How many mpg do you get

[fuyume]

I guess they've never been to NYC. If you're following more than about 1 second behind invaribly someone gets in between you and the vehicle you're following.

This made me laugh. :D I'm originally from College Point. If you leave a gap, someone will fill it.

 

[jtr1962]

This made me laugh. :D I'm originally from College Point. If you leave a gap, someone will fill it.

I live about 3 miles from College Point. Very familiar with the area, and also people's driving habits. They're gotten worse since you left.

 

[fuyume]

I live about 3 miles from College Point. Very familiar with the area, and also people's driving habits. They're gotten worse since you left.

I'd make a bad joke about all the Asian drivers now in College Point and Flushing, but I'm Asian myself. LOL!

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

DWA, it's a real thing.

 

[jtr1962]

I'd make a bad joke about all the Asian drivers now in College Point and Flushing, but I'm Asian myself. LOL!

Years ago an Asian friend/coworker said something along those lines. I forgot exactly what she said but she didn't think too highly of most Asian drivers. She was actually a decent driver despite just learning to drive.

Honestly from what I see when riding NYC is equal opportunity when it comes to bad drivers. It seems like at least 75% here couldn't drive their way out of a paper bag. I always assume everyone around me will do the dumbest thing at the worst possible time. NYC drivers have managed to never disappoint me.

 

[Monocrom]

The last time I nearly got run over, crossing the street to get to my building.... Asian driver with a full beard in a late model, silver Mazda CX-5. The idiot acted like it was no big deal.

 

[Schokokeks]

I don't want to say anything uncouth, but boy...If you guys think Asians are bad drivers...

I'll let you use your imagination, but I think my absolute favorite driving demographic had a typical maneuver I saw CONSTANTLY in Milwaukee;
Pull out slowly from a parking lot, creeping into traffic...cutting of two lanes of travel on your side of the road. Keep creeping forward, in order to make a left hand turns into the other lane. They always had this look of absolute confusion at the people honking in the lanes they blocked.

EVERY SINGLE TIME, there would also be an exit from the same lot, maybe an aisle over, with a stoplight.

I never figured out why it was all a single demographic, but it was hilarious, it was so ridiculous.

I noticed amount of cylinders does not always translates to more miles, I had an old 4 cyl 2.5L, chevy celebrity, then I got an oldsmobille with a 3.8L v6, i had better highway mileage with v6 than 4cyl. at 60mph my chevy ran at 2500rpm, while my v6 was at 1500rpm. in the city it was same story, I had to press harder, and spin L4 faster than my v6. My chevy had a 3 speed automatic, oldsmobille had a 4speed auto with overdrive,

Jeep Wranglers famously got worse gas mileage with their 4 cylinder engine, versus their 6 cylinder.
But, those are also extremely heavy vehicles, and the mileage is terrible either way, haha.

And yeah, until recently, automatic transmissions had an embarrassingly low amount of gears. Many, now, have 8 gears to eek out better mileage.

Interestingly, though, it's LESS the RPM, and more the throttle that determines the mileage (especially for modern, fuel injected cars using OBDII). They TEND to be related, but not always (which is especially apparent with a manual transmission). This is why downshifting to go up a hill uses less gas than sinking the throttle in while in too high of a gear.
Accelerating can be a similar situation; you can often spin the engine faster, keeping within a powerband of a smaller engine while actually being fairly light on the throttle.

If you ever bicycle around, you get a feel for how that works. You can often spin your crank at a high cadence, but with low effort, versus GRINDING your crank slowly while giving it the beans.

 

[alpg88]

And yeah, until recently, automatic transmissions had an embarrassingly low amount of gears. Many, now, have 8 gears to eek out better mileage.

My current 2025 pilot has 3.5L engine, 10 speed transmission, and it still has worst fuel milage than my Oldsmobile with its 3.8L and 4 speed tranny. keep in mind, 3.8L had 2 valves per cylinder, no variable phases.

 

[jtr1962]

If you ever bicycle around, you get a feel for how that works. You can often spin your crank at a high cadence, but with low effort, versus GRINDING your crank slowly while giving it the beans.

Yep. I still laugh at the people either accelerating or going up a hill in a high gear. All they're doing is straining their muscles. I love going through the gears while starting out. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, and then maybe 9 or 10, depending upon how fast I'm able to cruise. All in the span of 4 to 6 seconds. I keep it on the smaller 42T chainring the entire time while doing this. I rarely use the 53T chainring. That's my so-called supercruise gear only when I'm able to do about 35 mph or more. When I was in my 20s I could accelerate pretty rapidly going through the gears. 0 to 20 mph in about 4 seconds and change. 0 to 30 mph in about 10 or 11 seconds.

 

[Schokokeks]

My current 2025 pilot has 3.5L engine, 10 speed transmission, and it still has worst fuel milage than my Oldsmobile with its 3.8L and 4 speed tranny. keep in mind, 3.8L had 2 valves per cylinder, no variable phases.

Depending on the model, that Pilot is over 2 tons. New cars have gotten to be HUGE. I'm often shocked at how much their weigh.

Yep. I still laugh at the people either accelerating or going up a hill in a high gear. All they're doing is straining their muscles. I love going through the gears while starting out. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, and then maybe 9 or 10, depending upon how fast I'm able to cruise. All in the span of 4 to 6 seconds. I keep it on the smaller 42T chainring the entire time while doing this. I rarely use the 53T chainring. That's my so-called supercruise gear only when I'm able to do about 35 mph or more. When I was in my 20s I could accelerate pretty rapidly going through the gears. 0 to 20 mph in about 4 seconds and change. 0 to 30 mph in about 10 or 11 seconds.

I've got a 1x11, so my full range is decent, but the steps between can be a bit rough, so it's CRAZY when I see people struggling to get up hill with multiples of my gearing. It's like, "You should be SMOOTHLY sailing up this hill!" I only have a 32T up front, haha. I do have a 42T out back. My brother has a 1x12, and he's got one of those 54T? rear gears.

If the person is friendly enough, I've explained "spin to win" to them. It's kind of shocking how many people ride a bicycle who don't have even a basic understanding of how shifting work, let alone an intermediate or advanced understanding.
I remember messing around with gears as a kid, and then it was like a super power once I figured out how it worked, haha.
I have a friend who cycles, and he REFUSES to even try downshifting and maintaining a faster cadence. He'll absolutely stall out trying to grind his way up a hill. He always insists "it works just fine," while he's falling over, gasping for air, and I'm zipping around in circles, trying to show him how easy it is.

Of course, he keeps saying he wants an e-bike...because hills are such a pain -_-

 

[alpg88]

I ride bike myself and see others ride, at least half the people have the seat adjusted wrong, they are destroying their knees, it is harder to pedal at a wrong seat height, no wonder they "under perform". I set the height so on a down stoke my leg is almost straight, it is much easier to pedal that way, and safer for knees. But when I stop, my legs can not touch the pavement, not both at the same time, so I installed a dropper, as I slow down to stop, i press a lever on the bars, and seat drops like ~6 in, then as I start moving I stand up press same lever, and seat goes up fully, to a comfortable position to pedal. It works the same way as office chair strut works.

 

[jtr1962]

Regarding your legs not touching the pavement at the same time, this is why I more or less avoid full stops. If there's a red signal ahead with too much traffic to safely pass I simply drop to walking speed a block or so away, and then just creep up to it so the signal changes before I arrive at the intersection. Or alternatively I make a right turn. You can almost always safely turn right on red on a bike, even in NYC.

 

[Schokokeks]

Luckily, when I got my bike, the shop I bought it at includes a professional fitting as part of their assembly of anything they sell (which is why I often recommend bike shops to people with more modest budgets, even). That was AMAZING.
Through our conversation, he adjusted some stuff to better reflect my riding preferences and physical characteristics. It's so comfortable...for an XL framed 29'er plus bike, hahah.

But also, you usually "dismount" the saddle at stops, and then have your feet on the ground, with the top tube between your legs. I've definitely seen the people who thought they needed to touch the ground FROM the saddle, though, haha. I cannot fathom how they don't find that miserable. I notice a LOT of misadjusted saddles when coming up behind people, who are swaying in the saddle to pedal.

Usually, I ride on a multi-use trail, so I have very few stops. If it's a quick "check for oncoming people" stop, I often just balance to a brief stop, and keep moving. About the only real stops I have are to cross some streets, and I like leaning and touching my toes down on a curb, so I can just stay seated, haha.

 

[alpg88]

I'm riding 29er as well, 22 inch frame. I'm 6'4" around 230 today, never used any professional fitting, don't even know what it is, is it adjusting seat height, its front back position? cuz there is nothing else to adjust. I added 6in stem extender, and replaced no lift bars for 4 inch raiser bars, cuz otherwise my head would be lower than my a$$, which would not be a comfortable position to ride. When I went to buy that bike, I asked the guy in the store how can I rase the bars, he said you can not do that on this bike, well he was dead wrong, of course I can and I did. can't imagine that guy provide any "professional" service. lol
I really like the idea of 36er, they seem to get more popular these days, however I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit one in an elevator in my building.

 

[Schokokeks]

Yeah, so that's essentially what the fitting was about. The stem height, the stem length, the bar width, the crank length, the seat height, saddle position, etc. I didn't have to waste any time or money buying and swapping out parts to make my bike fit my body.

Before I even ordered the bike, he measured my body. Nothing super high tech needed (bike fitting has been a thing forever), just some wooden devices with rules on them. He had an adjustable bike that we then transferred the settings onto, so I could get a feel for those, and then we had a conversation about how that felt, how I ride, what kind of problems do I have, etc.

During the conversation, I mentioned I have some hand injuries, so when I picked it up, he mentioned he'd adjusted it so more weight would be on the saddle, and less on my hands, and that was a modest touch that made a huge difference in my overall comfort. He said it would work well for my riding style, too. He was not wrong (he's been running a shop for decades with essentially perfect reviews for a reason).

Meanwhile, I know people who bought bikes without getting a fit, and we spent a good while adjusting and troubleshooting things for them. Some things, like your stem height or handlebar width, are not adjustable once parts have been cut, so future modifications require expensive purchases. Other things, like your crank length require a new crankset. God forbid you didn't get the right size frame... The sad part is, one of the guys got essentially the same bike I have (he has the 27.5" version of my bike), paid about the same (excepting differences between the models), and I got that entire fitting service INCLUDED as part of my assembly.

Moving forward, if I buy another bike, I'm definitely looking for a shop that includes a fit as part of the purchase.

It's a shame they're out of business, but I HAD BEEN saving money for a Waterford frameset. I was going to drive out to the factory in Waterford, WI and get a professional fitting, and then a frame built for myself. Right as I got the money together, they went out of business (this was in June 2023). I found out from a cool old guy that had a GORGEOUS frame by them, that I was talking to on a path. I was devastated. They'd been run by one of the Schwinn's, with a lot of the former employees from Chicago.

My dad has a custom built Schwinn from back when they were in Chicago (my mom went to school with one of the sons), and I really loved the idea of getting one for myself...but I was literally just a year or two late...because I'd been saving for a stainless steel frame, hahaha. Had I just gone Chromoly, and I'd have the sweetest green Waterford anyone would have ever seen :/ Plus, I'd have a few thousand bucks in my pocket, haha.

They were purchased, and are now run by a father and son in Colorado, but...I'm in the Midwest...so....yeah. Not as cool as just driving to just outside Milwaukee.

 

[alpg88]

I've never seen anyone cut stems and bars, it is theoretically possible to cut bars to make them narrower, but even 0 lift bars are curved, and tapered, cutting off ends will leave little to no room for handles and levers. there is only small portion of straight 22mm pipe that is suitable for handles and levers. you may be ok if you only cutting an inch or two on each side, and only on no lift bars, cuz risers have shorter 22mm sections.
Stems you can't cut at all even in theory, you'll just destroy them.
All of those things are replaced, I have several bars laying around somewhere, and few stems, but I would not know I need to change them before I'd put few hundred miles at least.
I guess they do thing differently by you.

I got 2 one is motobecane phantom 29er, used to be 1x10, turned it into a mid drive e bike 1kw. another diamondback overide. 3x8.

 

[Schokokeks]

I dunno, a lot of the new bars are SUPER wide, so for non-tall people, you cut them down (I kept mine at full length). They're often now over 800mm long.

Stems come in different lengths, and you use one based on your physical size. Then, forks are extra long, and you stack the spacers to the right height, and cut the top of the fork to size.

My bike is almost a decade old (chromoly), but...has it been a while since you've built one? Or, maybe mountain bikes are just weird, haha.

Cutting and adjusting these things was pretty standard by the time I bought my most recent bike, which is coming on a decade ago.

 

[bluflaam777]

What's my mpg? Depends on what I'm drinking at the time.

 

[TPA]

My favorite vis-a-vis SUVs is I was watching some young family members playing in their kids' soccer league, and these moms were talking about how they got an SUV because "I didn't want to look like a soccer mom!"
I gazed up the never-ending SEA of SUVs and chuckled.

In the UK, they refer to them as Chelsea Tractors.

I am just a little over a mile from the center of town, with an Amtrak station that will take me directly to NYC, Philadelphia, and DC, if I need to travel outside the area. Amtrak is even building us a new train station right now.

The nearest Amtrak station to my "home" location is 150 miles...and gets ONE train a day in each direction. I'd love to use Amtrak more, but the lack of service here is inexcusable, especially considering how busy and profitable the routes to/from Florida are.

~ Rolling into throttle instead of stomping on it, saves gas.
~ Lifting and coasting (without much loss of speed) into slower areas or Stop Signs, saves gas
~ Gathering extra speed before big hills keeps the car from down shifting going up the hill, that saves gas
~ *cannot recommend this* although if in an area with no one around, just yielding safely at Stop Signs keeps from coming to a complete stop,
that saves ALOT of gas

I drive with the mentality that brakes = converting gasoline to heat. Just planning acceleration / deceleration curves rather than reacting goes a long way.

I also have a neat party trick on a couple of my cars via software which allows me to kick the transmission into neutral with a certain flick of the gas pedal under certain conditions. Putting my foot on the gas pedal again seamlessly puts the car back into gear. It's amazing how many extra MPG I can get that way.

Now, the good news is that hybrid work is here to stay, and it is expanding. First, it makes the hiring process INFINITELY better, plus you get to have both the advantages of in-office AND remote workers. It's truly a win-win. Tons of jobs you'd never expect to have a WFH option might now have 1-2 days remote work.

Eh... my fiancée's job was a WFH job for 8 years prior to the lockdowns. Post-lockdown they converted it to hybrid. In-office 3 days a month. Sounds like a sweet gig, EXCEPT... at home she has a nice setup. 4 large monitors, custom keyboard, nice mouse, ergonomic chair, nice room lighting with controls on the desk, adjustable height desk, etc. Only to be told to go into the office, with just her laptop. Going from 4 screens down to 1 when using 8 different applications simultaneously is a major productivity eraser, same to lack of a 10-key. Office doesn't supply pens or paper in the office either.

Any of the benefits of working in an office are pretty much null for her. No one at the office works in her department, which is based in another state, so no interaction with any of the local staff. She's tried but they're doing completely unrelated work to what she does. People are quite catty about THEIR favourite hot desk being occupied by 'interlopers'. The only positive is the office building is new and has great views.