Cycling UK Forum

Not everyone on this forum is an engineer or scientist, or indeed bothered. 'Waxy' is in my opinion a good description for a layman of the residue when the solvent has flashed off - anyone can try this for themselves and decide if the coating is 'oily' or 'waxy' . I'm sure you would not advocate WD40 as a bike oil.

I didn't say that WD40 was a wax, and still contend that a waxy finish is what is left after the solvent has flashed off, not an oily one. Petroleum products can have many states. But I think we are agreed that it is not a good lubricant, as such. I use it occasionally because the best feature is the spray aspect, which works at any orientation. For penetration, use diesel or a special product like Plus Gas

WD40 is absolutely not a penetrating oil. It is a waxy water dispersant, and not a very good lubricant at that. One of the most common misconceptions.

Gas turbines seldom are fuelled by gas - think avgas (paraffin) for planes, diesel for gensets

How about one letter a week, to keep the topic active. Don't know any As myself.

Go out through Baginton to Bubbenhall, or out through Finham and Stoneleigh to Kenilworth golf club, or (further) to Burton Dassett, Avon Dassett and Edge Hill

And the gearing??[/quote]

Not very different, but I'm talking about comfort, cycling along in an appropriate gear at my usual cadence on familiar roads. Just my impression - not looking for a reason, and in fact it doesn't matter. OP might try a modern bike for comparison -I'd certainly recommend it.

I would bet money on three things;

1) that you have much nicer tyres on the Boardman and
2) that the Viscount could do with some additional fettling
3) that the riding position, gearing etc between the two machines isn't

You would lose your money! Tyres are virtually identical; Viscount is in A1 order; and I made sure that the saddle hieght and reach are identical. My point is that the unseen technology improvements are significant.

I happily rode my steel framed Viscount for 35 years - then bought a secondhand full carbon Boardman, and was taken aback, but perhaps not surprised, by the noticeable speed improvement. More importantly, now at 66, I took the Viscount out last week for the first time in four years, and was amazed at how comparatively comfortable and smooth is the Boardman. I could hardly believe what hard work was the Viscount. So there have been improvements over the years.

Do the job properly - just trim off 3mm and add a spot of paint.

The protrusion has no strength implications. You can cut off the end at an angle, and still leave enough to hook a strap.

My newly repainted/stickered aerospace sport, bought new by me in 1978 or 1979 with steel forks. Updated 25 years ago with 700c wheels from Ribble, 6 speed rear hub and new brake levers. Otherwise original Shimano 600 front and rear mech; Shimano centrepulls; SR stem, seat post and cranks; and my B17 saddle.

Grey and rain water use is a popular armchair suggestion. Having tried, I would say it is very impractical for in-house use, because of the difficulties of adequately filtering organic matter, and dealing with residues from household chemicals. Rainwater for toilet cisterns reduced our water consumption by 70+%, but was too problematic from the smell and biological soup aspects - we abandoned after 5 years.

We have 10 years with a Mitsubishi air source heat pump in a well insulated new build. Noise is low, and only when fan is running -can't hear it indoors. Electricity costs are fine with low temp. underfloor heating, and maintenance cost is zero, much lower overall than gas or oil. Wouldn't switch back

You have to distinguish between grey water and rain water. Even the latter has problems in the house, as I know from pratical experience, though we do collect for garden use. What do you define as 'grey'?. Sink waste?, dishwasher waste?, washing machine waste? Would you use this on the garden?