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This is why I hope that some day we’ll have open source autonomous driving software powering (public) vehicles. Open source has the ability to go beyond just the economic needs of the vehicle manufacturers.
Car makers should be obliged to open-source the control software for self-driving cars anyway, and offer a hefty bounty for bugs, so knowledgeable people can check it for errors.
This is an industry that’s demonstrated over and over again that it can’t be trusted, yet people think it’ll manage to create safe autonomous vehicles. Pardon the hollow laughter.
For it (self-driving) to really work the control software should be standard for all cars, like the ECUs are in a lot of the motorsport formulae. That makes self-driving cars more predictable and significantly reduces the complexity of the problem. Of course, that would prevent car manufacturers from differentiating their vehicles on performance. Technically it’s possible to have a car incapable of exceeding a speed limit right now but no manufacturer is implementing hard controls in that area. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the influence that VAG, Mercedes, and BMW have over TUV and EU safety institutions.
Ta all, facepalm on my part.
Ta all, facepalm on my part. It’s been a while since I’ve fitted/run anything other than 9/10/11sp and I mixed up 7/8 with 8/9
Yep, just wind the B-screw in
Yep, just wind the B-screw in as far as it will go. Do this with pressure off the derailleur as you’re less likely to strip the screw or bore a hole in your hanger. Just rotate the derailleur backwards with one hand which will move it away from the lip on the hanger.
11-32 will definitely work –
11-32 will definitely work – search for an HG-41, usually under £20. You’ll need a new chain too – about £15. Chains are speed-specific, so you need an 8sp/9sp chain.
Tools wise you’ll need a chain whip and cassette tool and chain tool. It’s a relatively easy job as tolerances on 8sp are such that you probably won’t need to reindex the gears.
Steps:
1. Break old chain using chain tool
2. Remove rear wheel
3. Remove cassette using cassette tool and chain whip. The cassette locking is usually done up bastard tight but take plenty of abuse/strong words. Think car wheelnut tight.
4. Clean and lightly grease the freehub body once the cassette is off
5. Slide new cassette on – it’s keyed so will only go on one way
6. Tighten cassette lockring – you’ll hear it make grinding noises as you do this, don’t worry. Torque setting will be on the lockring. Tighter the better (within tolerances) as it will prevent freehub wear
7. Install rear wheel.
8. Size chain. Place it on the big ring at the front and rear but don’t run it through the derailleur. Plenty of guides online on how to do this, as always Calvin from Park Tools is your man.
9. Once sized thread the chain through the derailleur. It does round the front of the top pulley and round the back of the bottom pulley. Make sure you also thread it rearward of the chain retention tab on the jockey cage halfway down between the pulleys.
10. Install chain pin using chain tool, or quicklink if you prefer. There’s a bit of an art to getting the chain pin right, quicklinks are more foolproof.
11. All done, check it shifts OK, particularly when the chain is on the big ring at the back as the derailleur B-screw might need winding in to give enough clearance. If the indexing is off all it will take is small moves on the barrel adjuster on the rear derailleur. Quarter or at most a half turn at a time.
In the end, whichever way you
In the end, whichever way you look at it, the consumer society is unsustainable.
If we’re serious about doing something about climate change we need to start living smaller lives, which is why I’m extremely pessimistic about the future. We really need to go back to the pace of life at the turn of the last century.
Less stuff, less travel, less food, less energy. There’s plenty we can do to chip away at externalities at the edges of what we do (and car usage is one of them) but fundamentally we need to buy.less.stuff
For example, 80% of the lifetime environmental cost of a laptop, or pretty much any electronic device, is locked up in production and distribution. So, if we can make our phones last 5 years rather than 2 (current average replacement time in the UK) that has a huge positive impact. Recently both Google and Apple have committed to 5-year service life for their current generation phones, so change is coming.
I’ve been driving since 1987
I’ve been driving since 1987 and I’ve definitely seen a dip since the end of the lockdowns. I’d say that traffic is back to early 90s levels, at least for my occasional trip up the M3 to London. That’s very significant as the early 90s was a period of recession with unemployment at around 10% and fewer options for non-car travel.
Due to peak train fares being ridiculous I drive from south west Hampshire, park in Richmond, and then get the District Line in. Most recent trip it only took me 15 minutes from Richmond train station to the M3, and that was leaving at about 5pm. That’s unprecedented in my experience. Even heading into London in the morning I didn’t hit stop/start traffic until the first roundabout west of Twickers.
Out here in the sticks we’ve been invaded by the WFH crowd, three new families in our street (20 houses) are from London. Big influx at school too due to a new estate going in. Sell London home, buy relatively massive rural idyll, stick £200k in the bank.
There’s been a big uptick in people buying classic (80s/90s) cars too, although that’s being blunted by fuel prices. Perfectly sensible to run a V12 Jag as a station car if you’re only getting the train once or twice a month though. Mileage allowance just about covers the petrol cost.
Personally, we’re still a two car family. I’d love to replace one with a cargo bike but the only route to school is frequented with tipper trucks and their drivers who seem perfectly happy to do 50mph on a rural B-road.
Shoes are quite a personal
Shoes are quite a personal thing but I’ve always found Shimano’s MTB SPD shoes to be good for long rides. Still have and use occasionally a ten year old pair of M088s which have done about 5000 miles in all weather. My go-to pedal is the Deore XT T8000. Double-sided – flat with pins one side, SPD the other. Don’t look out of place on a road bike and also have removable reflectors. It naturally hangs with the SPD cleat uppermost and the technique for riding them in flats is to enter them from the front with a pawing motion, like a bull preparing to charge. Easy to service and durable.Schwalbe levers are the key
Schwalbe levers are the key to a (happier) fitting experience. Pin the bead in with two levers (at about the five to one position on the clock face) use the third to lift it over the rim bit by bit. As each bit goes in slide the pinning levers along the hook.Good luck finding some
Good luck finding some GP5000s. And equally good luck in getting them on your rims, man they’re tightOnly in conjunction with a
Only in conjunction with a sauna so can’t isolate any benefits. Certainly daily sauna use has made a difference to my aging body through the winter. Scientific proof for RLT is minimal but is much clearer for sauna, be that of the traditional or infrared variety. Fasted sauna for me leaves me feeling full of beans although equally can’t tolerate it after a meal, even breakfast.Some race frames don’t
Some race frames don’t support compact chainsets, needing a minimum 52T big ring
It’s most likely to be a chainline thing, have you installed any required spacers correctly, and torqued the BB shells to spec? (No idea about SRAM BBs and whether they use spacers)
I had one frame which did this, never solved it, but didn’t consider it an issue because I didn’t back pedal in big-big.
To be frank/cheeky, the problem is probably the fact it’s a SRAM front mech, there’s a reason why they advocate 1x drivetrains. I can’t remember, do they have trim settings which move the front mech cage away from the chain in cross-chaining situations?
Saw the BBC news version,
Saw the BBC news version, heartbreaking but as she says it’s important to use her platform to talk about it. I’m guessing it’s a bigger impact for them now as she’ll have one eye on Paris and whether there’s time to have another child before then and get back to full fitness
Many years ago I had a Nexus
Many years ago I had a Nexus geared Ridgeback Nemesis for commuting, it was utterly brilliant. Coaster rear brake, Nexave roller front. Utterly reliable and completely up to doing muddy tow paths (I was in Reading at the time). Unfortunately got nicked but definitely reawakened my love for cycling.
As it’s on the tread area I
As it’s on the tread area I would just use the tubeless patch Mr Squirrel suggested, it will work fine and be held in place by air pressure.
You won’t find anything
You won’t find anything decent new that will stand up to a daily commute. Well, not from a mainstream retailer. Maybe have a look around your local area and see if there’s a bike charity, they might be able to help.
If not, your best bet is eBay, particularly if you either know how to check a used bike or can take someone with you who does.
Specialized Allez would be my choice, or have a look for used Triban bikes (they’re all good except the Triban 100)
If you are buying used make sure that the brakes and gears work well because they’re expensive to fix, particularly at the moment with supply chain issues.
