CaptainFlashheart

I’m serious as cancer when I say that rhythm is a dancer

Aaaargh! That’s been going around my head ALL DAY and when I saw the title of this thread, I thought, “Ooh, I know!” but I’ve been beaten to it by a mind-reader.

Or someone else who’s recognised the ridiculousness of that line.

Banging tune though :-)

Curses, I thought I was on a gym-avoiding winner there

Might have to try some press-ups next…

my helmet kept it out of the way

Wear one ALL THE TIME

And another thread bites the dust. Too bad as the tea’s only just brewed.

Big up the Brentford massif!

Also, Acton is cheaper and has a wider selection of chicken shops.

Is it really a problem…?

I guess the only issue could be that the unused bits of the pads meet over the rotor when the rest of the pad is worn down, thus leading to no brakes.

Going to singlespeed would also solve the problem.

A hackneyed term, but perfectly descriptive for some of my workmates: grease monkey.

I have this problem every week at work, no matter how often I ‘helpfully instruct’ (no swearing involved…) my dear colleagues to: “Just look at the darn metric size! ’20″‘ means NOTHING!!!!!”

We can harp on about how great the Imperial system is, but, actually, I think you’ll find, at the end of the day, it’s, a lot of the time, not very good.

I secretly hope that all this talk fo 26 and 29 and 700 will one day die out and we can use 559 and 622 instead.

Less ranty and more helpfully, according to the tyre-bible, it looks like you’ve got tubes for 597 wheels.

EDIT: just had a look at that link, basspine… no reflection on you, as doubtless Google is the guilty party, but it’s truly awful. Skip everything except the last paragraph.

Now then, now then, we can all forgive a bit of visually-impaired-vertically-challenged-Emerald-isle-denizen-designed cyclery, but how can you sit back and not pound those keyboards over possibly the worst front brake hose routing ever…?

Spaceman –

It depresses me how few people I see commuting on powered two wheelers these days

Pop down to The Big Smoke and observe, everyday, the hordes of people with engines between their legs :-)

If I could trust myself not to get fat and lazy, I’d get a ped. Watching how they thrash every other form of transport in London is recommendation enough. Then again, I do love my bicycle…

Anyway, just to repeat the best advice so far:

5thElefant –

You obviously like the idea. Go for it. There are all kind of factors that will come into it but it’ll be tougher than you imagine and cost more than you think, but until you try it you won’t know if it’ll work for you.

Bill Murray: whose characters are never able to take anything seriously.

Jennifer Connelly: whose characters always take everything too seriously, thus inspiring me to make believe that I could cheer her up.

Good calls for Harrison Ford & Arnie too :-)

I’m ‘only’ 30 and would gladly forgo the moolah in order to retake the last 14 years of my life: get my first proper mountian bike again; NOT go away to uni this time; marry my teenage sweetheart instead of being a bitter ‘old’ man; keep in touch with friends; etc.

‘Course, all that does rather assume that in this scenario we’d be allowed to take our memories back in order to not make the same mistakes. Then again, even if the memory slate was wiped clean, I’d like to take my chances with chaos and gamble that things wouldn’t turn out worse.

I suspect it would be rather like those sci-fi/X-Files plots that involve people who’ve been bred/adapted to do without sleep: yeah, you could do without eating, but it would result in psychological problems (e.g. paper & hair eating, excess chewing gum consumption, fingernail biting, maybe gnawing of fingers to the point of injury…)

Personally, I need to eat and would go mental without constantly stuffing my face. Om nom nom nom.

I saw a squirrel.

From the comfort of this summer evening, with no pressing need to survive, I reckon I’d have no problem eating human flesh.

Despite that I’m vegan, in a survival situation (e.g. Alive), where the human was already dead, why not eat them in order to live? It’d be a shameful waste not to.

(Having said that, I don’t think I’d hunt/kill in order to survive, though that is, again, said from behind the comfort of a large plate of farfalle…)

Interesting point about the possiblity of disease transmission, allthegear. Though if I was starving, would I care…?

Finally, to pault41: ha ha ha ha. Classic stuff. This is for you:

(…and for deadlydarcy!) ;-)

mfw: :?:

(Sorry for lack of update: we didn’t have any of them in stock, unusually, though not uncharacteristically as we seem to have nothing in stock these days…)

I think 5ft 9inch is the ideal maximum for the bike.

Nah, I’m a lanky fecker and it suits me fine. Definitely go for the extended or telescopic seatpost if over 5’9″ish.

Elfinsafety –
So, I was actually right, wasn’t I?

Erm, well, only if you compare the price or oranges today with that of apples historically. The base model Brompton you’re referring to was the C3 which did indeed sell for such a bargainacious price. Unfortunately it was a pile of shite with extra-cheap parts on it. Happily they don’t make that model any more so a direct comparison can’t be made. Let’s not allow such a trifling inconvenience to stand in the way of pedantry: the current ‘base’ model (M3L) has a RRP of about £750, though most retailers discount. I bought mine (then it was called the ML3) when it retailed for about £475. Accounting for ‘inflation’ and the many upgraded parts, that doesn’t seem so bad.

You’ll also be disappointed to hear that loads of them still come in for servicing and need parts replacing. Quite rare that this is a result of anything other than failing to clean the bike, pump up the tyres and replace the chain before it wears out. Just like 90% of the servicing I do then…

But if you love yours, then good luck to you.

Love you too! :-)

Oh bugger, it’s the middle of the night and I’m arguing the toss about folding bikes. Ho hum, I shall convince myself that it’s justified as only someone who’s owned one of the damn things can give meaningful advice.

Let’s have a midnight grump moment:

bigbmx –

Bananaworld

Do you like children?

Nope, I hate the bastards: you offer them free candy and they run a mile. Ungrateful little shits.

Your two posts guys should go down in the annals of STW history as premium advice for the masses.

(Though your method does involve rather a lot of island-hopping, Sharki… ;-) )

Oh-me-oh-my, what a hilarious thread!

The Brompton detractors clearly haven’t actually owned a Brompton, or kept up with their development, nor, indeed, know what they’re talking about. As demonstrated by:

Elfinsafety –
Interesting to see that Bromptons have almost doubled in price, over the last 6 years or so, with no improvement in the quality of parts.

That’s pure tripe. I’ve, coincidentally, owned mine for six years and the current model doesn’t cost double what mine did at the time. More importantly, whilst the shape of the bike and its superficial appearance remain the same, pretty much all the parts have been upgraded as a continuous process (from major things like bars, the geared hub, wheels and brakes down to little details like the front luggage holder, the handlebar catch and the rear swing-arm clip).

I bought a Brompton at the ripe old age of 24 (hardly a mid-life crisis…) and having ridden it for many years and many miles I would say: go for it.

The ride is fun. They are fun bikes – little wheels are wicked and nippy, especially in traffic. The folding mechanism is genius and the folded bike a neat thing to carry and stow. The longest ride I’ve done on it was about 45km, and I smiled all the way. Tow-paths and fireroads are no probs, but obviously it doesn’t like mud (I tried…)

As for downsides… Having said that they’ve upgraded all the parts, the spec of mine is vastly different from original. I’ve put Tioga 2″ rise downhill bars on and Ultegra Hollowtech II cranks to combat the flex in those components (both of which have been upgraded anyway in new models, but still not stiff enough for my liking).

Pedals are… interesting. I immediately swapped the woeful right-hand pedal for a grippy flat pedal, but the folding left-hand pedal remains. It’s a very well-made, long-lasting and sturdy thing, but its astonishing lack of grip on one side directly led to a broken collar bone a couple of years ago… I’m going to try putting SPuDs on and see if the left-hand one gets in the way of carrying the bike.

It is true that I fix bikes for a company that sells Bromptons, but I’ve experienced Brompton’s customer-service, parts-ordering and backup and can say: they will sort you out if you need anything. ‘Flashier’ folding bike companies have not been as forthcoming.

Enjoy your Brompton!

(EDIT: …but FFS don’t do what most owners do and let it get dirtier than a gutter and ride around with 20psi in the tyres…)

Maybe the boiler has just realised that it’s spring and that you don’t need heating. It’s kinda your boiler’s way of telling you to MTFU cos it’s hardly like you live in Scotland or anything ;-)

Good luck with it, and I hope to catch up with ya soon!

Mmmm, how could this song be made any worse, and then much better?

Like this:

Worth it if you can stand it for just 1 minute.

they have shutdown the fusion reaction

Their secret’s out!

Joking aside, this situation, as reported by STW (I can’t get any usful websites as I’m at work), sounds properly awful. Keep us posted, gang.

Just use System Restore to undo the changes made by the update.

Hmm, doesn’t look very good does it, especially with news reports bandying about the word ‘meltdown’, which isn’t even remotely likely.

Shame about this scaremongering really as, despite being a beardedvegansinglespeedcycliststudent, I’m all for nuclear power (qualifier: as a medium-term alternative to fossil fuel-fired power stations).

Sorry, can’t actually answer your question, but if unlooked for opinions weren’t given at every opportunity, this wouldn’t be Singletrack ;-)

I’ll take a peek tomorrow too at the occasionally round wheels ‘we’ get from Fisher.

A patient says, “Doctor, tonight I made a Frenchian slip. I was posting on STW in the middle of the night with a bunch of pedantic losers and wanted to say: ‘Joke du jour’ But instead I said: ‘Joke de Jour.”

FTFY ;-)

Mmmm, sounds nice… The world needs more Konas wirth carbon forks (also, is it one of the orange ones…?)

Also for the record, I have a singlespeed and a beard.

Do you have a beard? Or does a two-speed only entitle you to stubble?

It is, to put it mildly, a bit of a frustrating situation.

I have:
– Hub
– Sprocket
– Shifter

But, crucially, no:
– Small parts/cassette joiny bit/washers/nuts/gubbins kit

The hub came direct from Madison, but the shifter had to be sourced from Wiggle.

<rant>
I CANNOT **** UNDERSTAND WHY MADISON WOULD STOCK DIFFERENT NUMBERS OF HUBS AND SHIFTERS!!!11!!!

SOMEONE PLEASE explain!!!! 111!!!!!!!

and, it better NOT **** BREAK when i TRY TO USe it!”!!!111!!!!
</rant>

When eveything gets too much and I feel like ending it all, I think of Alexander Supertramp and remember that, if it really came to it, I could just wander off into the wild for a few years and NOT have to top myself. If you’ve got to the point of not caring, head for the hills and to hell with the consequences. That thought alone I often find is enough to life my mood – knowing that there’s a way out. Hence I find his story wonderfully inspiring.

Anyway, that’s how the book and film affected me. Some might say he was selfish, and he was definitely naïve, but I wish I had his balls.

Perhaps a trip out on a mountain bike is our mini-version of his adventures.

Is it a threaded or Ahead type headset?

Anyway, in either case, it sounds like there’s something more serious going on. Loctite can solve many of the world’s problems, but rarely this one…

Reading – the town-centre ‘improvements’ of the last 15 years have merely removed more of the soul it never had.

*waves back* Hurraaay a girl!!

Uh oh, this could end with a shock…

Hmm, interesting that hoards of eligible bachelors have not yet descended on this thread and offered to guide a lady in need around the area.

Some obsevations spring to mind:
1. It’s early days yet.
2. Beware of men offering to ‘show you around’ when, in fact, they couldn’t accurately place Lancashire on a map.
3. There are no women on the internet ;-)

EDIT: appears I was too slow, Junkyard is already in there! :lol:

For one night in Paris, surely the Hilton is the place to be.

Woah, woah, woah – did TSY attempt to tempt Junkyard by pretending to be a girl called Sammie…?

Holy handgrenades…! Do tell, either way.

Full story/links/cry-and-tell. Come ON.

Would probably be just as functional on a Mk.4.

Protip: sort the leak before attempting to bleed ;-)

Ask if you can get the suppository version, much easier to swallow :mrgreen: