"What if you're well…..not average?"

I'm not average, I'm awesome. That's why I wear Lycra.

I got to the lights and they were on green today, so I pulled over and waited for them to go red before riding through, as a matter of principle.

Workhouses.
Solves both the unemployment and housing shortage problems in one go.

I've never understood why everyone raves about pasta for carb loading.
Chips every time for me.

So, does anyone else race a Rohloff ?
I use mine for trailquests (did I mention I ride trailquests ?) and marathons.
I've seen a few others at events, but apart from one guy regularly trailquesting, I don't think I've ever seen the same one twice.

Anything steam powered.

"I as well as my nephews was shocked to discover It did not taste anything like sausage and promtly returned it to the shop for a full refund."

I bought a magazine called "Men Only". Imagine my surprise when I looked at the pictures inside.

"All of you people using the pavement…"
That'll be me then.
"…should get some cycle training and learn how to ride a bike in traffic with confidence and competence"

2500 cyclists and pedestrians killed or seriously injured a year by motorists.
It's not a matter of training cyclists.

"And pay a fine…"
Approaching a T junction, on Tuesday this week, with straight ahead or turn left options.
I want to go straight ahead, but the lights are on red.
I hop up on to the pavement and ride slowly forward round the corner, waiting for a gap in the oncoming traffic turning right in to the side road which I want to cross.
One of the cars turning right is a police car.
I avoid eye contact and start thinking about escape routes down narrow alleys or through the nearby park gates.
They drive straight past.
I cross the side road and drop back down on to the main road, well ahead of all the cars still stuck at the red light.

Another day, another RLJ.

I avoid this sort of incident while commuting by riding on the pavement at all times.

Glad you're enjoying it.
I finished work at 1:00am this morning and cycled 12km home. I think I saw two cars on the road, it's a great time to ride.

"Those who have found teh commute hard – do you ride much otherwise?"
Yes, although I drove in for the week following riding SiTS solo. :oops:

Thanks Taz, it's always nice, when asking a technical question like this, to go straight to a "Yes you can, I've done it" answer. :-)

So I will end up with a pair of 29er forks 30mm shorter than standard, but as I want to run them with short travel that won't make any difference, except that the overall length will be 30mm shorter, making the head angle a bit steeper.

I will also end up with a pair of 26er forks 30mm longer than standard, so when they are set to 85mm travel they will be the same overall length as if they were set for 115mm.

Have I got that right ?

Gary Fisher

And back from the days when I was still on training wheels…
Santa Cruz

Lynskey

Robin Mather

If you look at the discussions before HoNC and HtN about whether a CX or MTB would be quicker on the course, I'm sure it would be possible to devise a course for runners, horses and cyclists that gives none of them a significant advantage.

How come a dispute over a £4 roll of tape that has finally been settled to the customer's satisfaction has dragged on for 4 pages, while my dispute with the dodgy used car salesman attitude staff at Leisure Lakes over the soles coming unglued on a pair of Northwave shoes fizzled out on the first page ?
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/north-wave-lizzard-shoes-sole-coming-unglued-warranty-or-fair-wear-tear

So are all those who vowed never to buy from CRC ever again going to relent now ?

I overtook some roadies a few weeks ago.
My excitement was only slightly dampened by the fact that several of them overtook me again as soon as the road started going up hill and they were all wearing club kit from a town about 30 miles away, so presumably they were half way through a 60 mile ride, while I had only left home 5 minutes before.

You cant expect CRC to replace the part if they have no prrof it doesn't work!

They could get another roll and a pair of handlebars off the shelf and try it themselves.

Could be worse.
Could have been an £85 pair of Northwave shoes from Leisure Lakes.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/north-wave-lizzard-shoes-sole-coming-unglued-warranty-or-fair-wear-tear

Not always.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_versus_Horse_Marathon#Winners_of_the_race

Any news on whether any of these suggestions are going to be taken on ?
My main request, and quite an easy one to implement, would be a commentator at the start line telling the solo riders their position.
I rode almost super solo, my support crew of one was riding as a pair with another friend, and for most of the race I had no idea where I was in the results.
All it would take is a commentator or some other volunteer to stand in front of the results screen with a microphone announcing "Number 99, Joe Bloggs, riding for Fulchester Cycles, finishing his 10th lap. 50th overall, 10th veteran"

Similar question with a couple of useful answers here.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sits-kit-checkplease-contribute

Fold a piece of paper.
Drop ten of the balls in to the V.
Measure how long ten balls is.
The diameter of each ball = 1/10 of that.

Dennis Buses.
If you can imagine a kit car that's been designed and built by someone with absolutely no mechanical experience, that's what a Dennis bus is like underneath.

Can't you just feed him up so normal shirts fit ?

Another vote for Fitness Singles.
There's a lot of women on there who list "Walking" as their primary fitness activity, which I don't think is really within the spirit of it all.
I managed to meet two who run sub 2:30 marathons though.
I went to watch one of them race and I remember looking around at the start and thinking "Why didn't I take up running years ago" :wink:

Yes, but at around a £1000 for a Rohloff hub and with them being sold as almost maintenance free and ideal for world tours and tandems, people expect better.
If you break a normal hub, no matter where you are in the world, you won't be far from a suitable replacement.
A replacement Rohloff hub has to be posted out from Germany.
I don't think it's a common problem, but there are a few stories and pictures on the web.
A Rohloff hub flange is one of the few things I have never broken on a bike.
It can only be a matter of time.

It's rare that I use the top 3 gears, other than the road sections on trailquests or long days out joining up bridleways with road riding.
408/11 sounds perfectly adequate for off road use.
If it turns out to be as promising as it sounds, I can see it becoming very popular for 12 and 24 hour marathons.
My only concern is the torque reaction and the hub only locating in the dropout slots with no seperate torque lever.
I'm sure Shimano will have taken that in to account though.

Is that £40 for the pair ?
I've emailed them to ask for clarification on their prices.
The picture shows a pair, the price says each, but then they don't list LH and RH separately, so is that $43.50 for one or a pair ?

"MTB has and always will be a small part of the cycle industry IMO."

Interesting comment from someone in the trade.
I would have assumed most new bike sales were mountain bikes, as that's what I see most of on my commute and when out at weekends.
Is that not what you're finding in your shop ?
Or are you only counting "serious" cyclists, not those looking for a cheap commute bike ?

Secondly, the spoke tension plays a huge roll in the effect of "wheel wobble". If the spokes are too loose, how can the customer be sure that he is feeling bearing play and not play in the entire wheel due to insufficient spoke tension?

Are they serious ?
Do they really think I can't tell the difference between a worn hub bearing and loose spokes ?
How long would a wheel last being ridden with the spokes so loose there was noticeable movement between the hub and rim ?

"midlands trailquest graham to the forum purleeese !"
I'm flattered that I am now considered the STW authority on Rohloffs. :oops:
The most other Rohloffs I have ever seen at an event was four out of 900 at the Marin Rough Ride and another four out of 2500 at Mountain Mayhem.
I can't remember seeing the same one twice so, as far as I know, I am the only person in the UK regularly racing a Rohloff. I would be happy to be proved wrong.

I've never ridden a Nexus, but a couple of observations from what I've seen…

All hub gears set up a torque reaction in the hub body.
Rohloff overcome this by using a special extended drop out slot or a lever that locates on a peg on the brake mounting.
The further the gearing is from 1:1, the more the torque reaction.
On a Rohloff in 1st gear it is 98% of the input torque in the opposite direction.
Shimano rely on the normal flat sides of a standard dropout.
There's a limit to how much torque these will stand before they round out, which limits the gear range they can use.

The new 11 speed uses helical gears. They are marginally stronger and quieter than straight cut gears, but have more resistance.
This seems a strange choice to me as the biggest complaint about hub gears is the drag, not the noise.

The Rohloff is called a 500/14 because it has got 14 gears with a 500% gear range (14th is 500% higher than 1st).
I think if they made something like a lighter 400/7 it would be more popular for mountain bike racing.
It's a bit of a Catch22 though.
Mountain bikers don't use Rohloffs because, even leaving the price aside, they are not ideal.
Rohloff are not going to develop a more suitable hub, because mountain biking is not a big share of their market.

If someone could come up with a light IGH with a wide spread of ratios, a reasonable number of gears and at a sensible price, I reckon it would take off as an ideal compromise between derailleurs and singlespeed.

What's the gear range on the Shimano 8 and 11 speed hubs ?

I thought Mountain Mayhem increased the number of entries available this year.
HONC filled up within a couple of days.

"…sub 35/34 is where its at for O45's"
I wasn't last. :wink:

I did a 10km race last year in 49:55. MV45 category.

Buzzing from the relay box sounds like a relay in the relay box buzzing to me.

It's not a battery fault.
If a battery is too flat to start an engine for the first 8 attempts, it doesn't suddenly charge itself for the 9th.

"Buzzing/clicking from the relay box"
Take the lid off the box. Get someone to try to start the car while you hold your finger on each relay in turn to work out which one is buzzing. It's probably the biggest one and it will probably be marked "Starter".
Replace that relay.

Work camps and forced labour for the unemployed.

Is the wood actually touching the metal to be welded ?
I use scrap bits of aluminium sheet wedged between the weld and any nearby plastic air pipes or other flammable stuff when possible.
Even if it's touching, wood takes a fair while to catch fire.
It should be possible to do a quick run of weld, then douse the area with water with only minor scorching of the surface.

Any chance of a photo ?