Search found 72 matches

by ndmbike
19 Mar 2023, 5:03pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Turkiye/Turkey roadside springs
Replies: 0
Views: 336

Turkiye/Turkey roadside springs

I'm heading to SW Turkiye in a couple of weeks with the bike.
While cycling around the hills by Dalaman last year, I found a few drinking water fountains - they seemed to be sourced from natural springs.
The family I stayed with used a nearby one for their drinking water in preference to the tap water.

Is there a map (or similar) that shows the location of such sources? I tried open street maps but can't seem to get water fountains to show.
Maybe they have not been listed. I seem to remember a mapping app on my old phone that showed water sources. Possibly Viewranger but the new version does not seem to do water sources.

Cheers.
by ndmbike
4 Oct 2022, 9:09pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: How to keep tent floor dry?
Replies: 38
Views: 3269

Re: How to keep tent floor dry?

pjclinch wrote: 3 Oct 2022, 7:47am
Blimey. If you can't kneel on a groundsheet without destroying the waterproofing then frankly it's not fit for purpose. I've never been that keen on Terra Nova stuff but frankly I'd expect better of a Quasar. Been kneeling in my Saunders and Hilles for years and the groundsheets are still fine.

Detergent doesn't destroy waterproofing. Detergent works by reducing surface tension of water droplets so they can more easily penetrate the weave of a fabric and thus clean it better, but if the weave is covered by an impermeable layer of polyurethane (which groundsheets typically are) then that's a moot point. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to use detergent (plain water usually enough, if not then warm water, if not then a little pure soap), but it's not waterproofing Armageddon that many people seem to think it is.

For total waterproofing you just need something with sufficient hydrostatic head that water can't be forced through it by the pressures it's routinely subjected to. That can be remarkably thin, though very thin sheets are easier to wear the coating off so they don't last so long and as they have pretty much zero insulation value are very, very prone to condensation.

Pete.
I guess I have been camping on harder, stonier ground than you have. I could feel the sharp bits of gravel through the fabric.
A couple of the small tears and cuts were visible in the ground sheet. There were likely to be other microtears/cuts.
As you say, detergent would allow water to penetrate more these more easily - hence losing the waterpoofing properties of the goundsheet.

Heh heh, I don't recall saying detergent could 'destroy waterproofing'.

The only way to avoid the damage to the groundsheet would be to camp on soft surfaces.
by ndmbike
2 Oct 2022, 8:20pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: How to keep tent floor dry?
Replies: 38
Views: 3269

Re: How to keep tent floor dry?

I like my lightweight tent(s).
The gossamer thin groundsheets are great for their poundage but they are thin.
I remember trying very hard not to 'say something' when a friend sat and kneeled on the groundsheet of my rather expensive quasar (£350 odd in the 90s) knowing that he was putting damage into the fabric. It leaked ever since that trip.
I try to spread the force of my bum, knees and feet using a foam mat and/or a thermarest.
Whatever you do, don't wash them with detergent. They lose any waterproofing they may have had.
If you want total waterproofing, you will need thick fabric and additional weight.
Having said that, pitching on damp ground is not a good idea, but it may be unavoidable and a 'bathtub' made from an old bivvy bag or a shower curtain is quite effective at directing the flood away.
by ndmbike
24 Apr 2022, 9:19pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: A cold night ride to Whitstable that brought on Covid
Replies: 38
Views: 2654

Re: A cold night ride to Whitstable that brought on Covid

TrevA wrote: 24 Apr 2022, 9:05pm I’ve been looking at the Decathlon Forclaz Trek 100 which is £50 and gets some good reviews.
https://www.sportsdirect.com/karrimor-j ... e=44340303

Any good?
I have an older version which is good for the money and has been excellent.

https://www.phdesigns.co.uk/waferlite-down-shirt
If you're flush!
by ndmbike
17 Feb 2022, 11:10pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Cost of Living
Replies: 86
Views: 3317

Re: Cost of Living

Just saying...

a young person I work with is trying to buy a house.

The cheapest one he can find, in an area where he and his partner will feel safe walking home, is £ 300 000 ish.

This is Northern city.

He has been paying stupid amounts on rent - so has little choice, as he doesn't want to continue subbing a landlord's mortgage(s).

Phones, clothes, sofas, paint, big TVs, squashed avocadoes etc are not a comparably huge cost when rent for a reasonable home is eating up most of his monthly wage.

I am acutely aware that I have benefitted from silly house price inflation and I don't dare to pretend that it is my cleverness, nor my young colleagues' fecklessness, that is the problem.

I hope and pray these youngsters will be more forgiving and understanding than us - who seem to have benefitted from a very generous set of circumstances.

I'll get me coat...
and re-read 'The Road to Wigan Pier'
by ndmbike
25 Sep 2021, 7:55pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Is a flashing rear light during the day a good idea?
Replies: 58
Views: 3501

Re: Is a flashing rear light during the day a good idea?

It depends.

There is a stretch of road that I drive and sometimes cycle on.
A steady cycle light looks like a motor vehicle light - but a flasher shows it is a cyclist.
It means at 50 mph in a car I can plan the overtake of a cyclist by moving into the second climbing lane and give the cyclist a wide berth.
As a cyclist it is terrifying to have a big car blast past without enough room.
Some cars seem to do over 80 mph on this stretch.

Other times it feels like the flashing light is unnecessary and even a distraction. Who knows.
If it means a cyclist does not get squished under the wheels of a Chelsea tractor it must be a good thing.
by ndmbike
24 Aug 2021, 9:27pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Rear derailleur cable adjustment screw replacement
Replies: 15
Views: 908

Re: Rear derailleur cable adjustment screw replacement

Brucey wrote: 21 Nov 2020, 9:44pm the centron float is there mainly to give some tolerance to the shifting arrangement. If the pitch of the sprockets is accurate and the gear cable adjustment is accurate, you don't necessarily need any float in the upper pulley. In fact once a RD gets a bit baggy (with some wear in the pivots), often it works better with no float.

One of the reasons for having the float BITD was that the indexing was meant to be with a UG freehub; these were mostly built with plastic spacers between the sprockets and the exact pitch of the sprockets is never 100% accurate, because there is nothing much stopping the smallest sprocket in UG being tightened a bit more and squashing the spacers a bit more.

cheers
Top advice from Brucey as usual.
Though I ignored it and went with the sanded down guide pulley.
So the refurbed derailleur was pretty good and shifted nicely but the hub/cassette would precess as it freewheeled. The axle was straight but the dropouts were a bit skew. Maybe the loose guide pulley synced with this.
When I changed to a new wheel with a true hub and true cassette, rear shifting was useless.

The 'float' in the guide pulley was not good. A new pulley that did not move a little bit each way solved the problem.
Cheers again Brucey!
by ndmbike
7 Jul 2021, 6:57pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Diet & Veg.
Replies: 85
Views: 6745

Re: Diet & Veg.

Try googling 'Tim Spector' for the 30 types of veg and it's effect on the microbiome.
Reasonably recent research.
by ndmbike
20 Mar 2021, 5:53pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Worst ride ever?!!
Replies: 49
Views: 3201

Re: Worst ride ever?!!

I know these things are what I have signed up for on a 'long' ride...

- bonking but not realising that it was happening
- mechanicals that I can't fix and am too proud to ask for help so will walk home - even if it takes forever
- lost-ness in a strange land where I have to rely on the kindness of strangers

But the worst thing ever was the A82 where lorries ran inches from me and my bike at a speed difference of 50+ mph

I don't like cycling when it is a Russian roulette game of life or death/disability.
by ndmbike
2 Jan 2021, 4:58pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Why does nobody want paper maps anymore?
Replies: 106
Views: 4400

Re: Why does nobody want paper maps anymore?

Paulatic wrote:
Oldjohnw wrote:Cycling in North Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, I could probably use 100 year old maps and be OK.

For both walking and cycling I often print off from my OS online (of photocopy from a paper map) the area I'm in. Seems to work.

Stay away from Kielder or you might get wet feet on that road on the map.
With a group of mountain bikers back in the nineties we got to Cow Green. I purposefully pulled out my old map, pre reservoir, and asked them where are we at? :wink:


Heh heh...
I went through a phase of carrying an additional 'wrong' map with me up to popular peaks and then asking for help from some unsuspecting punter to help me out and show me where I was...
It was both amazing and entertaining to see how long it took for people on, say Snowdon to realise the map was of Ben Nevis...
No one punched me in the head - but there was often great hilarity. Passing round the hip flask salved any bruised egos!
Oh, those pre Covid days.
by ndmbike
1 Jan 2021, 7:51pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Restoring a vintage bike
Replies: 47
Views: 2893

Re: Restoring a vintage bike

I forgot to mention... Tools

most tools are reasonable in cost (compared to a new bike and if you have several similar bikes, will pay for themselves quickly).

Some tools will be expensive and you may only need them occasionally.
E.g. https://www.parktool.com/product/frame- ... -set-ffg-2
There is a local bike charity workshop ( https://pedallers-arms.org/ ) that has these and I shall be visiting them to try and straighten my wonky frame(s).
It is staffed by volunteers and there are often people there who will give useful and helpful advice.
It is also a good place to donate old parts/bikes that can be put to good use.
by ndmbike
1 Jan 2021, 5:47pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Restoring a vintage bike
Replies: 47
Views: 2893

Re: Restoring a vintage bike

This is a good project and I would say to do it - I have been fettling a 1980s super galaxy for the last three months.
Perfect therapy at the moment... Frustrating enough to fully engage me but not so difficult that success is impossible.
Replacement parts that fit can be a problem, and I have decided to go only as far back as 8spd compatible set-ups since there seem to be parts available reasonably easily and cheaply. I also seem to have built up a stock of some spares but they seem more difficult to find than a few years ago.
Good quality parts can often be refurbished and can be nicer than modern replacements.

Park tool and RJ the bike guy youtube vids have been really useful but there are others as well.

As for the look, I have sinned and used hammerite for a shopping run-around but have taken another frame to Bob Jacksons for a new rear derailleur hanger and a respray. I didn't want thief-bait so had a simple one-colour enamel job. It doesn't catch attention but does look nice on close inspection. Lug lining and decals would have been gorgeous but I want to try and keep it from being nicked.
by ndmbike
29 Dec 2020, 9:22pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Would you take a vaccine against CV? Vote now please!
Replies: 1354
Views: 56039

Re: Would you take a vaccine against CV? Vote now please!

I'm not sure I would go for this version of the first ever (?) method of vaccination...
https://time.com/5542895/mary-montagu-smallpox/

Things have come on since and having known someone who survived smallpox, I'm definitely in the 'please stab me' group.
Though as a child at a border crossing I remember being grabbed by some bloke who was about to 'stab' me with a multi pointed needle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcated_needle
that he had already used on lots of other people. Fortunately I managed to wriggle out of his grip before my parents rescued me. I already had been given a smallpox jab before setting off on our travels.

Now though, I await patiently for notice of a Covid jab - I am not in any of the at risk groups and am not holding my breath.
70 million people on this isle... 1 million jabs per week... I may be waiting for some time. Meanwhile I shall continue to do the things I know will reduce risk.

There is a 50/50 chance I have definitely been vaccinated - I am on the Novavax trial. If I am offered a jab I can ask to be 'unblinded' and then take up an offer of a jab if I have not been given the real vaccine and I want it.

I am astounded that there are people out there who believe vaccines contain a microchip.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/52847648

Or that they cause autism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield

Or that it is better to let a child get measles than to get vaccinated.
https://www.who.int/news/item/12-11-202 ... es-in-2019
by ndmbike
21 Nov 2020, 6:09pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Rear derailleur cable adjustment screw replacement
Replies: 15
Views: 908

Re: Rear derailleur cable adjustment screw replacement

IMG_20201121_162443231.jpg

Here it is...
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I soaked it in vinegar for two days, removing the grey crud bloom each day with a brush.
Then tried to get it to turn a little back and forth but gave up.
So I dried it out, gave it a blast with some wart spray - it looked frosted for a while.
I then taped up the collar with the chopped matchsticks, gripped it with a wrench and it twisted round reasonably easily.
All the parts were easy to clean and so I greased them up and re-assembled the derailleur.
There are new jockey wheels which were both identical so I sanded down the guide pulley to match the worn out 'centron' one so it has a similar amount of float. Hopefully it will index OK as a result.