My favorite cherry tree *LINK*

Re: My favorite cherry tree

John Stegall

Dick, what brand is your ebike? The tree looks great too!

John

Re: My favorite cherry tree

John K Jordan

Hey, I've got a small version of a similar cherry branch that might be perfect for someone who wanted to make an interesting walking stick.

A friend of mine rented an ebike and brought it over for me to try. It was amazingly effortless to operate, even up my gravel lane. His girlfriend has MS and can't handle the effort for a traditional bike any more so he's going to buy one.

In Italy this year our friends there pointed out one hazard with these. Older people tend to use them a lot in the city and are sometimes not careful, riding on the sidewalk and coming up behind pedestrians. Since they are basically silent there have been injuries. Some of the people using them probably should not be. I saw them everywhere in Italy - in a block or so of walking there must have been 10 parked on the walkway.

JKJ

It's a Sondors (long reply) *LINK*

Dick Coers

And it's far from silent! Look at those tires, it sounds like a Jeep on pavement. Dogs hate it, people turn around on the paved hiking/bike trail when I'm 100 yards away. It's heavy as a truck, 60 pounds. It's not great at anything except for making smiles and getting compliments. I've had people roll down their car windows and yell, "Nice bike man!" It's a blast! Crazy story about the company. A couple of Southern Ca. guys make contact with a Chinese factory, then start an Indiegogo crowd funding project at the beginning of 2015, selling the bikes for $499 and $195 shipping. They sold $6,000,000 worth of bikes. They then did a Kickstarter, and sold something like another 4,000 bikes. They continue to sell them off a web site. But they almost never have any in stock, they only give a 30 day warranty, and it takes about 48 hours to get an email reply. On the plus side, you get an entry level cool bike that costs just a fraction of what other companies sell them for. There are so many bikes out there, after market companies are starting up that supply parts for less than the company. Now most people with parts problems, forget about the company and just order from the aftermarket. You also really need to order a new computer controller and digital LCD dash to make the pedal assist working well, right out of the box. Another $105 added to the bottom line. I think I've read where they are over 14,000 bikes sold now, since they added a regular style bike as well. It's one crazy business model, but they are selling containers full of bikes! I have over 850 miles on this one that I bought on Craigslist. The resale market is very good since you sometimes have to wait months to get one. They go for over $1,000 on Ebay, new in the box. Some guys just order a half dozen to resell since they can make $300 each on the open market. Now folks are hot rodding them with 52v battery packs, bigger motors, and even two wheel drive. The Sondors Owners Facebook page has nearly 5,000 members, so troubleshooting issues get you someone that has had the problem before. Like I said, a whole new crazy eBike business model that has a LOT of folks having fun!


http://gosondors.com

Re: It's a Sondors (long reply)

John Stegall

Thank you Dick, very interesting information.

John, I am officially old but I don’t believe in driving on sidewalks. Now to figure how to turn a 3-cornered bowl out of cherry. Pine practice comes 1st.

Re: It's a Sondors (long reply)

John K Jordan

>>>Now to figure how to turn a 3-cornered bowl out of cherry.

Turning from a cube? I did that a couple of times. Made small flats on two opposing corners, mounted between centers and cut a tenon, then turned it in a chuck.

JKJ

Re: My favorite cherry tree

John Stegall

They were like that is San Francisco too. The first ebike I ever saw up close. In the small French village where my daughter lives they still peddle, including the old folks...maybe that is how they get old...plus some good wine daily.

This is the bowl I want to turn:

http://www.sawg.org.nz/three-sided-bowl-andrew-bright/

exercise

John K Jordan

>>>In the small French village where my daughter lives they still peddle, including the old folks...maybe that is how they get old...plus some good wine daily.

It is like that almost everywhere I go in Europe. If people are not bicycling they are walking - a kilometer or four, no problem. The bus is crowded at rush hour, just walk home. Raining, fasten an umbrella to your bicycle. A family we stayed with in Merano, Italy didn't sit at the TV after dinner (they didn't keep a TV) but drove to a trail up in the hills and and walked for an hour or so.

I've seen people here drive 100' from their house to the mailbox, circle the Walmart parking lot waiting for a space by the door. With the culture of exercise and healthy eating it's no wonder much of Europe doesn't have the obesity issue plaguing some of the USA.

I took this picture while walking around Insbruk, Austria. Not an uncommon sight.

>>>This is the bowl I want to turn:

http://www.sawg.org.nz/three-sided-bowl-andrew-bright/

Now THAT looks like fun!

JKJ

Amsterdam train station bike parking

Dick Coers

Our son took a trip to Europe and told me about this train station bike parking in Amsterdam. This is not his photo, but very similar to the one he showed me on his smart phone.

Re: exercise

Jim Barbour

And much the same in Heidelberg. I have spent quite a bit of time working out of the Ibis Hotel in the background (red sign on the end of the brick building). It is like this every day, winter and summer. About half to two-thirds of them are gone at night and return for the morning commute.

As an interesting aside, there is a sizable population of green ring-necked parrots that roost in the trees in front of the station. The green parrot is a fairly recent arrival in central Germany. They come from India, descended from pets that got loose. When I lived there in the early 1970's you would see the occasional individual loose from its cage in the summer, but they did not survive the winters. It is now warm enough for them to survive year-round as far north as Cologne.

Re: Amsterdam train station bike parking

John Stegall

The same thing in France at the train stations. While I am there, I walk to the bakery every morning unless my son-in-law rides his bike there first. My oldest granddaughter walks from her train after school. My son in law's grandmother walks up three flights of stairs to her apartment, she is 95. There is no lift.

Re: exercise

Stuart Johnson

How in the world do they identify their bike let alone get it if it's parked in the middle?

Re: exercise

Jim Barbour

There are lanes in which they are parked. Taking a picture down the lanes is not nearly as impressive, so no one takes them that way, I guess.