+1 for Exposure Flare = super bright.

You can’t describe exactly how bright this light is, ‘cos you can’t look at it with the naked eye without seeing after-images for the rest of the day…

Mount allows for ‘dipping’ the beam by mounting it one way up or the other, depending on the angle of your seat post too.

Had exactly the same problem with the standard post in my P7.
Changed clamp to Hope which helped but I still had to tighten the sh&t out of it to stop it moving eventually.
Recently changed post for an aftermarket one of the same diameter…now bomb-proof with clamp done up normally.
I guess post diameters vary even though they are meant to be specific sizes.

I have an incident number from my visit to the station, so I guess the event is logged and they’ll just get some finer details on Friday ?
I have finished work this morning ready to go abroad on holiday so I can’t spare a lot of time to chase this up which is annoying as it seems like that is the key to getting anywhere with this.

crazy-legs that link is very clear and helpful info, thanks.

wwaswas I have been meaning to join for ages….doh

davetrave I work next door to Central police station so I ride 20 miles of the A60 to get to work, and I can tell you that ALL the tools in Nottingham get there on that road, it was always going to be a matter of time…

I called into Nottingham central police station last night after trying to report the incident on the 101 number and getting transferred several times. The enquiries officer in there was very helpful and said that an officer from the night shift would try to come and see me at work nearby. At ten past ten (night shift start at 10) I got a call asking me to phone 101 and make an appointment…

No witnesses as road was empty of other traffic, I’m guessing that’s why they decided to pull out, just didn’t see me in my dayglo top. This was just after 7 in the morning heading home from work. Doubtful about CCTV there are no major junctions nearby. Besides, if the police are waiting til Friday to see me, I’d be surprised if they would go to the trouble to look through CCTV footage etc.

Annoying as this kind of driver is likely to hurt someone sooner or later and unlikely to own up to it. From my point of view, the police have a chance to pre-empt that by finding them and having a word, if nothing else.

I consider myself educated. Gave up using grease a long time ago when the bloody thing twisted and moved down into the frame on every single ride putting scratches all over the post and generally spoiling my fuzziness.

Get something in between the bar and grip and squeeze in some Fairy liquid to remove. Works really well once you’ve manipulated the grip to get the liquid all the way around / in.
Spray hairspray into the grips before replacing for the magical lubricant becomes glue effect…

Ecky-Thump – you can RIDE the climb up the flagstones up to the farm ????

I never even considered trying to do that !

(OK I did but I have never managed it to the top)

If you take the left at the top of WLT it’s a bridleway so no issues with walkers you still get a decent to the pub – it’s rocky !

Exposure Flash is brighter if used with rechargeable batteries than with disposable. Still only 110 lumens though.
I use one on strobe to get to work with a vision4 for the unlit bits. I treat the flash as a back-up light – it would be bright enough to get me there (country road) but not ideal in weekday traffic with car headlights drowning it out twice a minute. It is fine on its own on an unlit tow-path I use.
£100 would get you the flash and the super-bright flare rear light with batteries and charger if you are interested in being seen as well as being able to see…
£110 would get you the above and a second flash for the front ?

oh dear…I feel an expensive ‘treat’ coming on – working brakes sound tempting !

I might try a piston and seal kit if I can find one – they all say juicy 5/7…would these fit ?

Cheers – can’t believe I haven’t come across that stuff before !

It’s got to be worth a few quid to try it before I convince myself I need yet more hope trinkets or similar.

Anyone found that new seals make any difference ?

I often come off course on the bike.
The map is in my camelbak, which means stopping, taking it off, unfolding map, finding compass if necessary, etc. it’s a right faff !

Also, you can cover 1km in what, a few minutes ? When walking I wouldn’t normally take a bearing over much longer than that so you’d have to be stopping all the time !
On the other hand, 20 minutes off course is a long way off course on a bike !

Wilkinsons do a 3m x 3m (IIRC) reinforced plastic sheet in garden section, about £5 I think – totally waterproof. Fold into quarter to fit boot, in half if you put seats down to put bikes in whole.

As geoffj and joolsburger have already said.

This is the way to do it properly, and you can do it indoors in the winter – don’t try that with a chain cleaner !

But add a pair of marigolds to your shopping list first…mmmm black fingertips…

Only tried with a GPS ‘phone :
Trek buddy on your ‘phone and mobile atlas creator on your pc to create the maps.
This allows real time positioning on a loaded map and the marking of waypoints to follow a route on the map.
All of UK available in O.S. mapping on mobile atlas, you just select the area and scale/size required, create your map and store to phone.
Italy – not sure but certainly open source maps or similar are available.

Or try gvSIG, a ‘phone app which can download its own maps via GPRS/Wifi, again, Italy is certainly covered by open source maps, not sure about any other mapping.

Neither requires maps to be calibrated, its all already done, though you might have to alter GPS settings to the Italian standard if I remember correctly.

Have you actually found some decent mapping of Italy to scan ??!

Surely only the wear on the two rollers at either end of the tool are included in the measurement ?

Did the Ladybower Lite route yesterday.
It rained all afternoon, and it looked like it had had quite a bit of water recently as well, Derwent edge side was especially slippery with puddles.
Enjoyed it, but got filthy.

1. Once every eight days compulsory, twice is an achievement, as it has to be two consecutive days.
2. 32 miles, most off-road
3. North Notts
4. 18mph on the way to work, 16 on the way back (do I subconsciously like work more than home ?) – this is moving average, have to stop to cross the A1 which can be time-consuming…

Kudos to those commuting most days – any helpful hints to stop me always pedaling flat-out everywhere I go ? Maybe I could commute more if I could walk the next day ?

Camelbak M.U.L.E

If you ever need to carry more than you can fit into / onto it, you need a trailer.
Nice smaller compartment for tools and tubes etc, large compartment for the rest, and a useful capacity to stuff unwanted layers in-between.

Recommended.

<Sulks in corner>

OK, OK, I’ll put the shiny new stuff on and put the old stuff on the pile mountain in the shed.

In my next life I will definitely leave one day with a short board and never come back.

monkeyp, hadn’t thought about the wear thing…good advice. Cheers

Overkill I suppose, but the bike’s always got the wrong tyres on from the last time I rode it (slicks vs off-road) so a second set of wheels with the tyres already on has always been on my wish list. That being the case, why not make them road specific ? My current slicks can knock 10 minutes off the 16 mile commute (they can cost me that if I take them off-road though !), so I’m keen to exploit any other small advantages to be had.

Bigger wheels = higher top speed on tarmac flats ?

rOcKeTdOg, illuminate the ignorant, why wouldn’t I use the other chainrings ? Does it affect the gearing so much, or is it something to do with road cassettes ?

So GXP is non-standard, right ?
And Truvativ BBs are crap.

OK, so I recently replaced the headset on this bike and after some deliberation I decided against a hope unit. Nothing wrong with the one I got (yet), but I wish I'd got the hope one cos I know I'll end up fitting one eventually. This time I think I'll just get a hope BB first time.

I have seen a ceramic hope BB for a few quid more than the SS version, but are they the same cups ie could I fit SS bearings at a later date if I wanted, given that it would cost about half as much, but I get the advantage of ceramic bearings first time round ? I realise I need the spacer set to fit the GXP cranks, anyone ever tried removing these to fit normal cranks later ?

Liam
Question answered before I got to ask it !!
Cheers I'll try that first.

Oh ?
Tighten it or get a new one ?
How do I rule this out / confirm it ?

Cheers

I would consider the quality of the off-road surface carefully. My commute is 16 miles of sustrans / singletrack / quiet roads at either end. Takes 50mins – 1hr5mins (on way back the next morning !)
But because the surface is hard and well-draining, it's just as quick in mid-winter. Wouldn't fancy it too much rim deep in mud !
Otherwise you can't beat getting off the road

So when is an MX not an MX ?

I would accept whatever I got if I took a chance on a £25 headset, but it was advertised as a £50 headset on sale at £25 so you expect £50 quality. Other colours of the same headset are on sale at £40 so there is absolutely no excuse for any of them not having a couple of rubber seals in the box. THe headset is next to useless without the seals as there is a dirty great gap where the rubber is meant to go so it is open to the elements – 'not fit for purpose' springs to mind

I'm still waiting for an answer from CRC, they were very good last time I had an issue but we'll see…

That sounds like exactly what I have !

Got it from CRC too…

How can they sell it as an MX if it's different ?
Ironically, I chose it purely to get decent seals as this has been a recurring problem with my previous headset.

I have already sent an e-mail to CRC, I'll have to see what comes back – can't say I relish the thought of having to remove the cups and crown race just to send it back !

I looked for weeks and never found anything quite right. Bleed screws don't generally go smaller than M6 thread, and you need M5 for Avid calipers. Get a cheap kit like the Red Dog Racing ones, or better still treat yourself to an avid one and feel smug after your third brake bleed…you will now be better off than if you took it to your LBS.

If you must, there are instructions somewhere on threading your own plastic tube fittings. This seemed to work at first, but they are not very robust and leak somewhat too (very messy).

If you find a hollow screw to fit, don't forget you'll need an 'o' ring to make a decent seal and the head of the screw will need to be just right to make this seal…good luck !

Thanks everyone.
My mind is now at rest.

Looking forward to being able to ride together again since both our bikes were nicked nearly a year ago. Shame her work does not offer C2W otherwise I would like to have got something better for her.

Cheers that's very helpful.

The 17 looked about right, I was just swayed by the sizing guide.

Carpe diem :

Nice.

What size frame ?

I did some of the deadwater last time I was there – lots of tight switch-back climbs through forests, some technical stuff and some nice flowing bits too but to get to the top invoves a very long climb on fire-roads which wasn't that enjoyable TBH.
Ran out of time before starting the final loop around deadwater, so we blasted back down the fire-road. Probably missed the best bits ?!

The climb in question is quite exposed so I guess it's hard going in any significant wind ?

Great location though. You can definitely kill a full day there.

If you do the deadwater trail, look out for the black-graded bits that branch off – some of that stuff is insane !

Which brakes ? The bleed kit comes with about half a dozen different spacers although they all look fairly similar.
Let me know and I'll measure the right one.

Damn!

What if that happens to me ?!

I think it would be best if I avoid cycling altogether.

Anything I should know about walking places ?

missingfrontallobe
OK, I can't think of a good reason to be undoing a powerlink on a ride…except, if I start thinking about NOT being able to undo it I'll worry about it constantly and it will spoil every ride I ever go on. Maybe.
Or…I'll discover why I need to undo one when I really need to undo one in a hurry in the middle of nowhere…hmmm…I think I might need to start worrying about this possibility too.

TBH I just like the idea of carrying enough stuff to cope with every eventuality, but doing so with the minimum amount of kit.

Oh and if you know the knack of how to undo a powerlink with your hands please pass it on – I must be doing something wrong because it's like trying to push a piece of string !

I am thinking about getting a trailer, that way I can just take my stand and toolbox with me. Could even fit in a stereo and some beer…just like fixing stuff at home.

Cheers sweepy

My routing is identical to your pictures – ironically my cables all seem shorter than yours, whereas I thought they were over-long. Don't know why that is but it might explain why my rear shifer cable is kinked just behind the headset.

Thanks again. I can find something else to obsess over now.

Can anybody recomend a tool with piers built in ? I have to carry a set from my home tool box on top of everything else just in case I need to open the powerlink on my chain.

EDIT : Ooops…that's pLiers, not a french bike mechanic hiding in a multitool !

Common occurence.
1. Push working piston fully into caliper – a ring spanner works well as it will not damage centre pin. If its stiff use a lever through the back (small) opening of the caliper.
2. Hold this piston – an open ended spanned works for this but can't remeber what size – about 14mm i think – basically whatever only just slips over the caliper body to hold the rim of the piston.
3. Force stuck piston out by operating brake – do not allow the piston to come all the way out if/when you get it moving ! A couple of strokes on the lever is plenty.
4. Clean around the exposed piston with brake fluid and wipe dry.
5. Lubricate with a drop of clean brake fluid.
6. Push piston back in fully
7. Repeat lots. Each time you do it should free the piston marginally more but it can take a while !
8. Every now and then, check piston action by releasing the good pistion and operating brake lever. Pistons should move roughly equally. If not, go back to (1.) !!

Good luck.

Bleed kit only required if you pop a piston out by mistake. That said, if you have air in the caliper you'll never get the brakes working satisfactorily.

Mine were stiff from new and a piston in each caliper seized within a few rides. I ended up splitting the caliper so had to fork out for a bleed kit and was tearing my hair out with despair at brakes that never seemed to work right and rubbed all the time – now they're sorted and I have to say they have given no trouble since !