Search found 2247 matches

by karlt
21 May 2017, 8:55am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Odd one - stiff bottom bracket - but only in one direction
Replies: 13
Views: 3884

Re: Odd one - stiff bottom bracket - but only in one direction

Breakwellnz wins. One bearing cage utterly mangled.
by karlt
18 May 2017, 2:10pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Odd one - stiff bottom bracket - but only in one direction
Replies: 13
Views: 3884

Re: Odd one - stiff bottom bracket - but only in one direction

Nah, I unshipped the chain before I started investigating. It's a Raleigh hardtail, front sus only, for the record.
by karlt
18 May 2017, 12:52pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Odd one - stiff bottom bracket - but only in one direction
Replies: 13
Views: 3884

Odd one - stiff bottom bracket - but only in one direction

Son #2's bike - turning the pedals backwards is fine, turning forwards is stiff. It's (in the normal way of putting 40 year old tech on kids' bikes) a cup and cone; I shall probably just stick a cheap cartridge in there. If I can find a box spanner to remove the crank nuts (yes, nuts, it's one of those with a thread on the spindle and nuts holding the crankset to it.

It might just need stripping down, but by the time I've done that and found it is actually knackered it I might as well have the cartridge ready, and if I've got it I might as well fit it rather than fanny around adjusting the thing.

Just thought I'd mention it as a curiosity.
by karlt
8 May 2017, 1:22pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Yobs in cars shouting abuse at cyclists for no reason?
Replies: 73
Views: 23297

Re: Yobs in cars shouting abuse at cyclists for no reason?

roberts8 wrote:Had it when running and cycling but when it happen on a long distance kayak race my paddle partner was ex special forces got out, chased them down and threw two of them in the river in March. I doubt they fired catapults at anyone for a while.
I know it was probably illegal but it did give a warm glow for the next few miles.


Well yes. If they'd drowned or died of hypothermia he'd have gone down for manslaughter.
by karlt
30 Apr 2017, 9:09am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: The Holy Grail.....or another false trail?
Replies: 25
Views: 1332

Re: The Holy Grail.....or another false trail?

Wasn't that Topic and a hazlenut in every bite? Also true of squirrel poo of course.
by karlt
30 Apr 2017, 9:05am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Newbie looking for commuting tyres/accessories advice
Replies: 13
Views: 649

Re: Newbie looking for commuting tyres/accessories advice

I have a 14 mile each way commute and don't bother with a drink except in the very hottest weather. Not needed. The bottled water culture has made us think we'll shrivel and die if we go half an hour without a drink but it just ain't so.
by karlt
26 Apr 2017, 12:07pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Dashcam prosecution
Replies: 10
Views: 4396

Re: Dashcam prosecution

That is a spectacularly bad piece of driving though, isn't it?

I'd be requiring a retest.
by karlt
26 Apr 2017, 8:06am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Advice on first road bike
Replies: 39
Views: 2963

Re: Advice on first road bike

I daresay smoother shifting would be nice, but I'm not willing to pay an extra grand for it. And that's the problem; marginal gains costing several times the price of my bike. Possibly worth it for racing where seconds over a hundred miles matter, but otherwise no.
by karlt
25 Apr 2017, 12:40pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Advice on first road bike
Replies: 39
Views: 2963

Re: Advice on first road bike

Gattonero wrote:
Kojak wrote:
Gattonero wrote:
So if I buy a £2000 Mercian, Bob Jackson, Dave Yates, etc. I am being ripped off?
Or perhaps I am paying a lot for the experience, good materials, quality crafmanship? :wink:


I'm not even suggesting Btwin is the answer for the chap.
But don't get out of context here. A Btwin 500 series is a lot of bike for less money and if you talk of more favoured brands at circa £700 v Btwin 540 for example it is likely to be only brand snobbery and cosmetic appeal that prevent a Btwin purchase. Unless you have ridden all comers and didn't like the btwin.
Their frames have a lifetime guarantee like some more established brands and just maybe the bike is good enough as it is while the OP grows with it and gets his head around things and makes informed future purchases rather than upgrading.

My opinion on Btwins never mentioned anything about people being ripped off. How you feel about Bob Jackson and Dave Yates is entirely up tp you.
I like expensive brands and I like a bargain too. To an extent it depends on purpose and level of passion you have for it. I'd never pay top dollar for a bike but on the other hand I'd never shop in primark either.
In terms of a bargain this might well be worth a watch :D
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/reviews/ro ... triban-540


It is well known that going up in quality is not direct proportional with price. So is a lot more expensive to buy something that is just slightly better. But will be better neverthless.
It's a matter of fact that a Specialized has got better spec, you simply cannot compare the shifting of a mixture of parts based on Microshift, vs a Shimano Tiagra drivetrain, the latter being just better. And so the tyres, wheels, etc; let alone the frame & forks materials.

It's not bike snobbery, it's a matter of fact, quality comes at a price. Then one can ride happy with a budget bike, nothing wrong with it, but please don't say things like "it's all the same, it's marketing, it's Emperor New Clothes, etc.". There's entry-level stuff and there's better stuff, noting wrong in treating yourself with something better.


Better in what way? My Microshift goes up when I change up and down when I change down. How is Tiagra better? Does it predict my gear shifts and do it for me? Read my mind? Do the pedalling for me? Last longer? Make the bike go faster?

If I traded in my Triban 520SE, paid another three grand for something "better", how much faster would I go? In what way would it be better? Concrete things, not just vague references to quality. Easier to climb? More comfortable?
by karlt
21 Apr 2017, 12:33pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Cycling to school
Replies: 43
Views: 10889

Re: Cycling to school

foxyrider wrote:Nice that she wants to ride.

My gut feeling is ride on the path but that does have issues - legally whilst your daughter can ride quite legally there if her bike has 20" or smaller wheels you can't.


Don't know where this "20" wheel" thing comes from; I've heard it before, but it has no basis in law that I know of. A bike is a bike and legally must be on the road.
by karlt
15 Apr 2017, 4:29pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Cyclist Defence Fund – Brings Private Prosecution
Replies: 10
Views: 7320

Re: Cyclist Defence Fund – Brings Private Prosecution

dodbinmule wrote:Many road schemes e.g. the Holbon Theobald’s Road /Bloomsbury Way bus lane. This scheme ban cyclist in the bus lane because it was too narrow even though a similar scheme further up the road in New Oxford Street was narrower and did permit cyclist.

They did not carry out road safety audit on the alternative in the gyratory system that the cyclist would have been forced to use and which had cyclist accident history.

I objected to no effect but after about two years? Cyclist were permitted to use it.

So, my point is that local authorities do always carry the road safety audit on their scheme to cover cyclist and the adjacent area that are effected,


cyclists! Cyclists!

Sorry, but it's really bugging me.
by karlt
5 Apr 2017, 10:36pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Close pass... centimetres from death
Replies: 50
Views: 13781

Re: Close pass... centimetres from death

That road's fine for cyclibg if people drive bearing their responsibilities in mind, as didn't happen there. That driver needs banning.
by karlt
4 Apr 2017, 2:37pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Knocked of his bike
Replies: 15
Views: 1691

Re: Knocked of his bike

Tot up the cost, then write to her outlining the costs and the negligence alleged (ie why it was her fault), together with the suggestion she pass it on to her insurers.
by karlt
3 Apr 2017, 10:43pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Close pass then a close call.
Replies: 7
Views: 825

Re: Close pass then a close call.

You let your preoccupation with eyeing the first driver get the better of you; the second incident was easily predictable; the driver probably took the view that you shouldn't have slipped in front of the stop line and should be made to wait. Yes, I know, but it's human nature. Try not to give the impression you're extracting the urine. You missed a golden opportunity to position yourself in primary just behind the lead car as the second one had left quite a large gap; that would have been a pretty good position to be in, really, when there's no room at the front.

Eyeing the first driver will have availed you nothing; if she noticed at all she'd probably think you fancied her and were trying to show off your cycling thighs. God only knows what she'd think if you tried to signal "too close"; it looks so much like "too small"....I'll stop there*.

*I stopped giving a "too close" signal to errant drivers when I realised the men amongst them might think I was casting aspersions on their physical endowments. That never, ever, ever improves things.
by karlt
3 Apr 2017, 10:28pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: are there any really bad bikes anymore?
Replies: 41
Views: 3349

Re: are there any really bad bikes anymore?

It's because there are sub-£100 bikes, and in virtually every other field - toasters, kettles, cars, tellies - the cheapest ones are actually perfectly adequate for most people. The only other field I can think of with lots of cheap tat that's not really fit for purpose is smartphones, where there are indeed some where their shortcomings will very rapidly become apparent.

It's not that people are unwilling to spend £300 on a bike in and of itself, it's simply that they're not willing to when they can get one which looks the same to them for half that, or less.

And to be fair, there are some perfectly good (for given purposes) very cheap bikes; Mrs Karlt has a Rockrider 5.0, £100 from Decathlon. For her riding, where the Sherwood Pines Blue route would be ambitious, it's fine. Especially since she'll invariably be doing it with an 8 year old, whose speed is never going to make you notice the weight. The real problem is full-sus MTBs costing less than an entry level after-market rear suspension coil. There have been one or two dodgy super-cheap road bikes around as well, but not so much.