Dawes-man

It may be illegal in Japan as it's effects (by ingestion - inhalation just requires smaller quantities for it to be damaging) are well appreciated due to a long period of itai-itai disease (itai being the Japanese for 'it hurts') from 1912 until cadmium was discovered to be its cause in 1968. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itai-itai_disease Not pleasant!

I read somewhere that artists paints containing cadmium were damaging when used in their powder form.

Lenton58 

I cannot verify this story, and it could be another urban legend. And I cannot remember where I read about it; it could been here on BF. The story goes that an octogenarian cyclist was a known fixture on Northern California's Hwy 101 — that's the coastal highway ... right? (It's been 40 years since I drove it.) He was not connected with any club or bike shop. He just loved riding up and down the coast. That might have been remarkable in itself, but the story gets more huge. He was well-known for riding up behind groups that were out on training rides — and he would drop them. But he was not satisfied with just that. Printed on the back of his yellow jersey were the words — "DROPPED BY AN 80+ MAN!"

I love the story even if it's not true.

Dawes-man: I've heard Japanese people mention itai-itai biyoki, but I did not know what caused it.

cbresciani

Astonishingly, a bicycle can stay upright without a rider as long as it's moving at about 8 mph or faster. You just need a few ingredients.


First, a bicycle needs a freely steerable front wheel. Second, the more relaxed the angle of the fork, the more stable the bike. Third, the distribution of the handlebar and fork mass has an additional effect on how the steering reacts to a change in verticality (wobble).


Put these three properties together in the right proportion and the result will be self-stabilizing dynamics. One explanation for this weird phenomenon is that when the moving bike begins to lean to one side, gravitational torque rotates the front wheel away from straight ahead and the bicycle starts to describe a circle. In reaction, the road surface applies a centripetal force that restores the wheel to pointing straight forward. The centripetal force also exerts a torque on the entire bicycle, which pushes it out of the leaning stance.

I love Popular Science!

rootboy 

Not pleasant indeed. And not to take this thread down an off-topic course but, Japan has had more than its share of devastating poisonings, culminating with the latest debacle/accident. BTW, Dawes-man, one of my most treasured books is my copy of Minamata, by W. Eugene Smith and his wife. Which, along with the ground-breaking LIFE magazine photo essay brought the Mercury poisoning of the city by the Chisso Corporation to the world's attention. To my mind, one of the most important, and most sad, documents on our assault on our environment.
A very powerful book.

Paramount1973 

The CONEG regulations do limit the use of cadmium, hexavalent chromium, mercury and lead in packaging in the US. Cadmium can be used for other uses depending on the nature of the use.

puchfinnland

Fact
Photogravity own more then 40 bicycles...which are equally distributed around his home..in fact they even overflow onto his porch!
He just bought a large sprinter van so he can haul his tandems around inside.

Lenton58 

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA: A cedar planked, open-air, 250 metre velodrome was built for the 1954 British Empire Games. Over the years it deteriorated in the elements. The late Lorne "Ace" Atkinson, a local cycling luminary, led the endeavour to rebuild it in 1973. On the Canadian team at the age of 33, "Ace" had placed 4th in the 10 mile event in the '54 BEA. The restoration did not spare the drome for long. It was demolished to make way for a junior college. More recently Vancouver got another velodrome that is a popular fixture today. An important feature, considering Vancouver's rain-coast climate, is an inflated roof. It is a fair distance from the city centre compared to the old China Creek track, but it's a welcome addition to the city's sports facilities.

Italuminium

Velodromes in and all by themselves are so nice to look at. Just something really nice about all that timber and those sexy curves. Maybe I'm a little weird

Lenton58 

Well then, we are both weird, because I thought the same thing. I had a walk around the track just shortly before it was pulled down. The expanse of weathered cedar was amazing. There is a very good chance that I worked at the mill that likely furnished the planks and timbers. When I was there in the late 60's, this very old saw mill was cutting up huge trees out virgin forests — a lot of it for export. That was an awe inspiring experience in itself, even as it was a hellish place to labour in.

jeirvine 

In 1892 cyclist Frank Lenz of Pittsburgh attempted to cycle around the world on one of the new fangled "safety bicycles". He disappeared in Turkey. At the time, my great grandfather was a missionary there, and helped investigate the disappearance. A few years ago a writer contacted my parents to see if there was any discussion of the event in family letters from the time. There was and it ended up in his book. I'm reading it now.

CMC SanDiego

I believe that rowers sit facing backward, so you are both correct.😜

himespau 

That was an interesting book, but, for some reason, just didn't satisfy me. Maybe it was the fact that <omitted due to spoilers>, but something about the format of the discription of the hunt didn't do it for me. Now, if I'd had family involved, I'm sure that would be a different story.

lotek 

DID YOU KNOW
that they are making bicycles out of carbon fiber? and that if it gets nicked it will asplode?

shoota 

I bet I'm more like 19lbs.

miamijim

Some 1980's BMX handlebars were made from Reynolds 531.

miamijim

RubeRad

Isn't that what shift housing looks like on the inside anyways? I guess plastic coating is cheaper than stainless-steeling?

spacemanz

Something I didn't know until awhile ago today, is that these old crappy 105 SLR brake levers (BL-1051) are supposed to be pretty rare if they're "dark anodized" with the white hoods. I guess that's why I've been hiding them in the basement, covered in grease, to disguise them. These ones aren't perfect, but should clean up to be pretty decent, at least. I literally rubbed myself a small blister, on my thumb, so cleaning will resume at some unspecified point, in the future. https://www.velobase.com/ViewComponen...a8743&Enum=118 Doh, it looks like the page I linked to was changed or moved (?). Just search brake levers there at Velobase, they're on the 3rd page.

Catnap 

i sold a set of those levers last year for around $30

Howard

Didn't he go on to do 100,000 miles in 500 days, then relearned how to walk before going off to war?
Also was using a 4spd Sturmey Archer hub, I think.

Impressive no matter how you slice it.

RubeRad

Totally! I wonder what his avg speed was like. And his terrain -- did he just hang out on a track all day every day, or did he tour the countryside, go up and down scottish mountains, tour the alps, ... ?

Howard

For some reason I have it in my head that he used a pretty regular loop or two that was somewhere between London and Bath.
The 4 speed hub he used was a prototype, and was not the FW, although as always, I might have the detail wrong.

Tom Shaddox (?) posted the story on the old bikelist several years ago. Included the part about having to use a dim headlight and worry about the Luftwaffe during the Blitz. The winters at that latitude don't have a whole lot of daylight, so many of his miles were in the dark.
One of my favorite stories.

Oldpeddaller

Did you know:

.............That 39% of C&V Forum Members believe they are in the minority!

Oldpeddaller

Coincidentally, this story is featured in Cycling Plus magazine this month. This says that Tommy Godwin's average was 205 miles EVERY day - after 12 months his total was more than riding round the world three times. He took no rest days and went on to ride 500 days in total, setting another unbeaten record for 100,00 miles. En route he'd stop to get witnesses to sign his book and also had what is described as a 'sealed mileage meter' on his handlebar. For the first 27,000 miles he rode a custom-built bike supplied by A T Ley, his former employers. Raleigh then supplied a new Raleigh Record Ace for the remainder. He avoided overly hilly routes, however his rides radiated from Hemel Hempstead and Stoke on Trent and he did have a weak hub dynamo for use in the darkness, which was subject to 'Blackout' regulations to avoid attracting German bombers. His heavy Sturmey Archer hub gear is described as prone to slipping. this is NOT the same Tommy Godwin who won two medals in the 1948 Olympics and later became the GB Team Manager. What an incredible achievement.

sced

Loved the book. Compelling historical backdrop and story.