Nothing to do with today’s comic, but given what happened to Fred, this may be of interest.
Today here in Oz, a woman who drove over and killed a cyclist and then fled the scene, was sentenced to 11 years in gaol, with 8.5 to serve before parole possible. So just now and then, car drivers get justice. No consolation to anyone who who knew the cyclist, really, but maybe it might make some drivers think?
Oz is a big place, the road trains would be up north, but there are wide roads and not particularly hostile conditions in the south (Melbourne) where I live.
A) They didn’t. Thousands of cyclists here – haven’t met one yet who “willingly gave up their gears.”
B) nobody has ever won their freedom or defended their lives with a bicycle transmission.
Ah yes, the too-common pitfall of “I have followers for Cause X, so of course they also support every other position that I have”. It’s a mistake that a lot of activist-minded folks make: by insisting on mixing different politically-charged topics in the same forum, one effectively creates a litmus test for membership that fewer and fewer can meet, thereby drastically limiting the reach of one’s message.
In this day and age of extremely-divisive news and politics, self-segregation, ego-stroking smugness, and xenophobic tribalism, perhaps a better way would be to cut back on the “us versus them” a little, and instead try to foster a little common ground? We have far too many “opportunities” to partake in the former already. Sadly, the latter would actually be a better way to stand out.
They didn’t; they gave cyclists an option, and some of them have chosen 1×10. Why? I dunno; touring triple for me! (With my 3×7 setup, I have one less cog than a 1×10.)
@Scott: What, do you mean not all cyclists fit the stereotype?!
@Ivan: I think Yehuda can logically support that position; he’s pretty granola all-round. Joe usually moderates him but seems not to have had a ready comeback in time for the last frame. 🙁
Yeah, this is more like convincing gun owners that 9mm is enough for their needs, .45 is unnecessary (note: I am not making that case.) Not the same as what the gun control lobby is seeking at all.
I first thought to myself, what is IXIO? 1 X 11 might be a more apt descriptor. The problem I have with the 1 X for road is that, even if you have an overall good range like 10 – 42, the steps between them are painfully large. Good for cross but not so much for going up and down miles of big hills. I can see a 1 X 12 working better with cassettes that are tighter like 11-36 or 10-40, but not with the SRAM ‘Eagle’ 10-50.
I was concerned too until I went for it and have never looked back. I run a 50t with a 10-42 and it is fantastic. The jumps are not too big. 100+ miles or just 15. Flat, hills (So Cal) and everything else it works. Whenever I jump on a 2 x 11 I feel like I have to shift twice a much.
I’ll probably do a 1x next time I wear out my chainrings if I can get close to the same overall range. I have 3×10 on my touring/commuter now, and I usually shift 2-3 sprockets in a go.
I have been running a 3 speed for years… well 4 speed if you count the two foot drive mode. Never met a hill I couldn’t get up or down. Just for the record I do have a couple of multi-speed bikes with the dangling gizmo on the rear. As far as the other part of the equation, if you can hit your target consistently size and number really doesn’t matter much.
1 x 10 AND gun control. This has got to result in some heated discussion…
Having never heard of any such thing before, I put “Ixio revolution” into Google. See:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=ixio+revolution&ei=5rbXV6OsJMbte8yQvPAC&start=10&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=637
All kinds of stuff came back, ranging from “Ixio Analytics… Financial inclusion and the data revolution” to “Bronze Age time travel.”
I went through six pages of Google search results before giving up.
So I thought that I would try another search term, and input “Ixio bicycle” into Google at:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=ixio+bicycle&biw=1280&bih=637&ei=LrnXV5fNEsyueompvPAC&start=0&sa=N
I learned that there is an “Ixion Bicycle Club” in New York. But nothing on the first page seemed to have anything to do with the comic.
It seems to me that if the topic is so obscure that Google searches don’t turn it up, then we have reached some outer limit of abstraction.
1×10, not Ixio.
Your average cyclist is smarter than your average gun owner?
By which I mean they can recognize and accept a logical point when it is presented to them.
It would be more accurate to say that bicycle ownership is not a religion and thus is still subject to the rules of rational discourse.
Nothing to do with today’s comic, but given what happened to Fred, this may be of interest.
Today here in Oz, a woman who drove over and killed a cyclist and then fled the scene, was sentenced to 11 years in gaol, with 8.5 to serve before parole possible. So just now and then, car drivers get justice. No consolation to anyone who who knew the cyclist, really, but maybe it might make some drivers think?
How is it going to make anyone think when you report it as occurring in Oz? Where did this happen?
I believe Oz is slang for Australia
Oz = Australia. Well known nickname. Australia is also a fairly hostile place to ride a bike with narrow roads, road trains, etc.
Oz is a big place, the road trains would be up north, but there are wide roads and not particularly hostile conditions in the south (Melbourne) where I live.
A) They didn’t. Thousands of cyclists here – haven’t met one yet who “willingly gave up their gears.”
B) nobody has ever won their freedom or defended their lives with a bicycle transmission.
Yeah, this’ll put a spike in readership.
Ah yes, the too-common pitfall of “I have followers for Cause X, so of course they also support every other position that I have”. It’s a mistake that a lot of activist-minded folks make: by insisting on mixing different politically-charged topics in the same forum, one effectively creates a litmus test for membership that fewer and fewer can meet, thereby drastically limiting the reach of one’s message.
In this day and age of extremely-divisive news and politics, self-segregation, ego-stroking smugness, and xenophobic tribalism, perhaps a better way would be to cut back on the “us versus them” a little, and instead try to foster a little common ground? We have far too many “opportunities” to partake in the former already. Sadly, the latter would actually be a better way to stand out.
Thank you! Just because I love bikes doesn’t mean I buy into general Liberal causes!
They didn’t; they gave cyclists an option, and some of them have chosen 1×10. Why? I dunno; touring triple for me! (With my 3×7 setup, I have one less cog than a 1×10.)
@Scott: What, do you mean not all cyclists fit the stereotype?!
@Ivan: I think Yehuda can logically support that position; he’s pretty granola all-round. Joe usually moderates him but seems not to have had a ready comeback in time for the last frame. 🙁
Yeah, this is more like convincing gun owners that 9mm is enough for their needs, .45 is unnecessary (note: I am not making that case.) Not the same as what the gun control lobby is seeking at all.
I first thought to myself, what is IXIO? 1 X 11 might be a more apt descriptor. The problem I have with the 1 X for road is that, even if you have an overall good range like 10 – 42, the steps between them are painfully large. Good for cross but not so much for going up and down miles of big hills. I can see a 1 X 12 working better with cassettes that are tighter like 11-36 or 10-40, but not with the SRAM ‘Eagle’ 10-50.
I was concerned too until I went for it and have never looked back. I run a 50t with a 10-42 and it is fantastic. The jumps are not too big. 100+ miles or just 15. Flat, hills (So Cal) and everything else it works. Whenever I jump on a 2 x 11 I feel like I have to shift twice a much.
Instead of dividing, remember what we have in common, besides expensive passions, we both are most likely to be killed by a car!
If the UCI mandated the number of chainrings recreational bikes can have the response might be different.
I’ll probably do a 1x next time I wear out my chainrings if I can get close to the same overall range. I have 3×10 on my touring/commuter now, and I usually shift 2-3 sprockets in a go.
I have been running a 3 speed for years… well 4 speed if you count the two foot drive mode. Never met a hill I couldn’t get up or down. Just for the record I do have a couple of multi-speed bikes with the dangling gizmo on the rear. As far as the other part of the equation, if you can hit your target consistently size and number really doesn’t matter much.
What really enables the 1 x 10 bicycles is cassettes that go to 40+, instead of just 27.