I’m amazed you haven’t heard from UPS as they regularly send me emails about things I haven’t ordered that they haven’t been able to deliver. 🙂

Thorn Sterling

No it doesn’t. Cost effective, maybe, but it doesn’t get more efficient. Quoted figures vary, but let’s say 98% the efficiency of a derailleur system. Would you want to give the field a 2 minute headstart before starting a race? That’s basically what you’re doing with a hub gear!

You don’t seem to reading what I think I’m writing. 🙂
In my first post I say that I’ve bought a lighter weight normally geared bike because I wanted something faster for nice days.
Then I said that If I could only have 1 bike then it would be a light as possible hub geared bike – but only if I could have only 1.
As for the efficiency on the commute in the winter I have a bike I don’t need to clean – if I were using a dérailleur system covered in mud I doubt it would be running at it’s most efficient when thick with mud and the true commute time would be ride time plus cleaning time.
I’ve never suggested it’s a good idea as a race bike it’s just that the the op’s mention of a hub geared whippet made me think that that would be the ideal bike for me if I only had one. Hopefully this reads as I think it does. 🙂

Looks like an argument between 2 reasonable people – bit of a non event really. You’re no Al and TY are you. 🙂

But you could build a lighter bike for less with gears, which would be more efficient 99% of the time..

When you commute off road all year round and you add cleaning time to the average speed calculations the Rohloff becomes a lot more efficient than normal gears. Wipe chain squirt chain with GT85 – that’s all it ever gets. The point I was making is that if I could only have one bike then I would go for as light as possible hub geared bike. If I could have more than one bike as I do then I’d have one of each. I wasn’t actually suggesting that you’d choose a hub geared bike for racing unless of course your a shed dwelling vegan. 🙂

Yes

I’ve a Rohloff equipped bike and it’s just brilliant as a use all year round every day very low maintenance machine. If the suns shining though and I want to ride as quickly as I can then I’ll use my bike with normal gears.

Having said that though if I could only have one bike and I could build a sub 25lb Rohloff or Alfine equipped bike then that’s what I’d get.

3 years for my first chain with the Rohloff and only changed because I thought I should. Current chain is 2 years old and I’ll run it until it breaks which could easily be another 2 years.

This morning riding to work on the dérailleur equipped bike I snapped a chain that’s only 6 months old and a chain checker says is fine.

So for single speed I’d just but a heavy duty KMC chain and run it into the ground. If your reversing your ring and sprocket at the end of the chains life then it’s going to be a pretty cheap option. And the only lube I ever use on the hub geared bike is GT85 and the bike is an off road commuter used throughout the winter and on any wet days in the summer.

The main thing you’ll need to consider if you may want to build on top is the footings. If you certain that you’ll put a room above later then as Stoner says you’ll need to meet all the building and fire regs now. If it’s just a possible then it might at least be worth making sure the footings you put in would be adequate for 2 storeys and then building a standard garage on them . If you build it to that spec as well it might help when you come to sell as it would make the conversion a lot easier.

I must have been away for the “lets hide a cable in a random corner” day.

If he did put that in, rather than it being existing wiring, and didn’t put in conduit or with a protective strip over it then I’d be calling him and asking if he would like to come and repair it for free or would he rather you contact others who might be interested in his workmanship.

I like the fact that they differ as I can just look for the best one.

I read the post as “Quick, time for the monkey” I have to admit to being a little disappointed now.

I’ve still got an OM1n from 1982, it was a great camera to use and learn with. When I was doing it for a living I was asked what camera I wanted and chose the, at the time, brand new Nikon F4. Within a couple of months I’d almost stopped using it having found an FM2 on the shelves that no one was using. I bought one for myself in the end which I still have. What I’d really love now is a camera like the OM1 or FM2 that’s fully manual with a digital back.

watching Arsenal destroy Newcastle.

Well that’ll make a nice change from last year then won’t it.

Thinking about changing my 10 year old

So they have been ok for 10 years and your worried that what you buy next will no longer do the job in 4 months?

amazing how a slower pace without stopping is faster over 24hrs

It’s just like when you overtake a caravan on the motorway. A couple of hours later you pull in to a service station have a quick wee get on the road again drive for another 2 hours and then pass the same dam caravan.

I wouldn’t worry too much about what the front looks like most of us will only ever the the back of it and then not for very long.

i mean a 22 chaining and 34/36 rear sprockets… if it is that steep you would be better off walking.

If it’s that steep I reckon you’d need ropes

And the sight of the sea as you approach Eastbourne is the reward for all your hard work

The views are better at the Eastern end but as I’ve ridden that bit many times over the years I guess it’s not so important to me. The western end is not so nice to look at but when you get to the top of the last hill and see Winchester you won’t give a dam. Actually that view of Eastbourne features in Quadrophenia where it stands in for Brighton when all the mods first arrive.

If you live close enough and can be flexible on timing I’d say east to west is better. You need to wait for a day when there isn’t a south westerly blowing, I ride on the Downs every day to get to work and it’s more common than you might imagine. The advantages as I see it are that the last 15 miles after Buster Hill are a lot easier than the last 15 after Southease. I did 80 miles of it recently from above Kingston to Winchester and it seemed to me that although I must have climbed more than I descended the climbs were longer but less steep heading west. It might just be my imagination but I kept riding down things thinking I’m glad I’m not riding up this whereas nothing I went up seemed too bad. Finally if you make it you’ll feel fantastic and do you want to take a picture of yourself at the end with a statue of Alfred the Great, King of the Anglo Saxons , defeater of the Vikings and burner of cakes or a wooden board. Tough choice eh.
As for the bike I used to ride a 10 speed Coventry Eagle over the downs, doable, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable. I think a light as possible hardtail is the best option if your going to do it in a day.

I can easily drink 3l in 2 hours

What, without alcohol in it ❗

I’d like to try a wing nut or a bum bag with bottles

As well as the wingnut I’ve a Karrimor Raid 5 which is a bumbag that holds around 5 litres and has pockets for 2 bottles which is very good. Like the Wingnut after a few minutes your not aware it’s there.

I use bottles for shorter rides, I’ve got the Elite ones with the cover over the spout which saves drinking sheep poo. I’ve a wingnut for longer rides which I find a big improvement over a standard pack.

Well you might just chuck it down something you’d never attempt with shorter forks for one thing.

Think I might stick some Revs on my Rockhopper to see what happens.

Check your dental insurance. 🙂

edit – I see you have checked

I’ve a 1998 Marin East Peak that’s gathering dust. It’s pre disc brakes otherwise I’d get it up and running again. I’ve also got a Robert’s White Spider frame hanging up but that’s to rusty to revive.

Five pounds twenty five for a jar of pickled onions? How big is the jar?

big enough to fit an unknown quantity of pickled onions of course – stupid bloody question!

I wonder how many chips are in a bag.

Well it’s x where x = the number of pickled onions in an average jar x the chip shop constant.

Also consider putting it on the Thorn forum for sale, it might not get that many viewers but they will all know exactly what they are looking at.

As for the frame alone I seem to remember that the STW review of the bike a few years ago mentioned that they thought it would make a great single speed frame so this might be just the place to sell it.

RIP someone’s dead none of us actually knew

Same for me on the route I currently take across the Quantocks

I don’t know about you Dibbs but I’m really jealous of these people who get to ride through the traffic on roads to work. My ride home yesterday was so dull that I had to put my feet down several times just to stop and look at the view. 🙂

There are 6 gates to get through so not much chance of not putting my feet down.

I notice the difference between 165 which I have on one bike and 170 I have on another. If I’ve ridden the 170’s a lot then going to 165 feels odd for the first 20 minutes or so but after that all feels fine. Going the other way I don’t notice. The 165’s are better for spinning though and they are what I would choose if I were buying a new chainset and it was avaliable in 165 as I like to spin and a bit more clearance is always helpful.
I have an old Marin East Peak with 175 cranks as I went for a bigger frame when I bought it to get the reach I wanted. That is fine off road where your always moving around in the saddle but my knees didn’t like long stretches on the road.
So in short if you do notice a difference it probably won’t be for long.

You see this forum is so good because of the people who run it, the sort of people who could get the trains to run on time.

Robert Pirsig on Overcoming Writer’s Block and Narrowing a Topic
“Start with the upper left-hand brick”
By Richard Nordquist, About.com Guide

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974), Robert Pirsig recalls a problem shared by many of the students in his creative writing class at Montana State College in Bozeman: “They just couldn’t think of anything to say.”

Focusing his attention on a young woman who was trying to compose “a 500-word essay about the United States,” Pirsig (or rather, his alter ego Phaedrus) suggested that she try narrowing her topic–to Bozeman, for instance.

A few days later the student returned to class empty handed and deeply frustrated. “She had tried and tried,” Pirsig writes, “but just couldn’t think of anything to say.”

His next recommendation, to narrow the topic to the main street of Bozeman, also proved unsuccessful.

By this point Phaedrus had grown even more frustrated than the student.

He was furious. “You’re not looking!” he said. A memory came back of his own dismissal from the University for having too much to say. For every fact there is an infinity of hypotheses. The more you look the more you see. She really wasn’t looking and yet somehow didn’t understand this.
Then he revised the assignment one last time: “Narrow it down to the front of one building on the main street of Bozeman. The Opera House. Start with the upper left-hand brick.”
And oddly enough, that proved to be the ticket:

Going back to dynamo lights this looks intresting although not available yet.

8mm allen key turn anticlockwise on non drive side and it’ll come off. Reverse to refit. The 16mm fitting is only used when they are first put on. They need quite a bit of tightening when you put them back and check for play after your first ride. I had to re tighten after a couple of rides.

You could put a longer stem on but I already run a 90 on one bike and a 100 on another. I think njee had one and rated the frame but made a point of the short top tube

Edit
I’ve just had another look on ebay and they don’t seem as short as I’d remembered so I might start thinking about one again

Usuaualy an assortment of sockets and various sizes of drainpipes works quite well. So if you have a well equiped shed then no, no special tools needed

Thanks, I never throw away anything I think I can possibly use to bodge something with so I should be fine.

TT length etc that was a concern as something I may overlook

When I’ve looked at the hardtail frames I’ve been put off by the fact that they seem to have short top tubes for what are short travel xc bikes.

she just said she assumes it would be uncomfortable either way. hmm

You’re trying to have a rational conversation with a woman concerning something she wears?

My attacks have lasted through 2 winters of off road commuting when they are worn nearly every day.
They do size up large as others have said. I’ve got the 3/4 and the only thing I’m not that keen on is the lower leg adjusters. I find they still ride up over my knees occasionally.