Cycling UK Forum

I've been using biopace for the last few years and swear by it. Never tried it on a derailleur bike, only on hub gear set ups (no, chain tension is not a problem!).

Did a 2500Km fully loaded tour around Poland a few weeks ago using a Raleigh Twenty with an Sturmey S5 hub and biopace. Compared to round rings you have more flexibility and can push a higher gear for longer; very useful if you like to tour on hub gear bikes with limited gear range.

Tony R is so right on this one.

Please don't use aerosol products, not only are they more expensive with a higher environmental cost, there is also no possible method of application which avoids waste.

Just use a liquid lube and apply it sparingly, one link at a time, between the roller and the sideplate, this is the only part of your chain which requires oil. Drizzling the chain whilst turning the cranks just makes a mess!

Some people regard lubing one link at a time to be a bit onerous but if a chain has, say, 120 links then the whole operation is going to take less than 5 mins, probably less time than it takes to clean up after less discriminate lubing methods.

just wondering whether its possible to complete the cycle on a mountain bike? as there is more chance of myself getting a bike with suspension and tweaking it.

LOL, what a funny question! Did you know LEJOG was first completed in 1882 on a penny farthing!

I would be in favour of larger trailers for HGVs on the condition they were restricted to motorways and dual carridgeways, meaning we didn't have to suffer them in our towns and cities.

But do we actually have a pressing need to increase freight efficiency by a few percent? My understanding is that for a more sustainable economy we need to cut down on waste and pointless consumerism which in turn would reduce the demand for freight capacity.....

Why on earth do you consider 15kg to be unacceptably heavy?

The classic English Roadster tips the scales at around 19kg and back in the day, when bicycles provided pollution free transport for the masses, this is what most people were riding.

So do we know what the outcome was? whether she got an acquittal or a retrial?

Mark R, how do you bunny-hop with loaded panniers? I need to know because we have some horrendous pot-holes round here.

Yeah loaded its not so easy, but unladen I could clear a speed hump no problem!

+1

Platform pedals are just fine for touring, toe clips are a nice compromise, spd's IMO are a bad idea. Having your feet in a fixed position for hours on end is not good; imagine touring with only one fixed handlebar position. Having to have a special pair of shoes is another obvious disadvantage.

Having tried them, the biggest advantage was the ability the 'bunny hop' over speed humps, pot holes etc.

Actually this subject reminds me of a clean air campaign a few years ago titled 'Stop Choking Britain'. It very nearly recieved official governmental backing but of course the road lobby swung into action and the governental support got pulled.

A great shame, I wonder how effective a well funded ad campaign to put urban motorists on a guilt trip would have been. I'd wish for large billboards along traffic choked streets depicting a child in a pushchair being wheeled beside a traffic jam, through the shimmering haze of pollution, topped with the headline 'Stop Choking Britain'.

The reason I consider unnecessary car use in an urban setting to be so deeply antisocial is the way it blights peoples lives.

What springs to mind is the noise and air pollution, the general ugliness of choked streets, the vast areas given over to parking. It could all be so much nicer if people stopped being so damn antisocial.

Anyone else agree that using a car for short journeys in a city is antisocial on a fundamental level?

[XAP]Bob wrote:A colleague at work has started commuting on an electric bike - 11 miles each way.

He intends to pass the e-bike on to his wife after he's fit enough to afford a non assisted bike, but is already concerned that it would be too heavy for her.

Wow, ask him what planet he is on; I bet its less than 1/3rd the weight of a small petrol moped.

I want to extend the steerer tube length on a pair of 1 1/8 threadless forks, can I simply buy a quill to threadless converter such as http://www.bikecare.co.uk/product_info.php?id=392?

or is there some technical difference in the steerer tube wall thickness between threaded and threadless?

Thanks in advance.

I'm happy to ride a bit drunk myself, in fact its probably safer to ride when you know you are drunk, slowly, carefully without pushing your luck, than it is to limit yourself to one or two thinking it has not affected your abilities.

I reckon people riding home after a night out saves an awful lot of dangerous, polluting taxi mileage.

The police in Germany have a nice way of dealing with it: if your riding looks dodgy they can stop and fine you and confiscate the bike if they think you are drunk, but in fact this almost never happens; what they prefer to do is simply let the air out of the tyres and send you on your way pushing:D

Er, I'm sorry but this is right at the heart of the debate. Its called risk compensation and does apply to "people in general".

I don't have personal experience of helmet wearing but am sure that if I felt 'protected' by one then I would be more comfortable about letting my speed build up on descents.

Of course i'm only surmising in response to this absurd notion the cycling bareheaded is somehow akin to playing Russian roulette!