Search found 317 matches

by Milfred Cubicle
23 Mar 2024, 5:10pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: GPX devices...Garmin alternative
Replies: 26
Views: 935

GPX devices...Garmin alternative

Can anyone recommend a simple, inexpensive alternative to Garmin devices, mainly for use on Audax events? I've got two Garnin devices, an Etrex and a one I inherited from a mate. I find the whole Garmin platform to be really clunky.
I think it's because when you open it as a mass storage device to drop files into, it opens up all the system files etc. Add in a memory card, and the issue is doubled.

I'm not a techno Luddite...it just seems like Garmin are way behind when it comes to intuitive interfaces.
by Milfred Cubicle
9 Mar 2024, 7:46pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Cateye cycle speedo/computer adds stealth miles overnight?
Replies: 15
Views: 883

Re: Cateye cycle speedo/computer adds stealth miles overnight?

Of course it's the boiler. They are notoriously shifty...quite violent if you cross them. They were originally called Worcester Bosh!, but they changed the name to make it sound less gangland. My advice would be don't make eye contact and back away slowly.
by Milfred Cubicle
24 Sep 2023, 5:19pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Re use inner tubes
Replies: 10
Views: 2391

Re: Re use inner tubes

Funnily enough I once made an 'emergen y guitsr strap out of one with a bit of duct tape reinforcement. It was really comfy...but you didn't want to move about too much as it started to bounce about.
by Milfred Cubicle
22 Sep 2023, 1:00pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Mike van Erp, great cyclist or grass?
Replies: 124
Views: 36758

Re: Mike van Erp, great cyclist or grass?

I was originally supportive of his efforts.
No sane person can argue that reducing distracted road users is a good thing. I don't think anyone disagrees that the police do a poor job of enforcing phone laws either.
Then I reached out to him. I was concerned that filming with a headcam, placing himself in the offside blind spot, and standing in front of vehicles, were all risks in themselves.
His arrogance was astounding. It was basically 'I'm perfectly safe, and filming motorists at close quarters doesn't have any greater risk than doing it from the pavement'. He's very tetchy about criticism, even when constructive. He can be blatantly rude, making personal comments about people.
I found this attitude perplexing. Whenever I'm alongside a car, I'm acutely aware that they might do something silly...especially when I see them on their phone! His whole response seemed very blinkered...the same blinkered attitude that drives motorists to use phones at the wheel, because they feel they are above average drivers, and are safe. I've always believed it's the dangers you are blind to are the ones that will get you.
It would be interesting to do a study on drivers who have just had an encounter with him. My bet would be they are not reflecting wisely about road safety, but are in a red mist about the humiliation. Whether this is 'deserved' is largey irrelevant. He winds people up, and wound up people are liable to make mistakes. A fine in the mail two weeks later is no use when some enraged crackpot speeds off from an encounter and hurts someone.

Then of course there's the whole 'celebrity' of it. If he stood in a safe spot, took the footage and got people fined, fair enough. But adding the Jaws theme to his 'catches' just seems like his main priority is Youtube subscriptions, as much as road safety.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I'd say he was wel intemtioned with noble aspirations...but seems to be going about things in a way that is deliberately provocative and inflammatory.
by Milfred Cubicle
19 Aug 2023, 9:15pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Lights blinding pedestrians
Replies: 86
Views: 4880

Re: Lights blinding pedestrians

Ooh...I might have a tinker in the shed with this one.
Some sort of sprung bracket for the light. You could activate it with a friction shifter, or even better a lever from a dropper seatpist.
The trick will be to stop it rattling about I suppose.
Or keep the light fixed, and the same thing operating a moveable cowl?

It would add weight, complexity and look like a dog's dinner...but it would be pretty cool to be able to 'wink' at people.
by Milfred Cubicle
19 Aug 2023, 9:01pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: What is "bikepacking"?
Replies: 107
Views: 12173

Re: What is "bikepacking"?

It's what you do when manufacturers take all the eyelets off a bike, then other manufacturers sell you loads of new luggage carrying solutions to solve the issue!

Is short...it's travelling, often offroad, by bicycle. There's an emphasis on minimalism, thus lightening the load in order to travel further and/or enjoy the technical sections.
When you think of the Rough Stuff Fellowship, it's not a particularly new idea, just new equipment.
by Milfred Cubicle
19 Aug 2023, 8:54pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Why people don't post pictures of their bikes in kitchens anymore?
Replies: 55
Views: 9119

Re: Why people don't post pictures of their bikes in kitchens anymore?

Hmm. Speaking from experience, my kitchen is too small.
Maybe there's something in this idea...do modern houses have smaller kitchens?
Of course there's been the rise of the 'utility room' too, which might account for lack of kettles and toasters in the background?
Finally, maybe it's something to do with the modern preoccuoation with hygiene? A few generations ago the kitchen would have been the hub of the home, heated by a dirty old coal fire, with workboots on the hearth and naked bodies bathing a yard from the cooking surfaces.
by Milfred Cubicle
9 Aug 2023, 5:19pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Witnessing the end of the NHS
Replies: 213
Views: 18573

Re: Witnessing the end of the NHS

As a NHS nurse of nearly three decades, I'll chip in.
A couple of years ago I did a bit if diggung for general numbers. At the time the NHS cost around £100 billion per year. In the same timeframe, the U.K. lost around 35 billion to tax evasion/avoidance. So that's one avenue that would help plug a hole in funding.
Then there's life expectancy. I started my training in 1994, and from the outset we were being trained for an aging demographic. The Bevin model was set up for a retirement age of around 65, and a life expectancy of 70-75. We are clearly way beyond that now. My own oension age is currently 67. I might moan, but reasonably I can expect to live 20+ years in retirement. I'm not knocking retirees...but the reality is an aging population has greater health issues, hence strain on the NHS. The annoying thing is we saw this coming decades ago, but people baulked at the idea of raising retirement ages.
Now there's capacity. The NHS has roughly 50% of the beds it had a generation ago. That's not all bad news though- the first joint replacement patients were in hospital for weeks...now it is a few days. But despite these advances in turnaround, the older more complex patients we are seeing don't work well with this model.
Which brings me on to the private/public matter. I've seem many excellent private/NHS partnerships. The private model works extremely well for procedures that can be reasonably 'timed' and costed out. Unless something out of the ordinary happens, you can make this model work very well. But again, it doesn't work quite as well for more complex cases where outcomes can't be reasonably predicted. Take for example the private enterprise that took over an NHS Trust a few years back. It was a disaster, snd commissioners found serious problems. Put another way...if all you do is change exhausts, you become fast, efficient and cheap at exhausts. But if a customer pushes a wreck in and says 'it's broken...fix it please' you can't possibly give them an estimate of time and cost.

I love working in the NHS. I could make more money in the private sector, industry or agency work, but I'm a socialist and believe in the ethos of the NHS. Having said that, for all the reasons I've outlined, I think we all need to have a radical rethink of the service if we want it to survive.
by Milfred Cubicle
4 Aug 2023, 5:18pm
Forum: Non-standard, Human Powered Vehicles
Topic: Pictures of your recumbent
Replies: 689
Views: 351755

Re: Pictures of your recumbent

Thanks for the replies folks.

A velomobile...I'd love one, but cannot justify the price to myself.
I'm looking more towards the 'stick bike' design as my aesthetic ideal...and yet they seem to be falling out of favour.
I suppose the answer is I should find myself some design software and a brave framebuilder. If the result looks like a dog's breakfast, I can only blame myself!
by Milfred Cubicle
17 Jul 2023, 10:22pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: drilling lightening holes
Replies: 78
Views: 5752

Re: drilling lightening holes

Never drilled a component. I prefer to chase the air out of the frame tubes with helium. I've tried to do the same for the big wedge of air in the front triangle, but the effect never lasts very long...
by Milfred Cubicle
17 Jul 2023, 10:07pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: cycling sun glasses
Replies: 18
Views: 1335

Re: cycling sun glasses

Thumbs up for Toolstation/Screwfix safety glasses. U.v. protective, available in different tints, and so cheap you could probably buy these for the rest of your life for less money than a designer pair!
by Milfred Cubicle
17 Jul 2023, 9:57pm
Forum: Non-standard, Human Powered Vehicles
Topic: Pictures of your recumbent
Replies: 689
Views: 351755

Re: Pictures of your recumbent

I would love a recumbent, and have tested a couple and was impressed. However, given the pricetag of many models, I'm yet to find one that I find aesthetically pleasing. I find a lot of designs very 'cluttered'..exposed cabling, luggage racks that look like botch jobs...nothing looks 'clean', if that makes sense? I'd say a Burrows Windcheetah was about as good as it gets for me.
Of course form follows function, but has anyone got a contender for minimalism?
by Milfred Cubicle
17 Jul 2023, 9:57pm
Forum: Non-standard, Human Powered Vehicles
Topic: Pictures of your recumbent
Replies: 689
Views: 351755

Re: Pictures of your recumbent

I would love a recumbent, and have tested a couple and was impressed. However, given the pricetag of many models, I'm yet to find one that I find aesthetically pleasing. I find a lot of designs very 'cluttered'..exposed cabling, luggage racks that look like botch jobs...nothing looks 'clean', if that makes sense? I'd say a Burrows Windcheetah was about as good as it gets for me.
Of course form follows function, but has anyone got a contender for minimalism?
by Milfred Cubicle
17 Jul 2023, 9:50pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: "Inside Britain's biggest sewer under London's River Thames"
Replies: 4
Views: 1102

Re: "Inside Britain's biggest sewer under London's River Thames"

Many years ago I watched a brilliant documentary about Sir Joseph Bazalgette...fascinating stuff. Some years later I interrupted a romantic walk along London's embankment with my wife, and started rattling on about the huge sewer under our feet, and the genius who built it. Without pause she asked 'Do you mean him?'..unbeknownst to me we had stopped at the exact spot of the Bazalgette monument.
Perfect timing, although my enthusiasm for a Victorian poo maestro took the edge off the romance somewhat...
by Milfred Cubicle
17 Jul 2023, 9:35pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Fitting full mudguards to On One Inbred wishbone seat stays
Replies: 10
Views: 779

Re: Fitting full mudguards to On One Inbred wishbone seat stays

I've used a few methods on mine.

Self tapping screw into the breather hole...kept working loose.

Attached to the rack...fine, but more of a faff to take the rack off.

Cable ties. Cheap, can be pulled tight to prevent rattles, never moved.