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by Thornyone
16 Aug 2023, 5:30pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Which new 9 speed cassette should I get?
Replies: 12
Views: 1077

Re: Which new 9 speed cassette should I get?

Many thanks for your replies. I think that the cassette I currently have is almost certainly an 11-34, so I can live with that. I was wondering whether there is any point in going for more expensive options over somewhat cheaper. Is the difference between cheaper and more expensive a gain in service life and performance, or is it chiefly aesthetic/cosmetic?

i'll investigate the Tifosi model, which sounds interesting. I almost never use the smallest sprocket with my style of riding, but I'm not too concerned about its redundancy.
by Thornyone
16 Aug 2023, 7:33am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Which new 9 speed cassette should I get?
Replies: 12
Views: 1077

Which new 9 speed cassette should I get?

I have a 9 speed setup on my bike. I'm just about to replace my chains (PC975) with PC971 (I couldn't see the others online). I alternate chains about every 400 miles. I don't think the cassette is particularly worn. I'm going to buy a new cassette anyway, both in case I do need to swap it, and also so that I have one for when at some point in the none-too-distant future, I certainly will need to fit it.

I want a range of sprocket sizes from about 13-34. Which cassette would be the best option? BTW, my eyesight these days doesn't seem to be up to reading the stampings on my current cassette without taking the wheel out of the frame. I do know that it is a SRAM model.
by Thornyone
21 Jul 2020, 6:52pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Advice on cycling shoes
Replies: 0
Views: 216

Advice on cycling shoes

I need some new footwear for cycling. I have been happily using a pair of Hi Tec sort of gym shoes, but they seem no longer available. They were more comfy than a pair of Shimano SPD shoes I have, and easier to get into toeclips.

Requirements:

1) For use with toe clips, not clipless, so rigid sole unimportant, and a grippy, not blocky, tread.
2) Preferably dark coloured rather than white, because they get dirty.
3) Don't need to be waterproof, also preferably good ventilation.
4) Price: up to say £50

Any suggestions?
by Thornyone
5 Jul 2020, 1:38pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: CUK supports BLM
Replies: 291
Views: 10742

Re: CUK supports BLM

[/quote]
I understand that,but how has Leicester become predominently ethnic majority,I can understand ethnic areas,but unless the ethnic population is a majority there can't be totally ethnic schools or is it just certain areas.
But I'm more interested in what you think the answer is and why the society lives parallel lives.[/quote]
I’m not sure of the latest figures, and since the next Census is due next year, they are out of date. However, suffice it to say that the “white British” (which was the basic population of the city until the first wave of immigration) are now in a minority, maybe 33%. The original Asian immigrants were chiefly Hindu. They settled largely in the Melton Road/Belgrave Road areas of east Leicester. The Muslim population was/still is strongly represented in the North Evington area, but Muslims have spread out and their numbers have increased.

There are areas of the city with fewer Asians, in particular the large former council estates in the west side of the city. Asians tend to have larger families than native Brits, so the numbers of Asian children is proportionately higher.

Multicultural policies have tended to encourage ethnic (originally) minorities to hang onto and celebrate their separateness and differences to the detriment of harmonious integration into mainstream “British” culture. (When I was at school years ago there were quite a number of Poles, children of WW2 soldiers, who spoke Polish at home, but were otherwise fully integrated into Leicester society).

Why do many Asians live parallel lives.They (often) speak an Asian language, and religion tends to play a much bigger part in their lives. They identify as Asian first and foremost. In short, whilst earning a living here, many otherwise lead the sort of lives they would lead in India or Pakistan rather than the sort of lives which most native Brits do.

The answer? I have no answer. Fortunately I have no children either, so concerns about where this country may be some years hence are not mine.
by Thornyone
5 Jul 2020, 10:05am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: CUK supports BLM
Replies: 291
Views: 10742

Re: CUK supports BLM

Ben@Forest wrote:
Thornyone wrote:Your point about lack of Asian riders being what? I live in Leicester, and I do see increasing numbers of Asian riders, usually away from the roads, as well quite a lot of black riders. OTOH, none of the Asians in my road seems to ride a bike. Perhaps because they can’t afford a bike? Not likely, because one family across the road has a Roller, Range Rover and a large Merc besides other vehicles, and all of the Asians in my area have multiple vehicle ownership. Perhaps because they feel intimidated by cars on the road, driven by (frequently young Asian) idiots? Quite possibly. Or because they see cycling as an occupation for small children or poor adults? Again quite possible given the apparent love affair with status-symbol vehicles. Rest assured, if more Asian people here wanted to cycled, they would, and nothing would stop them. They are very good at doing what they want to do, when they put their minds to it. If you want to know more about the realities of life in multicultural, multiethnic Britain, I suggest you emerge for a while from rural Britain and experience reality.


Are rants only good without paragraphs? Or do people who rant not know what paragraphs are? :D

My point is simply statistics are often a poor indicator of other factors. It's been mentioned here before that Asians have little interest in cycling and there may be cultural reasons for that, that's not to say CUK shouldn't try to encourage it. Objectively where l live l am bound to see far fewer ethnic minorities cycling - but in terms of road cycling it is disproportionately lower than it could be (though l don't know for off-road or round-the-park riding).

I have met older white male cyclists who have taken it up as a sport or leisure activity because they can no longer play football or squash (there's less jarring, twisting knee moverments in cycling). But other than scoffing at 'MAMILs' it seems to be rarely identified as a reason for some cycling uptake - bad statistics?

Finally l have lived in cities, in large towns and in villages or outside villages across England and in a large town abroad. I'm sure Leicester is more real though. :roll:


If you look at my post a couple of places or so above, you will see that I thought I had deleted the post you quote here, and why, so please accept my apologies . Something has clearly gone wrong with the posting function. Anyhow, the sun is out now, so I’m off out into rural England for a few hours away from lockdown :)
by Thornyone
5 Jul 2020, 9:59am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: CUK supports BLM
Replies: 291
Views: 10742

Re: CUK supports BLM

reohn2 wrote:
Thornyone wrote:...... The garden of multicultural delights is not quite blooming in the way that the scriptwriters would have us believe.

Why do you think that is?

A host of reasons. Mainly sheer numbers. When immigrants are in a minority, there is more need for them to integrate and learn English. When “minorities” become large enough, they become self-sustaining, which is what has happened in Leicester. Many Asians have a physical presence here, as it were, but can hardly be said to be part of the sort of mainstream British society that most CTC members would recognise.
Superficially harmonious, Leicester is actually pretty ghettoised. There are mixed marriages, but not a great many (and black-white or white-Asian much more likely than black-Asian). People tend to live parallel lives. If you like the idea of living in a neighbourhood where you seldom hear your native language spoken, you may like it here. And 100% Asian Muslim schools do not promote integration.
Please don’t label me a racist: I have worked with Asian and black people who I got on with really well, as indeed I do with some of my neighbours. But the reality is that when a group becomes a majority, its values and norms eventually come to predominate.
by Thornyone
5 Jul 2020, 9:31am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: CUK supports BLM
Replies: 291
Views: 10742

Re: CUK supports BLM

Cyril Haearn wrote:Leicester, Right at the Centre, has a particular ethnic makeup and is not typical, one could say it is pioneering, leading
Is it the future? Does it work?

Quite possibly the future for quite a few places in Britain. Does it work? Not really, in my opinion. The garden of multicultural delights is not quite blooming in the way that the scriptwriters would have us believe.
by Thornyone
5 Jul 2020, 9:20am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: CUK supports BLM
Replies: 291
Views: 10742

Re: CUK supports BLM

pwa wrote:
Thornyone wrote:.... I suggest you emerge for a while from rural Britain and experience reality.

Rural Britain is real too, you know. Towns and cities with a lot of ethnic diversity are a reality, but they are not the only reality :lol:

Though I take the rest of what you say as a valid opinion based on your own experience of where you live.

Sorry, I tried to delete my post because I thought I might have mis-interpreted the post I was quoting. (Couldn’t completely remove my post, however).
Of course I accept that rural Britain is real, and in fact I almost live in it (but alas, 200 yards short for present lockdown purposes!). My concern was that I feel that too many people who lack a real insight into some of these issues tend to feel qualified, based on what they read rather than on the realities of life around them, to express opinions on some of these matters.
by Thornyone
5 Jul 2020, 9:03am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: CUK supports BLM
Replies: 291
Views: 10742

Re: CUK supports BLM

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by Thornyone
4 Jul 2020, 2:43pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?
Replies: 38
Views: 1376

Re: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?

irc wrote:
Thornyone wrote:. It may well be that Leicester is therefore in no way unique in this respect. OTOH, given the fact that the highest number of infections in Leicester is in “Asian” areas (though the council says that infection numbers “broadly” reflect the ethnic makeup of the city*), it is likely that high density housing occupation (because of generally larger families) coupled with interactions between multiple households of extended families, is certainly a factor. So until the message gets across that this needs to stop, I don’t foresee a dramatic improvement in the situation.

*But significantly all of the temporary, army-manned, testing facilities are located in overwhelmingly “Asian”, more specifically, Muslim-predominant, areas.


covid.jpg


Interesting. The family mixing in contravention of the lockdown is certainly not confined to Muslims in Leicester. In my road, Sikhs and Hindus are involved too, besides the “White British”. However, in terms of Asians, the Muslims tend to live in the less affluent areas, which do have the highest number of infections. Socio-economic status would, however, seem NOT to be a factor in rates of infection in Oadby (one of the more affluent areas not just of Leicester, but probably of the Midlands). Neither could Birstall, another locked down suburb, be described as deprived.
It may be too that the food processing industry, important in the economy here, is a factor, given the spike in cases connected with it in parts of Wales and Germany too. Also, it would seem that some Asian factory owners have behaved highly irresponsibly in Leicester.
by Thornyone
4 Jul 2020, 9:23am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?
Replies: 38
Views: 1376

Re: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?

pwa wrote:Enjoy your rides. You have done nothing wrong, legally or morally.

On your point about supermarkets, it could be argued that as we are trying to quickly contain an excess of cases in Leicester it might be best for folk in the surrounding areas to avoid going to the same supermarkets as people from Leicester until infection rates in Leicester are closer to the average. Which I hope will be very soon.


Thanks. I hope that the situation improves soon, but I’m rather doubtful. I think that too many people here seem to view the virus as a danger linked to strangers rather than as something that can be spread to them by extended family or friends. For example, a family across the road from me takes a walk down the road whilst wearing face masks, and yet I know for a fact that they have been visited by non-household family regularly over the course of lockdown. My brother, who lives in Wales, tells me that many people around him have flouted lockdown too. It may well be that Leicester is therefore in no way unique in this respect. OTOH, given the fact that the highest number of infections in Leicester is in “Asian” areas (though the council says that infection numbers “broadly” reflect the ethnic makeup of the city*), it is likely that high density housing occupation (because of generally larger families) coupled with interactions between multiple households of extended families, is certainly a factor. So until the message gets across that this needs to stop, I don’t foresee a dramatic improvement in the situation.

*But significantly all of the temporary, army-manned, testing facilities are located in overwhelmingly “Asian”, more specifically, Muslim-predominant, areas.
by Thornyone
4 Jul 2020, 8:33am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?
Replies: 38
Views: 1376

Re: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?

There is now more information about the lockdown on the Leicester City Council website:

https://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-counc ... -lockdown/

Exercise is referred to in the travel query (third on list).

AFAIK police at the railway station are likely to be taking an interest in people who look like they are doing something dodgy. It is quite OK, for example, for an NHS worker to commute by train to their job in, say, Nottingham. OTOH, a family arriving at the station with suitcases, buckets and spades is unlikely to get on a train. But mainly I think that groups of potential revellers will be of most interest to the authorities, and on the roads, coaches or minibuses leaving Leicester are going to be of more interest to the police than one individual in a car.

I’m not sure how well thought out much of the lockdown is. For example, the lockdown zone includes all of the larger supermarkets which would normally be used by those living in those places near to Leicester which are NOT under lockdown. Thus, the inhabitants of Thurnby, just beyond the city boundary, would normally have a journey of under 5 miles to access at least 3 major supermarkets. They will have to now drive to Market Harborough or Melton Mowbray to find a comparable store, a considerably longer journey. There is also the crazy anomaly of the zone boundary actually running between houses on the same estate.

As an aside, as I continue with a clear conscience to cycle alone just outside the lockdown zone, I know that at no time have I flouted the social distancing rules in the way that Prof Neil Ferguson (govt. advisor on lockdown), Dominic Cummings or Sir Peter Soulsby (city mayor of Leicester) have done.
by Thornyone
3 Jul 2020, 10:28am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?
Replies: 38
Views: 1376

Re: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?

Marcus Aurelius wrote:
Thornyone wrote:The whole problem with Covid 19 and the sort of mess we have in Leicester is that people seem incapable of seeing the obvious. My going for a bike ride ALONE (that is to say BY MYSELF, NOT, REPEAT NOT, meeting anyone else, and OUT OF DOORS) poses no threat to others. The virus has been spread because constantly people have been visiting others from other households, something I have not done AT ALL.


What if you came off the bike? You’d be meeting people then. It’s fairly simple. If you’ve been ordered not to do something, don’t do it. It’s only for a couple of weeks.


A couple of points:

1) It will not be for a couple of weeks, but quite possibly until such time as an effective vaccine can be deployed, because I don’t see numbers coming down any time soon. Much more likely that the rest of the country will be back under a stricter lockdown first, especially after the opening up of pubs etc.

2) The highest risk I’ve run has been during supermarket visits, and yet under the new local lockdown rules it is OK for an inhabitant of the lockdown zone to visit a supermarket outside the zone if it is that individual’s nearest supermarket.

Moreover, your point about coming off one’s bike has been true of the whole period of lockdown so far. Have you simply stayed off your bike since March?
by Thornyone
3 Jul 2020, 9:00am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?
Replies: 38
Views: 1376

Re: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?

The whole problem with Covid 19 and the sort of mess we have in Leicester is that people seem incapable of seeing the obvious. My going for a bike ride ALONE (that is to say BY MYSELF, NOT, REPEAT NOT, meeting anyone else, and OUT OF DOORS) poses no threat to others. The virus has been spread because constantly people have been visiting others from other households, something I have not done AT ALL.
by Thornyone
3 Jul 2020, 8:53am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?
Replies: 38
Views: 1376

Re: I will be breaching lockdown today: any thoughts?

roubaixtuesday wrote:As I understand your post, you intend being self- sufficient, meeting no-one and remaining outdoors?

I think you are absolutely meeting the spirit of the rules and should feel no guilt.


Absolutely. If I did actually encounter another individual I would, as I have all along, practice 2 metre minimum distancing.