Your rants here.

awavey

felt like car drivers all got car horns as their easter presents yesterday, doesnt sunny weather, country roads & bank holiday traffic bring out the best in people

tgotb

redvee wrote:

Three drivers thinking it's OK to use their handsets in queueing traffic all spotted in the space of 60 seconds, one of them appeared to be watching a video. Footage already shared with the local plod.

Were the vehicles stationary at the time?

I know it's technically illegal for a driver to use their phone even if the car's not moving, but ranting at them for doing it when the handbrake is on, as some cyclists do, seems a bit petty...

wolfsbane2k

First full on loaded up trip in the cargo trike with kids and dog and broke 2 spokes on the rear wheel hitting a pothole...

condorman

TGOTB wrote:

redvee wrote:

Three drivers thinking it's OK to use their handsets in queueing traffic all spotted in the space of 60 seconds, one of them appeared to be watching a video. Footage already shared with the local plod.

Were the vehicles stationary at the time?

I know it's technically illegal for a driver to use their phone even if the car's not moving, but ranting at them for doing it when the handbrake is on, as some cyclists do, seems a bit petty...

No such thing as "technically illegal". It's illegal or it's not. If the engine is running it's illegal. Ranting is not my thing and neither is law enforcement until such time as they give me a badge and a gun. I can't think of any instance where someone has changed their driving behaviour by being shouted at.

tgotb

condorman wrote:

No such thing as "technically illegal". It's illegal or it's not. If the engine is running it's illegal. Ranting is not my thing and neither is law enforcement until such time as they give me a badge and a gun. I can't think of any instance where someone has changed their driving behaviour by being shouted at.

OK, substitute "technically illegal" with "illegal but not causing any danger that I can see".

If engine running is the key point (which I hadn't realised, but seems a logical criteron), is it OK to use your phone in a queue of traffic if:
1. You turn the engine off?
2. If your engine turns itself off using auto stop/start thingy?

wolfsbane2k

TGOTB wrote:

condorman wrote:

No such thing as "technically illegal". It's illegal or it's not. If the engine is running it's illegal. Ranting is not my thing and neither is law enforcement until such time as they give me a badge and a gun. I can't think of any instance where someone has changed their driving behaviour by being shouted at.

OK, substitute "technically illegal" with "illegal but not causing any danger that I can see".

If engine running is the key point (which I hadn't realised, but seems a logical criteron), is it OK to use your phone in a queue of traffic if:
1. You turn the engine off?
2. If your engine turns itself off using auto stop/start thingy?

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q955.htm

tgotb

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

If engine running is the key point (which I hadn't realised, but seems a logical criteron), is it OK to use your phone in a queue of traffic if:
1. You turn the engine off?
2. If your engine turns itself off using auto stop/start thingy?

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q955.htm[/quote]
Ah, so the typical legal vagueness (which, as an engineer, I hate):
- Illegal to use your phone while driving
- The law doesn't actually define what driving means
- Followed by some quite sensible advice on how to avoid falling into the grey area by making *sure* your actions can't be construed as driving

NB: I'm not actually arguing that the law is wrong, and I don't have a strong view on whether or not phone use in stationary vehicles should be allowed. However I am intensely irritated that the law frequently relies on terms (in this case "driving") which aren't actually defined anywhere.

wolfsbane2k

Some tangerine is coming to town the same week i've got booked off as holiday - and I've currently got 14 meetings booked across town during the first 3 days.
Not sure if i'll reschedule them, or enjoy the glee of being on a bike in a sea of people roasting in metal cages, but they aren't likely to know the city, so will be ducking and diving all over the place unpredictably .

wiznaeme

TGOTB wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

If engine running is the key point (which I hadn't realised, but seems a logical criteron), is it OK to use your phone in a queue of traffic if:
1. You turn the engine off?
2. If your engine turns itself off using auto stop/start thingy?

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q955.htm

Ah, so the typical legal vagueness (which, as an engineer, I hate):
- Illegal to use your phone while driving
- The law doesn't actually define what driving means
- Followed by some quite sensible advice on how to avoid falling into the grey area by making *sure* your actions can't be construed as driving

NB: I'm not actually arguing that the law is wrong, and I don't have a strong view on whether or not phone use in stationary vehicles should be allowed. However I am intensely irritated that the law frequently relies on terms (in this case "driving") which aren't actually defined anywhere.[/quote]

The link explains when a person is “driving”.

It’s usually drink driving cases that define the difference between ‘driving’, ‘attempting to drive’ and ‘in charge’.
Drunk drivers slumped over the steering wheel with the engine running have been convicted of drink ‘driving’. If the engine is off then they may be convicted of being ‘in charge’, which has a lesser penalty, or if they show they had no intention to drive then there may be no offence committed.

drhaggis

~200km after a full bike service, the noise from somewhere in the drivetrain has returned. It seems to be the bottom bracket, but was told they'd replaced it. Don't think it's the chain, although i'm not sure with my lubricant (squirt).

To make matters worse, realised yesterday evening, after flying back home, one of the spokes in the rear aksium is loose. FFS. EEDIT: and turning the nipple 5 times with the spoke key in the multi tool doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

drhaggis

So been told some of the nipples in the rear aksium (13 months, ~2500 miles, one mild winter) have seized. Since it is more than one nipple, I've been discouraged to replace the offending spoke. Once untrue, replace. Forget about the warranty; this would be considered neglect (I wash the bike between weekly and fortnightly).

I am one unhappy haggis >[

timothyw

Factory wheels are not built to last, or at least, not built to be repaired.

They want you to bin them and get a new set.

On the upside you can at least buy aksium front and rears separately.

drhaggis

TimothyW wrote:

Factory wheels are not built to last, or at least, not built to be repaired.

They want you to bin them and get a new set.

On the upside you can at least buy aksium front and rears separately.

I'm not sure I'd like to buy another rear aksium given this experience (unless it's quite cheap)

awavey

TimothyW wrote:

Factory wheels are not built to last, or at least, not built to be repaired.

They want you to bin them and get a new set.

On the upside you can at least buy aksium front and rears separately.

are you saying anything not handbuilt is therefore factory then ? I was thinking of some aksium replacements for existing wheels Ive got, but what do we consider "built to last" anyway ?

timothyw

There's obviously overlap - some factory wheels are handbuilt using standard components. Some handbuilts use rare components that are difficult to replace if they do fail.

But a factory wheel like the aksiums, well, there's almost nothing that can be economically repaired - I've not had a good look at a set of aksiums recently so you'll have to forgive me if I'm wrong on some of these points but:
- the rims aren't available separately so if you buckle them on a pothole or simply wear out the brake track, your wheel is dead
- the spokes are non standard so can't be easily replaced, alloy nipples have been used for slight weight savings but mean that after a bit of wet winter usage they disintegrate before you can adjust them (or reuse them for a new rim if you do find one to match...)
- spoke count/lacing arrangement is unconventional so hub replacement is also near impossible.

Ultimately you buy them, and the hope is that you get sufficient usage from the wheel that you don't feel screwed when something goes wrong and you have to bin them.

With that said, some of the cheapest wheels do use relatively standard components - so the shimano entry level rs100 use plain spokes, conventional lacing pattern, brass nipples - problem is that with such low spoke count they are only good for light riders, and even they will probably have to get the wheel trued properly down the line as the wheel was built by a machine to inadequate tension and without care to avoid spoke wind-up.

tgotb

I think the low spoke count / light rider factor is significant; I suspect that cutting out spokes is an easy way for manufacturers to get a bit of weight out of the wheel without pushing the cost up.

I had a set of Aksiums once; can't remember exactly how long they lasted, but pretty sure the rear disintegrated in less than a year. I took it back (to Condor) who sent it back to Mavic, who sent a free replacement. I then sold the set and bought a pair of DT Swiss R1900s (which I doubt still exist, but were a fairly entry level set of factory built wheels); they were pretty decent wheels and lasted me several years before I sold the bike. I was probably ~90kg at the time.

Since then I've built a gazillion sets of wheels for myself, all quite a bit lighter than the Aksiums, with no significant failures. The only factory-built wheels I've bought, other than TT wheels, were a set of Shimano C24s, which have been solid (though they're not so good for rim wear). I built a set of race wheels for my daughter that I wouldn't dare ride hard myself, but she's little more than half my weight so I went for lightweight rims *and* the lowest possible spoke count for those rims.

TL;DR: At the cheap end of the market, I think some manufacturers sacrifice robustness to keep the weight down. I'm guessing that enough of their riders are either fairly light or ride quite low mileages, that warranty replacements are low enough to make that payoff work.

If you want wheels that last, DT Swiss are one brand whose entry level wheels seem to be decent quality; I'm sure there are others. Pretty much any hand-built wheel from a reputable builder will do the job; a decent builder will refuse to use cr*p components or inappropriate spoke counts. Something like Open Pro rims, Novatec hubs and 32 spokes per wheel will be fairly light and last until the rims wear out; I've had a set of those (with disc brakes) on my commuting bike that have probably done 25k miles without so much as a tweak. Open Pros are quite old school; a decent builder will almost certainly be able to recommend something better than that.

wolfsbane2k

One of those days where you end up just riding to work with your d-lock in your right hand the entire way.

f*(*(nuggets, the lot of them.

rick_chasey

Spent ages trying to get workmen in the diary to do various things on the house two months ago.

Found out this morning that in the time they’re scheduled to come my road is being shut for 6 weeks.

drhaggis

TimothyW wrote:

With that said, some of the cheapest wheels do use relatively standard components - so the shimano entry level rs100 use plain spokes, conventional lacing pattern, brass nipples - problem is that with such low spoke count they are only good for light riders, and even they will probably have to get the wheel trued properly down the line as the wheel was built by a machine to inadequate tension and without care to avoid spoke wind-up.

Shimano use brass nipples? Mmm... Shame about those 20 spokes. I'm 72-73 kg year round, plus about 5kg of commuting kit, and it seems, from past experience, that 20 spokes plus this weight plus Edinburgh roads will require regular truing.

You all have a point, though. Either I go disposable wheels, or I go hand-built.

tgotb

DrHaggis wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

With that said, some of the cheapest wheels do use relatively standard components - so the shimano entry level rs100 use plain spokes, conventional lacing pattern, brass nipples - problem is that with such low spoke count they are only good for light riders, and even they will probably have to get the wheel trued properly down the line as the wheel was built by a machine to inadequate tension and without care to avoid spoke wind-up.

Shimano use brass nipples? Mmm... Shame about those 20 spokes. I'm 72-73 kg year round, plus about 5kg of commuting kit, and it seems, from past experience, that 20 spokes plus this weight plus Edinburgh roads will require regular truing.

You all have a point, though. Either I go disposable wheels, or I go hand-built.

Or go slightly more up-market factory-built, with a bit of market research to confirm the brand/model you're looking at is going to last.

Slightly OT, but I built a bunch of wheels for cyclocross with deep carbon rims and aluminium nipples. Super-light they are. Low spoke count. Super-stiff. Lovely wheels. Or were. The nipples disintegrated on the first batch after a few seasons and they had to be rebuilt with brass. The second batch are due for rebuild over the Summer. DON'T MIX ALUMINIUM NIPPLES AND CARBON RIMS!

No-one who was paying attention in O-Level/GCSE chemistry would be stupid enough to make this mistake...

wolfsbane2k

Hit a pothole at 30mph, stayed upright but the rear camera flew off.
Thankfully it landed in one piece, bounced, landed... Only to be driven over by the hgv that was behind me.

That crunch made me realise how vulnerable you are on a bike.

Managed to recover all the pieces except the memory card. Balls

redvee

My camera fell off due to the mount on the camera failing which was replaceable so I would have bought a replacement and cariied on but the HGV that crushed it also broke the lens so back it went to Wiggle but the SD card did survive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXM3S64EORw

awavey

3hrs out on the road, lovely ride for at least 2hrs 55mins of it considering the weather conditions,but the last 5mins as always back to civilisation and a sequence of close passes each getting nearer than the car before, all because I take prime around this long left handed bend because experience has taught me if I dont, the cars aim for the corner apex instead because it allows them to drive through it alot quicker, which can be even more of a close pass experience if you happen to be at the apex point when they try, but so instead they just get the hump because I force them to correct around me and have to go nearer the speed limit,and they punish close pass me instead, use the horn etc etc

other than finding a new route home, what would you do ?

rhodrich

awavey wrote:

3hrs out on the road, lovely ride for at least 2hrs 55mins of it considering the weather conditions,but the last 5mins as always back to civilisation and a sequence of close passes each getting nearer than the car before, all because I take prime around this long left handed bend because experience has taught me if I dont, the cars aim for the corner apex instead because it allows them to drive through it alot quicker, which can be even more of a close pass experience if you happen to be at the apex point when they try, but so instead they just get the hump because I force them to correct around me and have to go nearer the speed limit,and they punish close pass me instead, use the horn etc etc

other than finding a new route home, what would you do ?

It may be counter intuitive, but if they can still punish pass you, then you're not far enough out. Block them completely. My instinct these days is to move as far out as possible, and slow down, when faced with an aggressive driver behind me. I'm not going to stop them being aggressive, as they already were before my move, but I may well prevent them from passing me in a dangerous manner. By being further out, and riding more slowly, that gives me more options to move in if they do decide to punishment pass too. Take them hooting at you as a sign of success, and don't worry about it. If they're hooting at you, that means they've seen you, and your positioning has done the job. The number one reason cyclists get hit is because they don't get seen or noticed by motor vehicles. Remember - you've got more right to be on the road than they do (as they're only allowed to drive by benefit of a licence that can be taken away from them, whereas your right is absolute).

rhodrich

Wheelsucking fairy crashed into me when I was slowing for a zebra crossing on Friday. It's not the first time either. I wasn't even aware that he was on my tail. What a cockwomble! Fortunately, I stayed upright, and no harm was done to me or bike. He on the other hand came a cropper....

frogonabike

Bike stolen. A holes. First time I think I’ve ever locked it outside in London. I was sat 10 meters from it outside a cafe but couldn't be bothered to get a seat facing it. Lesson learnt.

Luckily it was the B bike, although that was B out of A,B,C,D,E so not exactly completely cheap. I shan’t harp on but I shall be browsing eBay, gumtree (other suggestions welcome..?)

Now for a bit of PT in SPD’s

awavey

Rhodrich wrote:

awavey wrote:

3hrs out on the road, lovely ride for at least 2hrs 55mins of it considering the weather conditions,but the last 5mins as always back to civilisation and a sequence of close passes each getting nearer than the car before, all because I take prime around this long left handed bend because experience has taught me if I dont, the cars aim for the corner apex instead because it allows them to drive through it alot quicker, which can be even more of a close pass experience if you happen to be at the apex point when they try, but so instead they just get the hump because I force them to correct around me and have to go nearer the speed limit,and they punish close pass me instead, use the horn etc etc

other than finding a new route home, what would you do ?

It may be counter intuitive, but if they can still punish pass you, then you're not far enough out. Block them completely. My instinct these days is to move as far out as possible, and slow down, when faced with an aggressive driver behind me. I'm not going to stop them being aggressive, as they already were before my move, but I may well prevent them from passing me in a dangerous manner. By being further out, and riding more slowly, that gives me more options to move in if they do decide to punishment pass too. Take them hooting at you as a sign of success, and don't worry about it. If they're hooting at you, that means they've seen you, and your positioning has done the job. The number one reason cyclists get hit is because they don't get seen or noticed by motor vehicles. Remember - you've got more right to be on the road than they do (as they're only allowed to drive by benefit of a licence that can be taken away from them, whereas your right is absolute).

thanks Ill give it a go, it was just bugging me as all the other cyclists I see on that bit of road hug the kerb like crazy trying to stay out of the way, Im the only Ive seen take a prime line through it, so Im already "being awkward" as far as motorists are concerned, and you end thinking am I getting this wrong as it causes so much grief and actually hasnt seemed to make me any better off.

redvee

Hobbling round at home like someone 20 years older than me.

gbsahne001

DrHaggis wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

With that said, some of the cheapest wheels do use relatively standard components - so the shimano entry level rs100 use plain spokes, conventional lacing pattern, brass nipples - problem is that with such low spoke count they are only good for light riders, and even they will probably have to get the wheel trued properly down the line as the wheel was built by a machine to inadequate tension and without care to avoid spoke wind-up.

Shimano use brass nipples? Mmm... Shame about those 20 spokes. I'm 72-73 kg year round, plus about 5kg of commuting kit, and it seems, from past experience, that 20 spokes plus this weight plus Edinburgh roads will require regular truing.

You all have a point, though. Either I go disposable wheels, or I go hand-built.

I've a set of 5 year old Fulcrums (5s I think) that are still true, despite heavy usage; probably 20k on them and by the time you throw in rider and saddlebag, probably 85kg all up. I've had a few Mavic wheels and have been generally disappointed.

thistle_

Colleagues asking me things and not getting the answer they want, so keep asking the same question and expecting a different answer. Up to the 3rd time so far.
Update: 4th time.