Tour de France explained in animated video

@Doctor Darabuka I agree that using a single button for such an array of tasks does necessitate a bit of complexity. But I guess my points are that it wasn't too bad once you get your head around it and practiced a few times; and also the changes made haven't really helped to reduce the complexity, just reduced the amount of functionality that can be achieved. On a small model like the Sirius, it would be a squeeze to try and have more than one button, and would lead to a risk of accidentally pressing the wrong one (especially with gloves on).

I suppose one should expect race-baiting from the batrachoidal oaf but I did leave a comment on his Facebook post of this asking why it was indicative of "Third World decline" when the two miscreants are quite obviously white (and to save Nigel's time, our Nigel that is, yes we all know there are a few majority white countries that can be economically and/or socially classed as Third World; equally we all know what Farage is implying with that language). Surprised he didn't say "what do you expect with the population of London made up the way it is?"

Everyone knows that "advisory" cycle lane just means "residents' parking spaces. It's unbelievable that Active Transport cash has been spent on this, but you only have to travel around Exeter to realise how anti-cycling and anti-public-transport it actually is. Better fix would be to make the bus lanes 24/7 and extend them all the way from the Park and Ride to the city centre / hospitals.

@MountainsofSussex Some great questions. With regards to frame sizing, you certainly could use it to run a larger frame size as you'll be able to gain around 20mm of reach over a 40mm stem plus the a couple more millimetres from the increase height. I guess the question is, what are you trying to achieve with a larger frame size? If the reach has effectively not changed with the new stem, you're only going to increase front-centre which could be changed with an angleset or rear-centre if the frame you run has size proportionate rear-triangles. On the suspension side of things, although I could feel the fork working a little better underneath me I didn't feel the need to change my suspension settings. The rearward weight shift is subtle but no doubt there are situations where some suspension fettling would be beneficial to account for the new riding style.

The "Commuters and Nigel Farage" image is giving me the ick.

Is this another ploy to distract the media from crypto funding sleaze and racist attitudes of many Reform UK candidates? Presumably he will claim that all bike theft is committed by small boats asylum seekers.

I guess a Reform govt could achieve their twin objectives by banning bicycles entirely, and then also not need to stump up the cash for additional prison places.

This was an interesting read. From my experiences in the workplace, lower levels of happiness could be caused by a fairly simple change,such as the appointment of a new operations director, or an initiative to cut budgets. The question then is does the company recognise this and is it willing to act on it? There are many times when I've thought work was stressful and unpleasant, but that was sometimes to be expected and it was what I got paid for, but at least I could leave in the evening and go and do something else such as athletics or cycling. Presumably this is a lot more difficult for professional sportspeople; particularly cyclists who have to spend much of their leisure time sitting or lying down. Cyclists' happiness is also going to be influenced by current performance levels and selection and more roller coaster in nature. Certainly more up and down than many other forms of employment. The happiness scores of female staff and cyclists was higher than males in both the 2023 and 2025 surveys. Could anything useful be learned from this? I think having the regular happiness surveys in place is obviously a major step forward. Clearly there are issues to address. Staff and cyclists witnessing "unacceptable" or "thoughtless" etc behaviour is concerning and needs to be acted upon. But maybe claiming that the culture "Remains toxic" is not a totally accurate description. The satisfaction levels were higher in 2023, before they fell again. Perhaps more frequent surveys at all parts of the Olympic and World Champs cycles are required to gain a more accurate picture?

@Blackthorne83 Have you an inside track or is this just supposition? He's not young and perhaps he is indeed an ar$e. Maybe he's a racist, maybe he isn't. I'm sure it will all come out. If you stick a national jersey on, there is an inevitable responsibility to think more carefully how you speak and behave. Don't get yourself into a position of risk to start with.

@MatzeLoCal Spot on. No request should be necessary. The testers, upon hearing the circumstances, should have 1. Paid respects 2. Rescheduled