Search found 894 matches

by richardfm
26 Mar 2024, 4:16pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Broken Chain! I’m a complete amateur
Replies: 17
Views: 993

Re: Broken Chain! I’m a complete amateur

531colin wrote: 26 Mar 2024, 1:52pm Unless I made it up, wasn’t there an episode years back when a particular type or make of chain used to get cracks in the sideplates radiating out from the rivet?
Wrong sort of steel or hardening process?
That rings a bell with me.
I'm away at the moment but when I get home and replace the chain (it's on a 2x10 speed) I will inspect it. I don't remember if it has a quick link or if I used a chain tool, but that might be relevant
by richardfm
26 Mar 2024, 4:12pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Cycle Travel Question
Replies: 1604
Views: 210842

Re: Cycle Travel Question

Richard Fairhurst wrote: 26 Mar 2024, 4:05pm
richardfm wrote: 25 Mar 2024, 6:39pm I just asked cycle.travel (using Edge on an Android phone) for a route from Lancaster to Grange-Over-Sands but it told me that it can't plot a route over the sea
Just to check - are you sure that you're selecting "Lancaster, Lancashire" from the autocomplete, and not "Lancaster, Pennsylvania"? cycle.travel might not know what country your IP address is in, and if it doesn't, it might put the American one at the top of the list.
I'm pretty sure I wasn't. Lancaster PA is the third option, after Lancaster, Lancs and Lancaster Gate, but it is working today.
I wonder if, because I was in a different place yesterday I had a different IP address and the order was different, without me noticing.
by richardfm
25 Mar 2024, 10:40pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Broken Chain! I’m a complete amateur
Replies: 17
Views: 993

Re: Broken Chain! I’m a complete amateur

Airsporter1st wrote: 25 Mar 2024, 3:15pm Fixing it yourself is relatively easy, but that’s curing the symptoms and not necessarily the disease. You need to know why it snapped and take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Any suggestions as to what might have caused it?
I was checking over one of my bikes the other day and found a broken side plate on the chain. I will replace the chain before riding it again so won't suffer from a broken chain. I would like to know what caused it, but have no idea how to diagnose the cause
by richardfm
25 Mar 2024, 6:39pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Cycle Travel Question
Replies: 1604
Views: 210842

Re: Cycle Travel Question

I just asked cycle.travel (using Edge on an Android phone) for a route from Lancaster to Grange-Over-Sands but it told me that it can't plot a route over the sea
This was from the home page. If I try it from https://cycle.travel/map it works

Edit
Grange-Over-Sands to Lancaster works from the home page
by richardfm
22 Mar 2024, 2:05pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Is this terminal?
Replies: 50
Views: 2494

Re: Is this terminal?

Go back to the shop and ask them to show you the crack and to explain why it is terminal
by richardfm
21 Mar 2024, 2:32pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Cycle Travel Question
Replies: 1604
Views: 210842

Re: Cycle Travel Question

VinceLedge wrote: 21 Mar 2024, 10:19am I am just planning a wee tour of the King Alfred's Way using Cycle Travel, which works fine. I have booked some overnight accommodation off the route.
Is there a way of adding these to the route so that it takes you there and back to the same point on the overall route without the software altering the whole route?
Or do I need to do little extra routes?

Thanks
You should be able to add a via point to the route and then drag it to your accommodation. If you want to leave and rejoin the route at the same point you may need to add more via points, one before the accommodation and one after.
by richardfm
8 Mar 2024, 12:02pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Cycle Travel Question
Replies: 1604
Views: 210842

Re: Cycle Travel Question

Here's an exert from this month's supporter newletter
"You can now ask cycle.travel to plan a route entirely on signposted cycle routes.
If you’re taking a holiday on (say) a EuroVelo route, the UK’s National Cycle Network, or one of France’s national Véloroutes, this makes planning much quicker. No need to drag the route back and forth because cycle.travel wants to send you another way – it can now stick to signposted routes alone.
For example, planning a trip on Lon Las Cymru is now two clicks: one in Cardiff, one in Holyhead. France’s Veloscenic route is one click at Mont St Michel, another in Paris. Or you could try a cross-Europe route taking in several different routes – how about Rostock to Rome?
How it works
Just choose the new "Routes" option"
by richardfm
25 Feb 2024, 9:42pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Best Camping & Caravan Club sites for cycling
Replies: 26
Views: 4035

Re: Best Camping & Caravan Club sites for cycling

Wyeside in Rhayader is good for some mountain biking in the hills around the Elan Valley, or an overnight stop between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth
by richardfm
22 Feb 2024, 9:59pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: What colour is your bike?
Replies: 26
Views: 1042

Re: What colour is your bike?

I have one red, one black, one grey and one blue
by richardfm
22 Feb 2024, 7:30pm
Forum: Fun & Games
Topic: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Replies: 2256
Views: 126143

Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Mike Sales wrote: 22 Feb 2024, 6:24pm
Bmblbzzz wrote: 22 Feb 2024, 6:22pm
richardfm wrote: 22 Feb 2024, 6:08pm For no rational reason I dislike "upcoming" and prefer "forthcoming".
To me "upcoming" jars and sounds modern but according to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upcoming it has been in use since 1943.
John will tell you all you need to know. He's most upcoming.
:lol:

Or how about using upcome to mean the opposite of downcome, eg "I'm responsible for his upcome; I made him a star. It was drink that was his downcome." :lol:
Upcoming at this moment in time going forward.
:D
by richardfm
22 Feb 2024, 6:08pm
Forum: Fun & Games
Topic: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Replies: 2256
Views: 126143

Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

For no rational reason I dislike "upcoming" and prefer "forthcoming".
To me "upcoming" jars and sounds modern but according to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upcoming it has been in use since 1943.
by richardfm
14 Feb 2024, 9:11am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Will I get on the train?
Replies: 51
Views: 3329

Re: Will I get on the train?

Lazybird wrote: 13 Feb 2024, 1:34pm I have a specific seat and bike reservation in coach B
Your seat may be in coach B but is that where the cycle storage is?
by richardfm
11 Feb 2024, 11:04pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: The staff of life - best served packaged?
Replies: 50
Views: 3373

Re: The staff of life - best served packaged?

Galactic wrote: 11 Feb 2024, 3:54pm The quality of bread in Britain is a good reason to emigrate.
If you are referring to shop bought bread then you don't need to emigrate, just bake your own
by richardfm
8 Feb 2024, 8:29pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: What's the best app for planning multi-day bike trips?
Replies: 48
Views: 2399

Re: What's the best app for planning multi-day bike trips?

Richard Fairhurst wrote: 8 Feb 2024, 8:19pm
richardfm wrote: 8 Feb 2024, 6:06pm I thought the OPs complaint was that Cycle.Travel alters a route that he has uploaded from a GPX file, not one that it has worked out for him after he has given start and end points.

It sounds reasonable to me not to expect Cycle.Travel to alter an uploaded routes. Maybe the secret is to add plenty of waypoints before uploading.
cycle.travel doesn't have any sense of a GPX route per se. It only does one thing - planned routes with via points. Between each pair of via points, it will choose the route it thinks is best.

So if you import a GPX track, it has to work out where the via points need to be in order to follow the route represented by the GPX track. This is a Hard Problem and it doesn't always get it spot on, especially if the GPX is along the sort of routes c.t wouldn't usually choose - i.e. busy roads or rough tracks. (This is all explained on the upload page.)

If what you want to do is manage/play with other people's GPXs then c.t is absolutely the wrong site for that - I'd always suggest RideWithGPS for that sort of purpose.
roubaixtuesday wrote: 8 Feb 2024, 5:55pmPresumably these apps have criteria to apply (distance, road type, ascent etc) when optimising a route.

Often they do daft things like repeatedly diverting off a main road, or putting in a huge climb to avoid a short section.

It would be great if you could vary the weighting eg choose to downweight how important road type was to avoid that sort of nonsense.
You can do that with Brouter, which is pretty much infinitely customisable.

Route-planners can either be fast or customisable. The fast algorithms aren't customisable and the customisable algorithms aren't fast.* Brouter chooses to be customisable, which offers more flexibility but means it takes 15 seconds to work out a route for Land's End to John O'Groats. cycle.travel chooses to be fast, so it finds LE-JOG in less than a second, but conversely it bakes in its idea of a good route (= low traffic and scenic).

This is the good thing about there being so many sites/apps - you can choose the one that suits you. :)

* For those interested in the algorithm side of things, this is because the fast algorithms essentially pre-calculate routes between thousands of points, so route-planning just needs to retrieve the pre-calculated route rather than working out afresh each time. That breaks down if you offer customisation, because it's impossible to pre-calculate and store the best routes for every conceivable set of routing preferences the user might set.
Thank you
by richardfm
8 Feb 2024, 8:10pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: What's the best app for planning multi-day bike trips?
Replies: 48
Views: 2399

Re: What's the best app for planning multi-day bike trips?

Psamathe wrote: 8 Feb 2024, 7:58pm
richardfm wrote: 8 Feb 2024, 6:06pm I thought the OPs complaint was that Cycle.Travel alters a route that he has uploaded from a GPX file, not one that it has worked out for him after he has given start and end points.

It sounds reasonable to me not to expect Cycle.Travel to alter an uploaded routes. Maybe the secret is to add plenty of waypoints before uploading.
Between points in a gpx the route is is undefined so must be assumed/designed by the system. Some gpx routes I've seen have surprisingly few points, others are more detailed. OP gave virtually no info about the gpx and his/her requirements gradually emerged as people were depending their time trying to help.

Then what if a gpx loaded sends the rider the wrong way down a one-way street what should cycle.travel do? create eg "turn-left here" sending you through a no entry sign? Only sensible thing is to adjust to something appropriate. Many things are possible but OP gave virtually no info about anything so not possible to say what happened. Plus, does anybody really want to dpend their time on investigating anyway?

Ian
That all makes sense, thank you.