Why do BMW and Audi owners often seem to drive like idiots?

[Saul Goodman]

Gosh. You're so much better than me Saul, with your 20 year old Claud Butler.

Gosh, you're so much better than me, weepiper, with all your experience working in a bike shop. I should have stuck at it, rather than getting a degree in mechanical engineering.
Maybe next time I go for a job at Shannon Aerospace I'll be pipped at the post by a push bike mechanic.

 

[weepiper]

Gosh, you're so much better than me, weepiper, with all your experience working in a bike shop. I should have stuck at it, rather than getting a degree in mechanical engineering.
Maybe next time I go for a job at Shannon Aerospace I'll be pipped at the post by a push bike mechanic.

I never said I was better than you, peabrain. I said you didn't know what you were pontificating about, and you've just demonstrated it again with your post above about steel and carbon bikes. FYI every shop mechanic rolls their eyes when customers tell them 'I'm an engineer so I know what's happening'.

 

[Saul Goodman]

I never said I was better than you, peabrain. I said you didn't know what you were pontificating about, and you've just demonstrated it again with your post above about steel and carbon bikes. FYI every shop mechanic rolls their eyes when customers tell them 'I'm an engineer so I know what's happening'.

Ok, so you're asserting that steel frames don't flex better than carbon frames? (without going into carbon frames that cost the price of a car)?
And saying I don't know shit, because you've worked in a bike shop longer than I have is exactly saying you're better than me.
And why bring the age of the bike into it? Elitism much? I can't be arsed to find a picture right now but the carbon framed job I had was brand new, and cost about 5 grand, but it was shit, because it was too rigid for road use, making it uncomfortable as fuck.

 

[Proper Tidy]

I've never fixed bikes or been an engineer but isn't firmesss/stiffness generally considered better than flexibility in a bike frame? I mean it will depend on what cycling you are doing I suppose

 

[weepiper]

Ok, so you're asserting that steel frames don't flex better than carbon frames? (without going into carbon frames that cost the price of a car)?
And saying I don't know shit, because you've worked in a bike shop longer than I have is exactly saying you're better than me.
And why bring the age of the bike into it? Elitism much? I can't be arsed to find a picture right now but the carbon framed job I had was brand new, and cost about 5 grand, but it was shit, because it was too rigid for road use, making it uncomfortable as fuck.

Cheap carbon frames are shit. Cheap steel frames are shit too, it's just a different range of what's considered cheap. Steel doesn't 'flex better' than carbon. A nice steel frame absorbs more road vibration than a nice carbon frame. But comfort isn't the only consideration. If you want to go fast for minimum effort, steel isn't the frame material for you. If you want to go a long way without getting fatigued, carbon isn't the frame material for you. One isn't inherently better than the other and people choose frames for all sorts of reasons other than it looking cool or because the pro peloton is using them.

As for the willy waggling, I can't really be fucked. I expect you'll tell me your dad's a policeman next seeing as I've now failed to be impressed by your teenage bike shop job, your CNC engineering or your aerospace career. Knock yourself out.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Cheap carbon frames are shit. Cheap steel frames are shit too, it's just a different range of what's considered cheap. Steel doesn't 'flex better' than carbon. A nice steel frame absorbs more road vibration than a nice carbon frame. But comfort isn't the only consideration. If you want to go fast for minimum effort, steel isn't the frame material for you. If you want to go a long way without getting fatigued, carbon isn't the frame material for you. One isn't inherently better than the other and people choose frames for all sorts of reasons other than it looking cool or because the pro peloton is using them.

Hang on a minute... You've just said exactly the same thing I've been saying, so I guess if I don't know shit, then you don't know shit, either?
Some people upthread were spouting shite about how carbon frames were conducive of a longer time in the saddle, ergo, more fit. That's absolute bullshit, as steel framed bikes are far more comfortable on roads, so unless you're on an ultra smooth race track, then, IMO, and leaving racing aside, a steel framed bike is far better for keeping fit than a carbon framed bike, assuming you're riding both on the road. Would you agree?

 

[two sheds]

Quite a few accidents happening immediately behind me, though, for some reason.

"Never had an accident, seen thousands"

 

[two sheds]

the big points earners are Portuguese drivers. Even when I lived there I realised there's few drivers worse than the Portuguese.

Italians

 

[editor]

Steel, aluminium and carbon frames all feel completely different to ride. They have very different ride quality. It's not just about weight. You appear not to know shit. And I've worked as a bike mechanic for, oh, let's just say a bit more than a summer as a teenager.

Yes. You are absolutely correct.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Yes. You are absolutely correct.

Yet I was wrong when I said the same earlier?
You're some bluffer!

 

[editor]

Yet I was wrong when I said the same earlier?
You're some bluffer!

No you consistently talk rubbish and in a manner very reminiscent of our very own Jonathan Bishop, constantly claim to be an expert in all manner of topics. Earlier on you declared all cyclists to be 'knobheads,' but a day or so later you're setting yourself up as a cycling expert who is on hand to offer advice. Don't be surprised if no one takes you up on your offer.

 

[Saul Goodman]

No you consistently talk rubbish and in a manner very reminiscent of our very own Jonathan Bishop, constantly claim to be an expert in all manner of topics. Earlier on you declared all cyclists to be 'knobheads,' but a day or so later you're setting yourself up as a cycling expert who is on hand to offer advice. Don't be surprised if no one takes you up on your offer.

What you don't seem to realise is that replying to some of this nonsense is one of my greatest sources of enjoyment. I wait for people to spout absolute bullshit, then wait a while longer before correcting them with my expert knowledge. I do realise that, for some people, it's hard to imagine that one single person could be so knowledgeable, but I was brought up in Manchester, which turned out many of the world's geniuses, so perhaps that explains it.
On the other hand, I do realise that my vastly superior knowledge of most things can be a little intimidating (to some), so if you feel threatened by it, please let me know, and I'll try to dumb it down a little.

 

[Marty1]

But I'm not talking about people using a bike to commute. It makes perfect sense to use a lighter bike for that. It's people who buy a bike for exercise and for no other reason. They're the subject matter. And just because a bike weighs more, doesn't mean it's crap.

And why should I care what bikes people choose to ride? I don't care what they ride. I just want to help them to find the correct bike for their exercise regimen. Although I don't ever see you questioning those here who assert that motorists shouldn't be allowed to drive certain cars.

On a separate note - isn’t cycling around major cities bad for your health, gulping in badly polluted air off petrol and diesel fumes?

 

[Saul Goodman]

On a separate note - isn’t cycling around major cities bad for your health, gulping in badly polluted air off petrol and diesel fumes?

I'm sure it is, but that's possibly beyond the scope of this thread, and may need its own soap box.

 

[DownwardDog]

I've never fixed bikes or been an engineer but isn't firmesss/stiffness generally considered better than flexibility in a bike frame? I mean it will depend on what cycling you are doing I suppose

You need both; torsional stiffness with some longitudinal flexibility. With carbon composites this behaviour can be more accurately tuned and achieved than with steel tubes.

 

[kabbes]

This thread didn’t turn out to be everything I was hoping for.

 

[dessiato]

This thread didn’t turn out to be everything I was hoping for.

I might be mistaken but it seems that a lot of driving threads become cycle=good, car=evil these days. And there seems to be more name calling and extreme stances than there used to be.

I've been looking at X3, X5 and Range Rover so that if I do buy a house in the mountains I'll be able to go skiing and I'll be able to pull boats up/launch on beaches but still have a comfortable on road experience.

I need to practice driving badly. But I get my Spanish licence soon, that will help.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

This thread didn’t turn out to be everything I was hoping for.

tbf it is everything I was expecting it to be though.

 

[a_chap]

I don't really know what V8 and all that means. I know it's the number of cylinders but no idea why that's important. More concerned with how big the glove box and boot are.

In fact I don't know what a cylinder is

These are cylinders:

Spoiler: Warning: very technical picture!

A V8 just means there are eight of them under the bonnet. Four will be leaning one way the rest leaning the other way. Like the letter V.

The picture I posted is a four cylinder engine.

It's pretty easy, really.

 

[weltweit]

But the picture you posted a_chap was a two stroke, almost all V8s are four stroke!

Proper Tidy do you know what a piston is? A piston goes up and down in a cylinder.

What about "suck squeeze bang blow" - which is the cycle of a four stroke engine, one for each stroke of the piston.

 

[Proper Tidy]

But the picture you posted a_chap was a two stroke, almost all V8s are four stroke!

Proper Tidy do you know what a piston is? A piston goes up and down in a cylinder.

What about "suck squeeze bang blow" - which is the cycle of a four stroke engine, one for each stroke of the piston.

I do know what a piston is but I don't really know what it does, same with cylinders, and I also don't really care

 

[weltweit]

.. I also don't really care

If you had only said

 

[nogojones]

This thread didn’t turn out to be everything I was hoping for.

I'm not a big old fan of cars. They are all about function for me. I drive a banger and treat it like a builders skip. But I always folow the motoring threads cos thats where the real beef is. This thread delivered everything I was hoping for

 

[SpookyFrank]

I don't really know what V8 and all that means. I know it's the number of cylinders but no idea why that's important. More concerned with how big the glove box and boot are.

V8 is a description of the driver. It's short for Virign With a Mental Age of 8.

 

[T & P]

I recently was driven in a BMW and the driver was one of the conscientious types mentioned in the research, he never once broke the speed limit in the hour or so that we were driving.

It is most annoying when you are late for something and find yourrself stuck behind an overcautious driver at the wheel of a high performance/ premium brand car. More than once I've muttered to myself 'two million boy-racer Audi drivers in this country, and I have to come across the only granny-driving, law-abiding one'.

 

[Big Bertha]

On a separate note - isn’t cycling around major cities bad for your health, gulping in badly polluted air off petrol and diesel fumes?

There are lots of very small particulate pollution in the tubes apparently.

 

[weepiper]

On a separate note - isn’t cycling around major cities bad for your health, gulping in badly polluted air off petrol and diesel fumes?

No. Cyclists are the least affected by air pollution.

Cyclists 'exposed to less air pollution than drivers' on busy routes

Study shows people in cars and buses spend longer in toxic air, as do walkers on main roads

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sasaferrato]

View attachment 197101

WTF is that?

 

[Saul Goodman]

Modern cars are great, aren't they, with their HEPA cabin filters with activated charcoal. Great for removing those nasty particulates from the air.

 

[Marty1]

No. Cyclists are the least affected by air pollution.

Cyclists 'exposed to less air pollution than drivers' on busy routes

Study shows people in cars and buses spend longer in toxic air, as do walkers on main roads

www.theguardian.com

That’s interesting.

This article highlights a study claiming people get their peak exposition to air pollution if they are cycling.

People get peak exposure to air pollution while cycling

People are most likely to get their peak exposure to air pollution if they are cycling, a new study has found. Academics at several universities including Imperial College London and Hasselt University in Belgium looked at exposure peaks during the…

airqualitynews.com