Search found 286 matches

by recumbentpanda
13 Feb 2022, 11:24pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Speeding Motorcycle on Bath Bristol Path
Replies: 25
Views: 1975

Re: Speeding Motorcycle on Bath Bristol Path

Really don’t want to live in the world cycle tramp seems to be proposing. Case in point: a few months before the speeding incident I got all huffy and stopped and turned back a couple of young lads on motorbikes. Turned out one bike had broken down, was only able to move at a crawl, they were miles from home via horrible roads and just desperately trying to think of a way to get back in one piece. They didn’t look like the types to have AA cover. Thinking about it afterwards I should have taken a different tack, offered to help call someone, etc etc. I could have left them with good impression. Instead, they just thought they had met a stroppy old dick, and I kind of agree!

Whatever you may think of my reaction or my second thoughts, will people please, reflect that Mad Max was a creepy kind of fun as a movie, but real life in a world of vigilante justice is horrible, and leads to things like barbed wire stretched across mountain bike trails etc etc.

Please re read the end of my OP.
by recumbentpanda
5 Feb 2022, 5:23pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Speeding Motorcycle on Bath Bristol Path
Replies: 25
Views: 1975

Speeding Motorcycle on Bath Bristol Path

At about 4pm this afternoon, Saturday 5 Feb I encountered a motorcycle with pillion passenger travelling at 30mph plus (too fast to get a reg in fading light!) on the Saltford to Bitton section of the path. The offenders were travelling in the Bitton direction. The path was moderately busy with cyclists, some with small children, and families and couples walking. This uniquely frustrating form of crime is admittedly rare, but as a regular user of the path I will be keeping a lookout for repeat offences and urge others to do the same. I strongly recommend refraining from any intervention other than submitting a description, report and video if available to police. While a reg number would be good, the bike may well be stolen, and a description of the riders and their gear may be of greater use.
by recumbentpanda
3 Jan 2022, 10:09pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: What's the most eco friendly de-greaser?
Replies: 31
Views: 1675

Re: What's the most eco friendly de-greaser?

Way back when the rainbow was only in black and white the bike retailer I was working for introduced a citrus fruit based degreaser. Used, I believe, a mix of zest and pith and citrus oils. Cut through greasy dirt like a charm and smelled nice for a bonus. Don’t remember the brand, but if I need a good degreaser I’m looking at the labels for the citrus based stuff. For small jobs a bit of orange peel rubbed over can even be effective.
by recumbentpanda
3 Oct 2021, 9:12pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Rear wheel twisting in frame when QR done up tight
Replies: 24
Views: 1542

Re: Rear wheel twisting in frame when QR done up tight

Had a similar problem on my current bike, a recumbent, but has normal dropouts identical to an uprights.

The problem proved to be the axle sticking out beyond the drop outs.

The solution was to replace the qr skewers.

The originals were external cam, but the problem was not the clamping force but the fact that the ‘nut’ parts on either side had only a shallow depression inside the ridged ring that grips the drop-out face. Consequently the end of the axle was bottoming out against the inside face of the nut, holding the the gripping surface away from the drop out face. No amount of increased pressure/tightness would overcome this.

I replaced them with some old school shimano internal cam skewers. These have a much deeper recess inside the nut, so the axle being slightly over length is no longer a problem, consequently they do not need to be done up finger breakingly tight to achieve a good clamping force.
by recumbentpanda
29 Sep 2021, 2:30pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: No Fuel and it's Windy and Raining
Replies: 49
Views: 3813

Re: No Fuel and it's Windy and Raining

Flying cars? There’s already gridlock in the air, (or was, pre-COVID). I once visited a small airfield where the cafe bar had a glass top over old aeronautical charts of the area. For a non-pilot it was an eye-opener. Look out the window and you saw nearly empty sky. Look at the charts and you saw not only the towns villages and roads but also a complex network of radio navigation beacons, air corridors, no-fly zones, stacking loops etc etc. And then you realise it’s 3 dimensional, with different routes at different levels. Doesn’t take much imagination to see how quickly all that could clog up around major hubs if traffic reached a certain level.

Flying cars is a horrible idea. It’s bad enough round here with fat cats helicopters, private jets, micro lights and various kinds of flying motorbike. If it gets any worse I will be investing in a pair of oerlikons and some barrage balloons.
by recumbentpanda
27 Sep 2021, 7:04pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: No Fuel and it's Windy and Raining
Replies: 49
Views: 3813

Re: No Fuel and it's Windy and Raining

Low rider recumbent. The only time I notice wind is when my hat blows off.

Did the weekly shop in a neighbouring town with two Ortliebs and a rack top bag.

Started in light drizzle, did most of the trip in full sun. The thing with ‘isolated showers’ is they are hit and miss. Usually more miss than hit. But even if they hit I have good waterproofs, and the bike isn’t made of sugar.

Most of all, I’m out in the fresh air getting moderate exercise, not sitting on my slowly spreading a** in a stuffy box that actually concentrates traffic fumes. Takes a big change of mindset for most people to realise which scenario is actually less stressful and more comfortable.
by recumbentpanda
27 Sep 2021, 6:21pm
Forum: Non-standard, Human Powered Vehicles
Topic: Recumbent Chain
Replies: 13
Views: 1353

Re: Recumbent Chain

Was talking to a bike workshop owner about this the other day. I said that I had sometimes considered blowing a load of cash on one of the rolls of bulk chain they sell for bike shops. He said he had never heard of any bike shop bothering to invest in one -especially as these days, there is such a range of different gauges, from single speed all the way up to 11 and 12 speed. Although I run 8/9 speed set ups at the moment, there is always the thought that I might change to 1x11, or even some other combination, if I happen to spot a bargain ‘gruppo’ somewhere.

So yes, I just buy multiple chains. My long wheelbase bent swallows two chains, but oddly, my short wheelbase one demands three! (Less direct chain lines and a bigger gear range).

When joining chains and adjusting the lengths do bear in mind that some of the joining link makes are not designed for repeated use. Also while it’s fine to use a chain breaking tool to shorten them, modern peaned rivet chains do not allow rejoining sections of chain by pushing the rivet back in. It’s probably OK for a get you home repair of a broken chain, but will fail in normal service (I know this because!).

Threading chain into a recumbent like the Speedmachine with its chain tubes can be an absolute pig. I get round this by using little bits of soft wire to immobilise the old chain so it doesn’t all spill out as soon as you break it. Then I use wire or an old chain link to connect the old chain to the new, and carefully wind the old chain off pulling the new one on. Again wire to immobilise the ends of the new chain while you wrestle the ends together and connect it. One of those little pliers for opening and closing links saves a lot of struggle.

Oh - and when threading up chain on a bent with lots of chain tubes be careful you don’t get a hidden twist inside one of the chain tubes. A Möbius bicycle chain can cause some very odd symptoms in the derailleur!
by recumbentpanda
19 Aug 2021, 9:58pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Cable actuated disks
Replies: 39
Views: 1725

Re: Cable actuated disks

Bumping this cos the OP mentioned juin tech which I currently have on my touring/road bent. Previously I had BB7s which were entirely satisfactory as brakes, but required regular adjustment, and were getting cranky as they got old and corroded.

i now run juin tech gtp which are cable/hydraulic with four pads. The calipers are a little bulky compared to the BB7s for which my bike was originally designed, and I had to do some fiddling with adapters/disc size etc to get the front one to fit on the fork

They are very precise and reliable in operation, and I can run the pads much closer to the disc without rubbing. Adjustment is by a single easily accessible knob, unlike the BB7s two screws. Adjustment seems very rarely required. Have had them for about a year and very pleased so far.
by recumbentpanda
13 Jun 2021, 8:16pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: and what YOU have done to improve your favorite path ???
Replies: 40
Views: 2489

Re: and what YOU have done to improve your favorite path ???

A bit later in the year I will be packing secateurs on my rides to cut back the many long bramble suckers that grow out over most of my local routes. After storms I often pack a viciously sharp Japanese folding saw with which I have cut up and removed most of a medium sized hawthorn tree, various large fallen branches and on one occasion, cut up a small (8” dia) beech tree into logs -in a torrential rainstorm, natch, -it was the only way to get home 😬
I did have a plan to strew wildflower seeds along the verges as I rode along, but my beloved nicked them for a different project. I may get back to that next year.
by recumbentpanda
28 May 2021, 7:59am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Deliberate Close Passing /Assault and now just too scared to ride to work.
Replies: 61
Views: 8038

Re: Deliberate Close Passing /Assault and now just too scared to ride to work.

This is indeed a sad state of affairs. Twenty years ago I was reading comments online from cyclists saying they felt they had been forced off the roads. With the arrogance of youth I swore it would not happen to me.

Today I realise that all my regular routes for utility rides are ‘cringe routes’ -I just can’t deal with the stress of even light traffic, given the behaviour of drivers and the other big car problem: the sheer weight of on street parking reducing many roads to single carriageway with passing places and blocking sight lines at junctions.

Thirty years ago I did touring rides as well as utility and exercise rides. Back then I had a real feeling that I belonged to a class of road user recognised as legitimate. Now I feel the overwhelming weight of opinion among drivers is that cyclists shouldn’t be there, are a nuisance, are ‘children playing in the road’, and deserve everything they get.

My recognition of the situation has been slow to develop, I didn’t want to believe it was true, but an incident the other day brought the pigeons home to roost. It was a regular utility ride of mine that is normally quite OK, but on this occasion I happened to hit ‘Early Friday Bunking Off Rush Hour’ coinciding with ‘School Chucking Out Time’. The short, on road section of my route had heavy, slow moving traffic, negotiating with each other through pinch points. The car ahead of me accelerated slightly to pass through a parking-created single lane section. I was about to follow through when I saw a vehicle had already started to move through in the opposite direction, hoping to squeeze past the other no doubt. I slowed, as I would have done in a car, but just then a huge barge of a car behind me pushed past me very close, accelerating hard, only to stand on the brakes on seeing the traffic coming the other way. If I on a low rider recumbent could see the problem, why couldn’t they? I and the traffic behind me were forced to an emergency stop. What chilled me was that this was done within yards of a school gate and pedestrian crossing with large numbers of children and parents on foot. The sheer level of feral aggression in that driver, and the apathy towards the safety of other displayed by many others there made me just despair. I got off the bike swearing and walked it through a field rather than have to pollute my eyes with the sight of another car. This is a wretched state of affairs, and is only going to get worse. It is not going to be easy to solve, but needs root and branch change to so many aspects of society, mental, physical and economic. Right now I feel like the canary in the mine. It’s going to blow up, people.
by recumbentpanda
18 May 2021, 8:11pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Greetings whilst riding
Replies: 153
Views: 11879

Re: Greetings whilst riding

To greet is nice if you like to do it, but some people seem to get quite passive aggressive about being responded to. Some of us remember, may be types, -and there are many- who find even simple social interactions challenging. If you don’t get a response, don’t worry, it isn’t necessarily personal! :)
by recumbentpanda
11 Feb 2021, 5:54pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Would you take a vaccine against CV? Vote now please!
Replies: 1354
Views: 56039

Re: Would you take a vaccine against CV? Vote now please!

Had mine. Rode there and back to get it. Nice day. Feeling mildly ropey today, but nothing a paracetamol wouldn’t fix if I could be buttocked to take one :lol:
by recumbentpanda
19 Dec 2020, 5:17pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Gas stove or petrol?
Replies: 126
Views: 12207

Re: Gas stove or petrol?

Read the section on stoves in Three Men in a Boat. Tells you all you need to know.
by recumbentpanda
5 Sep 2020, 11:56am
Forum: Non-standard, Human Powered Vehicles
Topic: HP boats
Replies: 14
Views: 1440

Re: HP boats

Pedal power is interesting, but there is a huge gap between the needs of racers, where hydrofoil canoes are probably the way to go, and the pedal power of touring boats (which interests me). Gear ratios , prop angles etc, and not least how you get the drive from pedals to prop.
by recumbentpanda
5 Sep 2020, 11:51am
Forum: Helmets & helmet discussion
Topic: Two separate threads?
Replies: 37
Views: 4625

Re: Two separate threads?

I think the idea of to separate threads is great -just not separating the discussion into two partisan echo chambers. Instead, I propose: one thread, for the discussion of the efficacy and desirability of helmets, as per the present discussion, and another for those wishing to wear helmets and who wish to discuss the pros and cons of different models, design features etc etc, free from partisan objections from either side.