Can you get the title of author of the book you mention in this post? I am talking about where you mention about Soul Craft in a shop class.
TY On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 7:36 AM, PATRICK MOORE <[email protected]> wrote: > And that calls up something I've been thinking about recently. Note > that this is in no way a criticism of anyone or anybody, just a > description of my own inclinations. Riding a bicycle with indexing can > obviously be within the cutoff that I am describing below. > > I went to friction after having used indexing for three reasons, the > main one being that I was never able to get, and permanently keep, > indexing as precisely adjusted as my rather finicky requirements > required -- this was with XT thumbshifters and 7 speed cassettes. But > also I got to like the feeling of engagement (mine, not the cogs') and > control from using friction as well as the fact that I could use > without any problem any combination of cogs that I cared to assemble. > > Later, after much skepticism and internal scoffing, I tried fixed gear > riding (this was circa 1997) and immediately loved it, to the point > where, for a number of years until very recently, I was riding nothing > but, even off road. I now have two Riv custom road fixies. > > Most recently I am, I regret to say, seriously thinking of buying a > BRT -- British Racing Tricycle -- because, largely, the cornering > requires additional learned skills. I already love my hot rodded > Worskman folding trike. > > And my main driver is an ancient Citroen Acadiane, a 2CV workers' van > with 30 hp (and half ton payload), which requires continual > anticipation of driving conditions and judicious use of the gears (1st > is stump puller, fourth a high overdrive good only on the flats at > above 50 mph) to keep up with modern boulevard traffic. > > Point? I think some people like the feeling of mastery that using such > relatively primitive implements requires. I know that I find modern > cars and bikes like computers: boring; all you want is that they do > what they are made to do and otherwise disappear into the background. > Modern life makes things too easy: they become boring and we take > refuge in stupid electronic media, consuming, needless change. > > All of these not terribly profound meditations have been provoked by > Shop Class as Soul Craft, which I finally tracked down in the library > and read. The author -- a very interesting combination of academic > philosopher, motorhead and counterculture rebel, and very, very well > read and very, very articulate and bright -- asserts that it is > precisely the manual trades that, in our day in age (note that > qualification) are a route not only to a life that is satisfying > because it demand human understanding and control (he contrasts this > life with the life of cubicle dwellers who, he suggests, are becoming > white collar factor workers) but because it develops moral and > intellectual qualities -- in short, an intellectual and moral > awareness and accomodation of reality -- that the automation, > electronic as well as mechanical, of modern life, tends to inhibit: > the trades, he says, encourage their followers to become brighter and > gooder than modern life otherwise might allow. Tradesmen, in brief, > are the 21st century's Jeffersonian yeomen, independent, self reliant, > inquiring and --- interesting, this -- humble, since they live daily > accepting the reality of things (his example: the engines of old, > exotic motorcycles) while modern technology, largely a "black box" > tends to keep us ignorant and, therefore, to make us find refuge in an > ego-gratifying fantasy world of identity by consumption and power > projections unfettered by the limitations of our real situation. > > One measure of this man's intelligence is that his writing has been > vitiated by too many years in academia -- he writes like an acaemic-- > yet he still manages to write clearly: now that is a coup that is hard > to pull off! > > Once again, I think of friction shifting as an example of doing > something for oneself; but this sort of cutoff is, if not arbitrary, > at least very flexible and someone who uses indexing but builds his > own bikes instead of getting a plastic wrapped model directly from the > shop (where it is returned for every flat or adjustment) is of course > well within the "do it myself" category. Everyone has his or her own > set of preferences. > > > > On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 4:07 AM, Thomas Lynn Skean > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi, all! > > > > Yesterday was my first decent-length ride with Silver shifters. They > really are a joy to use: quiet and smooth. I understand the appeal. > > > > However, I do see indexed shifting as a practical improvement over > friction. While I expect that over time I'd get really good at operating > these Silver shifters (they really are smooth!), I don't think I'd ever > actually get to the point where the chain simply lands in alignment with the > cog 98+% of the time, which is how I'd characterize my Shimano-shifter > indexing experience. > > > > Indexed shifting for me is less refined in usage. And that does matter, I > think. And I do have to be conscious of cog-spacing when purchasing > freewheels. But... appropriate freewheels are available. And indexing isn't > some harsh jolt that destroys the peace of a ride. And the tinker-y > adjustments it requires when I install a new derailer or initially set up a > new cockpit take minutes not hours. It's no big deal. And for that small > rare effort, indexed shifting works really really well without any thought, > over and over. I like it. > > > > So I'm not going to go all friction right now, though I will have at > least one Silver-shifter-equipped cockpit set up from now on (probably one > for each bike). I'll definitely get some practice in. Maybe I'll get better > than I expect. In any case, if I do come to find indexed shifting > problematic or even just too tedious, it's nice knowing it won't simply be a > downgrade to move away from it. Using Silver shifters is definitely a > positive aspect of friction shifting. > > > > Oh... I set up the Silver shifters as bar-ends for now. I'll try them as > top-of-the-bar Thumbie-mounted shifters at some point. I doubt they work as > well that way. I'll try it, though. And perhaps I'll also try mounting them > on the stem. That could be way cool. Talk about memory lane... > > > > Below are links to some (sorta washed-out) pictures of my Silver setup. > I'm using my lovely Tallux stem! > > > > Yours, > > Thomas Lynn Skean > > > > http://db.tt/M3ag8CI - whole bike > > http://db.tt/n7eQmoK - front loaded > > http://db.tt/cIz8oFc - normal home of SaddleSack Medium > > http://db.tt/VzRUNlC - what's wrong with pink? > > http://db.tt/xv5HhIx -Bordo and prototype canvas MUT > > http://db.tt/BEk8Csh - gonna make a longer one > > http://db.tt/Y01RjLd - Rackaleur, Baggins, and Irish > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > > > > > > > -- > Patrick Moore > Albuquerque, NM > For professional resumes, contact > Patrick Moore, ACRW > http://resumespecialties.com/index.html > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
