My oldesst Hope hub is 18+ years old, and still on it’s original bearings. Another set are 11+ years old and still on orignal bearings, absolutely perfect. I woudn’t bother with Shimna, as the freehubs are very poor quality these days,and prone to failure im my experience/

Edit: Not worth it.

I think the two are entirely different matters.

Put it this way if ton suddenly died of heart attack because he weight tonnes then that’s the end of that.

It’s about judging people for the choices they make.People could easily judge Ton for eating too much/not exercising enough and becoming a burden to the health service/taxpayer. Why should Ipay for his healthcare when he made the choice how to live his life? See? That’s how judgmentalism works.

Too much judgementalism, and not enough understanding or empathy. Sickening really. 🙁

All for extensive use of community punishments, we need more of them – always litter to pick, graffiti to scrub, snow to shovel etc.

Complete waste of time in most cses; have you actually seen how these schemes operate? Managed by bored, disaffected and frustrated civil servants, who mainly don’t care if a person completes their allocated number o hours, let alone actually does any real work. Often a complete headache to set up and implement, and very cost ineffective. You’re nver going to get much out of people who don’t want to be there, and ultimately, you cn’t force them to work.

Edited.

Ton; I’m sure someone could turn your judgemental attitude right back round on you. Remind me who was getting angrybecause thier GP didn’t beleive they exercised much?

I’d use a forstner bit to cut a larger diameter hole where the rotten bit is, then make a ‘plug’ with a very slightly larger internal diameter holesaw, and glue that into place, then drill a hole for the new dowel rod. I’ve fixed stuff using similar methods, and it works well. You could chisel the larger hole square and use a square plug. Then just Evo stik outdoor wood glue o Titebond or similar.

You don’t buy a pub bike. A pub bike is something that evolves fromyour spares bin, or is somethng resurrected from a skip/tip.

That scene looks exactly like a nightmare I had a few days ago..

Yes, that wallpaper is truly nasty. 😯

Boxes stack much more neatly, and they have writing on them to tell you what size they are.

You can get more loose rolled tubes intoa box than boed ones. Would save on shippong. And a bit o paper under the rubber band, ith the details on would work just as well.

So how do you propose putting a barcode on them?

A bit of card you can have by the till, or print them out ont a sheet of a4, laminate it nd have it by the till. Easy. Or just doe a manual price input.

I understand that bike shops need to make a decent profit on what they sell to keep them going

Granted, but marking up innertubes is quite cycnical and exploitative. I fully understand why it’s done, but don’t go along with the excuses and attempts at justification.

Or, perhaps, better things cost more money to make.

I’ve used countless innrtubes. Schwalbe are not noticably or measurably ‘better’ than many other brands. And I doubt they cost all that more to manufacture. Sorry, not buying that. It’s the amrketing that you’re paying for.

Smithfields/Clerkenwell area is surpisingly good for food and drink. Fox andAnchor as above; great for a ‘snack’ and a good pint. A bit noisy for a nice romantic meal though. But that area would be a good choice, as it’s a lot quieter than the west end on a weekend. Lovely to stroll around the city in the evening, looking at buildings, maybe wander downto the river.

Struggling to recommend anywhere i he centre of town to be honest, as we tend to eat/drink out in the suburbs where you’re not payin tourist tariffs. But then we also rarely visit the same place twice (too much choice and we like to try as many places as we can), so dont get an idea of consistency. And even the most highly rated places can have off nights; the Ottolenghi place in Islington was very dissapointing. I’d say it’s maybe better to wander into a place, and be pleasantly surpsised, thnan get your expectations up for some trendy joint where you’ll feel a bit ‘pressured’ if it’s busy, and maybe left feeling underwhelmed. I tend to eat in the expensive places only when others are paying, and truth told, I prefer the smaller family run places where you don’t get the pretension and fripery, just good food.

Hope hubs, Macic Open Pro rims, DT revolution spokes with brass nipples. Not the lightest, but strong and very reliable, and easy to service. Unless you’re racing, then use whatever your sponsors give you. Not sponsored? Get the above wheels then. For the money, you won’t get better.

Beautiful, but there’s no way I’ leave my commuter locked up with apair of those on it; it’d be stripped for the ‘guards!

Price price price. £50-60 would be the maximum I’d spend, and that’s double a pair of SKS guards.

I’d really love carbon fibre crud-style guards though; the plastic deforms and deteriorates over time.

I’ve used Araldite Rapid Steel adhsive for this exact problem. Worked perectly. Headset cup can still beremoved from frame (will probably need sanding to remove the adhesive but not a big issue). Bearing rreataining compund might work, but if the gap is too much, it might not be as effective as the above.

You can have a cheap no-name tube for £3 or an identical one with Schwalbe branding and a fancy cardoard box for £5

😉

And there’s another thing; innertubes don’t need to be in cardboard boxes. That’s just more material wasted.

And I can tell you for sure that the Schwalbe tubes Adam, ourselves, and Ben sell at £5-£6 cost us a lot more than £1.15 or whatever

So, your suplier is rippin you off then. Or Schwalbe are. Someone, smewhere is.

If a bike shop was only making 20p on an inner tube, it wouldn’t be worth the bother to order, store, stock, price and sell them

No-oe’s saying you shouldn’t make a fair profit on them, just why does it have to be so much?

I agree with Mr Smith. It’s a strange business model to be trying out in an area like that. Skate shops work well because of the general trendiness of the area; skaters can come and hang out, have a coffee, shop for clthes, peruse skate equipment. Cyclists generally aren’t likethat, and the vast majority inLondon are just using a bike for transport really. LookMumNo Hands works well, but it’s in more of a ‘cycle trendy’ area, and isn’t competing with other shops for trade in the same way as someone selling coffee in Soho. You also have to appeal to passing trade, and I can’t see how a niche shop like this can do that effectively in that particular area. There’s a reason why all the ‘specialist mtb’ shops in the west end have generaly failed.

And they’re missing a massive trick here; the legitimate trade in second hand/vintage bikes has really taken offf in the last few years (where the cool bike to have in town was a Muddy Fox, then a hybrid, then a fixie, now it’s a 1960s era British/French/Italian racer), but not many are daring to venture into that market. There needs to be an antidote to the slick, corporate shiny shiny hi-tech glossiness of Evans, Condor, Cycle Surgery etc, more of a grubby workshop with lots of cool and obscure bits and bobs, where you can get your Sturmey Archer AW hub serviced and keep your ‘heap of junk’ running for another few years.

Well that’s bizarre; there was a long, ranting abusive post directed towards me last night, which now seems to have dissapeared. Maybe the author had a change of heaart. Makes my last post seem a bit surreal though.

Not necessarily. Further, yes. Faster, well, that depends on your type 1 / type 2 muscle ratios, which are pretty much determined by inheritance.

There are an awful lot of factors which can influence things,but we all have basically similar skeletons on which to hang our muscles, organs and fat. And I don’t know much about genetics, but I do suspect that blaming obesity on genes may, in many cases, be a bit of a cop out. I’d say it’s more down to lifestyle and diet patterns over time.

You’re not paying for the rubber, you’re paying for the mould the rubber is cast in. That’s the expensive bit, and since car tyres are made in considerably larger numbers than bike inner tubes, the cost of the moulds is spread out a lot more.

Because of course, innetube moulds are all carved by hand by one man in a cabin in Nova Scotia, and only 300 innertubes are produced worldwide every year. 🙄

I’m wiling to bet that no car tyre is produced in larger numbers than a generic 26″x1.5-2.1″ mtb innertube by a company like Cheng Shin. Even accounting for difernt wheel sizes and vales etc, I’d bet there are still many times more models of automotive tyres being produced.

The single reason that innertubes cost so much relative to their trade cost, is that bike shops know customers have to have innertubes, whereas they don’t necessarily need a fancy seatpost etc.

you’re going to end up on a caravan site with the sort of people who frequent such establishments.

How many caravan sites have you been to? I don’t get the anti-aravan thing; they’re a great idea! Far cheaper than a campervan/motorhome, And you can unhitch it and drive somewhere for diner etc. And they help reduce motorway speeds, which is better for road safety nd helps savelives.

Elvis Presley. Thought he was shit when I was young, but now I understand why h was so popular. Tremendous performer.

My goodness ! Rarely have I read such crap, on one of these threads.

Really? Then Read tese:

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56254

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-53111/Why-eating-little-best.html

http://www.fitnessbeans.com/2011/the-benefits-of-eating-little-often/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/best/grazingbingeing.shtml

http://www.fitwatch.com/weight-loss/how-eating-more-often-can-help-you-eat-less-437.html

And that’s just a few from a lazt google. Plenty of info out there which supports this though.

you’ve just given someone diagnosed with AF. Advise to “ride faster” in order to burn fat.

I also added: “You mentioned somewhere having had heart issues, so this may be very difficult for you.” Would you like to take back your insult?

In actual fact, with regard to the exercise intensity, the reverse is true. The lower the intensity of exercise, the more fat can be burned.

If you ride 10 miles at 10mph, you’ll burn a certain amount of calories. If you ride that same 10 miles faster, you’ll burn more caloies.

Please do us all a favour and save your advise for yourself !

I will. I’m 44, ‘perfect’ BMI, blood pressure, heart rate etc. excellent for my age. Stil do competitive sports, swim 3 times a week, ride everywhere I can. No health worries at all. It works for me, so I’ll stick with it.

Ah innertubes. The biggest mark up on any product sold in a bike shop. Last one I had to buy was a long valve one; trade was £1.60 inc vat. Standard ones were £1.2o or so.

And they’re made in the same massive factories in China/Malasia/Bangladesh etc. There ae lightweight ones and there are heavyweight ones and all sorts in between. They all cost pennies to make. £7.50 is taking the piss.

Hmm. Not exactly an original idea (coffee shop and bike shop in one), and mtbs in central London now? But good luck to them. I’ve seen many bike shops come and go in the Covent Garden/Soho area; Covent Garden cycles off Shorts Gardens, such a shame when they closed. There was one on Drury Lane, is it still there? Was there also one on Endell st? Then there was one on Stukely s, and another in an aleyway off there I think. Many seemed to open then close within a short time. There was a Scott dealership in the old YHA shop on Southampton st. I don’t think that lasted very long either. There’s a really pretentious one on Macklin st, but you need an appointment to get in i think! I’m sure I’ve forgotten loads of others though, and does anyone remeber a funny little sho in a tunnel sort of under the Savoy hotel? Only fund it by sheer chance, always struck me as a wierd place to have any sorto f shp!

Think I’ll just perch here and see how this plaice out. I reckon smeone’s going to nd up looking like a right pollock. I’ll pier in from time to time, but I expect it’ll flounder quite soon.

We could have done with a couple of Scholes-esque tackles on Suarez.

Which undoubtedly have resulted in at least one red card, leaving us in an even more desperate situation.

this is about 8 pints on a Saturday.

Christ. That’s a lot of beer. Those calories are going to sit around not getting burned up, then turning to fat.

Little and often,with food. That way, your body uses the energy more efficiently, and stores less fat. Many people stare themselves for ages then eat huge meals, which is bad, because the body naturaly stores more fat in anticipation for the periods you’re not eating. And if you used to eat badly, then your body wil still want to store more fat, as it’s become conditioned to do so. The older you get, the slower it gets in breaking down fat, so it gets harder to do so. I eat less than I used to, but now put on fat much more easily, as my metabolism has slowed.

you’re churning out a good milage, but to burn more fat, you’ll need to rie faster. You mentioned somewhere having had heart issues, so this may be very difficult for you. Try to eat sensibly, keep up with the biking, and good luck.

So Ton; you eat a fair bit (although that doesn’t seem excessive r paricularly unhealthy), but have a rather sedentary job. And are you still currently losing weight? Has your diet changed significantly from when you were heavier? Do you drink? How much and what?

and a chicken at lunch

Hang on, a whole chicken? 😯

money is unimportant.

Often said by people until it’s their money being spent

What price do you put on a human life?

Tungsten carbide hacksaw blade.

Even that will take **** ages. Grinder is best method, as the high rpm wil b necessary to get through the steel. You might need more than one disc though.

Just out of interest where are you riding that has this much Dog/Cyclist conflicting shared space?

All sorts of places; London, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire, North Wales, the Lakes, Cumbria, Northumberlad, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, and aborad. And I’m tlking about dozens of incidents ver more than 25 years of off road riding. As for ‘control’, despite everything, I’ve never personaly been injured. Probably because I have the skill to be able to ride out a crash. 8)

Oh, and a couple of incidents at least have happned on designated bike trails, where walkers/dogs/children etc aen’t technicaly allowed. Hooning round a bend at high speed, you don’t expect to see a dog running full pelt towards you. 😯

Abus? good luck with that. They’re the toughest locks out there! I know that when I thought I’d lost my key, a set of 36″ bolt cutters did nothing but dmage the rubber coating. 😯

Time and lots of violence with an angle gridner i’d say. I wouldn’t risk buggering up a car jack!

Ton; can I ask you what you do in your normal job, and how much/what do you actually eat in a day?

Only loosers. 🙁

Is he not from round there?

Grham; give it a rest mate. You just want to argue. It’s pointless. I’m sure you fuly understand the pont I’ve made. This is not a very constructive use of our time.

you do need to drive with one eye to the chance that a kid may run out between parked cars

Of course but you simply canot prepare for every single eventuality, or you’d never drive/ride anywhere.

Start making signs of your own

I want one of these:

Sorry to go on – but if you are having “many incidents” like this then you are not riding in control.

Please. What a ridiculous thing to say.
Imagine a scenario where you’re driving your car, and a kid suddenly darts out from behind a parked car. Without sufficent time to react, you crash into the kid, killing/seriously injuring it.

Would you not be in control of your car?

If dogs appearing from the bushes or between parked cars are catching you out then so would children or other wildlife.

Children and wildlife aren’t required, by law, to be under control at al times. Why is this not getting through to you?

I once almost strangled some poor mutt because the stupid extendable lead
So you caused injury to a dog that, ironically enough, would have been absolutely fine if it was not on a lead? I’m not sure that helps your point much!

Yeah; stupidity on the owner’s part was more to blame that time! 😆 The dog was fine, just a little strtled. The owner gave me an earful though. 🙄

Anyway, as I said before; why aregue over something we all agree on anyway?

overhyped

Edison Cavani cost PSG over £50 million, cost more than any England player ever has, yet isn’t as good as Suarez. Massivly hyped though, so it’s not just ‘our’ players; all nations will have similar criticism. Some brazillians i spoke to last night were very critical of most of ther team’s players, with Neymar getting a lot of the flak. And I dare’t broach the subject with any Sapniards at the moment. 😯

this little bit is a bit daft. Plenty of folk have some un-fathomable reaction to animals, that they are all out to kill them!

It’s not always daft. Some people have justifable fear of dogs; my wife witnessed her sister being attacked and badly injured by a dog when they were little, and t’s left her with an understandable fear of large dogs. I have tried to help her with this, by encouraging her to stroke big dogs we encounter when out walking etc, and talking toowners, and she is a lot more comfortable than she used to be, but that fear is still there. Not any dog’s fault now, of course, but part of the responsibility of an owner is to consider such issues, surelY? She now hapily takes a neighbour’s lurcher out for walks on her own, but it’s taken a very long time to get to this stage. All it would take wold be for one idiot to fail to control their dog, she gets terrified, and al that effort will be for nothing. Which would be a massive shame.

Right.. so apparently to you an “out of control” is a dog that can walk about a bit which might result in you having to take “sudden evasive action”

Did you read this bit?

Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

injures someone
makes someone worried that it might injure them

That’s the bit that matters. Obviously, I apply comon sense, and am happy to slow down when I see dogs, but unsurprisingly, the many incidents where I’ve had to take sudden evasive action have been when a dog has suddenly appeared from a position beyond my line of sight (from behind a bush, parked car, suddenly darted out ec). I’ve even crashed into dogs (fortunately never injuring myself). I once almost strangled some poor mutt because the stupid extendable lead (which had been lying on the ground slack, suddenly went taut as the dog darted for something, got caught round my wheel and I ended up dragging the dog several yards until I realised what had hapened. Guess who got the blame for that one? 🙄

The owner’s responsibility is to keep the dog under control.

Sadly, in my expereicne, not enough do.

AnywayI’m done with this pointless argument . I’m sure you understand me quite clearly anyway. We should be discussing ways to make cycling better for everyone, not arguing because some people have a fuzzy knowledge of the law.

My dog is very well trained etc…

Problem is, all dog owners say this. A lot also say ‘oh I’m sorry he’s never done that before/he doesn’t usually do that/I don’t know why he did that etc’ too. I’m not interested in their excuses, I want to be able to ride my bike safely. I don’t know your dog; I have no idea as to it’s habits and the way it reacts. Therefore I cannot be held responsible for it’s behaviour; that’s your job.