Bicycle stuff that motorcyclists would like

[euphonius]

As the header on the Bicycle Forum says, the bicycle is the original water-cooled twin, so I'm hoping this thread gains some traction. I have motorcycles in Shanghai and California, but I have bicycles in four cities, and consider the bicycle a far more fun and challenging means of transportation than the motorcycle in traffic-choked Beijing and Shanghai, especially for urban commuting and just getting around.

I'm also a big fan of fine engineering and engineering innovation, and hold a special place in my heart for Britain, which more than 100 years ago set the foundation for what still qualifies as the most efficient sustainable transport on the planet. (Yes, the velocipede originated in Paris in the 1860s, but the "safety bicycle" as we know it today -- with chain drive, pneumatic tires, raked fork, sprung saddle and conveniences like fenders and chain guards -- was born and bred in blighty.)

I'm still an ardent partisan of the Sturmey-Archer hub technology, which dates to the late 19th century and which, in it's venerable 3-speed incarnation, was on my first bike in California almost 50 years ago, when it already was a mature technology, having been patented in 1902! In the 1980s in New York, I built many custom bikes and wheels around Sturmey's new line of elegantly machined alloy sealed-bearing drum-brake hubs, first with internal 3-speed changer, then 5-speed and later 7-speed, which was the last model they built prior to collapsing into bankruptcy. Amazingly, when SunRace of Taiwan acquired Sturmey-Archer's patent portfolio and equipment and moved them to Taipei a decade ago, they not only kept the brand alive, the reinvested in the hub technology and now have dropped the internal 7-speed in favor of a really brilliant 8-speed, which now graces my main go-to ride in Shanghai -- a retrofitted Giant Khan. I'm tempted by rival products like Shimano's internal 8 and the astonishing Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14, but my loyalty remains with Sturmey-Archer, which launched the bicycle's modern era.

This video (probably need a granny-buster inside China) has nothing to do with Sturmey per se, but it's a wonderful paean to the English high art of obsessively futzing around in the workshop.



cheers!
euphonius

[ZMC888]

Great stuff. Actually I'm thinking about building a bike for descending twisty mountain roads.

[kikikillercat]

Great stuff. Actually I'm thinking about building a bike for descending twisty mountain roads.

as the tank soldier said to the foot soldier..'.this tank can be penetrated quite easily with an anti--tank shell'! of course the foot soldier said 'how thick do you think this shirt is??? I like riding by bicycle in china but without something around me like a moto scooter or motorcycle... I feel naked..certainly less noticeable and slower than a motorcycle....but they likely run me over because Im on a bicycle and in their way..... Im convinced this is an "its all about me" society..