile to my destination. 1/2 way along that mile was a fairly new
skate park. I brought the General to play @ the skate park. I
wouldn't use it to commute. Come on, look at the height of the seat!
You can't sit on that - it's just there to be grabbed with your
knees. That bike is sold stock in the orange & flags, paint scheme
matching the Dukes of Hazard car to a T. That particular model
started as a frame and was built with the most bulletproof parts
available at the time, and since the orange paint was a weak point as
far as resilience, it got a gray powder coat at some point during it’s
life. Of course, even that gray powder coat is coming off in areas
(something I didn’t know powder coat could do when I was younger) due
to the extreme level of abuse that bike goes through. Really, the way
that things been beaten over the years it’s a miracle it still rides
at all. Bent spokes, missing spokes, and the wheels are even still
true! The miricle of high quality 48 spoke wheels on a rim that’s
only 20” dia, I guess.

So now that I’ve admitted it’s mine, anyone want to do the typical
critique about what’s all wrong with that setup? I can think of a few
things that stand out off the top of my head, and can offer what I
consider legit excuses for most but not all of them.


> One thing for certain, bikes locked up at the train station is a solid
> indication of inter-modal commuters in the area, good deal.

I agree with you there!

[[email protected]]

On Oct 28, 7:02*pm, SMS > wrote:

> A lot of people are fair-weather commuters. I offered to put fenders on
> my wife's bike, and she declined because she said that she'll drive when
> it's raining. She's not in a job where she can arrive at work all messy.

Fair enough. I'm not in a job where I can be all messy either, but I
can and do leave clean clothes at work. That requires using a car or
a backpack once a week, no big deal. Still, fair weather commuters
beat 100% car commuters all day long. I think I'll pop back over
there next rainy day and see what's around for bikes, the station is
within sight of my workplace.


> I should have taken some pictures in Santa Cruz on Sunday of all the
> surf-board carrying bikes and the devices they've made to carry boards.

Indeed, you should have. I'd have liked to see that. I'm still
devising a way to carry my RC plane with flight box (basically tool
kit, spare parts, etc) and Tx on my bike. I get about an hour flight
time with 2 fully charged batteries, so a charge source isn’t
necessary. So far it’s looking like a small flat-bed trailer is the
way to go. Then again, if I go that route, I might just strap a car
battery on there to for charging at the field. The charger fits in
the flight box, so the only drawbacks are the extra weight on the
trailer and the fact that I’d have to buy the battery.

[DennisTheBald]

> So now that I’ve admitted it’s mine, anyone want to do the typical
> critique about what’s all wrong with that setup?

Not a thing, for a short haul (no more than 3 miles or so - I guess
longer if you can actually sit on the seat)
It fits on the train without folding - w00t!
Depending on the circumstances it may very well be just the ticket for
you. Fair weather or foul you gotta be happy with your equipment and
nobody else's opinion matters much - I'm stickin' with my 'bent and
eschewing the train but your mileage obviously varies.

How many of those airplane motors would it take to make the bike
roll? Could you just strap it to yer hat and fire it up while you're
riding?

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On Oct 29, 6:43*pm, DennisTheBald > wrote:
> > So now that I’ve admitted it’s mine, anyone want to do the typical
> > critique about what’s all wrong with that setup?
>
> Not a thing, for a short haul (no more than 3 miles or so - I guess
> longer if you can actually sit on the seat)
> It fits on the train without folding - w00t!
> Depending on the circumstances it may very well be just the ticket for
> you. *Fair weather or foul you gotta be happy with your equipment and
> nobody else's opinion matters much - I'm stickin' with my 'bent and
> eschewing the train but your mileage obviously varies.
>
> How many of those airplane motors would it take to make the bike
> roll? *Could you just strap it to yer hat and fire it up while you're
> riding?

That bike is one of over a half-dozen - i'm a firm believer of the
right tool for the job.

Way to many plane motors, and the batteries would kill me! That would
be a cool electric bike though - huge A123 pack and a bunch of motors
on the bars. Hm...

[DennisTheBald]

didjya see the movie of the college boy that built hisself a fancy
propeller in the MatLab and chained it to a homebrew trike?

He was all about the prop and all that... the trike could have been
made with about 1/3 the weight I suspect ( 20" wheels alone would same
6 lbs)

It got me to thinking that there have been huge advancements in the
materials since the gossamer albatross flew.

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On Oct 30, 4:42*pm, DennisTheBald > wrote:
> didjya see the movie of the college boy that built hisself a fancy
> propeller in the MatLab and chained it to a homebrew trike?
>
> He was all about the prop and all that... the trike could have been
> made with about 1/3 the weight I suspect ( 20" wheels alone would same
> 6 lbs)
>
> It got me to thinking that there have been huge advancements in the
> materials since the gossamer albatross flew.

No, I didn't see that. Sounds cool. There have certainly been huge
advances lately though. Brushless motors and new battery technology
have almost obsoleted the gas powered RC plane, you can now fly 1/4
scale (and probably bigger) RC planes on electric. Clean, quiet,
fast, powerful - it's cool stuff. My AP plane weighs about 35oz, and
will climb vertically and take off in just a few feet (or hand launch)
with a $15 brushless motor.