I always try to be courteous with my light (a helmet mounted Exposure Diablo).

I think the beam pattern is more of a spot than some of the other flood lights available and I’ll always have it pointed down and to the left. Never had any complaints from anyone, but have no idea how my light affects others in reality!

The Lezyne’s with their hose attachments make life so much easier in my opinion – I wouldn’t be looking at any other manufacturer.

I’ve got an Exposure Flare, Moon Shield 60 and Cateye ld610. Moon wins hands down closely followed by the Cateye. Had reliability problems with the Flare (won’t stay on flash mode) and eats batteries.

Just had a Truvativ Noir T40 turn up – much more available adjustment by the looks of it! Very happy 🙂

Ok, the pic below shows as far as I can wind the front bolt up leaving the rear bolt completely slack. As you can see it’s up to the 24 marking with an indicated degree left to go. At this angle it will not clamp the saddle properly – the rear part of the clamp simply doesn’t have the movement to move downwards.

This next pics shows how far I can wind the front bolt whilst still allowing even pressure from the whole seat clamp to clamp the saddle rails.

Last pics show saddle as far ‘nose down’ as I can get it with the rest of the bike (height set at commuting level).

So, any ideas what am I doing wrong?

It’s a medium Whyte 901 and I’m 5’9″.

I’ve had an e-mail saying that all orders would be cancelled apart from my first. Followed up by individual cancellation e-mails for my second and third order.

Not completely unhappy with that.

What saddle is it?

Nothing out of the ordinary, ti railed Charge Spoon.

Thomson says you shouldn’t reverse the clamp, by the way – the ‘front’ bit is there for a reason – to stop you fitting it in a way that will damage the post.

In the instructions that came with the post it says to reverse the clamp in the (unlikely) event of adjustment issues.

Pics when I get a chance.

Seriously, if you can’t ’tilt’ your saddle enough with the range of a Thomson post then you need to have a little head scratch. If your saddle isn’t comfortable at anything other than a couple of degrees from horizontal then it’s not the seatpost that’s at fault. It’s either the saddle shape, saddle fore/aft on rails, saddle height, bike size, bar reach, clothing and other general bike fit issues.

I totally agree. I’ve tried everything I can think of with the Thomson, but no matter what I do (short of using it as a lay forward post) I can’t get anywhere near a nose down position – horizontal is the furthest it’ll go. I’ve tried reversing the clamp, but that only gives even more nose up adjustment.

Maybe I’ve got an odd angle seat tube (2011 Whyte 901)? But the reason I went for the Thomson over anything else was that the geometry mirrors the Whyte 19 and they come with a Thomson Layback from the factory.

Confused, but tried everything I can think of.

The USE doesn’t appear to get great reviews for it’s ability to hold the saddle in position! Shame really as other than that it looks superb!

The Cobolt looks great, but too pricey.

Any views on the Truvativ Noir T40? Not a bad deal for the size I’m after at CRC.

From what I’ve seen roadies rarely acknowledge a polite hello or nod. There appears to be a direct collation between the amount of team wear worn and the level of social arrogance.

I’ve heard a few roadies come out with the excuse that they were ‘in the zone’, but I believe ‘the zone’ maybe their own arse holes.

Just bought a new chain ring and tools, if only i would have waited. Spent 185 notes at CRC last night.

So easy to send stuff back to CRC these days!

Wash off with the rest of the bike, give it a good wipe off with an old rag/towel/whatever, use a chain cleaning device with degreaser followed by isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol – available cheap enough on amazon) every few cleans or when I think required. Then GT85 to disperse moisture prior to lube,

I found it more important to lube sparingly and use just one drop of oil on each roller on the chain to prevent vast amounts of crap building up. Anal, but working for me after lots of experimenting and no chain removal.

After a lot of internet research it would appear that finding a replacement headset is an absolute bloody nightmare!

So many different sizes available! The problem I have is that so far I have been unable to remove the forks from my frame, so I’m unable to measure the tube ID.

I think I’m right in saying that I need to know both the ID and OD of the headtube before I order? I’m planning on having a shop fit it for me.

So far, through the process of elimination and educated guesswork I’ve been able to establish that I have a semi integrated FSA Orbit Z with a 15mm top cap – is it right that on FSA’s own website they would describe a semi integrated headset as an internal or ZS style headset?

I’m so lost with all this!

Really needs to be a watch for use whilst running too – mainly for cycling though.

FWIW – for purposes of commuting and fast pootling I’ recommend the Continental Gatorskin.

Nearly tried the Gatorskins – I would have gone through with it too if I could get the damn things on the rims without pinch puncturing the tubes!

After two failed attempts in perfect kitchen conditions, I didn’t fancy having to do it should the worst happen in the great outdoors.

Holy Hell, Billy if that’s your commuter ……. and you want a change, what are you going to get ?

No idea, the Whyte currently does everything and is my only steed, so work commute and play at the weekends.

Thinking I could stretch to something else that requires less maintenance in the gears department and keep the Whyte exclusively for play.

I love the large volume tyres (I usually run Maxxis Holy Rollers, but have a studded tyre on the front at the mo), so thinking either a 29″ or 26″ mtb, possibly with a rigid fork and an Alfine or similar, maybe even belt drive if they’re reliable? Oh, and it’s got to look nice!

Why? Just wondered! Never seen one apart from on a cruiser bike. Can’t think of a decent reason to have one, but I like the aesthetics.

I’m running a Sram 9 speed rings with an otherwise 10 speed set up, works perfectly. Very happy.

legend – I’m following this on a car forum too, they seem to agree – minus a bit of a moan about flashing lights

Clio drivers loave a good moan.

You need to use the Crocodile Dundee Hypnotise Buffalo technique.

That actually works on my dog, he runs off scared. Mind you, he’s also scared of his food bowl if it’s left in the wrong place.

Best tracking system I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a lot) is TomTom WebFleet – superb product that should be looked at as in investment – telematics really can save your business money!

I’m a fleet manager btw.

I could be in the future, I’ve looked at plenty of them, but a new house purchase is putting any plans like that on the back burner for at least 6 or so months I’d imagine.

Not compared to a car or motorbike – that should be the comparison made as they’re everyday commuting vehicles.

Yes compared to a car or motorbike – for anything I would want anyway – the Grace bikes are the sort of thing I’d be interested in, but 9,000 Euros? Can’t see how it can be justified.

I suppose some of the capable, but slow ebikes aren’t silly money when compared to high end normal bikes, but I just can’t get my head round the poor performance (speed wise) for the money. I suppose if that Smart bike did up to 30mph with the assist I wouldn’t be complaining so much about the price tag.

Typically 5-7kg – or less than 10% of the weight of the rider.

I hadn’t thought about it that way, which is odd because I have with regular bikes!

I’ll partly agree with this – though the point is not to make your top speed higher, it’s to put up your average speed. Which they do, by a lot, because it means you cruise up steep hills at 14mph instead of struggling up them at 5mph.

I want 20 – 25mph average speeds! What can I say – I’m greedy!

The concept of ebikes is great as a commuting device. The technology is available now that could cut my commute down from an hour each way to 20-30 mins each way, leave me sweat free when I arrive at my destination and cost pennies to run.

Unfortunately they are very expensive to purchase (although diy conversion is a more viable purchase option if you want a pig ugly bike), have a huge weight penalty which can make them vary hard work to pedal unassisted and the laws over here make anything fast enough to make sense illegal on the roads.

I love ebikes, but the laws in this country don’t allow them to be fast enough in my opinion. For the weight penalty I’d want something that could cruise at 20-25mph.

Specialized have one that’s quite nippy, but I’d be going for a Grace if they didn’t cost the same as a Ford Fiesta.

I ride on the road every day, and not undertaking is my one absolute rule that I never break. It’s just too dangerous.

Do you include cycle lanes in that?

The only other light I have that’s up to the visibility and brightness of the Flare and Shield 60 is a Cateye TL-LD610.

I’ve not used it yet, but if it holds up in wet weather and doesn’t chew batteries it’ll be up there with the moon – shame it’s not rechargable – think it takes AA or AAA batteries though unlike the odd size battery (to me) of the Flare.

I’ve got an Exposure Flare and a Moon Shield 60. The Flare no longer gets a look.

The Flare doesn’t stay on the flashing mode (heard of others that also do this) and eats batteries very quickly. Looks and feels well built and suspect it’s the more weather proof of the two, but that’s it.

To my eye the Shield 60 is brighter, puts out a better spread of light and is more visible. It’s also rechargable and mounts very nicely to the seat post. The build quality is good (only exception is the very flimsy rubber cover over the charging point – being very careful with mine). Also been very weather proof so far.

Getting there now…

Just need a way of stabilising the rear end of the guard. Options include either P clips and stabiliser bars or to fabricate a new much longer metal bracket for the seat stay bridge.

Looks like it won’t be finished this weekend though.

couldashouldawoulda – Hacksaw is working well, just a few burrs left that needed a little file down.

Your idea about leaving the rear intact is the way I’ve gone, doesn’t even need a cut out for the mech so I’ve just left it as is in that respect.

Problems with the braces though – not sure if the frame will accept them? The holes that I thought were for the braces are too small for the supplied fixings. Is the hole on the far left for these or something else?

Not actually sure that fitting it properly is an option either (though I thought it would be prior to purchase). The picture with the rear guard fitted is mounted properly at the BB mounting point, but the bridge on the seat stays means there’s not much room for adjustment – it’s touching it in the pic.

As for width it’s a 60mm guard. I ordered a 60mm and 65mm guard at the same time with the intention of sending back the one with the worst fit back, but the 65 ended up being out of stock. Looking at the profile of the 65mm guard I’m not sure that it would have been a better fit anyway!

Thanks for the info!

Please see technical drawing below to aid understanding of the question:

Place box on exterior side of cat flap.

Get spot on flea treatment from cupboard.

Watch cat run straight out of the cat flap and into said box.

Done.

only advice on the hookworms is be careful VERY careful in the wet

I’ve got holy rollers on mine, great in the wet for the commute. Could see them working well for urban stuff.

Who wants to use a road shoe off road?

Who said I wanted to use a road shoe off road? My bike’s used for commuting duties during the week and I’d prefer not to have to swap pedals at the weekends.

Found this…
http://www.cheapbikeparts360.com/products/crank-brothers-quattro-cleats-adapters/

Are they are reputable company does anyone know?

Bump – no one? I’ve seen a Shimano cleat stabilizing adapter at CR…

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=40563&gclid=CLTc9aTwrbMCFcrItAodKw4ATA

But it looks like it only bolts into one of the 3 holes available on the shoe – doesn’t look very strong?

Another way to spend an absurd amount of money on an ebike…

http://www.pg-bikes.com/index.php#blacktrail-1

But for financial and aesthetic reasons I think a Stealth would be the ebike of choice for a giggle…

http://www.stealthelectricbikes.com.au/bomber.html

Dual lock only sticks to dual lock though – I use it for other things, great stuff, but not for this application.

I need a hook and loop type product as it will stick to the pad backing.

I looked for ages, Under Armour was the best option I found. Cheapest I found was by 7 pairs for £12.85 each at Baselayer. On the plus side they are great quality and last well.