Drac – Member

They all come back zoo fighter is back amongst but to be fair he never caused any hassle.

…yes, remarkably quiet and constructive he is too this time. A much less abrasive and more 'instantly' (as opposed to 'eventually'!) likeable version.

sounds like some sensible alterations IMO. The lane before MP6 was fine but i guess more fun if you go up through the woods and you don't need to worry about closing the road.

I saw someone just in front of me cut the course last year between MP8 and MP10 by hanging left as you drew level with the woods on your left rather than taking the longer loop out to MP10 and back. (was there a marshal at MP10 location last year? Perhaps that was why?). I went the proper way and still caught him! 😈

As you haven't included a 'reply to' address, I'll reply here.

Like he is the scarlet pimpernel of the online cycling community! 😆

I *think* you could have tried chippsATsingletrackworld.com. But keep it on the down-low, perhaps he doensn't want folk to know, its not like it's in the magazine every issue and his forum profile or anything…

Ah well, if he's that bothered he'll have threads closed/deleted etc.

Nice double positive above btw. ^^ 🙂 I learned something new today and its only eight o'clock.

As for early retirement for public sector workers, why is it morally right that they get to retire early (on pensions paid for by tax payers)

Partly paid for by tax payers. I pay a pension contribution too, y'know. And it has long been considered that a reliable and attractive pension is just a slight mitigation against how litle we get paid compared to other similarly educated and/or experienced folk with similar levels of responsibilities in the private sector.

But if you would like your income tax to pay me a little bit more now instead of subsidising my pension in 32 years' time then that's fine: it will in my case at least all end up in my pension fund one way or another. 🙂

Confession 1. I have just spent two and a half days at afan/glyncorrwyg. 😳 I saw lots of people with their helmets off on the climbs including the wiggly/wobbly bits.

Confession 2. I did the Twrch trail at Cwmcarn on the way home today and I was so hot, knackered and possibly a little bit hungover that I had an OTB going up the very first section. 😳 I am glad I had my helmet on.

[My nan] Will you give the forum 'three rings' to say you've got home safely? [/My nan]

+2 for the maxle reba team. Damping is better than older motion control too. Excellent fork.

Finally a nice looking chumba frame!

That faffy fat black bottom bracket thing is there so you don't have to use all those gears, by the way. 😉
(and it would go some way to sorting out the cableopolis up front!)

before The Great Hack there would always be an advert for Continental Wigs ever time there was a tyre thread. 😀

Alfa 155 V6 DTM car… About the most dominant (whilst it was racing) car any touring car racing series has ever seen. It pretty much cleaned up everything in 93-96!

Almost 500bhp at 12,000rpm from a 2.5 litre V6!

A normally aspirated 2.5 v6 at that! 😯

I always liked the look of these 2. The Beta montecarlo had a turbocharged 1.4 (yes you read it right) and was also rather successful (provided it didn't blow away with a large gust of wind.)

anyone used an impact driver for this? As in the hand held one you twist into the direction you want the bolt to go and then hit with a hammer? I remember some bb tools having been available in 1/2" socket/driver fittings so i wondered if that would work you secured the frame well enough.

Only asking cos I bought one the other week for bastid bolt on the car, and I am chuffed with my new 'man-purchase'.

Oh and +1 for the 'bolt tool onto bb spindle' advice -its way helpful in my experience.

Formaula's own hoses are so expensive that when it's time to buy replacements I am planning to budget the extra £2 to go goodridge. I've had a couple of goodridged brakes before and it seemed as though they might be a bit harder to kink (although I agree with the crushing bit and lever feel being no different IME).

Actually I'm sure I read a year or so after the Goodridge 'epiphany' that formula never suplied braided hoses as it spoilt the feel of the brake and wasn't worth the bother. Anyone know/remember?

I suppose you can also dismantle and reuse fittings or hose later on which is harder to do with 'normal' hoses and fittings mostly.

I used to know a very english Juanita who pronounced her own name 'Jew-uh-nee-tuh'.

There is an ever-expanding family in Plymouth whose kids are all Gucci, Chanel and so on.

Quick run through my kids' nursery and school friends gives us:

Trinity annd Raven (sisters!), Beau-Bliss, Jayden (nice, I've just never heard it before),Layla, Sydney(girl), Madison (parents not track cycling fans afaik), Ava and Lyla (sisters: mum a music fan).

anyway, 'aggressive commuting'.

Aaaaawwwwlriiightah! 😆 , 😈 , and a little bit 😉

(starts googleing for big apples/hookworms – will they go on 317's nicely? And will they fit under my gentlemanly sks mudguards?)

170mm 66's 45mm stem and 710mm bar. I have been switching between proper dh rims (atomlab) and mavic en521/dt en540 (about 490-520g per rim IIRC) with much lighter tyres. Its really quite pedallable with the lighter wheels. I have been airborne and over rock gardens etc on them a few times. Seem to be bearing up quite nicely.

IIRC specialized big hits used to come with DT en540's which I suppose was a carefully considered spec choice were it not for the rubbish wheel builds of so many 07/08 spesh bikes.

Wheelies on my raleigh Budgie, lego.

In them days TOTP was a famileeee occasion with Dad and everything. I don't remember Relax (did he ever get on the telly with it?) but I remember my dad being very unimpressed with Morrisey and the Gladioli.

The other three members of my team have already replied above such is the level of enthusiasm in the Trail Snail Racing camp. 8) / 😳 So yes I am too.

HT would be fine if its anything like last year. Couple of longish road/lane climbs so lockout would help (although I had no lockout at either end and it was ok) I recall the singletrack as being technical and fun without being lumpy or ridiculous. I suppose it depends on a year of weather and riding, but as i understand it, the trails are on MOD land and not really cheeky'ed on very much so hopefully will be in the same (ie frickin' AWESOME) condition as last year.

1)yes,

and 2) most definitely yes if you use a qr as it won't take much pedal/gurn to budge a qr on its own.

Umm, he shat himself at a bike do. It's not really news is it?

I was at that bike do, but that's news to me.

I was at that bike do too. I thought it was a 'number 1' with the unfortunate choice of receptacle/location being the problem.

Oh, Obi-Wan?! How peculiar, however I am not sure if being banned from an internet forum will really stop truly dedicated ISP-hopping Obi-wan-Spamming. 😕

Drac – Member

Well he's be banned several times now under different accounts so once they know it's him they seem to ban him again.

Did they really take that long to cotton on who he was?

Shame, he seemed rather a lot less abrasive to others this time round.
Oh well, he will get all sorts of other things done whilst he is unshackled of the chains of internet blathering for a while. 🙂

sadly it is not unkown for other bike industry types to no-show on support at/prizes for events.

(Big-up to Derek at Dartmoor Cycles for stepping in on one such occasion recently by the way)

i wonder how many/few seats (in england, say) were close runs between labour and lib dem? And how many seats either party had off each other as opposed to won from/lost to conservatives.

I think there is a case for saying that around 15 million people voted not to have a conservative government. I am rather amused by the notion on the beeb that the liberal mp's feel more politically aligned with the idea of a coalition with labour. No **** sherlock! I think the Libs became the left-est party by default about 12 years ago!

Of course the voting would be completely different under PR but as the conservatives hint at by their opposition to it, it's not really in their favour as they have traditionally won a much higher number of seats for their slice of the overall vote than the other parties.

I took a deep breath, left the westcountry and went to a nichey buffet 'n' boozeup err, work related conference just off Harley Street last year. I couldn't believe the amount of teeny-barred fixes and the way they were being 'ridden': I was wondering if they'd all come out specially just for the entertainment of the visiting 26" barred and be-freewheeled visiting bumpkin but no, I think its always like that.

Oh, also suggest heavy penalties for carbon parts (say -2 per component and -5 for frame).
And -1 per shimano component fitted?
Oh and hows about plus 5 for ss only if on proper ss hub: converted freehub scores less, as does use of singulator? (ummm, this drops my ss back down to about 6…)

my scores are redeemed by beard and wheelbuiding 'habit'.
SS: 17
SC bullit: 1
race bike: 6
rigid commuter:0

Do we have a consensus on fitting and type ('ping or bring bring') of bells? Or hooters?

The disclaimer-tabulous Formula guide is almost as funny as your one Mr Nutt. For different reasons, obviously. 🙂 Giving the syringes names was such a lovely touch.

Good point about eye contact, now i think about it I do this quite a bit but never would have thought of advising someone else to.

We have an excellent 'indecisive driver' mini roundabout near us (St Mary's bridge by new Tesco's in case any Plymouth peeps reading) and both on bike and in the car eye contact is a great indicator of both whether someone is watching and also whether they realise they can pull onto the roundabout now…

140 or so. Since I broke my elbow its never been quite the same though.

Yes. And I suggest until you know them you no longer drive or ride on the roads.

Blimey, odd socks on today Drac? 😉

I have never seen or heard of anything for cyclists beyond left/right and the myriad funny little roadie signals for riders behind you. I just googled cycling hand signals to see if i'd really been that blinkered but can't find anything beyond left/right/stopping/'watch out there's loads of us' in the first 3 or 4 pages of results. What actually is it?? (internet being silly today: I suspect the rest of you can see a picture of it in the post above this one.^^)

I always operated on the basis that in a car the signal for straight on (ie not even the littlest bit 'right' if there are multiple exits) at a roundabout was no signal at all until you pass the exit before the one you are leaving the roundabout on, then left obviously. This is what I do on a bike too. Why do cyclists need a special '3rd indicator'?

[edit] watching the vid again i would have been tempted to indicate right (particularly if drivers don't know what a straight on signal is either) since the road seems to bend that way a bit over the roundabout. Not that it would have made a difference if the driver wasn't looking anyway.

[2nd edit(!)]

ah, found it. I think these days many people would confuse this signal with either giving way to oncoming road user, or thanking them for already having given way to you. Can't say I have ever seen it used outside those 2 options.

timothius – Member

Erm, how common is trail chav bike thieving?

I was suprised to read a year or 2 ago someone posting about an attempted bike-heist in nice sleepy Darklake Woods (don't bother, nothing technical worth riding there honest guv etc etc……). IIRC the would-be thieves swung a sports holdall at chest height to try and knock the dude off his bike. ❓

I'd have thought the razor sharp wit and trenchant sarcasm of most stw members would be sufficient defence! I'd probably bob myself! Rubbish at fighting, me. 😳

buy 20cm than you need and then you can put some on the end of a syringe for next time you do your forks: I use it to squirt it past the negative air valve/rebound thingy before I bolt up the foot-nuts.

BTW I love the beer threads on here; I have been introduced to some gert lush ones this way. Spread the beer love!

ce soir chez Juju:

I might be a bit of a sainsbury's ale drinker (as in only what i find there), but I had a London Pride for the first time in a while, I'd forgotten what a properly all round satisfying beer it is. Schhhhhlurp!

the hummingbird with silver components on it on the Singlular website is waaaay more flattering than black bits.

Although I could never rule out a bike on colour alone. My first mountain bike was attractively priced but resplendent in a black to fluo pink fade. Actually the black faded out about three inches along the top tube so mostly fluo pink really. 8) (dons sunglasses to look directly at frame)

Voodoo dropouts stayed firm after the paint was removed from under the sliders. Must clamp it down really tight.

…i think that for that reason, the newer voodoo wangas (and indeed that new ragley on the other thread) come with little screws inside the rear triangle to keep the slidey dropouts from moving forward under heavy pedalling/power thighs. Is that heavier or lighter than an EBB?

Nope, not really anything else available new as a frame only for that money. I had similar thoughts and bought a sanderson soloist for £240 but usually they are closer to £300. You used to be able to get an on-one scandal with slotted dropouts for about £230, not sure if they are making slotty ones again.

Assuming you have already tried ss-ing with a chain tensioner and don't like it (plenty of people do get along just fine with them), perhaps you could get a forward components eccentric bottom bracket: it will cost you the difference between what you sell the HJ for and spend on a brand new frame, you know your frame fits you already, and it lets you go back to gears easily enough.

Loving the tweed on your flickr page Sam! 😀

yes a couple of times, via ebay iirc. Cheap, and arrived in a couple of days both times.

Sheep.
Fat Old Sun.
Nobody Home.

on the tensioner you have there Dez, yes you can have the chain over the top. Advantage is your chain wraps round a couple more teeth of the rear cog, and you lose a very few grams in having a chain which is a link or two shorter.

Although I found on my old frame (kinesis maxlight) that the relationship/distance/angle between dropout and mech hanger hole meant even with a half link I couldn't get that particular tensioner to go upwards enough (the longer curved slot needed to be eben longer if you see what I mean).

Oh and +1 for a proper singlespeed cog. Taller teeth and no shifting bevels = chain more likely to stay put. You may have had so ,little tension in the chain cos the roller was so noisy. Accept the noise and have half to three quarters of an inch of 'up and down' in the chain. I hear (well, don't hear really!) that tensioners with a toothed wheel are quieter.