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by pjclinch
17 Mar 2024, 3:44pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Touring shoes for bunions and wide feet
Replies: 15
Views: 446

Re: Touring shoes for bunions and wide feet

SD5 sandals for me too.
Shimano shoes are far too narrow for me, but with the sandals you just expand what upper there is by loosening the straps.

Pete.
by pjclinch
17 Mar 2024, 11:24am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: last second ebay bidding
Replies: 51
Views: 2398

Re: last second ebay bidding

fastpedaller wrote: 17 Mar 2024, 11:13am
deeferdonk wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 11:29am More perplexing to me is when you see a couple of other bidders have a bit of a bidding war when there's still a week/ages left on the auction, driving up the price early on. Why don't you just wait till closer to the end and/or put your max bid in?

Must have admit I have let out an evil laugh on the couple of times when i have seen this happen and then snipe and win the auction at the last minute.
I've seen items with many days left with (say) £5 on the bid. Thinking the item is worth £70 to me, I've sent the seller a note "I'm happy to pay £50 for the immediate purchase of this item" . This approach has been successful (and on others the seller has said they'll let the auction run. I don't know if making an early offer is now 'allowed' on Ebay. They change the rules so often. Frustratingly they really make it difficult sometimes...... A few years ago I wanted to send hi-res photos of a bike to the prospective buyer but he couldn't send me his email or 'phone number to make this possible.
An offer is a specific option, seen as "make an offer" if the seller has chosen that facility. You put in an offer, the seller can reject or make a counter-offer.

Pete.
by pjclinch
15 Mar 2024, 5:56pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Dangerous mudguards
Replies: 37
Views: 3294

Re: Dangerous mudguards

Pinhead wrote: 15 Mar 2024, 3:04pm I only use these there are NO issues
My experience of crud catchers and high floating mudguards is an issue of the much less effective as mudguards than something closer in.

On my MTB having the rear guard underneath a rack gives it plenty of mud clearance, keeps it in place, and helps it stop me getting covered in mud. Plus the rack makes carrying stuff a lot easier.

Pete.
by pjclinch
14 Mar 2024, 2:37pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Dangerous mudguards
Replies: 37
Views: 3294

Re: Dangerous mudguards

A while ago now the Moulton mailing list had a pic of a bike that was being ridden in a fatal rider-only, no obvious cause crash, and folk were trying to work out what happened.

My first thought was the picture (IIRC taken by police) was they'd photographed it with the front forks twisted around 180 degrees because of the angle of the front wheel... bit I was wrong. The mudguard had got detached and got trapped by the stays, locking the wheel so hard the fork legs were bent back significantly (this would be where the rider had gone over the bars, tragically breaking their neck fatally).

It did bring home to me why the likes of SKS have detachable stays. I have those on my tourer and Moulton (general purpose hack) and they're not in the habit of popping out when they shouldn't.

Pete.
by pjclinch
14 Mar 2024, 11:57am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Gore Windstopper Fabric(s)
Replies: 3
Views: 246

Re: Gore Windstopper Fabric(s)

toontra wrote: 14 Mar 2024, 11:10am I bought a Mavic-branded jacked made with Gore "Shakedry" fabric. It's ridiculously light but reckoned to be waterproof yet very breathable (the holy grail). It came with a warning not to use with rucksacks or other contact equipment as there is no outer protective layer.

I haven't dared use it yet :lol: but will be useful for multi-day events where weight and space is at a premium (and I certainly won't have a rucksack with me!).
Shakedry is a unique amongst Gore's waterproof fabrics in that it is the Goretex membrane itself on the outside of the jacket rather than a face fabric it's laminated to (what your warning calls the protective layer).
What makes it even more worth being careful with it is they've stopped making it! (nasty chemicals in manufacturing rather than it's not a functional product).

Columbia do jackets in "Outdry" that have the membrane on the outside and no face fabric but those are quite a bit heftier than the Shakedry cycling gear.

Pete.
by pjclinch
14 Mar 2024, 11:03am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Gore Windstopper Fabric(s)
Replies: 3
Views: 246

Re: Gore Windstopper Fabric(s)

Valbrona wrote: 14 Mar 2024, 2:16am I've come across different types of Gore Windstopper fabric over the years. The latest incarnation seems to be 'Infinium', which strikes me as being particularly lightweight compared to early Windstopper fabric.

My question: Is there only one contemporary type of Gore Windstopper fabric? Infinium. Or are there a number of fangled variations.
The Infinium is a membrane laminated to a face fabric. With the current trend for lightweight kit the more common choices for the face fabric are very light, particularly in cycling kit, but the Infiinium can be laminated to chunkier fabrics and if you look at e.g. mountaineering suppliers there seems to be rather more robust stuff available too.

Pete.
by pjclinch
11 Mar 2024, 5:37pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: last second ebay bidding
Replies: 51
Views: 2398

Re: last second ebay bidding

Bonefishblues wrote: 11 Mar 2024, 9:33am
rareposter wrote: 11 Mar 2024, 9:11am
cyclop wrote: 11 Mar 2024, 7:48am Yes,I realise that but the point is that I had no chance whatsoever of upping my bid .
Which is exactly the point of the software!
Bid the maximum you're prepared to pay at first instance and let nature take its course, as it were.
We'll, quite. I've not had any trouble deciding how high I'm willing to go and putting that in. However late other bids are, if they're lower than my maximum I'll still get it and if they're higher then they get it because they're higher.

If you can't decide how high you'll go then I'd suggest it might be just as well if you don't have time to raise after a late bid!

Pete.
by pjclinch
11 Mar 2024, 12:39pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Knee protection please
Replies: 39
Views: 1726

Re: Knee protection please

cycle tramp wrote: 11 Mar 2024, 7:53am
Without asking the original poster themselves, I also suspect the majority of the time that they fall, is during low speed manoeuvres. If I am right then, it's not the issue of bike geometry or handling, but possibly an insufficient lack of momentum - in which case the solution is to develop the confidence to carry out these manoeuvres at a speed where balance is maintained.
This certainly fits in with my observations of the falls I see with my beginner mountain bikers. The most frequent offs are from lack of speed caused by lack of confidence resulting in a premature stop (whether from the terrain or the brakes doing the actual stopping) and that's when feet come off the pedals to stop a fall, but the rider tends to stay in the seat so the ground's a bit too far away resulting in sideways staggers and sometimes falls. We had a lad stop on a fairly benign path a couple of weeks ago and he staggered off the bike and fell in a ditch. As it was we could all laugh about it, but what if something like that happened before a right turn in traffic with cars passing either side?

I also see that confidence develops rather quicker where starting and stopping aren't a frequent embarrassing and potentially injurious fiasco, so ability to stop solid and stable at any time is a really good foundation.

Pete.
by pjclinch
10 Mar 2024, 2:37pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Knee protection please
Replies: 39
Views: 1726

Re: Knee protection please

mattsccm wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 2:11pm Assuming that the OP isn't prepared to change their habits (their prerogative,) surely the answer is so easy it didn't need the question?
Knee pads as sold by any shop, real or online , that sells MTB kit. Any more advice is silly as what fits one won't fit another be it size or price.
Not entirely., e.g. "I had some Brand X Model Y and though they fitted they fell to bits within a month and so did the replacement pair, same happened for my pal", "I have Models Y and Z and they work similarly but Z was 3 times the price" is potentially very useful if your pad-monger of choice is selling Brand X.

Pete.
by pjclinch
10 Mar 2024, 1:13pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Knee protection please
Replies: 39
Views: 1726

Re: Knee protection please

Cowsham wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 1:02pm Yes you've already said that but do you know of something with more padding at the knees ? -- I'm not an expert on this sort of stuff.
With the "all years of training and knowledge about mountain biking" you're attributing to me I suspect you haven't actually been paying much attention to what I've actually said about my experience.
The mountain biking I do is typically very basic stuff mostly with beginners for the training aspect, and touring for my own preferred mode, neither of which has any particular need of knee pads.

My expertise in training is primarily the fundamentals of control. This strikes me as an issue about the fundamentals of control, and that's why I'm putting my oar in about that.

Pete.
by pjclinch
10 Mar 2024, 12:54pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Knee protection please
Replies: 39
Views: 1726

Re: Knee protection please

Cowsham wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 12:20pm
pjclinch wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 10:20am
Standard risk management, PPE comes at the bottom of what to do, not having the problem in the first place is significantly better.

Reinforced knees on trousers are good against abrasion but don't take much away from an impact, so for some values of "help".
You're the boy that could give advice on which mtb trousers to use with all years of training and knowledge about mountain biking. There's bound to be something in a Lycra style legging with knee protection as well as the bum padding he could wear under his jeans for example.

The great thing about cycle leggings is that it keeps the padding in place better than just separate saddle pads/ covers so I'd expect built in knee pads have a similar advantage.
It doesn't say anything about built in knee pads in the link you shared, it says, "Reinforced 300 Denier polyfabric panels on the saddle area and on the knee for durability. That's a slightly thicker bit of fabric, not a pad. 300 denier is quite a bit thicker than typical riding trousers, but still less substantial than e.g. a typical rucksack fabric. It won't wear out or tear that easily, but it's not padding and will do nothing special to keep padding in place

Pete.
by pjclinch
10 Mar 2024, 12:15pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Knee protection please
Replies: 39
Views: 1726

Re: Knee protection please

Cowsham wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 11:51am
Psamathe wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 11:30am
Maybe you just don't want people to freely give their time trying to help you?
He specifically said he didn't want help not falling off the bike just which knee protection to have. You've heard of unsolicited advice well you've taken that one step further. Falling off happens to everyone except the ones that don't get on a bike to start with.
Everyone falls off from time to time, but happening so often it's considered normal even when not trying to do tricky stuff is actually a red flag. It shouldn't happen.

In cycle training the core principles, the fundamental stuff that underpins safe riding, are headed up with control. If you can't stop and start and get on and off without being in control then you're not actually that safe, and that's something where stepping beyond what was asked for is reasonable to do.

Pete.
by pjclinch
10 Mar 2024, 10:20am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Knee protection please
Replies: 39
Views: 1726

Re: Knee protection please

Cowsham wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 9:41am
He did say he wasn't asking for advice on the not falling off bit but that's exactly what he got reams of.
As the Glimmer Twins pointed out, you can't always get what you want but sometimes you might get what you need.

Standard risk management, PPE comes at the bottom of what to do, not having the problem in the first place is significantly better.
Cowsham wrote: 10 Mar 2024, 9:41am Here's something that might help
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Alpinestars-Al ... jGEALw_wcB
Reinforced knees on trousers are good against abrasion but don't take much away from an impact, so for some values of "help".

Pete.
by pjclinch
10 Mar 2024, 7:51am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Knee protection please
Replies: 39
Views: 1726

Re: Knee protection please

Psamathe wrote: 9 Mar 2024, 7:40pm Or maybe try and solve the underlying problem?

eg if somebody asked me about better seat belts for their car because they kept hitting things then I'd respond that better seat belts won't solve the problem and easier and cheaper to sort out why they keep hitting things.

If you are falling off so often it wont be just your knees that will suffer but other body parts as well as bike damage. In my personal opinion the paths shown are not so challenging as to cause so many falls. Getting distracted? Bike handling sub-optimal?, etc.

ie you can protect your knees for £0 by not falling off.
I found my thoughts running along the same lines (wrists and collar bones probably most susceptible, and you can't brace your way out of a collar bone fracture). And while it wouldn't necessarily be £0, some training/coaching might be very good value.

Does the following seem familiar at all?
I coach (very) beginner mountain biking to kids from "just graduated from balance bikes" level and the most common cause of falls and stumbles is stopping and starting when they can't do what they've been used to and stop sat on the saddle with two feet down flat. If anything seems like it's going wrong default is hit the brakes, stay on the seat and put two feet out. That's great on a balance bike, it's a disaster on a mountain bike set up with the seat for pedalling: no feet on a pedal and there's no power and it's very hard to move weight around for balance, and because a MTB bottom bracket is high it's pretty much impossible to get two feet down at the same time if sat on the seat and one tends to need to lean quite a bit to get one foot down, resulting in much staggering and barely controlled dismounts (and where that's been set in motion by a worried reaction to difficult ground, the staggering may well be in a really awkward place).
We stop that happening by making a default stop a thing where the rider puts all weight on one pedal at 6 o'clock and steps down ahead of the seat, putting the other foot down flat on the ground. To start, pull the pedal up from 6 o'clock to about 2 and stand on it, only getting back in the seat once you're going. And that eliminates the great majority of falls IME.
Get that dialled in as a default and all the silly low-speed tight-turn fiascos simply stop right away with one foot flat down rather than an ungainly dance with two feet flailing about too high above the ground before keeling over sideways.

Image
Here's the one-foot-down. In this pic the rider has pulled their pedal up ready to start, on stopping the pedal with the foot on will be at 6 o'clock. Once stopped you have a triangle for optimum stable support (two wheels on the long side, a foot flat on the ground for the third) and no balancing on tippy-toe needed.

If you're already doing that...
The chair of our local advocacy group took a different method when encountering balance problems as she got older, which was an e-assist trike rather than bike. Once you've dialled in to the steering differences it's much harder to fall off a trike, particularly starting/stopping.

Pete.
by pjclinch
9 Mar 2024, 7:05am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Train Glasgow to Pitlochry Return
Replies: 9
Views: 495

Re: Train Glasgow to Pitlochry Return

Pebble wrote: 8 Mar 2024, 11:32pm I wouldn't worry, scotsrail seem to be quite relaxed about bikes, I often travel with bike and never book. I
Yes, but...
Particularly at weekends that line tends to be very crowded (I had 2 Saturday morning trips from Perth to Blair Atholl last summer for walking trips and both were completely rammed), and if it's a case of no room and no booking something may break, though having said that IME most Scotrail staff have a can-do attitude to getting bikes on.

If it's early to mid June chances are better as the schools will still be on, though note they break up a month earlier than down south so at the end of the month the trains tend to get more crowded.

Pete.