Classic & Vintage - Stupid question thread, I'll start...

I worked in bike shops in my college years (1970s) and have always been a bike nut, but I don't recall when 700c wheels became the new standard. Why are 700c wheelsets considered an upgrade from stock 27"? I'm not sure I could tell the difference if I was riding a bike and didn't know what wheels were on it.
My other stupid question is when did rear spacing go from 120mm. to 126mm. to 130mm? I realize that it didn't happen overnight, but ballpark is OK. Just curious about that one.
I'm sure I could think of some other stupid questions, but that's enough for now. Feel free to post your own.
Feel like I dropped the ball somewhere this last couple of decades.

cheers, Joe

There are no stupid questions. Only stupid answers. - let's hear 'em ! :lol:

700 c is more easily interchangeable with a stock tubular rim.

Otherwise, I think you're right...27's work fine if you put alloy
rims and good tires on them. Maybe even preferable in some
applications.

As people have accepted the idea that more speeds = better,
the rear cluster has grown from five to ten and counting.

I think I saw the first six speed rear clusters about late 70's,
but I'm told some people had them earlier. All those cogs gotta
go somewhere, thus wider spacings.

700c narrow clincher tires came onto the scene in the later 1970's as I remember, and by 1990 I don't think any, but perhaps a generic Taiwan bike with steel rims, had 27" rms any more.

Narrow 27" tires are now a scarce commodity, and no premium racing tires are now made in the 27" size. There are many good 27" tires still available however, but most are only as narrow as 26mm when described as 27 X 1-1/8".

The Panaracer Pasela, IRC Road Winner and Continental GatorSkin come to mind as the higher-quality offerings in the 27" size, but there are very many others that are at least good.

Here's my Stupid Question:

Yesterday while cleaning, re-greasing, and reassembly of a Shimano rear hub (7 speed Hyperglide freebody), I could never get the axle adjusted correctly. Either too much play up and down (more on the nondrive side and even then the friction has still bad), or too much friction, and the axle would barely spin.

a) the hub is shot, toss the wheel
b) the cone(s) are shot, find new cones
c) both a) & b), again, toss the wheel
d) mechanics error, try, and try again :o
e) something else is wrong and replace your mechanic :eek:

Bonus points: Which of the above is the most stupid answer? :innocent:

F) Bent axle.

Bent axel fits the symptoms. The cones might be side specific and you have them switched? Perhaps a bad ball you missed?
If the hub was OK before you took it apart, don't chuck it as it's an assembly issue.

Great idea, a thread for short sharp and stupid questions.

My question, I have an all chrome frame mostly painted now will heavy duty paint stripper damage discolor or leave marks on the chrome after stripping? :o

Oh, I get it- 700c is an upgrade due to tire availability. Thanks, that makes sense. I couldn't figure that one out.
I once stripped some hardware that had been painted and the stripper made a mess out of the plating. Go easy on a bicycle frame. Maybe the citrus stripper would be gentler.

Great idea, a thread for short sharp and stupid questions.

My question, I have an all chrome frame mostly painted now will heavy duty paint stripper damage discolor or leave marks on the chrome after stripping? :o

I don't think the stripper will hurt the color of the chrome but..... If your frame has chrome plating under the paint that is not the same a 'show chrome' as you see on the forks and stays. Until the early '90s it was pretty common to chrome plate a frame to help protect it from rust and some thought it changed the metalurgy. However that chroming is left rough and not nearly as shiny as the show chrome you are ment to see. So while you could strip the paint unless you polish it often it will always look dull.

Stupid question: what's the best way to know the bar diameter for a stem? I don't have a bar to put in it to clamp down on to know for sure. Also how to measure the stem length, from quill bolt to tip? Or?

[QUOTE=Bianchigirll;14157838]

ah-ha I didn't think of that I'll see how it goes. The plan is to repaint following the original paint to chrome lines but leaving the seat and chain stays a little more exposed to chrome.

Either too much play up and down (more on the nondrive side and even then the friction has still bad), or too much friction, and the axle would barely spin.
Is it possible you put too many balls on one side and/or not enough on the other? It is a very easy mistake to make...

I worked in bike shops in my college years (1970s) and have always been a bike nut, but I don't recall when 700c wheels became the new standard. Why are 700c wheelsets considered an upgrade from stock 27"? I'm not sure I could tell the difference if I was riding a bike and didn't know what wheels were on it.


What I read and I wish I could find the link right now because I know I will screw up some of this is one of the tire manufactures came up with 27's trying to corner the market.
700's were actually 1st, the 27's came and the tire manufacture cut some deal with one of the large bicycle manufactures to build with 27 inch wheels for their bikes and they cut some deal for really low price on the tires for X years to cover the retooling. The tires size I think for a while was proprietary/patented on the size assuring no competition in the aftermarket. The bike manufacture was big enough that it made a significant impact on the market and other companies followed suit like lemmings because supposedly they were better.

Stupid question: what's the best way to know the bar diameter for a stem? I don't have a bar to put in it to clamp down on to know for sure. Also how to measure the stem length, from quill bolt to tip? Or?

My stupid answer :) :

1. Invest in a $10 digital caliper. You'll find you use it all the time. You can also try a small metric ruler but a caliper is more versatile.

2. Stems are generally measured c-c from clamp to quill

My other stupid question is when did rear spacing go from 120mm. to 126mm. to 130mm? I realize that it didn't happen overnight, but ballpark is OK. Just curious about that one.
I'm sure I could think of some other stupid questions, but that's enough for now. Feel free to post your own.
Feel like I dropped the ball somewhere this last couple of decades.

cheers, Joe
Spacing was due to more gears. The actual space between the gears stayed close to the same the freewheel just got wider.
I think 7 speed speed is when it went 126 then with the introduction of 8 speed it went to 130. Mountain bikes went to 135 because as the gear cluster got wider some of the hubs were more narrow to fit the gears. The more narrow the hub the weaker the wheel becomes to side loading. Thats when Shimano started a Mountain bike line of parts different from the road bike line.

Stupid question: what's the best way to know the bar diameter for a stem? I don't have a bar to put in it to clamp down on to know for sure. Also how to measure the stem length, from quill bolt to tip? Or?

+1 A serious C & V owner/hoarder is going to buy a $10 digital caliper. Too many oddball sizes out there. Its one of the first tools to buy for the tool kit IMHO.

Six speed brought on the 126mm spacing. Exception: Suntour made an "Ultra six" freewheel, that had five speed spacing. Even some early 5 speed bikes had 126mm (if I recall correctly). I think my 1973 World Voyageur came with 126mm spacing. That's pretty early for 126.

Answer to below: "D"

Do it again. Verify everything (# of bearings, condition of cones and cups, etc.) Use an axle vise to keep your axle from rotating. The difference between loose to too tight can be just a few degrees. I use a clock face analogy when tightening cones. Cone is at 5 O'clock: too loose. Tighten to 6 O'clock, too tight; back off to 5:30, just right. Realize the QR will tighten it up some once you mount the wheel, so it needs to be ever so slightly loose.

Quote: Here's my Stupid Question:

Yesterday while cleaning, re-greasing, and reassembly of a Shimano rear hub (7 speed Hyperglide freebody), I could never get the axle adjusted correctly. Either too much play up and down (more on the nondrive side and even then the friction has still bad), or too much friction, and the axle would barely spin.

a) the hub is shot, toss the wheel
b) the cone(s) are shot, find new cones
c) both a) & b), again, toss the wheel
d) mechanics error, try, and try again

Ah, the stem-measurement blues! It's hard to believe, but Cinelli (and certain other stems from certain manufacturers, including Dura-Ace and a few other higher-end Japanese) stems are measured Center of bar to center of quill, measured across the top!

The "top" measurement, as opposed to a "center-to-center, on-center" measurement, puts a bigger number on the stem. I.E., a Cinelli or Dura-Ace stem that is stamped/labeled as 110mm is actually closer to 105mm.

The polished/anodized older Nitto stem on my holdsworth is stamped 110, but actually measures only 106mm.

Most stems are measured center-to-center, on-center however.

My take on this is that the "on-center" measurement method is applied as a "drawing board" measurement, while the "across the top" measurement is intended as "measured in the field" and thus intended for racing service where riders and coaches need to be able to do these measurements themselves, there being nothing particularly precise about having to self-measure from C-C, on center.

I have found myself re-visiting this issue over the years, often wondering wich stems are measured by which method, and have used good fixturing to make the measurements.

Yet another oddity, Dura-Ace stems, made by Nitto, the ones with the "aero" closed clamp, are labeled 26.0 diameter, but readily accept the 26.4mm bars made by Cinelli and Ambrosio. It's actually a much better fit!

And I could also go off on how the amount of undersizing of quill diameter varies so much from brand to brand.
As an example, a recently-introduced Taiwan-made stem of declared "French" diameter sizes the quill at only 24.8mm, a large concession to seemingly over-stated "tolerances" of steerer I.D.
I always prefer motion-free attachment of handlebar and stem, and get the least slop from Japanese quill stems filed-to-fit into a particular French steerer. It's almost like the French 22.0 steerer I.D. was designed for custom-fitting and using different brands of stems makes a big difference in the amount of metal to be removed and can take nearly an hour in some cases with typical files.

The $10 caliper is truly money well spent. I actually bought two of the back when the price had just come down to $20, and afer some tens of thousands of measurements, the first one can still make precise and accurate measurements and the battery even lasts a good couple of years.
Measuring everything from bolts, shims, washers, spokes, bars, stems, steerers, crown races, posts, rims (width and ERD determination), tires, bearings, cables, housings, frame tubing, chain width and even chain wear, it's the best tool investment ever.

Different tire sizes came along at different times and in different countries. It is a long story to say the least!

About that rear hub, I can only guess that perhaps one of the balls got displaced from it's proper path, and is not properly contained between cup and cone. Remonds me of finding a headset ball bearing trapped between steerer and head tube, the headset not possible to adjust in that case. I can't really imaging getting too many balls in a rear hub race, it would be way too obvious!

I have a caliper, it's more procedural ... when you undo the bar clamp bolt, the end expands, to let the bar out.. so in theory the measured diameter without the bars in will be larger than the true clamping diameter. So if I tighten the clamp bolt to get the actual diameter, I have no idea how far the clamp will close when the bars are in, so its guesswork if its the right diameter. Or am I being far too anal, as there are not enough diameter variations in vars ti make it worth my time?

A real stupid question- I really wonder if there is a real answer.

how did come that the chainwheel is on the right side of the bike? and not the other side?

Is it possible you put too many balls on one side and/or not enough on the other? It is a very easy mistake to make...

No, 9 on each side.


F) Bent axle.

Checked it. It appeared to be straight.


Bent axel fits the symptoms. The cones might be side specific and you have them switched? Perhaps a bad ball you missed?
If the hub was OK before you took it apart, don't chuck it as it's an assembly issue.

I took off the non drive side nut, spacer, and cone only, so there would be no mixup.

The balls all appeared to be good, nice and bright, no discoloring, no chips.

This is a project for a church member, on his early '90s Diamondback MTB. Nothing special and you can tell from the care it has received. When I removed the rear wheel to begin cleaning and turned the axle is was incredibly tight and rough. Nothng smooth about it in the first place.

I talked to the owner this morning and he is willing to buy a new rear wheel. Before I do so, I will finish cleaning the front hub to see if he needs a full set.

A real stupid question- I really wonder if there is a real answer.

how did come that the chainwheel is on the right side of the bike? and not the other side?

This might be a stupid answer because I can't vet it, but I read somewhere that it's a carryover equestrian thing: The way a right-handed person typically mounts a horse.

Along the lines of the axle nut problem, how do you keep the axle nuts tight? Or is that even a problem? Every time I remove a wheel the outside axle nuts will be slightly loose. I always snug them back up to not loose before I put the wheel back on.

My stupid question.

How does one polish a crankset? i've heard of wet-sanding but have no idea what that is. Should you sand in a certain direction? what do you use to hand polish?

Ok stupid questions.​ :)

My stupid question.

How does one polish a crankset? i've heard of wet-sanding but have no idea what that is. Should you sand in a certain direction? what do you use to hand polish?

Ok stupid questions.​ :)

"Wet sanding" is simply a process you use water with the sand paper to help keep the sand paper from packing full of what has been removed. The only 2 reasons you would wet sand the aluminum is to remove anodizing (though its much easier to strip that chemically) or scratches/surface irregularities. You would work to finer and finer grade and then eventually a paste or Rouge polish to bring out the final luster.

with the anodized finish removed the cranks are weaker also.

I have a link to a guy in Austria who re-anodized his stem after polishing.

follow the thread and see how he did it.

http://nyx.at/bikeboard/Board/showthread.php?116776-Puch-Mistral-Reloaded

Question = Will tubular rims/tires make my vintage roadie ride better? What's with the gluing?

Answer = Lose nearly a pound (or more) from your vintage wheelset and you will notice a difference. Gluing = be careful, be neat, read about it first.

Didn't realize it was a Stupid question until recently - upon becoming "a tubular newb", and quickly a believer. And this improvement with closeout Vittoria Rallys. Next wheelset will get fitted with more expensive tubes. Every acceleration feels a little bit easier, handling may be a tad lighter.

with the anodized finish removed the cranks are weaker also.
http://nyx.at/bikeboard/Board/showthread.php?116776-Puch-Mistral-Reloaded

Stupid question = would a Shimano 600 Arabesque crankset be anodized? How much weaker without anodizing?

My stupid answer :) :

1. Invest in a $10 digital caliper. You'll find you use it all the time. You can also try a small metric ruler but a caliper is more versatile.

+1 I dropped $13 on Amazon for mine and it has since become indispensable.

My stupid question:

Record brake levers on a french handlebar (Philippe Professionale) - I thought the 23.8 clamp size of the lever fit everything? These wouldn't tighten down enough. I had to jimmy with elec tape. Am I wrong? Is there any part of the bike the French didn't make difficult?

Jesse, the French didn't make bikes difficult, they just made them French! How large is the dia. of the Philippe bar? Why didn't you use a beverage can shim? It won't compress like electrical tape.

A good reason to change 27" rims to 700C is to get the 4 mm extra clearance for mounting fenders -- that's if you don't cause brake reach problems in the process. But the main one is to get a larger selection of tires. It's funny that the bicycle industry has, over time, adopted metric sizing and threading for most items, excepting the bottom bracket. The world would be a slightly more rational place if the Swiss BB had won out too -- go Motobécane!

I think that the reason a lot of frames were fully chromed is because plating is a "dip" process, and if you're going to dip part of the frame it's hardly more work to dip the whole thing. Bianchigirll is right that a lot of the painted chrome area is not polished well enough to be exposed; however, it's a visual thing. Chrome plating on a less polished area is likely to be equally corrosion-resistant as a polished area, or nearly so. What many people don't understand about plating is that the plated substrate generally (always with a really hard metal like chrome) must be polished to the final finish level before plating; there's no going back and bringing a dull or rough chrome finish to a higher gloss level. This polishing takes a lot of work, and adds expense, so manufacturers would only polish the areas where chrome finish would be exposed. In fact, rougher areas would provide a better substrate for paint, anyway. Much of the chrome on bikes was a 3-stage process: plate steel with copper first, then nickel, then chrome -- each metal providing good adhesion to the last, and a softer base for a harder plating. Sometimes only two metals are used, but chrome is not (to my knowledge) deposited directly on steel. There isn't a lot of chrome plating in modern manufacturing because it's environmentally unfriendly, and it's a toxic process for workers; so enjoy what's left of it -- it's both classic and vintage.

A real stupid question- I really wonder if there is a real answer.

how did come that the chainwheel is on the right side of the bike? and not the other side?

If the chain were on the left side, the freewheel (or single sprocket in the days before freewheels existed) would have to be left-hand threaded. Yes I know the left pedal already is, and the right fixed cup often is, but reducing the number of non-standard threaded parts when there was no compelling engineering reason to use them was probably sensible. Note that with freehubs you wouldn't need left-hand threads to put the drive train on the left side. Or was that a stupid answer owing to forgetting something?

Stupid question = would a Shimano 600 Arabesque crankset be anodized? How much weaker without anodizing?
I think that they were, though I don't have one here to look at. Anodizing may harden the finish somewhat (this is claimed for rims, or was back in the day), but as far as improving the strength overall of something like a crankset, that is more massive in section than a rim; I seriously doubt that it adds anything.

Along the lines of the axle nut problem, how do you keep the axle nuts tight? Or is that even a problem? Every time I remove a wheel the outside axle nuts will be slightly loose. I always snug them back up to not loose before I put the wheel back on.
You put the cone wrench on the cone and the other wrench on the axle nut, and turn them in opposite directions, toward each other, until they're nice and tight.

Spacing was due to more gears. The actual space between the gears stayed close to the same the freewheel just got wider.
I think 7 speed speed is when it went 126 then with the introduction of 8 speed it went to 130. Mountain bikes went to 135 because as the gear cluster got wider some of the hubs were more narrow to fit the gears. The more narrow the hub the weaker the wheel becomes to side loading. Thats when Shimano started a Mountain bike line of parts different from the road bike line.
4- and 5-speed freewheels used 120mm spacing. 6-speed arrived around the early '70s and used 126 mm (actually 126.5). Then around the late '70s 7-speed freewheels that used 126 mm spacing started coming out. The cogs were the same thickness, but spacing between the cogs (and between the smallest cog and the dropout) had decreased. This required a narrower chain that used a "bent" or chamfered inner link.

8-speed freewheels in 130 mm spacing, a technical disaster, followed. Problems were the extreme dishing of the rear wheel and the distance between the drive side bearing and the dropout, leading to bent axles. The cassette hub solved the axle problem by moving the drive side bearing to the outside and the left flange to the inside.

My stupid question: 1. How do you tell if your hubs are Super Record? Is it as obvious as the word "Super Record" being on the hub? My Raleigh Pro and my Tommasini are I believe all Super Record, but the hubs only say Campagnolo Record.
2. How do you put a back wheel on the bike. I always suffer extreme frustration when trying to put the back wheel on. :-) Sorry for the stupid questions. Am I allowed a few more?

Flash

Maybe the tight hub bearings were from the axle rotating while the axle nuts were tightened, that is if it doesn't have a quick-release. Oiled nut threads helps here.

The freehub axle should have been fully removed for a couple of reasons:

Firstly, the drive-side cone may have caused tightness because it rotated with the hubshell and bearings, away from it's locknut. It now would need to be secured tightly against it's locknut to prevent this happening again since you've adjusted it.

Another reason to remove the axle is to check for a cracked ball or bearing cup, both of which are likely when a bearing goes tight like that. The forces were very high!


"I thought the 23.8 clamp size of the lever fit everything? These wouldn't tighten down enough. I had to jimmy with elec tape. Am I wrong? Is there any part of the bike the French didn't make difficult?"

Your bars are smaller diameter not because they are French.
Most steel handlebars are 22.2mm diameter, as on a non-road bike.
The brake levers on road bikes with 22.2mm steel bars will have special clamp bands, usually with stamped size markings.
Tightening levers onto non-metal shims often causes frequent loosening.
Cloth tape would hold up longer than electrical tape though.

As good a place as any:

I couldn't find geometry nor weight nor diameter specs on CAD2 road. I'm curious if Cannondale just reverted to pre 3.0 frame, albeit with double butting or is the post 2.8 (circa 1998) frames really anything different than those classic 1984-1988 frames?

why do i keep seeing threaded headsets on new, albeit cheap, bikes? Seems to me threadless would be cheaper overall

Great idea, a thread for short sharp and stupid questions.

My question, I have an all chrome frame mostly painted now will heavy duty paint stripper damage discolor or leave marks on the chrome after stripping? :oYes, if you go too heavy and/or leave it on too long. If you use something like aircraft stripper, go easy and use multiple applications. It can leave milky or smoky marks. Same with Rustoleum's rust remover. Leave it on too long, and it discolors. Same with some degreasers on alloy rims. Been there, done all that.

My stupid question: 1. How do you tell if your hubs are Super Record? Is it as obvious as the word "Super Record" being on the hub? My Raleigh Pro and my Tommasini are I believe all Super Record, but the hubs only say Campagnolo Record.


I believe that the only thing that distinguishes SR hubs from Record is the titanium axles -- I've never seen any, but expect that they'd be a gray color rather than blackened steel. Hub shells are exactly the same as Record AFAIK. Meaning, when they're on the bike, with axles completely non-visible, nobody can tell that you spent the extra money, nor that they might break under you! They weren't very popular, because of this. Unless you're on the 160# side of things, you might consider an "upgrade" to steel.

As good a place as any:

I couldn't find geometry nor weight nor diameter specs on CAD2 road. I'm curious if Cannondale just reverted to pre 3.0 frame, albeit with double butting or is the post 2.8 (circa 1998) frames really anything different than those classic 1984-1988 frames?

why do i keep seeing threaded headsets on new, albeit cheap, bikes? Seems to me threadless would be cheaper overall

I can't answer your C'dale question but from what I see, the choice of threaded/non-threaded headset corresponds to the style of the bike: The retro/cruiser styles stick with the threaded design because a threadless headset would just look ridiculous.

Another stupid question:
I've observed that grease will often leave a brownish stain on the paint around the perimeter of the bb cups and headset race... Will synthetic grease do the same thing over time?

Question = Will tubular rims/tires make my vintage roadie ride better? What's with the gluing?

Answer = Lose nearly a pound (or more) from your vintage wheelset and you will notice a difference. Gluing = be careful, be neat, read about it first.

Didn't realize it was a Stupid question until recently - upon becoming "a tubular newb", and quickly a believer. And this improvement with closeout Vittoria Rallys. Next wheelset will get fitted with more expensive tubes. Every acceleration feels a little bit easier, handling may be a tad lighter.

What kind of rim/hubs are you using? IMHO unless you are using a classic box section rim on a 36 or 32 hole hub you strictly getting performance benifits and not ride comfort.

Bent axel fits the symptoms. The cones might be side specific and you have them switched? Perhaps a bad ball you missed?
If the hub was OK before you took it apart, don't chuck it as it's an assembly issue.

ax·el   /ˈæksəl/ Show Spelled[ak-suhl] Show IPA
noun Figure Skating .
a jump performed by a skater leaping from the front outer edge of one skate into the air to make 1 1 / 2 rotations of the body and landing on the back outer edge of the other skate.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I answered my own question. . once I got to my big screen, use a proper PDF reader.

No, the frames differ a bit in geometry (slacker angles, shorter top tubes. . . higher bb, ect), but they weigh about the same (3.4-ish lbs)

I think that they were, though I don't have one here to look at. Anodizing may harden the finish somewhat (this is claimed for rims, or was back in the day), but as far as improving the strength overall of something like a crankset, that is more massive in section than a rim; I seriously doubt that it adds anything.


in the 80's my Torker BMX came standard with shimano 600 cranks- I vividly remember the BMX ACTION magazine test on the bike- they said that the 600's were wimpy and that they managed to bend them.
I bought the bike and wimpy me did just that - they bent, now a 13 year old kid can bend a new set of 600's, now 30 some years later strip that hard coat off and get a fully grown man on them-

please report your findings, why not try to re-anodize them? its pretty easy to do and think of all the other stuff you can anodize then!

Why don't bicycles have some sort of adjustable steering stop.....so your front brake cable stop on your sidepull brake caliper does not ever slam against your down tube and sometimes end up beating it up. I'm sure someone thought of this, but I bet a few liability experts got int the way......like always:twitchy:
And why are those tiny crimp-on metal cable end caps $0.25 each at PBS??? Why don't they sell them in boxes of a hundred instead, for much less each?:twitchy:
Where did all the clear brake cable casings go that were so comon in the 80's?? Who the heck is hoarding all that stuff??! Porkchop BMX can't possibly have all the supplies of it left in the world!:twitchy:

Chombi

Is there a way to gracefully stop using the leg-swing-over maneuver when wearing clipless pedals? I tried it yesterday and nearly fell. I kept my left foot on the pedal and swung my right leg over the bike and onto the left side of the bike. Right before I stopped, the twist of my body in relation to the bike caused my left foot to unclip. Oops.

This might be a stupid answer because I can't vet it, but I read somewhere that it's a carryover equestrian thing: The way a right-handed person typically mounts a horse.

The typical person, right handed or not, would mount his noble steed from the left (non drive side) of the horse. Here's a good reason why from Answer.com:

"It is traditional to mount and dismount a horse from the left side the reasoning behind this goes back to when people carried swords, the swords mostly hung on the left hip they couldn't mount a right side because the sword got in the way so became traditional to mount from the left."

I'm sure you can mount a horse from the right, I've never met one but I found it interesting it does have history. And I always mount my bike from the left side, left over lessons from "Old Glue"

Scott

The typical person, right handed or not, would mount his noble steed from the left (non drive side) of the horse. Here's a good reason why from Answer.com:

"It is traditional to mount and dismount a horse from the left side the reasoning behind this goes back to when people carried swords, the swords mostly hung on the left hip they couldn't mount a right side because the sword got in the way so became traditional to mount from the left."

I'm sure you can mount a horse from the right, I've never met one but I found it interesting it does have history. And I always mount my bike from the left side, left over lessons from "Old Glue"

Scott
There's a lot of this swashbuckling stuff that runs our "handed" lives. When in Ireland I learned that in castles the spiral stairs all went in one direction (counter-clockwise going up?) so that right-handed defenders working from top down would have the advantage over righties approaching from below. And of course, why the English drive on the left -- to facilitate swordplay between righties en passant.

Is there a way to gracefully stop using the leg-swing-over maneuver when wearing clipless pedals? I tried it yesterday and nearly fell. I kept my left foot on the pedal and swung my right leg over the bike and onto the left side of the bike. Right before I stopped, the twist of my body in relation to the bike caused my left foot to unclip. Oops.

Not sure I can help you there, Tom -- I have always found that an unstable dismounting manoeuvre myself, too. As a tandem captain I got in the habit of dismounting my end by putting my left foot down at the moment of stopping, then unclipping my right foot and swinging my right leg forward up over my handlebars to come to parade rest on the left side of the bike. This avoids fouling your right leg in the stoker's handlebars or, much worse, kicking her in the face with a steel cleat. I've taken to dismounting single bikes the same way for consistency. But no, I can't dismount gracefully while the bike, single or tandem, is still moving.