[magnatom]

So what do you think of this?

I can just imagine this in Glasgow. It would give the neds a new place to put their trainers!

[Spinney]

I thought it was a wind-up at first (well, it may still be!), but they do seem to be planning on a safety wire.

I have enough difficulty staying on my rollers - I would need a different version with a pulley on the 'safety wire' as I would likely be leaning on it most of the way!

They might need a rule about not blowing your nose halfway across as well...

Afterthought: Can a bicycle be ridden in a trough like that? Serious question - I thought the stability came from the freedom for the front wheel to wiggle a bit (plus the geometry of the front forks, etc).

This post has been edited by Spinney: 09 February 2010 - 10:29:39 - Reason for edit: Afterthought

[gavintc]

I am not certain that this is not an elaborate wind up. It just seems a little bit far fetched and I agree with Spinney, that I suspect that you cannot cycle in a gutter without falling off.

[Globalti]

I think it's a hoax although in principle the idea is well thought out. The guide device will be familiar to mountain cable car engineers; the bike handlebar would need to be well secured in the stem and the guide device well secured inside the bar - not easy to do this and probably impossible with a carbon bar. You'd probably need to give users a specially adapted bike, which would defeat the object of the whole thing.

For it to work really well you'd need to lock the handlebars in the straight ahead position too, otherwise they would wobble.

Then there's the question of the size, weight and tension of the cables and the inevitable slope at each end. The engineering would have to be pretty massive and the cost as high as for a ski lift. Who would invest this much and how would it be made to pay?

This post has been edited by Globalti: 09 February 2010 - 11:04:05 -

[bauldbairn]

Interesting concept, not too sure how it would work efficiently or safely though(even with the safety line). Better make sure those handlebars are nice and tight before trying it.

The trainers over "power / phone / washing lines" craze/fashion has been discussed on here before a couple of months ago(with Mr Pig a contributer).
"Apparantly" in the United States it's done as a mark of respect/solidarity by gang members when someone from their gang is killed/murdered.
So it would be very popular in some estate's in and around Glasgow(or any other Scottish City/Town)

There are also trainer covered tree's in Mexico(not gang related).

This post has been edited by bauldbairn: 09 February 2010 - 11:18:58 -

[magnatom]

bauldbairn said:

The trainers over "power / phone / washing lines" craze/fashion has been discussed on here before a couple of months ago(with Mr Pig a contributer).
"Apparantly" in the United States it's done as a mark of respect/solidarity by gang members when someone from their gang is killed/murdered.

There are also trainer covered tree's in Mexico(not gang related).

I had read somewhere it was used to indicate a drugs house was nearby. Personally, I think it is just something that kids do for a laugh. Not my idea of a good night out, but hey!

[Fnaar]

How would you overtake?
Re: the shoe trees... there's one somewhere in rural Northumberland... will take a pic next time I'm out that way...

[bauldbairn]

Fnaar said:

Re: the shoe trees... there's one somewhere in rural Northumberland... will take a pic next time I'm out that way...

We've got a pair of trainers over a phoneline on Kemper Avenue, Falkirk....I too will take a pic!

[Coco]

I assume you'd have to take Primary position all the time

Still, it would make powering your lights quite easy

[Norm]

No scalping, though, so everyone would be as slow as me.