Cycling UK Forum

Hi

A couple of pedantic points:

illegal to overtake on solid white line

you can overtake, providing it's safe (see overtaking rules) and you do it without crossing the solid white line as referred to in para 2b of the regs

or an agricultural vehicle

Not unless it's involved in roads maintenance, etc, as referred to in para 6

Regards
tim-b

Hi

I came up with this...http://www.koolstop.com/english/crosspad_ct.html

Koolstop recommend either the Dura type or Dura 2 (scroll about halfway down the page)

The Dura 2 is a thicker version of the Dura, so just make sure that your frame/brake combination can take a thicker pad if that's what you want.

EDIT: Google "koolstop dura", there are several possible suppliers

Regards
tim-b

Hi

Re the paint, occupational hazard I'm afraid..

+1
I had a couple of track bikes in the 70s/80s (when we still had a local track), different makes, same problem.

Chromed track ends will help, however they may contribute to the rear wheel slipping forward under hard use. Something to consider for your next purchase/respray.

There are various solutions to the "slippage" problem.

Regards
tim-b

Hi Mick

two KMC ML's and three extra links of new chain

which gives you a ML that can be moved to effect an emergency repair elsewhere (that hopefully won't be needed) and get you home.

Brilliant!

tim-b

Hi

The down side is that there would need to be some way of refunding or not charging at point of sale for those presently exempt

Annual one-off payment equivalent to the current VED for your vehicle (and length of ownership if less than a year) and applied for at the local PO / online?
Disproportionate to fuel use, but simple (cheap) to administer.

Regards
tim-b

Hi

The Treasury is doing away with the paper tax disc in October, but not the vehicle excise duty (VED)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25223631

VED will be administered electronically, which will be handy when you buy a second-hand car, "Is it taxed?"
160,000 drivers were reported by the public for not displaying a tax disc. Not after October 2014, when we'll need more, expensive, electronic road checks.

EDIT: (What) should CTC be contributing to help The Treasury "consider whether to reform VED over the medium term", and maybe encourage cycling. Thoughts on a forum post(card) please.

Regards
tim-b

Hi

Mileage isn't the whole story, prolonged exposure to UV damages rubber and damp storage conditions will also cause problems to a tyre.

Factor in the inevitable cuts and impacts and who knows?

I cycle to work throughout the year and I'd rather not be messing about at the roadside in darkness and -C temperatures as well, so I probably err on the cautious side.

Absolutely no help at all, for which I apologise
Regards
tim-b

Hi

The Sold Secure catalogue carries a little detail on their attack specification on pages 6 and 7
http://www.soldsecure.com/wp-content/up ... oad-lr.pdf
The locks and their approval categories are further on

CTC carried out some testing in the Feb-March 2008 issue of Cycle Magazine: "Gone in 42 seconds!" http://www.ctc.org.uk/sites/default/fil ... 803042.pdf
The title says it all...

Regards
tim-b

Hi

This sounds like the normal trackpoint and routepoint mix up.

Very probably, with track, route and waypoints there's enough to confuse me The Etrex just refers to "points" in its message.

Points of whatever flavour have their advantages and disadvantages, some people will actively use them and some won't.
I don't suppose that I use a fraction of the capabilities of my Etrex, but it does what I need. It's more reliable than my old wireless trip computer (with one or two caveats) and has the benefit that I don't need to refer to a paper map.

Without any autorouting in operation, this would just look like 24 short straight lines on the map.

My point exactly. When I plan a trip I like to see the roads, distance and the elevation data in BikeHike; I can't do that quickly and accurately off straight lines.
I can plan the trip and save it as a GPXtrack in one hit, job done.

Back to the OP

I am finding GPS mapping a nightmare

There are different approaches, have a play and choose one that suits you...

Regards
tim-b

Hi

IIRC, the eTrex allowed 250 points per Route??

Ayesha, I've read that too, but mine doesn't complain at 843, or whatever.

I don't plan points, BikeHike fills them in. I just meander along this road, followed by that one.

Regards
tim-b

Hi

I prefer to plan Edit: trips following the exact course of the road so that I can see contours, etc. I like BikeHike for this because it's quick, easy and you have Google maps (with satellite view if necessary) and OS maps simultaneously displayed. It will also give you elevation data if you choose that option.

I have the Etrex 30 and don't use plotted routes because the Etrex warned me that "only 50 points can be used for on-road navigation", which was always fewer than I'd plotted in BikeHike with my preferred "follow road" option selected (843 on a 46 mile route).
BikeHike has a trackpoint reduction option (under "options" at bottom right of the Mapping Controls window) if you want to reduce the points count to 50, however I don't use this.

I now use tracks because they aren't restricted to 50 points. These give a line on a digital map following the course of the road, however, you don't get the "turn" warnings. You could liken it to following a paper map, one that isn't soaking wet and blowing in the wind. And you don't have to stop to refold it.
Tracks are just what I want. I zoom the map between 200 and 800 feet depending on the complexity of the road layout.

I plot tracks using BikeHike and save them as a gpx track to my computer. I keep a copy there (there is an option on the Etrex to delete your data that I mistakenly used once ) and also copy them to a micro SD card that fits into the Etrex (beneath the batteries).

I plug the micro SD into my computer directly for saving/copying files because it's much faster than going through the Etrex. As Lolly Kat said, you'll need to set up a Garmin folder with a GPX sub-folder in (on?) the micro SD to save your tracks to (the Garmin unit has a similar folder setup for reference purposes).
You can also save downloaded maps to the Garmin folder in the micro SD, again much quicker if it's plugged directly into your computer.

You can get both full-size SDcard and USB adaptors for micro SD cards depending what ports your computer has available.

Edit: you don't have to use the micro SD option, the internal Etrex folders do the same job but there's less storage space

HTH Regards
tim-b

Hi mark.a

Your summary works for me

It tickles me that something as "obvious" as gyroscopic forces and trail being necessary for bike stability is not necessarily true. It doesn't really matter too much in the real world (bike builders have had plenty of practice to make bikes stable) but it's fun to see what happens when you actually look into it.

"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride." John F. Kennedy, former U.S. President

Regards
tim-b

Hi
A Christmas Conundrum for you...

http://www.newstatesman.com/science/201 ... ycles-work
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6027/339

Regards and Happy Cycling in 2014
tim-b

Hi reohn2

Apologies, I'm not making myself clear

The point was that by following one particular table, in isolation, you can exceed the manufacturer's spec for either the rim or the tyre, or both.

If you accept Ayesha's assertion, and I do,

Inflating above the Maximum recommended pressure strains the sidewall and they will develop bulging. Also, the aramid layer departs the casing

so I read these tables one with another...

Oh, and I do run lower tyre pressures than those in my example

Thanks for planting the seed, when my OEM 23mm tyres wear out, their replacements will be up a size or two (clearance permitting) for the reasons that you have mentioned

regards
tim-b

Hi

Assuming that you have alu rims, KoolStop salmon work well for me. I don't hear as much grating when I use the brakes in the wet as compared to some pads that I've used.

http://www.koolstop.com/english/rim_pads.html

Quite a variety as you can see, hunt around for the cheapest supplier

Regards
tim-b