Ladies and gentlemen: In his usual subtle way, John Schubert modestly suggests that my mind is failing (true) and that I have completely garbled the story of the device he entrusted to me. To wit:
Schubley@aol.com wrote:
>Harvey,
>
>Uh, you misspeak on several counts:
>
>(1) The item I gave you was a Gear Tel, an inclinometer which read out, not
>in percent or degrees of slope, but in what gear you should be in. Just the
>thing for Joe Wirehead to buy for his wife who says she doesn't understand
>gearing. "Oh, this'll make it so easy for you to understand, dear!" The gear
>chart on the Gear Tel readout was a sight to behold. It was a visually
>representation of the 10-speed gearing that was common 35 years ago, and it would be
>enough to make Mrs. Wirehead throw her arms up in despair.
>
>(2) The Gear Tel used a mechanical pendulum, a damping mechanism made from
>fine precision-molded plastic pieces, and a cute little plastic pointer. No
>mere bubble in viscous liquid for this fine product.
>
>(3) 'Twernt Clifford Graves, but rather the late Fred DeLong, whose cast-off
>bicycling doodads outnumbered Graves's 8745 to one, and are therefore less
>likely to have collectable value. Fred customized the Gear Tell you possess by
>putting in it a gear chart for the gearing on his own bike.
>
>I believe this was a 1982 product. Somewhere I think I have the issue of
>Bicycling Magazine with their full page ad. They paid many hundreds extra to get
>silver ink on their ad.
>
>Harvey, please forward this to my friends on classicrendezvous@bikelist.org.
>Alas, since I'm not a list member (it's my last remnant of self-control) I
>can't post.
>
>Later,
>
>John Schubert
>
>
As Penance, I will try to find the darned thing and bring it to Cirque.
Perhaps to be auctioned to the lowest bidder...:-)
harvey sachs
mcLean va