Cycling UK Forum

It depends...

I either go very slow, or quite fast. Moderate speeds are always bad news. If the road is wet, it tends to be slow, or even get off and walk. Fortunately all my regular commute grids are flat-topped, as I would probably want to walk across a round-barred grid. Always go straight across, never at an angle; always line up beforehand & don't try to steer on the grid.

The Brompton is quite exciting when going fast across a grid. I stand WELL up on the pedals, as the rebound on the suspension is quite astonishing. The vibration generally rings the bell and causes the mirror to move out of adjustment, too. I have one grid (on the Blackhill Rd at its junction with A36 Crawley Hill in Wellow) that I always take fast, as it's just at the bottom of a dip & I am usually going as fast as I can for safety on the main road.

Max

OldGreyBeard said:

One of my bikes does have a wing mirror which is rather useful but more difficult to fit to a Brompton.

I apologise for going off-topic, but a Mountain Mirrycle (available from Spa Cycles) fits nicely onto the RH end of an M-type handlebar, and can be folded back out of the way when folding the bike. It does slightly increase the folded length, unless you have the saddle a goodish way back (like I do). Unfortunately it doesn't work so well in drive-on-the-right countries.

Max

My local Waitrose in Romsey http://www.waitrose.com/branches/branchpopup.aspx?branchid=128 has good cycle parking: two lots of Sheffield stands, under cover, near the main entrance, but out of the the way of the trolley storage. Also there are some more public stands by the back entrance (but these are open-air). They all get used, too! If I'm on the Brommie I can always just fold it up & plonk it in the trolley. Romsey town centre is well provided with cycle stands, and there do seem to be quite a lot of cyclists around.

Max

It's a bit rich, a bunch of cyclists complaining how modern car engines are complex, impossible to repair yourself, and painful to get fixed by someone else: just compare the 'engine' on a typical bicycle!

Max

Mick,

I see you have made repeated tests under the same conditions, which show that the bike-bike variability is significant compared with the test-to-test variability. Have you tried repeating tests (with the bike in the same configuration, tyres, pressures, etc.,) on different days, and looking at the day-to-day variability? This might be affected by things like ambient temperature (which would affect the stiffness of the tyres, the viscosity of the bearing grease, and maybe other items) or the wind speed and direction (which would have an effect not only on drag, but also on the amount of steering input needed in the case of a crosswind). You should measure & record these, where possible, since you can't control them.
This is real science you are doing here!
Max

I usually ride with one pannier because the other one is in use...

Max

Its just as bad with the pubs here. They're all closing down. Now we have Yates and a couple of copycats. Thats not a pub imo. There is the Osbourne View though, bit far out but quite nice. Went there with the family last week and saw loads of cyclists riding past.

How about the Junction? Or the Guide Dog? Agreed they aren't in the city centre, but that may be seen as advantage! I haven't cycled in the centre for (gulp!) 30 years, but I can see exactly what you mean. To visit the centre, which doesn't happen often, I drive & park a goodish way out, walking the last mile or so. Shopping tends to be in Romsey (eminently bikeable), or Salisbury now they have the Petersfinger park & ride.

Max

The thickness of the gear hanger and the axial location of the sprockets also matter. If the largest sprocket is 'further away' from the mech on one bike, the parallelogram will have to travel further inwards to align with it. This means the parallelogram also moves further down, giving you a bit more clearance to the top jockey wheel. Maybe try a washer between the gear hanger and the mech, to move it a bit further out.

Max

As I understand this study, it is a developmental limitation, not a psychological one. Young children cannot judge speeds > 20MPH for the same sort of reasons they cannot see over a 5' high wall.

Max

Two tales:
The first happened here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=wellow&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=20.121063,24.829102&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Wellow,+Hampshire,+United+Kingdom&layer=c&cbll=50.843085,-1.021753&panoid=1qHV7415Kdm-CinoyPKWsw&cbp=12,45,,0,5&ll=50.843021,-1.0219&spn=0.081296,0.212002&z=13
I was driving in the third lane, heading for the Chichester bypass. Vehicles were passing on both sides (quite legitimately). Suddenly, without warning, the white van in front of me emitted clouds of blue smoke from the back tyres and came to a sudden halt. No brake lights: the engine had seized - it happens! I had left enough gap between us so I didn't hit him, but if I had hit him, it would have been my fault.
The second I described on another thread: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=44388&start=15#p359800 in brief, a car turning right, as I was, undertook me, pulled in directly in front of me and braked hard. I didn't hit them, but it was definitely an emergency stop. Had I hit them, I would have denied being at fault.

Max

On my commute home each evening I have to turn right just as the car does here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=romsey&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Romsey,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.97821,-1.530704&spn=0.037396,0.100851&z=14&layer=c&cbll=50.978334,-1.514352&panoid=DxRRgDBHE2MB3hqkn6-crQ&cbp=12,4.06,,0,5. This is a national limit, dual carriageway road, with two lanes in each direction. The speed limit is 40MPH until the bottom of the hill, up to which point it is also single carriageway, two lane. Going down, it is a 10% gradient (wheeeee!) but it's not so steep coming up. I'm usually doing about 7MPH by the top. As you can see, immediately before the turn, the sightlines are quite restricted.
What I normally do is to ride in a 'wide secondary'. Hopefully this forces people to move out into the offside lane. I ride looking in the mirror ALL THE TIME, to spot 'races' coming up the hill, one vehicle in each lane, neither of which has any intention of yielding to the other. Then I make a dive for where the kerb would be, if there was a kerb. By the time I'm coming in to view of the camera, I'm trying to move out to primary in the nearside lane. If the mirror view is clear, I make a quick shoulder glance, then turn sharply right across the outside lane into the right turn filter lane. If no gap arises, I carry on until I'm about where the camera is, or a bit further on; stop & wait for a gap; cross to the central reservation and walk back to the turning; remount & cross the second carriageway.
I HATE this bit of road!
It's actually easier in the dark evenings as you can see the loom of vehicle headlights before they are visible, coming round the bend.
One day, I had made it to the right turn filter lane and was just reaching the gap, when a car came up fast behind me, overtook me on the left, turned sharply right in front of me and braked hard, stopping at the white line. This was so fast I almost went into the back of them. Since then I ride well over to the left of the filter lane.
Incidentally the nearside lane is currently coned off as there are roadworks behind the camera position. I make no attempt to use the outside lane, and stay in the coned off area. This involves several stages of getting off and walking round the massive signs that are placed there. Infuriatingly, there is a 30MPH temporary limit in the roadworks section, but it's still national limit in the single-lane bit up the hill.

Max

On Sunday I swapped the freewheel on my old Campagnolo Record hub. The 14-28 6-speed Shimano from Spa I fitted about 1500 miles ago is still perfectly OK, although it 'clunks' in some speeds, probably due to a sloppy bearing. This shouldn't matter, but... I've replaced it with a 13-28 6-speed IRD (from The Wheel Room). The higher top gear will be nice, and the quality feels much better. The freewheel action is totally silent - unlike the apawling racket some modern hubs make when freewheeling. However, the weather since has kept the Mercian off the road (I'm commuting on my winter bike) so I haven't tried it in anger.

Incidentally, I run 9-speed chain on this bike, as the jockey cage on the (officially 10-speed) rear mech is a tad too narrow for 8 speed. It works fine.

The IRD freewheel is also shiny enough for Mick F...

Max

After riding the Gridiron last week, I was dragged out for a meal by some friends - we went to the Lamb, and very good it was too! I had the Chicken, Ham, & Leek Pie, with chips. No olfactory issues arose, although I had showered first...

Max

It would be interesting to experiment in a driving simulator: take a 'real' section of rural A road & construct a model of it. Now replace the modelled trees, hedges, buildings etc., and replace them with a modelled urban environment, preserving as far as possible all the sight lines, junctions, side entrances, and keeping the size & position of the carriageway identical. How would people's driving behaviour change between the two environments? IMHO people behave MUCH more riskily on rural A roads.
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Another reason why cyclists must use 'unsuitable' rural A roads is river crossings. The bridge may be small enough to escape the driver's notice entirely, but the stream beneath still forms an otherwise impenetrable barrier. This applies to me - my commute takes in a short stretch of National limit dual carriageway, up a steepish hill and round a bend with restricted visibilty. This is just after the only feasible bridge for miles in either direction. The only alternative would be a similar road, but single carriageway, with double white lines.

Max

I know the pub quite well - it's very close to where I live. I've never stopped there while cycling, but we do occasionally stop off for a meal & a pint after a long (20 mile+) forest hike. Never had any problems with our muddy boots or anything. This story sounds a bit odd to me. And the food is generally very good.

Max