http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Plastic penny-farthing en Sat, 18 Apr 2026 21:24:33 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130483 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 16:01:43 +0000 crowriver 130483@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Focus, I think the overwhelming beige-ness may have put some folk off. It was the 1970s though and beige was okay...</p> <p>Thing is, the child seat and bike bin panniers look pretty contemporary. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130474 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 14:33:35 +0000 Uberuce 130474@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I was hoping to see how a 39" fixed wheel coped with descending, but they cut the video just before the rider started. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130473 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 14:29:31 +0000 Focus 130473@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>It's no wonder the Itera bike was a failure - who would lock their bike up unattended in public? You wouldn't just come back to a buckled wheel, the whole bike would be a melted lump! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130471 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 14:25:45 +0000 Arellcat 130471@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>I believe some people do...</em></p> <p>'Plastic and soot' is the common term I think. But it's true, carbon fibre is just very hi-tech plastic. Just like Specialized's 'M2 Metal Matrix' was just posh metal with bits in.</p> <p><em>Where metal bends, plastic breaks.</em></p> <p>Not necessarily true. An impact that would cause a nylon part to bend might break an aluminium equivalent. Strength and stiffness aren't the same thing, and vary with temperature too. A contributing factor in the Titanic's demise was brittle fracture brought on by the near-freezing water temperature (along with sulphur inclusions, hydrogen cracking and so on).</p> <p><em>Before that they had to build minehunters out of plywood and aluminium which does not make for a very long-lasting, tough vessel.</em></p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habbakuk">Project Habbakuk</a> and Pykrete FTW. :) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130463 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 13:56:32 +0000 kaputnik 130463@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"Carbon" is just a common name for Carbon-fibre Reinforced Polymer. It's an epoxy (or similar) resin binding together a structural layering of graphite fibre weave. It's pretty similar to papier maché in concept. And very much like the earlier "Plastic" of "plastic cars", which were of glass-fibre reinforced plastic (fibreglass). Which is I believe why TVR and Lotus cars smell of glue. </p> <p>They've been building fairly large warships out of GRP for decades, it's a lot more flexible and less brittle than Carbon. HMS <em>Tupperware</em> was the first and was built in 1970 (as HMS <em>Wilton</em>, but sailors have a better sense of humour than that). Before that they had to build minehunters out of plywood and aluminium which does not make for a very long-lasting, tough vessel. Same is probably true of bikes. Not sure if anyone ever built a GRP bike. Or a papier mache bike for that matter. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130458 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 13:24:47 +0000 chdot 130458@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chdot/10554165465/"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3781/10554165465_be1697c8be.jpg"></a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130443 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 11:54:22 +0000 DaveC 130443@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Blatant untruth when I was a child, was that if you bent the wheels on the <a href="http://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/raleigh/26855">Blue or Red Raleigh BMX Burner</a> you could put them in the freezer and they'd straighten. The things we believe as <strike>adults</strike> ... aherm.... children, yes, the things we believe as children! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130433 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 10:25:34 +0000 crowriver 130433@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The fatal flaw with plastic bikes: "Where metal bends, plastic breaks. " </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130431 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 10:11:44 +0000 chdot 130431@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"Or should we just refer to carbon road bikes / MTBs from now on as plastic bikes?"</p> <p>I believe some people do...</p> <p>OK, this is the 'proper' Plastic bicycle...</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_bicycle" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_bicycle</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130429 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 10:06:25 +0000 crowriver 130429@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Correction: it' a carbon penny farthing. "The forked frame is built from carbon fiber made with BASF's Baxxodur epoxy resin".</p> <p>Or should we just refer to carbon road bikes / MTBs from now on as plastic bikes? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11485#post-130423 Tue, 29 Oct 2013 09:45:23 +0000 chdot 130423@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/concept-penny-farthing-plastic/29547" rel="nofollow">http://www.gizmag.com/concept-penny-farthing-plastic/29547</a> </p>