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posted by CoolHand on Thursday October 05 2017, @11:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the pedaling-away dept.

everybody in London is breathing toxic levels of PM2.5 particles. And the fact that the largest sources of PM2.5 particles are tires and brake dust suggests that electrification is at best only a partial answer.

We also have to drive a whole lot less.

Fortunately, London appears to be pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy when it comes to greener transportation, including electric buses to a massive investment in cycle infrastructure, the goal really does appear to be easing gridlock and rethinking how we get from one place to another.

London's cycle superhighways have already shown they can deliver 70% increases in cycling, and now Mayor Sadiq Kahn has announced an entirely new, fourth superhighway bringing segregated lanes to Southeast London for the first time.

Instead of car tire and brake dust, Londoners will be able to inhale healthier bike tire and brake dust.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by martyb on Friday October 06 2017, @01:09AM (3 children)

    by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 06 2017, @01:09AM (#577738) Journal

    Regen seems to let cars slow down as they coast a lot faster than just taking foot off the pedal in an ICE. I've also heard from a few Prius owners about how their original brake pads are like new.

    Heh.

    Reminds me of a GEO Tracker [wikipedia.org] I used to have. Just a 2-door, 2-wheel-drive, canvas-top, barebones, 4-cylinder, standard transmission model. About the only extra it had was a radio.

    Anyway, at something like 95k miles, I started to hear a squeal when I used the brakes. Took it to the shop and sure enough, needed to replace the front brakes. The tech told me that it must have been set up incorrectly at the factory (I'd bought it new) as the rear brakes had barely any wear at all!

    Let that sink in a moment... 95,000 miles on just the front brakes alone!

    How'd I do it? Double-clutch and down-shift whenever I needed to stop. =)

    --
    Wit is intellect, dancing.
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  • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday October 06 2017, @05:31AM (1 child)

    by RS3 (6367) on Friday October 06 2017, @05:31AM (#577823)

    That's quite an achievement, but as an advanced shade-tree mechanic, I'd rather replace brake pads than clutches. I know you said "double-clutch" but it's still got to wear the clutch more than just leaving it in gear, right?

    Disclaimer: I'm writing this from the frame of reference of: a good friend needs me to (help) change the clutch in his wife's Mini-Cooper. Ugh.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by martyb on Friday October 06 2017, @12:44PM

      by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 06 2017, @12:44PM (#577976) Journal

      That's quite an achievement, but as an advanced shade-tree mechanic, I'd rather replace brake pads than clutches. I know you said "double-clutch" but it's still got to wear the clutch more than just leaving it in gear, right?

      You may not have had the benefit of learning to drive under my Dad's instruction... on a World War II era Willys Jeep. He expected we would have trouble learning to use the clutch well, but his tone of voice and look on his face made clear that slipping the clutch or grinding the gears was a... Very Not Good Thing. Let's say I was "motivated" to improve my skills right from the get-go.

      I would rev match to a very close degree so the clutch would only need to [dis]engage and the synchros had almost nothing to do.

      As far as I could tell, I never had a problem with the clutch at all, so I might have been doing something right. =)

      Fun times. It rode like a bicycle as it had a high driving position, stiff suspension, and a short wheelbase. Anything other than straight-ahead and level travel led to much more head motion than a lower-slung conventional vehicle. It only had about 80hp from the inline 4-cylinder engine. I had the rear-wheel drive model, so no off-roading for me. Still, it was lots of fun and I miss the old thing.

      Disclaimer: I'm writing this from the frame of reference of: a good friend needs me to (help) change the clutch in his wife's Mini-Cooper. Ugh.

      Ugh, indeed! That's one small vehicle that's very-much cramped for space. I'd heard by word-of-mouth back when they came out that they had troubles with their clutch — best of luck to ya!

      --
      Wit is intellect, dancing.
  • (Score: 1) by Gertlex on Friday October 06 2017, @06:05AM

    by Gertlex (3966) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 06 2017, @06:05AM (#577838)

    Obviously I am your average automatic-driving American. So I expected I'd encounter a blind spot of mine... and too, manuals are more common in Britain, the location of discussion, which I forgot to consider.