Addiction LXXX
12-09-20, 12:33 PM
#8201
VFL For Life
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 51,705
Bikes: Velo Volmobile
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12-09-20, 12:44 PM
#8203
VFL For Life
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 51,705
Bikes: Velo Volmobile
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1,367 Posts
12-09-20, 12:44 PM
#8204
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TC, MN
Posts: 39,520
Bikes: R3 Disc, Haanjo
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On my ride today, I saw a walker/runner wearing a grey hoodie with "TENNESSEE," in a sorry shade of orange, emblazoned across the chest. I didn't wave, but I did give him a head nod.
12-09-20, 12:44 PM
#8205
Should Be More Popular
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Malvern, PA (20 miles West of Philly)
Posts: 43,303
Bikes: 1986 Alpine (steel road bike), 2009 Ti Habenero, 2013 Specialized Roubaix
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12-09-20, 12:47 PM
#8206
VFL For Life
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 51,705
Bikes: Velo Volmobile
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12-09-20, 12:48 PM
#8208
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 18,488
Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace
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In the early 80s I spent 6wks one summer living in an abandoned farmhouse in Italy that the new owners (German family friend) bought to fix up. They drove a Citroen with the hydraulic lift as well as headlights that steered. I remember as a kid passenger driving all over the countryside in that thing - somewhere in the Florence Siena region. It certainly was intriguing and memorable for my young mechanically interested mind.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
12-09-20, 12:53 PM
#8210
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 18,488
Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace
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I put together a spreadsheet of sunset times, and added a columns calculating what time I'd have to start riding to get in 1 1/2 hours before sunset, and then calculating back from that when I'd have to leave work. By the end of November, I'd have to leave work before 2:30 just to get changed and drive to the start of my ride.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
12-09-20, 01:01 PM
#8211
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 18,488
Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace
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Back in the 30s, some Duesenbergs had driving lights that swiveled with the steering.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
12-09-20, 01:02 PM
#8212
-------
Which seems to be about 3 in the afternoon, anymore.
I put together a spreadsheet of sunset times, and added a columns calculating what time I'd have to start riding to get in 1 1/2 hours before sunset, and then calculating back from that when I'd have to leave work. By the end of November, I'd have to leave work before 2:30 just to get changed and drive to the start of my ride.
I put together a spreadsheet of sunset times, and added a columns calculating what time I'd have to start riding to get in 1 1/2 hours before sunset, and then calculating back from that when I'd have to leave work. By the end of November, I'd have to leave work before 2:30 just to get changed and drive to the start of my ride.
12-09-20, 01:04 PM
#8213
shaken, not stirred.
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: The Shaky Isles.
Posts: 5,263
Bikes: I've lost count.
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It was more than that. It was a high pressure hydraulic system that did both the suspension and the brakes, and in cars with the "Citromatic" semi-automatic transmission, the clutch as well.
The 'Hydropneumatic' suspension consists of spheres containing highly compressed nitrogen (IIRC) above a diaphragm. Below that there's a piston in a cylinder, and the area above the piston and below the diaphragm is filled with the pressurized hydraulic fluid. The suspension arms act on the piston. That's it. No springs, no shock absorbers. And it is AMAZING at smoothing out the bumps. Probably the smoothest riding cars you could find.
You could adjust ground clearance from 2" to 12" by means of a lever beside the driver's left leg - you can't run it at 2", and only very slowly at 12", but there are several intermediate settings you can run at any speed. There's no jack. If you need to replace a flat, you run it up to 12", set the stand in the lug on the rocker panel, and lower it to 2", and it lowers the car and pulls the wheels on that side up for you.
If the car's been sitting a while, like overnight, it will sink down to 2". Start it up and after a few seconds the rear rises, then the nose. Somebody gets in, and the car adjusts the height back to where it was. Get out, and it adjusts down to where it was. They were self-leveling, so if you loaded up the trunk, the system sends more fluid to the rear spheres till it's level.
The brakes run off the same system, and the brake "pedal" is just a big button on the floor, which has almost no travel - it responds to the amount of pressure you put on it. And it will damn near stand the thing on its nose if you push hard enough. Ask me how I know...
The "Citromatic" transmission handles both the clutch and the shifting for you, but you choose the gear. To shift, you work the throttle just like with a clutch - release when you start the shift, back on when it's complete. With practice you get pretty smooth, but you're never going to speedshift it!
It's really a neat system, designed in the early 50s by Citroen, who then largely kept it the same on into the late 70s. When it works, it's amazing! When it DOESN'T work, it's expensive to fix!
The 'Hydropneumatic' suspension consists of spheres containing highly compressed nitrogen (IIRC) above a diaphragm. Below that there's a piston in a cylinder, and the area above the piston and below the diaphragm is filled with the pressurized hydraulic fluid. The suspension arms act on the piston. That's it. No springs, no shock absorbers. And it is AMAZING at smoothing out the bumps. Probably the smoothest riding cars you could find.
You could adjust ground clearance from 2" to 12" by means of a lever beside the driver's left leg - you can't run it at 2", and only very slowly at 12", but there are several intermediate settings you can run at any speed. There's no jack. If you need to replace a flat, you run it up to 12", set the stand in the lug on the rocker panel, and lower it to 2", and it lowers the car and pulls the wheels on that side up for you.
If the car's been sitting a while, like overnight, it will sink down to 2". Start it up and after a few seconds the rear rises, then the nose. Somebody gets in, and the car adjusts the height back to where it was. Get out, and it adjusts down to where it was. They were self-leveling, so if you loaded up the trunk, the system sends more fluid to the rear spheres till it's level.
The brakes run off the same system, and the brake "pedal" is just a big button on the floor, which has almost no travel - it responds to the amount of pressure you put on it. And it will damn near stand the thing on its nose if you push hard enough. Ask me how I know...
The "Citromatic" transmission handles both the clutch and the shifting for you, but you choose the gear. To shift, you work the throttle just like with a clutch - release when you start the shift, back on when it's complete. With practice you get pretty smooth, but you're never going to speedshift it!
It's really a neat system, designed in the early 50s by Citroen, who then largely kept it the same on into the late 70s. When it works, it's amazing! When it DOESN'T work, it's expensive to fix!
__________________
Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. ~Mark Twain, "Taming the Bicycle"
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12-09-20, 01:06 PM
#8214
Arizona Dessert
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: AZ
Posts: 15,029
Bikes: Cannondale SuperSix, Lemond Poprad. Retired: Jamis Sputnik, Centurion LeMans Fixed, Diamond Back ascent ex
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My bicycle headlamp steers too and with no fancy hydraulics.
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12-09-20, 01:07 PM
#8215
-------
And,
a V8. I had an Audi RS5 with a N/A 4.2L V8 a few years ago. My wife looked over at the dash one day and asked what the "6" in the display meant. I told her "average 6 miles per gallon." She was overly unhappy that I didn't tell her that that would be the case before buying the car. 
12-09-20, 01:08 PM
#8216
VFL For Life
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 51,705
Bikes: Velo Volmobile
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Must have been by an unauthorized manufacturer.
12-09-20, 01:09 PM
#8218
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 18,488
Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace
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Yeah, that assumed bike in trunk, changing at work, then driving the 20 miles to where I'd park. During Daylight Savings Time, this generally put me on the road at rush hour, but going the opposite direction from most commuters, so not TOO bad.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
12-09-20, 01:11 PM
#8219
VFL For Life
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 51,705
Bikes: Velo Volmobile
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12-09-20, 01:12 PM
#8220
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TC, MN
Posts: 39,520
Bikes: R3 Disc, Haanjo
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12-09-20, 01:15 PM
#8221
-------
Around here the only place I feel comfortable during the weekdays is a lightly used MUP that is not too far from me. Our weekend end and evening rides take us into a rural area that is good at those times. But, during the weekdays there is a lot of heavy truck (dumps, gravel, etc.) and trailer traffic so I'm not so good with it. The before and after school traffic is the worst.
12-09-20, 01:20 PM
#8222
Mostly Harmless
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: At Large
Posts: 56,757
Bikes: Have two wheels
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2,551 Posts
Is anyone else troubled by BillyD .s avi?
12-09-20, 01:22 PM
#8223
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 18,488
Bikes: Litespeed Ultimate, Ultegra; Canyon Endurace, 105; Battaglin MAX, Chorus; Bianchi 928 Veloce; Ritchey Road Logic, Dura Ace; Cannondale R500 RX100; Schwinn Circuit, Sante; Lotus Supreme, Dura Ace
Liked 12,415 Times
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6,351 Posts
Around here the only place I feel comfortable during the weekdays is a lightly used MUP that is not too far from me. Our weekend end and evening rides take us into a rural area that is good at those times. But, during the weekdays there is a lot of heavy truck (dumps, gravel, etc.) and trailer traffic so I'm not so good with it. The before and after school traffic is the worst.
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
12-09-20, 01:23 PM
#8224
Mostly Harmless
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: At Large
Posts: 56,757
Bikes: Have two wheels
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12-09-20, 01:27 PM
#8225
Mostly Harmless
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: At Large
Posts: 56,757
Bikes: Have two wheels
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