Sheldon Does Vegas

My report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006

Sheldon "A Little Of This, A Little Of That" Brown
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, |
| but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor. |
| --Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com
Useful articles about bicycles and cycling
http://sheldonbrown.com

Sheldon Brown wrote:
My report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006

Photo of special merit:
http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/200...ant-jobst.html

In rec.bicycles.misc Sheldon Brown wrote:
My report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006

The first doubled cog from Surly should be 17-19, not 19-19, yes?

--
Dane Buson -
"Chastity: the most unnatural of the sexual perversions."
-Aldous Huxley

Sheldon Brown wrote:
My report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006

Sheldon "A Little Of This, A Little Of That" Brown
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, |
| but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor. |
| --Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com
Useful articles about bicycles and cycling
http://sheldonbrown.com

Dear Sheldon,

I look forward to the debate over chain streamlining:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/200...stingchain.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Dane Buson wrote:
In rec.bicycles.misc Sheldon Brown wrote:
My report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006

The first doubled cog from Surly should be 17-19, not 19-19, yes?

I'm always glad of proofreading help with my Website, I'm a fast but
not too accurate typist.

However, when you do spot a typo, it would be better to send me an
email, rather than posting to a Usenet group.

Sheldon "2 R Is Human" Brown

"Sheldon Brown" wrote in message
oups.com...
My report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006


Nice report but I take much exception with this sentence:
"Nobody rides a singlespeed in terrain mountainous enough to actually _need_
a rear disc brake."

I don't ride an SS but the guys I ride with do and since we're on the same
rides they definitely are riding "terrain mountainous enough". The San
Gabriel Mtns are very steep and of average height, 5000ft to, well, 10,000ft
with alot of trails climbing 3000 ft in only a couple of miles. No matter
how the SSers get to the tops of those trails they still ride down them.
And I'm sure there are plenty of SSers around the world riding similar
terrain.

Greg

Sheldon Brown wrote:
My report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006


Woohoo! Was that a 8spd Nexus *rapidfire* shifter I just saw!? I think
they never did better than the original thumbie for the Nexus 7. I
liked the feel and the groovy rotary dial. The disc brakes for the
Alfine group are totally overkill--but why the heck not? It's likely
going to be ridden by the creme of Amsterdam--they can't just have
pedestrian roller or drums. We'll likely see this groupset first on one
of those gorgeous Koga-Miyata, no?


Totally agree with you on the SS discs. I'm sure some folks can make
use of such braking power--but I'd reeeeally like to see a return to
good ole semi horizontal dropouts for bike that use a caliper brake.
Track ends strike me as more of a fashion statement for street use with
brakes and even fenders than a practical idea.

wrote:
Sheldon Brown wrote:
My report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006

Sheldon "A Little Of This, A Little Of That" Brown

Dear Sheldon,

I look forward to the debate over chain streamlining:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/200...stingchain.jpg



Those side plates are actually tiny zeppelins filled with hydrogen to
add lift. It's a new kind of "fuel cell" vehicle.


/gets coat.

I linked to my report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006

Which says among many other things:

"Kinda disappointed in Bianchi this year. They continue to believe that
disc brakes make sense on singlespeed bikes. This year they've got
three different singlespeed/disc mountain bikes and a singlespeed/disc
cyclocross bike as well!

"Using a disc brake means you can't use a flip-flop hub, so you'll be
stuck with only a single gear option.

"Also, as the chain wears and you move the wheel back in the axle
slots, the relationship between the disc and the caliper will change,
which is a Bad Thing.

"If you combine a disc brake with an old-fashioned rear-opening fork
end, as is currently fashionable, you have to undo the caliper just to
fix a flat tire!

"Nobody rides a singlespeed in terrain mountainous enough to actually
_need_ a rear disc brake."

There's no problem running a front disc if you prefer, but I'd strongly
advise going for a rim brake in back.

An anonymous poster replied:

Nice report but I take much exception with this sentence:
"Nobody rides a singlespeed in terrain mountainous enough to actually _need_
a rear disc brake."

I don't ride an SS but the guys I ride with do and since we're on the same
rides they definitely are riding "terrain mountainous enough". The San
Gabriel Mtns are very steep and of average height, 5000ft to, well, 10,000ft
with alot of trails climbing 3000 ft in only a couple of miles. No matter
how the SSers get to the tops of those trails they still ride down them.
And I'm sure there are plenty of SSers around the world riding similar
terrain.

Of course all generalizations are false, but I'm gonna stand by that
one.

I generally take much exception to any claim that any cyclist "needs" a
particular feature anyway...

I haven't ridden in those mountains, wherever they are, but I am highly
dubious that a rear disc brake is actually needed to descend them. I
have no doubt that a rear disc brake might be nice to have there, but I
very much doubt that it would be as useful as a flip-flop hub to
someone who was into that sort of riding.

The main virtue of rear disc brakes is for use in wet , muddy
conditions, and such conditions rarely occur at high altitudes, or at
least that's my impression. Maybe your mountains are an exception to
this, I dunno.

I would imagine that the percentage of Bianchi's singlespeed customers
who will actually ride their bikes in major mountains is a pretty small
drop in the bucket.

Sheldon "Flip-Flop Fan" Brown

On 5 Oct 2006 13:59:54 -0700, "Sheldon Brown"
wrote:

My report:

http://sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/2006

looks like the Shimano Alfine shift gear indicator is upside down, the
numbers are upside down. I have the Shimano Nexus on my Bianchi
Milano and like the performance very much, this looks like a nice step
up, will be watching for bikes that offer the Shimano Alfine.


---
Bob Anderson*Bitwisebob
Eugene Oregon