Orlando Transit

[spenser1058]

22 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

I don't think I ever owned a Schwinn. When I was very young, about 7 or so, my older sister had a bike that might have been a Schwinn, but I have no idea. The first bike I ever got was a couple of years or so later and it was a Sears stingray.

Sting Ray was a Schwinn brand name so if it was a Sears version it would have had an alternative name (like a Coldspot refrigerator was a Whirlpool- mostly identical, just a different name.)

Speaking of which, Schwinn sold a Corvette middleweight bike before the Sting Ray. Interesting that GM and Schwinn weren’t constantly in court with each other.

Edited April 2, 2019 by spenser1058

[JFW657]

10 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Sting Ray was a Schwinn brand name so if it was a Sears version it would have had an alternative name (like a Coldspot refrigerator was a Whirlpool- mostly identical, just a different name.)

The term "stingray" is often used generically (as I did) to denote that style of bicycle, similar to the way "Coke" was often used to describe any cola drink. 

Specifically, the Sears brand "stingray" was called "Spyder".

Quote

Speaking of which, Schwinn sold a Corvette middleweight bike before the Sting Ray.

Interesting that GM and Schwinn weren’t constantly in court with each other.

Maybe GM owned Schwinn? 

[spenser1058]

19 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

The term "stingray" is often used generically (as I did) to denote that style of bicycle, similar to the way "Coke" was often used to describe any cola drink. 

Specifically, the Sears brand "stingray" was called "Spyder".

Maybe GM owned Schwinn? 

That’s a good point but if they did I can’t verify it anywhere. Of course, in the early days GM was a mess of companies and investors so anything’s possible.

After all, they owned Frigidaire for a while - send your icebox on the road!

[dcluley98]

I'm not sure about GM owning them, but they probably had a cross-marketing agreement. They also had a bike called a "Corvette" around the time. Schwinn was its own company and went bankrupt in 2001. I only know this because I was a big GT bicycles fan growing up. GT and Schwinn were bought by a private equity firm that destroyed the company and went bankrupt. It was a sad time for GT bikes fans (and I am sure Schwinn fans too).  

I still ride a 2001 GT Zaskar Team LE edition mountain bike most of the time. It is the last version of the frame ever made in the United States, and considered a modern "classic" for mountain bikes. 

The "new" Schwinn and GT bicycles brands are actually Taiwanese company Pacific Cycles manufacturing (who make a TON of current brands of bicycles in low cost facilities and import them to the U.S.).  Pacific Cycles bought the brands during bankruptcy auction/asset sale in 2001. The bikes are still manufactured in Taiwan, but are now an independent division of a Canadian conglomerate, Dorel Industries, that bought the company's controlling interest. 

Brands that fall under this group and are manufactured by the Pacific Cycles Group division include: Schwinn, GT, Pacific, Caloi, Cannondale, Mongoose, IronHorse, Murray, Dyno, and some other lesser known brands.  

Edited April 2, 2019 by dcluley98

[JFW657]

15 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

I'm not sure about GM owning them, but they probably had a cross-marketing agreement. They also had a bike called a "Corvette" around the time. Schwinn was it's own company and went bankrupt in 2001. I only know this because I was a big GT bicycles fan growing up. GT and Schwinn were bought by a private equity firm that destroyed the company and went bankrupt. It was a sad time for GT bikes fans (and I am sure Schwinn fans too).  

I still ride a 2001 GT Zaskar Team LE edition mountain bike most of the time. It is the last version of the frame ever made in the United States, and considered a modern "classic" for mountain bikes. 

The "new" Schwinn and GT bicycles brands are actually Taiwanese company Pacific Cycles manufacturing (who make a TON of current brands of bicycles in low cost facilities and import them to the U.S.).  Pacific Cycles bought the brands during bankruptcy auction/asset sale in 2001. The bikes are still manufactured in Taiwan, but are now an independent division of a Canadian conglomerate, Dorel Industries, that bought the company's controlling interest. 

Brands that full under this group and are manufactured by the Pacific Cycles Group division include: Schwinn, GT, Pacific, Caloi, Cannondale, Mongoose, IronHorse, Murray, Dyno, and some other lesser known brands.  

Yes, these corporate mergers and conglomerations sometimes involve such unrelated companies, to the point of being downright odd...

And there's yer answer, fishbulb.  

[HankStrong]

I was something to be seen on my Huffy BMX bike.

[spenser1058]

1 hour ago, HankStrong said:

I was something to be seen on my Huffy BMX bike.

Woohoo!

[dcluley98]

1 hour ago, HankStrong said:

I was something to be seen on my Huffy BMX bike.

 

[JFW657]

5 hours ago, HankStrong said:

I was something to be seen on my Huffy BMX bike.

When I was around 10 y/o, there was a picture in the Sears catalog of the bicycle pictured below.

I wanted it so bad I almost stared (or longingly gazed) a hole through the page. 

So one day my mom took me over to the local Sears. I don't remember if the purpose of the the trip was to buy me a bike or if she decided to on the spur of the moment. But they had one of the kind in the picture there. I suppose if I had insisted on it, she would've gotten me that one, but I knew it would've been a lot for her to afford with my dad serving overesas in the military, so after she gave me the choice, I chose a much less expensive one that I ended up being perfectly happy with.

[Jernigan]

While SpinWay seems to be a business that specifically partners with hotel to handle bike rentals (though available to the public), it’s my understanding that Uber is about to make a big splash any week now similar to Lime with their Jump bikes 

[dcluley98]

The abandoned Lime bikes were slightly annoying me on my ride tonight. Came across 3 on my "regular" 21 mile loop, and they always seem to be propped up or knocked over in the most annoying spots like a curve or a hill.  

[JFW657]

11 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

The abandoned Lime bikes were slightly annoying me on my ride tonight. Came across 3 on my "regular" 21 mile loop, and they always seem to be propped up or knocked over in the most annoying spots like a curve or a hill.  

Don't worry. Couple more years the technology will be to the point that they'll just pedal themselves back to where they started from.

Don't laugh!!!

 

[dcluley98]

That's actually a really good idea, that I am sure somebody is already working on. If you have seen the Boston Dynamics robot vids lately, surely this is possible in the future, if not the near future. Could have some sort of articulating arm/training wheel type system to upright knocked over bikes and stabilize them and then automated GPS them back to the nearest docking area. 

[JFW657]

55 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

That's actually a really good idea, that I am sure somebody is already working on. If you have seen the Boston Dynamics robot vids lately, surely this is possible in the future, if not the near future. Could have some sort of articulating arm/training wheel type system to upright knocked over bikes and stabilize them and then automated GPS them back to the nearest docking area. 

I've seen those BD videos. Scary!!!

And given that we now have programmable delivery drones, self driving cars, space rockets that come back down and land in the same upright position they blasted off in, just like in those old 60's Hanna Barbera cartoons...

...nothing is really too outlandish to imagine.

[cwetteland]

FYI, a second Falcon Heavy launches this Sunday or Monday.

[HankStrong]

8 hours ago, JFW657 said:

I've seen those BD videos. Scary!!!

And given that we now have programmable delivery drones, self driving cars, space rockets that come back down and land in the same upright position they blasted off in, just like in those old 60's Hanna Barbera cartoons...

 

...nothing is really too outlandish to imagine.

Did you see the Amazon drone blimp that launches drones?  That's inception level stuff right there.

[dcluley98]

I have heard that was an April Fool's joke animated movie. 

[JFW657]

2 hours ago, HankStrong said:

Did you see the Amazon drone blimp that launches drones?  That's inception level stuff right there.

 

18 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

I have heard that was an April Fool's joke animated movie.

Real or not, it's a great concept.

I'm guessing the way it would work is that they'd load up the cargo hold of the blimp with delivery parcels and a few drones that can robotically receive a parcel.  Then, program the blimp to fly from zip code to zip code, hovering over each delivery address where it then launches the drone which flies down, drops off the parcel then flies back up to the blimp which then goes on to the next address.

[dcluley98]

Creative Village/SunRail cross promotion for the opening of the new campus: 

 

[spenser1058]

Charge On!

[HankStrong]

2 hours ago, dcluley98 said:

I have heard that was an April Fool's joke animated movie. 

It was animated, for sure.  Concept or joke, that's not too big of a stretch.

What isn't an April Fool's joke is that if they could make a 2nd line connecting the UCF main campus to downtown it would be insanely cool.

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, dcluley98 said:

Creative Village/SunRail cross promotion for the opening of the new campus: 

And in other news.... counterfeit UCF student ID's have become a hot item recently, with people paying top dollar for them in order to ride Sunrail for free....  

[dcluley98]

Whole lotta transit news today.  Here is another Sentinel article about the Brightline: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-bz-brightline-train-plans-20190403-story.html

 

Virgin founder Richard Branson is slated to ride the rails Thursday to promote its rebranding — part of a broader push to make South Florida a new hub for the travel giant.

Its new cruise line, Virgin Voyages, is due to debut from South Florida in 2020.

The idea is to provide all-in-one offerings to Virgin customers using Virgin trains, planes and ships.

Only bondholders, not taxpayers, would not be on the hook in that event of a default, according to an FDFC spokesman.

“We have a clear line of sight to both covering expenses and debt service and ultimately profitability,” Goddard said at the hearing.

A March 20 Brightline bond prospectus document says the company is prepared to accept another year of losses in 2019.

Edited April 3, 2019 by dcluley98

[HankStrong]

More trains.   Fewer brise soleil installations.  Taller buildings.  Good chicken sandwiches.

 

This is my platform!  Spense, find me an ideal running mate.  I'm jumping in for 2020!

[JFW657]

11 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

More trains.   Fewer brise soleil installations.  Taller buildings.  Good chicken sandwiches.

 

This is my platform!  Spense, find me an ideal running mate.  I'm jumping in for 2020!

 Yaaayyyy!!!!!