Kona vs. Specialized???

[Marc]

Few miles further South, Danielson Adventure Sports


The Mastercard was put down for the Kona Should be in for me to pick up when I get back from Florida in a few days

Good, they're good people down there. Silver's selection is limited, and I haven't been a huge fan of the owners since it was last sold. At one point there was some connection between Silver and Sotar's up in Southbridge but I think both were either sold, or somehow broke off dealings at some point. Sotar's is still pretty good but Silver... meh. They're ok if you know what you want.

 

[mondeo]

mouth gaurd comment...

how do you expect to breath wearing one of those? escpecially while getting in shape at the early stages of riding.

i find a full face a bit cramped and stuffy, let alone something actually in my mouth. plus, trail chatter will be pretty funny and mummbly no?

Mouthguards really don't interfere with breathing. [grassi]Never had a problem playing lacrosse with one.[/grassi] Talking is something you have to get used to.

My understanding, though, is their main purpose is is to reduce teeth damage and concussion risk for upward impacts to the lower jaw; basically absorbing the impact of the lower jaw coming into contact with the upper. They really aren't strong enough to absorb blows to the teeth from the front.

 

[drjeff]

mouth gaurd comment...

how do you expect to breath wearing one of those? escpecially while getting in shape at the early stages of riding.

i find a full face a bit cramped and stuffy, let alone something actually in my mouth. plus, trail chatter will be pretty funny and mummbly no?

The mouth guard I'm thinking of is probably WWAAYY different than the 1 you might be thinking of. Much smaller/streamlined than you're typical football/lacrosse/basketball moutguard. Thin, rigid exterior shell lined with about 1/8" of a rubbery gasket like material for retention/shock absorbing purposes. Let's just say that you CAN'T buy one of these types "off the shelf" and I'd be taking an impression of my teeth (think tray full of "goop" like when many of us had braces) and then have one of the labs that I use for dentures for my patients fabricate the mouthguard.

I actually have a demo one in my office that the lab sent me and me, at 225lbs can stand on it and NOT break it! But true, if I'm going over the bars and choose to use my teeth (mouthguard and all) to break my fall, I'm likely shearing off a few of them, and very well breaking my jaw too

 

[Marc]

Do you know what the shell is made from? Polycarbonate? ABS plastic seems to flexible. Acrylic maybe since PC is now aparently dangerous to be in contact with your mouth.

 

[bvibert]

Do you know what the shell is made from? Polycarbonate? ABS plastic seems to flexible. Acrylic maybe since PC is now aparently dangerous to be in contact with your mouth.

Transparent aluminum I believe.

 

[mondeo]

since PC is now aparently dangerous to be in contact with your mouth.

You mean maybe sorta possibly in large doses if you intentionaly leach out a chemical that may be present?

 

[mondeo]

You mean maybe sorta possibly in large doses if you intentionaly leach out a chemical that may be present?

Plus I'd expect it to be rigid but not hard. If it were something like polycarbonate you'd be sacrifycing bottom teeth for top teeth.

Or is it upper and lower jaw?

 

[Marc]

Plus I'd expect it to be rigid but not hard. If it were something like polycarbonate you'd be sacrifycing bottom teeth for top teeth.

Or is it upper and lower jaw?

With a mouthguard with so little material... I think for enough rigidity to hold up Dr. Jeff, a very hard material will be the only way.

 

[mondeo]

With a mouthguard with so little material... I think for enough rigidity to hold up Dr. Jeff, a very hard material will be the only way.

Might be both upper and lower jaws, if you're looking to actually protect your teeth from being knocked out you'd care about the lower jaw as well. That would make the hardness not a concern.

Other option would be to put a thin film of soft material (<1/16th inch) over the hard material to protect the pointy parts of the lower teeth. Or maybe the stiff material is only on the vertical, the part between the teeth is soft.

DrJeff, we nerdy engineers need to know the exact design specs!

 

[drjeff]

Might be both upper and lower jaws, if you're looking to actually protect your teeth from being knocked out you'd care about the lower jaw as well. That would make the hardness not a concern.

Other option would be to put a thin film of soft material (<1/16th inch) over the hard material to protect the pointy parts of the lower teeth. Or maybe the stiff material is only on the vertical, the part between the teeth is soft.

DrJeff, we nerdy engineers need to know the exact design specs!

Nerdy tech stuff on the way

The hard outer shell is a pressure molded/injected, heat cured nylon based thermoplastic acetal resin. Think vaccuum molded fiberglass type stuff here.

Then, the inner "gasket like" soft layer is Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate, which is presure molded to the hard outer shell.

Total thickness of both layers is 3 to 4mm (can be made thicker if desired).

Design wise we're generally just talking protection of the upper teeth, since for most folks, their upper teeth are located infront of their lower teeth and that configuration combined with the fact that most folks chins are located infront of their lower teeth also adds kind of a natural lower tooth protection factor.

Also from a design standpoint, what we want to do with those "pointy" parts of the lower teeth (what we call cusp tips) with respect to the upper guard is have the shape of the upper guard be such that when you bite on it, ALL of the high points of the lower cusps are in contact with the guard at the same time, so, these guards if you set them on a table AREN'T flat since most everyone's jaws will curve in an arc from both back to front and also from left to right (Google Curve of Spee and Curve of Wilson if the "engin-nerd" in 'ya wants a diagram )

Like I said, you can't buy this type of guard off the shelf

 

[Marc]

Yeah, drjeff, you should wear a mouth guard as a dentist if for no other reason than why I, as a fire protection engineer, should have a residential sprinkler system and an over abundance of fully functioning smoke detectors in my house.

 

[bvibert]

I, as a fire protection engineer, should have a residential sprinkler system and an over abundance of fully functioning smoke detectors in my house.

So do you? Because I could see that, probably a redundant system too, just in case...

 

[Marc]

I do have the smoke detectors, no sprinkler system yet. That will go in as the restoration/renovation progresses.

 

[bvibert]

I do have the smoke detectors, no sprinkler system yet. That will go in as the restoration/renovation progresses.

I knew you wouldn't let me down. About how much does a residential sprinkler system cost anyway?

 

[Marc]

I knew you wouldn't let me down. About how much does a residential sprinkler system cost anyway?

Depends greatly on your water supply and if you need a booster pump and or water tank. Also, retrofits tend to be pricey because of the logistics and varies house to house. In new construction on city water with good pressure and volume, quite cheap. They amount to basically a riser with a couple pressure gages, a flow check, shut off and drain valves, and the rest is done typically with CPVC. Easy plumbing.

 

[eatskisleep]

Marc, where did you go to school? I am thinking of getting my Masters in FPE and a Bachelors in CE.

 

[Paul]

I have a Residential Sprinkler System, I drink lots of beer.

 

[HD333]

The Kona I'm looking at is their basic starter hardtail, the Fire Mountain

Based on the t-storm that just rolled across my area, I'm guessing that I'll get to see how both the Kona and the Specialized do in the wet when I go for a test ride on both a little later on today

DRJeff-

What price range are the 2 bikes you looked at in?

We sound similair in what we want to do, I should have read your thead before I started mine asking for advise.

Do you like the Kona?

 

[drjeff]

DRJeff-

What price range are the 2 bikes you looked at in?

We sound similair in what we want to do, I should have read your thead before I started mine asking for advise.

Do you like the Kona?

Both were in the $500-$600 range by the time all the tax was tacked on.

LOVE my Kona AND the service/advice that my Local Bike Shop has given me!

 

[Marc]

Marc, where did you go to school? I am thinking of getting my Masters in FPE and a Bachelors in CE.

Worcester Polytech. If you want an MSFPE, your choices are basically WPI and University of Maryland. If you want to go into the research end of things, UC Berkeley has a good program in their ME department. Feel free to PM me if you want more info.