Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/11/29

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] D100 photos and bicycle metaphors
From: patrick jelliffe <pbjbike@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 10:14:23 -0800 (PST)

Austin, (all you non-cyclists may want to skip this)

Newer steel alloys, made by Columbus, True Temper,
Dedacai, etc., used in bicycle tubing approach the
weight of titanium.  A double butted Ti frame might be
a pound lighter, but unless you are trying to break
the Hour Record, you won't notice a difference.  Most
of the cyclists I know have 5-10 lbs around their
middle that certainly slows them down more that a few
grams on their frame. I've seen Tour team bikes in the
last 5 years that weigh 20-22 lbs.  It tends to be the
amateur with not enough training that looks to
technology to offset his/her lack of conditioning.
Rotating weight is much more of a factor in
acceleration and maintaining speed--So advances in
wheel technology, (lighter, more aerodynamic), are
much more of a benefit to the rider than shaving grams
with thinnner/lighter tubing.  

Unlike camera technology, many design innovations in
the bike world were developed 50-100 years ago.  I've
held an EXTERNALLY double butted frame built around
the turn of the century that weighed 4 pounds!
Tollerances in frame building have become much
tighter, mainly due to the high number of cogs in the
rear of modern bikes.  With the extreme chainline
required for a 20 speed road bike, frame alignment is
crucial.  Back in the day when there were five cogs in
the rear, alignment was not so important.  Vintage
does not equal heavy.  If you are talking about an old
Raleigh 3 speed, yeah, that's a tank.  But if you look
at a Raleigh Professional built with Reynolds 753 in
1976, it probably weighed around 18.5 lbs complete. 
I'm very interested to see the longevity of carbon
fiber bikes.  Will they be rideable in 50, or 20
years?  Galvanic corrosion is a big concern. 

As a frame builder, I've built bikes with titanium and
steel alloy, and my favorite bikes remain steel, even
with a 1-3 lb. weight difference.  The only
superiority Ti has in my mind is in comfort on 80 plus
mile rides, and the fact that it doesn't require
painting, (another reason Ti is lighter, is that it
doesn't have 4 ounces of paint coating it!).  I love
my Cinellis, I love my Leicas, and enjoy their
strengths and limitations, as well as the ultimate
satisfaction I get from using them.

Ride Safe,

Patrick 

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com
- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html