Search found 795 matches

by 7_lives_left
26 Aug 2013, 12:53am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Soreen
Replies: 29
Views: 8217

Re: Soreen

ferrit worrier wrote:Don't any body dare mention Sinex. :lol:

Malcolm

Why, can you get done for doping with it?

Back on topic, while I like malt loaf, it is a bit messy to eat and it doesn't take well to getting squished at the bottom of a pannier.
by 7_lives_left
18 Jul 2013, 12:36am
Forum: On the road
Topic: The Waitrose Girl
Replies: 52
Views: 7835

Re: The Waitrose Girl

I remember a few months back a rider who was using the pavement when it was full of sheet ice. He was riding a folder. The road clear of course because it had been salted. I felt like telling him that he would find it easier and safer on the road but I feared that if I distracted him he would be off in a flash. I am suprised that he managed to stay upright. You have to be pretty powerfully motivated to use the pavement instead of the road in those conditions.
by 7_lives_left
18 Jul 2013, 12:14am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Shimano DH-3N71 (and 3N70 etc...) cone cure?
Replies: 43
Views: 10967

Re: Shimano DH-3N71 (and 3N70 etc...) cone cure?

That's a smashing idea Brucey.

I was wondering if it might be an idea to change both the left and right cones at the same time. Do you want the contact angles to be the same on the L and R sides?

Also your inability to get the cones out of Madison might be down to me. Several years ago I put an order in to my LBS for some cones for an Alfine dynamo hub that look remarkably similar to the ones in you picture. I asked for 3 off. I kept pestering the LSB for about 4 months. Eventually they got some out of Madison. But I could only have two pieces and I was told "You can't have any more, there are no more in the country". I was changed about £15 each, with a "CTC discount".

I also have an Alfine SG-500 model A hub that has a dodgey L hand cone. I have been told I can't have a replacement for that. Maybe I could try your trick to get that hub back into service.

PS it was riding through a flooded River Ouse around York and then neglecting to regrease the hubs for several months that did the damage in my case. Lesson learned the hard way. I had problems with the bottom bracket too.
by 7_lives_left
22 Jun 2013, 1:06am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Dynohub rotation direction
Replies: 22
Views: 1647

Re: Hub dynamo output

andrew_s wrote:If a Shimano dynamo, or one of the earlier cylindrical SON dynamos is run backwards, the section in the end of the hub shell that the magenets & windings are put in through may start to unscrew, possibly breaking the wires through to the external connectors and rendering the hub useless.

It is not just that the dynamo can be damaged. CJ has described in posts elsewhere on the forum that if the windings unscrew they can jam the front wheel solid, throwing the rider over the handle bars without warning. So it is really a safety critical problem not an reliability problem.

Need to find a link to CJ's post.
by 7_lives_left
16 Jun 2013, 10:55pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Silly Guardian - have they got it wrong about Roberts?
Replies: 40
Views: 3641

Re: Silly Guardian - have they got it wrong about Roberts?

Martin Love has form. He seems to be a bit of an idiot and/or lazy.

But don't tar the rest of the Grauniad journalists with the same brush.

Audax67 wrote:
Ant wrote:YES it is, or rather many of it's writers are lazy and sloppy and do not research topics sufficiently rigorously and as such the papers' opinions on more weighty matters tend to be sniffily dismissed by "snobs" who value good journalism.

Still better than the Times though! :D


They're having a hard time sniffing at Prism, though. Well done Grauniad there.


Indeed. and they also made things quite uncomfortable for some current and ex News International employees, Police and Polititians with the phone hacking. How is Rebekah Brooks's case progressing?
by 7_lives_left
8 Jun 2013, 12:23am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Too Darn Hot
Replies: 60
Views: 4751

Re: Too Darn Hot

Has anyone with sandals ever suffered from sunburn? :shock:
by 7_lives_left
6 Jun 2013, 10:13pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: 1980 Highway Act
Replies: 18
Views: 1865

Re: 1980 Highway Act

I have ridden over a pothole while going through a junction. I was looking at the traffic lights and side road rather than the main road. I can easily see why you could miss a pothole, you have other things that require your attention. Fortunately no damage to me or the bike unless you count the snake bite punctures front and rear.
by 7_lives_left
5 Jun 2013, 11:29pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: New Commute distance
Replies: 25
Views: 2637

Re: New Commute distance

I am about 3 weeks into a new job and I am spending more than three hours a day commuting. Previously I was only doing one hour total. I won't say what the distance is because I am embarasingly slow. Unfortunately the work pattern is compressing a 37 hour week into 4 and half days. I am struggling to get enough sleep midweek, but halfday Fridays are OK. At least the weather has mostly be kind. I am not venturing out on the bike at the weekend, I need the rest.
by 7_lives_left
2 Jun 2013, 12:57am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: But what *do* you think of my bloomers?
Replies: 4
Views: 1309

Re: But what *do* you think of my bloomers?

Don’t contest the right of way with cable cars.

"Cable cars" meaning trams?

That's sound advice for 1895 and today.
by 7_lives_left
31 May 2013, 12:00am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: 30kmh – making streets liveable
Replies: 159
Views: 10398

Re: 30kmh – making streets liveable

I have been getting up extra early for a 6am start . There are fewer vehicles about but what ones there are are traveling at silly speeds for a nominal 30 mph road with housing. My guess is they are doing 45 mph.
by 7_lives_left
30 May 2013, 11:27pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Your chance to help change the future of cycling?
Replies: 9
Views: 1973

Re: Your chance to help change the future of cycling?

I live within commuting distance of Wokingham, so I signed up on their website form.
by 7_lives_left
19 May 2013, 12:17pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Dynamo lighting recommendations
Replies: 47
Views: 7231

Re: Dynamo lighting recommendations

I favour having dynomo powered lights for both the front and rear. When I hop on the bike I just pedal and go. I don't even have to think about lights, they just turn on themselves if they are needed.

I know that the batteries for the rear lamps last a long time but there is always an occasion when they run down and leave you in the lurch. This will be at the most inconvenient moment.

I am lucky to have a choice of bikes to rides. I pick the ones with the dynamo lamps for first preference. It's a bit expensive to have dynamo lighting to every bike though.

The kit that meic linked to is what I would buy, but I would add a rear lamp too.

I have only had dynamo lighting fail me on a few occasions. Some I can remeber are:

1) Once I parked up in Oxford to do some shopping. Someone tried to nick the rear lamp but couldn't get it off the bike. They disconnected the power lead in the process. I didn't spot this. I rode 25 miles home without realizing that my rear lamp wasn't showing.

2) I had the rear lamp stop working when wiring corroded away. Part of the circuit to the rear lamp was made through two metal foil strips embeddded in the body of the plastic mudgaurd. A winter of riding made sure that failed. I replaced it with a direct wire feed to the lamp.

3) I had a B&M topaz lamp fail shortly after I bought it. I have had better luck with other models of B&M lamps.

For powering USB toys I have a homebrew phone charging device of the type that you would fit in the cigarette lighter socket of a car, but modifed to run off the dynamo. I probably blew up half a dozen prototypes before I got this current one working reliably. It's also not waterproof so I would have saved some money and got a better device if I had bought a bike specific one off the shelf, but they weren't available to purchase at the time when I first started using them.
by 7_lives_left
18 May 2013, 12:32am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Low-life bulbs
Replies: 83
Views: 3821

Re: Low-life bulbs

TonyR wrote:
661-Pete wrote:I have lots of gripes about the CFLs but unfortunately we now have to live with the things.


Actually not. LEDs [snip] don't contain any mercury [snip]


No mercury, but they do have arsenic instead. I'm not sure if they need special disposal or not.
by 7_lives_left
9 May 2013, 1:30am
Forum: On the road
Topic: The most climb for the least miles!
Replies: 48
Views: 3723

Re: The most climb for the least miles!

gaz wrote:If you did a few laps, gaining 2ft at a time, couldn't you just ride in through the first floor window?

What if meic went the other way around his route? If he dropped 2ft with every circuit like one of those Escher drawings he could use the change in potential energy to do work. I smell a perpetural motion machine. It would work all the better if he filled his pockets with lead.
by 7_lives_left
8 May 2013, 2:23pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Hit by cabbie - RESOLVED
Replies: 21
Views: 4690

Re: Hit by cabbie - RESOLVED

661-Pete wrote:
reohn2 wrote:The result is,no points,no record,and all for £80.
I was told (in an earlier letter) that it would cost him £175.

I don't know where your incident took place but in London cabbie's have to immediately take their vehicles off the road to get them fixed. That could be for something as minor as a scuffed bumper, detended panel, sratched paint work. He probably lost more in missed fares while off the raod than the £175 for the course.

About the incident where the brother-in-law of the cabbie phoned you up. The cabbie may have got you details off the police, not that they are suposed to pass them on. The police and cabbies have a bit of an incestuous relationship. The police often get tip offs and inteligence about crime from cabbies and so might do them favours in return.