Search found 50 matches

by Yael
3 Nov 2012, 7:39pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Euphoria
Replies: 3
Views: 2887

Euphoria

I just need to share this glimmer of hope, optimism and insane stupidity -

I went to the corner shop for milk half an hour ago, and saw a "stolen bike - reward" on the door. Now, I usually read them anyway, but I also noticed the name at the bottom was my ex-housemate's brother's, M, and I know some of his bikes, and he's a nice chap too. So I tried to memorise it, and he was good and provided a lot of information. It probably helped that he'd built this bike over a few years so knew exactly what components were on it. I walked out of the shop, and ten metres down the road saw another note, so thought I'd look at the list of components again, just to make sure I remembered them. I walked another twenty metres and got to the door of his office building, where the bike was stolen from (a communal bike shed), and saw another note. I thought, "maybe I should ring him and check whether he'd put the details on the local stolen bikes blog? Nah, I can check at home, no point ringing him on a Saturday night and rubbing it in". Twenty more metres, there's another corner shop with two Sheffield stand outside, and a familiar looking Giant VT. Hold on. Check the forks, rims, front brake, tyres, bars, seatpost. Rear brake doesn't match the note, the rest does. How many Giant VTs hang about a dodgy part of town with a cheap d-lock on a Saturday night?
Ten minutes later, he's standing there and staring at his bike, then giving me a massive hug. I suggest he rings the police to inform them he'd found the bike and we're going to cut the lock. While we're trying to work out the details of cutting the lock, a guy approaches us. "Alright, mate?". He'd got the bike from his mate who works in the same office building, and told him no one was using it. He has no idea how much the bike costs, he's not really into bikes, he's intrigued when told it's not really a great bike for riding round the neighbourhood, and he gets his back up when M tries to find out who it was that gave him the bike. He's been fairly straight with us, really, and he's more stupid than evil I suppose, so I just point out to him his friend could have got us in a lot of trouble and he's quite lucky we hadn't called the police yet. He unlocks the bike, and we wheel it away. I leave M in the lobby of his office building, jumping up and down in joy, and walk back home with a stupid grin.

Just needed to share that...
by Yael
1 Nov 2012, 10:05pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Brain of Britain?
Replies: 2
Views: 3665

Re: Brain of Britain?

I'm curious - did you collect them yourself? (If so, how long did it take you? Do you keep a little notebook by the side of the telly/radio just in case?)
by Yael
29 Oct 2012, 3:44pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Advice following a bad fall.
Replies: 10
Views: 1651

Re: Advice following a bad fall.

I've got at least two of them. PM me with address if you want 'em :)
by Yael
28 Oct 2012, 9:15pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Advice following a bad fall.
Replies: 10
Views: 1651

Re: Advice following a bad fall.



Is this the broken bit you were after, Always Learning? If so, hold off from buying it - I'll have a look at work tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I have one lying about you're more than welcome to. If I don't let you know tomorrow, remind me on PM, my memory is a little dysfunctional at the moment.
by Yael
17 Oct 2012, 8:40pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Riding with a team
Replies: 13
Views: 7835

Re: Riding with a team

Claireysmurf wrote:I have just been told that I have won a training ride with the Rapha Condor race team, organised by the Skoda dealer from whom I bought my car.
The ride is from Newport, up over Caerphilly mountain and back to Newport. The guy at the dealership said the target time was 2h for 45 miles. I will die. I did point that out to him!


That's what you get for buying a Skoda! (pronounced shkoda, which means "damage" or "pity", as in "that's a pity", in Czech, the native language of the car). With a name like that, what else can you expect?
It joins the great hall of fame of cars with unmarketable names - Chevrolet Nova, Mazda LaPuta, Mitsubishi Pajero, Nisan Moco, Honda Fitta, and several others. The only one I can actually translate here is Kia (which means 'vomit' in col. Hebrew).
by Yael
22 Sep 2012, 7:00pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Tyre trouble is it serious?
Replies: 12
Views: 2734

Re: Tyre trouble is it serious?

531colin wrote:New tyres when/if (in no particular order

Too many holes in the tread,
Too many punctures
Distorted casing...bulges, wriggles left/right on the rim
canvas showing through
chafing strip damaged (leads to casing damage)


I believe you've left out "I think I cycled through a puddle of red paint, very odd, I don't remember it happening" and its counterparts "oooh I wonder what this black bubble poking through the tyre is, do you think I need to patch it?" and "bang!"

:)
by Yael
22 Sep 2012, 11:47am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Touring Negev Israel
Replies: 5
Views: 9674

Re: Touring Negev Israel

Oh, and I obviously forgot one of the most important things, but this is probably better posted in public view where it might come in handy for someone else: February is the end of the winter there. The weather can be quite random and temperatures vary (it gets cold in the desert at night, too). Last winter was very harsh and unusually wet, started late and ended later than usual. Flash floods can be a very serious risk in this area, both on- and off-road (deep, narrow wadis, slow to drain, combined with very heavy rains, and it can catch you by surprise). Make sure you know what the local conditions are and if you are on your own, make sure someone knows where you're going if it's likely to happen. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, there's always a poor soul stuck in a car, sailing away... low probability of it happening to you, but easy enough to prepare for and avoid.

Have fun!

[edited for early Saturday morning phrasing]
by Yael
21 Sep 2012, 7:37pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Touring Negev Israel
Replies: 5
Views: 9674

Re: Touring Negev Israel

PM on way :)
by Yael
14 Sep 2012, 9:56pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Free mini toothpaste, perfect for a short tour - act quick
Replies: 13
Views: 5626

Re: Free mini toothpaste, perfect for a short tour - act qui

I go to the see my dentist once or twice a year (which isn't bad, considering she's in a different continent). I've had the same dentist for more than 10 years now, and she usually stocks me up with small toothpaste tubes, although last time I was there I only got two, because she was down to three tubes and was saving one for one of the other regulars, who was going to walk the Pyrenees later that summer. On the one occasion I had to visit the dentist in the UK, they gave me a small toothpaste tube, but I got the feeling it was less in appreciation of my leisure activities and more, well, a lame reward for making an effort and visiting the dentist.

But maybe I should have realised long ago that visiting the dentist is false economy, it's much cheaper on ebay... :)
by Yael
27 Aug 2012, 11:25pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Lusso ht70 Jacket
Replies: 3
Views: 2002

Re: Lusso ht70 Jacket

I bought one as a present for someone who is known as The Destroyer. He's had it for almost a year now, which is about three or four Reasonable Person years. Still looks good, performs really well for the price and seems to get less sweaty than my Gore Paclite. If they made a jacket that's cut for women, I'd get one myself for day-to-day use, but it's a bit heavy and bulky to carry unless you're actually wearing it.
A friend of mine had an older model (HT50?) and the zip broke after a year, but he was so pleased with it otherwise that he just bought the same again - and the new one had a different zip design which is holding out well so far.
by Yael
12 Jul 2012, 11:21pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Inverness - Ullapool
Replies: 2
Views: 3643

Re: Inverness - Ullapool

Not quite what you're asking, but maybe of some help? I rode Ullapool-Dingwall last August, coming off the ferry just before 4pm (don't remember what day it was, but I think it was mid-week) and trying to catch the last train from Garve just after 6pm. It was fairly quiet, loads of space from overtaking cars and caravans, even on the evil hill that made me stop and eat half a kilo of yogurt to lighten my load. Spending the night on a flattened cardboard box outside Inverness station wasn't half as fun, even though the guard was amazing and locked up bikes and gear in a store room to make it easier to trawl the streets between midnight and 4am, when the station re-opened :)
by Yael
28 Jun 2012, 5:54pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Quality Bike Shop/Service
Replies: 11
Views: 2632

Re: Quality Bike Shop/Service

I've been recommended Bike Yard East, at the Hackney City Farm - http://www.bikeyardeast.com/

Edit: the Forum Monster just ate most of my editing attempt, so this will be a shorter version... If she does want to learn a bit before going away, there's a few less corporate and cheaper options, too - I know of at least two in London:

London Bike Kitchen http://www.lbk.org.uk/ (they do a women and gender-variant night on Mondays)

56A http://www.56a.org.uk/bikeworkshop.html

Getting a decent bike shop to do the repair and then doing a lot of your own maintenance afterwards is a pretty good option, but the most important skill is to be able to recognise when something is wrong with your bike (and fixing a puncture, maybe), and to know your own limits. You can pick that up relatively quickly without breaking too much in the process...
by Yael
21 Jun 2012, 7:50pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Ultimate reliable bike
Replies: 66
Views: 6575

Re: Ultimate reliable bike

Claireysmurf wrote:How on earth did this thread about belt driven bikes go off on such a tangent and such an ironic one


I don't know, but I feel it could further benefit from a link to Sheldon's special chain cleaning regime:
http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

And maybe I'm not reading it right, but is the main reason for the belt drive the muck in the chain? Even your current bike can take a chainguard, and if you have a hub-geared bike you could go with a fully-enclosed chaincase; would that be a reasonable solution?
by Yael
20 Jun 2012, 2:54pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Well today I learned...
Replies: 7
Views: 5763

Re: Well today I learned...

theenglishman wrote:...not to push the chain pin all the way out - cos getting it started again is a bugger. That or a buy a better chain pin remover.

Anyone else learned a bit of spannering know how today?


Step 1 Go to your LBS, buy a quicklink and fit it
Step 2 Stop sneering at other people who pay someone to do a better job than they would've done
Step 3 Bad karma should wear off by lunchtime tomorrow :)
by Yael
8 Jun 2012, 12:15am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Bikes On Trains
Replies: 40
Views: 19078

Re: Bikes On Trains

Tasker wrote:Just had this rather depressing reply from Midland Trains:

Thank you for your e-mail.
...

Sorry about that.

Yours sincerely,

Carl A Knight
Customer Relations Advisor





Cropping it like that might make you feel better :)

And here, I've copied a couple of paragraphs from First Great Western's well of wisdom (original cause for complaint was one year ago):

...I'd like to explain why we have restrictions on the carriage of cycles on our services.

We keep our cycle policy under review, trying to achieve the best balance for all our customers. We really do want to help cycle owners but we face two problems with carrying cycles on our trains. The first is that even if there is space on the train, loading and unloading the cycles takes time and increases the risk of a delay. Each train has an allocated pathway and even the smallest delay can cause this to be missed. This can then have a knock on effect on other local and national services throughout the day and can escalate into something surprisingly significant.

We must also consider the comfort of our customers and that we are primarily a passenger service. We are acutely aware that crowding is an issue on some peak trains and we are doing all we can with the resources available to reduce this. Due to a national shortage of rolling stock, we are currently unable to lease any extra trains or carriages, and some trains do carry standing passengers.

...

Our Train Managers also have the right to refuse cycles on trains where they are permitted or if too many cycles are onboard must ensure the service is safe for passengers, based on their view of the situation at the time. If there's no space or it might cause a delay, they have the right to refuse. Whilst I appreciate that this fluid situation is not ideal when you're a cyclist, carrying cycles is a complimentary service we choose to try and provide. The bottom line is that our core business is passengers, and their majority interests will always come first.


Complimentary. Choose to try and provide. You're not a passenger if you're carrying a bike. There, you have it in writing.