I do love how almost any discussion on here turns into a wheel size debate lol

Its great news that we are getting another quantity bike builder manufacture in the UK and what with the increased popularity of custom built bikes as well cycling is really experiencing a renaissance and im glad there are enterprising individuals to take advantage of it.

Nope if i lived in the country it would be a different matter entirely and having seen some of those wiltshire country lanes they are nothing like the fen roads round here but no less deadly for a pedestrian at night. Although the description of buses as a townie luxury :lol:

I calculate the cost of running my car at £1200 a year, like the previous poster i own the car outright although its far more modest. So will it mean i save £1200 a year? No probably not, when you include cost of insurance on a cargo bike, parts etc. But it would still be a saving none the less although its not the only reason im thinking of doing it.

I dont have a family so my time is my own so i have a greater degree of flexibility.

Well i have a bus stop outside my door, buses 2-3 times an hour to the city centre and train from there to most places. There is the occasional car hire of course and not forgetting most places are within cycling distance in the city. Like you’ve said though its the lat night stuff the odd hours and out of the way places that will cause the most trouble so its going to mean some compromises and no one said it had to be forever of course.

Did you know that while “Nordic Noir” (as its been dubbed) is exported here, the swedes and danes enjoy nothing more than a spot of Midsummer Murders.

IKEA Stuff is very good, 25 Year warranty and a new system due to land in February i believe.

I wouldn’t let those halfords monkeys near my car but their offer is reasonable compared to main dealer and if they completely cock it up then you can be assured they will pay the bill for main dealer to put it right.

what was this programme called, so i can find it on catch up

iPlayer Link[/url]

I had one in the shop like that last week. Brand new Viking fixie-style bike off the internet… BOTH pedals cross threaded.
How do you even do that? I can see how you get one in wrong, but the other (left hand thread) won’t even bite will it?

It takes a great amount of effort and cranks made of cheese lol

Excellent just bagged a Park TS2 knock off

Year to date

1785 miles
177 hours
Elev Gain 28,127 feet
rides 371

Not too bad, double last years effort so next year ill aim to at least double again.

Over 14 years ago now i was working at JJB sports i had minimal training and was putting a bike together and accidentally put the pedals in the wrong way round it was hard going and after i got about half way in i realised my mistake but being young and on minimum wage….. i carried on and cross threaded both pedals in, to my knowledge it never came back :oops:

I used to have an ITM Ti quill stem on my first single speed, picked it up off ebay for a song, anyway in addition to being rather pimp it gave a pleasant degree of flex on what was otherwise a rather stiff cockpit (Kona steel bars and P2 forks).

I run a 38t on e a 1×9 Setup and find it okay round here but then it is pretty flat in east anglia

Boiler is now fixed, thank you everyone for their input the singletrack hivemind has taught me loads about boilers over the past 10 days.

Loved it, brilliant program im looking forward to the rest.

Who would you miss?

Guy

Who would i miss? Id miss my toolbox

:lol:

Yep been running it over a year now on one of the oldest X9 mechs in existence with no issues.

Okay so update, when the engineer came out on monday and tried to replace the gasket the part the gasket was attached to sheered its bolt in the heat exchanger. So the engineer orders a new heat exchanger and im told it will be here friday and because the part cannot be re attached i now have no heating and no hot water. Ive been away for a few days so with the exception of scrounging up a oil fired radiator it hasn’t been too much of an issue. I even come back early for this morning, engineer arrives and tells me the part was damaged and so now i have to wait until monday and now my patience is wearing thin!

Okay update, British Gas came today and had the boiler in bits said it was a blown gasket so another visit tomorrow to resolve, in the mean time told me the boiler was safe to use if needed.

It looks amazing there are some genuinely funny talented people involved.

Factoid: The 1980’s spaceman belongs to the director from his childhood

Okay so here is the update, the boiler now continues to leak and even when turned off but at a slower rate, british gas have let me down with a visit today after waiting in all day in the cold so hopefully going to see them tomorrow morning

Seems odd when you compare to F1 where many drivers cycle as part of their personal training including including mark webber who was featured in this very magazine and i many ways they are even more indispensable then a footballer as the teams are much smaller.

Interesting, i mean it seems to be working just fine now but probably best if i have someone in the know look at it anyway.

It was serviced last week, i would suppose any major faults should have been picked up then?

Well i thought i closed the filling loop but i did check it and close it tighter when the issue happened.

If there was a problem with the expansion vessel would it keep occurring once i turned it all on again?

Okay so still looking, i have tried Jooze and the current tog but not really got anywhere, does anyone have any other suggestions?

Yep i used it on my last bike, blends in well on a black bike but nice and bright when you need it.

Thanks for the suggestion, now i need to find my race number lol.

Okay correction 2003, im getting closer but any help still appreciated

I make sure my commuter is fully equipped, peddle reflectors, wheel reflectors BS lights front and rear, admittedly some of this is augmented by magic shine, 3M Black Reflective stickers etc. 2 Reasons i don’t trust motorists as far as i can throw them and ive seen to many judges letting off cyclist killers on the basis of shaky victim blaming so now there are no excuses.

Doomsday, How i hate thee let me count the ways.

1. A virus so infectious they wall up scotland but then stop working on a cure. because politicians.

2. APC taken out with makeshift axe and arrow.

3. Good job we happened to have this handy steam train and it was ready for immediate departure.

4. So we took over the castle and thought **** it we will just abandon all technology.

5. So all the years you have been using this tunnel you never thought to look any further?

6. She asks what it does like she has never seen a car before but what about all the cars in Glasgow?

7. Wait a minute there hasn’t been any rain this whole time its almost like this was filmed in another country….

8. Trained police baddass cant outrun loons in ropey old british leyland bangers on a straight road using a Bentley continental.

9. Villan reveals his entire plan in needless exposition.

10. Villan gets his inevitable comeuppance.

So with all this in mind why do i find it so watchable?

Even the rack on the back of my long tail cargo bike doesn’t go that wide, like others i think its going to be a case of going as wide as you can then replacing or adding the top deck with something DIY.

Indeed i would say they are most important when it comes to carbon, your more likely to under tighten carbon for fear of breaking it and thats where the problem will come. Try this its basic but cheap Topeak Torque Wrench

“I can get that built up in 30 minutes for you”

{31 minutes later}

“Oh Sir wants it to move does he?”

I have a lot to thank Halfords for, my love of bikes and my btec in bike spannering for example, but i have far more reasons to be bitter and hateful about them but my experiences are far behind me so i will try and be as neutral as possible.

I will echo the comments of others, stores can vary wildly even within the same town, management can be of inconsistent standards. Treat it as a way station, a stepping stone to something else and youll get the most out of it because progression is unlikely and in some cases not desirable.

I would say if your going to have something custom made id want it to last forever and ive seen a fair few ti frames fail, nothing dangerous but its an awful lot to spend for something with a limited lifespan.

Those reynolds are fairly awful things but i remember seeing them on an army base in warminster and being told they were test parachute dropping them out the back of Hercules.

Indeed it is a Minute who knew such a boring bike could be so exciting lol the centre stand is good but i think im going to swap it out for a bi fold one which will get in the way less.

The benefit of being able to do progressively more things on my bike rather then my car cannot be underestimated the simple pleasure of just going to the post office. It even has me considering getting rid of the car entirely although a significant upgrade would probably be involved. :wink:

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Post office run[/url] by Tyred Cyclist[/url], on Flickr

Well the hubs have had their time and served me well for 10 years so its time for a change anyway, i hear you on complete wheels but there is something about riding on a pair of wheels you have built yourself.

I love that idea about something with HUGE flanges but i think will stick with something a bit more conventional, anything will be an improvement over my old retro hubs.

Its going through a few changes right now but here is one from this summer

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Cornwall[/url] by Tyred Cyclist[/url], on Flickr

Early adopters in recall shock!