Text 7146, 64 rader
Skriven 2010-04-17 17:32:23 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
   Kommentar till text 7097 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Rant
============
16 Apr 10 16:57, Robert Bashe wrote to All:

 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?

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

 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.

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

 RB> I checked it out. And found that the gearshift assembly on the rear
 RB> axle consists of three parts:

 RB> - a circular part with a holder for the end of the gearshift cable,
 RB> which locks into the gearshift hub (metal)

 RB> - A part fitted to this, holding the gearshift cable (metal)

 RB> - A thin, flimsy part to hold the two together and make sure they
 RB> operate correctly (plastic)

 RB> You can guess which part had fallen off - naturally the plastic
 RB> locking key.

 RB> It was not defective or broken, it merely twisted off it's locked
 RB> position and let the rest of the assembly separate, thus preventing
 RB> any shifting.

 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.

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

 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?

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

 RB> OK, this is a rant. If you don't agree, forget it and go to the next
 RB> message. But I really get hot under the collar when I see how really
 RB> critical parts are needlessly cheapened, whereas other things, such
 RB> as the bell, are of the best quality available.

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

                R\%/itt

    You can put lipstick on a pig, but the pig still stinks!
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