pitcheroak golf club, 3rd green! :oops:

…. yes, forgot to mention that they used to cover hundreds of liason miles, rally gb (rac) was all over the country and what about the 1000 lakes in finland, they’d probably have to call it 25 lakes now.

nope, wrc died when it became a television show. years ago they ran proper events and the tv companies had to do their best to keep up, it’s now made for tv, running stages twice, friday to sunday dinnertime, no night stages, piss poor. imo :(

i built my own house a couple of years ago and as building regs requires integral garages be insulated on three sides and in the ceiling i decided to insulate the door too (20mm celotex) and have a radiator in there running on the central heating. it’s governed by the house stat so only on if heating is required in the house but last year when it was -5c outside my garage was 17c… toasty.

nunuboogie – Do you have more photos or could you send me the plans?

yeah i’ll get something to you later, the email in your profile?

i got this

in van mode everything goes in the back

did a diy conversion, takes about 10 minutes to convert to camper mode, then i use a two bike rack on the back. swapped twin passenger seat for single and both swivel.

it will stretch and stretch and stretch some more, if you’re using skewers you’ll need the tug again.

s – How old are your icecubes?

how old are my icecubes?, HOW ******* OLD ARE MY ******* ICECUBES?….i don’t think i can stomach any more inane threads, i gotta find a new forum :(

rOcKeTdOg – you can buy the first lottery ticket that gives you the chance to have the first bid

deal :mrgreen:

rOcKeTdOg – p.s. it’s not for sale

didn’t think it would be but never say never rd, never say never! question is, can i get 1st dibs if it ever was?

very dissapointed with the coverage, i only watch the highlights but it seems to have gone all corporate and arty. loads of shots of the new mini, why?, it’s nowehere, so bmw are paying extra! quick aerial shots from the stage them cut to elongated interviews with everyone and his dog, piss poor, gone the same way as wrc.

presumably the standard alfine tensioner will do the job too?

oh xckeith1 you makes i larf!

mtbmaff –
That Maverick is lush!

urt init? :wink:

i run mine on a slot dropout inbred, don’t use a tug just whack the nuts up tight and haven’t had a problem even with my 97kg weight on the pedals.

my bug bear is having to line the wheel up and reset the brake caliper every time it’s removed, admittedly that isn’t too often but my next frame will have vertical dropouts, either adjustable (kona/salsa) or ebb (niner/singular).

ahwiles – give me a bicycle component and i will weigh it.

it’s entirely relevant, because i want to know what it weighs, because i’m curious – is that ok?

peace brother, it’s a free world. you commented on my thread and used “but”, i was simply defending my decision, that’s all :-)

ahwiles – stumcgroo’s thread is brilliant, and a link to it should be used as the standard response to any ‘weight / weight shift’ waffle about alfine.

but, he hasn’t provided a weight for the hub itself, so i’m keen to see for myself…

that’s because it’s irrelevant. without a bike to put it in you’ve just got an expensive door top. too many people talk bollocks about the weight of the hub when they should be looking at the whole package.

go buy some tools and have a play… it’s a bicycle not rocket science!

Clink – Preferably £400 or less

if it was me… ashcycles.com, full bike £789.99, take everything off and sell as brand new, alot of people are looking to build 29ers, you’d get your frame for “£400 or less”

or give me £500 and i’ll buy it and give you the frame :-)

Clink – Because I want…. cheap…..any other suggestions?

how cheap?

Clink – Anyone else any ideas??

you’ve got all the bits so why not buy a frame from one of the zillions of uber niche frame-only manufacturers?

robdob, you already said what you want, anything else is a compromise.

hmmm… presumably before you became a new dad you also liked shagging but that ain’t on the list now :wink:

All of ’em

had this problem from my kitchen the other day, just poured a few litres of warm (not hot) water on the external pipework, started to trickle from the pipe into the drain, ran hot water in the kitchen then and within 2 minutes all was fine, simples.

rOcKeTdOg, i keep changing bits on my bike just to bump your thread back to the front, latest incarnation has alfine. taken a few days ago, before the snow!

There seems to be a break in the posts so I’ll attempt to respond.

First of all I did this out of my own curiosity, I expected the usual piss taking but was surprised by the compliments so thanks for that.

A few of you have commented on the weight of the bike. It’s a large frame and it’s cheap and that’s the actual weight not some manufacturer or media bullshit. I did weigh the finished article on a second set of scales at 20 odd grams lighter but 19g of that is excess cable that I removed so they’re pretty close.

However this is a before and after comparison experiment so the weight of the bike is irrelevant, if it had weighed 19.63lbs before it’d now weigh 19.64lbs.

Also, there have been some references to Rohloff, obviously this little experiment only relates to Alfine. I have no experience of Rohloff so shouldn’t comment but from the opinions of others it would seem heavier and suffer more with drag. Personally speaking the cost of Rohloff makes it a non-starter.

As for the weight shift, which I must stress is the balance point of the bike not the centre of gravity, I’ve added some amendments at the end of this post. I’m sure better riders than me will feel the difference, so far I haven’t noticed it that much but riding conditions are all over the place at the moment. Also the heaviest component on my bike is me, at 97kg and I’m moving all over the place so counter balancing a 33mm* shift isn’t proving too difficult

* see amendment

woody2000 – Aaah, bless you Stu McGroo. I’d love to have that much free time

I know, great isn’t it, you can have everything in the world but without time you have nothing!

cynic-al – You’ve cheated in saving weight by using 185mm spokes, they should be 260-something?

Sorry al, typo error, but edited in time so no one knows what you’re on about

alexpalacefan – Nice post Stu, you should be writing this sort of stuff for publication, not free on a forum.

No can do, I’d get the sack for using facts and refusing to tow the corporate (bullshit) line and capitulating to the demands of advertisers!

pypdjl – I’m unconvinced by those weights! You’ll also need to carry a 15mm spanner, so that’s another 200 grams or so…

Unconvinced based on what? What did your experiment turn up then? Feel free to be unconvinced but please back it up! As for the spanner, here it is with the open end ground off.

Fits nicely in my tool kit along with full set of allen keys, Gerber suspension multi-tool, chain splitter, spare links, puncture repair kit, spare tube, zip ties, velcro straps, rag, tyre levers and pump. Then there’s a bag of jelly babies, 3 or 4 mars bars and 2 litres of water in the camel back, all of which is carried by me at 6’4” and 97kg. The spanner weighs 63g so I don’t think it’ll make much difference!

BenjiM – I may have missed something but You’re comparing weights with triple rings up front to a single ring up front, regardless of ratios this would still contribute a considerable weight difference no?

Not considerable but it all adds up, took 3 rings off (24/32/42) and added a 32 single speed ring that is a bit thicker.

rOcKeTdOg – I thought you’d given up riding stu, how much for the 10 speed stuff?

Why? you’ll be getting an Alfine :wink:

chalkstorm – Lovin the post McGroo…… but really, gears? HTF did you pursuade xckeith to get involved….?

He has no morals, it’s all a sham 8O

Space Cowboy – Wouldn’t it look better in purple?

No, it’d look gay, obviously :wink:

s-keeper -I’d be a bit worried using 5mm chainring spacers to get the correct chainline.

I’m not, been ok so far, but I’ll keep you posted.

Northwind – Oh, and sorry but
“Fitted 32T chainring and 20T rear sprocket, this gives me the same range as a middle ring x 1-9 + granny ring x 2 on my previous SLX set-up.”
I have no idea what this means Probably just me being dense but could you clarify it a bit?

Ok I’ll have another go, 32:20 on my Alfine gives me the same range as 32:13 down to 24:30 (10 gears in all) on my SLX. 32:18 with be equivalent to 32:11 down to 32:34. That’s the best I can do, if you still don’t get it then yes, you’re probably right.

ade ward

you need help 8O

BadlyWiredDog – So… the end result of this, predictably, is that on paper there’s not much difference

From what I’ve been reading over the last 12 months on STW I thought the result was anything but predictable! And from the responses I’ve seen here I think there’s a fair few who are surprised.

Sorry if I’ve missed anyone out.

Now the extra weight shift stuff. My measurement of rearward weight shift along the top tube didn’t take account of the top tube being 17.7 degrees to the horizontal. If you’re sad you do this

and then you can see that the actual rearward weight shift in the horizontal plane is only 31.4mm.

Furthermore, with the SLX set-up my rear wheel was on the stops at the front of the dropout. If I’d adjusted it to the center of the dropout (like it is now) then the difference in the before and after weight shift measurements would be less still.

2. Yes

Edric 64 – The journo interviewing Nick Clegg just said people have been putting dog shit through your door!!! and no apology afterwards !! Is this the lowest common denominator ITV of yesterdays thread?

so let me get this right… you haven’t got a problem with the fact that people would put dog shit through someone’s letter box but you have got a problem with it being referred to as dog shit? what a strange **** up world we live in!

Del – You should find a combination of washers that will put the cable in a good orientation.

yeah thought about using the different non-turn washers so that the cassette joint is pointing more upwards, can’t see any problem in doing that other than cable/chain interference. i’ll have a play later. :-)

stooo, i’m in the process of fitting alfine to my inbred 29er, just waiting for spokes. i wanted to route my gear cable along top tube and down seat stay but with the cassette joint in-line with the chain stay thought it may have been to sharp a bend in the cable. am i right in thinking you have done this?

cheers, stu.

SpokesCycles – How can you have ratios that are “too close”? They’re exactly the same as a 9spd 11-32 if you have the 11-36 cassette. If you have a 10spd 11-32 then surely you’re just in the perfect gear all the time?

What a strange issue to have.

well, i’m running 11-34 and all i know is that when i hit a hill and need to grab a lower gear then in most cases one jump ain’t enough. furthermore, as the shifter is designed to shift three cogs with one push it’s a fair assumption that rather than being a strange issue this is in fact what shimano were expecting!

gone right off my 10 speed, i think the ratios are too close, i’ve started shifting 2 at a time which is much better, still haven’t been out of middle ring so effectively i’m now only running a 1×5. fitting an 8 speed alfine this week, that might do the trick!

So was I but they still go for stupid money so gave up and got a brand new one for less than I’ve seem them on eBay… Sometimes people just don’t look around enough!

ssboggy – don’t bother with any chain tugs at all

doh, didn’t even think of that, it was always ok on our self-built trackers as kids!

while i’m asking questions, what chain should i use, is there a specific width for the standard alfine hub? hoping the reply is 1/8th as i’ve got a betd chainring lined up!

futon river crossing – D’you want to sell it

ask me in 3 weeks!!

no mate, gave up waiting!

cynic-al – I see your point stu but in realization many folk who are concerned about weight and thinking of an alfine will be running decent kit eg XT

you’re probaly right al and if that’s the case there’s no contest, not until they produce alfine xtr!! on saying that, when you’re riding in proper sticky conditions and you’ve got 1/2kg of mud attached to your ghost shifting derailleurs you’d be glad of an alfine.

btw got my new alfine today (couldn’t wait any longer for the 11 speed) and i was a bit surprised by how heavy it feels when i took it out of the box 8O

cynic-al – +350gm according to this

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=520896

in comparing weights it’s not fair to play xt/x9 off against alfine.

pricewise, alfine is comparable to deore, then i think you’ll find the total increase in weight is less that 100g.

if you don’t like your job the sense of relief when they finally accept your request is overwhelming!

EDIT: just seen your latest post:

me from 22 years in engineering to self employed property refurbishment leading to new-build for the last 6 years.

mrs mcgroo from 15 years in IT to adult social care private and public sector for last 7 years.

elfinsafety… do your mummy and daddy know that you’re still on-line hours after they’ve tucked you in?