Wheel weight due to rotational weight and my belief that the lower the rotational weight the quicker you will accelerate – or have I got that wrong?

At the risk of sounding uneducated / controversial how much difference does bike weight make to the average amateur rider? My £800 tiagra equipped 10 / 10.5 kg base model road bike seems to do me well enough – I’m just curious if its marketing hype or willy waiving? Don’t get me wrong I’m not criticising anyone for spending ££££s on a road bike I’m just curious what the actual improvement in performance is?

I see the benefit of expensive light weight / quick rolling wheels but struggle to see what difference overall bike weight makes when many of us weigh upwards of 180lbs?

Does the 130i LE come with the 216 style alloys with “BMW Motorsport” written on them? If so I have them on my current 3 series – look nice but a bugger to clean.

iamsporticus – have you done the trip yet? I’m curious if you got 2 bikes in?

For a quick trip to the LBS I ususally pop both wheels off and put the bike across the back seat as not to advertise to the local thieves, two or more and it’s a roof bar job for me. Being sceptical without folding seats I don’t see two bikes sitting that nicely together on the backseat plus the wheels and kit all fitting in the boot…I hope to be told I’m wrong!!

I’ve got a 34/50 and I ride up 20% climbs / arrows or double arrows on an ordance survey mapy.

I too get can get up the hills on a 25T but that requires mashing the pedals and at times getting out of the saddle. Using an MTB cassette takes stress off my knees and allows me to spin much faster and doesn’t leave me feeling exhausted at the top of a long climb.

I’ve clicked “buy” on the 34T.

I’ve got one of those in the car… but it doesn’t help with weightloss world.

That looks ace providing there is enough mud clearance between the wheel and the guard as from the photo it looks quite tight.

I was static last week and saw 4lbs drop this week.

I know that feeling! It’s a lifestyle change – my downfall is portion control and anything along the lines of cakes / biscuits / puddings.

I want to lose another 3 or 4 pounds and then maintain it.

A moment of self appreciation… 6.6 kg lost so far (a stone in old money!!)

There are various articles on non-runflat vs. runflat and many contradictions.

1) If the suspension is tuned for runflat tyres why is there an option for non runflat tyres, and do we really think BMW fits different suspension on depending on which tyres were selected?

2) Runflats give a horrible ride; my better half’s 1 series is currently running on non-runflat winter tyres and the difference in comfort is significant (this is an SE on 16″ tyres)

3) Runflats are expensive and can be hard to get hold of in a hurry; whilst you can drive on a flat you are limited to 150 miles or so and if on a long journey you are likely to be held to ransom by the nearest tyre place.

There is a reason why most other manufacturers have ignored the RFT technology; I’m a big BM fan but I believe they made a mistake in adopting and pushing the RFT technology.

I must stop looking at BMW’s website… there are some very nice looking 530d M Sports on there, surprisingly there isn’t much difference between 18 and 19″ tyre prices (They are still circa £200-£250 each)

Opportunity for a few more STWers to experience BM ownership…

Exactly this – appearances can be deceptive

Never be envious of anyone’s possessions as you don’t know how they’ve achieved them. Big Salary or lucky break, well done to you. Credit card / loan, ok. Nice car kids in rags, not good.

TimC just what I was thinking – my parents only have small family hatchbacks but I guess times have changed and admittedly I know nothing about bringing up children nor how much stuff needs to be carted around.

The average STWer… This could prompt a debate but it’s down to how we each want to spend our hard earned… I’ve always like cars. I’ve only bought one new car in my life, never again now I wait until they are 3 or 4 years old and buy around the 15k mark – owning it for three years I probably lose as much in depreciation. As the average Joe spends on 3 years lease / HP who then has to give their car back. Perhaps when I have a family I won’t have the cash to spend on a car or if I run into financial trouble I will just get shot of it but until then I’ll happily spend my cash on cars and bikes

I hadn’t considered getting the power down in the wet and given the choice I’d rather a manual than an auto which would rule the 335d out but there is always that niggle that I didn’t have the top of the range model albeit top of the range derv.

Flange – I dread to think how much your 20″ rubber costs to replace – my 18″s are bad enough.

I’m not in a rush so will wait for the right one to come along, whilst I’m sure I will pay through the nose for it I will get one from a BM dealer with an approved used warranty and being sensible it may well be a late 330d with the more efficient engine and 245BHP.

I currently have an E90 320d so have decided it needs to be the tourer next time or at the least a saloon with the folding seats option.

I’m a little nervous about remapping in terms of extra load on the turbo / running gear / extra insurance costs etc. The 325d I’d ruled out as unless I go for a late 2010 it will be 197BHP which isn’t much more than the 320d.

A five series… that would be nice… (time to waste more time on BM’s approved used site!!)

Exposure Maxx Ds are good; that reminds me I need to sell my spare Maxx D.

Kryton57 – I had a similar issue last week; a puncture in an RFT that couldn’t be fixed with a minor repair.

Aside from spending several days trying to find a tyre supplier with the right size and rating to match the other side (255-25-18 Y) I’ve only replaced the punctured tyre, the other has 5 to 6mm remaining and at £230 ish a corner I’m not throwing away a perfectly good tyre.

I’ve driven around 400 miles already and not noticed any negative effects.

Thanks All – that’s my mind made up – LBS it is.

Its not the shock bush as the shock is just back from Mojo with new parts fitted and being a 2011 frame it only has a bush on one end as the other end bolts straight into the linkage.

I guess 12 to 15 months use in the wet UK weather conditions is acceptable for a set of frame bearings.

You can imagine the service report sheet on the next service:
– New wheel bearings due to water ingress
– New bottom bracket due to water ingress
– New headset due to water ingress.
– Forks: Lowers contaminated with water.

Recommendations: Do not wash the bike with a pressure hose, do not direct water at the fork seals etc etc

It always makes me wonder why they install pressure washers at trail centres?

this is the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the megane: http://www.meganeownersclub.co.uk/changingmeganebulb.php

I wonder how many other simple things they have messed up.

I’m not a Renault fan… but this is on a par with my 3 series, the exception being you can just about get the inner arch flap open with the wheel on full lock rather than taking the wheel off (just as well as BM don’t give you a jack)

Thanks for the good replies and also the offer Clubber may well take you up on it.

I’ve found a few PPTs and PDFs that coupled with these replies have given me enough information for now. My question was more generic than for a specific SAP product / module as i am curious about key considerations for a successful implementation; short version seems to be get your business processes in order first, clarify the business requirements, give early consideration to how to perform the data migration from legacy systems and adapt your business processes to SAP rather than adapting SAP to your business processes (unless you want huge customisation costs and higher ongoing maintenance costs)

Sub 7 minutes?! I was pleased with 2000m in 8 minutes dead… not anymore :roll:

I tend to row at 20 to 22 SPM with the odd 2 minute interval sprint at 26 SPM with a rhythm of trying to power backwards within 1 second and “slowly” returning to the start position over a 2 second period.

Being a geek and somewhat obsessive I’ve just had the other half measure me (not my under carriage) chest, fatest part of the tummy and my waist to serve as motivation if I don’t see my weight dropping I will hopefully see the chest increase (t-shirt training) and the others reduce.

I wondered how long it would be before there was references to snow and winter tyres…

£2400 – well if people will insist on buying a fancy set of alloys wheels from BM… I picked up a genuine set of BM alloys and almost new non-runflat tyres for £450 on eBay so if you brother in law looks at the second hand options he will get a much more reasonable price.

This said though £2400 is a fraction of the value of the car and one low speed slide into a curb is likely to do far more damage. You makes choices and you takes your chances…

Having experienced winter tyres for the first time on snow / ice my personal opinion is the Government should make them mandatory in the winter months – braking and steering isn’t far off what you’d expect on wet tarmac.

This is normally a road…

I’ve got a 2011 SJ, the 420sl can be run tubeless with just the spesh 2bliss tyres and rim tape (mine were ready taped with blue tape). However the 420sl wheels are well… crap. I had free hub problems within a few rides and after a few more rides bent both rims.

I replaced them with Hope hoops on Stans flow rims – the wheels are strong and you can get front hub adapters to continue using the RWS skewer.

Snow update?! what about a food update? I just went to do our usual mid-week milk & bread shop and Sainsbury’s looked like it had been looted.

If money wasn’t a limiting factor:
1) RR Sport
2) BMW M5 Touring
3) Aston DB7

Now back to down to Earth realistically it will be a 330d or 335d Touring one size fits all this time next year.

1) have a posh w**k (treat yourself)
2) walk into Vodka Revolution and comment on how young everyone else is
3) stand naked in front of the mirror and take a mental photo… It’s downhill from here
4) accept your metabolism has just come to a standstill
5) wait an hour or two and have another w**k to prove to yourself you’ve still got it

Well that’s good to hear.. So recommendations for Chinese torches?

That would explain it – thanks! At £30 to £40 quid for the FSA BB I decided to buy a Tiagra crankset for £60.

My definition of cheap running costs is cheaper than Audi or BMW, plus the small tyres can’t be too expensive either.

I had the “mis-fortune” to be taken for a quick blast in a GT86 with my mate driving… frightened the sh*t out of me on country lanes, feels quicker than the paper statistics suggest and stuck well to the road (fortunately).

Would I buy one? For 20 to 25K I’d rather sink my money into a used Boxster, Caymen or even 911.

The benefit of the Toyota is that the running costs are likely to be low and reliability excellent.

Whether or not the snow comes the temperatures are looking very cold next week so hopefully we will have hard ground to ride on for a change!

The craving for snacks, chocolate, cake and beer are growing stronger… My will power is going to be tested!

Try connecting the screen before turning on the laptop as by default if it’s connected before power on it should output the monitor if you close the lid quickly after pressing the power button.

Is there a Maplins near you? they do a good range or relatively cheap caddies.

This is going to be hardwork… eggs eggs and more eggs followed by sweat sessions in the indoor prison gym – it’s even a workout getting my t-shirt off afterwards.

Whilst not the same fork I have dual air revelations and find they only need 5 PSI extra in the negative chamber to be buttery smooth and apart from being on the road I leave the fully unlocked.

The 2013 forks with a single air input in my opinion lack feel and adjustability.

I think 15 PSI difference between the chambers is too much as you may lose some travel with that difference; it would be worth starting with them even.