Text 7172, 77 rader
Skriven 2010-04-18 08:03:02 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
   Kommentar till text 7146 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
Ärende: Rant
============
Roy Witt wrote to Robert Bashe on Saturday April 17 2010 at 17:32:

RB>> Has anyone except for me ever had the wish to kill bicycle designers
RB>> who use the cheapest, flimsiest plastic part possible as a locking
RB>> key to hold the rear hub shift assembly together?

RW> No. I bought quality ware when I was into riding bicycles. Schwinn...

And when did you buy your next bicycle - in 1956? ;-)

Seriously, I didn't even know Schwinn still existed, and if it does, whether
it's still an American-made product or just a brand name put on the "Made in
China" products sold nowadays.

RB>> I have a bicycle that cost - new - something like $500. OK, it's old
RB>> in the meantime, but has always been reliable. Until recently, when
RB>> the Shimano gearshift suddenly stopped working and I could only pedal
RB>> in first gear.

RW> $500 was a cheap bicycle when you bought yours. My kids' bicycles cost
RW> at least twice that.

For me, $500 was and still is a _heap_ of money for a frame and two wheels. And
I would *never* pay anything like $1,000 for a mere bicycle - unless, of
course, the frame was gold-plated carbon composite <g>. That might justify such
a price.

RB>> I've reassembled this now for the second time, quite a job
RB>> incidentally. The plastic lock tends to twist into the unlocked
RB>> position and then the gearshift no longer works. If this happens
RB>> again, I plan to bond the damned thing in the locked position with
RB>> epoxy and hope for the best.

RW> Send it to me and I'll make you a metal copy...

Thanks for the offer, but I think I have the trick now... I had to redo this
still again, and found that the lock can be put on in two positions, 180ø
apart. In one of the positions, it is pulled into the unlocked position by the
gearshift lever every time you change gears. In the other, it appears to be out
of the way. I think this time I may have the right position and hopefully this
"el cheapo" part will hold out for a few more years. Luckily, it doesn't have
to stand much mechanical stress, it just prevents sideways movement of the two
nmetal parts - otherwise the plastic wouldn't stand up more than a few years.

RB>> But why, oh, why??? would anyone make a really _key_ part of the
RB>> gearshift chain out of the cheapest, cruddiest plastic possible? To
RB>> save a cent on the manufacturing cost? At a price of $500 for the
RB>> bicycle?

RW> The mold to blow that part cost at least twice what your bicycle cost.

Probably. I certainly hope so. They could have stamped it out of metal for a
fraction of the cost.

By the way, this was (as mentioned) a Shimano Nexus gearshift. But a Sachs
3-speed hub gearshift also has a flimsy plastic part that's equally as vital
for the shifting operation. I haven't managed to break it yet (my wife's old
bicycle has this kind of gearshift), but if I ever do, I fear there is no
chance of getting a replacement.

RW> My wife brought me a plastic part for her electric cutting knife. It
RW> was in bad shape, but I made her one out of a better material
RW> (delrin). She's still using her favorite electric knife. Personally, I
RW> would have bought a new one...

I have to admit that I also can't throw things away and keep fiddling with them
until I get to the point that _nothing_ helps anymore. For me, though, it's not
just a matter of convenience or familiarity, but the feeling that I hate to
throw something away that only has a fairly minor problem and could be fixed.
It seems such a waste to me. But I also have to admit I carry this to an
extreme in some cases - sometimes I really have to force myself to dump
something and replace it by a newer or different model.

Cheers, Bob

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