Re: Disc brake maintenance tips

On 6/23/2024 3:13 PM, Roger Merriman wrote:

AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

 While I agree that Mr Forester's work has little to no
application or import for you, I think he has much valuable
to offer for me, especially in 45 years of daily commuting
in traffic.

 Unless I’m mistaken he and others in the vehicular cycling community named
what folks did.
 Ie folks riding like he campaigned for as most will at some point, and even
official advice such as the Highway Code (UK) unlikely that they have heard
of him or Vehicular Cycling.
 In my experience he and Vehicular Cycling are very rarely known even among
urban campaigners, and the idea is dismissed and discredited.

People here are indulging in guesswork! It's a bit like Tom foolishly speculating on what goes on in a university classroom. If you haven't at least read the relevant literature, it's better to ask questions instead of making proclamations.
I believe I'm the only person here who met John Forester, talked with him and corresponded with him. I'm sure I'm the only one who completed a course, and who was certified to teach the relevant coursework.
Forester did not claim he invented his techniques out of thin air. On the contrary, he was raised in Britain, and said that what he taught was what was taught as standard practice in Britain at that time. (I understand it still is, in "Bikeability" classes.)
The problem, as he saw it, was that the U.S. did not have a continuous bicycling culture, where at least some adults had always been riding. So when the 1970s bike boom hit here, young adults began riding with zero understanding of how to behave among other traffic. He began espousing ideas that seemed radical to some Americans, but were considered normal east of the Atlantic.
And as I said, those who claim his ideas are "discredited" are usually saying "because Forester didn't get masses riding bikes." But that was never his objective! His aim was to help those who _did_ choose to ride.
Are his techniques discredited? If, when you ride an ordinary road, you ride in the same direction as other traffic; if you follow road markings such as left turn only lanes (instead of turning left from the right gutter); if you ride far enough out in the lane to avoid opening car doors; and you stop for red lights; if you know how to communicate with and negotiate with car drivers so you can safely change lanes... then you are using the techniques you claim are "discredited."
If you know how to dissuade a "right hook" by a passing motorist, and if you know an emergency maneuver to employ if that fails; if you are really good at panic stops, because you've practiced; if you can whip around a pothole that you spot at the last second... then you are using techniques you claim are "discredited."
But if you ride only around your quiet residential complex, or on a dead flat bike trail completely away from others, you don't need such knowledge. But please don't think you're really competent.
--
- Frank Krygowski