General Cycling Discussion - Heelys?

My office is about a mile wide and it takes 10 minutes to walk across the damn thing. Screw that.

Been looking at these

http://www.zappos.com/heelys-double-threat-toddler-youth-adult

But they've got different quality bearings (ABEC 1-7, all it measures is roundness--not bearing quality, steel quality, etc), different wheel sizes, and the like.

Anyone tried these? They won't let me ride a bicycle around the office I'd imagine. I'm too lazy to walk; wheels are better.

Lucky I fit an adult size 9.5 or EUR42....

What are you, a forest ranger or something?

No I just work in a gimongous office building. It literally takes me 15 minutes to get from my desk to my bike, and the bike is just outside. Takes like 10 to traverse 1 floor.

Note that people who work in the Mercedes Benz factory actually use bicycles to get around the factory--it's too damn big, it takes too long, and management decided all that walking is a waste of time.

Every time I see a kid rolling around on them, I'm reminded of the scar on my chin from a skateboard accident.

I've heard that these "Heely" shoes are implicated in some nasty head injuries. Remember- if you start to go over backwards, there ain't no way you're going to catch yourself.

FWIW: I work in a hospital complex. The connection among several buildings is a wide underground tunnel with ramps to compensate for the change in floor levels. It would make a *****en skatepark, if me on a skateboard didn't resemble a 5-car pileup.

A cyclist who is too lazy to walk across the office? Weird. I've never measured, put I wager that I easily walk 3 to 5 miles a day at my restaurant. My servers and bussers probably do two to three times that, and some of them cycle to work as well.

But, if you insist on being a pansy taking it easy, Heelys are probably a fun way to go about it. At least the 10 year olds that I see wearing them in the supermarket seem to enjoy them. :D

I've heard that these "Heely" shoes are implicated in some nasty head injuries. Remember- if you start to go over backwards, there ain't no way you're going to catch yourself.


I've gone over backwards on the slate floor outside when wet. Due to restricted movement (nowhere to go) I had to roll out of it in place by skidding my body against the ground (this is done by shifting weight against the roll so I rotate on an internal axis). I also walk/run/basically ignore ice, mostly because I can, but also because if I go over I can handle myself. Honestly I've been trained more to take ridiculous throws and falls than anything.

Also a lot of that is sudden moral crisis. I've tried riding a skateboard too, I can't imagine those being safe ... also, remember being a kid and jumping bicycle ramps with no helmet and no hands? 'cause I do. First time I rode my current bike to my parents' house (in March), I let go of the bars while braking to scratch my nose and did a full endo, went head first ... tucked into an Aikido roll with the bike, and managed to prevent head strike (helmet didn't even touch) but then the weight of the bike stopped me and I flopped onto the ground. And then there's those 2 wheeled skateboards, and inline skates ... oh, roller skates themselves, the first time I had a pair, I remember my legs going up in front of me so many times ...

Of course **** with wheels is dangerous! If it was slow it'd be safe.



FWIW: I work in a hospital complex. The connection among several buildings is a wide underground tunnel with ramps to compensate for the change in floor levels. It would make a *****en skatepark, if me on a skateboard didn't resemble a 5-car pileup.

haha. The hospital complex here has its own zipcode, it takes up about 10% of the city. It's also a medical school. I can't imagine how they run without an advanced form of internal transit, like a vertical/horizontal scheduled, dual tracked elevator or something. Doctor, needed for emergency a 40 minute walk away in another building on the other side of campus. ~_~



A cyclist who is too lazy to walk across the office? Weird.


Dude if I walk the 15 feet around the corner after locking my bike in the garage, and I realize I still have the helmet? It's going inside with me. I'm not going back to put a helmet in a garage, it's too far to walk, too slow, takes too long.

I went 3 miles the wrong way on my bike once and just turned around. The bike can sustain 10-15 mph, sometimes I'll sprint for a few seconds at 30, and on level ground (which there is insanely little of here) I can cruise at 20 for about a mile, maybe mile and a half if I'm fresh.

On foot... I can go 6, for about 20-30 feet.

Just think of factory workers, house maids, cooks, and most blue collar workers, who stay on their feet all day long. Some factory workers not only stay on their feet all day, but they stay on their feet all day, IN THE SAME SPOT!

Of course, there's also school teachers, who walk around their classrooms all day, with only a lunch break...

I think all of these professions trump your plight my friend! :thumb:

PS.

Of course, if you think the Heely's will relieve you, by all means feel free! :)

Do it! Or just spring for one of those Segway personal transporters.

Heelys? I equate them to little annoying kids.

I'd rather rock one of these,
http://www.razor.com/us/products/scooters/specs.html?name=A5+Lux

Walking is good for you ... helps you build strong bones.

Walking is good for you ... helps you build strong bones.


You would have to bring that up...:P

I don't particularly like walking either, unless I have chosen to walk for some reason.

In answer to the wheely things, try them but expect them to be banned promptly. Seems anytime you want to have fun at work it becomes against the rules in my experience.

Aaron :)

Heelys? I equate them to little annoying kids.

I'd rather rock one of these,
http://www.razor.com/us/products/scooters/specs.html?name=A5+Lux

I had one of these but with polyurethane wheels the size of roller blade wheels... I think they really were blade wheels! Large wheels seem to lend themselves to smoother operation ... the small wheels sure as hell couldn't handle tarmac! That stupid thing seemed built for a skate rink...

I've got a pair of heelys. They are fun, but they aren't significantly faster than walking. Also, to get get your legs locked out in able to cruise around on them your hamstrings will get tired. So in terms of saving energy, they aren't really sufficient.

ps. I've never went backwards on them.

pps. Get them. It might not be any better than walking, but it is still fun. I'd wear heelys at my job if I could.

You need a teleporter.

217439

haha. The hospital complex here has its own zipcode, it takes up about 10% of the city. It's also a medical school. I can't imagine how they run without an advanced form of internal transit, like a vertical/horizontal scheduled, dual tracked elevator or something. Doctor, needed for emergency a 40 minute walk away in another building on the other side of campus. ~_~


Sounds like a Star Trek "turbolift"- y'know, the little elevator with the motorcycle throttles on the wall that Kirk and Spock were always jumping in and out of.

At my place, the corridor intersection 20 feet from my door sees all sorts of traffic: patients on powered beds, materials on pallet jacks, electric carts pulling trains of linen carts, meal delivery, and various and sundry people walking back and forth. One these days we're going to have the gaudiest goddam pileup.

http://www.hoveround.com/home/more-information/?PhoneNumber=8004591068&PageID=1110000133&gclid=CJKgzqiNhqsCFSQBQAod4j8r0Q
This is how I roll.