Nant yr Arian is lovely. Good flowy bits and nice out of the woods bits, just lovely.

Don’t get me wrong, I despise littering as well, and never do it myself, but it’s important to remember that litter is just a more visible manifestation of what we all do with our rubbish. Landfill is nothing more than a hole in ground that we chuck most of our waste into. It’s destructive, disgusting and shameful. Maybe litter nags at so many of us because deep down we know how much crap we produce, and how horrible that is?

Aye, been enjoying it.

I enjoyed that, though maybe a bit more variety of shots would have been more interesting. The song was great (who was it?) and gave it all a nice epic but peaceful feel.

Well for 7 grand you could get a really pimped out Surly Big Dummy, dynamo hub, Rohloff, loads of different attachments, footsies etc.

As far as I know it’s in the lowest VED bracket, really high miles per gallon on beer/milk/pasta, low insurance and obviously it’s the coolest car you can buy.

What about these frame bags, like the Revelate ones. Are people that have these using them for normal rides to replace a camelback?

Making bicycles, obviously.

EDIT: oh, and toe socks.

I have GW, I snapped a square taper axle years ago. Now I use external bbs, and I’ve never snapped one of those axles.

Centrelock is just such a neat system. My adventure bike has Alfine hubs front and rear with them, and the system is easy, quick and simple. One of Shimano’s better ideas IMHO. I have Hope 6 bolts on my full sus, but I’d love to get some of the DT centrelock hubs for it…

Cannondale Prophet, obviously.

Snapped the toptube on a DMR, but that one had a hard life, so it was expected. A bit gutting at the time though…

yeah, they do if you like shoes your grandfather might wear.

Saying that, at this point, I can’t put up with the discomfort and pain anymore so it’d be worth it.

cynic-al: it’s basically oppression of minorities. 😉

That’s the thing that I’ve realised though. I have spent hours on the internet looking for different wide shoes. And it seems there are loads of people out there who have a problem with ‘normal’ shoes being too narrow, and yet the choices are still so few and so ugly.

Why are the majority of shoes the shape they are? Are there historical reasons for this narrowness?

Try buying something other than shoes worn by Phones4U salesmen

Mate, not even skate shoes are anywhere near wide enough. I wear size 10 Vans at the moment, but they’re **** up my feet as they’re way too long, but still too tight.

Hang on, I wasn’t talking about SPDs, I use flat pedals, and anyway I meant ALL shoes, thanks though. I can only seem to find funny old people orthapediec (sp?) shoes in an size 8 4eeee.

Why aren’t shoes foot shaped? It seems like they all start narrowing too early, so they are sloping inwards at too sharp and angle for your toes, if you see what I mean?

I also grew up in a little ‘village’ outside Leominster, in Herefordshire. I say ‘village’ because it wasn’t much of a village by the time I was born. It had a primary school, which I went to, and a parish church. It had a few houses and farms. But it had no shops, post office or bus service. It had a pub though.

I’m not sure exactly which town you’re talking about OP, but I just wanted to chip in and say that I understand where you’re coming from, and also to recommend a book to you. It’s called Changing Lifestyles, by John Seymour. The main thrust of the book is about the disconnection between the urban and the rural, and how we have developed such an unsustainable, in every sense of the word, countryside.

I also recommend this little article.

If we turn our cars to metric then how are those that can’t convert going to cope if they know they have 80km left on a tank but want to know if they can make to they fuel station that the sign says is 50 miles away.

Change the road signs? I know it costs money, but it’s not like we’re in a recession or anything is it?

That’s the problem though isn’t it? We don’t all use the same, and it creates some issues. It seems very much a conflict between the old and curmudgeonly and the young and global-looking. 😉

I also see the advantage of using both.

Which is?

I’m about to fit my 1 1/8″ headset to my 56cm road bike with 26.0 bars

Stupid, isn’t it?

I’m 23. I wasn’t taught any imperial measurements at school. I can’t believe how otherwise intelligent people can’t see how lovely and simple the metric system is, with all it’s advantages.

Retro’s a bit last year…

Ban them! Ban them all!

but for an average person who is trying to make the switch from car dependency to some level of bike use and enjoyment, a Hope brake set delivered five pounds cheaper is just a complex artefact as incomprehensible as an Anglo-Saxon post hole diagram

Except it’s not. That’s just the point about the internet. After a quick google search you can find free, clear, step by step instructions, with pictures and, increasingly, video, of almost anything you could want to do to a bicycle.

And I stand by the opinion that bicycles give freedom from garage and bicycle type people fleecing the ignorant. Bicycles are so simple, that they empower people in all sorts of ways. It is a fairly recent thing that ordinary people expect not to have to fix their own things, understand their own “tools”.

I really like CRC, I’ve always had great service from them, which is more than I can say for many ‘bricks and mortar’ bike shops.

With the rise of the internet and forums like this one, the accessibility of knowledge on how to fix your own bike has greatly increased, which I see as a good thing. To my mind, the self sufficiency that gives a cyclist is worth it’s weight in gold. LBS’ should focus on things like a wide range of clothing, which is nicer to see and try on before buying, and servicing and selling for the non-cyclists.

I bought two days ago! 😀

I’m spending tomorrow afternoon wiring in my Supernova E3 dynamo lights onto my new build, front and rear. Fully waterproof, no battery issues, very bright. Can’t wait. 8)

I realise this has no relevance to the thread, but I just wanted to share the stoke. Good luck finding some good lights!

Just rode at Mabie, spent most of the time riding along streams. It was awesome though.

You need an Old Man Mountain rack, which you can get from Carradice. It attaches through the rear squewer and either v bake bosses or P clamps, which is what you’ll need. They are strong, reliable, adaptable and rightly have a good reputation. I have a pair of their Cold Springs racks, and they’re ace.

I’ve just built up a Surly Troll: Alfine, dynamo, front and rear racks and Big Apples. I’ll try and get some pics up later for you. I love it so far, but that might just be new bike feeling!

I couldn’t not click on this thread, it just pulled me in. I’m not going to say anything directly, just post some lyrics from a band that absorbed my youth. Yes, it’s fairly immature, but I don’t care.

Take a look at your promised land.
Your deed is that gun in your hand.
Mt. Zion’s a minefield. The West Bank. The Gaza Strip.
Soon to be parking lots for American tourists and fascist cops.
Smeg zionism. Smeg militarism. Smeg Americanism.
Smeg nationalism. Smeg religion.*

*Lyrics may have been slightly altered… 😆

syntesised by directing a beam of 40 million million million Ca ions at californium for 4 months

I’ve got to be honest, I can’t imagine what would go through your head to make you think, “ha, that’ll be a good idea.”

I’m pretty sure even if I had come up with that bit of genius, after a week I’d have given it up as a bad job.

If you’re on a Mac, Ripit.

Even had guys who I’d overtaken more than once but caught me up at red light amble in front of me only for me to have to overtake them again once on our way.

Hang on, so they caught you up, and you just had to overtake them again because you’re faster? This is what makes me laugh with car drivers. They see a cyclist so just have to overtake, only for me to catch them up at the traffic lights.

You may be faster for the 100m between the lights, but if they’re catching you up, you’re not getting there faster than they are, you’re just getting sweatier. Or, if you’re a motorist, you’re wasting more petrol and being more dangerous. Good job! 🙄

I feel a Mallory coming on,

“Because it’s there.”

This is another reason adjustable seatposts are brilliant. At some point you’re going to get one, accept that now and be happy.

It’s normal for women too, just they won’t normally admit it.

I’m completely debt free, I suppose because I’m young with no mortgage or student debt and I live in a house share. Any time I’ve owed money I’ve hated the feeling, that sense of loss of control. I would never buy anything I couldn’t afford outright, except a house or land.

My Surly Troll frame just arrived yesterday, I’m going to have a nice day of grease, tea, Allen keys and radio 4. Ah.

Any helmet laws very clearly ignore the rampaging bull in the china shop, as Copenhagenize says. It’s the motorists that cause the deaths and injuries, not the cyclists. Perhaps something should be done about them. Oh no, of course not.