Cycling UK Forum

JohnW wrote:

blackbike wrote:Front shifter rub was one of the reasons I went back to non-indexed bar end shifters.........

You, and I don't know how many others. I know everyone has read this before, but I've never changed from down-tube friction levers, and despite all that so many people say, I continue to think it's the right decision.

I'm another one with friction front-shifter. I occasionally get chain rub when I change across the range at the back but am too lazy (or know that I'll be changing the rear again shortly) to adjust the front

From Decathlon - a puncture repair kit with 6 patches - £1.50 - or 25p per puncture - and no surplus of old tubes

After hearing of your puncture-repairing and tube changing pedigree, I find it strange that you get so many repair-failures and that you find repairing a tube such a bind that you haven't the time or inclination to do it.

Do you use paper plates at home?

MikeF wrote:Any light that takes AA or AAA cells. eg Smart half watt http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smart-Watt-Cycle-Light-batt/dp/B00HF89OJI Instead of the cells supplied use Eneloop or similar.

I'm a fan of rechargeable batteries like eneloop (low self-discharge) too - that way you can also take a spare set for a long journey. The power requirement of back lights is small enough to allow for compact designs running off AAA cells, such as the one in Mike's post above, if that is a consideration. You always have the option of buying disposable batteries too if the need arises.

whoof wrote:You could buy two of these and then unpick the stitching on the male side and replace it with the second female clip from the other strap. You could also shorten the strap if required.
Not sure if this was what was suggested earlier on or not.

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/ortlieb_sh ... wwodNuAIjw

You beat me to it!

Here's an interesting method from the very interesting Instructables website (they have loads of bike-related stuff) - fix two tubes to the inside of your pannier rack:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Lock-bracket-that-doesnt-interfere-with-bottle-ca/

IMAGE LINK:

http://cdn.instructables.com/F19/ZD0A/HINOECQ3/F19ZD0AHINOECQ3.LARGE.jpg

(Edited to remove hotlinked image as per board guidelines)

TrekMad wrote:I've been on several long tours where for one reason or another, extreme heat, cold or rain a patched tube has failed. Its never happened with a brand new tube. QED.

If by fail you mean a patch-failure, then it would be impossible for a brand new (un-patched) tube to fail. If you mean another type of failure, then it is nothing to do with the tube being patched.

I hardly ever get punctures but if I do I repair the tube. If I'm travelling more than 'walking distance' from start point and destination, I carry a spare to avoid a roadside repair. Apart from when I was a kid learning to patch a tube, the only patch-failures I have had were when I experimented with self-adhesive patches. The last two tubes that I put out for recycling were not patched but both persistently went slowly flat (rather like a 'slow puncture') on account of faulty valves from new - and so not as reliable as a repaired tube without a faulty valve. QED

Ridgeback63 wrote:

NickWi wrote:Karrimor as was (i.e. a UK manufacturer) went bust years ago. The Karrimor that exists now is all 'Made in China' along with the vast majority of outdoor gear nowadays.

There is a firm called KarrimorSF which make fantastic rucksac's and Bergens mainly for the military but anyone can buy them,brilliant kit and the after service is fantastic,can't praise them highly enough,sadly they don't make panniers

If I recall correctly, KarrimorSF was formed by the old Karrimor design team when the original company was sinking beyond redemption.

Tangled Metal wrote:I also kind of remember when I switched to C from F. It was late 80s or early 90s I believe. Back then weather forecasts gave both measurements then just the C with F mentioned by the weatherman/girl (why weathergirl and not weatherboy?). That way I saw the writing on the wall and learnt metric. Then when the dropping of imperial happened shortly afterwards I was already there.

Now I can;'t easily think what the F figure is I can only think temperature in metric now.

For years I only understood cold weather in Centigrade and warm weather in Fahrenheit. Now I understand both in Centigrade but not in Fahrenheit (except that 100F is a scorcher).

I have a Tern Cargo rack on a Tern C7 folder. I mounted the rack as high up and as far back as possible to give maximum clearance (with the idea of adjusting closer if there were problems). Plenty of room for my Altura Dryline 56 panniers and it doesn't feel unduly unstable. The bike is obviously less stable than my tourer (a bad road surface was a revelation) but nothing that can't be coped with once the 'knowledge' is there. I bought last year's cycle model for considerably less than the current model - about £100 cheaper and the only difference is the paint job. Gearing is about 33" through seven gears to 75", if I recall correctly. The rack was close to £50. The rack doesn't interfere with the fold and doesn't increase the folded size significantly but obviously the panniers need to be removed. So far though, I've only used the folder around town and (mostly one way) to visit friends in a village about six miles out of town with a few hills. Most trips usually with one pannier on the bike.

When younger, I used to ride no-handed on my tourer a lot; I remember treating it as a game to get from college to home without touching the bars (usually depended on if I had to stop or not). I used to have a Karrimor Bardale which I accessed with both both hands whilst cycling too.

After being deprived of a bike for some years, I bought a cheapish rigid 'mountain' bike that I couldn't let go of the bars for more than a few seconds without losing control. I recently bought a decent tourer but having lost the habit of riding no-handed for many years, I haven't tried it since - I keep meaning to give it a go when I get a quiet country lane.

The mountain bike [threaded] headset was always problematic - kept loosening up and had to be checked/adjusted/tightened almost every trip - felt like it was cross-threaded but wasn't. I don't recall if it was always like that or if it developed (e.g. after a kerb-impact) - either way, it was very early on. My suspicion was a bent/angled steerer but when I decommissioned the bike, the forks and steering tube looked fine. I now wonder if the head-tube was out or required facing.

Not sure if it helps but when putting my Tern 20" wheel folding bike into the back of a friend's Fiesta, we had to fold one of the rear seats down.

Thanks for all your replies. I'm looking (daydreaming) at different lighting solutions and the responses have given food for thought. I frequently use a large (16 litre) handlebar bag and so a handlebar mounted lamp would not be practical (I prefer something lower down - imho, it gives better illumination with less dazzle). My query was originally with USB charging in mind but the wider issues addressed in the responses has been most useful.

As a side note, until reading the thread about steering/handling and barbags - I didn't realise they were so 'marmite'!

An ex girlfriend's opening line to me when we first met in a pub (not a planned meet - I'd never seen her before this time) was "Are you a cyclist? You look like a cyclist". I don't recall ever finding out why she thought I looked like a cyclist. My bike was at home and I had, to my knowledge, nothing that would 'give it away'.

Has anyone used a dynamo front lamp with daylight sensor, mounted at the fork bridge with a bar bag above it? I was wondering if the bag affects the lamp's daylight sensor.

Cheers

I'm not into sport at all but because I like cycling (and bikes), people I know who are into sport presume that I will 'make the exception' and follow cycle racing. They seem confused when I tell them I never watch or follow it - don't even know with confidence the names of our olympian cyclists (i know them a bit because people/press/tv make a lot of noise about them).