Re: Suspension losses

On 14 Jan 2025 12:41:16 GMT, Roger Merriman <roger@sarlet.com> wrote:

Catrike Ryder <Soloman@old.bikers.org> wrote:

On Sun, 12 Jan 2025 19:28:34 -0600, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
 

On 1/12/2025 7:19 PM, John B. wrote:

On Sun, 12 Jan 2025 11:08:45 -0600, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
 

On 1/11/2025 6:46 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 1/11/2025 4:11 PM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:

Am Fri, 10 Jan 2025 20:01:26 -0500 schrieb Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net>:
 

On 1/10/2025 5:18 PM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:

This makes me reflect on the criticism of electronics in
bicycles. ... But what about measuring the
amount of power applied to the pedals, what about
telling the cyclist
who balanced he splits the power between left and right, by
instrumenting the pedal or the bottom bracket?

 
Yes, that can be done with enough sensors and
electronics. But it seems
like useless information to me. As with much computer
software, it seems
like "feature bloat." Why would anybody but a racer care?

 
Is there any reason to believe that old people like me
don't have a need
to care about training intensity, as a matter of
principle?  How comes?
 
When using my biycles as a middle aged, healthy adult I
didn't care
about racing, didn't train and didn't try to find company
in cycling
clubs, either. I didn't visit a gym until much later.
Cycling was simply
a way to get to work quickly. During vacations it was a more
entertaining mode of transportation than the car. Fitness,
strength and
cardio fitness came as a side effect, slowly and almost
unnoticed.
 
This has changed. My cardio fitness is still better than
what I know
about a lot of people half my age. Nevertheless, it
decreased over the
years and it takes more and more effort to keep what you
have not yet
lost. As it is expected. The ability to measure power is
helpful in
finding the point at which intensity is sufficient and
overload has not
yet begun. This is even more true in combination with a
heart rate
monitor.
 
So far, this is only about aging. But there is more.
 
Accidents that led to damage to bones, joints and tendons
in the past
have consequences to be considered, too. There is a
tendency to
compensate weaknesses by bad postures, whithout noticing.
This is both
caused by damages and causing damages. This is to be
avoided.  Measuring
how power is applied by the feet helps detecting
differences early,
avoiding damage.
 
Avoiding damage is far from useless.

 
But individual power outputs from left and right legs? I
can't imagine much value from that measurement. In fact, I
don't believe power measurement is necessary for fitness. I
judge by feel. It has the advantage of naturally
compensating for days when I feel stronger or weaker. And
it's organic!  ;-)
 

My experiences with mechanical devices are at least as
mixed as those
with electronic devices.  Some very complicated electronic
devices that
I bought decades ago still work. The same applies to some
that I built
myself a long time ago.  With devices that contained both
electronic and
mechanical parts, the fault was more often on the
mechanical side.
 
Anecdotical, I know.

 
To me, a big advantage is the ability to _look_ at a
mechanical device and _see_ what's wrong. That, and the fact
I can often affect a repair. I hate the Kleenex ethic -
"It's no good any more, just throw it away."
 

Two days ago, my kid asked me to figure out why an
electric blanket
wasn't working. The controller refused to turn on. I
opened it and
confirmed that it was getting supply voltage. Beyond
that, the pile of
dozens of surface mount electronic components was
incomprehensible to
me. I suspect Jeff might have been able to diagnose it,
but not me.
Here's a photo:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/16972296@N08/54259119364/
in/dateposted-public/
I know electric blankets are old technology. I know they
functioned well
for decades with maybe a rheostat and perhaps a couple of
other
components. Why add unrepairable complexity?

 
Don't know.  We use devices like the blue one in the
following picture.
<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/
W%C3%A4rmflasche1.jpg>
and better isolating blankets. No electricity necessary. :-)

 
:-) But you imply that _I'm_ the one insufficiently modern?
 

A few lights in our house are switched by set of 2 x 3
inexpensive
wireless sockets including two remote controls, that I
bought eleven
years ago. I've still to replace the batteries. Two of the
sockets are
still spares, I have a replacement cell for the remote
controls stored
which might live even longer. Standard type, used in
garage openers and
burglar alarms, too. Selecting a channel and paring one of
the four
buttons of a remote control with one or more of the
sockets is as easy
as pie, using a line of dip switches inside those
devices.  Quite
similar to pairing switches and derailleur on our bicyles.
 
While I avoid having essential functionality in my house
depend on
wireless connections, I enjoy having the option, for
certain use cases,
though.

 
Yuck.
 
I bought a new pedestal fan for our back patio last year.
I've found a fan to be the best defense against mosquitos.
The previous one still runs, but exposure to sunlight
destroyed its plastic finger protection screen.
 
Anyway, the new one comes with a remote control, roughly the
size of a snack cracker. Who needs a remote to adjust a fan?
I rejected ceiling fans with remotes when I was shopping,
too. It's something to lose, something whose battery will
die, and something whose electronics will go bad and be
unrepairable.
...

 
When I see a 50 year old, perfect looking bicycle, I think:
That one must have been standing around inside most of the
time, perhaps
for a reason.

 
My favorite bike is a young 39 years. It looks perfect, in
part because I had it (and my wife's matching one) stripped
and powder coated a couple years ago. Too many excellent
memories to let it go.
 
 

 
Not only the electronics infestation of consumer products.
 
I brought food to make girlfriend's birthday dinner last
evening and I cook in her kitchen regularly but sometimes
the modern kitchen stove is a real impediment.
 
[break for electronics rant: Her new kitchen stove, as her
furnace, both run from the large LP tank in the yard. Both
'improved' designs cannot run without electronic
start/valves etc so when the power is out there is no heat
whatsoever and power outages in rural USA are periodic.]
 
The new kitchen stove has electronic controls for the
burners and oven (oven controlled by a touch pad not, a
physical switch).  The burner controls have 4 positions
only, viz., Off, Low, High, Start.  That's really difficult
for some cooking projects. Resolved by moving the two pans
off and on the flame, which is Just One More Thing when
timing two dishes at once.
 
Only a designer who has never actually cooked would think of
that.  Works fine for brewing coffee or boiling pasta but
limited for many projects.

 
Gee,,, my mother cooked on a "gas" stove with mechanical controls from
the regulate at the tank to the knobs on the stove successfully and
one grandmother cooked on a wood stove, in the winter, un till she
died, successfully.
 
Are these "modern contraptions" really necessary?
 
Well, perhaps they are. Are there young woman, today, being taught by
their mother how to cook on a wood stove? Or how to darn woolen socks,
or even how to raise the kids?
 

 
Much agreed.
 
The kitchen stove I used for decades had simple gas valves
and a box of wooden matches in a clay dish next to it.  No
complaints.

 
I did live for a while on the boat without a microwave, but I'll never
do that again. 
 

Indeed though I rarely use a microwave but to defrost stuff!
>
I strongly suspect that particularly with domestic appliances that older
men use of them isn’t a useful metric ie highly likely to be used by women
who i suspect would have more experience of such things and different
conclusions.

--
C'est bon
Soloman
 

>
Roger Merriman
>

I do defrost with the microwave, but we use it for many other things.
My wife is a microwave popcorn fanatic. I use it for my morning
oatmeal and to reheat my coffee. I'm very big on vegetables and they
go from frozen to edible via the microwave. Leftovers must be reheated
and potatoes must be made edible.

--
C'est bon
Soloman