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by rareposter
28 Mar 2024, 9:58pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: touring wheels upgrade
Replies: 75
Views: 2900

Re: touring wheels upgrade

FWIW, I think 36H wheels are a hangover from the days when rims were all 17mm wide, rim braked, shallow section and the extra spokes were the only way to improve strength.

I've done events in Belgium across the Flanders cobbles on my road bike with 24h carbon rims (averaging 40kph) with no issues at all, my current MTB has 28h alloy rims and it sees impacts and speeds way in excess of what an average tourer would get. OK, the tyres are considerably larger too but wheels now - with disc brakes, thru axles, triangular cross sections etc - are way stronger and more durable than any of the old narrow rim stuff of yesteryear in spite of the oft-mentioned (and IMO wildly overhyped) concerns about dishing.
by rareposter
28 Mar 2024, 5:34pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Calculate avg speed on a flat ride
Replies: 8
Views: 287

Re: Calculate avg speed on a flat ride

uhhu wrote: 28 Mar 2024, 4:45pm It's London to Amsterdam and will have a day where we do 1500m elevation.
It'll be the headwind that the issue. not the elevation! ;-)
by rareposter
28 Mar 2024, 5:12pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: GPX devices...Garmin alternative
Replies: 31
Views: 1160

Re: GPX devices...Garmin alternative

Milfred Cubicle wrote: 28 Mar 2024, 4:55pm Many thanks for the replies. Lots of food for thought.
I originally went with an Etrex for one simple reason London Edinburgh London 2013. I used the cue sheets, which are fine until it's dark and wet...must have lost a couple of hours through stopping to read the sheet or flip it. So I though, next big Audax, go for gps.
The Etrex was for one simple reason...AA batteries. Dead handy.
The new ones are WAY better than anything from that era. Also the eTrex is designed for hiking where the lag and slow response of the map page is less of an issue. Plus modern ones will easily do 30+hrs on a single battery charge and can be recharged easily from a powerbank on the move.

Regarding plugging it in - all units will need a connection to "home base" at some point, that's how they get map updates. It's done through Garmin Express (a separate, but related, portal to Garmin Connect).
Milfred Cubicle wrote: 28 Mar 2024, 4:55pm Basically I'd like to be able to:

1. Find a nice gpx file online and save it to my phone.
2. Ping it from my phone to the device, without it asking me which of several device files it shoukd go into.
3. Ride my bike, and it gives me a little chirp and an arrow 100m before a turn.
4. 8-12h battery, ideally with the facility to charge it from a poweebank without any huge docking station.
So my phone and laptop are linked (same login via Google). I can log into Strava on my laptop, create a route with all the big screen / website detail and functionality and hit save.
Next time I turn my Garmin on, the route appears there. I don't need to load it or send it or connect it, it's just there because my Strava is paired to my Garmin Connect account (so all routes created on Strava automatically carry across to Connect) and my phone is paired to my Garmin so whenever the Garmin is turned on, it'll sync to the phone, download any new routes and be good to go. The process is seamless and takes about 15 seconds.

Finishing the ride, I hit save on the Garmin and within a minute, the ride appears on my Strava feed. I don't have to physically *do* anything other than that.

And as mentioned, my Garmin will easily do 24hrs on a charge, probably up to 36 if I run it in battery save mode.
by rareposter
28 Mar 2024, 3:40pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Tiagra ST-4703 Shifter Not Working
Replies: 19
Views: 651

Re: Tiagra ST-4703 Shifter Not Working

mig wrote: 28 Mar 2024, 2:57pm i'll be concious of how many times i change gear after reading the above.
If you use Di2, it keeps track of all that for you. Number of gear changes, time in each gear ratio and so on.
Although if you use Di2, there's also no issue with cables snapping!

:lol:
by rareposter
28 Mar 2024, 1:27pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Calculate avg speed on a flat ride
Replies: 8
Views: 287

Re: Calculate avg speed on a flat ride

uhhu wrote: 28 Mar 2024, 11:50am I am doing a cycling tour and we are being split into groups. To go into the correct group, I have been asked for my "avg speed on a flat ride."

What would the flat road equivalent be? Or in the cycling world, 600m over 41km is relatively flat, and so this is the figure to go with?
What are the Tour company calling "flat"? Just asking cos I've seen tours aimed at the more leisurely cyclist where the longest day is ranked as "tough" at 60km with 400m climbing and tours aimed at club-level riders where the average distance is 180km a day and a "flat" day is around 2500m climbing (with a hilly day coming in at 4000m!) so it'd be good to get some idea of where your tour sits in that spectrum.

Also what are the speed options being offered to you? The ride leading I've done has usually benchmarked 12, 14 and 16mph as the approximate slow, medium, fast although it does allow a degree of flexibility for (eg) weather and traffic.

British Cycling produced a grading system for Sportives which looked at distance and climbing to produce a matrix of difficulty:

Image
by rareposter
28 Mar 2024, 8:13am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: GPX devices...Garmin alternative
Replies: 31
Views: 1160

Re: GPX devices...Garmin alternative

George goodyear wrote: 27 Mar 2024, 9:09pm What about RidewithGPS on your smart phone.
Can also be used to give spoken cues, eg turn right in 150 metres.
That's going off into the minefield of using a phone vs using a dedicated GPS as the nav device - there are pros and cons to both but as a general rule, the phone and GPS work together, linked by Bluetooth so the GPS uses the much more powerful processing power and connectivity of the phone to do route calculations initially and then the navigation can be left to the usually smaller, neater, much more robust and weatherproof GPS unit.

You can set them to give audible warnings for turns etc (I switch mine off because I find them very annoying) but it won't do spoken directions. Although personally I'd regard that as massive overkill - in the usually faster moving environment of a car where taking your eyes off the road to look at a screen is a bad idea, spoken satnav instructions are great but on a bike where it's a lot easier to look at the screen and where junctions, turns etc don't come at you as fast, it's not needed (IMO).
by rareposter
27 Mar 2024, 3:31pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: GPX devices...Garmin alternative
Replies: 31
Views: 1160

Re: GPX devices...Garmin alternative

carlislemike wrote: 27 Mar 2024, 3:11pm Yup folded map in waterproof case has been my default but recently used the iPhone. Tempted by using it as default and I think I can use my saved Cycle Travel routes on it. Simple question, can I load CT routes onto Garmin or other devices?
All the route planning apps / websites offer the option to export the route as .gpx or .tcx, both of which work perfectly with all the head units. I prefer .tcx, it gives more comprehensive turn-by-turn guidance on Garmin (it's part of Garmin's "Training Centre" software) although it's an opensource format.
by rareposter
26 Mar 2024, 4:03pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Tiagra ST-4703 Shifter Not Working
Replies: 19
Views: 651

Re: Tiagra ST-4703 Shifter Not Working

Jim77 wrote: 26 Mar 2024, 3:42pm Any thoughts?
Try hot water.
Sometimes the grease in there solidifies and normal oil (like WD40) won't shift it. Pour very hot water slowly into and around the mechanism. Using something like a teapot with a narrow spout helps ensure you don't end up with water everywhere! (as does taking the whole shifter off the bike).

Once it's free, dry it off, spray WD40 in there and reconnect it all.
by rareposter
26 Mar 2024, 9:21am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.
Replies: 195
Views: 24396

Re: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.

JohnR wrote: 26 Mar 2024, 8:14am The upside of that delivery charge is that other cycling retailers will see more business going in their direction.
It's been in place at Evans for decades.
Used to get customers ordering in loads of stock from.the warehouse, it'd be picked, packed into a van, delivered to the store, unpacked, sorted, the customer would be notified that [thing] had arrived...

And they'd never come back. It was costing huge amounts of time, effort and money to move stock around, keep track of it, stop it getting damaged etc all for a few tyre kickers who'd never come back.

Putting a nominal charge on it cut that dramatically. It's often quietly "refunded" through discounts at point of sale anyway.
by rareposter
25 Mar 2024, 1:05pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: touring wheels upgrade
Replies: 75
Views: 2900

Re: touring wheels upgrade

You don't really need maths to prove anything though. Put some 2.5kg wheels on a bike, go and ride up a hill.
Replace the wheels (keeping the same tyres/pressures etc) with a pair weighing 1.5kg , go and ride up the same hill at the same power.

The lighter wheels will feel better (which is a bit subjective) and will be measurably faster (which is purely objective).

There's a reason that performance wheels are lighter and it's not all marketing or snake oil!

OK, for touring I'd probably prioritise reliability and standard parts over purely lightweight but it'd still be a consideration even once a bike is loaded with touring gear.
by rareposter
25 Mar 2024, 12:53pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.
Replies: 195
Views: 24396

Re: Cycle Retail In Meltdown.

AndyK wrote: 25 Mar 2024, 12:18pm 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.
Be interesting to see what happens to CRC's in-house brands like Vitus, Nukeproof and Prime.
by rareposter
25 Mar 2024, 8:55am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Huntingdon: Angry pedestrian guilty of killing cyclist
Replies: 244
Views: 15337

Re: Huntingdon: Angry pedestrian guilty of killing cyclist

Valbrona wrote: 25 Mar 2024, 3:36am As tragic as it was, I can't think of any crime that the defendant committed.
Other than the minor one of (inadvertently) killing a person. 🤷🏻‍♂️
by rareposter
23 Mar 2024, 8:09pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: GPX devices...Garmin alternative
Replies: 31
Views: 1160

Re: GPX devices...Garmin alternative

Milfred Cubicle wrote: 23 Mar 2024, 5:10pm I'm not a techno Luddite...it just seems like Garmin are way behind when it comes to intuitive interfaces.
Newer ones are much better. The older ones were terrible.

Pair it up with the smartphone app, get it all synced to Strava then use Strava for route planning (cos it's way better than Garmin Connect) and it'll just push the route direct to the unit in seconds. It doesn't need plugging in, you don't need to open folders.
Same in reverse - ride the route, press save and Connect feeds it through to Strava.
by rareposter
23 Mar 2024, 10:15am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Is this terminal?
Replies: 50
Views: 2512

Re: Is this terminal?

531colin wrote: 23 Mar 2024, 8:22am I have never owned a pair of Shimano road STIs, but I notice the bike in question has “washing lines”, and the OP tells us the bikes owner doesn’t do her own maintenance.
Does this mean the bike is approaching the end of its economic life anyway?
I think so - I didn't really want to say it but I suspect that stripping it for parts is going to be near worthless. Those parts are 10 years old so probably worn out or obsolete or both unless the OP has a similar vintage bike that could take some of them.
by rareposter
23 Mar 2024, 7:41am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Is this terminal?
Replies: 50
Views: 2512

Re: Is this terminal?

cycle tramp wrote: 22 Mar 2024, 9:07pm Don't cut carbon fibre! There's more information now on the web that once carbon fibre dust enters your lungs it behaves in the same way as asbestos. Don't cut it, don't crush it.
Fair point, I meant cut the metal part of the frame (only the seatstays and forks are carbon) but I should have clarified, apologies.
Carlton green wrote: 22 Mar 2024, 11:43pm That’s only partially correct, sorry if you misunderstood.
# I would prefer the trader to be, to the limit of their knowledge, perfectly honest in their judgement and in their ability to judge.
# When a dealer doesn’t know whether an item is unsafe or not then he should say so.
# When a trader says that something is dangerous then he should do so in honesty and use expertise to validate that judgement.
# Some traders will choose to give customers false or misleading information in order to make another sale, not all but certainly some and I’ve met too many of the some. That’s fraud and such dealers give others a bad name and should be dragged before the courts … but it won’t happen.
It won't happen because it's fairly subjective, impossible to prove one way or the other and most dealers are not out to rob you blind or force another sale on you anyway. And as Colin correctly says, if there's any doubt at all, the part should be treated as unsafe until proven otherwise.

Since proving it safe beyond all reasonable doubt is likely to involve X-raying the frame, you're into cost barriers that are beyond economic reason.