I presume you’re also placing no utility on the functional advantages of a Rothan?

Correct.

Each to their own, the Run Ride is light and smooth enough for the task.
I’m not particularly passionate about the issue!

As somebody, ahem, once said,
“It’s not about the bike”, although I’m not intending to embark on a doping programme.

hora – Member

Decathlon- £29. I built it and it is good quality. I really really don’t understand why anyone would pay £100 for a first bicycle, its chattering-classes madness

Worryingly, I agree with Nick Hora -on this one. My daughter has the Run Ride. Its not ‘flash’, but it is certainly good enough for the job and she loves it. (Against my instruction, she rode down some steps in the park the other day -I was actually very proud).

It has also taken my weight when I’ve knelt on the seat to demonstrate the finer points of balance bike riding skillz.
It’ll hopefully also be used for child No.2.

30quid up front or 100quid+ with the possibility of selling on for 80quid in a few years’ time?
-Money now is worth more than money in the future.

Admittedly, turning up and getting a Decathlon bike out of Dad’s Mondeo would be embarrassing to the Isla bike & Audi Set (like Binners 😉 ), but I’ve managed with unfashionable bikes and cars for a while now….

The steering rake angle on ours is not as slack as shown on that photo.

It is like this:

I am interested in “The World”/”News”/”Current Affairs”, but….

Dickyboy – Member

Every single news worthy article that I have had first hand knowledge of has been factually incorrect – and that’s the simple facts before any news hound even starts to put a twist on it.

…my wife and I have both noticed the same thing in ‘news’ reports about subjects that either of us know something about….

I suspect that other stories could also contain the occasional inaccuracy….

I take all news with a pinch-of-salt/healthy scepticism, even from the Today programme and The World Tonight.

From what I’ve seen, 24hr news is mostly (frequently-repeated) garbage. It must be a struggle to fill the time. I really do wonder why the broadcasters bother with it.

The BBC TV 6/9 o’clock news appears to have ‘dumbed-down’ -I used to prefer watching Channel 4 News, although I rarely watch TV news these days.

Focus 2.0TDCI Estate? (-different engine to the Mk3 Mondeo)

My old Pure Highway gets good reception in most places I go to (other than out in the wilds) and I’ve only had the antenna running alongside the centre console and tucked into the pocket on the back of the passenger seat in my cars. It would possibly be even better with a better antenna/position.

Trailing wires aren’t an issue if you have an aux socket in the glovebox and route the cables behind the dash/centre console.

Strengthen it, do balancing exercises,

….then have a ligament reconstruction operation.

Having tried various types over teh years, I use one of these Mueller Soccer Braces on my dodgy ankle:

It has stainless springs down the sides and gives a good combination of support and thin-ness

Junkyard – Member

Radio 4 and 6 now

Me too.

R1 is for kids.
R2 is for old duffers.
R3 is for about 50 listeners -Give 6Music the FM slot.
R5 is like the Daily Mail/Express over the airwaves and I have no interest in football
Commercial radio is cack

I’ve had a Pure Highway for a few years, from the days when I did a lot of travelling about.

The output cable is tucked behind the console and is constantly plugged into the glovebox ‘aux’ input and gets powered by the cig lighter when required. The Highway lives under the passenger seat -I don’t need to reach it as it is only used for 6Music.

Or use existing nut and bolts and cut them shorter.

I suppose it is quite Rock n’ Roll, in a way:

Flaperon – Member

I had a whinge at R2 about the lame Saturday morning slot and was told it was one of their most popular programmes.

Do remember, there are a lot of 60/70-somethings in this country. Although that doesn’t explain the continuing ‘popularity’ of The Organist Entertains (which harks back to an era before the adulthood of my wife’s 90-something grandmother). That show was similarly claimed to have strong listener numbers.

Radio 2 seems to be aiming for the somewhat-less-than-niche, middle-of-the-road 35-90 year old middle-England market. Since Radcliffe & Maconie were sent to their rightful home, I never listen to it.

Great mysteries of our time:

Why don’t the BBC put 6Music onto FM?

Kuco – Member

I tried 6Music yesterday morning and had to turn back. The DJ was crap and spoke over the records. It was like listening to some shitty local station.

If it was Jon Holmes then I can understand your disappointment. He’s not typical.

Just be grateful you didn’t try listening when the absolutely terrible George Lamb was on 6Music, a couple of years ago.

Two bikes can be hung on one of these flat against the wall. You can hang one rack above another.

The folding versions can be raised up if you need the space.

I’m quite pleased with mine.

vorlich – Member

I kept my Conti winter tyres on this summer as I wasn’t going to get another winter season out of them anyway. I found them a bit squirmy TBH and eventually stuck summer tyres on as I couldn’t stand it any longer. I guess it depends how sensitive you are to such matters

Judging by the number of cars I see with visibly under-inflated tyres (which must be extremely low pressure on modern tyres), I suspect that a lot of people wouldn’t even notice the change in handling if one of the wheels fell off.

From experience in the occasional snow we get around here, many people don’t know which of their wheels are driven, which suggests that they’re not particularly sensitive to handling characteristics.

brack – Member
I know I’m getting old listening to R2 and there are other channels to choose from.

But does anyone else find the morning slot of 1950, 60’s music just pants?

Does anyone actually listen to this show?
My In-laws (in their late 60s) do. I doubt that anybody younger would bother. From what I’ve heard, it’s not music from the “swinging” late 60s, it’s just bland.

sweepy – Member

What you want is 9:30 on a tuesday, ‘the organist entertains’
Does anyone actually listen to that
I once emailed the BBC about that after being unfortunate enough to hear that anachronistic garbage “Grease megamix(I kid you not) on the Wurlitzer organ” by somebody named something like Reginald Shufflebottom, after Radliffe and Maconie (now moved to 6Music).

They claimed that it was very popular. Given that the heyday of the cinema organ was probably the 1930s, ie. ~80 years ago, I can’t imagine that there are that many people still alive who would actively choose to listen to it.

6Music and Radio 4 are superb. The rest of the BBC’s radio output can be switched off for all I care.

Living in Manchester, there’s little reason I can see for buying a set of winter tyres.

Hilly areas with consistently low temperatures and winter conditions are a different matter.

Most drivers don’t seem to understand how to modify their driving(or even understand the need to) to suit the conditions -summer or winter.

I fitted a set of forks and experimented with bar height. I didn’t cut the steerer and fitted a few spacers above the stem. I went over the bars -The broken ribs, cut(and now scar) on my chest were the result hitting the steerer.

I’ve since cut the steerer.

Long before my time, and I like a lot of other songs, but both of these are getting close to perfection.

Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell
Gimme Shelter – Rolling stones

I was once hit by a full bottle of orange juice (quite heavy) thrown at me from a car by a young lad in a car, who’s mate was driving aggressively towards me in traffic, whilst I was cycling. Thankfully, there were a number of witnesses, one of whom took the registration number. The perpetrator was found, taken to court and found guilty of assault.

binners – Member

Was it Cerys?
…or Nemone?

Surely Mr Binners must have something more to add to this thread or does royal protocol forbid it?

bullheart – Member
There are a number of issues around the concept of streaming – I’m part of a task-group at UCL looking at streaming and its pros/cons on a micro (individual), meso (year group) and macro (school) level, but as yet there is very little to suggest that the Korean/Scandanavian models that do not involve streaming could be superseded.

Well, I’m very glad that my English school, with the pupils I shared it with at the time, wasn’t located in Scandinavia or Korea….

Good stuff. No need for a tool if the piston isn’t stuck.

I’d used the wind-back tool(borrowed) method and used the “lean-on-the-piston-and-turn-it” method on the Mondeo. The latter was actually quicker.

If it is like my Mk3 Mondeo was. Push (lean hard) on the piston as you wind it.

As a parent, hearing about a child going missing like this is awful (before having children it would have had less impact).

Thankfully, it is a fairly rare occurrence given the size of the population, although such incidents have always taken place. The usual comment is that it is no more prevalent now than in the past.

I really hope that she’s found safe and well.

Having experienced a comprehensive education (in a fairly normal-poor town) in the 80s/90s, we were separated into 2 broad ‘bands’ in the First Year. There were a fair number of nutters in my ‘upper band’ class at this point and it could be very disruptive.

In subsequent years the bands were re-arranged a little (some pupils moving up or down) and the more academic lessons were increasingly ‘setted’ by ability. This seemed far better for the medium and higher ability pupils. The lower band/sets appeared to be fairly chaotic. 20 years later, I’m not sure what the levels of chaos would be like in comparison….

In my view, mixing all abilities would have been a Bad thing:

The most able pupils may have been relatively unaffected, although the course material covered would have been reduced and motivation may have fallen as a result of lack of teaching attention -The able pupils with affluent/keen parents would have sought out extra lessons/tuition to compensate.

To be quite honest, the lowest ability pupils would have been unlikely to benefit (-from whatever initiative was used to enthuse them about maths, science, history, languages etc.)

I believe that the medium ability pupils would have suffered most.

So, the blanket statement “alloy wheels are lighter than steel” isn’t entirely true.

Hmm, just as I suggested.

Northwind – Member

Yes, of course. But when you’re saying alu wheels are heavier than steel, are you comparing like with like or not?

As I say, I’ve no figures to hand, but from experience, OEM cast ‘alloy’ wheels feel heavier than steel wheels of the same size. I’m talking normal cars rather than exotica.

The bigger the wheels/lower the profile tyres, the more beefy the alloy wheels would need to be for a high mileage road application.

I’d advise at least trying to do something that you really like.

I’ve always been interested in how ‘things’ work. I enjoy learning about, experimenting and improving.

I studied engineering (a very academic course), but foolishly resisted following my real interests during and afterwards. I’ve fallen into various jobs over the past 15 years, none of which have been particularly satisfying, for various reasons.

Having worked in highly regulated, extremely slow (dull and stifling) industries in the past, I’m currently involved in the stressful unpleasantness of project management in a fast-moving, quick n’ dirty industry, which doesn’t allow me to be get involved in the technical things that interest me.

I’ve now realised that I need to change this situation, soon, for my own sanity.

Personally, I need to feel a sense of achievement and I gain no intrinsic satisfaction whatsoever from contracts, balance sheets, profit margins or just throwing things out of the door.

There’s something to be said for working more at your strengths rather than struggling (and spending far too much time/effort) in a vain attempt to improve your areas of weakness.

petefromearth – Member

I’m an engineer too (mechanical)
…..
I went to a company with a completely different outlook. There were a few raised eyebrows, but I am way more enthusiastic and challenged by what I do now. I think engineering is now what I love, which I couldn’t have said before.
Good on you.

richmars – Member

I didn’t realise I did my hobby at work, but reading some of the above it’s true.
I’m an engineer as well, and like making stuff at home. I work for a very small (about 20 people) company, where I design stuff, get it made, put it together, and install it, and I love it. Over one day I could be designing stuff on CAD, putting bits together, then writing some control software to make it all work. I’m very lucky.
Good on you too.

I’ve no figures to hand, but from experience OEM aluminium alloy road wheels aren’t light as they need to be robust enough to resist being used on roads. Steel is more resilient.

‘Alloy’ rims are not fitted because they are lighter (or give better road performance). They are now ‘expected’ by the buying public.

Larger ‘alloy’ rims(very heavy) with very low profile tyres (very little cushioning for the wheel rim) are generally fitted for appearance and the ‘image’ of sportiness (along with over-firm suspension).

Right. For the record, alloy wheels: lighter than steel wheels. Otherwise alloy wheels pretty much pointless. Glad to clear that up.

You might want to check your facts.

Magnesium racing ‘alloys’ are light. Road cars are not fitted with these.

Pick up a 16″ steel rim and a large ‘alloy’ rim. Feel the difference in weight.

Large alloy wheels are fitted to daily-driven road cars for vanity reasons, other than that they are pointless.

These will also connect your tyres to the car adequately:

My Mk4 Mondeo has ‘small’ 16″ steel wheels (NB. the offset may be slightly different to the Focus wheels). The brakes on the Mk4 are all the same size, I think.

Ride, bump absorption, feel and the tyres staying in good contact with the tarmac on a ‘brisk’ drive along real roads are more important to me than having massive rims and rubber band tyres that ‘look fast’ or having overly-firm ‘sports’ suspension.

samuri – Member

You’d probably like to rent a house in Leigh….
Sounds brilliant!

Are you an estate agent or from the council’s PR dept?

Not entirely great for trails (with gradients) just outside the door.

don’t think that’s the case; at 2000rpm in first gear, I get 15-20 mpg, at 2000rpm in fifth I get approx 45. Assume it’s drag on the drivetrain.

..and differences in load/throttle position.

Modulate your speed with the throttle as much as possible, not the brakes.
-This requires forward observation, anticipation and avoiding unnecessary acceleration towards hazards/stops.

Accelerate ‘positively’, but don’t take the engine near to the red line before changing up a gear (the optimum depends upon the car).

lucien – Member

The first 2/3 are worth a read. I didn’t finish it.

– IS that a very clever answer Aristotle?
Not particularly clever, but I got to about 3/4s before filing it in my bookshelf. I’ve never gone back to it.

nedrapier – Member

Large section in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about the impact of studying for grades on the quality of learning.

Well worth a read. It’s about 3/5ths through, I think.

The first 2/3 are worth a read. I didn’t finish it.

Is Lush the shop in the Arndale Centre full of very bright bars of soap and with nauseating smells emanating from it?

and

-why use expensive, watered-down soap in a bottle?

…and why bother with hair? 😉

lemonysam – Member

I’d like to add Hakarl is the most appalling thing I’ve ever eaten by a country mile. The taste is merely unpleasant but the smell and the texture are utterly stomach turning.
I’m intrigued. Will they sell it at the local Iceland?

Update:

Stans Sealant now installed.

With a bit of shaking the tyres appears to have sealed, although I’ve not tried riding it yet.

Filled with confidence, I ghetto’d (using the sliced BMX tube method) the WTB Weirwolf & non-tubeless Sun rim from the rear of my hardtail. After an initial leak through a small hole in the tyre, following a bit of spinning and shaking, the tyre now appears to be holding 40 psi.

Nice one.

I’ll try one of the tubeless setups on a ride later this week.