Erick T . Barkhuis

The Rev Gaston [on Tue, 4 Oct 2005 21:44:56 +0200] wrote:

    > My bike was stolen and is was Mrs G's fault. In fact she was Miss Non-G
    > at the time, and I'd met her in a pub, and then "volunteered" to walk
    > her home, leaving bike locked outside pub. Of course when I got back
    > later it was gone.
    >
    > Worth it, though :-)

May I assume she reimbursed the damages somehow?

--
Low Countries By Bike - http://lowcountriesbybike.ardane.com
Riding on two wheels in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany

The Rev Gaston

Erick T. Barkhuis <[email protected]> wrote:

    > The Rev Gaston [on Tue, 4 Oct 2005 21:44:56 +0200] wrote:
    >
    > > My bike was stolen and is was Mrs G's fault. In fact she was Miss Non-G
    > > at the time, and I'd met her in a pub, and then "volunteered" to walk
    > > her home, leaving bike locked outside pub. Of course when I got back
    > > later it was gone.
    > >
    > > Worth it, though :-)
    >
    > May I assume she reimbursed the damages somehow?

I refuse to reply using a cheap pun based on the words "bottom bracket"
    :-)

G;

The Rev Gaston

chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and prestwich tesco 24h
offy <[email protected]> wrote:

    > The Rev Gaston <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > > chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and prestwich tesco 24h
    > > offy <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >
    > > > Probably the least convenient theft was when
    > > > someone stole just the front wheel of my bike when I'd locked it outside
    > > > the conservatory in Philadelphia.
    > >
    > > My bike was stolen and is was Mrs G's fault. In fact she was Miss Non-G
    > > at the time, and I'd met her in a pub, and then "volunteered" to walk
    > > her home, leaving bike locked outside pub. Of course when I got back
    > > later it was gone.
    > >
    > > Worth it, though :-)
    >
    > So you must have fond memories everytime you have a bike nicked now! :)

Or when we're having a row I think "I gave up a perfectly good 10-speed
for this".

G;

Tim

"Jens Arne Maennig" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Ron K. wrote:
    >> anyone have any experience purchasing a bike while in Europe?
    > Necessarily yes.
    >> wondering if it's
    >> cheaper to buy a road bike there or in a neighboring coutnry...than
    >> shipping my bike here back and forth...
    > Shipping? You will usually just take it as extra luggage. Choose an
    > airline that doesn't charge you extra.

does such an airline still exist?


tim

John Bermont

The Rev Gaston wrote:
    > Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >
    >>On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 05:48:30 -0400, Don Wiss <donwiss@no_spam.com>
    >>wrote:
    >>>On 04 Oct 2005 10:58:01 +0200, Tom Peel <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>>>Duty in the US? I brought a used mountain bike from the US to Europe
    >>>>some years back and had to pay 15% import duty plus 15% VAT making over
    >>>>a 30% markup, and this was a USED bike!!
    >>>Oh. I did pay an 18% VAT in Holland, but I got a form at the airport and
    >>>applied for a refund from the bike shop. Later I did receive it.
    >>It's worth buying a second hand hire bike in NL and paying to have it
    >>refurbished, if you have time. Usually the gears chain and cables are
    >>worn out but the rest of the bike is in good condition.
    >
    >
    > Any good tips about where to buy such a bike?
    >
    > G;
    >
    > (We found a house, by the way, in Bezuidenhout.)
    >
    >

I have purchased 5 bikes (fiets) in the Netherlands over the years. That
includes 2 new Batavus (great bikes), a used Batavus, a used Sparta, and
a new one for my daughter. None were stolen from me, except the used
Batavus was stolen from the woman I sold it to.

The Sparta suffered an unusual calamity. It was an old wreck and had
formerly been part of a rental fleet. The crank hub rusted and
completely fell off the year after I bought it. The bike was ready for
the scrap yard. But I brought it back to the bike shop where I bought
it. The shop returned it to the manufacturer. The manufacturer rebuilt
it on a new frame. Repairs were totally free. Absolutely amazing service!

You can find bike shops all over Holland, especially near train
stations. The shop which sold me the Sparta is in Haarlem, about 50
meters from the VVV tourist office on the SW corner of the station. It's
on the first street around the corner from the Hotel Lion d'Or. You'll
see a row of bikes parked outside on the sidewalk. Needless to say that
this is where I'll buy my next bike.

Have a good working head light and tail light. These are hard to
maintain so if you buy a used bike you might consider investing in a new
generator and get it professionally installed. Caliper style brakes are
problematic because of the rain. Hub brakes are provided on most Dutch
bikes and work well. Bike roads in Holland have their own traffic
signals. It's a great country in which to ride a bike, except for the
wind and the rain, but the weather will make you hardy and ever so
grateful when you stop at a cozy cafe.

John Bermont

--
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Stanislas de Kertanguy

Tom Peel <[email protected]> wrote:

    > Martin wrote:
    > > On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 12:36:53 +0200, [email protected]
    > > (Stanislas de Kertanguy) wrote:
    > >
    > >
    > >>Jens Arne Maennig <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >>
    > >>
    > >>>Take the pedals off,
    > >>>it's not too funny to sit in the aircraft and see some airport employees
    > >>>riding your bike on the apron.
    > >>
    > >>I once asked Air France whether I could register the bike as normal
    > >>luggage. They said yes, but remove the saddle and deflate the tyres.
    > >
    > >
    > > The idea of some airport employee riding your bike on the apron,
    > > without the saddle brings tears to my eyes.
    >
    > Well, if it's got a cross-bar, could be ok. But riding with flat tyres
    > will ruin the rims, won't it?

It will harm them, for sure.

I don't know why AF wanted the tyres deflated. Maybe the pressure in the
haul is different from the one in the cabin?

--
remplacez "lesptt" par "laposte" pour me joindre
transpose "laposte" for "lesptt" to reach me

Anonymouse

Hi,

I've bought 2 bikes from Tromm Tweewheelers(sp?) in amsterdam on europaplien

both folding bikes... he carries like 35-40 different folders.

Don Wiss wrote:

    > On 3 Oct 2005 13:58:46 -0700, "Ron K." <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >
    >>anyone have any experience purchasing a bike while in Europe?
    >
    >
    > Yes. In The Netherlands.
    >
    >
    >>I'm looking into a possible job in Switzerland...wondering if it's
    >>cheaper to buy a road bike there or in a neighboring coutnry...than
    >>shipping my bike here back and forth...
    >
    >
    > But I bought mine as I wanted a Dutch city bike which is unavailable in the
    > US. My souvenir from that trip. Despite declaring it for $750 I did not pay
    > any duty. Maybe as I had ridden it some?
    >
    > Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).

--

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb
yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his
kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after
his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself,
after his kind: and God saw that it was good."

The Rev Gaston

Stanislas de Kertanguy <[email protected]> wrote:

    > Tom Peel <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > > Martin wrote:
    > > > On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 12:36:53 +0200, [email protected]
    > > > (Stanislas de Kertanguy) wrote:
    > > >
    > > >
    > > >>Jens Arne Maennig <[email protected]> wrote:
    > > >>
    > > >>
    > > >>>Take the pedals off,
    > > >>>it's not too funny to sit in the aircraft and see some airport employees
    > > >>>riding your bike on the apron.
    > > >>
    > > >>I once asked Air France whether I could register the bike as normal
    > > >>luggage. They said yes, but remove the saddle and deflate the tyres.
    > > >
    > > >
    > > > The idea of some airport employee riding your bike on the apron,
    > > > without the saddle brings tears to my eyes.
    > >
    > > Well, if it's got a cross-bar, could be ok. But riding with flat tyres
    > > will ruin the rims, won't it?
    >
    > It will harm them, for sure.
    >
    > I don't know why AF wanted the tyres deflated. Maybe the pressure in the
    > haul is different from the one in the cabin?

I think it's one of these urban myth type things - I doubt it will make
a difference. They don't ask you to deflate your suspension if you have
it, so why the tyres?

G;

--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
<http://cerbermail.com/?nKYh3qN4YG>

Scott Andrew Borton

"tim \(moved to sweden\)" <[email protected]> writes:

    >> Shipping? You will usually just take it as extra luggage. Choose an
    >> airline that doesn't charge you extra.
    > does such an airline still exist?

I take bicycles free of charge on SAS, for example. A collection of
information about travelling with bikes can be found here:

http://www.bikeaccess.net/BikeAccess/default.cfm


--scott

Jens Arne Maennig

The Rev Gaston wrote:
    > Stanislas de Kertanguy <[email protected]> wrote:

    >> I don't know why AF wanted the tyres deflated. Maybe the pressure in
    >> the haul is different from the one in the cabin?
    >
    > I think it's one of these urban myth type things - I doubt it will
    > make a difference.

It's a simple calculation (in case you think metric): On sea level,
let's assume an atmospheric pressure of 1 bar. Let's also assume a ride
on an futuristic aircraft that would fly so high that the atmospheric
pressure would be 0 bar (which is certainly not true at a cruising
altitude of around 10.000 meters).

The normal pressure of bicycle tyres ranges from 3 bar (kid's bikes, fat
city cruiser tyres) to over 8 bar (on slim race bike tyres), which is a
relative value measured against the atmospheric pressure on the ground.

Getting back to the assumption that in the luggage compartment of our
supersonic cruiser travelling in space, the pressure in the tyre (again
measured against the outside atmospheric pressure, which is now 0 bar)
would simply rise by 1 bar.

This means, our kid's bike would now have a tyre pressure of 4 bar, the
race bike 9 bar. Far away from any risk for the material. Nothing will
explode, no other stange things will happen. It will just protect your
tubes, covers and rims.

    > They don't ask you to deflate your suspension if you have it, so why
    > the tyres?

    :-)
On one of my various trips, a check-in clerk asked me to deflate the
tyres. I explained her the above and she told me that she did not
understand a word but I should do what I want.

Jens

Tom Peel

Jens Arne Maennig wrote:
    > The Rev Gaston wrote:
    >
    >>Stanislas de Kertanguy <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >
    >>>I don't know why AF wanted the tyres deflated. Maybe the pressure in
    >>>the haul is different from the one in the cabin?
    >>I think it's one of these urban myth type things - I doubt it will
    >>make a difference.
    >
    >
    > It's a simple calculation (in case you think metric): On sea level,
    > let's assume an atmospheric pressure of 1 bar. Let's also assume a ride
    > on an futuristic aircraft that would fly so high that the atmospheric
    > pressure would be 0 bar (which is certainly not true at a cruising
    > altitude of around 10.000 meters).
    >
AFAIK the cargo and baggage hold is pressurized the same as the
passenger cabin- not sea level, but around 7,000 feet altitude equivalent.
A non-pressurized cargo hold would put a destructive load on the cabin
floor. That's what happened to the DC-10 in a number of accidents,
culminating with the Paris crash in 1974, when a cargo door blew out and
the resulting damage to the cabin floor jammed the controls.

T.


    > The normal pressure of bicycle tyres ranges from 3 bar (kid's bikes, fat
    > city cruiser tyres) to over 8 bar (on slim race bike tyres), which is a
    > relative value measured against the atmospheric pressure on the ground.
    >
    > Getting back to the assumption that in the luggage compartment of our
    > supersonic cruiser travelling in space, the pressure in the tyre (again
    > measured against the outside atmospheric pressure, which is now 0 bar)
    > would simply rise by 1 bar.
    >
    > This means, our kid's bike would now have a tyre pressure of 4 bar, the
    > race bike 9 bar. Far away from any risk for the material. Nothing will
    > explode, no other stange things will happen. It will just protect your
    > tubes, covers and rims.
    >
    >
    >>They don't ask you to deflate your suspension if you have it, so why
    >>the tyres?
    >
    >
    > :-)
    > On one of my various trips, a check-in clerk asked me to deflate the
    > tyres. I explained her the above and she told me that she did not
    > understand a word but I should do what I want.
    >
    > Jens

Martin

On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 20:45:51 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > [on Tue, 4 Oct 2005 19:41:39 +0100] wrote:
    >[bicycles in NL]
    >> They get stolen too, from what I've heard.
    >Yup. In Amsterdam, every bike that is usually parked on the street at
    >night (due to the fact that the owner has no other place to park it) is
    >stolen eight times, on average, during its life time.

How many times by the original owner?
--
Martin

Martin

On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 19:37:11 +0100, DDT Filled Mormons
<deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:

    >On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 12:12:37 +0200, Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 05:54:29 -0400, Don Wiss <donwiss@no_spam.com>
    >>wrote:
    >>>On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 11:24:19 +0200, Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>>>On Mon, 03 Oct 2005 20:08:00 -0400, Don Wiss wrote:
    >>>>>But I bought mine as I wanted a Dutch city bike which is unavailable in the
    >>>>>US. My souvenir from that trip. Despite declaring it for $750 I did not pay
    >>>>>any duty. Maybe as I had ridden it some?
    >>>>It's amazing it wasn't stolen or perhaps it was pre-stolen.
    >>>I bought it near the end of the trip. It came with a cable in addition to
    >>>the rear wheel lock. But I did not leave it out at night. Nor did I leave
    >>>it unattended in Utrecht.
    >>My son left his bike with cable and rear lock attached to a lamppost
    >>outside a shop in a busy pedestrian street in Leiden. He was in the
    >>shop less than 5 minutes. He came out just as the thief rode off on
    >>his bike. Bolt cutters had been used on the cable and lock.
    >Was it a good (looking) bike?

No it was a grubby old third hand bike.
--
Martin

Martin

On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 21:31:59 +0200, [email protected] (The Rev Gaston)
wrote:

    >Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
    >> On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 05:48:30 -0400, Don Wiss <donwiss@no_spam.com>
    >> wrote:
    >>
    >> >On 04 Oct 2005 10:58:01 +0200, Tom Peel <[email protected]> wrote:
    >> >
    >> >>Duty in the US? I brought a used mountain bike from the US to Europe
    >> >>some years back and had to pay 15% import duty plus 15% VAT making over
    >> >>a 30% markup, and this was a USED bike!!
    >> >
    >> >Oh. I did pay an 18% VAT in Holland, but I got a form at the airport and
    >> >applied for a refund from the bike shop. Later I did receive it.
    >>
    >> It's worth buying a second hand hire bike in NL and paying to have it
    >> refurbished, if you have time. Usually the gears chain and cables are
    >> worn out but the rest of the bike is in good condition.
    >Any good tips about where to buy such a bike?

My son's second hand bike came from a bike shop in Noordwijk.

    >G;
    >(We found a house, by the way, in Bezuidenhout.)

with fiets schuur & broom cupboard?
--
Martin

Erick T . Barkhuis

Martin [on Wed, 05 Oct 2005 10:51:55 +0200] wrote:
    > On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 20:45:51 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis
    > <[email protected]> wrote:

    > In Amsterdam, every bike that is usually parked on the street at
    > >night (due to the fact that the owner has no other place to park it) is
    > >stolen eight times, on average, during its life time.
    >
    > How many times by the original owner?

I have no doubt that such event also occurs once in a while.

--
Low Countries By Bike - http://lowcountriesbybike.ardane.com
Riding on two wheels in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany