Pushbikes still seem to be in the stage before that where everyone wants more stiffs

Nah, they’re not.. but you don’t get on with the shape of the bars for the type of pushbikes where it has always been a consideration in build so it may well have passed you by. ;)

Oh.. and what do you mean by type 1? soil or stone? I’d seriously consider concreting the finished top surface.

What consistency is the soil if you let it dry? sand or clayey?
shovel some out and leave it to dry somewhere (Your garage?)

which day is BBQ season this year in the weege?

Mmmmmmm….. Burgers!

20mm vs QR – totally

Taper vs straight – no idea, never ridden exactly the same fork between the 2 standards on the same frame

The spring of steel – prefer to call it flex, and yes but some steel frames have less flex than many Alu frames

The comfort of Ti – as above.

Pick up – definitely, even more so when just mucking around jumping, manualing etc.

Crank stiffness – yes.. definitely. HTII isn’t inherently stiffer than SQ taper was though.. many Old skool SQ taper DH cranks were stiffer than XT HTII for instance. XT to Saint the difference is really noticeable.

ingrates I can deal with

a Cyclist? stove my face in… ahhhh ha ha ha ha… :lol:

I talk to strangers in real life all the time..
the above was just one example, not a one off.

but well done for dismissing something you personally don’t have the social skills to do or have simply never tried.

depends on how much you’re going to use it, how long/fast/hard rides are likely to be, where and maybe also who with.

but similarly to above, you might be well better off on mtb style shoes and touring spd pedals such as A520/530s (both nice n cheap)

Wow! Iron Maiden truly are awful aren’t they? (I’d completely forgotten)

You’re wrong. and massively selfish.
Pedal reflectors were designed to signify from the front and rear to motor vehicles that you are a cyclist.
By all means use flashing Led’s but not focused super bright strobes

Cyclists have no chance when they are so hostile and intolerant towards each other. No wonder so many drivers have such a low opinion of us.

Having only read some of this thread. I must say I found many of the comments absolutely abhorrent. Cyclists (I presume) are whinging here about other cyclists perfectly legal behavior, calling them idiots for choosing not to wear a helmet or simply riding legally on roads, hinting that they deserve all they get for not having bright enough lights and even making assumptions as to why they cycle and even the cost of their bicycles. And yet not one of them seems to be doing anything about their grievances. is this really how folk feel? are some of you honestly this selfish or is it just internet bravado?

A few weeks ago at around dusk I was driving with my kids along a local stretch of tree lined and shaded A road and there was a guy towing a tag-a-long positioned to turn right towards some farm cottages. He was dressed all in black and the tag-a-long and bike were black and grey. (I tend to notice this kind of thing) He had no lights or reflectives and despite being right in the middle of the road was very difficult to see. Luckily I did see him so slowed down to let him turn. Thinking about how difficult it had been to see him I then also turned in to stop and warn him of how difficult it had just been to see him.
turned out the guy was very grateful and went on to explain he’d just dropped his daughter off in the nearby village, realised it was getting dark but had no idea it had been that difficult to see him. We had a quick chat about lights and reflectives where I mentioned cheap LED lights to him. pretty sure we both parted feeling happier.

Win Win. really.

If you can find the time to bitch online about the behavior of a fellow cyclist after the fact, you can certainly find the time to help them if you truly believe them to be in serious danger.

ha ha.. still holding out for Aldi’s one :wink:

Northwind – E2 is the UCI ranking status for the race. Basically it means top finishers are eligible for UCI ranking points..
in order for the SDA to run an E2 event they had to fork out a lot more money and IIRC needed to pay a UCI commissaire to oversee the race. Back before the UCI changed the criteria requirement to qualify to race a WC there used to be loads of Elites, Juniors and Experts prepared to travel to do an SDA in the hope of getting enough UCI ranking points a go at Ft Bill WC etc.
The SDA made the decision to stop applying for E2 status years ago and AFAIK haven’t done again since. (happy to proven wrong though).
Haven’t been near an SDA for a few years.

Just looked at your link MrBlobby – Wow!! £270!!

:lol: MrBlobby.. I find it hard to believe anyone thinks 45mph is a difficult feat.

MF – in a group mine’s generally only around 35 max, on my own I’m not wasting my er…advantage ;) plenty hills locally to get up to 40 without too much effort

Thanks soma, I knew what lux meant, just didn’t know what 90 might be equivalent to. can’t really tell from pics tbh but thanks for the link. don’t worry about me, I find 45 absolutely fine at night. there’s rarely a night ride where I won’t hit 40 at some point.

Cheers. MF.
Sounds like it might be about the same sort of brightness as mine on med.
I know all the roads round here like the back of my hand but being so rural they’re still prone to new random potholes, ruts, unforseen mud, debris and roadkill. (a dead pheasant nearly took 8 of us out lastnight when I was on the front :oops:).
My light isn’t really a hassle as I charge it as soon as I finish my ride so it’s always ready to go. Know exactly what you mean about bar lights when cornering, my light isn’t all that floody either so I often do a wee shoulder dip to check my line mid corner ;)
Ransos’ German light did sound interesting but I’m Prob best sticking with what I have, there’s hardly any traffic on a lot of the roads I ride and I’m pretty good at lowering the brightness or sheilding the lamp when something’s approaching. A proper roadbike beam patern with a bit more power on full than yours is probably what I’d like. wonder if anyone will ever come up with a proper dippable beam one day.. now that would be cool.

Ps. TdEL Audax this weekend if yer up for it.. the fastest bunch are bloody fast.

short, slack, ugly and top-heavy to you says good taste Hora?

pretty certain I’m the only rider on here that the industry didn’t convince of that with mountain bikes so you may well be onto something there theonlywayisup.

only E2 SDAs needed 2. That’s what the wee stickers Peter put on your number board at the start of each of your first 2 practice runs were to signify.
Do they do this at all SDAs now then?

I’m not English

No I’m not joking Hels. Always has been. always will be.
I’d have thought you of all people would realise just how many tracks up there have been raced on over the years.

don’t try and belittle me either.

No Hels. An official DH track is simply any track a DH race has or is going to be/been held on. and Yes, there are lame DH tracks.

Original Black Stig.. Always! the white one’s look like l’il virgins like all they white guards from Star Wars.

nippy wee thing ain’cha?

and still held on to a half arsed Cotic

lazy term meaning DH race bike

more fun than sand in yer chamois by the sounds of it, yes.

It’s urban commuting that kills rims IME

agreed. Kills nice roadbikes too.

As it was taken GeeTee ;) I’m the first to admit I’m not really a “roadie”, don’t even see myself as a cyclist TBH.. I just love riding bikes and really don’t identify with any one branch in particular… I’m the one on 100mile clubrides with BMX spd shoes, no lid, gloves or gels. the DHer on flats with no 5:10s or garish colours and bald tyres, the XC rider in a cotton T-shirt and the ancient BMXer who’s still shit and can’t fit in skinny jeans. Cycling is too fashion driven and cliquey for me really and I’m just as happy riding a 25 year old beater as a 2015 superbike.

hmm… No idea what 90 lux means in real world terms.. ransos? any help here would be appreciated. is that enough light for riding unlit road descents at upto around 45mph? A single XLM on full is what I use now. medium is not really enough.

Thanks MrBlobby

Rule #

ha ha… ah ha ha… Rules?… oh… my sides :lol:

8)

I’ve been a regular road rider for the last 15 years, and mtb for over 20. You?

Road since ’78. BMX ’80 MTB ’89

I’ve worn out both road and mtb rims to the point that they’ve failed, causing the inner tube to explode.

did that once on an mtb but I was being a complete pikey using an absolutely ancient second or third hand wheel and worn out brake pads.

Maybe if you only do gentle cruises to the cafe on a nice summer’s day, then it’s not an issue.

Oooooohhh… get you :lol: I don’t even like Cake or Coffee as it happens. I’ve already said elsewhere that I ride all year round but just to qualify for your badge of AWESOME that does indeed include all weathers, day and night.

I would agree with you in the summer, but I’m not sure how you manage that in the winter. When it’s dark, there is slush or maybe ice on the road combined with a lot of run off debris (the roads around the Surrey Hills really suffer from this) and the overall state of the surface is poor, I can’t see any other way to be cautious than to brake (and I ride the road a lot – about 300km a week).

i ride in the dark more than daylight all year round TBH so it’s a non issue in winter.
Braking on ice is the last thing you want to do. slush is just a slightly colder puddle.
surfaces round here can be very poor too (it’s a rural farming community with lots of unclassified and B roads, many are only maintained by the farmers)
I only ever ride anti clockwise loops therefore rarely even have to brake for junctions only slightly for tight turns and never for descents. I actually HATE having to use my brakes and won’t if at all possible. I also wash my roadbike straight after every wet ride so there is never a build up of shit/brakedust/grime on my rims at the start of any ride.
I generally only ride around 160-250km a week on the road (the rest of my riding time is taken up by mtb and BMX) actually I use miles but converted it. didn’t realise Surrey was in Europe ;)

Yeah, I too think discs probably make most sense when using carbon rims

Dude! DiscJockey has posted a link to exactly that 2 posts up.

Have another coffee

Phobia

NOUN

An extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something:from the oxford dictionary.

So it seems, you, I and psychologists are all correct Drac.

I still wouldn’t ever describe most people who admit to being scared of the dark as having a phobia myself.

ransos. tell us more about these German lights please?

This much worry makes me wonder just how much road riding many of the posters here have actually done.
None of the guys I regularly ride road with are even vaguely interested in discs. that’s a mixture of fairly new road riders, sportive riders, club riders and guys who regularly race at various levels.
The one guy I have ridden with with who did have discs on his roadbike used his brake levers far too often and far too early for every single corner during the 40miles we rode together.
Personally I have never ever worn out the braking surface on any road rim. I rode the entire winter last year with only a front brake. plan your route, look ahead and read the road properly and you rarely have to brake at all.

NickC – I grew up watching horror from a very early age. No horrors scare me anymore.
I also spend more time than most outdoors and have quite a well developed night vision. I live in a very quiet rural location with country side to each direction and no outdoor lighting.

So you’re saying it is a phobia Drac? I just asked a psychologist and they agreed with my definition that it’s only becomes a phobia when it becomes a real problem.