• A practical reason to eschew internal cables

    From Joy Beeson@21:1/5 to All on Sat Aug 21 00:05:59 2021
    Friday, 20 August 2021

    My objections to running wires through the frame are mostly esthetic,
    but I found a practical reason yesterday.

    On the Sprawlmart-AWL-Aldi tour, I stopped at the Sprawl3 McDonald's
    for a four-bite chicken Happy Meal, with buffalo dipping sauce and
    (for a small upcharge) a large glass of unsweetened tea.

    I parked under a window through which I could see a vacant table, but
    when I sat down, I found that the window was so high off the walkway
    that all I could see were my brake cables.

    As long as the brake cables didn't move, I knew that nobody had been
    messing with my bike.

    There was a grandmother at the next table who took my Disney Princess
    off my hands. Luckily, the packaging was so rumpled that she couldn't
    tell it was a Disney Princess until after she had accepted it; I heard
    her tell her companion that all her grandchildren were boys.

    --
    Joy Beeson
    joy beeson at centurylink dot net
    http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Frank Krygowski@21:1/5 to Joy Beeson on Sat Aug 21 10:53:12 2021
    On 8/21/2021 12:05 AM, Joy Beeson wrote:

    Friday, 20 August 2021

    My objections to running wires through the frame are mostly esthetic,
    but I found a practical reason yesterday.

    On the Sprawlmart-AWL-Aldi tour, I stopped at the Sprawl3 McDonald's
    for a four-bite chicken Happy Meal, with buffalo dipping sauce and
    (for a small upcharge) a large glass of unsweetened tea.

    I parked under a window through which I could see a vacant table, but
    when I sat down, I found that the window was so high off the walkway
    that all I could see were my brake cables.

    As long as the brake cables didn't move, I knew that nobody had been
    messing with my bike.

    I use these
    https://randalputnam.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/6989/
    or homemade versions of the same. It's usually sufficient for situations
    like the one you describe.


    --
    - Frank Krygowski

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Stephen Harding@21:1/5 to Frank Krygowski on Sat Aug 21 17:35:28 2021
    On 8/21/21 10:53 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
    On 8/21/2021 12:05 AM, Joy Beeson wrote:

    Friday, 20 August 2021

    My objections to running wires through the frame are mostly esthetic,
    but I found a practical reason yesterday.

    On the Sprawlmart-AWL-Aldi tour, I stopped at the Sprawl3 McDonald's
    for a four-bite chicken Happy Meal, with buffalo dipping sauce and
    (for a small upcharge) a large glass of unsweetened tea.

    I parked under a window through which I could see a vacant table, but
    when I sat down, I found that the window was so high off the walkway
    that all I could see were my brake cables.

    As long as the brake cables didn't move, I knew that nobody had been
    messing with my bike.

    I use these
    https://randalputnam.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/6989/
    or homemade versions of the same. It's usually sufficient for situations
    like the one you describe.


    Traditional bikes are somewhat like the Borg (from Star Trek). Lines
    and hoses everywhere.

    Being from partial Borg ancestry myself (you know, all those UFO stories
    in the news today?), I don't really have a problem with it.

    But having my hoses and lines internal does make me fit in more with Earthlings.


    SMH

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  • From Joy Beeson@21:1/5 to frkrygow@sbcglobal.net on Sat Aug 21 18:36:56 2021
    On Sat, 21 Aug 2021 10:53:12 -0400, Frank Krygowski
    <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

    On 8/21/2021 12:05 AM, Joy Beeson wrote:

    Friday, 20 August 2021

    My objections to running wires through the frame are mostly esthetic,
    but I found a practical reason yesterday.

    On the Sprawlmart-AWL-Aldi tour, I stopped at the Sprawl3 McDonald's
    for a four-bite chicken Happy Meal, with buffalo dipping sauce and
    (for a small upcharge) a large glass of unsweetened tea.

    I parked under a window through which I could see a vacant table, but
    when I sat down, I found that the window was so high off the walkway
    that all I could see were my brake cables.

    As long as the brake cables didn't move, I knew that nobody had been messing with my bike.

    I use these
    https://randalputnam.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/6989/
    or homemade versions of the same. It's usually sufficient for situations
    like the one you describe.

    For making the bike visible over a low wall?

    After the discussion of the Stopblock, the blog goes on to praise the Flickstand for touring -- I would never tour without fenders; on a
    tour, you haven't got the option of staying home when it rains.

    (Suppresses impassioned account of the trip from Voorheesville to Lake
    George, when I got caught in rain so heavy that I couldn't see to get
    off the road.)

    --
    Joy Beeson
    joy beeson at centurylink dot net
    http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Frank Krygowski@21:1/5 to Joy Beeson on Sat Aug 21 21:06:19 2021
    On 8/21/2021 6:36 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
    On Sat, 21 Aug 2021 10:53:12 -0400, Frank Krygowski
    <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

    On 8/21/2021 12:05 AM, Joy Beeson wrote:

    Friday, 20 August 2021

    My objections to running wires through the frame are mostly esthetic,
    but I found a practical reason yesterday.

    On the Sprawlmart-AWL-Aldi tour, I stopped at the Sprawl3 McDonald's
    for a four-bite chicken Happy Meal, with buffalo dipping sauce and
    (for a small upcharge) a large glass of unsweetened tea.

    I parked under a window through which I could see a vacant table, but
    when I sat down, I found that the window was so high off the walkway
    that all I could see were my brake cables.

    As long as the brake cables didn't move, I knew that nobody had been
    messing with my bike.

    I use these
    https://randalputnam.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/6989/
    or homemade versions of the same. It's usually sufficient for situations
    like the one you describe.

    For making the bike visible over a low wall?

    Nope. For not having to worry about the bike being hidden behind a low
    wall. Snatch and grab thieves would be visible as they tried to figure
    out why the bike won't roll.

    For making the bike visible behind a low wall, a helium balloon would be
    more effective than cables. You can let it extend much higher than brake cables. And it makes the uphills SO much easier!

    After the discussion of the Stopblock, the blog goes on to praise the Flickstand for touring -- I would never tour without fenders; on a
    tour, you haven't got the option of staying home when it rains.

    I agree about fenders, which is why I've never used a Flickstand.

    --
    - Frank Krygowski

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