Rotor Cranks? What Else Is There?

Chalo wrote:

Clipless shoes in large sizes are scarce and expensive. Clipless shoes
in _any_ size are uncomfortable for use off the bike.

Oh. Nobody seems to have told my feet... I'm quite comfortable
walking about in SD-60s, my old Specialized Rockhoppers or the
Diadora shoes I recently replaced them with. On a week's summer
tour in 2004 the SD-60s were the only footwear I took with me, and
no regrets.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

NYC XYZ wrote:

Ah, well I didn't know about the cost factor being "very
significant"...but Velovision, in that issue with the Hase Ti-Pino
reader review, tested Rotor cranks and found them to be a very modest
~5% increase in speed, and noticeably more comfortable, though nothing
life-changing or revolutionary.

And other people have tested them and found them not to really do
anything much. The jury is still very much out. I'm not saying
they don't/can't help, just that the writing isn't on the wall in
unremovable neon paint with letters 5 miles high like it is with
clipless pedals, and the Rotors do cost a lot I'd sooner spend on
something else.

When professional racers, who make more money by going faster, and
record attempt machines start to use Rotors in significant numbers
then I'll /really/ take notice. At the moment they don't, and they
do use cycling shoes and clipless pedals.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

chalo colina wrote:
Bob wrote:
Alex Rodriguez wrote:

Don't worry, once you are out on your 'bent, all the girls will throw
themselves at you.

If you're relying on your choice of transportation to help you get
girls you'll have a lot more luck riding *in* a Benz than *on* a 'bent.
Just FYI. ;-)

Actually, a 'bent should be about the same in that regard as a
rusted-out 300TD wagon with mismatched quarter panels, bike rack, and a
"powered by waste vegetable oil" sticker.

A lot of women find my Earth Cycles Sunset Lowracer [1] cute.

[1] Not mine, but similar:
http://individual.utoronto.ca/nogami/bikes/roster/sunset/sunsidesm.JPG.

--
Tom Sherman

In article .com,
says...

Clipless shoes in large sizes are scarce and expensive. Clipless shoes
in _any_ size are uncomfortable for use off the bike. And all of them
look like crap, whether they look like non-bike shoes or not. Would it
kill a manufacturer to make _one_ model of cilpless shoe that looked
like... y'know, a shoe some reasonably discriminating person would wear
anyway?

E.g. one of these:
http://web.ivenue.com/chetsshoestore/images/4070.jpg

I'd be all over that-- if it came in size 15, anyway.


Two thoughts:

1. Not quite as fancy, but by old black Race Vogs look at home with a
good wool suit and power tie. Black dress shoes with recessed SPDs,
don't know if they came as large as a 15 though.

2. It's not that hard to convert any shoe with a reasonably-thick
sole to clipless. I have clipless boots that work very well for
winter riding, and they don't look at all like bike-geek shoes.
(They started as recessed-Look-cleated boots for mountain biking in
the days before SPDs, now they have SPD cleats instead.)

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Updated Infrared Photography Books List:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/irbooks.html

Joshua Putnam wrote:

1. Not quite as fancy, but by old black Race Vogs look at home with a
good wool suit and power tie. Black dress shoes with recessed SPDs,
don't know if they came as large as a 15 though.

That would work, except that they're not made any more. And Fluevogs
top out at size 13, because evidently nobody wears bigger shoes than
that.

Heck, I wear overalls every day, I don't need anything remotely fancy.
But when I try to wear dorky slave-made athletic shoes pieced together
out of umpteen little bits of stuff, I feel like an oaf. I can't help
it; it just looks about as cool as acne or basketball jerseys to me.

2. It's not that hard to convert any shoe with a reasonably-thick
sole to clipless. I have clipless boots that work very well for
winter riding, and they don't look at all like bike-geek shoes.
(They started as recessed-Look-cleated boots for mountain biking in
the days before SPDs, now they have SPD cleats instead.)

I've considered doing this to shoes or boots I like. But then I've
considered making my own platform pedals from scratch, too. If I ever
got around to it, either of these things might be pretty satisfying.
In the meantime there are a number of BMX pedals that work well enough,
don't cost much, and don't break off.

Chalo Colina

NYC XYZ Wrote:

I'd love to try one out...sounds interesting, and seems to deal with
the knee/ankle issues that clips/clipless do.


If I had not had the oppurtunity to test ride Rotors they would have
been after trying BeBops. Lots of testimonials about BeBops and knees
out there on the net. Rotors are pricey and the performance benefit is
still up for considerable debate, as this thread shows. With stock
cranks, after 5 miles my left knee felt the dead spot, the right did
not. Performance was not my issue. As far as knee/ankle issues, here is
an interesting read:
http://www.angletechcycles.com/notsa...dals_shoes.htm

NYC XYZ Wrote:
Hmm...wonder how this HP Velotechnik SMGTe will do. Would a helmet add
or detract from making an impression?
If the SMGTe does not cause them to look, try begging. Without a helmet?
The women I find attractive are less than impressed with folks who care
so little about themselves they ride without one.

While on the subject of transport as a means of attracting females,
well, recently ran into a guy I knew back in the dark ages. Over lunch,
he commented that he still couldn't get the time of day with women, even
though he now owned a high end Corvette. As a general observation, the
difference was that before he was a pencil necked geek. Now, he is a
pencil necked geek with a Corvette.


--
Hull 697

chalo colina wrote:

Yeah. When I was 21, I weighed about 65% of what I do now, and I was
content walking and standing in Specialized SPD shoes-- and in Converse
Chuck Taylors, and Teva sandals, and rock-hard Red Wing logger boots.
I didn't have to distinguish between comfortable and uncomfortable
shoes for most activities. But now I do have to make that distinction,
and clipless shoes don't cut it

If you're overweight I wouldn't say that's a fair reason to suggest
cycling shoes as being universally uncomfortable, period, especially as
the OP may well not be overweight.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

chalo colina wrote:
Joshua Putnam wrote:

1. Not quite as fancy, but by old black Race Vogs look at home with a
good wool suit and power tie. Black dress shoes with recessed SPDs,
don't know if they came as large as a 15 though.


That would work, except that they're not made any more. And Fluevogs
top out at size 13, because evidently nobody wears bigger shoes than
that.

Heck, I wear overalls every day, I don't need anything remotely fancy.
But when I try to wear dorky slave-made athletic shoes pieced together
out of umpteen little bits of stuff, I feel like an oaf. I can't help
it; it just looks about as cool as acne or basketball jerseys to me.


2. It's not that hard to convert any shoe with a reasonably-thick
sole to clipless. I have clipless boots that work very well for
winter riding, and they don't look at all like bike-geek shoes.
(They started as recessed-Look-cleated boots for mountain biking in
the days before SPDs, now they have SPD cleats instead.)


I've considered doing this to shoes or boots I like. But then I've
considered making my own platform pedals from scratch, too. If I ever
got around to it, either of these things might be pretty satisfying.
In the meantime there are a number of BMX pedals that work well enough,
don't cost much, and don't break off.

Chalo Colina


I feel your pain (also being a size 15+). I noticed recently that Sidi
makes a police patrol shoe. Sidi also makes shoes to size 52 (actually a
little too big for me) in some models. Don't know if they make the cop
shoe in big sizes though.

Clipless are great, but if I had to wear shoes that didn't work I'd just
give them up, they're not that important.

Hull 697 wrote:


If I had not had the oppurtunity to test ride Rotors they would have
been after trying BeBops. Lots of testimonials about BeBops and knees
out there on the net. Rotors are pricey and the performance benefit is
still up for considerable debate, as this thread shows. With stock
cranks, after 5 miles my left knee felt the dead spot, the right did
not. Performance was not my issue. As far as knee/ankle issues, here is
an interesting read:
http://www.angletechcycles.com/notsa...dals_shoes.htm

Sigh...why don't they just put the damned things on in the first place!

The way things are heading, I should just buy the framekit instead of
the bike!

Thanks, BTW, for the reference. I'll probably just get Power Grips for
now. How are they, really? Better than nothing, or just short of
best-of-class?

If the SMGTe does not cause them to look, try begging.

Being noticed isn't the problem, it's everything else -- and that's all
before my own issues, like getting bored, etc.!

The women I find attractive are less than impressed with folks who care
so little about themselves they ride without one.

Oh, no -- an ideologue! She'd probably make me wear a condom, too. =D

While on the subject of transport as a means of attracting females,
well, recently ran into a guy I knew back in the dark ages. Over lunch,
he commented that he still couldn't get the time of day with women, even
though he now owned a high end Corvette. As a general observation, the
difference was that before he was a pencil necked geek. Now, he is a
pencil necked geek with a Corvette.

While not a pencil-necked geek with a Corvette, I am a geek trapped
inside an athlete's body, so I know all about this problem: ultimately,
you've got to have "game." This is why I was wondering if there are
(m)any babes on 'bents -- figured that would be a short-cut of sorts
through the "game"...I'm too much of a snob and think "gaming" is
beneath me...the problem is that I only game or use game with girls I
don't "care" about, really...the ones I really want I want to be
"honest" with....

So it's not about using transport as a means of attracting females, but
what females are there that share this vision of this particular kind
of transport -- surely there will be other common values between us, if
we both admire so peculiar a thing as a 'bent! The looks you can tell
in no time -- yes, I can have sex with that for the rest of my life
happily, yes -- but what about values? Is she some whiny princess --
oh, too cold; oh, too tiring; oh, too danerous; oh, too geeky -- or is
she some real lady -- self-reliant, physical and sensual, strong, fast,
determined and patient, lasting and resourceful? I believe one can
really tell a lot about a person's character and outlook by how they
ride (and with most other physical activities).

--
Hull 697

If you redesigned the frame and seat to alleviate hand, wrist, arm and neck
pain and improve forward vision I bet you'd end up with something looking
like a gasp recumbent.

"Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman" wrote in message
ups.com...

aka Jobst Brandt wrote:
...
There are always inventors who believe that something significant was
overlooked and that their invention will revolutionize bicycling.
None of them have done so....

Pedal drive to the wheels?

Hand operated brakes?

Chain drive instead of direct drive?

Multiple gear ratios?

None of these are recent inventions, but things have progressed
significantly since Karl Drais von Sauerbronn's "Laufmaschine".

--
Tom Sherman






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