Cycling UK Forum

djnotts wrote: ↑9 Jun 2024, 2:56pm "As you say, no way Conservatives are getting back into power this election so Labour winning a majority is a foregone conclusion without tactical voting....."

Dangerous complacency IMO with nearly a month to go and a Tory media willing to play all sorts of very dirty tricks.

Totally agree, after the Brexit fiasco I am taking nothing for granted. Some of my left wing friends voted to leave in protest against what they viewed as an undemocratic EU and looked what happened.

Mike Sales wrote: ↑9 Jun 2024, 1:31pm

geocycle wrote: ↑9 Jun 2024, 1:29pm Quite enjoying the women’s tour. The location is better than last years and much more interesting. Way better than the men’s ToB last year with its contrived scoring system. I agree with JJ that the TdYorkshire was fantastic while it lasted.

I enjoy the home tours when they get onto roads I know, like North Wales.

Yup, that’s probably it. I don’t know the north wales climbs but could relate to them.

Quite enjoying the women’s tour. The location is better than last years and much more interesting. Way better than the men’s ToB last year with its contrived scoring system. I agree with JJ that the TdYorkshire was fantastic while it lasted.

Mike Sales wrote: ↑9 Jun 2024, 12:49pm In Skegness and Boston we have some fine rabid rightists on the ballot paper.
English Democrats, Blue Revolution, and of course Tice standing for Reform UK, not to mention the Tory. My hope is that these splittists might demolish the Tory majority in this hitherto safe seat. Labour is the best tactical vote but we do have a Green candidate.
I am conflicted.

I vote green in local elections and our green led council does a good job. I couldn’t contemplate letting a Tory in so will likely vote labour. As it happens our candidate is very good.

It would be good to change the voting system to some form of PR despite the risk of more extreme representatives it brings. However, not engaging with a flawed system is not going to help. It’s a bit like asking for directions and getting told I’d not start from here.

simonhill wrote: ↑8 Jun 2024, 5:20pm Yet another Conservative party announcement today.

Mark Harper (Minister of Transport) said:

"We will reverse Sadiq Khan's unfair Ulez expansion and rule out any blanket 20mph zones because we are on the drivers' side," he said.

BBC News - Tories pledge to scrap outer London Ulez
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw44vj3e1wyo

Unbelievable, wilfully misleading people and playing to conspiracy theorists. Shameless.

Looks a nice route. The route chosen from Kirby Lonsdale through to the Eden Valley is really nice. It’s not the flattest but worth it if you are not in a huge hurry. For reference the A road from KL to Sedbergh is perfectly rideable if you want to get more quickly or the weather is rough. I love the road that runs along the flank of the Howgills to Tebay and then you are climbing over Asby scar into Eden. Lovely.

toontra wrote: ↑31 May 2024, 4:27pm

pwa wrote: ↑31 May 2024, 3:13pmSo I am not giving up on Labour just yet. I hope that they are being cautious with promises because of the mess they will inherit, but that they will do good things as and when fiscal constraints ease.

I admire your optimism I wonder if this thread/forum will still be here in 5 years so we can see?

I just hope we are not looking back on 19 years of Tory lies and corruption. I am also alarmed at the apparent policy shifts by Starmer and really hope he is more radical in office, but he can win.

Students in general work harder now than say 20 years ago. But they have also become more transactional, requiring more input to justify their expenditure through fees as a result engagement is more judged in hours than quality. The fees model doesn't really work for anyone; it seems like a huge debt and deters applicants yet actually most only repay a fraction, it is charged at exorbitant interest rates from the student loan company and it doesn't cover the cost of providing the tuition. The original intention was cross subsidy from cheaper subjects to more expensive ones but universities now make a loss on home students unless they strip back staffing, support and facilities. International students are essential to make up the shortfall in teaching and especially research. The only advantage of fees is that the cost of university is mainly targeted at those who attend and benefit, not the 50% who don't.

Despite all that, universities are one of our major export successes, despite the bad press from the culture warriors. I hope the next government engages more positively.

Freewheeling in the lower set of 7 gears is silent, in the top set it’s just like the noise of a standard freehub.

Pleased the overall noise is not too bad on your set up. It gets less noticeable with time, either things get warn in, you add a bit more oil than in the factory, or most likely you get used to it.

Thanks Pete.

Whoever wins, we need a return of trust, truth and integrity in parliament and an end to the corruption, lying and sleaze we have endured for most of the last 14 years. It’s a low bar but essential to a properly functioning democracy.

xerxes wrote: ↑22 May 2024, 11:42am It's open again! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmmm4d5lv1lo

Thanks for posting. UU need to rebuild some local goodwill at the very least. I see the dam wall road is closed, does anyone know if you can walk across?

I’ve had two internal cables partially fray in 50,000 miles. Shifting becomes stiff but will still work for a while. They are a bit fiddly to rethread and are better to do as part of a service as you’d not want to do it at the side of the road. On a long tour it would be worth taking one that is pre wound if you are north of 10000 miles. The internal cable is 0.9 mm diameter and feeds into bayonet connectors that are also slightly fiddly.

I used the Tesco in Oban when staying for a few days in the town. If you book via Your Parking Space you can get long term stays.
https://www.yourparkingspace.co.uk/loca ... 4294956668

squeaker wrote: ↑7 May 2024, 2:43pm

Brucey wrote: ↑7 May 2024, 11:02am

squeaker wrote: ↑7 May 2024, 10:45am.......(speaking as a retired automotive NVH engineer), but the subjective feel of the gear change was.

would you care to elaborate? I'm curious now.

In my limited experience, the Rohloff's twin pull-cable system always has a small degree of inherent slack (especially with recumbent long cable runs / rear suspension) so the shift action always has a small degree of low force movement before the actual shift mechanism starts to move. In comparison, a single cable derailleur system is always tensioned, so starts shifting as soon as the shifter is moved. Probably just a personal quirk, but one I found annoying with the Rohloff.

One of the benefits of rohloff is that the change is in the hub so the tension of the cables is not an issue for the gear shift. I adjust my cables to reduce the slack a bit but they are still quite loose.