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-   -   The Cave of Bad Ideas (https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1310342-cave-bad-ideas.html)

Andy_K 12-01-25 09:18 AM


Originally Posted by jolly_codger (Post 23652478)
Bar ends come in handy

It's true. You can use bar ends to mount all kinds of things, including other bar ends.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f1d4f936_b.jpg



cyccommute 12-01-25 09:31 AM


Originally Posted by Duragrouch (Post 23653453)
Rubber covered stainless steel P-clamps are very stable and don't mar the paint. In my town, they are available in multiple diameters at the commercial marine supply shop, in packages of like 10 for not much money. I'm sure they can also be had via McMaster-Carr or Amazon. Spend more for the stainless steel instead of just plated, it's worth it.

Tubus clamps are a far better solution to rack mounting problems than p-clamps. They hold better and are easier to install. They are less likely to slip as well because they fit tighter to the frame.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a035bf0cc.jpeg

Reynolds 12-01-25 10:01 AM


Originally Posted by jolly_codger (Post 23652478)
Bar ends come in handy

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9827681a12.jpg
Can be used as "bar inners" too...

noglider 12-01-25 10:03 AM


Originally Posted by ShannonM (Post 23653326)
Isn't the asymptote the line, rather than the curve? (IOW, the value that can't ever quite be reached.)

--Shannon

I just heard the word used that way recently, so maybe that's correct. Or maybe we can use it either way.

ShannonM 12-01-25 05:09 PM


Originally Posted by noglider (Post 23653614)
I just heard the word used that way recently, so maybe that's correct. Or maybe we can use it either way.

No worries... I had that crap beaten into my head with the Clue Mallet when I was in EE school, so I'm a bit twitchy. It's the same when I hear reporters say "positive feedback" like it's a good thing. (It isn't. Nuclear explosions are what positive feedback does.)

Six years of skull sweat, only to find out that I hated being an engineer... story of my life.

--Shannon

noglider 12-01-25 06:44 PM


Originally Posted by ShannonM (Post 23653922)
No worries... I had that crap beaten into my head with the Clue Mallet when I was in EE school, so I'm a bit twitchy. It's the same when I hear reporters say "positive feedback" like it's a good thing. (It isn't. Nuclear explosions are what positive feedback does.)

Six years of skull sweat, only to find out that I hated being an engineer... story of my life.

--Shannon

I just started my fourth career, this time as a school teacher. I've never been great at anything but I'm kinda good at a lot of things. Sometimes I think "those who can, do, those who can't, teach" applies to me. I studied computer science so that means I took a bunch of math. Am I good at it? Not really. Was I good at programming at IT? Well, I was OK but not amazing. I discovered late in life that I have ADHD which explains a lot.

I have a lot of language pet peeves like yours about positive feedback. It annoys me when people use the word "unique" to mean "unusual," but since it really means one-of-a-kind, at least in mathematics, there are no degrees of uniqueness. Oh well. But sorry about abusing or misusing asymptote.

jonwvara 12-02-25 06:20 AM


Originally Posted by Andy_K (Post 23653576)
It's true. You can use bar ends to mount all kinds of things, including other bar ends.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f1d4f936_b.jpg

"...turtles all the way down."

jonwvara 12-02-25 06:35 AM


Originally Posted by noglider (Post 23653974)
I just started my fourth career, this time as a school teacher. I've never been great at anything but I'm kinda good at a lot of things. Sometimes I think "those who can, do, those who can't, teach" applies to me. I studied computer science so that means I took a bunch of math. Am I good at it? Not really. Was I good at programming at IT? Well, I was OK but not amazing. I discovered late in life that I have ADHD which explains a lot.

I have a lot of language pet peeves like yours about positive feedback. It annoys me when people use the word "unique" to mean "unusual," but since it really means one-of-a-kind, at least in mathematics, there are no degrees of uniqueness. Oh well. But sorry about abusing or misusing asymptote.

My beloved sister-in-law Liz, who was a French teacher, volleyball coach, and ski instructor, used to say "those who can't do, teach; those who can't teach, teach phys ed."

Trakhak 12-02-25 06:42 AM


Originally Posted by jonwvara (Post 23654233)
My beloved sister-in-law Liz, who was a French teacher, volleyball coach, and ski instructor, used to say "those who can't do, teach; those who can't teach, teach phys ed."

George Bernard Shaw wrote (in the play Man and Superman) "He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches." Woody Allen riffed on the Shaw quote in the movie Annie Hall: "Those who can't do, teach; and those who can't teach, teach gym."

pastorbobnlnh 12-02-25 06:50 AM

It seems the thread might be devolving into presumptions about profession paths, and not in a positive way. :p

Come now C&V friends! Let's keep steering towards the topic at hand, seemingly bad ideas which work. :thumb:

For instance, who says you can't add Campagnolo to your ancient Schwinn Electro-forged Continental?

https://hosting.photobucket.com/7949...720&fit=bounds
https://hosting.photobucket.com/7949...720&fit=bounds

USAZorro 12-02-25 08:08 AM


Originally Posted by Andy_K (Post 23653576)
It's true. You can use bar ends to mount all kinds of things, including other bar ends.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f1d4f936_b.jpg

I think the folks who sell those extensions get sued and have to start calling these something else. I read bar-end, and I'm looking and not seeing my favorite shifters anywhere. :innocent:

cyccommute 12-02-25 09:19 AM


Originally Posted by USAZorro (Post 23654293)
I think the folks who sell those extensions get sued and have to start calling these something else. I read bar-end, and I'm looking and not seeing my favorite shifters anywhere. :innocent:

Considering that “those extensions” have been around since the early 80s when Moots introduced “Road Handles”, I think that ship has sailed. They are so old, in fact, that they are currently only on old geezer’s bikes like mine.

noglider 12-02-25 09:43 AM

I've seen that quip about gym teachers, and I'm sorry to say I used to believe it. It's unkind, and gym teachers are not dumb at all, and in general, neither are other teachers.

nlerner 12-02-25 10:12 AM


Originally Posted by Andy_K (Post 23653576)
It's true. You can use bar ends to mount all kinds of things, including other bar ends.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f1d4f936_b.jpg

Bonus points for the curb-feeler zip ties in multiple colors.

thumpism 12-02-25 11:23 AM


Originally Posted by Andy_K (Post 23653576)
It's true. You can use bar ends to mount all kinds of things, including other bar ends.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f1d4f936_b.jpg

Slacker. Someone needs to up his game. Seen in Raleigh NC.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...20d5c1bfe0.jpg

Towing this...across the country.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2a70025ca7.jpg

Reynolds 531 12-02-25 11:50 AM


Originally Posted by USAZorro (Post 23654293)
I think the folks who sell those extensions get sued and have to start calling these something else. I read bar-end, and I'm looking and not seeing my favorite shifters anywhere. :innocent:


I call them "homeless handles".



jonwvara 12-02-25 06:35 PM


Originally Posted by noglider (Post 23654357)
I've seen that quip about gym teachers, and I'm sorry to say I used to believe it. It's unkind, and gym teachers are not dumb at all, and in general, neither are other teachers.

Good gosh! I'm married to a retired teacher and have many close friends who were teachers, all of whom I respect deeply. The last thing I meant was to put down the teaching profession in any way. I'm very sorry if I gave that impression.

RCMoeur 12-02-25 07:21 PM


Originally Posted by thumpism (Post 23654454)
Slacker. Someone needs to up his game. Seen in Raleigh NC.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...20d5c1bfe0.jpg

Towing this...across the country.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2a70025ca7.jpg

Rides for days/weeks/who knows how long towing that remarkably big trailer. Gets on seemingly-fast bike on top of trailer. Promptly breaks the speed of light. :)

ShannonM 12-02-25 07:56 PM


Originally Posted by RCMoeur (Post 23654809)
Rides for days/weeks/who knows how long towing that remarkably big trailer. Gets on seemingly-fast bike on top of trailer. Promptly breaks the speed of light. :)

... In reverse!

--Shannon

*Looking at this picture, I'm hard pressed to find any Good Ideas... including attempting it in the first place. Which, since he finished the ride, and it's weirdly awesome in a "what the hell was the thought process that led you here?" sort of way, makes it perfect for this thread.

thumpism 12-02-25 09:03 PM


Originally Posted by ShannonM (Post 23654836)
... In reverse!

--Shannon

*Looking at this picture, I'm hard pressed to find any Good Ideas... including attempting it in the first place. Which, since he finished the ride, and it's weirdly awesome in a "what the hell was the thought process that led you here?" sort of way, makes it perfect for this thread.

He could have started in the suburbs and ridden that rig only downtown to this shop and I would not have been less amazed.

Trakhak 12-03-25 12:07 AM


Originally Posted by noglider (Post 23654357)
I've seen that quip about gym teachers, and I'm sorry to say I used to believe it. It's unkind, and gym teachers are not dumb at all, and in general, neither are other teachers.

It's rare that jokes can be traced to their point of origin. In this case, it was Woody Allen's joke.

jonwvara 12-03-25 06:14 AM


Originally Posted by Trakhak (Post 23654945)
It's rare that jokes can be traced to their point of origin. In this case, it was Woody Allen's joke.

Yes, I had not known it was Woody Allen--I always thought it was a joke Liz was telling on herself.

noglider 12-03-25 09:15 AM

It's OK, tolks, no offense taken. Hey, I was the one who brought it up because, as I said, sometimes I feel it applies to me. I think of myself as a jack of many trades and master of none. I hope that makes me useful as a teacher and other things.

As a kid, I thought of my fellow students who liked gym more than the other classes as "dumb," and that was unfair. I wasn't athletically minded at the time. Same goes for gym teachers

Andy_K 12-04-25 01:44 AM


Originally Posted by thumpism (Post 23654454)
Slacker. Someone needs to up his game. Seen in Raleigh NC.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...20d5c1bfe0.jpg


I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

Trakhak 12-04-25 07:11 AM


Originally Posted by Andy_K (Post 23655578)
I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

Issac Newton?


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