Re: Thoughts on industrial design

Am Mon, 28 Apr 2025 23:09:18 -0400 schrieb Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net>:

On 4/28/2025 3:19 PM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:

Am Sun, 27 Apr 2025 21:26:23 -0400 schrieb Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net>:
 

I've never owned a car with automatic transmission. Of course, my
current EV has only one fixed ratio reduction gear, so I've moved beyond
playing with multiple ratios. Just step on the gas ... no, throttle ...
no, accelerator, and it goes.
>
Half of my bikes are friction shifting, which is a vaguely similar issue
for discussion.

 
I never owned a car with automatic transmission, either. If I rent a
car, I don't care, but why should I get used to something that I don't
need and that only costs money?
 
We still own a car manufactured 25 years ago, that we bought 20 years
ago, for less money than we spent for the parts of the two bikes I built
in early 2023.  A car that is driven infrequently, carefully and only on
a few long journeys and that is properly maintained can last that long -
at least some of those produced before 2000 do.

>
Here in Northeast Ohio, it's difficult for a car to last that long even
if given normal good care and driven infrequently. That would have
described "the pinnacle of automotive achievement," the 1990 Honda Civic
Station Wagon that I sold when it was over 21 years old. It was a quirky
thing, fun to drive, efficient, with surprising carrying capacity. But
"rust never sleeps" as Neil Young said. I'll skip the long list of
seriously rusted bits that caused me to finally give up on the car. (But
have you ever had a car's gas tank drop due to rusted and broken support
straps?)

Almost, but not quite, and a story from about fifty years ago. A VW
Beetle wasn't exactly rust-free. At those times I did quite some repairs
with duct tape. Ok, replace tape with fiberglass mats and epoxy resin.
:-)

The car mentioned above, a Citroén Break, is still esssentially rust
free. Our climate isn't exactly dry here, the car was parked outside the
whole time and they use a lot of salt on the roads during winter. On the
other hand, I've never driven this car during winter. I didn't even buy
winter tires, which are mandatory in Germany in snow or black ice.  We
have organized our lives in such a way that we are not dependent on a
car in everyday life.  Bicycles were and still are a big part of this.

>

Our bikes have wireless electronic 1x12 shifting with two simple
switches. It  isn't automatic, if you take it literally, but simple
enough. My wife likes it, and so do I.  I see no value in memorizing
irregular gear ratios or guessing these on the fly while riding. I can
do that but don't miss it.

>
Huh. I have never had a problem figuring where my desired gear was.

I didn't either, most of the time. But didn't you have to shift very
fast, perhaps more than one step at a time, sometimes?

It
may be because I seem to be very tolerant of gear ratios, cadences, etc.

Perhaps.  One possible explanation would be that you are riding well
below your capacity. I can relate to that, having done that myself, most
of the time.

But today, being old now and after two major accidents, I have to make
the most of my remaining strength and stamina to be able to ride as far
and as fast as I want. Did 82 km with 750 meters of altitude gain on
Sunday. I'm still a long way from where I was last spring, but I'm not
complaining.

But my three friction shifting bikes all have essentially identical
"half step" gearing, so I'm very, very used to that.

Good for you.  I couldn't make friends with that.


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