[AT] Bicycle program

Indiana Robinson robinson46176 at gmail.com
Thu Apr 11 07:06:15 PDT 2019


Regarding bicycles in the earlier days the Wright Brothers shouldn't be
left out...
Now that our health seems to be more stabilized for a time Diana and I have
talked about picking up a couple of bikes and hauling them around on the
back of the van to look healthy...  :-)   OK, actually taking them to other
Central Indiana cities around us that have bike /walking trails. Some of
them are fairly extensive. After looking at a lot of bikes in stores I have
decided that I will pick out some in a store then order them instead and
insist that they be still sealed in the box when I pick them up. It seems
that in most stores the same people put the bikes together that also set up
the chainsaw display with about a third of the chains on backward... Not so
long ago I pointed out to a Walmart manager that someone had assembled a
big long display of rocking chairs with the arms on the wrong sides making
it impossible for anyone of any size to sit down in them. It was really
obvious...
In part of his youth (early 1920's) my father lived in the country on a
tiny farm with the house close to the road. Their family was fairly large
(7 kids). He often recalled that while there were quite a few cars sold
most of the traffic past their house was horses and people walking.
Sometimes someone in the family would yell "bicycle feller" and half or
more of the kids would run out in the front yard to watch the rider pass.
None of them had a bicycle and it was a special fascination to them. He
said it was normal to exchange greetings and sometime ask a question. On
rare occasions the rider would stop and visit a few minutes. Our world has
changed a lot.  :-)


.

On Thu, Apr 11, 2019 at 8:10 AM Stephen Offiler <soffiler at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm not sure what your point is.  But these are topics where I have some
> broad expertise, since I work in manufacturing, I am involved with
> manufacturing education, and I am a serious cyclist, rolling up at least a
> couple thousand miles a year for the last 30 odd years.
>
> So first of all, your typical 16 year old boy in the modern day has spent
> too much of his formative years playing video games, and has not developed
> much in the way of mechanical curiousity.
>
> When Harry Ferguson left the farm to work as a bicycle mechanic, bicycles
> were a legitimate alternative to equestrian transportation, not a hobby.
> That was a move into what would have been a valuable and mainstream career
> at that time.  In the modern day, there is very little money to be made as
> a bicycle mechanic.  I happen to be good friends with a bicycle mechanic
> who is probably among the top couple dozen in the USA - bicycle
> manufacturers actually seek him out for assistance with their designs.  He
> makes a very good living compared with his peers, but it's still just a
> small fraction of what my peers make in the manufacturing industry.
>
> There is no such thing as an Associate Degree in Bicycle Mechanics.
>
> The program in the link provided is not intended to train bicycle
> mechanics.  It uses the bicycle as a case study in modern manufacturing,
> encompassing welding and fabrication of a variety of materials (advanced
> high-alloy steels, aluminum, titanium) plus composite (aka "carbon fiber")
> techniques, plastic injection molding, CAD design work, etc etc.  I find it
> a very clever way of engaging the students.
>
> SO
>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 11, 2019 at 12:57 AM James Peck <jamesgpeck at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> A 16 year old boy I interact with has told me that he is not interested
>> in being any kind of mechanic. I was pointing out some power company
>> linemen to him and explaining how many of them earned in the 6 figures.
>>
>> Harry Ferguson left the family farm to work as a bicycle mechanic and did
>> well for himself. Someone with an Associate Degree in Bicycle Mechanics
>> would likely find out that there is not much money to be made working on
>> bicycles but ag equipment could be a different story.
>>
>>
>> https://www.thefabricator.com/article/additive/bicycle-design-program-rethinks-manufacturing-education
>> ?
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-- 
-- 

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com
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