why can't you buy bicycle wheels/rims at most "Regular" stores?

promethium

"Regular" stores refer to places like: Costco,Walmart,Target,Kmart,Sports Authority/Gart Sports,and Big5. most of these retailers SELL bicycles,tires,seats,inner-tubes,racks,helmets,lights,water bottles, bicycle locks, but for some reason, not even one of these places sells the actual rim. why not? why do you have to go to some designated bicycle shop (where of course the rims cost $100+ each). I understand that they have to be strong enough to support the rider's weight. and I get the fact that you definitely want a quality set of rims. but bike shops can sometimes be out of the way, in terms of distance from one's residence. why can't rims/wheels be sold in the above retailers?

Answer
The so-called bicycles they sell in discount stores use the CHEAPEST components possibly found. Many times these parts aren't even listed on the suppliers website. Shimano (for example) makes lots of these no-name derailleurs for Wally World bikes.

On top of that...if you buy in HUGE quantities, you get HUGE discounts. Now - who has more pure buying power - a multi-billion dollar company like Wally World - or the local bike shop? That's another reason.

Reason 3...Discount stores don't want to be bothered with selling individual specific parts. Yeah...they sell tubes & crappy tires & lots of other crappy after-market parts. But they're not going to get down to the nitty-gritty of selling individual wheels, shifters, derailleurs, brake calipers, etc. Too much hassle for their feeble-minded, minimum wage "associates" to handle.

Lastly...the parts you get at a REAL bicycle shop are often twice as good, if not ten times better than the original part! I remember the first time I walked into A&M Bicycle shop in St. Louis. It's a small one-man shop. A customer was picking up a repaired bike & asked Karl, "Good as new?" Karl sarcastically replied, "Nope...(long pause)...better. I don't use those crappy parts Wal-Mart installs on bikes from the factory."

Buy a good bicycle from the start & you won't need any replacement parts.
http://www.raleighusa.com/archive/2011-steel-road/sojourn-11/
2011 Raleigh Sojourn - now well over 2,000 miles on the bike. It hasn't spent a single day out of service. NO flat tires - ever. Not one single breakdown. Total maintenance cost so far? Two new tires when the originals wore out - replaced with the same kind, and an eight dollar bottle of chain oil. Cost of the bike? $1,200 + tax. Worth EVERY single penny!!!

7 true or false health questions?

Carpe Diem

1. The most common type of injury in the home involves electric shock.

2. A fire needs three elements to startâfuel, heat, and chemicals.

3. The number one way to stay safe while riding a bicycle is to always wear a bike helmet.

4. A major risk during outside activities is a rain storm

5. Earthquakes happen most often east of the Rocky Mountains.

6.Flash floods are responsible for the majority of flood fatalities.

7. The second step to take in most emergencies is to take action.

Answer
1; false; it is falls
2; false; ignition source, fuel and oxygen to start - replace ignition source with heat for continued burn.
3; false awareness of surroundings, lights, good riding position, are more important.
4; depends on where you are
5; IDK
6: True
7: You have to define what action. The steps I know are 1) Assess situation: 2) Call Emergency Services; 3) Do what they advise until they arrive.

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HOW often should you replace a bicycle helmet???

bicycle helmet how often to replace image

glidefloss

never had any fall impact, but just want to make sure its in good shape if i do. does the foam degrade over time? whats the good rule of thumb for how often you should replace one?

thank you!!!

Answer
if you've fallen on it or dropped it, replace it. otherwise, replace every 3 years.

What is a good project topic?

heybabe

in geography i have to do this project called "the geography of..." and you basically pick any item and find out where it originated and where it diffused to over time. i don't know what to choose! any suggestions will be appreciated!

Answer
The Geography of...

-The Carousel:
A carousel, or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The "seats" are traditionally in the form of rows of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts, many of which are moved up and down via gearwork to simulate galloping, to the accompaniment of looped circus music. Modern carousels in America are generally populated with horses. Carousels in Europe, and in America from earlier periods, frequently include diverse varieties of mounts, like pigs, zebras, mythological creatures (such as dragons, sea monsters or unicorns), and deer, to name a few.

Origin of The Carousel:
The earliest known depiction of a carousel is in a Byzantine bas-relief dating to around 500 A.D., which depicts riders in baskets suspended from a central pole. The word carousel originates from the Italian garosello and Spanish carosella ("little war"), used by crusaders to describe a combat preparation exercise and game played by Turkish and Arabian horsemen in the 1100s. In a sense this early device could be considered a cavalry training mechanism; it prepared and strengthened the riders for actual combat as they wielded their swords at the mock enemies. European Crusaders discovered this device and brought the idea back to their own lands. A carousel was also a training device for the ring-tilt, consisting of wooden horses suspended from arms branching from a center pole. Riders aimed to spear rings situated around the circumference as the carousel was moved by a man, horse, or mule. Carousel was also the term for large "horse ballet" or Musical Ride spectacles mounted as part of the court festivities for special occasions such as royal weddings or state visits from the mid-16th century onwards, which gradually replaced serious jousting, although non-combat competitrions such as the ring-tilt lasted until the 18th century. They were developed in Italy, especially by the Medici Grand-Dukes in Florence, and the first French example was in Paris in 1605. These usually took place in squares or large courtyards, and consisted of elaborately costumed riders and horses (usually from the cavalry) performing choreographed routines such as forming shapes together, riding in lines criss-cross against each other. They often took place at night, with riders carrying torches, and were accompanied by music. From the 17th century large decorated floats with allegorical figures were often included. The Place du Carrousel in Paris was so named from 1662, when it was used for such a display by Louis XIV.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carousel


-The Flashlight:
A flashlight (called a torch outside North America) is a portable electric spotlight that emits light from a small incandescent lightbulb or from one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Typical flashlight designs usually consist of the light source located in a housing containing a parabolic reflector or specially shaped lens to shape the flashlight beam, a transparent window to protect the light source from damage and debris, a power source (typically electric batteries), and an electric power switch. While most flashlights are intended to be hand-held, there are also helmet-mounted flashlights designed for miners and campers and battery-powered lights for bicycles. Some flashlights are powered by hand-cranked dynamos or electromagnetic induction or are recharged by solar power. The name flashlight is used mainly in the United States and Canada. In other English-speaking countries, the more common term is torch or electric torch.

Origin of The Flashlight:
On 10 January 1899, American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company obtained U.S. Patent No. 617,592 (filed 12 March 1898) from David Misell, an inventor. This "electric device" designed by Misell was powered by "D" batteries laid front to back in a paper tube with the light bulb and a rough brass reflector at the end. The company donated some of these devices to the New York City police, who responded favorably to them. These early flashlights ran on zincâcarbon batteries which were incapable of providing a steady source of electric current and needed to be 'rested' periodically to continue functioning. Because these early flashlights also used energy-inefficient carbon-filament bulbs, this occurred at short intervals. Consequently, they could be used only in brief flashes, hence the popular name flashlight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashlight

-The Necktie:
The necktie (or tie) is a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. Variants include the bow tie, ascot tie, bolo tie, and the clip-on tie. The modern necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended from the cravat.

Origin of The Necktie:
The necktie traces back to the time of Thirty Years' War (1618â1648) when Croatian mercenaries from the Military Frontier in French service, wearing their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs, aroused the interest of the Parisians. Due to the slight difference between the Croatian word for Croats, Hrvati, and the French word, Croates, the garment gained the name "Cravat". The new article of clothing started a fashion craze in Europe where both men and women wore pieces of fabric around their necks. In the late seventeenth century, the men wore lace cravats that took a large amount of time and effort to arrange. These cravats were often tied in place by cravat strings, arranged neatly and tied in a bow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necktie

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why can't you buy bicycle wheels/rims at most "Regular" stores?

bicycle helmet how often to replace image

promethium

"Regular" stores refer to places like: Costco,Walmart,Target,Kmart,Sports Authority/Gart Sports,and Big5. most of these retailers SELL bicycles,tires,seats,inner-tubes,racks,helmets,lights,water bottles, bicycle locks, but for some reason, not even one of these places sells the actual rim. why not? why do you have to go to some designated bicycle shop (where of course the rims cost $100+ each). I understand that they have to be strong enough to support the rider's weight. and I get the fact that you definitely want a quality set of rims. but bike shops can sometimes be out of the way, in terms of distance from one's residence. why can't rims/wheels be sold in the above retailers?

Answer
The so-called bicycles they sell in discount stores use the CHEAPEST components possibly found. Many times these parts aren't even listed on the suppliers website. Shimano (for example) makes lots of these no-name derailleurs for Wally World bikes.

On top of that...if you buy in HUGE quantities, you get HUGE discounts. Now - who has more pure buying power - a multi-billion dollar company like Wally World - or the local bike shop? That's another reason.

Reason 3...Discount stores don't want to be bothered with selling individual specific parts. Yeah...they sell tubes & crappy tires & lots of other crappy after-market parts. But they're not going to get down to the nitty-gritty of selling individual wheels, shifters, derailleurs, brake calipers, etc. Too much hassle for their feeble-minded, minimum wage "associates" to handle.

Lastly...the parts you get at a REAL bicycle shop are often twice as good, if not ten times better than the original part! I remember the first time I walked into A&M Bicycle shop in St. Louis. It's a small one-man shop. A customer was picking up a repaired bike & asked Karl, "Good as new?" Karl sarcastically replied, "Nope...(long pause)...better. I don't use those crappy parts Wal-Mart installs on bikes from the factory."

Buy a good bicycle from the start & you won't need any replacement parts.
http://www.raleighusa.com/archive/2011-steel-road/sojourn-11/
2011 Raleigh Sojourn - now well over 2,000 miles on the bike. It hasn't spent a single day out of service. NO flat tires - ever. Not one single breakdown. Total maintenance cost so far? Two new tires when the originals wore out - replaced with the same kind, and an eight dollar bottle of chain oil. Cost of the bike? $1,200 + tax. Worth EVERY single penny!!!

what does the "ace of spades" mean?

lol

Like is it bad to call yourself the ace of spades or is it something nasty or offensive

Answer
ace of spades is the death card. but here is the whole story,"Wikipedia is an absolutely amazing body of knowledge!" â Anon. [Hide this message]

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Ace of Spades
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (July 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

For other uses, see Ace of Spades (disambiguation).

An Ace of Spades playing card.The Ace of Spades is commonly thought of as the highest-ranking card in the deck of playing cards, although the actual value of the card varies from game to game.

Contents [hide]
1 Design
2 War
3 Ace of Spades in Popular Culture
4 References
5 External links



[edit] Design
The ornate design of the Ace of Spades, common in packs today, stems from the 18th Century, when certain duties on playing cards were exacted by the monarchy. Stamp duty, an idea imported to England by William III, was extended to playing cards in 1711; this taxation lasted until 1960.

Over the years a number of methods were used to show that duty had been paid. From 1712 onwards, one of the cards in the pack, usually the Ace of Spades, was marked with a hand stamp. In 1765 hand stamping was replaced by the printing of official Ace of Spades by the Stamp Office, incorporating the royal coat of arms. In 1828 the Duty Ace of Spades (known as 'Old Frizzle') was printed to indicate a reduced duty of a shilling had been paid.

The system was changed again in 1862 when official threepenny duty wrappers were introduced and although the makers were free to use whatever design they wanted, most chose to keep the ornate Ace of Spades that is popular today. The Ace of Spades is thus used to show the card manufacturer's information.


[edit] War
The Ace of Spades has been employed, on numerous occasions, in the theatre of war. In the Second World War, the soldiers of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the American 101st Airborne Division were marked with the spades symbol painted on the sides of their helmets. In this capacity, it was used to represent good luck, due to its fortunate connotations in card playing. All four card suits were used for ease of identification of regiments within the airborne division following the confusion of a large scale combat airborne operation. Battalions within the regiments were denoted with tic marks or dots, marked from top clockwise; Headquarters at the twelve o'clock position, 1st Battalion at the three o'clock, et cetera.

Some twenty years later, the Ace of Spades was again used by American soldiers â this time as a psychological weapon in the Vietnam War. US troops erroneously believed that Vietnamese ancient traditions held the symbolism of the spade to mean death and ill-fortune and in a bid to scare away NLF soldiers without firefight, it was common practice to leave an Ace of Spades on the bodies of killed Vietnamese and even to litter the forested grounds and fields with the card. This custom was erroneously believed to be so effective, that the Bicycle Playing Cards company was asked to supply crates of that single card in bulk. The crates were often marked with "Bicycle Secret Weapon".[1]

Selection from US Army footage 'Operation Baker' showing US soldiers putting 'Ace of Spades' in dead NLF mouths

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



US Army footage from 'Operation Baker' 1967 showing US troops putting Ace of Spades in mouths of dead VietCong/NLF


Problems seeing the videos? See media help.

The Ace of Spades, while not a symbol of superstitious fear to the NLF, did help the morale of American soldiers. It was not unheard of for US soldiers and Marines to stick this card in their helmet band as a sort of anti-peace sign.

More recently, in 2003 a deck of Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards issued to U.S. soldiers during Operation Iraqi Freedom; each card had the picture of a wanted Iraqi official on it. Saddam Hussein got the nickname "Ace of Spades" as his was the face which adorned that card.


[edit] Ace of Spades in Popular Culture
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The heavy metal band Motörhead's has a song called "Ace of Spades" (in the album of the same title).
In Robert Louis Stevenson's story "The Suicide Club" (1878), the Ace of Spades functions as the "sign of death" within a secret society whose members commit "suicide" by submitting to be killed, if they draw the Ace of Spades from a pack of 52 cards during a club meeting, by another member drawing the Ace of Clubs.
In the film Toy Story 2, Mr. Potato Head and Hamm the pig, play a card game composed of Ace of Spades cards. This comes before Woody had a dream that his child owner Andy Davis abandons him for being broken. Woody falls in a vortex full of Aces of Spades, falls through one of the spades, and lands in a trash can under a spade-shaped beam of light.
The Ace of Spades is featured in the end of George Orwell's Animal Farm when Mr. Pilkington and Napoleon the pig play the card against each other during a card game and start to argue.
In the episode Pray Anything of The Simpsons, traffic reporter Arnie Pie claims that local reporter Kent Brockman's soul is as black as the Ace of Spades.
The phrase black as the ace of spades is very commonly used, referring to objects, the sky at night, or a person of African descent with very dark skin. This is the origin of the racial epithet "spade."
Luke Cage considered calling himself "The Ace Of Spades" before choosing "Power Man" after a victorious encounter with Iron Man.
A blood-stained Ace of Spades is a symbol in the 2003 film Shade.
There is also a conservative blog called Ace of Spades HQ
The night Cliff Burton of the band Metallica died, he and Kirk Hammett drew cards to see who slept where. Cliff picked the Ace of Spades, won and chose Hammett's bed and ended up flying through the window when the tour bus hit black ice.[2]
The Ace through Ten of Spades serve as the pattern for several iterations of the DC Comics super-villainous Royal Flush Gang.
In the popular game called "Okonkwo" or "Scat", the ace of spades has been nicknamed as the misfiring gun. The misfiring gun originated from the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
The luxury Champagne brand Armand de Brignac was nicknamed "Ace of Spades" by Jay-Z in his song "Show Me What You Got".
JAKQ Dengeki Tai's Red Ranger is called "Spade Ace".
In the game Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, General Choi Song is represented as the Ace of Spades in the most-wanted deck of 52.
The Character Hot Flashes, in the Wünderland War toy series "the Symptoms" is shown holding out an ace of spades.
In The Book "The Burn Journals", the main character starts a religion where the "Ace of Spades" is God.
In the episode Ballad of Fallen Angels of Cowboy Bebop, while Spike is laying bandaged on the couch of the Bebop and Faye is humming. He makes a comment about her singing off-key and she replies by getting angry, slamming him with a pillow and the deck of cards she was playing solitaire with. He plucks a card off his head to find that it is that Ace of Spades.
Kamen Rider Blade uses the Ace of Spades to transform into his Rider form.
The X Men member Gambit, who's power is supercharging inanimate objects, usually fights using playing cards. The first card he uses from a deck is the Ace of Spades, the last being the Queen of Hearts.
In the game Kane and Lynch, The7, a criminal organisation uses an Ace of Spades with a skull on it as a logo.

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