Spike is an ENTP. He made some amazing new rocket technology in high
school and got hired by NASA. and look, he's into recumbents ! ;-)
T0Morrow@aol.com wrote:
>
> Spike on bikes:
>
> > I had a thought while riding the other day. Recumbents have never
> > caught on much, but if they had been invented first, I wouldnt
> > imagine the now-traditional knd would have caught on . . . .
>
> > [R]ecumbents are safer, faster, and more comfortable.
> > Bicycle people, why dont you ride a recumbent?
>
> The story of bikes v. 'bents reveals something of the problems facing
> technological innovations. Here's a brief version told from the 'bent point
> of view, lifted from the FAQ of the International Human Powered Vehicle
> Association <http://www.ihpva.org/FAQ/#around>:
>
> * * *
>
> In 1933 Charles Mochet built a supine recumbent named the "Velocar". Between
> the years of 1933 and 1938 pro racer Francois Faure, while riding the
> Velocar, set several speed records for both the mile and kilometer. In Paris
> on July 7, 1933, Francis Faure broke the 20 year-old hour record of 44.247
> km. by going 45.055 km.
>
> Unfortunately Faure's hour record created a controversy amongst the Union
> Cycliste Internationale (U.C.I.), the governing body for bicycle races. The
> controversy was based on whether the Velocar was a bicycle and whether the
> time records were legal. In February 1934, the U.C.I. decided against Faure's
> record and banned all recumbents and aerodynamic devices from racing.
>
> That is the reason why recumbents have not gained popularity in the racing
> scene, and why they have not been mass produced by bike manufacturers.
>
> * * *
>
> Fuller accounts of the tale relate the ugly roles played by nationalism and
> industrial protectionism.
>
> That said, allow me to note that the diamond frame bike exhibits well-evolved
> engineering. It's a design tested by time and many iterations to satisfy
> pretty stringent criteria. Not for nothing did the Wright brothers run a
> bike shop.
>
> T.0. Morrow
> http://members.aol.com/t0morrow/TOMpage.html
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