Comment by snemvalts | Hacker News Reader

Comment by snemvalts | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

> Longer axles on modern rear wheels? No problem to bend the frame slightly - it's steel! - to make them fit perfectly

What happens when you descend at 50kmh/30mph and the bent fork gives out/brakes don't work because it wasn't exact? Worth your life/health?

> It rides at least as nice as a modern carbon fiber marvel. It is of course heavier (12kg all up).

Carbon bikes aren't all about weight. You can make some parts of the frame stiffer and other more flexible (impossible with metal frames), which helps handling and comfort massively.

> Modern bikes that I see in the bike racks at work? Carbon fiber marvels with integrated e-bike drivetrain. They're only a motor failure, or even a worn out battery pack (assuming not available any more from the manufacturer as spares) away from being e-waste just like all other modern gadgets. Retrofit to different brand stuff? Forget it. The frame is an integrated design with the drivetrain.

E-bikes are an oddity, they aren't mainstream for bikes meant for sport. With electronic shifting however, you can pair different ones with SRAM AXS. Same with Shimano's Di2.

Forks that are bent are bent because of an incident. ("Just riding along" being a common one. (no, really, running into something)). Been there, done that, twice, on Aluminum forks. You get them replaced, and it's fine.

Bending the rear triangle out 2mm on a side is well known for steel bikes, first in the 6sp->7sp transition (120->126 mm) and then in the 8+ 126->130mm transition. There are even bikes with a 132.5 spacing so that they can take 130 or 135mm hubs.

You can absolutely make metal bikes stiffer or more flexible, directionally. Titanium pivotless bikes are the poster child for that, but people have been monkeying with tube shapes and sizes forever.

Descending at 30, 40 or 50mph really isn't that big of a deal on a competent bike. They track, they're more stable at speed, and sitting up will be a hell of an airbrake to start. You often don't even need the brakes. Just be careful if you do it where you have a T junction at the bottom or side traffic. (e.g., queen anne hill in seattle)

Actually I descend at 70-74km/h. Routinely. The main worry would be a tire failure. The odds of a rear triangle failing on a steel bike because it was bent outward by 2mm on each side are approximately zero.

That said if the front fork on a steelie gets bent even a little bit by an accident, I don't ride it any more. I've had to retire one for that reason.

No disrespect but this is sounding a lot like a ca. 2000's gifted Linux user talking to someone who isn't that into computers. "That's easy [for me]! Simply do [thing requiring talent and skill] with your [open flexible platform]." What you're saying is all true but I wouldn't call it approachable or advisable for the mainstream audience.

This "gifted Linux user" has set up a couple of Linux laptops for my >80 year old mom who lives 8 hours' drive away. They've been a lot less PITA than Windows! Things have come a long way. They do have one "gifted Linux user" type hack in them - an always up SSH connection to my home base, with reverse tunnels for a couple of ports. But the tech support I've had to give is of the "accidentally changed the sort order in Thunderbird" variety. The Linux platform has been flawless.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com