Find some pubs near where it is moored up/near moorings. Put ‘For Sale’ signs in the pub toilets (maybe ask the landlord first!). I’ve seen this in a couple of places. No idea if it works of course, but it is cheap 😉

For most of us mid pack, that means as fast as we can in between rests.
If you look in the solo pit area at any 8+hour event, it’s not just me having a 5 minute breather.
I know it’s not the best way, which is why I asked for advice.

Paraphrasing the: You are only actualy racing the mid pack riders who also take a five minute breather, ’cause you’re giving everyone else a 5 min start each time you stop.

You know the answer, and it will hurt in the legs and the head 😉

Everything has been tried on bikes more than once already. Why is no one seriously looking at hydraulic systems?

Indeed, but sometimes an idea has to wait for technologies to catch up. I’m sure somebody tried a hydro disc brake on a bike ages ago and decided that, on balance, it was lumpen pain-in-the-ar$e. Fast forward to a time of CNC machines, market demand, ecomonies of scale and better/more available material (amoungst a, probably, long list) and Bob’s-your-mothers-brother.

Doesn’t mean I think it’s a good/bad idea just that its time isn’t now (for all of the reasons discussed above, and Di2 in particular)…. as it may, or may never, be in the future.

Three principles to remeber.

KISS
Simplify and add lightness
Cheap / light / strong – pick 2

That’s what it says in the books, but looming over all of this is customer/client expectations and following the market (wherever that leads and however fickle it is). Maybe I should email this to some of my clients!!! 😆

in favour of hydraulics you could use a tapered shuttle to meter the exact amount of fluid to move the mech the right distance for each change – I imagine linear pull is approximate, but the ratchet and spring are not much weight compared to a whole extra pipe run…

Again, a moot point – I’m sure it at comparable weight at a cost, but that cost would be mental. Speaking of mental costs, the Rot5 setup appears to be using reltively thin plastic hose. I have no idea what the comparable weight per m of two runs of that full of fluid is compared to a steel reinforced brake cable outer with a steel cable in it.

Bristol biker – hydro gears must be heavier that cable – far greater complexity = more parts – more weight. You needs a master cylinder, slave cylinder, full lenghth hoses, expansion device – must be more than a lever a cable and a projection on the mech

But it’s not comparing apples-with-apples – yes you add a mater cylinder and a double run of pipe…. but you take out all the ratchet mechanism at the shifter and the return spring gubbins at the mech.

This was an argument used at the dawn of hydro brakes and the like-for-like weights are now comparible (but I accept not identical).

It’s a moot point – Di2 will win, cause it solves some problems with mechnical systems (self aligning etc) and, more importantly, cause Shimano says so!

A drunken conversation the pub the other day resulted in a plan to ‘treat’ the obese by putting them in an induced coma on an IV an putting them in a bath of coolant (Matrix style). As they slimmed down, the low grade heat was collected and sold to power stations so the start temp of the steam cycle water was higher thus using less energy to produce electricy.

Couple of months later, out they come, thin as bean poles and everyone’s happy. What’s not to like……

much more complex (thus heavy)and expensive

I won’t argue about the complex and expensive, but for a price you can have light and perdy…. see ac282’s link. Very nice.

Must… resist…. ranting….. 😆

Have you tired Di2, or seen that custom brain ‘re-map’ that was on here the other day for MTB 1×10??!? It is the future I tells ya…… (apart from the cost, obviously 😉

FWIW, IIRC, battery life was several months even if you rode several hours a day and changed gear like an epilectic gibbon….

The ultimate minmum faff setup may be an electric shifting hub gear – Di2 meet Alfine 11 after a visit to Weight Watchers <rubs legs Vic Reeves style>

Disc or rim brake?

The Greek team’s track bikes for the Athens games were built in a similar, if even LESS sophisticated, way……

Mini Morph is tip top for road tyres – will get to 80 psi easily. Had it for about a year now and has so far been faultless and far and away the best mini pump I’ve had. Don’t know if the mini really has enough puff for MTB tyres as it’s a pretty small volume barrel – I’ve not tried it though.

Paraphrasing the above; you went into the shop and told the bloke your requirements and budget, he said you’d need to spend more to get what you want, further research suggests the shop was right.

So, yes, based on that either add more money to the pot or go second hand.

Have a look at the Durano Plus with smart guard – as tough as the Marathon Plus, but should roll better without the tread profile. Only up to 25c IIRC.

Cracks in the matrix material leads to failure in the fibres leads to collase of the part. Impact is one way in which the matrix cracks arise.

Might be worth contacting someone like this

Carbon Cycle Repairs

I have no experience of them, but they (or someone like them) will probably be in a better position to advise than your LBS….. and if they find anything that is wrong, but repairable, then a it’s probably beyond DIY to make it neat AND structural.

IIRC ours was ~£3500 a couple of years ago in a 3-bed-semi – and included removing all the old piping and refitting in plastic, and fitting a new shower at the same time.

At the risk of sounding practical, how about an evening/day of baby sitting to go and do as you please for a bit?

Surprised the wind chill isn’t higher at Mach ~0.5 TBH.

Cougar has it!! 😆

I can waste hours on Gov’nor of Poker too (demo only – the full App looks capable of demolishing massive amounts of time….)

Oh, Fragger is another casual gaming gem for 0.59p

It’s free over at Miniclip….

Get to the back of the queue…… 😉

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/alfine-11-hubs-where-did-they-go

In their bedrooms, with the lights off and curtains closed, eating Pot Noodle and writing Objective-C apps for the iPhone… (and making a few quid too, probably)

Do you know my mate Tristan??? Exactly as described – just to finish the picture, he looks like Harry Potter, never had a girlfriend (despite his best efforts)….. but is absolutely loaded…….

Yes, if it is the brushes…. sounds like the fault has not been conclusively diagnosed though. If the brushes look worn, then by all means change them….. but that may not be the cause of the fault.

In my case the ‘motor failure’ was a thrown winding. Given the cost of the motor, it made sense to pay the fixed cost.

I’m an engineer. Whilst I do fix my own washing machine, I suspect you want a technician though.

I chose not to go there, as this “debate” comes up regularly, but I’m sat here nodding…. 😉

Indesit Service isn’t bad, even for machines outside of the warrenty. I think it’s about £75 for the callout and the fix…. if it can be fixed. If not you’ve spunked £75 on someone in boiler suit telling you get another one.

To be fair though, I’ve used them a couple of times and they’ve fixed the machine in both cases (control board and motor) which meant the machines went on for quite a while longer which made it economic.

http://www.indesitservice.co.uk/hs/pages/book_a_service_call/before_begin.do

<cough> http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-bike-show-in-bristol </cough>

… or the drop-outs/wheel, caliper or caliper mount aren’t perfectly true to one another causing uneven wear on the pad.

No idea what the tolerances between the piston bore and the piston itself is, but I doubt if you could achieve 5-degrees of misalignment – if all the pad material was worn away on one edge and as-new on the other (i.e., as bad as it could be), a fag-packet calc says that’s around 5-degrees at the absolute limit.

<shrugs> Dunno – I’ve had pads catching the caliper body as the brake operates due to burrs on the backing plate cause a similar thing, as TJ suggests

Is that stem OE, pointing to the sky like that??

Oh, FWIW £6-700 sounds reasonable

<cough> Shill bidding is against the rules…. you hear me?!?…. against the rules!!!!! </cough>

So it’s freeze to death or go blind…… tough choice….. 😉

Go on then, do I win a prize as closest to the mark?? 😆

It’s been a slow day……

….as in you don’t want to ask ’cause you don’t want to know/might not be from a ‘legitimate’ source, but it’s cheap?

Thanks – as I feared then. Time to sacrifice a few more virgins……

So there you go then – straight from the horses mouth, as it were…..

Mr P – out of interest, do you know if end-of-Jan is accurate for aftermarket/retail delivery…. or is the length of that piece of string still an unknown quantity?

Yep, pre-ordered as soon as they appeared on the site hoping that their buying power would mean they got some first. Still have the option of cancelling and getting it cheaper elsewhere, but as stock looks like being a bit thin for a while, I think I’d rather pay a bit more and have it ASAP than try for a better price and be at the back of the queue again.

Well, all I can say is that Wiggle have confirmed to me that the predicted delivery date for my silver 32 hole hub and associated gubbins is now late Jan, so I wonder if any of the initial shipment has made it to retail/it’s gone as OEM product for 2011 bikes.

I’m wondering if getting the second batch might not be such a bad plan – any obvious production niggles will have been sorted by then….. that’s what’s keeping me going at the moment anyway 😉

I’m thinking the words “creative” and “quarter” may be a bit ambitious.

Indeed. If ‘creative quarter’ = ‘adjacent to large trading estate’ then I may go along with it……

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/alfine-11-12