Cycling UK Forum

in4time wrote: ↑20 Jan 2025, 7:33am Flying down an off-road track, say in The Highlands must surely make wearing a helmet a complete no-brainer.

I generally put mine on for stuff where rocks and trees are involved, but that leaves plenty of scope for descents with neither (I was doing a very nice grassy one down a spur in the Borders on Friday, as it happens).

And given that the sort of impact a helmet is designed to take can just as readily happen to a trail runner negotiating a boulder field, and I don't think I've ever seen a trail runner in a helmet, we come to the rather hazy boundaries between absolute risk and cultural perceptions thereof...

Pete.

irc wrote: ↑20 Jan 2025, 9:30am
Exercise is a good thing. It isn't any better if it is cycling. It is neither better or worse that female cyclists are a minority.

I will politely disagree, but looks like we are looking it from different angles.

Transport isn't always a good thing. It is better if it is cycling. It is worse that female cyclists are a minority.

deeferdonk wrote: ↑20 Jan 2025, 8:17am

irc wrote: ↑17 Jan 2025, 4:00pm

deeferdonk wrote: ↑17 Jan 2025, 1:25pm

Yes these statistics have been cherry picked. They have purposefully chosen the countries with the best representation of female cyclists to show what could possibly be achieved - that's the point. Probably are quite a few countries that are worse than us.

Why is fewer female cyclists worse?

I replied to you with an answer to this earlier up the thread, in response to an earlier post.

Why do you think that fewer cyclists is not worse?

Different choices isn't a bad thing. Around here swimming is roughly 50:50. Perhaps a few more female runners. Fewer female cyclists. Exercise is a good thing. It isn't any better if it is cycling. It is neither better or worse that female cyclists are a minority.

cycle tramp wrote: ↑16 Jan 2025, 5:20pm

pete75 wrote: ↑15 Jan 2025, 2:38pm

jgurney wrote: ↑13 Jan 2025, 11:28am

Logic does not really dictate that a new party with 5 MP's to date will match the performance of long-established parties with a history of forming governments when it comes to fielding electable candidates. (I agree that it could and might happen, but so far neither evidence nor logic demonstrate that it will). Both Labour and Conservative parties have lost councillors often enough in the past without it affecting their ability to win elections. Reform have not yet demonstrated the same resilience.

There's a lot of wishful thinking that Reform will just go away, it won't. The mood in the country is changing. I know lifelong Tories who are now supporting Reform - not the Tuppeny Tory type that voted UKIP but traditional, wealthy rural conservatives

Indeed, however during this election we also saw a large percentage of people not voting at all. If there is hope, its that the more Nigel Farage bemoans about the rise of LGBQ people, or vegans or people who want quite car free areas outside of their houses.... or even don't want their cats run over by commuters on their way late to a meeting, he will encourage more people to actually get involved in politics and vote against grey, dull people who believed that the world should have somehow stopped in 1938, and that we should go back to those times.

People are concerned about the rise of the right... personally I seem it as a last gasp by angry white blokes, seeking to hold onto power before it is washed away from them by a tide of multicultural multifaith and otherwise diverse communities. Good. It is time, that our time is over before we utterly £*** everything up. Let's hit the 'evolve society' button move on with our lives and into something alot more equitable, colourful and exciting.

An individual may, for different, deep seated psychological reasons, hate themselves and pine for extinction but to wish the same on one's own people is taking out-group preference to the extreme. Does the Let's hit the 'evolve society' button mean killing all the native English people in death camps? That is the logical end point for this type of thinking. Will you volunteer to be first?

The snail thinks I don't use GPS.
This was my first GPS.
From Garmin database.
Introduced in the mid-1990s with a IPX7 standard waterproof housing that can be used either in upright portrait mode or in landscape mode. These units are still plentiful in the used market. Accessories (interface cable, mounts, etc) are still readily available. The aerial is detachable, it can be removed and remote-mounted, or another remote GPS antenna can be connected. Power supply is either external with a wide range from 10 to 32V, or by four AA internal. NMEA output. Requires serial port connection as it has neither USB nor any memory card slot.

The original GPS II was upgraded to GPS III in 1997, and then to the GPS V which was discontinued in 2003. Garmin still provided a firmware update in 2008, though.

A 1997 GPS with the Americans base map. Used with map and grid reference from GPS. Gave your position on map.
A GPS is told where you want the route to go , not telling you as you might not like where it sends you

cycle tramp wrote: ↑16 Jan 2025, 5:20pm

pete75 wrote: ↑15 Jan 2025, 2:38pm

jgurney wrote: ↑13 Jan 2025, 11:28am

Logic does not really dictate that a new party with 5 MP's to date will match the performance of long-established parties with a history of forming governments when it comes to fielding electable candidates. (I agree that it could and might happen, but so far neither evidence nor logic demonstrate that it will). Both Labour and Conservative parties have lost councillors often enough in the past without it affecting their ability to win elections. Reform have not yet demonstrated the same resilience.

There's a lot of wishful thinking that Reform will just go away, it won't. The mood in the country is changing. I know lifelong Tories who are now supporting Reform - not the Tuppeny Tory type that voted UKIP but traditional, wealthy rural conservatives

Indeed, however during this election we also saw a large percentage of people not voting at all. If there is hope, its that the more Nigel Farage bemoans about the rise of LGBQ people, or vegans or people who want quite car free areas outside of their houses.... or even don't want their cats run over by commuters on their way late to a meeting, he will encourage more people to actually get involved in politics and vote against grey, dull people who believed that the world should have somehow stopped in 1938, and that we should go back to those times.

People are concerned about the rise of the right... personally I seem it as a last gasp by angry white blokes, seeking to hold onto power before it is washed away from them by a tide of multicultural multifaith and otherwise diverse communities. Good. It is time, that our time is over before we utterly £*** everything up. Let's hit the 'evolve society' button move on with our lives and into something alot more equitable, colourful and exciting.

More wishful thinking.

pwa wrote: ↑14 Jan 2025, 9:08am I never had one. They first made it onto my radar in the mid to late 1980s, at a time when I couldn't quite afford one.

Me neither. I became aware of them and other good, off-the-shelf tourers such as Holdsworth Mistrals a little earlier than you, back in the days of proper bikes with horizontal top tubes.

I picked up a really nice Mistral from those days on here, some years back. I've got a Dawes Imperial, which is more of a sporty model though not a full race bike, and a Mercian hand-built tourer. So I don't think a Galaxy is going to make it into my shed. Pity really.

alecd wrote: ↑17 Jan 2025, 12:37pm I have various pairs of M520 pedals, and have bought the pastry cutter tool to remove the spindles and service them. With a couple of pedals the plastic spindle collar turns but does not unscrew. Pedals still useable at the moment. Any ideas as to how to remove the spindle in this case? Presumably the plastic threads are stripped.

I’ve had vertical play with clicking on one pedal. I eventually bought a new pair of pedals that solved the problem. Otherwise no easy fix?

I was unaware that cleats - both Shimano and other brands - varied so much. Neither had I paid much attention to float. Will tightening the release pressure also reduce float?

Thanks for all the info in this thread.

Assuming the collar (called a lock bolt by Shimano) hasn't sheared into more than one piece, try to get something thin between the collar and pedal body to lever it out as you turn it. This works with most stripped threads. Be sure you are turning the proper way, as marked on the tool.

I have various pairs of M520 pedals, and have bought the pastry cutter tool to remove the spindles and service them. With a couple of pedals the plastic spindle collar turns but does not unscrew. Pedals still useable at the moment. Any ideas as to how to remove the spindle in this case? Presumably the plastic threads are stripped.

I’ve had vertical play with clicking on one pedal. I eventually bought a new pair of pedals that solved the problem. Otherwise no easy fix?

I was unaware that cleats - both Shimano and other brands - varied so much. Neither had I paid much attention to float. Will tightening the release pressure also reduce float?

Thanks for all the info in this thread.

pete75 wrote: ↑15 Jan 2025, 2:38pm

jgurney wrote: ↑13 Jan 2025, 11:28am

pete75 wrote: ↑12 Jan 2025, 9:15pm
..... If that logic holds true for Reform then it holds true for any other party.

Logic does not really dictate that a new party with 5 MP's to date will match the performance of long-established parties with a history of forming governments when it comes to fielding electable candidates. (I agree that it could and might happen, but so far neither evidence nor logic demonstrate that it will). Both Labour and Conservative parties have lost councillors often enough in the past without it affecting their ability to win elections. Reform have not yet demonstrated the same resilience.

There's a lot of wishful thinking that Reform will just go away, it won't. The mood in the country is changing. I know lifelong Tories who are now supporting Reform - not the Tuppeny Tory type that voted UKIP but traditional, wealthy rural conservatives

Indeed, however during this election we also saw a large percentage of people not voting at all. If there is hope, its that the more Nigel Farage bemoans about the rise of LGBQ people, or vegans or people who want quite car free areas outside of their houses.... or even don't want their cats run over by commuters on their way late to a meeting, he will encourage more people to actually get involved in politics and vote against grey, dull people who believed that the world should have somehow stopped in 1938, and that we should go back to those times.

People are concerned about the rise of the right... personally I seem it as a last gasp by angry white blokes, seeking to hold onto power before it is washed away from them by a tide of multicultural multifaith and otherwise diverse communities. Good. It is time, that our time is over before we utterly £*** everything up. Let's hit the 'evolve society' button move on with our lives and into something alot more equitable, colourful and exciting.

cycle tramp wrote: ↑16 Jan 2025, 8:05am

PDQ Mobile wrote: ↑14 Jan 2025, 10:27am I can't see that AI with it's associated cost is more effective at predicting when peak times on a help line or other council service will occur.
A simple manual look at the records or even, heaven forbid, ask the people concerned will do the same job.
It's not rocket science.

Additionally you say the council "never paid for any call handlers it didn't need" but that arguably led to longer waiting times for the public trying to phone in.
Can't see it could be otherwise.
.........

On the related theme of Ai fixed potholes.
There is locally a small housing estate that uses a small steep road as access.
This section of the steep road has ground water flowing down it- since forever.
All the infrastructure is in place to contain and catch this water but leaves block the main grid adjacent to the estate access point and as a consequence it becomes seriously icy across the whole road downhill in freezing conditions.
Every day in such conditions the council send a lorry to salt the section and every day the water washes the salt away and so on and so forth.
It is the economics of the madhouse.
(Road sweepers are rare as hen's teeth here)

Neither the council ( or any of the residents) have the nouse or inclination to spend 5 minutes using a shovel and broom to remedy the issue.

No amount of AI will solve this kind of problem.
It is a simple problem that needs a simple solution.

Er.. I think its clear from your reply, that you don't have first hand experience of working in a contact centre....
The call prediction system, broke the call numbers down over 15 minutes segments, using real time figures, adjusted by a an average taken over both weekly, monthly and yearly figures, over six different contacts telephone lines.. it also updated our rotas, pulling forward our break and lunch times if the telephone calls were lower than expected and pushing them back if call waiting times increased. The prediction system also allowed for call handlers to have specialities (such as non domestic rates, and so on). As a result waiting times fell after the system was introduced without the need to employ anyone to 'look through the manual figures'..
..as a response to the last item, why didn't the residents clear the drain themselves, if it only took 5 minutes ? Or failing that, yourself? - if you can see that it is a problem and none else is doing it, then why not do it yourself? Be the solution that you want to see - to paraphrase Gandhi.
In icy conditions, I salt the pavement outside my property (mixture of unused wood pellet cat litter and salt) and i plant trees in my spare time to assist wildlife - this year I'm hoping to build bird boxes.

You are right, I do not have first hand experience of call centres, but it doesn't mean that I still can't see why peak periods can't be correlated by simply keeping records and a human putting into place more staff to cover.
It seems to me that that if you absolutely "fine tune" such a system then any slight unexpected change will lead to longer waiting times for anyone trying to get in touch because there's no spare capacity
Slight changes do happen and it is my view that waiting times for getting a reply on almost any helpline have gone up in the last 20 years, not down.
Which can lead to certain conclusions.

As for the grid, actually I have cleared it with a brush and shovel (I have a nice shiny one!) -many times too. It is therefore a solution to a problem that I know works.
Once the local councillor, who lives in said estate said he didn't like to see me doing it!!
However I live several miles away and while I will happily do my share of road cleaning I do have a certain amount of road cleaning nearer to hand.
I do that most of the time and near section of local road lis draining well thank you.
It takes time and I like to see clear and do it willingly.
There are more residents than just me!!

The case in point is that the council are happy to send a lorry with salt every day with the associated cost to us council tax payers rather than either get a guy with a broom and shovel to tidy up or get a mechanical road sweeper to do it.
(A phone call to the highways department will result in an automated answering response- and no action! We haven't had a road-sweeper lorry in the remoter hill roads for over a decade.)
If you were the salt lorry driver YOU might get out and do it yourself but I guess these local guys are thick as mince.

Or maybe Pete75 is quite right when he says, "What suprises me is there are still so many misguided fools around who think that local authorities exist to benefit the public. That may well be the theory, but in practice they're there to benefit the staff."
....
Anyway just off to do a bit of manual labour - it's a lovely day, (though it did freeze a bit and I expect the salt lorry came- a mere whiff of frost and they dump their foul load down there).

PDQ Mobile wrote: ↑14 Jan 2025, 10:27am I can't see that AI with it's associated cost is more effective at predicting when peak times on a help line or other council service will occur.
A simple manual look at the records or even, heaven forbid, ask the people concerned will do the same job.
It's not rocket science.

Additionally you say the council "never paid for any call handlers it didn't need" but that arguably led to longer waiting times for the public trying to phone in.
Can't see it could be otherwise.
.........

On the related theme of Ai fixed potholes.
There is locally a small housing estate that uses a small steep road as access.
This section of the steep road has ground water flowing down it- since forever.
All the infrastructure is in place to contain and catch this water but leaves block the main grid adjacent to the estate access point and as a consequence it becomes seriously icy across the whole road downhill in freezing conditions.
Every day in such conditions the council send a lorry to salt the section and every day the water washes the salt away and so on and so forth.
It is the economics of the madhouse.
(Road sweepers are rare as hen's teeth here)

Neither the council ( or any of the residents) have the nouse or inclination to spend 5 minutes using a shovel and broom to remedy the issue.

No amount of AI will solve this kind of problem.
It is a simple problem that needs a simple solution.

Er.. I think its clear from your reply, that you don't have first hand experience of working in a contact centre....
The call prediction system, broke the call numbers down over 15 minutes segments, using real time figures, adjusted by a an average taken over both weekly, monthly and yearly figures, over six different contacts telephone lines.. it also updated our rotas, pulling forward our break and lunch times if the telephone calls were lower than expected and pushing them back if call waiting times increased. The prediction system also allowed for call handlers to have specialities (such as non domestic rates, and so on). As a result waiting times fell after the system was introduced without the need to employ anyone to 'look through the manual figures'..
..as a response to the last item, why didn't the residents clear the drain themselves, if it only took 5 minutes ? Or failing that, yourself? - if you can see that it is a problem and none else is doing it, then why not do it yourself? Be the solution that you want to see - to paraphrase Gandhi.
In icy conditions, I salt the pavement outside my property (mixture of unused wood pellet cat litter and salt) and i plant trees in my spare time to assist wildlife - this year I'm hoping to build bird boxes.

jgurney wrote: ↑13 Jan 2025, 11:28am

pete75 wrote: ↑12 Jan 2025, 9:15pm

jgurney wrote: ↑12 Jan 2025, 8:47pm

It is exactly as I stated - I am dubious that Reform can produce enough electable candidates to meet their ambitions.
The Labour party has a long history of being able to find all the candidates they need. Reform has yet to demonstrate the same capacity.

..... If that logic holds true for Reform then it holds true for any other party.

Logic does not really dictate that a new party with 5 MP's to date will match the performance of long-established parties with a history of forming governments when it comes to fielding electable candidates. (I agree that it could and might happen, but so far neither evidence nor logic demonstrate that it will). Both Labour and Conservative parties have lost councillors often enough in the past without it affecting their ability to win elections. Reform have not yet demonstrated the same resilience.

There's a lot of wishful thinking that Reform will just go away, it won't. The mood in the country is changing. I know lifelong Tories who are now supporting Reform - not the Tuppeny Tory type that voted UKIP but traditional, wealthy rural conservatives

If your logic held true then the Labour party would never have risen to challenge the Conservatives and Liberals and end up replacing the latter as a party of government. Look at Italy or France, Meroni and Macron's parties came from nowhere in just a few years to win power.

I use the HighPath Engineering shorteners on my tandem, but I managed to buy them 'used but good' ages ago at a fraction of the cost new. They've been in use for over 10 years and are still in use now, never had a problem so they've proved their reliability and ruggedness at least;
https://highpath.co.uk/cycle-crank-shorteners/

slightly cheaper from the USA:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/326397552836 ... R7Dw2d6MZQ

Neither option particularly cheap, but if it's for a good cause then try a bit of crowdfunding!!

I can't see that AI with it's associated cost is more effective at predicting when peak times on a help line or other council service will occur.
A simple manual look at the records or even, heaven forbid, ask the people concerned will do the same job.
It's not rocket science.

Additionally you say the council "never paid for any call handlers it didn't need" but that arguably led to longer waiting times for the public trying to phone in.
Can't see it could be otherwise.
.........

On the related theme of Ai fixed potholes.
There is locally a small housing estate that uses a small steep road as access.
This section of the steep road has ground water flowing down it- since forever.
All the infrastructure is in place to contain and catch this water but leaves block the main grid adjacent to the estate access point and as a consequence it becomes seriously icy across the whole road downhill in freezing conditions.
Every day in such conditions the council send a lorry to salt the section and every day the water washes the salt away and so on and so forth.
It is the economics of the madhouse.
(Road sweepers are rare as hen's teeth here)

Neither the council ( or any of the residents) have the nouse or inclination to spend 5 minutes using a shovel and broom to remedy the issue.

No amount of AI will solve this kind of problem.
It is a simple problem that needs a simple solution.