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by Carlton green
18 Mar 2024, 3:49pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 30
Views: 751

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

reohn2 wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 1:59pm CC
the problems I mentioned along with law and order and the justice system are some of the rmost pressing problems that need sorting ASAP,if the next government doesn't make some very serious inroads into solving them they'll be toast at the following GE.
That needs radical government eg;1945 Atlee radical,people sick and tired of being lied to with the poorest being trampled under foot by the creeps now running this sh*tshow.
I’m not disagreeing with you but what I’m saying is subtly different.

If Labour get into power then they’ll have to have an eye on a following term and another after that, that’ll involve taking the electorate with them - after a decade or gradual change we could have a wonderful country. Labour lost the last few elections by ignoring the middle ground and listening to its own propaganda, complete stupidity. If you want to keep the Tories and their disastrous policies away from Government then learn to count votes and learn to win votes rather than loose them.

Some folk don’t like Blair, he has his faults and he made mistakes but he knew the way to win elections and to keep his party in power.
by Carlton green
18 Mar 2024, 1:03pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 30
Views: 751

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

reohn2 wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 10:04am
Carlton green wrote: 18 Mar 2024, 7:51am So long as Starmer is to the left of who else would otherwise get in power (ie. The Tories) I’m happy for him to pursue votes first. Keeping worse governance (ie. The Tories) out must be the first priority and once that is achieved better governance has the chance to follow. Unfortunately too few people understand that simple fact and regard ideology as more important than actually being in power and able to influence events.
I agree with the first sentence but the question is how much better will things get,I'd be willing to wait a reasonable time to see that happen but fear once in power the move to the left wouldn't be far enough.That move needs to be a better economy for all and not just the chosen few,some real movement to a better education system,NHS and transport system,plus a realignment with EU trade ATM it's crippling the economy especially small businesses especially exporters,and whilst we're at it the uber rich made pay their fair whack of taxes.A real levelling up if you will!
How's that for ideological start?
What we have to remember is that any move to the left that depletes the voter base (which it will) and then allows the Tories back into Government is a move too far. Keeping the Tories out of Government must always be the number one priority because however much we might believe left wing policies are best the only party that will give us some of those policies is the Labour Party - something (singular) good is better than nothing and much better than something bad (as we’ll get with more Tory misrule). Push too far left and the electorate will vote the Tories back in … that’s just the way it is and we’d be misguided to believe otherwise.
by Carlton green
18 Mar 2024, 7:51am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 30
Views: 751

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

Psamathe wrote: 17 Mar 2024, 2:52pm
Carlton green wrote: 17 Mar 2024, 2:02pm ...
The country can turn around but it will take time and I suspect that there’s going to be pain too. ...
My worry is that with Starmer and his current direction the pain will be endured by those already struggling. Lower down the income scale and more in meed will be endure more of the pain. Bit those at the top will continue not even being aware there is pain. Bankers getting their unlimited bonuses, company bosses enjoying no tax increases, etc.

But Starmer seems to be pursuing votes rather than good governance and doing what the country meeds.

Ian
So long as Starmer is to the left of who else would otherwise get in power (ie. The Tories) I’m happy for him to pursue votes first. Keeping worse governance (ie. The Tories) out must be the first priority and once that is achieved better governance has the chance to follow. Unfortunately too few people understand that simple fact and regard ideology as more important than actually being in power and able to influence events.
by Carlton green
18 Mar 2024, 7:39am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2120
Views: 108165

Re: BEVs

UpWrong wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 12:32pm
Nearholmer wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 9:37am
Anyway, if our political leaders want us to use BEV’s then one of the things that’s needed is cheap and easy repair and replacement of battery packs. Manufacturers aren’t interested in allowing cheap and easy repair and it will require legislation to change that poor state of affairs.
Very much agreed. See my previous rants about this very same thing.
Yes, I think that and the consequential insurance costs are now the main issues preventing me going down the BEV route.
Insurance costs!!!

Insurance groups for BEV’s seem to start at group 9 and go rapidly upwards. I checked a second gen Leaf out and it’s group 21.
https://www.cinch.co.uk/electric-cars/c ... -to-insure

One could be excused from thinking that BEV’s were toys for the wealthy and the business expenses driver. Why are these cars so expensive to insure? In part because they are so expensive to repair, so subject to non-repairability, so heavy (heavy cars do a lot of damage) and so powerful.
by Carlton green
17 Mar 2024, 2:02pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 30
Views: 751

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

Pebble wrote: 17 Mar 2024, 12:46pm Starmer will be alright if he can sail in a straight line, but there is a lot of crew that want to tack heavily to port, if that happens we will flounder on the rocks, we're in treacherous waters
Starmer will be alright and Labour will get two terms if they pursue centre ground policies, and at least two terms should be their aim.

The country can turn around but it will take time and I suspect that there’s going to be pain too. How long is hard to say, but I think it’ll be upwards of two years before we start to notice even small improvements - just to stop things getting any worse will be a challenge.

What people mostly forget is that our first aim should always be to limit the number of conservative MP’s such that that party - or any other substantially right wing party - is not in power. Some people complain that Labour is not left wing enough and forget that whilst a moderate Labour Party might not be ideal for them such a moderate party gaining and remaining in power is far far better then having Tories in power.

The Labour Party have a history of loosing winnable elections … . Starmer just needs to hold steady and be allowed to score a massively important goal into an open net. Sunak will hold off an election for as long as possible, he knows he’s facing a massive defeat and his only hope is that Labour trip up badly before they can score an election victory.
by Carlton green
17 Mar 2024, 8:11am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2120
Views: 108165

Re: BEVs

Biospace wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 6:48pm
There are plenty of battery specialists and many more will train, isn't it more the cost which will present problems for many?
Are there really plenty of battery specialists? At one point I’d been interested in a gen 1 Leaf but the only known repairer of their batteries in the UK gave up on them due to lack of parts and lack of any support from Nissan.
https://www.speakev.com/threads/cleevel ... rs.166872/

If you can get replacement batteries then their cost is high - scarce and in demand items cost whatever the market will support - and quality is whatever the supplier wishes to offer. That’s a really poor situation and definitely a stopper to many who might consider a purchase, significant change of that supply situation is needed.
by Carlton green
16 Mar 2024, 4:10pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2120
Views: 108165

Re: BEVs

UpWrong wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 12:32pm
Nearholmer wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 9:37am
Anyway, if our political leaders want us to use BEV’s then one of the things that’s needed is cheap and easy repair and replacement of battery packs. Manufacturers aren’t interested in allowing cheap and easy repair and it will require legislation to change that poor state of affairs.
Very much agreed. See my previous rants about this very same thing.
Yes, I think that and the consequential insurance costs are now the main issues preventing me going down the BEV route.
I’m of a similar mind though the excess size of useful BEV’s is a stopper and range limitations - in the segment of the market of an acceptable price to me - are a blocker too. Ultimately the customer commonly doesn’t mind what the motive power is all they want is cheap enough, practical, easy to keep on the road and reliable … which is sort of what they have with ICE’s. The BEV revolution has been led by corporate purchase who, with short term ownership, tax breaks and expenses written off against business costs, are drivers for completely the wrong type of car for the mass population.

Daft, you couldn’t make it up. Certainly the concept of workers subsidising fancy cars for their bosses and the already wealth is outrageous, but it’s going on.
by Carlton green
16 Mar 2024, 9:31am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2120
Views: 108165

Re: BEVs

Nearholmer wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 9:19am Yes, and why did The Law (= laws made by representatives elected by the population to act on their behalf) make those requirements?

Because we’re drowning in a sea of CO2 pollution, and BEVs appear to offer a way to help keep our heads above water for the time being.

In short, the consumer-elector wants at least two things, a car that does the job for them, and a world in which their children won’t have to face the worst consequences of climate change, and which of those we want most depends on what mood we are in on the day you ask us.

As always, there’s a bit of wanting our cake and eating it in here somewhere.
That does rather mis, but not completely, the point I was trying to make. Oh, and don’t shoot the messenger.

Anyway, if our political leaders want us to use BEV’s then one of the things that’s needed is cheap and easy repair and replacement of battery packs. Manufacturers aren’t interested in allowing cheap and easy repair and it will require legislation to change that poor state of affairs.
by Carlton green
16 Mar 2024, 8:56am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2120
Views: 108165

Re: BEVs

. As a sort of PS: nobody seems to worry about the decline of IC engine efficiency over the lifetime of a vehicle, except big lorry and bus fleet operators, and railways.
True. However today’s modern IC engine typically has such a long life and such a small loss that its level of degradation can - for most practical purposes - be neglected. In contrast the degradation of battery cells is important and does have a practical impact on the vehicle’s use. There is an industry supporting IC engine re-manufacture, but if you want to change or repair the batteries in your BEV you are going to struggle to find anyone who can or will do that work for you.

The average punter in the streets grasps the above simple facts and really isn’t interested in complicating his or her motoring with batteries, they just want to drive and get on with their immediate concerns - which of course we can criticise them for but that’s life.

I read a link somewhere and the gist of one of the points was that (now) the industry supplied what the laws said they had to and not what the customer actually wanted. With the massive size of vehicles I’m not sure that that is completely true, but there’s certainly a big element of truth to that concept. Given the choice the vast majority of people wouldn’t consider buying a BEV and if there was no tax advantage to companies then companies wouldn’t bother much with them either. Those might be unpalatable facts but that’s the way it is, people prefer to stick with what they know and know to work for them.

The key to changing that situation lies again with legislation, in practical terms the right to (battery) repair and the ability to repair isn’t there.
by Carlton green
13 Mar 2024, 6:02pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Tourer for gentle off-roading?
Replies: 136
Views: 5546

Re: Tourer for gentle off-roading?

jimlews wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 5:39pm
rareposter wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 4:30pm I'd assume from the OP's thread title of gentle off-road that there are no plans for hub deep muddy bridleways or extreme terrain...
A fair point, except that even gentlest, most innocuous seeming offroad can become a quagmire down the (off)road.
It is not usually clear at the outset what you are letting yourself in for until you are in up to the axles.
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
However, such rides are often the most rewarding. :D
We haven’t seen the OP for a few days and I hope that he hasn’t been scared off by the intensity of discussion here. This is what he’s looking for:
So I'd like an N+1, for gentle off-road touring (I'm thinking of things like the Rebellion Way), but I think I still want a tourer rather than a gravel bike - I'm expecting to want essentially the same geometry (since I've had the Super Galaxy fitted to me), drop bars, rear rack, mudguards etc.
My bold.

And this is where he’s coming from:

My current bike is a 2006 Dawes Super Galaxy, gently tweaked over time for e.g. dynohub, better fitting, etc. I love riding it, and we've done many miles together (including C2C and the Hebridean Way in recent years); I like the riding position, the robust frame (it's had a few dents by now!), I like how it feels to ride, and that it's pretty quick but also solid even when both rear panniers are pretty full!

But it's not really good for anything offroad except the dryest and hardest ground - the 700x32C Marathons and my 77kg sink into mud, and sandy ground involves a lot of sliding about and is no fun at all. And there's not clearance for fitting chunkier tyres.
As best as I can see it he’s looking for something similar to what he’s got but (just) one step better able to cope with mud and sandy ground. So not an all out cope with anything bike but just the (one) next step up from what he has in terms of coping with rough stuff.
by Carlton green
13 Mar 2024, 1:37pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2120
Views: 108165

Re: BEVs

Vorpal wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 12:57pm
Carlton green wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 11:20am

I see your logic yet is it not flawed? Comparing fossil fuel powered cars with battery ones only works well if the capabilities stay near the same over their whole operating range. I suspect that fossil fuel cars do use more fuel in winter (ie. give less mileage) but don’t suffer as much as BEV’s do. Marketing people and others overlook such differences and the trying to be informed customer can be mislead, surely that’s something that needs to be better considered and noted.
While I mainly meant that the *tests* are of the same nature, they are not allowed to mislead customers, and the companies that have been accused of this, have changed their training for staff, and made efforts to be clearer in the information they provide.

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-revie ... crossover/
Thank you for your helpful response.
by Carlton green
13 Mar 2024, 11:20am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: BEVs
Replies: 2120
Views: 108165

Re: BEVs

Vorpal wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 11:08am
al_yrpal wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 10:55am Emissions scandal, and now this? Manufacturers need to be honest about their products, top marks for What Car for these revalations.

Al

Should they be honest about the range in hilly conditions? Flat? Winter? Summer? Rural driving? City? Motorway? Italy? Sweden? England? Wales? Aggressive driver? Careful driver?

Or should they maybe use a standard test of some sort?

While the manufacturer's published ranges are optimistic, I don't know how else they should determine range than the prescribed (and sometimes legally required) tests. It's no different that way than fuel economy.They use published processes to determine the range. They also advise buyers that the range is reduced by cold weather. The 1/3rd reduction for winter range found by What Car is typical.

Not revelations.
I see your logic yet is it not flawed? Comparing fossil fuel powered cars with battery ones only works well if the capabilities stay near the same over their whole operating range. I suspect that fossil fuel cars do use more fuel in winter (ie. give less mileage) but don’t suffer as much as BEV’s do. Marketing people and others overlook such differences and the trying to be informed customer can be mislead, surely that’s something that needs to be better considered and noted.
by Carlton green
13 Mar 2024, 10:41am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Ex-Post Office CEO Paula Vennells
Replies: 552
Views: 33650

Re: Ex-Post Office CEO Paula Vennells

This is all hearsay so take it as you wish …

I was out walking the dog when I came across our local sub-postmistress or rather the person who was so quite some years back. She told me that she’d lost £1000 one day and assumed that it would turn up again at some point, but it never did. She also told me that the local Federation of Sub-postmasters rep had been made aware, in his capacity as a rep, that Fujitsu had told the PO not to go live with Horizon because there were errors in it. She commented that Sub-postmasters were one of those groups of people who were so carefully screened and checked that they were - and rightly so - the last people one would expect to do anything underhand, yet that inherent honesty was totally ignored by the PO.

She sold the business well over a decade ago and our local PO franchise has changed hands since. We’re actually lucky to still have a PO because, at the last change, nobody wanted to buy the business as a going concern … a bit of a loss for somebody. The scandal has cost many people and has done so in several different ways.

As above, it’s all hearsay but I still think that talking to folk inside the industry (straight from the horse’s mouth) has value.
by Carlton green
13 Mar 2024, 8:50am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Tourer for gentle off-roading?
Replies: 136
Views: 5546

Re: Tourer for gentle off-roading?

531colin wrote: 12 Mar 2024, 4:07pm 71 degrees and 50-odd millimetres offset is pretty standard touring bike stuff.

Spa's Tourer, the first Spa bike I designed, is 71 deg. 54mm offset, same as my old Bob Jackson.

One of my favourite bike shop memories is of a couple coming to Spa in the old shop, wanting to test ride a Spa Tourer each. I fitted them up and sent them off.
They came back in due course, the young lady was bouncing off the walls. I asked if it went OK., he said it was OK, i think she managed a rather feverish nod. I asked if they wanted to try anything else, he said he would like to try a Galaxy, she squeaked a "no".
I fitted him up with a Galaxy and off he went to test it.
I asked her what was going on, why was she bouncing off the walls? She looked out of the window, where her husband was setting off, and I said that I had been married 40 years, and whatever she said to me, her husband wasn't going to hear it from me.
She said, and I remember it better than I remember yesterday...."My husband bought me a road bike, and until I rode that bike of yours, I didn't realise that there was such a thing as a drop-bar bike which didn't wander all over the road as soon as I tried to look behind me."

EDIT.....CJ tested that Spa tourer for the CUK magazine (might have been CTC back then?) and said something like it was the smoothest tourer he had ever ridden....he bought the test bike.
This post reminds me that an early post of mine on this thread suggested seeing what Spa had to offer, that comment still stands and I think it a sound direction to go in. The only better way to my mind (than a new Spa) is an appropriate second hand Spa that’s been well cared for and offered at a good discount. Spa have a sale on at the moment, the prices look pretty good value and even had me thinking for a moment.

Page one.
If I wanted new then Spa Cycles would be towards the top of my list.
I note that tyre clearances on frames can vary, so a bike that’s equipped with 32mm tyres isn’t necessarily limited to that size and might well be happy to accept much wider tyres. That possibility is something for potential purchasers to consider and check.
by Carlton green
13 Mar 2024, 8:28am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Take These (Supply) Chains from My Heart
Replies: 806
Views: 43211

Re: Take These (Supply) Chains from My Heart

al_yrpal wrote: 13 Mar 2024, 7:41am Why firms are bringing their manufacturing back home - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68500499

Not exactly on topic but interesting phenominum...

Al
Yes, I read the BBC article too and thought it an interesting trend. To my mind the trend of bringing back manufacturing to this country, and to friendly countries nearer the UK, is a positive one. We’ll have to see what the future brings but a UK that’s more self sufficient would, I think, be an improvement.