Bike of Theseus

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
PJ520
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Bike of Theseus

Post by PJ520 »

I've just replaced the original crankset so now about the only componenent on my 'old' Trek 520 that came with the bike when I bought it is the back brake. Even the seatpost clamp is not the original, that stretched and has been replaced by a Campagnolo one so now I can say I have Campy kit on my bike. I suppose there are a lot of people with what you might call a Bike of Theseus. The Ship of Theseus thing is why I put the quotes around 'old': many of the parts are quite new.

The profound philosophical question arises, am I riding a Trek 520 or something else? And the somewhat less philosophical question is it time I bought something new? The 520 is a bit on the heavy side and something like a Moots passes through my musings from time to time but I feel great loyalty to my old tank. What's a chap to do, if anything? I suppose I'll wait until the frame breaks and like a true procrastinator let circumstances make my mind up for me.
You only live once, which is enough if you do it right. - Mae West
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gaz
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by gaz »

High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
PJ520
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by PJ520 »

gaz wrote:Trigger's Broom: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=100783
Ah well. Nothing new under the sun.
You only live once, which is enough if you do it right. - Mae West
reohn2
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by reohn2 »

Pete Jack wrote: Ah well. Nothing new under the sun.


There is on your bike :mrgreen:
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
Sooper8
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by Sooper8 »

Intersting philosophical question.

I don't know the answer.
TonyR
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by TonyR »

Pete Jack wrote:The profound philosophical question arises, am I riding a Trek 520 or something else?


Many of the cells in your body die off and are replaced with new ones every few days, weeks, months or years. Are you the same person you were 10 years ago or someone different?


And the somewhat less philosophical question is it time I bought something new?


N+1 dear boy, N+1 !
mercalia
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by mercalia »

there is a more important question? since I doubt you have any cells left in your body you had when you were say 1 year old, are you still the same person?
PJ520
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by PJ520 »

mercalia wrote:there is a more important question? since I doubt you have any cells left in your body you had when you were say 1 year old, are you still the same person?
Indeed. We're none of us what we used to be. Thank God.
You only live once, which is enough if you do it right. - Mae West
TonyR
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by TonyR »

mercalia wrote:there is a more important question? since I doubt you have any cells left in your body you had when you were say 1 year old, are you still the same person?


If that were true you would definitely not be the same person - you'd be dead. Brain cells do not refresh, they just die off while cardiac cells refresh at less than 1% per annum. The rest though do turn over in periods that range from days to weeks, months or years..
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Mick F
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by Mick F »

Sooper8 wrote:Intersting philosophical question.
I don't know the answer.
Neither do I, but I've been doing a "Grandfather's Axe" with bikes since I first played with spanners.
Mick F. Cornwall
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by [XAP]Bob »

TonyR wrote:
mercalia wrote:there is a more important question? since I doubt you have any cells left in your body you had when you were say 1 year old, are you still the same person?


If that were true you would definitely not be the same person - you'd be dead. Brain cells do not refresh, they just die off while cardiac cells refresh at less than 1% per annum. The rest though do turn over in periods that range from days to weeks, months or years..



1-4% for cardiac tissue - I didn't know that... https://www.mpg.de/7634230/heart-stem-cells

And the hippocampus does continuously add cells to the brain - good for memory building.
But general replacement isn't on the cards...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
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ChrisButch
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by ChrisButch »

Read Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman for a convincing demonstration of the effects of quantum exchange between the bicycle's saddle and the cells of the policeman's bottom. The policeman becomes part bicycle, the bicycle part policeman.

This hypothesis could usefully be tested on Steve Abraham, who spent 51% of every hour in 2015 in the saddle. The effect should be so well marked that it can be measured by conventional instruments.

Apply this to the OP, and it could be argued that sufficient Trek 520 cells had been interchanged with the rider that they could be re-transmitted to successor components. Thus there would always remain, albeit progressively diminished with each component generation, some residual Trek 520 identity to cherish.
Sooper8
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by Sooper8 »

Having studied Philosophy at university , I seem to recall this dilemma in it's various iterations.
The 'answer' when applied to humans, is something to do with memory- although ironically I can't quite remember exactly what was said and by whom after all these years.
TonyR
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by TonyR »

[XAP]Bob wrote:1-4% for cardiac tissue - I didn't know that... https://www.mpg.de/7634230/heart-stem-cells


I think that is a misquote in the article you link and should be 1 - 0.4%. The study from which the numbers derive is. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/324/5923/98.abstract
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gaz
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Re: Bike of Theseus

Post by gaz »

ChrisButch wrote:... Thus there would always remain, albeit progressively diminished with each component generation, some residual Trek 520 identity to cherish.

Not so much the Bike of Theseus as a form of Bicycle Homeopathy :wink: .
High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
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