Reader: Do you guys have a death wish ("Top 10 Trail Fixes," July '07)? Pinching a rubber brake line is a dangerous practice! Don't mislead the readers into thinking it is safe. You will damage the line and increase the chance of a failure.
Wheezengeezer
via 4wheeloffroad.com
Editor: Good point! Many shops use a clamp when changing calipers and feel it's safe, but the best bet is not to pinch a rubber line at any time. Our use was strictly as an emergency method to make it off the trail, and the hose should ideally be replaced immediately after such abuse.
Reader: I just read the June '07 issue, and wanted to say thanks for the "Carbon Footprint" editorial in 4xForward. Your magazine proves informative, helpful, and even amusing in respect to reader feedback. From the "reading only what you want to see" guy who misquotes transfer-case inclusion for testing criteria all the way to the "possibly reading too closely" people who catch misspellings. I have seen a few misspelled items, just never thought to write about it. After all, it is a publication about a very human recreational pastime, by humans no less.
In my education in mechanical and electrical engineering there was science required, and science by definition is always open for argument. How many scientific theories have been disallowed by further investigation many years later? The answer is countless. This Carbon Footprint/Global Warming is sold to us now as science without the option for debate, and it has jumped straight to a cultist organization using science as the guise to create laws-laws that will affect our very human recreational activities. If you do not believe this, then ask one of these save-the-earth preachers what they think about motorized recreational vehicles. You will find their belief is that it is completely unnecessary and should be banned altogether. Scientific methods sometimes provide solutions. Is there a credit for all the trees I have personally planted? Am I concerned that we as humans might be hurting the planet? For my children and grandchildren, yes. Yet I want real science to demonstrate that possibility, providing real solutions. Consider this scientific fact: It takes exponentially more pollution to produce a Prius than a Hummer, thanks to the nickel content in the batteries. I used to argue vehemently that no one who enjoyed off-roading would trash where they ride, until the day on my quad I found two fresh empty helmet boxes on a trash pile in the desert. I made a very human mistake and was wrong. Please keep your minds open and think for yourselves. Teach the kids this as well. Treading lightly and extra cleanup efforts may not be enough to prove that we do care and make a difference. Thanks again for the rant. Someone had to say it!
David Julif
North Las Vegas, NV
Reader: I just read the 4xForward about the Carbon Footprint in the June '07 issue. I will say it again, A-fricken-men. I am tired of things that seem like a good cause becoming a money-making industry. The worst part is people are falling for it. I read a book called something like "The hole in the Ozone scare" back in high school in the mid 90s. I vaguely remember reading that one volcanic blast releases more toxic fumes into the air than L.A. has produced in the last 50 years. And here is something else to think about. We, as the dominant species on earth, have only been keeping records of the climate for what...about 200 years or thereabouts? Does anybody really think that is enough time to make an educated guess about what this giant planet is doing? If the hole in the ozone is such a severe problem that we are causing, why do polar bears have translucent fur and dark skin to help absorb direct UV rays (that slip through that hole) to keep warm in the frigid cold? Just some things to think about.
Charles Rich
via 4wheeloffroad.com