Search found 1472 matches

by AndyK
25 Mar 2024, 12:18pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.
Replies: 195
Views: 24380

Re: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.

cycleruk wrote: 25 Mar 2024, 11:59am I clicked on Chainreaction / Wiggle this morning and the name "Evens" pops up.
Evans has been owned by Mike Ashley's Fraser Group for several years now. My guess is that when the new Chain Reaction/Wiggle websites appear, they will be selling exactly the same stuff at the same prices as Evans does.
by AndyK
20 Mar 2024, 1:03am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: ...a safe way to turn a bike over
Replies: 34
Views: 1610

Re: ...a safe way to turn a bike over

Here's one option: the rolling-backward somersault technique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoZezpvn3eg
As a bonus, the first half of this technique is also the best way to get a bike safely balanced vertically on the back wheel, controlled by the back brake. This in turn happens to be the best way both to manoeuvre the bike through a narrow space (e.g. past the wheely bins in the side alley) and to get the bike in position ready to hang it from a hook on the wall. So you're really learning three useful techniques for the price of one! The final bit of the somersault isn't as simple as he makes out but it's fine with a little practice. Key to it is holding the brake firmly as you go.

For the OP's purposes maybe the volunteers could work in pairs? One uses this technique to roll the bike back and up to the vertical position, balanced on its back wheel - but no further. They hold it in position while the other volunteer examines the bottom bracket and notes the number, then the bike is lowered gently to the ground again.

Personally I use the technique Mick F describes to flip my bike over from the side because it's quick. The trick is in reaching far enough down that you're below the centre of gravity, so that the bike naturally rotates as soon as you lift it off the ground. It minimises the height you have to lift it to and the time spent lifting. I've taught this technique to basic roadside repair classes and it's fine for most people with reasonably light bikes, but to be avoided for anyone with back problems and/or a hefty e-bike. (There's been a boom in sales of powered-lifting workstands to bike repair shops recently, thanks to all the e-bikes. Better to spend a few grand on a fancy powered stand than have your chief mechanic off work for a few weeks.) The video linked above does a good job of getting round the back issues.

In reality I avoid turning my bike upside down at all if I can help it. It's very rarely necessary. I certainly don't do it for roadside punctures. It either gets propped up against a fence, laid down carefully on its left side or handed to a friend to hold while I work on the wheel.
by AndyK
19 Mar 2024, 11:29am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Would it be unreasonable … ?
Replies: 42
Views: 1693

Re: Would it be unreasonable … ?

Bonefishblues wrote: 19 Mar 2024, 7:57am I think a small tut could be used to good effect, or perhaps a shrug if you want to really drive home your discontent. That'll do the trick.
For best effect combine it with a muttered "Well, really!" They'll be devastated. :-)
by AndyK
18 Mar 2024, 11:32pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Would it be unreasonable … ?
Replies: 42
Views: 1693

Re: Would it be unreasonable … ?

Nicholas wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 6:09pm
AndyK wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 4:44pm
AndyK's house rule: If you put your $*&^-off big trillion-lumen front light into flashing mode while you're on my ride, you will find your light being used to illuminate that place where the sun don't shine.
Yeah right. What you actually mean is you very politely ask everyone before the ride starts to switch lights to constant or turn them off.
Actually no, I have used those exact words on many occasions. Ask anyone who's been on my Wednesday night rides. (Except I don't use the word $*&^ 'cos I'm polite like that.) It varies, though. If I'm in a good mood I may simply threaten to tear the light from any offender's handlebars and jump up and down on it repeatedly on it while shouting "Make it stop, make it stop." (This is all covered on the advanced ride leader course.)
by AndyK
18 Mar 2024, 5:05pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Would it be unreasonable … ?
Replies: 42
Views: 1693

Re: Would it be unreasonable … ?

Jdsk wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 4:52pm
AndyK wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 4:44pm ...
AndyK's house rule: If you put your $*&^-off big trillion-lumen front light into flashing mode while you're on my ride, you will find your light being used to illuminate that place where the sun don't shine.
I had previously misunderstood "end up in the canal".

; - )

Jonathan
Alimentary, my dear Jdsk; alimentary.
by AndyK
18 Mar 2024, 4:44pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Would it be unreasonable … ?
Replies: 42
Views: 1693

Re: Would it be unreasonable … ?

nirakaro wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 4:29pm I went for a nice ride along the towpath today, sunny afternoon, lovely quiet space, everything just starting to burst into leaf. The only (small) fly in the ointment was the occasional cyclist coming towards me with a dazzling flashing front light. There’s always one or two. I mean. Part of the reason for going to such places is to get away for a bit from that twenty-first-century sensory overload; so would I be out of order, or over the top, or unreasonable if I stopped them, pointed out the incongruity, and politely suggested that they turn it off?
I generally go for throwing one arm across my eyes and screaming "AAAGH! MY EYES! THE PAIN! I CAN'T SEE!!! MAKE THE FLASHING LIGHTS GO AWAY!!!"

But each to their own. :-)

When I lead member group evening rides in the summer, regulars know that there are just two house rules.:

The Winchester CTC house rule: After dusk, make sure your rear light is on steady mode, not flashing.

AndyK's house rule: If you put your $*&^-off big trillion-lumen front light into flashing mode while you're on my ride, you will find your light being used to illuminate that place where the sun don't shine.
by AndyK
18 Mar 2024, 11:40am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: How to Move saddlepack further back
Replies: 5
Views: 409

Re: How to Move saddlepack further back

Is it a strap-on bag (oo-er) or does it use Topeak's QuickClip attachment system? If it's a QuickClip bag then this may do the job: Topeak F33. It's sold as being for sprung saddles, but it looks like an extended version of the standard bracket so it should work with a standard saddle 0 as the review on that page seems to confirm. There's also an even longer Fixer 1A if you're desperate.
F33
F33
16015.jpg (6.22 KiB) Viewed 186 times
standard bracket
standard bracket
27977.jpg (7.9 KiB) Viewed 186 times
Fixer 1A
Fixer 1A
16014.jpg (5.66 KiB) Viewed 186 times
by AndyK
15 Mar 2024, 6:37pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.
Replies: 195
Views: 24380

Re: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.

Bonzo Banana wrote: 15 Mar 2024, 6:11pm Marin has been for quite a few years a Indonesian brand as it was bought by Insera Sena who also have their own inhouse brand Polygon.
Citation needed, as they say on Wikipedia. The only reference I can find for that statement is another thread on this very forum 5 years ago. According to press reports Marin were bought by European-based investment company Minestone in 2012 and I can't see anything since to say that's changed.
by AndyK
12 Mar 2024, 10:12pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Filthy bridleway
Replies: 61
Views: 2741

Re: Filthy bridleway

pwa wrote: 12 Mar 2024, 10:31am
If the track discussed here were just a bridleway, I'd be inclined to say that the mud is just something to put up with at this time of year, if the landowner isn't minded to allow upgrading. The law does not require bridleways to be cyclable. But as it is in fact restricted byway, the legal situation may be different. I don't know.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.9473616 ... ?entry=ttu
This looks like the area concerned.

Maybe this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhby3SjzsZw
That's the one. Your Streetview pegman is standing on the border between Southampton City Council and Hampshire County Council. If you turn it around 180 degrees and go a few clicks south, you'll find yourself on a surfaced public road maintained by SCC.

Practical differences between bridleways and restricted byways (RBs) as I understand it:
  • Horse-drawn carriages may use RBs.
  • RBs may not be ploughed up for planting, whereas bridleways and footpaths may be. (Highways Act 1980. Should be restored within 14 days.)
  • Different minimum width requirements. Default minimum width for a bridleway that's not along a field edge is 2m. RBs, Byways Open To All Traffic (BOATs) and bridleways along a field edge must be at least 3m wide. (HA 1980 again)
That width requirement may be overridden for individual paths by the Definitive Statement recorded by the council, which describes each right of way in writing. The Definitive Statement for this path describes it as being 8ft wide for most of its length, but that statement hasn't been updated since 2008 so it doesn't reflect the path's change of status. (Yes, the rights-of-way team probably has something of a backlog...)

Otherwise, much the same. The landowner has no responsibility to maintain the surface to a particular standard. If the council were to adopt it as a maintained road - even an "unsurfaced" one - that would be different. But it would then be a highway, not just a right-of-way, and it would be the council's responsibility to look after it.

I think a lot of the confusion comes from the use of the word "byway", which has quite a loose definition in normal speech but a very limited one in law.
by AndyK
10 Mar 2024, 8:19pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Filthy bridleway
Replies: 61
Views: 2741

Re: Filthy bridleway

basingstoke123 wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 12:24am I also do not fully understand the difference between a public footpath and a 'normal' footpath within a town. Or a bridleway and a cycle path. You often get the odd public right of way in addition to all the usual footpaths (and very occasionally a cycle path). What's the difference? AFAIK the public rights of way existed before the area was developed and were never legally extinguished.

Public footpaths and bridleways are rights of way. Nothing more. They are great for leisure use, to explore the wonderful countryside that we have.

Generally they are not suitable for utility use such as commuting or getting to your local shops, whether walking or cycling.

To me, the issue is not that the bridleway is muddy but that there is a lack of a suitable cycle route (or footway?). I suspect that it will be unlikely to get a bridleway or public footpath improved, unless it is actually blocked. What is needed is a suitable cycle path and footpath which could run along the route of the bridleway.

Is the bridleway in HCC or Southampton? Is it an identified possible route in a relevant LCWIP? Could it be added?

Unfortunately HCC is not very cycling (or walking) friendly, although this is changing, slowly. The occasional major road scheme will now sometimes include cycle facilities with funding from central government. But there is no interest (or money) for anything minor.
It's in HCC territory (just). As soon as you cross the border into Southampton at the southern end, it becomes a tarmac road. At the northern end it also transforms into a tarmac road.

The relevant LCWIP is the Test Valley (South) LCWIP and as far as I can see it isn't identified as a route for development in that. The LCWIP recognises the importance of a properly-surfaced, safe cycle route to the Chilworth business park, but sadly not from that particular direction. It does propose a route from North Baddesley through to Chilworth vilage, passing through the science park on the way. Once you get to Chilworth village tyou're in Southampton City Council territory so it's presumably down to them.

To be fair, that route (no. 264 in the report) is in their top 5 high-priority routes, so there'/s every chance the nonexistent funding might go there first. :-)

If that route is established then it would offer a suitable route to Chilworth, but one that's not convenient for the OP or for anyone living on the west side of Southampton who wants to cycle-commute to the Science Park. That matters because it's a major employment area so it needs good active travel routes from surrounding towns and cities.
by AndyK
10 Mar 2024, 7:59pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Filthy bridleway
Replies: 61
Views: 2741

Re: Filthy bridleway

There are some good suggestions here about who to contact in general, but seriously, for this particular path I think Mykidsdad would be re-treading old ground. He's much better off contacting the local campaigners to start with to find out what's already happened, so he knows where to direct his efforts.
by AndyK
10 Mar 2024, 7:57pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Filthy bridleway
Replies: 61
Views: 2741

Re: Filthy bridleway

Mykidsdad wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 8:56am Also read a 1995 Hampshire CC report where it was proposed to redesignate the path as a restricted byway. Loved the determination shown by the landowner:

"I have been quietly working to try to stop cyclists from bicycling over the footpath, and at last the Forestry Commission have padlocked their gate. Mr Rathbone has approached the Administration Manager at the Chilworth Research Centre and asked for co-operation to inform their employees that they are not entitled to cycle along the track and this has had a considerable measure of success. I estimate I have reduced the incidents of bicycling from approximately a hundred a day to a hard core of about ten who dispute their right to cycle over the footpath.”

100 a day... Blimey.
Ah, but things moved on after that.

Here's a formal report to the HCC Regulatory Committee in 2013, recommending that the Definitive Map of rights of way be redrawn to show Lordswood Lane as a restricted byway, ratehr than a footpath. It provides a potted history of the path dating back to 1755 to support its conclusion, which (I believe) was accepted by the Committee - and that's why HCC's Definitive Map now shows it as a restricted byway, as do current OS maps. https://www.hants.gov.uk/get-decision-d ... f&type=pdf

Incidentally, when a council does this, it doesn't mean it's decided to "upgrade" the path's status. What it means is that someone (either the council itself or a "claimant") has amassed enough historical evidence to show that it's always been regarded as a byway (or bridleway etc.) over many years, and should have been shown as such on the Definitive Map to start with. Marking it as a footpath was a mistake, so the Definitive Map needs to be corrected.
by AndyK
9 Mar 2024, 4:06pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Filthy bridleway
Replies: 61
Views: 2741

Re: Filthy bridleway

You're talking about Lordswood Lane, yes? Running south-north across Chilworth Common and over the motorway? It's a bit out of my area but I think there's a history behind that piece of bridleway. (It's actually a restricted byway, by the way.) There may well be plans - probably unfunded at the moment - to do something with it. Worth contacting Cycling UK CAN local rep Jim Probert - I'm fairly sure he'll know more.. Contact link on the map halfway down this page: https://www.cyclinguk.org/cycle-campaig ... cy-network
by AndyK
8 Mar 2024, 12:01pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Cycle Show 2024 Cancelled. Alternatives
Replies: 18
Views: 1501

Re: Cycle Show 2024 Cancelled. Alternatives

bikepacker wrote: 4 Mar 2024, 11:09am
TrevA wrote: 4 Mar 2024, 10:15am I think the NEC one is still on.

https://nationalcyclingshow.com/

Though the last time I went, it was mostly obscure Chinese e-bikes, not much to interest the road and touring market.
The current exhibitors list doesn't inspire me to go.
For what it's worth, I just noticed that Cycling UK members can claim free weekend tickets for this show - up to two per member:

https://www.cyclinguk.org/member-benefi ... cling-show

... though I have to agree that the exhibitors list doesn't grab me either. Never heard of most of them. But if you happen to live in the area and can get a ticket for free, it might be worth a visit. You never know, there may be freebies! :-)
by AndyK
3 Mar 2024, 6:22pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Routing online or via "knowledge" ?
Replies: 30
Views: 1977

Re: Routing online or via "knowledge" ?

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