Great shame for Williams. There was a rumour in the early 2000’s that BMW wanted to buy a major stake in the team, but Frank refused to sell. I always thought if that had happened they would be still at the top.

BMW invested in the Sauber team instead. After a few years BMW sold the team back to Peter Sauber and left the sport, having got bored with not winning.

Also worth remembering that whilst they had some success in the early 00’s, William’s and BMW won nothing in their last season together, having lost their power advantage of previous years.

Big toe joint.

Had an xray in february which showed soft tissue damage, but no definite fracture.

GP referred to orthopaedics, orthopaedics too busy, with massive waiting list, so referred to advanced podiatrist for ‘early assessment.’ That would have been 6 weeks later but cancelled due to covid.

Disappointed that there is a drop off in activity on this thread. I can only assume you are all out running in the sunshine

Wish that were the case.

Been injured for months and can’t get treatment because of covid.

So Brexit means Brexit but Stay at home means drive 300 miles to see your folkes, and then another 30 for a nice day out at the castle. Right, got it.

Be fair. Dominic, as chief advisor to the government,realised that the meaning of ‘stay at home’ was confusing and had the government change the message to ‘stay alert.’ He also got Boris to issue a statement encouraging people to drive and visit beauty spots and to rely on the common sense of the British people.

All done after his visit to Barnard castle.

Surprised that none of the interviewers are giving him more grief for the eyesight test.

Not sure if safe to drive, so drive 30 miles with your wife and child in the car.

Seasucker and rockbros racks have an infinitely* adjustable wheelbase.

* Length of typical car roofs is substantially less than infinite and may limit bike length on some vehicles.

Which sounds fine for 2.4 ghz, but too short for 27mhz or 40mhz.

Is your radio 2.4ghz?

If you use 2.4ghz the aerials are generally much shorter than for the old 40mhz and 27mhz receivers

Try going for a ride through Edinburgh on a Thursday evening. The streets are lined with people cheering as you ride past. Loads of clapping, pots and pans, and cowbells. It’s amazing.

Only 3 more people have finished the Barkley Marathons than have been to the moon.

Sorry but that’s incorrect.
15 people have finnished Barkley
I’m pretty sure you’ve taken the figure for people who walked on the moon which is 12. There are an additional 10 people that went to the moon but just sat in their lunar modules. So 7 more people have been to the moon than have finnished Barkley.

Edit: Depending on how you define “been to the moon” and which sources you believe you may be able to include a few more. (Should orbiting the planet count as having been to the moon if you didn’t land?)

The stages at mds are moderately sanitised to appeal to the target market of middle aged IT consultants and not particularly extreme, but the details of what happens at the end of the race sound absolutely brutal.

You get on a bus back to the start.

There are 52 runners on the bus and at this point none of the runners have showered or changed clothes for over a week. Many will have experienced runners trots at some point during the event. The temperature is over 40 degrees and the bus journey is more than eight hours.

I’m not the best person to ask for specific charger recommendations. My kit is all quite old now but in the 90’s I spent a lot of money on very high end chargers which would be total overkill for your purposes. Some of my chargers had PC interfaces!

In your situation I’d be looking for a moderately priced charger with adjustable settings from a reputable brand. That would probably be £30-40. Most are designed to work from 12v supplies, so you need either a car battery, or you can adapt an old PC power supply.

Avoid cheap chinese knock off chargers on ebay. Quality of the internal electronics is highly variable. I once bought one to use for lipos and the voltage calibration was way off. I was fortunate that the battery did not catch fire.

The other option is to look at the classified sections of some rc forums. e.g. oople .com

Virtually any charger from the last 15 years will be an improvement over what you currently have.

Noticed that the charger says on the label that it is 1A delta peak.

That is a very low charge current. 5-6 amps would be more typical for fast charging a 3300mah battery. The low current will mean that the delta peak being detected by the charger is 5 times smaller than typical, and the likelihood of a false peak that much higher.

I’m not surprised you are having problems.

Okay, don’t know too much about them. No settings to adjust anyway.

All you can do is check that the leds go to fast charge when connected and the battery doesn’t feel cold when finnished.

As chargers go it’s as cheap as you can get and unfortunately you get what you pay for.

@Harry
You can generally tell if a nimh battery is well charged because it will get warm.

If you are using nimh cells and a traditional deltapeak charger then sometimes they will false peak. Just press the button again to restart the charger. This tends to be more of a problem with cells that haven’t been used for a while. ( for nimh cells the charging voltage drops slightly due to increased internal resistance when they reach full capacity. Deltapeak chargers look for the drop in voltage and stop the charge.)

Some chargers also have a fail safe feature which detects battery voltage. (You’d want different settings for 4 cell packs or lipo.) What that means is that your charger may cut out if the initial battery voltage is too low. say less than 1v per cell.(You should stop driving when the car slows, not when the battery is totally dead). If you keep trying to start the charge again it will generally sort itself out once the cells have enough voltage.

NIMH cells lose charge when stored and work best if charged immediately before use.

What charger are you using?

I would go to A&E.

A&E are still treating people at the moment.

It is probably the only chance you have of getting treatment unless you are Joe Wicks.

I injured my big toe joint in January and followed all of the NHS guidelines which basically say see your gp if it doesn’t heal by itself.

After seeing my gp in February, I was sent to get an xray. 1 week later my gp told me that they could see soft tissue damage but no arthritis to the bone. I was referred to Orthapaedics who sent a letter apologising that the waiting list was more than 3 months long.

Orthopaedics triaged me and referred me to an advanced podiatrist instead for an ‘early assessment.’ Which would have been a 6 week wait.

Then COVID happened and my appointment which would have been mid April was cancelled.

The current situation is that I may if I am lucky get a phone consultation in about 4 weeks with the advanced podiatrist. Orthopaedics are apparently not seeing anybody at the moment.

In the mean time my toe joint still won’t get better and the only treatment I have received is an instruction to rest my foot.

That iracing sounds like Vettel would fit right in now he has some spare time.

Folks – does any 2.4ghz receiver work with any 2.4ghz controller?

No. They need to be compatible.

The prop shaft in the Terra scorcher might as well be made out of spaghetti

Maiden voyage and I ploughed it in to a kerb, and the prop shaft bent.

Any one know if there is a decent after market one that is stronger than wet spaghetti?

I’d suggest that the strength of the concrete kerb is a bigger factor than that of the propshaft. – There will always be something that breaks if you drive into a concrete kerb at speed.

I used to have a Terra scorcher / Thunder dragon when I first started racing in the 90’s and never managed to break the prop shafts despite, running motors that were far more powerful than the standard 540. It’s normally the chassis and front bulkhead that are the weakest link on those cars, The pivots for the suspension arms, and shocks would occasionally bend as well. Wishbones didn’t break but would stretch and become deformed with repeated impacts.

I’m not aware of anybody that makes a stronger propshaft for that car, but it is pretty unusual for them to break. I would just replace it (if you can’t straighten it well enough to avoid vibration) but check your chassis, because in order to transfer axial load to the propshaft in a head on impact the chassis needs to deflect a lot, which it won’t usually do without breaking. There will probably be cracks around the screw heads where the front gearbox attaches.

The most important mod on those cars was to the battery holders, I used to add elastic bands as otherwise the things would flex and the batterys would fly out.

Having not tried anything else I can’t see what the handling problems are supposed to be with the Grasshopper

Imagine you were a downhill mountain biker and that the only mountain bike you had ever tried was an entry level model made by Raleigh over 30 years ago. Every kid wanted a Raleigh in the 80’s but they were always a bit rubbish and are in no way comparable to a more modern machine. This is the RC car equivalent.

You buy a Tamiya Hornet or Grasshopper for nostalgia, and because they are still quite fun. You don’t buy them for performance.

If you are using modern lipo batteries and electronics, then these will be lighter than the original nicad cells that the cars were designed for so the weight distribution will be wrong and will reduce front end grip. You can add lead weight to help with the power understeer, although that was always a feature of the cars.

I had one of those terra nova bum bags a few years back which I bought for fell running.

The problem I found is if you add more than a few hundred grams of weight it bounces and chafes when running, but if you don’t pack it full enough then at 6 litres there is too much volume inside and everything still bounces anyway. Was okay for walking or for carrying something light and bulky like a down jacket but somewhat limited in practice. Not sure about cycling as never tried using it for that purpose.

Other annoying things were that the straps were excessively long, and the zip was weak and failed prematurely.

They are cheap for a reason.

Are you mechanically minded and prepared to consider a cheap 20 year old wreck as a plaything?

Isuzu used to sell a 4×4 called the Bighorn in Japan (known as the trooper in the uk) with options for a removable bedding platform, sink and small camping stove in the back. It was intended for pretty much what you are suggesting (but with more fishing). Lots of them were imported to the uk. The model variant was called “Plaisir” (yes, that’s french for pleasure) “Bighorn Plaisir” was often written down the sides of the vehicles in very large letters.

Some R reg Isuzu Bighorn pleasure could be yours for less than the price of a decent bicycle. They are pretty bullet proof and unlike a more modern vehicle are relatively easy to fix with simple tools, which is exactly what you want if you are going to be playing offroad. – You will get stuck and damage your vehicle at some point.

Using the theory of n+1 you can then spend most of your money on a decent car with a less ridiculous name to use day to day. (I know you said you only have 2 spaces on the drive. but some of us manage without a drive at all.) A proper car will be much better on the road.

The optional platform in the back of the Isuzu creates a level load area when the seats are folded but with storage space underneath. You can replicate the idea with a few bits of timber in virtually any vehicle with folding rear seats, which opens up a range of other old 4×4’s for consideration.

I read this and thought, this sounds like the op needs a fixed gear hub. Losing the freewheel is the only way to get rid of freewheel noise completely.

But then I thought any chain noise and bottom bracket squeaks might still bother him so maybe a penny farthing would be better.

Then it hit me. No child has ever complained that their balance bike was too loud.

The op can convert his bike to a balance bike at no expense by simply removing the drive train components and lowering the saddle. He doesn’t even need to change the hub as the free hub won’t rotate without the chain fitted.

Once he has ridden it in public a few times, marvelled at the silence and been sufficiently ridiculed he will hopefully realise that the free hub noise really wasn’t that bad.

(Disclaimer: Some people are highly tolerant to ridicule as proven by the existence of mamils, so this approach may not work in all cases.)

Seriously OP. Just ride your bike. No bike is ever totally silent.

Cheers for the replies. It’s all very weird as it really has been very quiet round here and I don’t even own a set of speakers. Hence my complete surprise when the police arrived complaining about noise.

I live near the centre of Edinburgh and background noise levels are usually pretty high so you don’t expect silence, but have been here 5 years and loud music is really rare to hear. It’s the quietest block of flats I’ve ever lived in.

We actually get gunfire noise from the tattoo and fireworks throughout the festival and there are complaints from locals every year. A Jacobite revolution is much louder than the music I heard yesterday, even a mile away and definitely in breach of noise restrictions. Tends to set off a few dogs in the flats too. Strangely enough, the police have yet to storm the castle. Also get lots of racket from seagulls which sit on the chimney yet no seagulls have been cautioned.

I guess that if the police are looking for parties in breach of lockdown at the moment then that makes sense. Still think it’s a bit intrusive the police taking details when there is no evidence of a crime.

Mostly though, i don’t understand the neighbour’s and how they ended up giving the police my flat number in the first place. If loud noise was bothering me, I’d at least try and talk to the neighbours first before calling the police. If they had gone anywhere remotely near the door of my flat it would have been blatantly obvious that there was no noise coming from either my flat or any of the other flats on the same floor.

I don’t see why you need to nitrogen charge it.

At a guess, the reason for using nitrogen is that air has water in it which causes problems at high temperatures. Oxygen can also react with rubber seals at high temps. Nitrogen will give more consistant results.

Same reason that f1 tires don’t use air but whether it makes any difference in practice will depend on how hot the shock gets. I suspect it makes more difference when fitted to a tanks as the original shockabsorber design was.

Think I read elsewhere that he’d switched to argon, rather than nitrogen.

I’m sure I read that his downhill bike was only 130mm rear travel

I read 150mm

Also the op mentions having an awkward foot shape with long toes. Make sure that the ball of your foot sits in the right place in your shoes, especially with spds.

Two possible causes of numbness spring to mind. Pressure on nerves and poor circulation.

Tight and stiff shoes may be problematic as they keep your foot in a static position which doesn’t help circulation and may also increase pressure on nerves.

Anything which causes your feet to swell may be problematic.

Recovery protocols generally reccomend sitting with the feet elevated to both remove weight and improve the circulation.

Therefore a recumbant bike and some open toed sandal should solve all if your problems. In extreme cases a recumbent ebike may be needed.

Obviously this assumes that your feet aren’t going numb due to cold.

More seriously I would look at shoes and insoles first. Whatever shoes you have need to apply pressure in the right distribution. Soft shoes and insoles apply more even pressure over the sole of the foot, but the squishy bits of the foot aren’t designed to be load bearing so overly soft shoes or insoles can affect the nerves and circulation.

You need a fairly firm shoe and insole with the correct shape which supports the foot in the correct places without creating areas of excess pressure.

If your back is sore and your hand are numb is does sound like you are pitched (falling) forward into a too aggressive position for your body condition.

Try saddle a bit more forward to support you more and get a higher rise stem before you give up on the bike.

I thought exactly the same when I had a similar issue (also accompanied with a numb groin). But I was wrong.

After giving in and getting a professional fit. The answer for me was actually the complete opposite. The fitter moved my saddle backwards almost as far as it would go and dropped it by 5mm. They lowered my stem by about 25mm. Moving the saddle back meant more weight on the saddle and less on the arms, together with an improved hip angle. This meant that my back and core muscles were doing less work and my spine was much more relaxed with a more natural curvature. The difference for me was like night and day. After a few rides, the position got even more comfortable as my flexibility improved.

@13thfloormonk. The logic of being in a position which you can remove your hands from the bars whilst supporting your weight with your core is about guaranteeing that you are riding in a position where your hips are stable and the core and arms are not overworked. Your weight should be supported by the saddle, not your arms.

If you need to use your arms to support a lot of weight, or stabilise your body then your arms and back and core will soon fatigue (unless tribars are used). It is the opposite of trying to work your core as hard as possible.

Scottish system is a nightmare for buyers. Unlike in England you are obliged to make an offer through a solicitor who is supposed to advise you, but usually won’t get paid anything for an unsuccessful offer on a property. This means they generally aren’t particularly helpful as the majority of bids in popular areas will fail and waste their time. They just say to bid higher.

It also makes it impossible to put in speculative offers until you get a property at a good price. I had my solicitor ranting at me for wasting their time with what they considered a low offer on just my 2nd property bid. I was a cash buyer and wanted to offer 20% over home report which seemed sensible to me. All they would tell me was to bid as much as possible whilst refusing to advise what was realistic.

With the sealed bid system you have no choice but to bid high, and buyers are effectively gambling. The seller wins every time.

The English system where there is back and forth till a price is agreed is much fairer.

Hopefully there will be a glut of air bnb’s for sale in Edinburgh soon and prices will plummet.

I recall reading that the Zero 29er is designed for relatively large tyres for a 29er hardtail (2.5’s). The bottom bracket drop is adjusted to suit. Running smaller tyres will lower the bb.

The answer to most skilled could well be ultra endurance cyclists. (The self supported ones.)

They do far more than just ride a bike so must have more skills.

During an event bmx and downhill riders don’t have to worry about navigation, logistics, nutrition, fixing mechanicals against the clock, extreme sleep deprivation (which reduces the percentage of the cyclists total skill available for immediate use), sleep management, blister treatment, selecting the best hedge or ditch to bivvy in etc.

Concept 2 rowers looking a bit pricey at the moment. Factory is on shut down and second hand units are going for twice the retail price on Ebay.

Are cheaper models really that bad?

Turning into a right fat git. Injured my foot in January and won’t heal.

Waiting list to see an orthopaedic specialist was over three months before corona virus kicked in. Appointment now postponed indefinitely.

Not even a proper injury just a stupid lingering niggle, which aches all the time and hurts when I bend my toe with load applied. Any activity involving shoes aggravates it. Rest seems to make little difference.

The arch of the other foot has now also weakened and started collapsing and occasionally going numb as a bonus.

Was running 50 miles a week + circuit training but now doing nothing other than the occasional walk to the supermarket. Gaining roughly 1kg per week, and also losing muscle mass.

edit too slow – internet lagging a bit here

FFS. Finally got the bag. – Had been including “the” in the title by mistake.
Bag belongs to a very robust individual.

cheers jimdubleyou. – had tried that but my spelling must have been off.

z1ppy – I have the shadows just wasn’t sure If the cat was related. I don’t have the mug or cat.

wobbliscott I think you may be short of more answers in the area of the pizza box. Should be 2 on the box itself. + 1 on the adjacent beverage + 2 on the pile of carbohydrate squares in front.

Look at the features of the parrot.

dog is a well known American sitcom

I’m at 43.

Missing :

Rug
pope in window
beware of the…
newspaper rack in corner
cat with bread either side (unless it is linked to the shadows behind)
pink bunny ears
martin’s mug
purple backpack

(one of those isn’t a clue)

Typical single track. 1st post asks for no spoilers. 2nd post follows with an immediate spoiler.

Got to 41, but really struggling now.

Trimmed mine with clippers a couple of days ago. Don’t use a guard as I never seem to get an even finish with the guard and it looks marginally less bad. Haven’t shaved for a couple of days either.

Walking through the city centre earlier today to get shopping with rucksack on my back, a random bloke approached me and advised that the homeless charity across the road were open and I should go and get a free sandwich.

I’m sure there was another thread on this exact subject very recently, but strangely can’t see anything on the search.