Comments on: a unix nerd on riding bikes

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:21:02 +0000

the best part of his list was that he deleted all the comments that showed how stupid his advice was.

classic.

By: chiggins

chiggins — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:05:23 +0000

I agree that much of this is bad advice to give to someone else. If I was going to write something like this, I’d preface it with, “This is not advice for you! This is how I do it, and it works for me!”

However:

if you’ve been bike commuting daily for 10 years, paying a bike shop $20 to fix a flat is like a unix geek paying an intern $20 to write a 2-minute shell script.

If you’re a Unix Geek of his pay-grade, he might actually be losing money if it takes him 15 minutes to fix. It’s a problem I wish I had.

By: doug

doug — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:39:42 +0000

this guy’s stuff is a bore. also, he’s dead wrong on many counts. i’ve ridden 25mm 100 psi slick tires on gravel/dirt roads for ten miles straight with nary a pinch flat, for one example. and i weigh 200 pounds.

and really, only lazy doofuses spend $20 to fix a goddamn flat. sigh.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:25:53 +0000

I liked his attitude, even though some of the ideas annoyed me. #7 is probably why his bike shop charges him double.

By: siouxgeonz

siouxgeonz — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:36:57 +0000

Personally, I think it was “written for” the author. There’s a certain kind of nerd who thinks and lives in absolutes. “Often wrong, but seldom in doubt.”

I’ve found they sometimes have interesting perspectives, but are in no manner interested in broadening their rigidly established horizons.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:24:57 +0000

Obviously some questionable advice mixed in there, but it seems to be written for folks who have no interest in developing an interest in bikes, or in cycling as anything but pure, non-fun utility. I must admit that his approach is probably in line with the goal of true cheapskate cycling, but that doesn’t explain the reluctance to do basic maintenance.

I expect we’ll see more people following a similar philosophy in coming years as they cobble up their Magnas and what not.