Great pictures and fascinating observations. Thank you, Michael. With abandon, Patrick
On Saturday, September 28, 2013 9:22:10 AM UTC-6, Michael wrote: > > Just came back from visiting family there. Always cool to see the bikes > there, and the interesting add-ons and problem solvers people come up with > to make a bike work the way they want.. > Took lotsa pics I hope to have up tonight on Flikr and saw some stuff I > thought you all would get a kick out of. > > Looks like the bikes there are ridden for pure function. I saw maybe 95% > function bikes. 5% roadbikes/fixies. > Forget about helmets, even for children on bikes and infants who ride with > Mom on the commute. "Too hot", my cousin said when I asked her why no one > wears helmets. > Bikes zig-zag all over the road, and bikes don't stop for lights or stops > signs. They come at moving car traffic from all directions. > The rule of the road there is that if you are the bigger vehicle, and you > hit a smaller vehicle, you are to blame, and no one wants that trouble, so > people give way to bikes, mopeds, and pedestrians. I saw lotsa of cyclists > just pull out in front of moving busses and cars (within feet). Also, bikes > go the wrong way on roads. I saw no road rage, and everyone just seems to > accept the fact that bikes have no rules of the road, and they can just > ride however and wherever, whenever they want. Mopeds, too. > > Some things I saw. Pics to some: > 1. Double top tubes abound. I saw these on lots of Chinese maker, > traditional type 2-wheeled bikes. (There were also double forks on 3 > wheeled delivery bikes). > 2. Massive beausage abounds. - to the point of rusted out front baskets > that the sides have separated from the base and just sit there loose on it. > I also saw trashed headsets, one with the bb's still sitting in the lower > cup. This was on a newspaper delivery bike. It was still in use. > 3. Self rigged problem solvers abound. - Some of the solutions I saw on > bikes to make them work they way people wanted them were very interesting. > One guy had a basket wired to his drop bar tops with only about 2 finders' > worth of interruptor brake lever to grab for use. And these were the only > brake levers on the bike. He also had plastic bottles wired as extensions > on his short fenders. > 4. Cool add ons you don't see here in the states (at least I haven't). > Umbrella clamps, so you can attach an umbrella to your handlebars and ride > under cover. Folds down when not in use. Massively overbuilt rear racks or > heavy loads and passengers. Some fold out to make bigger platforms, with > cushioned seat. > > *One of the most unique things I saw were the child seat attachments for > bikes.* > Lots of people bring their infants on their bikes with them. There are > some child seats that are made of wire and attach to the frame sorta like > the Silver Hupes. > Also, some people weld a seatpost to their DT so the kid rides in front. > Both set ups have a "T" bar welded to the frame so the kids can hold on > while Mom pedals. > I saw someone with two kids on their bike. > > I will post a link to pics of these neat things I saw hopefully today or > tomorrow. > > I also noticed that it looks like electric bikes are overtaking the number > of pedaled bikes. Even some pedaled bikes were retrofitted and run on > electricity now. > The batteries are rectangular and sit in front of the seat tube. Pedals > are just for a pace to put your feet. Some people remove the pedals and sit > with their feet on the DT. Huge hubs front and back. Not sure how it works. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
