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hawkinspeter
leqin wrote:I have owned 3 stems that had titanium bolts when purchased and all three of them suffered from snapping bolts, despite that fact they were tightened to the manufacturers recomended torque.Any chance of sharing those manufacturers so that we can avoid them and you could maybe save someone a serious injury?
hawkinspeter
Depends on the wheel, but in
Depends on the wheel, but in general there’s no problem with carbon wheels.
This video will give you a good idea of how robust they can be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfjjiHGuHoc
hawkinspeter
I think they’re shooting
I think they’re shooting themselves in the foot. Temporarily, some people will cough up the cash if they’re interested in chasing down the KOM/QOMs but the fastest people are only going to be a tiny percentage of their total users.
I think they charge too much for the service and this move is surely opening the door to competitors. The difficulty for competitors is getting people to move their data from Strava to a different platform – shouldn’t be too difficult.
Personally, I don’t care enough about segments to fork out cold, hard cash, but it is fun sometimes to compare my speed with the approx 10 people I follow/am followed by.
hawkinspeter
I’ve got the carbon Prime
I’ve got the carbon Prime Primevera bars and they’re great. I doubt that the aero style gives me any noticeable benefit, but they are comfy and look fast. I wouldn’t bother getting metal aero bars unless you’re a real speed demon on a tight budget.
hawkinspeter
I think there used to be some
I think there used to be some vague guidance about 15mph being the speed limit, but it’s not legislated at all. 15mph sounds like a reasonable speed, so if you’re going quicker then it’s best to stick to the roads (despite what Welsh boy says).
It’s probably best to not respond to intolerant motorists, but you could always say that you don’t want to run into any children using the cycle-path and that you hope the motorist is as considerate to vulnerable traffic and pedestrians.
hawkinspeter
OnTheRopes wrote:Well if the photo on the report is anything to go by it looks pretty unsuitable for cycling, in the summer months I imagine dogs, kids with ice creams and no spatial awareness, families walking as a group, people in wheelchairs etc.A few people on bikes is one thing but it is not the place for training rides if that is what has happened.
What you’ve got to be really careful of is when there’s dogs with ice creams being chased by kids.
hawkinspeter
I think the theory is
I think the theory is probably more interesting (in a nerdy way) that the actual experiment as it’s a bit underwhelming.
Here’s a handy explainer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcqZHYo7ONs
or
hawkinspeter
Kapelmuur wrote:How can you tell whether lenses are Polarised?I have a drawer full of sunnies some of which were sold as Polarised but the labels have come off and I don’t remember which is which.
If you’ve got a device with an LCD display like a watch or calculator (I think phones will work too), then look at it through a lens and then turn the lens – if it’s polarised the display (which is polarised) will turn black. Similarly, if you’ve got one known polarised lens, then putting that in front of another lens and turning it will also make it block light at certain angles.
Another way is to find somewhere that there’s lots of glare from a wet road or lake or something horizontal and again, turn the unknown lens and at certain angles it will block the glare.
A “fun” trick if you’ve got three polarised lenses is to demonstrate how light is quantum and not classical – put the three lenses so that they overlap at different angles. Where there’s no overlap, lots of light can pass; where there’s two lenses overlapping hardly any light will pass, but where all three overlap, there’ll be more light transmitted than with just two overlapping.
hawkinspeter
I second what Joe Totale said
I second what Joe Totale said. There’s two main types – 2 hole MTB (SPD) and 3 hold road bike (SPD-SL).
I use single-sided SPD pedals (they’re Shimano road/touring style) on my road bike as I find that being able to walk in my shoes more important than other considerations. I’ve previously used double-sided MTB pedals on my road bike and they work great too.
I recently got a pair of Bont MTB shoes which are great – you pop them in the oven for a bit and then mould them to your feet (use socks and wait for them to not be too hot). They’re also a great combination of being okay to walk in and very stiff (good for pedalling efficiency).
By the way, clipping into pedals isn’t that much of an issue once you’ve used them for a while, but un-clipping is the thing that you really need to practise so it becomes second nature. There’s nothing funnier than seeing someone come to a stop, then slowly fall over to the side as they’ve forgotten how to get their foot free.
hawkinspeter
You’re talking yourself out
You’re talking yourself out of it now.
hawkinspeter
The fact that you’re asking
The fact that you’re asking the question means that you really want it.The question is what else would you spend that same money on that you’d value more than a nice new jacket?
I agree with Welsh boy – as long as the money is disposable (don’t get into debt/more debt for it) then why not?
My most expensive clothing is an old Gore-Tex rain jacket that was just over £200 a long time ago. Unfortunately, I came off on the “Cheesegrater” bridge by Bristol Temple Meads Station and ripped a small hole in the sleeve after only a week or two of owning it. Luckily it was only a small rip so the jacket was still useable and I’ve got lots of use out of it.
hawkinspeter
Maybe it was a mythtake
Maybe it was a mythtake
hawkinspeter
In your first link (the
In your first link (the “Stamp out” letter), I chuckled at this sentence:They ride at excessive speeds on the grass and prohibited footpaths where they can come across cattle, ponies and, of course, decent people out for a walk in the country.
It was the implication that cyclist are not decent people.Also interesting that it was a call for tougher enforcement etc BEFORE the inevitable accident rather than actually seeing what the problems are.
hawkinspeter
If the tape’s a bit too wide,
If the tape’s a bit too wide, it can still be made to work, but you just need to make sure that it’s applied tightly and very central. The main problem with the tape covering part of the walls is that you’re more likely to damage it when installing/removing tyres (or at least I’m quite prone to that).I’d recommend getting plenty of rim tape in a couple of different sizes so that you can apply and re-apply if necessary and hopefully return the unused size.
hawkinspeter
I’ve had a minor air leak
I’ve had a minor air leak from around the valve (similar to yours by the sound of it) and I did just leave it for the sealant to fix. However, that ended up with lots of little balls of latex rolling around inside the rims which was a bit annoying. I did manage to get rid of most of the latex by lots of shaking of the front wheel (not on the bike) with the valve removed and the hole at the bottom.I ended up re-taping the rim when I next changed the tyre and I was careful to ensure the tape was applied nice and smoothly (I’ve never bothered using an inner tube to fix the rim tape – sounds a bit unnecessary).
With rim tape, you need to be careful when you make the hole for valve – don’t use a knife, but instead something that can make a round hole (I think I used a barbecue skewer). When you fit the valve, it can help if you push the valve snugly against the rim (maybe take a little rubber mallet to it as well). Don’t bother with additional o-rings on the inside as they’re unlikely to help. As Joe Totale says, you don’t need to go more than finger tight for the valve collar/o-ring – too tight and the o-ring will be damaged.
So, I forsee some new rim tape in your future. Before applying it, give the rim bed a good clean (isopropyl alcohol is good for that) and just concentrate on getting it smooth and tight with no air bubbles.
My experience is that when the rim tape is applied correctly, you should be able to inflate the tyre without using sealant and it should ‘ping’ into place, though that will also depend on the tyre and using enough lubricant/washing-up liquid to allow the tyre bead to move easily.
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