My recent birthday was an important milestone and my health care provider, Kaiser Permanente, thought so, too. When the important day arrived, so did a notice from Kaiser. My health care premium was being increased by nearly $300 a month. Never mind that my blood pressure is 120/60, my resting pulse is 60, my body mass index is 23, I watch my diet carefully, and I bicycle 80 to 130 miles per week. The actuaries have spoken, my wife and I must pay the piper, and our monthly health insurance now exceeds our mortgage payment. At least we have coverage.
One of the key elements in the recent election was the cost and availability of health care, something that may not seem important to younger Americans. One doesn't have to look very hard to find sobering realities about the cost of getting health insurance and necessary care in the US. And one doesn't have to try very hard to find a friend of family member who has faced difficulties with health care. Some candidates and voter adhere to a "free market" approach while others take a more socialist approach to controlling costs. We may worry about rationing of care and we may even worry about financial ruin should we contract a serious illness or be injured. Others take a public health approach and try to reduce risky lifestyles and choices that lead to chronic yet preventable illness. The degree to which this all concerns us depends largely on our age and the current status of our health.
Cost is King
At its core, the free market approach assumes only those who can afford health insurance actually deserve the insurance. For decades health insurance was tied to one's employment as a worker benefit. If you were employed, you and your dependents deserved health care. In the 1980s, as health care costs began to climb, employers required employees to contribute to a share of the costs. Health insurance was restricted to full-time employees and additional charges were added for dependents. By the 1990's, most workers were contributing to a significant percentage of the monthly premiums. And now many employers offer health insurance options that are a shadow of what this benefit used to be.
Group Coverage
One way to reduce insurance costs is to spread the risk (or cost) for the few people who face a catastrophic illness across a larger group, yet more and more workers are no longer traditional employees. I'm a self-employed flight instructor. My wife is a contractor for the US federal government. We applied for individual health insurance only to find my wife was denied due to a medical history that included pneumonia. So our solution was to form a partnership and apply for group health insurance because under California law, group health insurance cannot deny coverage based on a pre-existing condition. We pay a higher rate than we would for an individual plan, but - as mentioned earlier - at least we have coverage.
What's Next
As many aging baby-boomers are discovering, we must hold out through at least two more cost increases at ages 60 and 65. Not-so-subtle ageism in a very difficult job market makes the prospect of being unable to afford any coverage an all-too-possible reality. In just over a decade my wife and I will be eligible for medicare, if such a thing still exists by then. In the mean time, we watch our diet, exercise regularly, do our best to maintain our individual health, and hope that we don't fall victim to any serious illness. For the time being, the market-driven approach to providing health care is king and woe unto him or her who cannot compete in the health care market because it's everyone for themselves. American society can't seem to afford to care.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Rohloff Conversion
After putting about 1000 miles on my Stop Cycles Proletariat, I found myself really liking the Gates belt-drive but feeling a bit frustrated with the Alfine 8-speed internally geared hub. One issue was the Alfine was not as low-maintenance as I had hoped. I found myself having to re-lube the hub's internals every 300 - 400 miles (about once a month). Another issue was the feeling that if I pushed the Alfine too hard, it was going to let me down. Odd noises, occasional missed shifts and too few gears were also weighing on me. So I decided to investigate converting to a Rohloff Speedhub. Lucky for me, the sole US service partner for Rohloff, CycleMonkey/East Bay Bicycle Workshop (EBBW), is only a mile or so from my house. I visited their blog, saw the various bikes they've built or converted to the Rohloff and the Gates belt drive system, and knew I'd found the right guys. After an email exchange with Neil, the shop's owner, we had a plan in place.
EBBW would build the Rohloff SpeedHub using a Velocity Dyad rim. The interesting part? With any internally-geared hub, the hub axle must be anchored to the frame to prevent it from turning. This can be done with a custom frame drop-out or a torque arm, but Neil's shop has another way for frames equipped with disc-brakes: The MonkeyBone. Turns out this solution works fine with the my Proletariat, but the rear disc diameter was reduced for 206mm to 160mm. Fine by me as the larger discs seem more susceptible to being knocked out of true in everyday use.
The Rohloff design philosophy differs significantly from the Shimano approach. For example, the Alfine cable connection, while lightweight, is ... well, flimsy. To my mind the single shift cable design contributes to much of the Alfine's missed shifts because there's a single cable acting against a spring. Rohloff on the other hand, uses a two cable design that provides positive shifting action. It's a bit heavier, but not as heavy as the doubt you feel when you're not sure if your hub will shift at a critical moment, threading your way through heavy traffic in downtown Oakland.
The Rohloff has 14 speeds, which is a big advantage over the 8 speed Alfine. Many times I found myself pedaling into a stiff headwind with the Alfine, shifting down, but finding I needed a gear in between what I had. With the Shimano you have two choices: Man (or Woman) up and go for the taller gear or slow down and accept the shorter gear. With the Rohloff, there seems to be a gear for every occasion.
About the only complaint with the Rohloff Speedhub, and it is a valid concern, is that it's expensive. A Speedhub will run you five to six times what you'd pay for a Alfine 8 and about three times the cost of an Alfine 11. Why would you want to pay that much? After you ride the Rohloff, I'll wager that you'll appreciate their solidly designed product is worth the extra expense and never want to go back.
What's so special about the Rohloff? It's hard to describe but easy to understand once you experienced the Rohloff in action. First, the Rohloff just feels bulletproof. Want to push it hard? Do you have quadriceps as big as Iowa hams that can generate lots of torque? Like to stand in the pedals up steep hills? Relax. The Rohloff appears to be able to handle whatever the rider can dish out. Missed shifts are a thing of the past as long as you slightly reduce pedal force right before shifting.
The Rohloff makes some noise, especially in 7th gear and lower (when the planetary gears come into play), but it's normal. When the Alfine makes noise, it seems abnormal and you get the feeling you're doing damage or something isn't right. In 8th gear and higher, the Rohloff is basically silent, especially with a Gates belt drive system.
The bottom line is the Rohloff costs more, but it is utterly reliable. Their motto is "No Slogans, Just Facts." And the fact is that Rohloff is the best internally-geared hub out there.
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| The MonkeyBone replaces the ISO disc brake adapter and engages the Rohloff axle plate. |
EBBW would build the Rohloff SpeedHub using a Velocity Dyad rim. The interesting part? With any internally-geared hub, the hub axle must be anchored to the frame to prevent it from turning. This can be done with a custom frame drop-out or a torque arm, but Neil's shop has another way for frames equipped with disc-brakes: The MonkeyBone. Turns out this solution works fine with the my Proletariat, but the rear disc diameter was reduced for 206mm to 160mm. Fine by me as the larger discs seem more susceptible to being knocked out of true in everyday use.
The Rohloff design philosophy differs significantly from the Shimano approach. For example, the Alfine cable connection, while lightweight, is ... well, flimsy. To my mind the single shift cable design contributes to much of the Alfine's missed shifts because there's a single cable acting against a spring. Rohloff on the other hand, uses a two cable design that provides positive shifting action. It's a bit heavier, but not as heavy as the doubt you feel when you're not sure if your hub will shift at a critical moment, threading your way through heavy traffic in downtown Oakland.
The Rohloff has 14 speeds, which is a big advantage over the 8 speed Alfine. Many times I found myself pedaling into a stiff headwind with the Alfine, shifting down, but finding I needed a gear in between what I had. With the Shimano you have two choices: Man (or Woman) up and go for the taller gear or slow down and accept the shorter gear. With the Rohloff, there seems to be a gear for every occasion.
About the only complaint with the Rohloff Speedhub, and it is a valid concern, is that it's expensive. A Speedhub will run you five to six times what you'd pay for a Alfine 8 and about three times the cost of an Alfine 11. Why would you want to pay that much? After you ride the Rohloff, I'll wager that you'll appreciate their solidly designed product is worth the extra expense and never want to go back.
What's so special about the Rohloff? It's hard to describe but easy to understand once you experienced the Rohloff in action. First, the Rohloff just feels bulletproof. Want to push it hard? Do you have quadriceps as big as Iowa hams that can generate lots of torque? Like to stand in the pedals up steep hills? Relax. The Rohloff appears to be able to handle whatever the rider can dish out. Missed shifts are a thing of the past as long as you slightly reduce pedal force right before shifting.
The Rohloff makes some noise, especially in 7th gear and lower (when the planetary gears come into play), but it's normal. When the Alfine makes noise, it seems abnormal and you get the feeling you're doing damage or something isn't right. In 8th gear and higher, the Rohloff is basically silent, especially with a Gates belt drive system.
The bottom line is the Rohloff costs more, but it is utterly reliable. Their motto is "No Slogans, Just Facts." And the fact is that Rohloff is the best internally-geared hub out there.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Affording to Care
Growing up in rural Kansas during the Great Depression, my dad recalled how his father sat him down at the dinner table and explained that the passage of the Social Security Act of 1935 was the beginning of the end: The government had assigned everyone a number! I assume this was key to dad coming to believe that no one needs a handout or a leg-up. We couldn't have been more different, my dad and me. And when it came to health care or any other social assistance program, my father's views and mine seem emblematic of a divided America. On one hand distrustful of governmental intervention and on the other, longing for an equitable way to provide care and sustenance to those in need.
As a young man, dad went on to enlist in the army and survive World War II. Emergency surgery in an army field hospital in New Caledonia for a burst appendix nearly killed him, but he was tough. He chain-smoked and drank his way through life, never exercised, remained a staunch conservative, and lived from one pack of cigarettes to the next, for that next drink, and no further. He didn't plan ahead and later in life had no retirement savings nor any property of significance. Dad's day-to-day living expenses were met through an occasional check from my brother or me and his Social Security benefits, one of the very government programs that had been the focus of his conservative ire. For health care dad relied on government-provided health care; the doctors and staff at the local VA Hospital. This produced less cognitive dissonance for dad because as a veteran, he had earned those benefits.
All those years dad clung to the conservative belief of individual responsibility without ever realizing the irony of his situation. The bleeding heart liberals he derided had actually saved his bacon later in life. This was lost on dad because he never understood there is individual responsibility and then there's the Myth of Individual Responsibility. Admitting you've made a mistake, leaving a note on the parked car you just scratched, apologizing when you've wronged someone are all examples of individual responsibility. The Myth of Individual Responsibility is something altogether different, a simplistic way of looking at the world that says you're responsible to no one but yourself and maybe your loved ones: A friend in need is no friend of mine.
Even with the Supreme Court upholding most of the Affordable Care Act, distrust of government-run social programs lives on. Most Americans want to keep the core benefits of the ACA - protecting those with pre-existing conditions, allowing children to stay on their parent's policy until age 26, to name a few - but they seem afraid of health care rationing and unfounded rhetoric about death panels. Or perhaps they just don't like the man they see standing behind the landmark legislation - President Barak Obama.
How easy it is to influence the average American. Say something over and over again, and it becomes truth even in the face of evidence to the contrary. Visitors from other countries are puzzled by the popular rage against the ACA. As one tourist from the UK said to me, "Why would a country want its citizens, its very lifeblood, to not be healthy and educated? How else can a nation compete in a global economy?" Why indeed.
Dad passed away nearly two years ago, but the deep divide over many issues remains in America. And the debate over the ACA is far from over. Will we be able to look beyond the next election, take the long view, plan for the future, and realize that we're all stronger when we pull together? Or will we live day-to-day, minute-by-minute, worrying only about our own individual interests? Time will tell, but our nation's well-being may hang in the balance.
As a young man, dad went on to enlist in the army and survive World War II. Emergency surgery in an army field hospital in New Caledonia for a burst appendix nearly killed him, but he was tough. He chain-smoked and drank his way through life, never exercised, remained a staunch conservative, and lived from one pack of cigarettes to the next, for that next drink, and no further. He didn't plan ahead and later in life had no retirement savings nor any property of significance. Dad's day-to-day living expenses were met through an occasional check from my brother or me and his Social Security benefits, one of the very government programs that had been the focus of his conservative ire. For health care dad relied on government-provided health care; the doctors and staff at the local VA Hospital. This produced less cognitive dissonance for dad because as a veteran, he had earned those benefits.
All those years dad clung to the conservative belief of individual responsibility without ever realizing the irony of his situation. The bleeding heart liberals he derided had actually saved his bacon later in life. This was lost on dad because he never understood there is individual responsibility and then there's the Myth of Individual Responsibility. Admitting you've made a mistake, leaving a note on the parked car you just scratched, apologizing when you've wronged someone are all examples of individual responsibility. The Myth of Individual Responsibility is something altogether different, a simplistic way of looking at the world that says you're responsible to no one but yourself and maybe your loved ones: A friend in need is no friend of mine.
Even with the Supreme Court upholding most of the Affordable Care Act, distrust of government-run social programs lives on. Most Americans want to keep the core benefits of the ACA - protecting those with pre-existing conditions, allowing children to stay on their parent's policy until age 26, to name a few - but they seem afraid of health care rationing and unfounded rhetoric about death panels. Or perhaps they just don't like the man they see standing behind the landmark legislation - President Barak Obama.
How easy it is to influence the average American. Say something over and over again, and it becomes truth even in the face of evidence to the contrary. Visitors from other countries are puzzled by the popular rage against the ACA. As one tourist from the UK said to me, "Why would a country want its citizens, its very lifeblood, to not be healthy and educated? How else can a nation compete in a global economy?" Why indeed.
Dad passed away nearly two years ago, but the deep divide over many issues remains in America. And the debate over the ACA is far from over. Will we be able to look beyond the next election, take the long view, plan for the future, and realize that we're all stronger when we pull together? Or will we live day-to-day, minute-by-minute, worrying only about our own individual interests? Time will tell, but our nation's well-being may hang in the balance.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Driving the Fiat 500
Faced with an unexpected trip south, I did something I seldom do; I flew there myself in a borrowed aircraft and that meant renting a car. Now depending on who you talk to I'm frugal and environmentally conscious or just a cheap bastard; I arranged for a subcompact car. The rental car representative was set to put us in some sort of Toyota or Nissan, but I spied with my little eye a cute Fiat right in front. We asked if it was available, it was, and soon we were on the road to our hotel, having a bit more fun than we bargained for.
Think Small
Americans' ability to embrace smaller, more fuel efficient cars (not to mention public transit) seems to be directly proportional to the cost of fuel. The popular attraction of small cars may be cyclical, but there is a growing segment of the US population that embraces pint-sized vehicles on principal. Make no mistake, the Fiat 500, or Cinquecentos, is a small car inspired by the original model produced from the late 1950s until the late 1970s.
Rear sear room and headroom are two common litmus tests for US car buyers, despite the safe wager that most US cars are seldom carrying more than the driver and one passenger. Still, many consumers may shy away from the Cinquecentos for this very reason. We loaded up ours with three people (including the driver) and a two suitcases for a tolerable, 15 minute trip. That experience made it clear that the Fiat 500 is mostly a one- or two- person car.
Ever been in one of those parking lots that is just a bit too tight to be comfortable and wondered what kind of car could negotiate such small spaces? The Cinquecentos is that car with its 90.6 inch wheelbase and 30.6 foot turning radius. Even the narrowest roads and tightest parking slots can be negotiated with aplomb. The Cinquecentos can't compete with the Prius or Insight on fuel economy, but at 30 MPG city and 38 MPG highway, this car is no slouch.
Driving Experience
Entry and exit from the front seats is simple if you're under 6 feet tall, but clambering in and out of the rear seat is challenging for most people over 6 years of age. Once in the driver's seat, the ergonomics are good even if the steering column doesn't telescope. Visibility is very good, save the rear blindspot. A convex mirror applied to the driver's side-view mirror would be a good idea.
Pulling away from a stop reveals two things - the small engine (hey, that's where the fuel economy originates, right?) and the slightly herky-jerky, automatic transmission. The shift points seem okay, it's just that the shifts between first and second are a bit bone-jarring. You can opt to shift manually and with some practice you might do a better job. Selecting sport mode only makes things more vigorous so unless you are a die-hard G junkie, you'll probably want to avoid it.
The steering is nimble and though I didn't do anything as scientific as a skid pad test, I did find the Fiat handled nicely around town. On the highway the ride is surprisingly smooth and relatively quiet, but the steering at higher speeds is a bit twitchy.
Driver Amenities
The controls, knobs and buttons are not as cheap or flimsy as I had read in the press. I did find the driver's display a bit confusing, with the speedometer and tachometer arranged in a concentric fashion. There are no extraneous labels and no differentiating colors to distinguish these two instruments.
The sound system has a nice design, including a USB charging adapter in the glove box, bluetooth integration, and voice recognition. The voice recognition system was one of the simpler ones I've used and I only had to consult the driver's manual to get the bluetooth code for pairing my iPhone. The rest, I figured out by trial and error without much error which is always the sign of a good user interface.
All in all, I found the Cinquecentos to be an engaging, fun car. The Cinquecentos offers good fuel economy, nice extras for the driver, and a reasonable sticker price. Don't scoff because your next car just might be a Fiat.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Urban Attack Vehicle: Belt-Drive Proletariat
I acquired my full-size belt-drive bike before my belt-drive Bike Friday Future Tikit and am therefore doing these reviews out of order, but there you go ...
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| Stop Cycles Proletariat with Gates Carbon Drive |
Web research led me to Joe Bike, a brief and enlightening email exchange with store owner Joe Doebele, and shortly thereafter I took the plunge. The Stop Cycles Proletariat with an eight-speed Shimano Alfine hub and the Gates Carbon Drive belt system arrived via UPS within a couple of days and soon I had it assembled with my pedals of choice - Crank Brothers Egg Beaters.
Since receiving the Prole last October, I've added an Axiom Streamliner Disc rear rack and SKS P45 fenders. The rear rack lets me use the Ortleib Downtown pannier as my flight bag, holding my headset, iPad, and other essentials. While I wish the bag had more compartments, it is waterproof, quickly attaches/detaches from the rack, and has a nice shoulder strap. As for the fenders, some folks have complained than SKS P45 can't be installed on bikes with disc brakes. Some bending is required, but I beg to differ.
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| Front fender stays need some trimming and bending ... |
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| Some creative bending of fender stays required to clear the caliper ... |
These additions, combined with the beefy tires and excellent frame, make the Prole an ideal urban attack vehicle for the streets of the East Bay. Potholes, broken pavement, detritus in the bike lane? Fugetaboutit!
Having logged around 600 miles, I finally went for a ride with my wife and noticed something odd. Pedaling more slowly and lightly that I usually did, the Alfine hub was making weird sounds. If I pedaled harder (the way I normal would while commuting), the sounds went away. More web research led me to the very thorough hubstripping.com site and revealed such sounds are commonly reported by Alfine 8 owners. There are two approaches: Assume the sounds are normal and ignore them or give the Alfine 8 hub internals an oil bath. Shimano even has an oil made expressly for this purpose that runs between $80 and $120 per liter!
Some enterprising bike mechanics noted that Shimano's secret sauce bears a remarkable similarity to plain ol' synthetic automatic transmission fluid. Many Alfine 8 owners report that soaking the Alfine 8 internals in synthetic ATF every 800 to 1000 miles makes the funny sounds and occasional shifting hiccups disappear, so I decided to give it a try. After removing the rear wheel, this was the disassembly sequence. Don't try this procedure yourself unless you have the requisite skills and tools. If you do something dumb or break something, you were warned and don't blame me.
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| Removing my brake rotor required a spline tool, yours may be different. |
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| Loosening the retaining nut to remove the rotor. |
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| Removing cone bearing - requires 16mm cone and 18mm open end wrench |
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| After turning wheel over to the drive side, removing C-clip (expansion pliers make this A LOT easier). |
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| Removing the Gates belt cog. |
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| Prying off the dust cover. |
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| Loosening the case on the drive side with a strap wrench - LEFT-HAND (clockwise to loosen) THREAD! |
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| Carefully opening the drive side |
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| In a CLEAN working environment, carefully remove the innards. |
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| Sloshing/soaking for a few minutes in synthetic ATF (modified soda bottle works nicely). |
I did not do any disassembly of the internals of the Alfine 8 - I just sloshed and soaked for a few minutes, allowed the excess fluid to drain, then greased the bearing races and reassembled. My results with the ATF bath have been quite good: Shifting was noticeably smoother and the odd noises disappeared. Having ridden 50 miles since this service the shifting is still buttery smooth and the hub is still quiet. Time will tell, but it appears my Alfine 8 is good to go for another at least 800 to 1000 miles.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Future Tikit: Ride Report
Before putting my Bike Friday Future Tikit to the test on the mean streets of Oakland and the politically-correct (but just as mean) streets of Berkeley, a shake-down ride was in order. Sunday provided an opportunity for a short, but thorough test that uncovered some good things, some not-so-good.
Cruising along it's easy to forget the Future Tikit is a folding bike with smallish, 16" wheels. It feels much more stable than the Brompton I owned for many years and even the Dahon with 20" wheels that I've test ridden. Climbing hills and standing in the pedals reminds you the Tikit's wheels are small, but you can stand in the pedals and climb hills. For stability and rideability, the Tikit is hands down the best folding bike I've tried.
The Tikit's Nexus 8-speed internal hub is quiet, smooth, and simple. The only change in riding style is that you need to slightly reduce pedal force while shifting. Unlike a derailleur system, if you have to stop unexpectedly with the Nexus you can downshift (or upshift for that matter) while stopped.
Instead of the more expensive Gates Carbon belt drive system that is installed on my Stop Cycles Proletariat, the Future Tikit uses the CDRIVE made by a division of Delta Cycle Corporation. CDRIVE is less expensive because the front and rear sprockets are precision molded plastic rather than machined aluminum. The CDrive is not suitable for mountain biking applications and it stands to reason that plastic components are not as durable as aluminum when it comes to stump-jumping and abrasion from mud. Plastic components may give some cyclists pause, but for a commuter bike all I can say is so far so good.
I'm 5' 11", 32" inseam, and 34" sleeve so I ordered the large frame size Tikit. After a short five mile ride, it was clear a longer handlebar stem was needed to get some weight off my wrists and get my lower back more engaged. While Bike Friday's manufacturer says that handlebar stem replacement/adjustment is covered under warranty, I was hesitant to get into it with them after the schrader versus presta fiasco. By the way, I've not heard a single word from the company since I received my bike. So I did a quick trip to REI and had a new, longer stem for $20 that same day. And the results were immediately noticeable.
The only thing good thing I can say about the Bike Friday minimalist foam handlebar grips is that they are lightweight. For my purposes, they are worthless and while I was at REI, I procured a pair of Ergon GP1 grips. I had installed Ergons on my old Brompton and found them a great addition. The Future Tikit has a Shimano Nexus grip shift so some modification of the right Ergon grip was required. I already had experience trimming Ergons when I installed them on my Brompton. The best tool for the job? A PVC pipe cutter!
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| Before Cutting ... |
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| Cut wisely, Grasshopper! |
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| Viola! |
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| Ergon installed |
Bike Friday makes a folding rear rack for the Tikit that provides the ground clearance to carry a full-size pannier. The rack folds ingeniously and doesn't interfere with folding the bike. I've been using the Ortlieb Downtown 2 as my flight bag and while it's not ideal, it holds my iPad, my headset, and various supplies. It's also waterproof and it quickly snaps onto the Axion rack on my full-size Proletariat bike. Unfortunately, the Ortlieb bag bottom clip doesn't engage with the Tikit's folding rear rack. For now, I carry a bungee cord to secure the bottom of the bag to the rack, though there may be a better solution for the long-term.
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| Inelegant, but workable |
Yesterday provided the ideal opportunity to integrate the Tikit into my work day. I was scheduled to teach at the Oakland Airport from 2pm to 4:30pm, but then needed to be at the Livermore Airport to teach at 4:30pm. Even if I pushed the lesson in Livermore to 5pm, there was no way I could make it in time through rush-hour traffic. The solution:
- Ride Tikit to the nearby North Berkeley BART station
- Ride BART to the Fruitvale Station
- Ride Tikit from Fruitvale to the Oakland Airport
- Load Tikit into the Piper Arrow for the first flight lesson
- Have first student drop me at the Livermore Airport
- Store Tikit in my second student's car
- Teach the second flight lesson
- Have second student drop me at the nearby BART station
- Take BART back to Berkeley
- Ride Tikit home
My first flight was in a Piper Arrow and while I could have gotten the Tikit into the baggage compartment, it would have required lowering the seat. Instead, I chose to secure the Tikit onto the back seat using the aircraft's seat belts.
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