Yahoo! Answers

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I want a bike. I haven’t owned a bicycle since I lived at home with my parents, and probably haven’t actually ridden one (aside from the stationary model at the gym) in the intervening 18 years since moving out. But now I’ve been bitten by a summertime bicycle bug and I’ve become a wheel-obsessed pedestrian. I admit that I don’t know the first thing about bikes, which is where all of you intrepid Answerers come in.

Most of my former bikes were those BMX-style, gearless dirt bikes that you brake by pedaling in reverse. They might have been perfect for a scrappy 12-year-old with nothing but grass trails behind his house, but probably aren’t the best for tooling around NYC. Obviously, something larger with multiple gears is probably going to better suit my current needs, but that’s where I get stuck. What are the differences between mountain bikes, road bikes, and touring bikes? I’ll be doing most of my riding either around Central Park or on city streets, so what would be the best type for my needs? And what kind of protective gear will I need? Is a helmet enough, or do I need to the full regalia of knee and elbow pads?

Along with choosing the right bicycle for my specific riding needs, I need to choose one that I can store easily. I live in a pretty typical New York apartment, which translates to virtually no space to store a vacuum cleaner, let alone a bike. I don’t have a garage or backyard in which to keep it, nor do I have any available space in the entryway of my building. My only option is to rent a storage unit or to find a place inside the apartment, and that is going to be a bit of a challenge. What are my options regarding hanging a bike from the ceiling or on a wall? Are there any new and novel ways that you inventive cyclists have found to store your wheels in a tight space?

Someone recommended that I check out one of those portable, folding models-but to be honest, they look like more of a pain than they are worth. Granted, I’ve never ridden one, but they don’t seem much easier to ride than my old-school BMX bike. Their portability and size make them the ideal solution for a small space like mine, but would I be compromising performance and durability?

Can anyone help inform my quest for the perfect bicycle? And what safety and maintenance tips can you recommend for a new bike rider/owner?

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The Yahoo! Answers team is excited to announce a small but significant change to the site. As of today, any URLs posted by Level 1 Answers members will not be linked.

It may seem like a trivial change, but it is an important step to limit spam on Answers. The site has used a points and levels system since its inception, which aims to promote activity and trust. By linking URLs only from community members who are Level 2 and above, we reward and protect our core contributors.

The removal of linking applies to any URL that begins with http:// (URLs that begin with www have never been linked, regardless of a user’s level). We understand that removing linking from Level 1 members’ URLs is not a complete or perfect solution, and we also realize that long URLs are being truncated, but we are working on further updates to improve this.

We’ve taken this action in response to clear feedback from the Answers community. Rest assured that this is just one of a number of initiatives we are implementing to limit spam on Answers. We hope it’s a small step toward making Answers a better place. We welcome your feedback on this change.

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Hey everyone,

Yahoo! Answers is experiencing some unexpected down time. We’re currently working hard to fix the problem and apologize for the inconvenience. We appreciate your patience while we work things out.

The Yahoo! Answers Team

If you’re looking for something to do during the downtime, why not try some of these:

• Behold the wonder of Tokyo on Flickr.
• Plan your next holiday with Yahoo! Travel Guides
• Get up to date with all the latest Wimbledon news.
• See what’s on TV tonight.
• Plan a journey on the 2782.67 mile road trip from New York to LA.

See you all on the other side!

– Yahoo! Answers Team

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Hey Guys,

Wimbledon is in full swing (pun unintended), and both the players and their rackets look more imposing than ever. It wasn’t so long ago that tennis pros used (gasp!) wooden rackets and strings made of cat gut (exactly what it sounds like). I set out to discover which tennis pro first made the switch over to a more modern instrument.

Unlike past journeys into the wilds of the untamed Internet, this search was relatively simple. According to several sources, including this article from ITF Tennis, the first widely used non-wooden racket was the Wilson T2000.

Tennis Express explains that metal rackets were available as far back as the 1800s, but they were never popular until Jimmy Connors started playing with the T2000. According to Tennis Express, Connors continued to use the T2000 “for most of the 1970’s and would use its power to win Grand Slam after Grand Slam.”

Although it was a giant leap forward for tennis players, not everybody dug the metal racket. ‘80 Tennis writes that many found the “sweet spot” on the T2000 to be too small and unforgiving. Nevertheless, it marshaled in the beginning of a new era in tennis. Wooden rackets used by icons like Bjorn Borg would soon be extinct.

These days, most rackets are composite, made from glass fiber and carbon fiber. And, though rackets have gotten more technical, the sizes have been standardized. According to eHow, the maximum size is 29.5 inches.

So, that’s the story of the first metal racket. Anybody out there know why tennis is scored the way it is? Love, 15, 30, and 40 seem pretty random. If you have any ideas and links, please leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

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There are many reasons to love Yahoo! Answers. Some thrive on providing helpful answers that benefit the community. Others enjoy the access to so much useful knowledge with a simple click. If you’re an expert in a specific area, why not share what you know and become a Top Contributor? A Top Contributor is a member of the community who has shown that they are knowledgeable in a particular category.

How can I become a Top Contributor?

With a little dedication, you too can earn a Top Contributor badge. Check out Answers and pick categories in which you have the most expertise (you can be a Top Contributor in up to three categories). Answering questions in the most informative way will increase your chances of getting the Best Answer–and the more you actively participate, the better your chances of earning a Top Contributor badge. Remember that the Top Contributor badge is dynamic, which means that you earn it or lose it depending on your recent participation in a particular category. If you stop participating, you will lose your badge. To recover your badge, you have to increase your activity in a specific category again.

Most community members on the Answers Leaderboard happen to be Top Contributors. The Leaderboard allows you to see who’s in the lead and what their stats are. It’s updated every week. Who knows? With a little work, you might make it there, too!

Keep in mind that while sharing what you know is encouraged, it is also important to make sure you don’t share anything that puts your answer in violation of the Community Guidelines.

Have more questions? Leave us a comment and let us know!

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