https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017v6v

Radio 4 were cautiously complementary.

As an aside (and adding to the criticism of the pipework ;-) ) wwould I be right in thinking that the narrow white pipe above the garage is a condensate drain from the boiler? If so, I’d prioritise lagging that before next winter. My MiL had no end of trouble with hers getting blocked with ice, and that was much less exposed, much shorter and much less horizontal!

b) the diverter needs to be at the same level as the top of the water butt to stop it overflowing no?

Ah, I see! I’ve not used a diverter myself, but I can see that if you want the butt to overflow back into the downpipe then that would be an issue. On mine I have a separate overflow which takes excess water down the garden and exits under the apple tree, but your topography might not allow similar.

If the concern is grey water running into the butt, what’s preventing you from installing a diverter in the downpipe above that level and routing from there to a water butt on the ground? Rather more pipework than you’d have with the diverter installed next to the butt, but functionally I can’t see why not?

Int aforementioned medieval times they had LOADS of holidays. Usually saints days and that.

Hence the name: Holy Day. :-)

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/53/4d/52/d81857f4e130ad/GB2598164A.pdf

If you don’t mind square-section, then UPVC window sill cover works well. Attach a batten or blocks to the wall and then attach to the wood. If you use screws (pref. brass for aesthetics) then you can ease the skirting away from the wall and hide wires inside at a later date. Handy for semi-permanent extension leads, TV aerial cable, speaker wires, etc. I’ve also used it to cover exposed pipework in the downstairs cloakroom.

Strong or light – pick one. If it’s a pub bike with the added weight of a child seat (and child) on it, then does the weight of the stand really make much difference?

For loading up (whether children or cargo), I’d say go for a twin leg stand. Pletscher would be the most-trusted brand to look out for, and probably the lightest, but cheaper, heavier ones are also available. I just used a cheap steel one from Halfords when running a tandem with two childseats. Weighed a tonne, but wasn’t noticeable once fitted.

+1 for many of the above, including lights left on.

Conversely…

Our kitchen has a light switch by the door to the dining room, but not by the outside door, meaning that if you come in at night you have to grope across the room to switch the light on. Solution: a kitchen light with a PIR sensor. Job jobbed.

Or so you would think. Now I walk into the dark kitchen from the dining room and get three paces in before having to turn around and grope for the switch which has mysteriously been turned off! >:-(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyV_UG60dD4

I have similar shaped feet (Altra running shoes are perfect!) and after a decade plus of trying to find foot-shaped SPD shoes I’m afraid that my eventual solution was to give up and learn to love flat pedals. :-(

I’m another that prefers flick-lock over twist. Both work fine, but you need a reasonable grip to operate the latter, and if they slip while tightened up it can be a real struggle to release them again without pliers.

I’ve recently switched from using three-section telescopic BDs to a cheap 4-part sectional one a bit like this.. These pack down significantly smaller (enough to go in some trouser pockets) but have more limited length adjustment and are a bit fiddly to handle when folded. The choice really depends on how you intend to use them.

No experience personally, but I do recall a colleague mentioning a large bill (ISTR ~£2000 or more) to fix faulty ones on his California. While I can see the attraction for keeping quiet after lights-out, I think I’d avoid…

Or mount something to the side of the van that folds up out of the way, Murphy-bed style, eliminating the need for it to be removable? At the overly-complicated end of the scale, I quite fancy fitting one of these is similar circumstances: Fancy folding bench

But in practice I’d probably go for something more akin to Boxwithawindow’s suggestion.

I think that the drag in gear systems are because the teeth slide over each other a bit when they mesh together,

Correctly designed teeth (as presumably Rohloff’s are) don’t slide – the teeth are shaped to maintain rolling contact with each other. There’s bound to be some elastic deformation and rubbing at microscopic scale, of course.

I can’t comment too much on the the Rohloff, as I only have one which was bought SH with an unknown amount of running-in already done. My subjective impression was that drag did reduce over a couple of thousand miles, but it’s hard to say. Drag was certainly less noticeable than you get with a change of tyres.

I also have a bike with a first-batch Pinion gearbox. That had to go back for warranty work after I’d had it a while, and I suspect that what I got back was a whole new gearbox in the original housing. Drag was noticeably worse when it came back, but this dropped off very quickly (2 or 3 hundred km) until it was silky smooth again.

Family quarantined; Covid.

I don’t have the faintest idea, that’s why I was asking.

Apologies, that was more of a rhetorical, thinking-aloud question than a direct query. I reckon it should work, provided you used a wide-based sprocket like this one.

Chain width is the possible show-stopper, but that sprocket is specified as 1.8mm thick, and a quick google suggests that an 11s chain has a 2.18mm inner width so I see no reasons for it not to work.

Baser’s point about having multiple ratios for warm-up and warm-down is a good one, though. However, if you’re using both 9s and 11s bikes with the same wheel then that definately won’t work with a single cassette – you’ll need to swap cassettes when you switch bikes. Which isn’t actually that big a job (easier than swapping tyres) so might well be worth it.

You might well find that the existing wheel/tyre fits

Yeah, but I kinda want to keep that on the CX.

I realise that, but was merely suggesting that you don’t necessarily need a 26″ wheel. You might have a 700c/29r wheel lying around, or be able to get one easily, and re-using the existing TT tyre will save you a bit of expense, assuming it’s still in ok nick. Checking the fit using the existing wheel saves you wasting money if the clearances turn out to be too tight after all…

You might well find that the existing wheel/tyre fits – if you have clearance for 26 x 2.n” tyres, then a lower profile tyre on a 700c wheel is quite likely to fit.

WRT the differing chain lines, could you fit a single sprocket to a full-width freehub? The sprocket would slide into a position to align with wherever the indexing on the bike of the moment is set. But these could be tried out with the Surly’s wheel before you sell that on.

Pwca was closed when I was up there with the dog a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve not found anything online to explain why so it may have been a short-term thing.

When you all worked in the office did you sit there with bags over your heads?

Not bags, no. But yes to ear-defenders to block out the chatter and to safety glasses adapted to form blinkers and cut down on the visual distractions.

Like others here, I’ve WFH for about 10 years but it was something forced on me by my employer moving to Open Plan. I hate working from home, but I hate being constantly distracted and at risk of distracting others far more. The last thing want or need is to import those conditions into my own home and I’ll only use the camera for very small meeting. And then it’s out of politeness, not because I want to or gain any benefit from it.

Saying that it’s important for team cohesion seems to me to be the height of arrogance. Why assume that the conditions you prefer are automatically going to benefit everybody else? We’re all adults, and capable of making our own decisions.

I might be wrong so check if you haven’t but iirc the sunringle 29 were a 29 external so about 22mm internal.

Good point – thanks for reminding me to check! Looks like I need at least MTX31s, which are available from the same seller, but more expensive.

Thanks all! Those Sunringles look just the job – even have the same ERD as the current rims, I think. Now, I just need to dare to order from Germany… :-/

We’ve had an AEG one (don’t know the model number) for about 4.1/2 years and have been very happy with it.

Unfortunately, #2 son dropped a bottle of soy sauce on it a couple of days ago and it now has a large crack right across the middle. Time for replacement… Does anybody know if the toughness of the glass tops has improved in the last few years, or whether any particular brand/model is more resistant to damage?

When we eventually get an EV she’s gonna drain the battery blasting the fans on max all the time!!

OTOH, you’ll be able to pre-heat the car before unplugging it from the wall, so that might cure that behaviour.

…the Bye Election in Shropshire…

Fraudian slip, or deliberate? :-)

While my contempories had the windy-handled Evel Kneivel toy, I had the ‘Turbo Tower of Power’ bike:

Powered by a jet of air spinning up a turbine in the bike. Made a fantastic noise! :-)

Earlier thread on the Fluxon

I don’t have a problem with ‘extinguished’ in that context, but:

Stop illuminating
Be cancelled.
Be switched off.

I wouldn’t, though, say ‘be de-illuminated’, tempting as it is! ;-)

ETA: Yeah, ‘deactivated’ works for me.

I wouldn’t dismiss the idea of having them on the ends of the drops. It looks like it shouldn’t be, but is actually quite ergonomic. I prefer the arrangement to modern ergo shifters. They’re also less prone to damage (or injuring your knees!) than bar-end levers.

Having said that, I’m old enough to have grown up with down-tube friction shifters, so reaching down to change gear feels quite natural and familiar.

As above, you do need to be aware of the bar diameter whatever approach you take. When I did it, I used a stub of cheap (and therefore thick-walled) flat bar filed/turned down to be a press fit in the end of the drop bar. A self-tapping screw under the bar tape made sure that it didn’t move.

Yep. According to MS’s website, there’s 100, 50, 25 and 10% settings. 10% is still, presumably, 800lm (or maybe more if LED efficiency is non-linear). Which is what my main light produced 10 years ago, so more than enough for the uphill and/or none technical bits of a longer ride. I can’t imagine ever wanting more than 50% TBH.

I struggle with headtorches on uneven ground – the proximity of eyes and light source all-but eliminates shadows and my depth perception disappears. So I use a chest-mounted lamp. Anybody else?

Currently using a cheap-n-nasty Chinese thing, but planning on upgrading to one of the brighter ones from Decathlon: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/search?Ntt=chest+lamp

I have no knowledge of the product, but came across this interesting kit recently: https://argobikes.com/

TBH, though, I’d have thought a trailer is the simplest way to dip your toes in the cargo-bike water.

And not paying £1.40 to do 50 miles.

You’re getting 50 miles to the litre from an ICE car?! :-o

;-)

Have you noted Mail readers (Mail readers!!!) have said in the Mail on Sunday poll that if asked again they’d vote 45-39 to remain in the EU (I am assuming 16% don’t know but who knows).

The numbers I saw were 45:36. If you assume that the 19% don’t knows translates into none-voters, then that means a putative vote of 56%:44% Remain:Leave.

IIRC, the 2016 Leave vote was just over 1/3 of the voting population, so those numbers could be seen as the Leave vote holding up, but lots of non-voters moving to a remain position.

I’ll repeat that. Mail readers.

A survey for the Mail, but not necessarily of Mail readers, is my understanding.

Definately worth trying the size 7 Altras – I generally wear size 43 or 44 EU in most manufacturers shoes, but size 45 Altras.

Altra fit my duck-shaped feet well, but they fit a-bit-smaller-than-the-size-suggests.

50 square metres, you say? In that case, I’d say stick with analogue. I have one of these
Fiskars Staysharps and about 40sq.m of lawn which I cut 3 times a week. Back when I had a ‘leccy mower it would take almost as much time to sort out the cable as it now takes to cut the grass.

ETA: Cut a little-and-often and you don’t need to collect the clippings. Just let the worms deal with them, and the grass is effectively self-fertilising.

50 square metres, you say? In that case, I’d say stick with analogue. I have one of these
Fiskars Staysharps and about 40sq.m of lawn which I cut 3 times a week. Back when I had a ‘leccy mower it would take almost as much time to sort out the cable as it now takes to cut the grass.