Search found 10994 matches

by horizon
16 Feb 2024, 1:55pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Who's had the vaccine?
Replies: 1420
Views: 56655

Re: Who's had the vaccine?

Paulatic wrote: 16 Feb 2024, 9:45am It can do this
IMG_2149.jpegIMG_2150.jpeg
Extreme pain, sleep no more than 5 mins in the hour, lay on your hands and suffer the itch. The urge to scratch out your eyes and dig holes in your scalp is emense. I couldn’t drive for 4 months and then needed a new prescription for glasses. Spent at least 6 weeks in bed or sitting in a chair.
Believe me it is awful!
Paulatic: I was reading your LEJOG blog (great!) but was also intrigued that you were a sheep farmer. I wondered if you had ever pondered over a possible link:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 202300524X
by horizon
14 Feb 2024, 9:15pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Will I get on the train?
Replies: 51
Views: 3141

Re: Will I get on the train?

SwiftyDoesIt wrote: 14 Feb 2024, 1:35pm These are the lockers on trains now on LNER (so only 4 spaces per train), they're supposed to be locked until one boards with the bike you've reserved a sport in there.
Thanks for that. This does make sense but is never practised (AFAIK) on GWR. I'm wondering how you know though that they are supposed to be locked (on LNER).
That said, train staff should still be making sure there is space for a bike if a reservation has been made whatever the designated space is
That is true, in an ideal world of course. OTOH, the chaotic system does allow for some flexibility. If train staff had the time to get the space ready, they also have the time to make sure that cyclists without a reservation are barred from boarding. It's one reason I bought a folding bike when the IETs were introduced as GWR gave every indication that bookings would be handled very strictly.
by horizon
13 Feb 2024, 10:39pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Will I get on the train?
Replies: 51
Views: 3141

Re: Will I get on the train?

SwiftyDoesIt wrote: 13 Feb 2024, 5:22pm
horizon wrote: 13 Feb 2024, 12:54pm
SwiftyDoesIt wrote: 13 Feb 2024, 11:59am
but generally they'd need to unlock the bike locker,
They won't, it will be open, though there may be luggage in it.
IME the train staff unlock the bike locker, that might not occur all the time as I alluded to with the one incident.
AFAIR the IET bike/luggage compartments (aka cupboards!) do have lockable doors. But I have never in dozens and dozens of times seen one drawn across or locked. I suppose that could happen overnight and originating in Paddington or the train staff were using it but it seems very unlikely. Are you sure it was an IET (Inter City Express, the new trains run by GWR)? By the way, there is a catering trolley compartment that is always locked and can easily be mistaken for a bike compartment (or indeed a toilet, as many people, sometimes three or four at a time in a queue, have found out to their cost! :shock: )
by horizon
13 Feb 2024, 12:54pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Will I get on the train?
Replies: 51
Views: 3141

Re: Will I get on the train?

SwiftyDoesIt wrote: 13 Feb 2024, 11:59am
but generally they'd need to unlock the bike locker,
They won't, it will be open, though there may be luggage in it.
by horizon
13 Feb 2024, 11:25am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Will I get on the train?
Replies: 51
Views: 3141

Re: Will I get on the train?

Lazybird wrote: 12 Feb 2024, 9:01pm or am I being overly pessimistic?
Yes, you are.

AFAIK all the trains from Exeter to Plymouth are now IETs/Azumas (they're called IETs on GWR). There used to be truncated HSTs just doing the Exeter to Cornwall run but are being phased out (these are the ones which have the capacious bike compartment at the end of coach A). You can check online if your train is one of these as they won't have a First Class carriage. The trains that ply between Cardiff and Plymouth have also switched to IETs. Check where your train originates from but if Paddington it will be a regular IET. In the unlikely event you have booked a Cross-Country, this will be a Voyager and you have booked a bike space.

At the station, the electronic boarding signs will tell you where the bike spaces are - there may be one or two depending on whether the train is 5, 9 or 10 coaches long. You just find the correct zone (which is marked on the platform) to know where to wait. AFAIK, GWR have now sorted out their bike booking numbering and your booking might refer to a specific slot. But I really wouldn't worry about this unless there is an issue and it will in any case give you further support. There may well be luggage where your bike is supposed to go!

What I would say though is that getting your bike on the train is usually really OK. There are some holiday trains that can be over-full (you have a booking!) but mostly the bike spaces are empty. I travel with a folder but rarely fold it - I just put it unfolded into the bike space (no reservation) unless a cyclist needs it. Exeter can be busy and I would certainly recommend a reservation, which you have. The worst of it is a bit of pushing and shoving to get your bike onto the train, into the space and onto the hook. I don't take my luggage off until the bike is on the train. The whole thing is an appalling design but you should be fine.

It is very quick to get from Plymouth station to the ferry terminal but I am presuming you have left yourself plenty of time to allow for any train problem.
by horizon
7 Feb 2024, 11:45am
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Why are the general population resistant to getting fit?
Replies: 75
Views: 3791

Re: Why are the general population resistant to getting fit?

Jon in Sweden wrote: 7 Feb 2024, 6:28am
It's a vicious cycle.
Especially in Sweden in the winter. :lol:
by horizon
6 Feb 2024, 12:49pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: A sport of collaboration and selflessness ?
Replies: 5
Views: 354

Re: A sport of collaboration and selflessness ?

The problem might lie in trying to make cycling a thing we all do. On a dark wet evening, turning up your collar and your face to the rain, it doesn't feel like a national event. As the cars whoosh past, you have to make your own life and death decisions as to how you ride. You choose the route, it's not signposted (in fact the most useful signposts have been deliberately taken down), you're well resourced with some tools (the familiar AA van won't stop for you) and you're going to be the only one at your gathering who arrives by bicycle. The closed-off roads, the cheering spectators, the colourful but inadequate jerseys will not be for you, there's no support car. And on the canal path you look out for shadowy figures lurking under the bridges like modern-day trolls. Cycling isn't a social occasion, it's something you do because you intend to do it, whatever government support exists or doesn't. Making cycling into a sport completely misses the point.
by horizon
5 Feb 2024, 2:31pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: 2.8 million people in the UK on long-term sick
Replies: 34
Views: 1931

Re: 2.8 million people in the UK on long-term sick

Two more groups of people that I think are excluded from "long-term sick" are the disabled (AFAIK) and another what must be huge group of people who are ill enough to find work difficult but are not ill enough to get signed off (especially given what seem to be quite harsh hurdles to leap over:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/ ... uk-pension

This obviously affects many of those women who were expecting a pension at 60 and never got it but it still leaves the fact that many are sick even if still having to work.

This means that the 2.8 million figure is not only strictly restricted to those who are too ill to work on a long term basis (so that is a big number) but must also be a huge under-estimate as it excludes (as the Guardian article points out) all those people in say their fifties and sixties who struggle with ill-health but still work. We also don't know AFAICS the number of people who are rich enough to not work (or can just about manage financially without working) but couldn't even if they wanted to.

My social circle nowadays tends to be people of my own age group, so past working age (and the ones I see are fit and active enough to get out and be seen) and younger people of my daughters' generation. This means I don't have much contact with those probably most affected.
by horizon
5 Feb 2024, 12:50pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: 2.8 million people in the UK on long-term sick
Replies: 34
Views: 1931

2.8 million people in the UK on long-term sick

The latest figures show 2.8 million people in the UK on long-term sick and unable to work. I presume the figure excludes the rich (who don't need to work), pensioners (over 67), full-time parents and students. I also presume it it excludes those who are actually unemployed but able and willing to work. So these are relatively young people (i.e. not older people in their seventies hoping but unable due to ill-health to take on say a part-time job). Again I presume that the figure also excludes people who have had say a serious accident and are on the road to recovery.

So my question is, is this figure significant? Could it be a reflection of the poor state of cycling in the country? Is it a result of people not doing enough Michael Mosley Just One Things? Is it diet? Is it exercise? I would have thought that industrial illness and disease are far less than they were. Is it the failure of the National Health Service to achieve higher levels of health?

My own focus now I'm 70 tends to be health in older age when of course there are other issues and any measure of health is something to be celebrated. So I'm wondering what is going on. BTW while there are no doubt a few malingerers in this figure, I firmly believe that nearly all are genuine and deserving of government support.

Any views or perspectives on this?
by horizon
5 Feb 2024, 11:56am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Interchangeability of nutted axles and QR forks and vice versa
Replies: 16
Views: 1940

Re: Interchangeability of nutted axles and QR forks and vice versa

Just running through/summarising the options again:

1. Use a 9mm QR willy-nilly in the 10mm drop-out and tighten well.

2. File a 10mm axle down on two sides to 9mm (.5mm per side) but insert the axle always on the correct side (flats for 9mm, threads for 10mm) depending on the drop-out.

3. Bulk out a 9mm axle with tape in the 10mm drop-out, remove tape for use in a 9mm drop-out.

4. Use a short section of 1mm thick alu tubing as an adaptor for the 9mm axle in the 10mm drop-out. I'm presuming that the "tube" has to be no longer than the width of the drop-out in order to allow the QR to grip the fork against the hub. So effectively this would be a thick (2mm?) 10mm "washer" with a 9mm hole (if I'm right). Or several washers of course. Hmmm.

5. Filing down the 9mm drop-outs. I've decided against this as it means filing down all the drop-outs where I might want to use the wheel rather than one or two axles at most. I'm going to go with addressing the issue at the axle.

6. Changing the 10mm forks: these are on the cheap, serviceable Die Hard and seems a waste of time and money. Giving up on the interchangeabilty and just going for one or other is also a possible strategy.
by horizon
3 Feb 2024, 8:38pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Interchangeability of nutted axles and QR forks and vice versa
Replies: 16
Views: 1940

Re: Interchangeability of nutted axles and QR forks and vice versa

Brucey wrote: 3 Feb 2024, 8:30pm not too difficult.
:D For some!

Other people suggest using the 9 mm QR willy-nilly in the 10mm drop-outs. I'm also wondering whether they could be padded out with some sort of tape just to get a snug fit.

Having said that, I'm not greatly happy with either idea.
by horizon
3 Feb 2024, 8:10pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Interchangeability of nutted axles and QR forks and vice versa
Replies: 16
Views: 1940

Re: Interchangeability of nutted axles and QR forks and vice versa

Brucey wrote: 3 Feb 2024, 7:21pm font dropouts of 9mm and a 10mm for rears has been the de facto standard for the last 50 years or so.
I've been looking through my pile of old 26" front wheels and took a couple off other bikes. All were 9mm. And yet the bike I'm interested in, an old Dawes Die Hard circa 1992, has 10mm drop outs. How rare is that?

I want to be able to interchange a new wheel between two bikes, one with 9mm drop-outs and this one with 10mm drop-outs. The wheel can have either a 9 or 10 mm axle. As things stand, AIUI I have to choose between one or the other!

BTW, I started this thread originally because of the possible differences between nutted and QR axles but what I see now is that the real issue was axle diameter.
by horizon
3 Feb 2024, 5:18pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Interchangeability of nutted axles and QR forks and vice versa
Replies: 16
Views: 1940

Re: Interchangeability of nutted axles and QR forks and vice versa

Sorry to drag this one up from the past but I've come across a 9mm QR in a 10 mm fork drop out. This will be swapped out ASAP. I take it that this is the right thing to do.

But the other question is: would a new 10 mm axle (nutted/QR) fit on another bike with a 9 mm QR drop out? Or would it be a case of filing the fork drop outs? Or just trying it out (I don't have a 10 mm axle to hand).
by horizon
2 Feb 2024, 4:01pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Replacing a CR18 rim with an Exal EX17
Replies: 13
Views: 721

Re: Replacing a CR18 rim with an Exal EX17

Brucey wrote: 1 Feb 2024, 3:52pm
horizon wrote:.....In any case, if I am right it still means new spokes.
Surely it just means shorter spokes? IME this is readily achieved if you have a spoke thread roller; maybe now is the right time to get one?
It's a great idea although it would be about £130 for the roller and cutting heads. I would still need to cut the spokes to length, would I not? I'm a bit concerned that all that cutting and rolling might be beyond the limits of what is acceptable in MrsH's kitchen. Ordering them from Spa would be a lot easier :D (But then so would ordering the complete wheel, horizon. Ed.).
by horizon
1 Feb 2024, 12:40pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Replacing a CR18 rim with an Exal EX17
Replies: 13
Views: 721

Re: Replacing a CR18 rim with an Exal EX17

Thanks slowster. The Hope rim is double the price of the Exal so it makes getting new spokes OK with an Exal. I like the Exal because I've chosen the components to be as bog-standard as possible but fit for purpose.

In checking out the Hope, I've already learnt some more about sizing etc and rim quality so it's all good. :)

I'll be checking out the existing rim again soon to look at current spoke disposition as you suggest.