Sturmey Archer

In article ,
wrote:

Tom Kunich wrote:

Oops - forgot to mention - the next day was a "Ride to Work Day" and
some new rider on a bike path struck the steel post in the center of
the path at an intersection designed to keep cars off of the bike
path, flipped over the handlebars and was killed instantly.

I think you mean he died instantly, otherwise I'd like to hear about
his murderer.

Jobst Brandt

I think the police should be asking a few questions of whomever decided
a steel post in the centre of a bike path was a good idea.

As an amateur grammarian, I'd say that the construction "was killed [by
hitting the ground] instantly" is acceptable.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

Jobst Brandt wrote:

Chalo Colina wrote:

I own and use
bikes with Sturmey Archer, Sachs, and Shimano drum brakes. *Not all
of them are as strong as I would like, but none have ever threatened
to lock up. *They are more consistent and predictable than rim or
disc brakes.
I'm curious what happened to yours to make it brake uncontrollably.

I guess you missed the discussion of drum brake lockup and holes in
brake shoes and disk brakes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_f...in_drum_brakes

I have seen that analysis here at least a couple of times. What I
have not observed in my own drum brakes is any indication that the
self-servo action of the leading pad causes significant transient
_increases_ in what is otherwise pretty modest braking from bicycle
drums.

I've occasionally felt initial "grab" in drums that have sat a while
without being used, but in my experience that characteristic
disappears after a fraction of a second. Subsequent stops show no
such behavior. I attribute the brakes' initial grab to the effects of
an ephemeral oxide skin on the brake shoes and/or drum lining. Any
passing increase in the brake's coefficient of friction would have the
effect I observe, with or without a leading shoe and its self-servo
action.

Chalo

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
struck the steel post in the center of the path at an
intersection designed to keep cars off of the bike path,
flipped over the handlebars and was killed instantly.
[...]

As an amateur grammarian, I'd say that the construction "was
killed [by hitting the ground] instantly" is acceptable.

It's ambiguous: "flipped over the handlebars" can also read "turned
them hard as he struck the post with them" thus going uncontrolled
and unexpected into the main road where chances are high that some
unlucky car ran him over. I won't call a car driver in that
scenario a "murderer" if he kept a reasonable distance to the bike
path...

--
MfG/Best regards
helmut springer panta rhei

In article ,
Helmut Springer wrote:

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
struck the steel post in the center of the path at an
intersection designed to keep cars off of the bike path,
flipped over the handlebars and was killed instantly.
[...]

As an amateur grammarian, I'd say that the construction "was
killed [by hitting the ground] instantly" is acceptable.

It's ambiguous: "flipped over the handlebars" can also read "turned
them hard as he struck the post with them" thus going uncontrolled
and unexpected into the main road where chances are high that some
unlucky car ran him over. I won't call a car driver in that
scenario a "murderer" if he kept a reasonable distance to the bike
path...

An acquaintance of mine really was killed by hitting the ground, on a
multi-use path, after a collision with a rollerblader. The 'blader was
injured but survived.

Helmet? Yes...

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

On Jul 5, 12:48*am, wrote:
Tom Kunich wrote:
Oops - forgot to mention - the next day was a "Ride to Work Day" and
some new rider on a bike path struck the steel post in the center of
the path at an intersection designed to keep cars off of the bike
path, flipped over the handlebars and was killed instantly.

I think you mean he died instantly, otherwise I'd like to hear about
his murderer.

Jobst Brandt

Dear Jobst,

What an embarrassing example of quibbler's confusion!

All murderers are killers, but not all killers are murderers.

Killers can commit homicide by accident, in self-defense, in the heat
of anger, or without the necessary malicious intent.

Let's say that you flip over your handlebar and are killed when you
hit a piano bridge, an object that you claim does not exist.

(Or maybe you're killed by the realization that you could have
complained about the original poster writing "handlebars" plural
instead of "handlebar" singular.)

Anyway, the Palo Alto D.A. charges the piano bridge with murder.

(Hey, it's California.)

The piano bridge can choose from several defenses.

It could claim that your death was merely an accident, not murder.

Or the piano bridge could claim that it justifiably killed you in self-
defense, citing your public claims that it does not exist. It would
argue that any reasonable piano bridge would have interpreted your
hurtling toward it, head over heels, as an attack.

(If the prosecution insisted that the piano bridge had a duty to flee
to avoid your apparent assault, the piano bridge could counter that
even the fastest piano legs cannot outrun a bicyclist.)

Or the piano bridge could claim that it did indeed kill you, but that
the killing took place in the heat of the moment and was not
premeditated.

(Sure, the piano bridge could admit, I killed him, but he was yelling
that I didn't exist and I just saw red. I may be guilty of
manslaughter, but I'm not a murderer.)

Or the piano bridge's lawyer could argue on its behalf that it could
not commit murder because it does not exist (citing your posts as
evidence) and therefore could not form the necessary malicious intent
to commit murder.

(This is similar to an insanity defense, but no piano bridge has ever
successfully pled not guilty to a murder charge by reason of
insanity. California juries are notoriously credulous, but even they
stop short of believing in insane musical instruments.)

The piano bridge could also offer alternate theories of the case.

For example it might claim that you were killed by lightning, by a
tree that fell on you, by a big black SUV that fled the scene, or the
collapse of your poorly built front wheel.

The piano bridge could even tell the jury that your fatal head
injuries were caused by banging your head against stone walls in
posts on RBT.

In other words, it could argue suicide, the most common cause of
violent death in elderly white men.

(Someone might quibble that the walls were made of straw and erected
by the victim, but the judge would say that it made no difference
whether the walls were stone or straw and would still dismiss the
murder charge against the piano bridge.)

***

Some may have been misled into thinking that piano bridges do not
exist, but these potential killers are in fact real and lurk among us.

The accused in a line-up:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Im..._-_schemat.svg

(The piano bridge is #12 in the diagram.)

A mug shot of the alleged murderer:

http://www.piano.christophersmit.com/bridge.html

***

So much for murder and piano bridges.

As for grammar and usage, would it _kill_ you to give up the
misinformed quibbling?

:-)

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Tom Sherman wrote:
....snip...
The answer is simple - stay off the paths and ride on the roads.

A cyclist usually loses in a cyclist to pedestrian collision, since the
cyclist goes over the bars and lands on his/her head. That is why I
prefer a bicycle that puts the chain wheels and my feet out front in
pedestrian infested areas.

An air horn is a good accessory to get the attention of the clueless.


Good advice. However, on my daily commute (4Km each way, through the
heart of Winnipeg), I've come to the realization that even though I ride
on the road, I'm at greater risk from pedestrians than cars. Pretty
well every day I have to jam on the brakes and stop while I have a green
light because some pedestrian decides to cross against the light in
front of me. I"m really enjoying disk brakes.

Pedestrians do not give bikes the same respect they give to cars. Be
careful around them.

The piano bridge to me looks more like this one
http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/sarnia/index.htm
I ride over it from time to time.

With roads, river and two railways we have a fair number of iron bridges
I get to see on my regular rides.
http://www.historicbridges.org/b_c_on_middlesex.htm

This is a favorite and considered an historical gem.
http://www.historicbridges.org/truss...iars/index.htm
There is a downhill and a sweeping 90 degree turn heading into this one,
combined with plate and grate expansion joints and the wood deck it
requires some respect from the rider when it's raining.

Marcus

Tom Kunich wrote:

Coming down little Pinehurst on my Look, my clipless pedal broke out and
apparently my foot touched the ground at about 30 mph. The foot and leg
swung back and I suppose I pulled it forward to keep from falling in the
turn. Made it around the turn just as the foot swung into the front
wheel spokes breaking off the carbon fork blade.

Glad you're recovering. Just curious, did your pedal break, or did you
just come unclipped? What do you think caused it?

"Peter Cole" wrote in message
news:f39ck.313$P11.244@trndny06...
Tom Kunich wrote:

Coming down little Pinehurst on my Look, my clipless pedal broke out and
apparently my foot touched the ground at about 30 mph. The foot and leg
swung back and I suppose I pulled it forward to keep from falling in the
turn. Made it around the turn just as the foot swung into the front wheel
spokes breaking off the carbon fork blade.

Glad you're recovering. Just curious, did your pedal break, or did you
just come unclipped? What do you think caused it?

I was converting over to Crank Bros pedals. Their shoe clips were made from
a very soft material. Since you normally break out by rotating your angle
outwards this shoved the soft brass clip material the opposite way building
up a berm under that side of the clip and after about 1500 miles the
slightest inward twist of your heal would cause the clip to release from the
pedal.

Crank Bros sent me a new set of clips that supposedly are much harder. In
the meantime I converted over to SPDs since their cleats wear a very long
time - over 10,000 miles according to some folks.

Since I used to use Look Delta exclusively, I went back to those and they
have such a solid, secure feel that I'll probably just use those pedals and
put up with the silly duckwalk cleats and covers.

In article ,
Tom Sherman wrote:

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
In article ,
Helmut Springer wrote:

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
struck the steel post in the center of the path at an
intersection designed to keep cars off of the bike path,
flipped over the handlebars and was killed instantly.
[...]
As an amateur grammarian, I'd say that the construction "was
killed [by hitting the ground] instantly" is acceptable.

It's ambiguous: "flipped over the handlebars" can also read "turned
them hard as he struck the post with them" thus going uncontrolled
and unexpected into the main road where chances are high that some
unlucky car ran him over. I won't call a car driver in that
scenario a "murderer" if he kept a reasonable distance to the bike
path...

An acquaintance of mine really was killed by hitting the ground, on a
multi-use path, after a collision with a rollerblader. The 'blader was
injured but survived.

Helmet? Yes...

The answer is simple - stay off the paths and ride on the roads.

A cyclist usually loses in a cyclist to pedestrian collision, since the
cyclist goes over the bars and lands on his/her head. That is why I
prefer a bicycle that puts the chain wheels and my feet out front in
pedestrian infested areas.

Usually, but if you sideswipe a pedestrian you will not go down.
An oddity of bicycles that is under-appreciated. The pedestrian
will feel the full force of the collision.

It is always good to call out when approaching an intersection
with pedestrians dithering on the curb. I do.

--
Michael Press