Search found 127 matches

by windysmithy
4 Feb 2024, 7:11pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: What's the best app for planning multi-day bike trips?
Replies: 48
Views: 2413

Re: What's the best app for planning multi-day bike trips?

cycle.travel is perfect for me on multi day trips, i uploaded a gpx to it before, so it cant be that hard.
by windysmithy
21 Dec 2023, 11:35am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Fountain pen use
Replies: 34
Views: 1568

Re: Fountain pen use

ncutler wrote: 21 Dec 2023, 9:47am
Pinhead wrote: 21 Dec 2023, 9:43am Cartridge pens do not work, how man y times have you had to "flick" a pen to get it going again :(
Oh yes they do! Every day, faultlessly, never a blot. Do have difficulty with spelling though.
No, i think pinhead actually meant to say "flick".
by windysmithy
21 Dec 2023, 11:32am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front Fork Failure
Replies: 47
Views: 5655

Re: Front Fork Failure

Jezrant wrote: 20 Dec 2023, 4:54pm
windysmithy wrote: 20 Dec 2023, 12:21pm
Brucey wrote: 19 Dec 2023, 3:00pm

presumably with that setup, every time you went over a bump, the front brake would have come on a bit harder, all by itself. If so, an uphanger might have helped. Also note that the HAZ in a well-made TIG weld in CroMo is usually soft, so your forks bent where they were softest when they saw an almost uncontrolled stress. When it is put in those terms, little wonder that something broke, really.
yes, maybe i should have pursued a claim. I was quite astounded at their response: "That is not how it happened" ! That didnt give me much room for manoeuvre.
Onwards and upwards...
How did Edinburgh Bike Co-op think it happened?
They said it must have been a collision, not the scenario in the photos and as decribed. I had ridden the bike maybe 1500 miles, some on rough devon roads, some crossing spain and portugal on roads and tracks, but never had a collision. A "touring" bike would be more than capable of the terrain crossed, as would most road bikes.
by windysmithy
20 Dec 2023, 12:21pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front Fork Failure
Replies: 47
Views: 5655

Re: Front Fork Failure

Brucey wrote: 19 Dec 2023, 3:00pm
windysmithy wrote: 12 Dec 2023, 9:17pm I got back into cycling by buying a Revolution "touring" bike from the Edinburgh Bike coop in 2010.
presumably with that setup, every time you went over a bump, the front brake would have come on a bit harder, all by itself. If so, an uphanger might have helped. Also note that the HAZ in a well-made TIG weld in CroMo is usually soft, so your forks bent where they were softest when they saw an almost uncontrolled stress. When it is put in those terms, little wonder that something broke, really.
yes, maybe i should have pursued a claim. I was quite astounded at their response: "That is not how it happened" ! That didnt give me much room for manoeuvre.
Onwards and upwards...
by windysmithy
18 Dec 2023, 6:39pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front Fork Failure
Replies: 47
Views: 5655

Re: Front Fork Failure

Geoff_F wrote: 12 Dec 2023, 10:09pm
windysmithy wrote: 12 Dec 2023, 9:17pm
A couple of minutes earlier i had been going bout 40 downhill; this one was steeper, so i had slowed down. The bus driver right behind me was on the ball , luckily. Bit of a rash on my forearms and belly.
The Edinburgh Bike Coop absolutely denied any liability (but did give me my money back). It had already been back with them twice , and this was less than 6 months old. They stopped selling these shortly after, i think.
Call me cautious, but i travel with a Thorn nowadays. Love it.
That looks like the image that flashed into my mind when I found the crack in my fork! You cannot be too cautious where the front end is concerned. In my motorcycling days I always used to check my front tyre carefully before every ride.

Were those aluminium forks?
The frame was aluminium (never again!) , but as i recall , the forks were steel although maybe not enough of it (or just pure iron, speaking as a blacksmith....)
by windysmithy
12 Dec 2023, 9:17pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front Fork Failure
Replies: 47
Views: 5655

Re: Front Fork Failure

DSCF0179.jpg
I got back into cycling by buying a Revolution "touring" bike from the Edinburgh Bike coop in 2010.
It was litter.
The last straw was the forks folding up underneath whilst descending into Seaton in Cornwall, just after a slight irregularity in the road and braking heavily.
DSC00229.JPG
A couple of minutes earlier i had been going bout 40 downhill; this one was steeper, so i had slowed down. The bus driver right behind me was on the ball , luckily. Bit of a rash on my forearms and belly.
The Edinburgh Bike Coop absolutely denied any liability (but did give me my money back). It had already been back with them twice , and this was less than 6 months old. They stopped selling these shortly after, i think.
Call me cautious, but i travel with a Thorn nowadays. Love it.
by windysmithy
14 Oct 2023, 9:33pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Train from Nice to St Malo
Replies: 8
Views: 4049

Re: Train from Nice to St Malo

We recently hired a car for 24hrs from nice to Brest airport (not far from Roscoff).
cost 78 euros, fuel 160 euros, peage 68 euros, and another 24 euros for 2 additional drivers for the 15 hr drive. Worked for us, as we live between plymouth and Poole.
It was a 7 seater peugeot 8006 or suchlike, which was roomy enough for three bikes and people, with plenty of legroom and a good stereo. through Booking.com.
We had planned to get the train but the bike spaces were booked up. worked out cheaper for the three of us in any case. Not what we had expected, but it was ok and im glad i thought of that as the train booking websites were a bit rubbish tbh.
by windysmithy
6 Jul 2023, 10:29pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Please Report Any Security Check Problems When Boarding Ferries ex UK
Replies: 73
Views: 8410

Re: Please Report Any Security Check Problems When Boarding Ferries ex UK

MrsHJ wrote: 17 Jun 2023, 6:51am Not quite the right thread but ferry information.

For those of us south but not close to Dover I was mulling over the Poole condor ferry to either Cherbourg or saint malo. I’ve used this before many years ago when it still ran from Weymouth (and my parents lived there providing a useful overnight option) and it did a run via guernsey I think. Anyway the price is reasonable and the bike goes free. You add it in in the extras selection and put yourself as a foot passenger.

Biggest downside looks like the times- it might be less hassle for me to get the overnight Plymouth ferry and get a train on arrival but it’s good to have options.
However, on the booking page it does say "*Please note that bicycles are unable to be carried on any Manche Iles Service. Any passenger arriving with a bicycle will be refused travel." Anyone know about the reality of this? (i imagine manche iles means channel islands)
by windysmithy
6 Jul 2023, 10:24pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Please Report Any Security Check Problems When Boarding Ferries ex UK
Replies: 73
Views: 8410

Re: Please Report Any Security Check Problems When Boarding Ferries ex UK

I had my panniers searched at pembroke dock the other day, on the way to Ireland. I had to put my leatherman at the bottom of one of them rather than on my belt. not a jot on the way back,

no id asked for at all.
by windysmithy
30 Apr 2023, 9:00pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Braverman: Rise of the Fascists
Replies: 1301
Views: 71356

Re: Braverman: Rise of the Fascists

Pebble wrote: 27 Apr 2023, 11:55pm
pete75 wrote: 27 Apr 2023, 10:10pm
Pebble wrote: 27 Apr 2023, 9:25pm
Indeed, I would be as wary of news distributed by Farage as I would the gaurdian - they both have dedicated audiences they need to please.Difficult to know where to get news from, they're all selling us something. May be the beeb, ut even they are soo predictable at times.
The Guardian is actually rated as one of the reliable sources of news in the UK. The papers those of you on the right prefer, the Mail, Express, Sun etc are generally rated as very unreliable.
It undoubtedly has its own devotees who hang on to every word as if its gospel - as this thread proves, and then they claim others are being played! couldn't make that level of disillusionment up.
As it is I don't prefer any newspapers, havn't bought one this century.. wife gets an Edinbrgh evning news every week, but thats it. here's a story from this week
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... ds-4114315
loads of homeless in edinburgh, never seen any that looked like migrants, they will be in a 4 star hotel until housing can be found.
windysmithy wrote: 27 Apr 2023, 10:03pm
Pebble wrote: 27 Apr 2023, 9:25pm
Indeed, I would be as wary of news distributed by Farage as I would the gaurdian - they both have dedicated audiences they need to please.Difficult to know where to get news from, they're all selling us something. May be the beeb, ut even they are soo predictable at times.
Nevertheless, I have met people who are so desperate not to return to their country of origin , that they have done far worse things to their bodies in order to attempt to continue the journey to perceived safety. That doesnt surprise me one bit.
why would someone who is about to come to the attention of the Authorities in a country they deem to be safe, wish to hide their finger prints? serious criminality or terrorism in Europe perhaps? could there be another reason.
Yes, the very real prospect of death and/or torture in their country of origin.
Not everybody gets it, but many many refugees are seeking refuge from these actual things.
by windysmithy
27 Apr 2023, 10:20pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?
Replies: 920
Views: 862619

Re: Are you "Infected by a remainer mind virus"?

Well, "Taking back Control" certainly worked. The shift in power dynamics has accelerated massively, but in favour of the actual Upper 10,000 or whatever they call themselves these days..

Mind viruses are certainly real- take the time to read https://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/s ... ransition/, which was reprinted in Permaculture magazine in 2020.

There is a terrible infectious disease that is exponentially spreading all over the globe and beyond.

It is a disease of the mind- a mind virus no less, which is incredibly hard to pin down and is super infectious. It causes people to consume far more than they require for the continuation of their life, and people with this dis ease will often persuade or force others to partake in their own destruction and that of the life around them.

Many languages have a name for this virus- the Algonquin, for instance, call this condition Wetiko. It could be characterised as a cannibalistic delusion that greed, dominance and coercion are morally upstanding qualities. Which of course, in many of the prevailing cultures on our planet, they are.

However, the mere fact of all life being interconnected turns this violence back on itself. The cannibalistic feedback loop that this creates can only lead to extinction of the host, which is in the first instance the Human, taking down countless other life forms simultaneously.

In the words of Jack D Forbes, the American philosopher:

"I can lose my hands
and still live.
I can lose my legs
and still live.
I can lose my eyes
and still live.
I can lose my hair, eyebrows, nose, arms, and many other things and still live.

But

if I lose the air
I die.
If I lose the sun
I die.
If I lose the earth
I die.
If I lose the water
I die.
If I lose the plants and animals
I die.
All of these things are more a part of me, more essential to my every breath, than is my so-called body.
What is my real body?"


Just saying.
by windysmithy
27 Apr 2023, 10:03pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Braverman: Rise of the Fascists
Replies: 1301
Views: 71356

Re: Braverman: Rise of the Fascists

Pebble wrote: 27 Apr 2023, 9:25pm
pete75 wrote: 27 Apr 2023, 7:29pm
yakdiver wrote: 27 Apr 2023, 4:52pm Sums up what it really happening -
Border Force say undocumented migrants are using razor blades to damage and destroy their own fingerprints to avoid identification.
Now I wonder why they would do that................
https://twitter.com/i/status/1651553006653980674
All unattributed and also in a tweet from Farage who is a stranger to truth.
Indeed, I would be as wary of news distributed by Farage as I would the gaurdian - they both have dedicated audiences they need to please.Difficult to know where to get news from, they're all selling us something. May be the beeb, ut even they are soo predictable at times.
Nevertheless, I have met people who are so desperate not to return to their country of origin , that they have done far worse things to their bodies in order to attempt to continue the journey to perceived safety. That doesnt surprise me one bit.

That F***** uses this as a point in his favour shows that he has not a shred of compassion, poor soul.
by windysmithy
5 Apr 2023, 11:16am
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Who, What, Why: How dangerous are tick bites in the UK?
Replies: 126
Views: 8665

Re: Tick Bite

rjb wrote: 5 Apr 2023, 9:23am I bet less than 1 in 100 of us carry tweezers when out and about. Any useful suggestions would be welcome.
However, thats the best way IME to remove ticks sooner rather than later. Probably weighs less than a spare spoke (which i dont carry).

Ticks are definitely a thing.
by windysmithy
2 Mar 2023, 9:41pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
Replies: 160
Views: 8091

Can we make bicycles sustainable again?

I found this interesting and surprising, in equal measure.

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/ ... again.html
by windysmithy
10 Feb 2023, 9:10pm
Forum: Electrically assisted pedal cycles
Topic: Converting a Thorn Nomad to a mid drive motor
Replies: 19
Views: 1545

Re: Converting a Thorn Nomad to a mid drive motor

Steel frame is fine for the motor.
I fittd a tongsheng to a steel dawes some years ago and its done maybe 8000 miles. only problem was, the batttery mount ripped the cage bolts out of the frame with the very bumpy roads around here, so theres 2 20mm holes there now and a ratchet strap holding the battery on. new frame waiting to go on...
just change tha chain as regularly as you need to (get a chain gauge) and new cassette/ ring every 3 chains or so.
jobs a goodun.