GrahamS – Member

“Stay Back” is meaningless. Especially as it is appearing on other vehicles which don’t have big blindspots:

(That last guy seems to be using it because he has his right hand wing mirror folded in!)

You talk as if the drivers in your images have a choice about the signs. All quite clearly commercial vehicles that drivers will be employed to drive. The fleet operators in your examples have made the choice to display those signs – not the drivers.

That RHA sign is the same as the ones the FTA supply too. Just had a look and it’s good to see they are also selling driver cards like this:

I’m not surprised that more and more fleet operators have the ‘stay back’ signs on the back of their vehicles. I’m in the south east and see them on all sorts of smaller commercial vehicles now.

I honestly don’t think they are being used as an excuse for poor driving though. The majority I see have been placed on vehicles owned by very large companies and I think their health and safety departments have simply jumped on the ‘cyclists are at risk from our vehicles’ band wagon with these signs without too much thought into the actual message.

The signs tick the ‘we’re doing our bit’ box and I think it shows that fleet operators are trying to be more responsible. No business wants a cyclist’s death on its hands and I’d hope that some awareness training for the drivers went hand in hand with the new stickers.

For what it’s worth the bin lorries that come into work have “stay away from this vehicle at all times” or words to that effect on them by the cabs – how the hell does the driver get in then?!

3m di-noc from eBay would be my choice if you can get the saddle apart.

I sold it in the end. Now using a rigid MTB with large kojak slicks. Very pleased I made the change!

I can’t caption it, but I can tell you what the driver said a few seconds before it happened – “Watch this!”

The mighty Bees are in the Championship now!

Pedelec? Makes a nice change not to see a CX in a commuter thread.

My money is on the rim tape. Use the yellow Stan’s stuff and your problems will go away. Running stans with tubes fine here with a variety of tyres – maxxis, schwalbe, bontrager. All 26″ though.

Perspirex changed my life. Just hoping it doesn’t kill me.

I may be having a slow moment here, but what do they mean when they say he had to pull back in?

Now sold on, but my recent one –

Maybe just a bad day in the shop? Negativity spreads like wildfire sometimes. I’d head back with a pack of Jaffa cakes as a thanks and give them a second chance. Everyone has bad days at some point.

I like this sort of thing to be honest. Technology will move on, electric bikes will become cheaper, lighter and more efficient. Hopefully legislation will move with the times and they will be properly regulated and be worth using for local trips and commuting – hopefully taking the place of the hundreds of single occupancy cars seen everyday.

Red electrical tape over the ‘un’ for a quick fix.

Surely it only means the bridge though?

Hardtail, stickerbombed with owners name and component brands not on the bike.
54:16 fixie gearing
Long travel dual crown fork
Home made full aero disc wheel cover on the front
E-bike motor wheel on the back
1.3″ slicks
Extreme comfort saddle (preferably with backrest)
BMX Handlebar
Tri clip ons with added commuter mirrors
Offensively loud air or electric horn
The longest and widest 29er rear mudguard possible to find
BSO mechanical disc calliper at the rear accompanied by a custom made 300mm rotor
V brake front brake (unclipped to avoid unwanted rubbing)

There’s something about the way this thread’s title was written – every time I see it I can’t help but read it in the voice of the dog from Up.

Mine go in a bag and into the nearest public waste bin on the street.

billytinkle, what mudguard is that on the second picture (silver bike)?

It’s a cut down SKS Bluemel on the back (does naff all to protect your back, but stops the front mech from getting caked in crap), I use it in conjunction with a quick release Topeak Defender when it’s wet.

26×2″ Kojaks look about right in my opinion. Much more cost effective than new wheels!

Schwalbe Kojaks all the way. Fast, light, comfortable and good puncture resistance.

an·thro·po·mor·phism (?n?thr?-p?-môr?f?z??m)
n.
Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behaviour to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena.

So you don’t think the behaviour the cat exhibited was selfless? How would you describe its actions?

Probably easier to wait until the likes of G4S or GeoAmey take over. I do not know many happy coppers anymore.

Cool cat! Nice to see them doing something selfless.

I’ve recently found that size matters. I recently bought a Specialized Tactic II, both the medium and the large fitted my head, but the large gave the undesirable mushroom look.

It’s a safety thing so looks shouldn’t be at the top of selection criteria, but I was pleased to see that Specialized recommended the smallest lid that was comfortable.

It’ll just be tolerances. Had a Thomson post in my whyte that simply wouldn’t stay put. Change of clamp made no difference. Change to a Truvativ post and all was well.

trail_rat – Member
“pop them back in and your braking power will be restored!”
maybe for a ride.
look at the caliper with a torch – squeeze and hold the lever
odds on youll see bubbling round the piston.
Your seals are starting to weap.
the time between squeeling brakes will get shorter and shorter the more you use em.

steffybhoy – Member
This is a VERY COMMON occurence with shimano calipers.
This is not just confined to 1 particular caliper/brake, but across the full range
The problem is microscopic amounts of brake fluid seep/escape through the piston seals.
There are no user/dealer servicable parts i.e, no way of ordering replacement seals.
You should replace the whole caliper, which comes with new pads/bolts.
Be very careful when cleaning the brake disc as it is VERY difficult removing all contaminants of oil from it.

I work in a LBS, and between our hire fleet/customer bikes, we must have returned over 100 contaminated shimano calipers over the past couple of years.

Thanks gents, you were both right. Time to order a new calliper.

I’ve had a look at the calliper with the pads out and can’t see any immediate evidence of fluid anywhere. Am I best off investigating after a ride? Are there any tell tales that I should look for on the pads themselves?

I don’t think it’s maintenance – we had a bit of a dry spell and the bike hadn’t been washed from the time the new pads and disc went on to the time the problem reoccurred.

Those tractors also got me thinking as to whether I could do my gardening chores by radio control. I’ve now decided I need this in my life…

It’s good to know that if I ever get shrunk to 1/10th my current size that I will still be able to live a relatively normal life at that show.

If it were mine I’d stick it on eBay. I’ve sold parts, bikes and frames on there for the money I was after by putting them on at 99p start. Like yourself this was after trying to sell with no success on classifieds.

Brakes are excessive, I agree. There’s no justifying them, I just wanted them.

I’ve tried a lot of mudguards on different bikes and there’s one thing I’ve learnt – if you want to stay dry take the car. So I just went with stuff I like the look of that don’t rattle and allow me to see. When it’s wet a larger quick release mudguard clips to the seat post.

Very happy with the riding position too, I like it low 🙂

Your saddle is drooping

A not so famous quote – “Do what you feel in your bum to be right – for you’ll be criticised anyway.”

On the subject of the bike are you SURE that’d be more fun than a road/CX bike?

For me – yes, 100%. I tried 1,000 miles on a CX, but we just didn’t gel.

How many do you need? Have you considered making your own? I made some wheel decals from some 3M reflective recently that came out well with a pair of scissors.

I went from a hardtail to a CX and didn’t get on with it at all. Now back on a hardtail and loving it. It may be slower by a few minutes on my 8 mile commute, but it’s much more fun and gives me many more options with my route.

I heard about this through my wife as the description of the poor chap involved sounded very much like myself.

I’m finding it a touch odd that it’s being reported on national news on the BBC radio stations. Slow news day?

Kojak of the 2.0 width variety.

What pay rise is this then?

For balance I find most motorbike riders are well ahead of the game when it comes to being cycle aware and giving space.