[Joe Chapline]

Testing Tapatalk reply

[Joe Chapline]

Bilsko alerted us to a problem. Apparently, for most forum members, there was a “quick reply” link (link text: “reply”) under each post, that allowed the user to reply to the thread without human verification. That link was supposed to be disabled when human verification was required to post (which it was). Apparently it was only disabled for admins, not everyone else. That might be how someone was able to post all that spam last night. (Or maybe they just found a way to defeat the captcha.)

I suspect that the “quick reply” link has always been there, but it may have only appeared when we changed verification methods today. Can anyone confirm?

I’ve disabled Quick Reply for all users. Now you’ll have to use one of the “Reply to Thread” buttons at the top and bottom of each thread, or use the “Reply with Quote” link after each post. Let us know how big a problem this is. I don’t know if leaving Quick Reply open is really an option — the spam has been getting worse and worse.

[Joe Chapline]

@Joe Chapline 42347 wrote:

Trying out new human verification.

again

[Joe Chapline]

Trying out new human verification.

[Joe Chapline]

@rcannon100 21299 wrote:

Do you think we could get ArlCo to finally implement the Arl BAC recommendation to bulldoze and level the big Custis Trail hill? That or maybe we could get like a chairlift type thing, only for bikes (I think its called “a bus”)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1PgmMbug8

[Joe Chapline]

@Mark Blacknell 12728 wrote:

There are loads of internally geared bikes out there. And they’ve been around a lot longer than the 24-speed bikes you don’t like. So why don’t you have one?

I didn’t say that internally-geared bikes are better, I said I wondered if they were. I don’t know, I’ve never had one. One reason to post to the forum is that someone might provide useful information from their experience. The last time I bought a bike (I don’t buy bikes often) I made what I thought was a good choice, and I’m not complaining about it. I do wonder about the internally-geared bikes. Do you know anything about them, other than that there are lots of them?

What I meant to suggest, as a thought, a possibility, is that maybe bike design and marketing strategies focused on the small number of current cyclists might not be the best to appeal to a broader audience, including more women. I thought it was worth mentioning.

[Joe Chapline]

@americancyclo 12716 wrote:

As a thought experiment, would you expect to see more women riding single speed or fixed gear bikes?

I don’t know about single speed or fixie, but I have wondered if the common, finicky 24-speed chain drive with derailleurs is the best system for people that don’t want to fool with it. I wonder if there are bikes with some more reliable design and/or technology that could be moved to the front of the bike shop. But if most people who design, ride, and sell bikes enjoy fooling around with the gears and cables, they may not see a problem to solve.

I’ve had long runs of good luck, too, so maybe there actually isn’t a problem. But even when things work, I’m not a fan of the dirty old chain drive. (I know, I should clean it — fat chance.) I haven’t tried a bike with a 7-or-8 speed enclosed hub, but I wonder if that’s more reliable than derailleurs. Trek also has a bike with an enclosed hub and a belt drive; I’d like to try that.

[Joe Chapline]

@zanna_leigh 11986 wrote:

… I am interested to hear from everyone in the forum about your opinions on why the gender gap exists, and how we can solve it.

I had a thought about the gender gap. We have lots of posts in other threads about how people maintain, clean, and adjust their bikes, sometimes taking them apart and soaking the parts in a sequence of solvents, oils, and secret recipes. I’m not knocking that at all, but I don’t really enjoy working on my bike, and I never learned much about it. I don’t work on my car, either, and I don’t want to.

Today I picked up my bike at the bike shop. It was the third time I’ve taken it in for the same minor problem — the chain “skips,” or disengages, sometimes. The first two times I took it in, I think all that was done was simple adjustments that many members of this forum would do themselves without a second thought. And I’m starting to think I’ll have to learn to do some of this stuff, as much as I don’t want to, because it’s not practical to keep taking the bike back to the shop.

This raised a couple of questions in my mind:

1) Is present bike technology “geared” (no pun intended) toward people that enjoy working on bikes, as well as riding them?
2) If that’s the case, does that exclude a lot of women from the pool of potential riders?

It seems (my perception, anyway) that people who like to work on cars are mostly guys. Most car “enthusiasts” are guys. But the mechanics and enthusiasts are a small minority of drivers. Most people drive to get where they need to go. They don’t work on their cars and they don’t care much about their cars. I wonder if we’re still at a stage in bike technology where using a bike for everyday transportation requires riders to be more involved with the machines than a lot of people, and particularly women, want to be.

[Joe Chapline]

@dasgeh 11051 wrote:

My husband is at home with our 1-year-old, and they’re often out and about in Arlington on our dutch-style bike with a bobike mini (which I HIGHLY recommend). He’s also a cat 3 road racer, often out on weekends in lycra on his road bike. The difference in how he’s treated on one bike v. the other is amazing. When he’s out with our daughter, cars roll down their windows all the time to complement the bike, seat, child, ask questions, etc. It helps that her helmet has a pink mohawk. When he’s on the road bike, drivers are not so polite (though he’s fast enough he usually can’t hear them).

I suspect there’s something to this. There is hostility toward perceived “Lance Armstrong wannabes” (to quote the cliche). In my limited experience riding a road bike with “bikey” gear, it has seemed to me that there’s greater hostility than when I look like a guy going to work. (Or a missionary of some sort, sometimes that’s what people think.)

[Joe Chapline]

@mrkenny83 11040 wrote:

Occupy the lane!
Bicycle rights!
Tax breaks for cyclists!

We are the three percent!

[Joe Chapline]

All: I removed a post suggesting shooting out a tire. I know the poster wasn’t serious, but please don’t suggest or advocate violence or criminal activity on the forum. We’ve let a few other posts slide, sorry for the inconsistency.

It’s OK to discuss violating traffic law, but talking about shooting at anyone or anything is over the top.

[Joe Chapline]

@eminva 10886 wrote:

Just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/post/march-could-snarl-traffic-on-thursday-afternoon-and-evening/2011/11/16/gIQArCpkRN_blog.html

And the good Dr. even gives an alternate bike commuting route!

Liz

That’s great. I remember when I first started seeing transit directions and hearing transit reports. It’s the beginning of a new era.

[Joe Chapline]

@DismalScientist 10828 wrote:

Interesting survey. I own a ton of bikes. The newest one is from the mid 1990s.

Those are three or four bikes per ton, right?

[Joe Chapline]

I will be closing this thread soon. If anyone has anything to post that has something to do with bicycling, please post it, leaving out insults.

[Joe Chapline]

Drove to New Freedom PA with a friend on Saturday and rode the Heritage Rail Trail, the upper half of this MD/PA trail combo. Very scenic, less crowded than the lower half (based on the days I’ve ridden). Going north, the trail ends in downtown York PA. My favorite thing about this ride is that when you get to the end, you’re somewhere. York built a little park at the end (first pic). On the back of the big board in the pic is a street map, so you know how to get to restaurants, the local baseball field, and other points of interest. There’s a large indoor market on Saturdays, we visited that.

New Freedom, near the MD/PA line, is apparently near the high point of the trail, too. It’s basically downhill in both directions, toward Hunt Valley in MD and toward York in PA. Riding north from New Freedom, the 20 miles to York was a breeze. I think we had a tailwind, too. Coming back was a bit of a grind, uphill against the wind.

Surface is gravel, some of it pretty loose. I didn’t see anyone on a road bike.

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