Operation time

[mahatma]

Well, Thursday I go in for my foot operation. Yesterday, I had the meet and greet with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. Dr. Feelgood had a field day with me. He didn't like me. He wouldn't stop beating me up. What was your last A1C count? 6.2. When was it done? About 2 months ago. Do you exercise? Yes. What do you do? I cycle 10 miles a day (round trip commute), ski every weekend and most Sundays do a metric century ride (round trip) to my mother-in-laws for dinner. You don't walk or run? No. Bum foot. Remember? How do you ski? With tight boots. How much do you drink? I don't. Not at all? Right. Did you quit? No, I finished early. Do you smoke? I quit. If your blood sugar is high when you come in I'll have to make a call if we operate or not. It won't be high. How can you say that? I self medicate. Remember? If my BS is high, I'll bring it down. Well, I can't have you bottoming out on me either. No problem. I'm in a hospital. Right? Put half the sugar in your coffee and the other half in my IV bag and we'll be good. I don't like your attitude. I don't care. The man in the other room agreed to cut on me. You're the helper. So help. He then threw me out of his office. All in all I thought it went well.

[valmorel]

Yup....... went well. When I had my prostate op (me old? never!) anaesthetist did not want to proceeed as my blood oxygen saturation level was 100% and he felt that could not be done in someone of my advancing years without pharmaceutical help which I was allegedly refusing to declare. Tried explaining we dont all sit on our fat arses watching TV. Ignored. I thought it went well too...............

[slow]

:)

Interesting that our "normal" heath state is no longer normal.

[valmorel]

Been addressing it Slow....... eating too much, drinking too much and slobbing out. Fit right in :)

[Bill]

I don't like your attitude. I don't care. The man in the other room agreed to cut on me. You're the helper. So help. He then threw me out of his office. All in all I thought it went well.

Mahatma:

You must have forgotten to tell that man about your new pressure washer. No doubt that would have softened his attitude.

Seriously, good luck with the operation. I think I've mentioned before, Carolyn has had significant surgery on both feet and it was successful. She's glad she did it and only wishes she had done it sooner. I hope your surgery turns out at least as well.

Mahatma and Valmorel:

BTW, and I suppose this ties into the fitness angle of this thread, I finally purchased a single-speed belt-drive bicycle last week. It only took me about a year of thinking on it before I got out my billfold.

[Gromit]

BTW, and I suppose this ties into the fitness angle of this thread, I finally purchased a single-speed belt-drive bicycle last week. It only took me about a year of thinking on it before I got out my billfold.
Belt drive?
What did you buy Bill? Web link? :)

[Bill]

Belt drive?
What did you buy Bill? Web link? :)

http://www.gtbicycles.com/usa/eng/Bikes/Road/Details/6027-G10WIN1-Windstream

I really like the simplicity, it uses a standard off-the-shelf v-belt instead of a chain drive and is super quiet and smooth.

[Gromit]

http://www.gtbicycles.com/usa/eng/Bikes/Road/Details/6027-G10WIN1-Windstream

I really like the simplicity, it uses a standard off-the-shelf v-belt instead of a chain drive and is super quiet and smooth.

Nice bike. :)

Does the v-belt have to be kept very tight to prevent slippage as there aren't any teeth on the belt or front and rear pulleys?

[SkaFreak]

I think it is technically a notched belt, not a v-belt. A v-belt is triangular shaped in cross section. The belt on that bike has small notches that match up to a gear-like cog to prevent slipping. If you look carefully in the picture you can see the little notches on the inside of the belt.

[Bill]

Skafreak is right, I misspoke calling it a v-belt. The belt is cogged and runs on sprockets, not smooth sheaves like a true v-belt. It has a Gates number on it like any belt you buy at the auto parts house and probably also has application as a timing belt or something similar.

The other belt-drive bike I looked at had a cogged belt but it was quite a bit different and had no mfg. or part number printed on it, probably a proprietary OEM part.

[Gromit]

Skafreak is right, I misspoke calling it a v-belt. The belt is cogged and runs on sprockets, not smooth sheaves like a true v-belt. It has a Gates number on it like any belt you buy at the auto parts house and probably also has application as a timing belt or something similar.
I must admit that I was a bit surprised when you referred to it as a v-belt Bill. I saw the notches in the belt but assumed they must be to assist the belt in bending around the pulley at the rear wheel end. I thought that I could see the notches in the pulleys myself but bowed to the fact that you had seen the system up close yourself. Makes sense now. :)
Might be worth noting down that part number off the belt before road dirt obscures it. ;)
Thanks also to SkaFreak. :)

[mahatma]

Bill,

Congratulations. I think you made a great choice. I personally believe that belt drives are going to be a huge hit. There is some engineering to get worked out but I do believe the belt is the precursor to the triumphant return of the internally geared hub. The belt is a very good mousetrap. A better mousetrap in most circumstances. Now, what we need is some good, old-fashioned, American ingenuity to work out the details. That's for the belts and hubs. This is a real neat opportunity The belt is a product that will find its' way onto millions bicycles in the coming years. That's literally. Again, good call and good for you.

On the other side of the fence, my custom fixed will be delivered next month and I'm already onto the next project - restoration of a 1950's era, full sized, carbon steel, Schwinn Hornet. I will not be restoring it in the "original parts" way but the frame/fork/gas tank/chain guard will be highly representative of the era along with one of the massive sprung Brooks saddles and Dynamo hubs that were so popular then. Of course, only a coaster brake rear hub will do. The neatest thing I'll be doing is having custom racks fabricated front and rear. I'm going to turn it into a ski vehicle with a massive front rack and vertical ski holders for the rear. Oh, and the seat post is going to be a piece of aircraft grade aluminum rodding to hold me up. The stuff is actually cheap. It's just getting the work done to hold the saddle on and what have you. It's going to be a kick.

[mahatma]

Update. Operation successful. 2 weeks until stitches are out. 3 months until Velcro cast thing can be taken off and then a few more months until I'm truly 100%. This is a good thing

[MitchK]

Good to hear! hope all goes smoothly with the healing.

[valmorel]

Update. Operation successful. 2 weeks until stitches are out. 3 months until Velcro cast thing can be taken off and then a few more months until I'm truly 100%. This is a good thing

Brilliant! Just a little time and then better than new. Not riding my single-speed so much now as I moved to a very hilly area, but bought a Bianchi with an eight speed hub gear instead. Love it. Belt drive would complete the picture. Like Mahatma says Bill, I think you are ahead of the curve on this one.

[Bill]

Update. Operation successful.

Glad to hear it, Mahatma.

I assume the name of your surgeon wasn't Dr. Moreau, and he didn't have his own strange, private island.

Your retro bike project sounds like a hoot. Be alert, though, those sort of hobbies are addictive.

Yes, I think this belt drive is the deal. Carolyn picked up a 3-speed version of the same bike with internal gears. It's cool and that one was tempting, but the ultra-simplicity is appealing too.

Chain drives went out in my business about the time we switched over from smoke-signals to the telegraph, if rock crushers can be powered by belt drives I don't know why bicycles can't.

[mahatma]

Bill,

I knew you were somewhat along in years but H.G. Wells references? Wow. Was your family one of the first in your neighborhood with a whale fat lamp? Yuk, yuk, yuk. You are spot on with the belt thing. The bicycle drivetrain is long overdue for an update. Especially in the utilitarian area. Dirty, noisy, short lived, unreliable chains should have been relegated to museum status a long time ago. Despite their warts, they do indeed work and I guess no one was complaining too loudly.

To be honest, I'm hoping to NOT catch the restoration bug. I wanted to build a practical ski bicycle for a few years now and the Hornet is a way to do it in style. But, I have to admit - style in this case comes at a cost. But again, it's going to be a hoot and man is she going to be gorgeous. Pearl white and gloss black with red Schwinn accents and that oh so beautiful Schwinn head badge. I'm thinking about putting a horn in the gas tank that plays "Born To Be Wild" when I push the button. Pee Wee Herman will have nothing on me.