If I made a press how much oil could I squeeze out of two children? Hypothetically.

Depends how greasy they are i guess…

Number of comments dissing Imperial tickles me

Just think what size wheel do you ride

pound to a pinch of salt you quote that in ” Imperial ” ( possibly without even realising it)

Wheel and frame sizes are essentially a naming convention for sizing, not a measurement.

Even the metric measurements aren’t that meaningful.
(FWIW i’m probably riding 622×54 tonight.)

I have half a memory that unlike most of the rest of the US, NASA works in Metric and has to be really mindful to convert construction plans etc when dealing with domestic contracts.

Didn’t they smash a probe/rover into mars due to that?

Much though i hate to do it, i’m going to have to extend the mortgage, make some cuts elsewhere and get some solar + storage sorted out very soon.

Its a bit like the golden age of COVID, we had so many opportunities to change our lifestyles for the better, but ended up reverting to the line of least resistance soon enough.

Yeah, we were promised full hybrid working with minimal controls by management.
We’ve now been told it’s got to be a 70/30 split in favour of the office and any changes to that approved by a director.

On current exchange rates, i’m already paying over 2 quid a litre of diesel.

Just paid for some bottled gas and it’s gone up 20% since before xmas as well!

Try working with Americans – oh, how we laughed when they’d wrongly translated our metric dimensions into inches and made the tooling the wrong size.

Aircraft manufacture. Anything american and drawings are imperial.

I had both of these come together at the same time. Still have flashbacks to my manager looking a little peeved.
Thankfully not my mistake.

Have had a couple of colleagues and a friend with various meat intolerances/allergies.

Hives after eating rare beef is one (strangely ok with anything that’s been cooked beyond recognition as meat), another who has a similar response to chicken in all it’s forms. She’s also allergic to half a dozen other things though.

Im also sure it isnt the first time the saturday yop kid doing the packing has failed to differentiated between pair & individual items & seeing 2 pads in the bag, thought that was order complete.

Think it was chain reaction used to send out half a quick link instead of a pair of sides i.e. a complete quick link.
I suspect whoever booked them into the warehouse/added them to the website has never ever seen a bike chain.

My experience of these rims is they are very susceptible to dings which can affect tubeless sealing. That probably applies to most lightweight wide alu rims

Unlikely to be an issue with a sub 60 kilo rider riding 2.8″, wheels on ground…

Motor efficiency increases as rotational speed increases (to a point)
So depending on the internal gearing in the motor and the gear you use, you could make a noticeable difference.

@eckinspain

Reviews tend to be either a) these are amazing, it’s such a great thing to do, it’s helped me loads or b) I had to go back three times and they charged me extra each time and I went to two guys and they told me different things so they are clearly making it up.

The good guys are very very good, the bad guys are terrible, there are a lot of conmen and incompetents in the business (like coaches as well).

There are also three or four systems/concepts, all that will give you a slightly different answer to the same question…

@onzadog

My advice would also be to avoid anyone who uses knee over pedal spindle and ball of foot over pedal spindle as a set. As a start point, maybe, as a set point, no.

This can’t be over emphasised enough, there are a *lot* of fitters who start with getting balls of feet over spindles, then knees over spindle and considering that as a firm foundation for an entire fit.

@mrdestructo

Any advice?

Sounds like you’ve either got the wrong size bike, a major structural/skeletal/biomechanical issue or are in desperate need of a decent bike fit.

Also, get some decent padded gloves.

Yeah, have done this to patches of my property. Manually digging out roots followed by vigorous and indiscriminate use of a strimmer and brush cutter through the late summer before everything moves in for the winter (insects mostly), then plenty of seeds (at suitable times) and leave it well alone.
Also, if you’ve got any wind blown or damaged trees, chop them into 75-100 cm logs and put a pile of them in the corner somewhere with some ventilation under/through the pile and wait. Give it 18 months and it’ll be absolutely teeming with life as it starts to rot down.

Tend to do maintenance on each patch (have 4 of them now) once every 2 or 3 years. So each patch remains wild for 24-36 months (they all get seeded every year, but nothing more).

Get masses of bees, moths and other insects (Beetles, grasshoppers etc). Unfortunately, i also get masses of ticks in there, but it’s a small price to pay.

So. I had an old 26″ bike and as it wouldn’t sell I ended up splitting it. What a PITA. I’m obviously doing something wrong

Needs to be the right bike.
No point splitting a well used mid/low range bike which has been punted out by the million and not significantly upgraded. Last one i split (26″ wheels, carbon frame) only had the original frame and fork. Everything else was upgraded/unusual/sought after. Kept the bits i wanted, sold the rest, all i was left with was consumables (chain, cassette) and some finishing kit (stem, seatpin).
This was 2 years ago.

It’s a 150 km round trip for me, so no chance.

The ex and i used to do it one way or the other fairly regularly before the divorce, as she works not far from where i do.
So a lift in and a ride home works well. A ride in and a lift home, less good. Especially about lunchtime when you’re ready to hit the sofa for an hour!
Doesn’t work now with different working hours and childcare arrangements. Even though we’re still working within about a km of each other!

Who buys a bike they can’t ride for two hours?!

From observation of “typical” road cyclists (and selling them stuff).
Quite a lot of them.

If yours is you need to take a look at it.

Personally, I don’t have a bike i can’t ride for 3 or 4 hours straight.

Even my long departed TT bike was good for a couple of hours, it probably wouldn’t be so comfy now, given the 20+ extra kilos i’m carrying.

Servicing and cold weather, i had the brake cables freeze into the outers on one cold commute, due to all the rain on my way into work that morning.

That was an exciting ride home.

Obviously whatever bike you use has to be tolerable for 4hrs a day of riding, that goes without saying.

I’m not talking about going from a 14lb carbon weapon with 80mm deep rims to something like a 35 lb steel tourer with a 4lb brooks saddle and panniers, more like something that you can ride in two, two hour chunks a day without complaint. Decent sized (and quality!) tyres, a saddle that fits you properly, a fit that is good for long rides. That sort of thing. Comfort first, speed a close second. (FWIW i’ve done both 300 km in a day and 1 hour crits on my “best bike”, with nothing more than a change of wheels and an extra bottle cage.)

But any fast road bike is worthless if it’s too uncomfortable to ride.

You’d be amazed by the mental gymnastics that people perform regarding fit, comfort and useablity to justify having a bike they think is fast…

Get a comfy bike, not a fast bike (if it’s fast and comfy, that’s good).
I did a 40+ mile round trip 4 days a week for 18 months. Ended up modifying my needs as i went, started off leaving shoes and trousers at work for 4 days and carrying the rest daily. Ended up doing a clothes swap on the day i drove. So left all i needed in my locker. Also left some spare cycling kit in the locker incase of unexpected shit weather. Plus some emergency food/drinks mix and chargers/batteries for lights.

Used to head out for a longer ride on a couple of evenings a week as well.

Had two bikes ready to roll as well, that helped a lot, if the weather looked a bit ropey it was mudguards, lights and 28s, if it was ok it’d be the normal road bike.

Turned 3 old and/or very knackered rear mechs into a single fully functional mech for the hack bike, now have indexing that works on all 9 gears instead of 6 or 7 and some kicking. 30 minutes work. Got the bits for a hope vision 2 rebuild in a bag downstairs, not been touched for 3 years, but needs doing.

Exterior security light required new lamp (5×7 LED array) as one had popped, rendering the whole thing useless. 12 euro from a local electronics supplier and a tweak of the circuit board (new array uses slight less powerful LEDs.) saved me 160 euro for a new one. (live in the middle of nowhere, without the security light its dark out there).

Next one is the flood and spot lights on the deck, this winter hasn’t been kind, couple of joints need redoing, and an LED driver or three is needed, thankfully they are only a couple of euro each.
Plus some new woodwork on the roof (did the garage a couple of years ago, the house roof needs doing now, hopefully can manage without scaffolding. Also going to remove the external shade on the first floor window that’s been flapping around for 3 years, spares are about €450, i’ve not used it for 10 years (probably why it’s dead)

I’ve recovered “dead” Di2 doing exactly that. Plug it all in, reflash software, swear a few times.

Reflash the same software again.
Then it works, but needed setting up from scratch again.

It’s usually vigorous shifting and cross chaining that pulls the damaged pins out.
Once the peening is gone and the hole in the outer plate is baggy, it’s just a matter of time, and luck.

@theotherjonv

Yes, but the guys doing 19 min 10’s at junior level are also probably going to be on highest tech bikes, expensive skinsuits and hats, and so on. That’s going to be worth a few % but cost 1000’s

ok, 3 minutes off the pace.

The times listed in the link above don’t appear any tougher than the other sports.

I think a 3.55 1500 or a 10.9 second 100 would be fair bit harder than a 23 minute 10

IIRC, a 23 minute 10 is about 4 minutes of the pace at national level for a junior on a fast course (2019 was a fast course for nat champs, last year wasn’t). So a lot easier than the 3:55/1500, especially looking at this!

Yeah I’d agree with that one – 3.50 would put you in a photo finish for England under 17 men’s

Why is getting the highest mark important?

As he thought it was an easy option and has (so far) not been doing the required work?

@scotroutes

We should start a “I had a problem-free delivery today” thread.

The guy who worked at my local collection place lives not far from me, so he used to occasionally text me and drop the parcels off. He’s moved jobs now, unfortunately.

I don’t get many deliveries to the door due to location, most couriers won’t come down dirt tracks in the woods with limited turning space. A neighbour once had a delivery from a large truck (25 tons i think), actually took longer to turn the truck round than to do the delivery itself. About 4 hours and clearing a bit of the forest so he had a turning space.

TBH i dial into meetings when i’m not at work.
But, several factors, a) it’s a part of my contract, so i get paid for it, b) i usually don’t do it, i get a colleague to cover, c) i have colleagues working on the west cost of the US so it’s unavoidable unless i want to do all communication by email with a massive delay and d) if i don’t entire projects get delayed.

I’ve actually been in one already this morning (day off today). And one last night (to the US).

60 hours a week can get bent though. If i get to 45 my boss tells me to get a grip and log off.

@welshfarmer

We were out on the weekend. Bear in mind the 110 is bog standard and has no snorkel….

Depending on the generation, even a standard defender has a useable wading depth of about 900. With skill and getting the right bow wave you can take them deeper (at your own risk).
Think the manual quotes 600mm, but at that depth you can park up, stop the engine and go for a walk if you want. Idiot proof at 600mm.

FWIW, a lot (lot lot lot) of recent faux by fours have incredibly low intakes, all in an attempt to get some air into the engine that hasn’t already been used to cool the radiator. Using small, highly stressed, high specific power output engines doesn’t help, lots of cooling needed, lots of emissions equipment as well. Not surprising that a saloon/estate has quite a low intake. Sticking it behind/below the bumper is a joke though…

Jesus that is a serious amount of oil leaking out that beemer!

Possibly a holed crank case when the conrod snapped, or maybe filled the diff casing with water. Or knocked something loose with all the water rushing into the engine bay.
Idiot should have their licence taken off them.

@blader1611

Not sure who mentioned it but this person definitely doesnt have any form of personality trait that would grate on people.

You absolutely, absolutely, utterly positive?

Had two guys that worked with me years ago. Both, in themselves, near perfect employees. No one else had anything bad to say about them. I used to socialize with both of them as well. Even at the same time on occasion, no issues there.

Put them on a team together at work, or even sit them within earshot of each other and there would be blood within 48 hours. Sit them at opposite ends of the same office, they’d even join the rest of the team for lunch.

If they’re are doing 60 hours a week, that’s not a model employee, that’s someone who is either overloaded (most likely) so the manager needs sacking or some detailed coaching, or struggling to cope with the job they’ve got themselves into (so the manager needs to reevaluate the employees workload and competence.)

Take the money, leave.

Look for a job that they can do in the hours they are contracted to do.

All that hard work and they can just dismiss you for no reason whatsoever and make the core value shit up to cover there own arses.

It’s not hard work, it’s over work. And FWIW, it’s the way of the UK workplace these days.

Shimano are *very* generous with their limits, i’d almost call them guidelines TBH.

I’ve run them 8-10 teeth past their stated wrap capacity and 4 or 5 teeth past max sprocket size. No issues, unless you do both at the same time. can get a bit grindy!

i dont see why its got anything to do with the bus operator.

Big, high energy density battery of unknown provenance bouncing around in the bottom/back of a bus.

I wouldn’t fancy it either.

I must confess, i have 4 of them. Only two of them are functional. And one of those is waiting for me to bodge a case together (for a nature cam).

I have slow been trying to push bigger gears, trying o get fitter. Last year was mainly done on the same set up but with a 34 ring.

Pushing bigger gears in itself doesn’t make you fitter, you need to be doing more total work as well. Going faster in other words.

(Pushing bigger gears can work for specific training sessions and to meet specific needs, but doesn’t sound like it in this case!)

checks were made, and we’d found out the previous ‘driver’ had been using the boot to put ‘game’ in when he’d been out shooting, so the various fluids had leaked into the car. The valeters had a real hard time cleaning it, hence the smell. We had to off hire the car rather than pass it on it was that bad. Driver got a bollocking, but was then given a nice A4 S-Line Estate – he trashed that too.

Oh god, that reminds me. An ex colleague, in the 90’s, was using his company car to pick up various quantities of horsey stuff. Most of the time he’d just sling it in the back, drive around for a couple of days then drop it off at the stables when he was passing, So the car always had a certain “aroma” to it and it drove the regularly sent missives from the fleet manager about what you should, and should not use your company car for.

Came to a head when he borrowed a car that was going to be replaced to move a boot full of well rotted manure from the stables to his garden, a dozen plastic sacks full of dobbins finest output.

He had the sense to line the boot with a couple of tarps, but didn’t account for an emergency stop half way home.

And that is why he became an ex colleague

A paper coffee cup that had been used as a spittoon for used snus during the summer in the south of europe (car had no functioning AC, so while it wasn’t used as much as those with AC, that amount of snus (almost a full cup) that had made it’s way into the paper spittoon was utterly revolting.)

The bottom of the cup had also rotted through.

Is the grass green and are the girls pretty?

Or is that somewhere else, I get confused sometimes…

Biggest pan you’ve got is what I’ve found helps the most.
Always use the big 5 litre pan with a good couple of litres in it. Unless I’m just doing pasta for one.

I’ve had that. Long time ago though. Got a quote of several hundred, for what was admittedly potentially a real pain in the neck job. Second guy came out, poked around and sucked his teeth for 5 minutes and announced “i *think* i’ve got the parts for this in me van”.
45 minutes and 150 quid lighter (cash in hand) everything was fixed.

The flush mechanism for my bog is about 50-60 quid as well, and a couple of hours to swap. So i’d barely even blink at paying 200 quid to get it changed. Though i’d probably try and fix it myself, as my bank account would likely say no before i did.

Bloody posh bathrooms.

I also take issue with your claim that ‘anyone who doesn’t lap up parenthood and love children is an evil monster’ – I haven’t seen that particularly evidenced here.

Maybe not here, but out in the big wide world, it’s endemic.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an important part of your life as these are the things you tend to fret over the most.

Yes, I “fret” over important things. Absolutely.

No?

No, i’ve done all the calculations.

It’d need to be on all night every night, especially allowing for the normal household loads Vs the size of supply we have. It’s not the best supply, and will cost a lot to uprate (i have to pay if i want it uprating/modernising outside of their normal cycle)

Especially with powercuts etc.

I’ve had 3 this winter, fortunately only 6-8 hours, but all over night. Last winter i had two that were 18-24 hours (and a couple of shorter ones). So a small risk of having an immobile car, exactly when i most need it to be mobile. (no water or heat when the power is out.) I also only have one car, so need it to cover almost all my use cases. If i was still married, we’d have a small BEV and a big estate.

The PHEV i’m looking at has a full electric range of around 70-80 km (i’ve tested it a few times) so with that i can convert all my local driving to electric, even just by plugging it into a domestic socket overnight. And can do a good chunk of my daily commute. Just a matter of them being available to order.

The 48V mild hybrid almost has the torque, fuel consumption and driveability of an equivalent diesel, and the power of the petrol it actually runs on.

Diesel just doesn’t seem to offer much anymore.

I’m moving to either mild hybrid (48V) petrol or PHEV for next company car. Depending on whats available.
Can’t get reliable enough charging at home, and i’d need a full charge for a typical BEV every other night. The 4 or 5 kW I’ll be able to get at home won’t hack it. Especially with powercuts etc.
Brings my almost unbroken 25 years of diesel estates to an end.