Cycling UK Forum

Mini V & I have had Samsungs; me for the last 8 years. I keep them in a case, and do not put them in a pocket where I can sit on them. Mini V has had a flip phone in a case. Nonetheless, they have generally only lasted a couple of years before something went wrong. The parts are proprietary and very expensive. The history is as follows:

Flip phone, bought with 2 year warranty, June 2021 - screen quit working before warranty ran out - phone replaced under warranty. 14 months later, the screen is dying again

Samsung Galaxy bought 2015 (company phone; I don't remember the model) - screen died after 18 months & was replaced (almost £300 to replace it). Phone died altogether after 26 months of use.

Samsung Galaxay bought 2017 (company phone; I don't remember the model) - died after being dropped from the bike late in 2019

Samsung Galaxy bought 2019 (company phone; I don't remember the model) - screen died & wasn't considered worth repairing in 2021

Samsung S20 bought in 2021 - camera lens broke in 2023 & the screen was sporadically showing a green line on the right side of the screen. The cost to repair it was more than the value of the phone (replaced 2024)

I now have a Nokia XR21, bought earlier this year. While I bought it for the camera, I used to really like the durability of my pre-Microsoft Nokias, so I am hoping that with many of the same team designing phones in Finland again, my new Nokia will last a bit longer than the Samsungs have.

Welcome!

It might be worth trying other social media, such as reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/s/742vtkQfNm

Or local clubs pages https://romfordcyclingclub.weebly.com/

If it were me, though I would just take the bikes into the room.

While I do think that 'handles properly' can be somewhat subject to personal opinion and definition of general use, I prefer stability. And since, that, too, seems somewhat subject to personal opinion, I shall explain.

The bikes in my stable that have the best stability (is that a pun? I'm not sure ) are my tourer and Mini V's Dutch style town bike.

Mini V's has a slack head tube angle, more trail than many bikes. It has a spring on the front wheel to centre it, which I guess prevents wheel flop, though I haven't tried riding it without the spring. It is an upright bike with a relatively long wheel base, so it can be ridden with large panniers without kicking them.

My tourer has a head tube angle and rider position between Mini V's bike and most of the other bikes we have. I haven't compared rake and trail, but I would guess that those, too lie between Mini V's and our other bikes. The wheelbase is longer than on our other bikes, though I have not compared it to Mini V's. My tourer certainly has more trail than my road bike.

My aluminium road bike has much more responsive steering, and while that, too is a general purpose bike, I would say it is not quite as suited to general purpose as the others, For my part, it gets used as a general purpose bike mostly because it is the easiest bike to put a trailer on. The steering can become light with a lot of weight in the trailer. From that perspective, my tourer would be better suited to hauling the trailer, but the rear rack mounting interferes with the trailer hitch. I'm not bothered enough about it to find a rack that accommodates the trailer hitch, and most rides with the trailer are relatively short (under 5 miles), anyway.

The road bike is also used for most longer distance rides that don't involve large panniers.

MrsHJ wrote: ↑3 Jul 2024, 8:53pm The green light will be really irritating at night if you use it overnight.

I got this one. The shape is a bit annoying for packing nearly otherwise happy. I was looking for one with 2 ports and I’d recommend 2 or more ports if you can find a decent one - Belkin are pretty solid.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B3NDR9PK? ... ct_details

Yesterday, I bought a Belkin with both USB-A and USB-C for Mini V to take with on her interrail trip.

It's this one https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Belkin-Boost ... 99&sr=8-16

Though we bought it at Clas Ohlson.

Gosh, I am getting tired of controversial topics on here!



p.s. mayo for me

A few posts have been removed from this thread.

Please argue nicely.

The higher education system, as it is now, including how universities are defined, is not so different from EU/EEA countries, which in turn are typically acceptable or translatable for systems elsewhere, such as the USA or Australia. This enables folks to have their education credits accepted elsewhere, to study abroad, and for British universities to accept credits from universities elsewhere, including the Republic of Ireland.

While admittedly, the UK could create separate agreements with each country, and Ireland should be relatively simple, it would disadvantage the universities who want to attract students from abroad not to have a system that is similar enough to others for this sort of exchange.

reohn2 wrote: ↑28 May 2024, 10:34am

Vorpal wrote: ↑27 May 2024, 12:02pm ........ National service seems to work ok in Norway. .....

Could you clarify how National service works in Norway?
Reason for me asking is that I've just heard that there's a strict selection process for the Norwegian military Nat Service and generally only 17% of people are accepted.

I don't know all of the details, but basically, in the constitution is an obligation to serve. In law, the parliament decides how many and under what circumstances. They can currently call up anyone from 18 - 24 for military, civil defense, or any of the related support services.

In practice, the last few years, they have called up between 15,000 & 20,000 19 year olds each year (out of 60,000-70,000 19 year olds in the country). they also have a considerable number of volunteers, though I don't know numbers. Out of the volunteers and conscripts, just under 10,000 are selected for service, with most going into the military & defense support functions (engineering, logistics, etc.), and the rest going into civil defense.

In theory, there are only a few exceptions to the requirement to serve: conscientious objections (pacifists), not fit for duty (medical), and representing Norway as a professional / Olympic athlete. In practice, they will not select anyone who does not want to serve.

Those who are selected for military service, have at least 18 months of services; some serve longer. they become reservists or home guard afterwards, until they are 44.

Everyone who does not do military service has an obligation to do some sort of civil service, though this is not currently enforced. There is not currently training or placement for this, but it could be reintroduced if there were need. Part of emergency planning for Norway & individual communities is having a framework & plan in place for doing that if there should be need.

The civil service is focused on community support, disaster relief, etc. For example, during covid, they asked for volunteers to help with setting up additional hospital care, driving ambulances, testing, vaccinating, etc. If they had not had enough volunteers, they could have conscripted people.

mjr wrote: ↑27 May 2024, 11:04am

Vorpal wrote: ↑27 May 2024, 8:10am I would be ok with requiring all young people to do 2 years of some sort of public service with choices between military, government, charity, foreign services, etc.

Of course you would, because you're not young and would have avoided it.

Anyone supporting this should have to do it themselves as well. Then we'll see how many really think it's a good idea.

I don't support it as such. I said I would be ok with it. I don't honestly feel strongly about it one or the other. I can see both positives and negatives about it. National service seems to work ok in Norway.

You are correct that I don't have to do it. But I wouldn't object to being required to do some sort of service like that, even now, as long as 1) they wait until my kids are both finished with their primary education (4 years) and 2) the pay is equivalent to my salary, or there are ways to reasonably manage or support financial obligations during the service period.

My second point, a return to free education, is in my opinion, far more important, and frankly if any government wants to toss money at schemes to help young people, it should be education first.

It's not a terrible idea to require some sort of service from young people, but I don't think conscription, as such, is a good idea.

I would be ok with requiring all young people to do 2 years of some sort of public service with choices between military, government, charity, foreign services, etc. There would need to be exemptions or support for some folks who are disabled or carers for disabled people. I can imagine there might be other needs for exemptions. They could have some flexibility in when folks did it; for example, between 16 & 25 years old, so they could do it immediately after secondary school, or carry on with their education through a Bachelor's degree, at least

But I also think that we should return to free education for all, at least through Master's degree.

Military conscription is not a good idea. Not everyone is suited to military service. If the global situation were to reach the point that was potentially necessary, I think that folks would sign up anyway.

A study of Norwegian data found that vehicle crash risk was similar between ICE and EVs, but the risk of hitting pedestrians and cyclists was higher, especially for pedestrians with vision impairment.

https://etrr.springeropen.com/articles/ ... 22-00529-2

Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑22 May 2024, 3:26pm Funnily enough, I've just been out running (in the rain, which is the second best time to run IMO) and vaccines as an illustration of population event came into my head as I was making muddy puddles on the hall floor. But in a different aspect: if I take a vaccine, I am protected. Until the protection wears off and I run the risk of catching it from someone else. If everyone in my city is vaccinated, that risk isn't there; until someone brings the virus in from outside. If the whole world is vaccinated, everyone's okay. Keep that up for a generation, and we've a good chance of eradicating the disease, as we did for smallpox and are on the verge of doing for polio.

Were on the verge of...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 0122013231

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandso ... -a-rethink

I think this topic is important enough to keep it separate and have therefore moved a few posts over from the BEVs topic viewtopic.php?t=155428

Please use this thread for discussion specifically about the increased risk to pedestrians, and the other thread for general discussion of BEVs.

Jdsk wrote: ↑22 May 2024, 9:08am "Pedestrian safety on the road to net zero: cross-sectional study of collisions with electric and hybrid-electric cars in Great Britain":
https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2024 ... 024-221902

Guardian coverage:
"Electric cars more likely to hit pedestrians than petrol vehicles, study finds":
https://www.theguardian.com/world/artic ... tudy-finds

Jonathan

I think that the topic is important enough to keep as a separate thread viewtopic.php?t=161088

axel_knutt wrote: ↑22 May 2024, 12:40pm

Vorpal wrote: ↑22 May 2024, 10:38amI cannot lose weight by counting calories.

The issue is how many calories you're eating, not whether you're counting them.

Twenty years of monitoring my energy intake has shown me that most people have very little idea how many calories there are in different foodstuffs, and even less how many calories they're eating. There's an interesting experiment I've seen done a few times in which various quantities of several different foodstuffs are placed on dishes, and people are invited to arrange them in order of calorie content: they're usually surprised to hear that they're all the same. I doubt that many would realise that if you roast a pound of vegetables in a tablespoon of oil there's more calories in the oil than there is in the veg.

Many who think they're eating less probably won't be at all.

I gained quite a bit of weight with my first pregnancy, & had some difficulty shedding it afterwards. I followed a calorie restricted diet. It's the only time in my life that I have done so. Apologies that I wasn't clear, but that was what I meant by counting calories. I was unable to lose weight that way, and found it very frustrating, both the accounting for every little input / output, and it not helping in the least. I tried several different amounts of calorie deficit, talked to my doctor & midwife (who didn't really have any good advice, except to persist), and read a fair amount of research trying to figure it out.

I was playing women's football at the time, so I didn't lack for exercise. But I didn't lose weight until I added several hours per week of exercise. That included, running outside of football training, strength training, and riding my bike to & from football training & matches.

Weirdly, even when I reduced the amount of activity, I kept the weight off. I didn't gain as much weight with my second pregnancy, even though I completely quit football.