The Truth About The Bicycle:

     "Man on a bicycle can go three or four times faster than the pedestrian, but uses five times less energy in the process. He carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer of flat road at an expense of only 0.15 calories. The bicycle is the perfect transducer to match man's metabolic energy to the impedance of locomotion. Equipped with this tool, man outstrips the efficiency of not only all machines but all other animals as well.

Bicycles are not only thermodynamically efficient, they are also cheap. With his much lower salary, the Chinese acquires his durable bicycle in a fraction of the working hours an American devotes to the purchase of his obsolescent car. The cost of public utilities needed to facilitate bicycle traffic versus the price of an infrastructure tailored to high speeds is proportionately even less than the price differential of the vehicles used in the two systems. In the bicycle system, engineered roads are necessary only at certain points of dense traffic, and people who live far from the surfaced path are not thereby automatically isolated as they would be if they depended on cars or trains. The bicycle has extended man's radius without shunting him onto roads he cannot walk. Where he cannot ride his bike, he can usually push it.

The bicycle also uses little space. Eighteen bikes can be parked in the place of one car, thirty of them can move along in the space devoured by a single automobile. It takes three lanes of a given size to move 40,000 people across a bridge in one hour by using automated trains, four to move them on buses, twelve to move them in their cars, and only two lanes for them to pedal across on bicycles. Of all these vehicles, only the bicycle really allows people to go from door to door without walking. The cyclist can reach new destinations of his choice without his tool creating new locations from which he is barred."---not sure who wrote this--- sounds like the gospel to me :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 Yamato-Honu-Pono         

Make- Bilenky custom

Size-   Custom 21.5in

Wheelbase-  58in

Weight- Unloaded 50.2lb,  Loaded 145lb

Gearing- Internal 14 speed Rohloff hub

Rims- 26in WTB Laser Disc FR

Spokes- Sapim Cxray

Tyres- Schwalbe Marathon XR 2.25

Tubes- Continental 26x2,25

Seatpost- Thompson/Cane Creek Thudbuster M3

Seat- ??? Not sure yet

Front rack- Surly Nice Rack

Rear rack-  Evans Bikes, custom rear rack (Orcas Island, Wa.)

Front hub- Phil wood mtn disc 32h

Fork- Bilenky custom rigid (to fit the Surly with a disc)

Headset- Cane creek S-8

Stem- Ritchey comp 4 bolt 6 degree rise.

Handle bar- Ritchey Pro 31.8

Bar end- Profile Fatties

Stack height- 50mm

Brakes Levers- LX

Bottles cages- stainless

Bottom Bracket- Phil Wood stainless

Fenders- Front ,Apex--Rear, Apex.

Brakes- Avid BB-7, 180 rear rotor, 185 front

Pedals-Shimano 959  

Why the long name??

       When I was looking for a name in which to give my bike, All great 'ships' should have a name' I chose a 3 part name.

The first part "Yamato" is Japanese. I chose this name because it was the name of the largest heaviest battle ship ever built, it also means "Japan" or "Great Peace" or "Blessed Enlightenment" depends on were you look it up.
The 2nd is "Honu" this is Hawaiian for 'Turtle' since my goal is to go slow I figured this fits pretty well.

The 3rd is Hawaiian "Pono" and means 'Do what is right" or 'Righteousness' it is my belief that the Bicycle is the most Earth friendly way of Mechanical travel Humans have ever invented.

So if you put it all together you have "Yamatohonupono"
to me this means "Blessed enlightenment of the peaceful turtle that does what is right" I feel that my trip is done in the right spirit and with good intentions.

Build Pics from Bilenky



 

 


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