Be Excellent To Each Other

Bike stuff back at Aldi next month. https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/c ... ming-soon/

Thanks! Will get a bike stand hopefully.

You should get some of those Commuting Chaps to go with it

Bike stand is surprisingly useful, made my life a ton easier. Top tip for the bouncy bike. Hang it by the nose of your saddle & let it balance itself rather than trying to clamp it.

Baws to Le Tour de Merde* The mad bastard that won this year's Tour Divide rode it in 14.5 days**. Even more impressive when you know that the TD is off-road, unsupported & usually lonely.
http://road.cc/content/news/86560-mike- ... cial-title
*23 days to ride 2,115 miles. An average of 92 miles per day.
**14.5 days to ride 2,745 miles & climb 174,000ft. An average of 189 miles & 13,793ft per day!


There was a film about the race made a few years back, it's worth hunting down, pretty inspirational stuff.

If i were to get a bike from ebay and single speed it it to commute on, would it make me a trendy twat? Was thinking 44-11 ratio that gives 19 mph @ 60 rpm.

Yes. Next.

46-13?

Trendy hipsterer.

My, it is warm out there. I went out on my bike and everytime I stood on the pedals it felt like I was going to faint*. I couldn't get enough water in me at all. And then the front tyre punctured in exactly the same way as the read did, splitting the carcass, so I changed it and hoped it would last as far as the railway station ( it didn't) and walked the rest of the way and called for the support vehicle. I shall be complaining a lot to the manufacturer. Good news is, when I did stand on the pedals and smashed the power through the back wheel, I stormed up a short, steep climb, so the mountain biking is working on the "get more power" side of things.


*Excuses for only 3rd best up the hills

Lidl got their bike stuff in today. http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/SID-19E77 ... .htm?id=79

I think that for a commuting bike I want a fully rigid steel bike with rack mounts. Oh look! I might make an offer like the advert suggests!

Remember how my bikes got stolen? Being as I haven't moved yet, buying another bike to put in the same bike rack doesn't seem like the bets idea in the world. However I don't have enough space in the flat to store a normal bike.

I think a folding bike that I can keep under the computer desk in the flat would be a good solution and this one looks pretty damn cool. Mrs T thinks it looks rubbish, and thinks all folding bikes look rubbish in fact. Who is correct?

Mrs T.

MrsT.

New bike! Picking it up tomorrow!

I think it is a 1997 GT Tequesta. Anyway, it's red, 24 speeds, and fully rigid. And has rack mounts. I'll use it for commuting. £60 well spent.

So, um:

GT RTS
VooDoo HooDoo
Carrerra Virtuoso
GT Tequesta

Are all in one piece, there's a Proflex 854 somewhere, too, in bits. I need one more road bike, and one more mountain bike now., and that'll do for a bit.

No class you lot, that white bike looks awesome.

Mrs T.

You ain't havin' no goddamned folding bike, fool.

Ordinarily I would agree, but the choice is between a folding bike or no bike at all.

No bike at all.

I think the tires are cute. And the saddle.

Needs a basket and ribbons in the handlbears, though.

It's a portable BMX, I'm going to look so awesome on it.

I'd struggle to look awesome on it.

There is no way you could ever, ever look this cool on that:

You'll look well weapon!

Oh, I didn't have an opinion, I just wanted to make a Mr T joke.

For £60, I'm very impressed. As was the bloke when i made it fit into the Ka.

So, I took the time to sort out the new addition today. I changed the rear gear cable. it took a while, and there was a problem getting it to sit in the housing, so I took the rapidfire+ unit to pieces to work out why. After a bit, and several pingfuckits later, I realised the reason why was because I'd used a brake cable. After I fixed this, it still didn't work. Luckily, I had in my box of spares a gripshit unit so I put that on which oly took 45 minutes and I had to take that apart, too. Having only a few gears working and having replaced the seat bolt with a better one that actually works, I set off for the pub 3 miles away. A third of the way there, there was catastrophic chainsuck so I freewheeled home. The saddle also was a bit odd. I changed bikes and went to the pub anyway, and missed my turn. So i ended up doing 11 miles and 1200 feet of climbing on an spd equipped bike wearing my tennis shoes. And got to the pub and beer was £3.10 a pint and I only had £6.50 with me, so that was also a disappointment. I got home and uploaded it all to strava and, astonishingly, I wasn't last on any of the climbs. Hurrah! So, now I only have one working bike out of lots. Again.

Free première of Anthill's new film until 2000.
http://vimeo.com/71028532

Thanks for the link on Twitter. Annoyingly don't have time to see it tonight due to packing up for a complex shoot tomorrow. Bah.

So, I finally get around to replacing the seatpost on the GT. After going into many shops, and looking on line for the cheapest 28.6mm post, imagine my delight when I've come to finally swap it over and I realise I've bought a 26.8. Hopefully, I'll be able to swap it.

Went for a pedal after work, stuck the camera on the bars & had a go at timelapse. Pic every 5 secs on the way up & every 2 secs on the way back down. Should maybe have did 2 secs both ways as it looks a bit smoother.

Amusing to see the brake happy baldnut I ended up stuck behind for a mile or so

https://vimeo.com/72005577

Suggested soundtrack: Dwarves or something, it only lasts 1 minute 24.

Don't know how you put up with the crowds, to be honest.

Free bike!

Needs road tyres and new inner tubes, but that should be easy enough to do. I was going to clean it up a bit too but the rust and general dirt is a good thing, as it'll probably only get nicked again, so if it looks shit they might not bother.

See? Loads better than a folding bike.

That depends on how long till it gets stolen

Mine lives in the conservatory. If you live in a flat, why not attach a rope and pulley system to the balcony or to a wall outside a street side window? park bike, attach rope, winch to safety. to expand on that you could have an electric winch to to the work for you... and a remote keyfob operation so that you can start the winch from the street! *caution - do not use in windy conditions.

I recently learned that "10 Acre Field" from Wurzle Gummidge was just a stones throw from one of my usual cycle routes http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GT-CLEsNR08&t=174 . A worthwhile diversion I'm sure you'll agree just so you can clamber over the style like Wurzle did in the end credits.

I get there, proudly tweet pictures of where I am only to find I'm 100 metres and the wrong side of the road from where I needed to be. Seems the footpath I needed has become somewhat overgrown.

Obv I wasn't planning to cycle the footpath. The field entrance for those who remember is just off a road and is signed but seemingly has been poorly maintained.

I will return.

Bike is back together and puncture fixed. Gears are totally out of alignment though, and I can't seem to fix them, any tips?

Although it seems to be pretty much impossible to adjust them with any degree of accuracy without a bike stand...

http://www.mtbonline.co.za/info/mountai ... usting.htm

Should cover it. Rear mech might need some encouragement to move if it has been still for a while.

I think i've managed to get the front sorted, and the back mostly sorted. The adjustment screws seem to be doing fuck all on the back in the main though. I'll have to go out and ride it to free it all up I expect.

I have a spare rear mech or two if you need one.

Ta, but that will involve breaking the chain, and I don't have the tools to do that.
I can get most of the gears, so it isn't the end of the world, and i'm sure it just needs properly adjusting after it has been oiled and run for a bit.

Turns out that you can rename any segment that either you have created or that Strava has created on your behalf...

Superb! Currently, none of my bikes work.

A chain breaker and some links are MUST on any ride. You'll thank me when your chain snaps 10 miles from home.

Although last time my chain broke the tool also broke when I was trying to repair it. Doh!

The chance of my chain snapping when i'm 10 miles from home is slim to none

myself and Mrs Fop backed this last night. Looks like a very neat piece of kit indeed. Still 10k off with just under a week to go.

http://www.dragoninnovation.com/projects/23-hammerhead

Essentially it's an ultra simple GPS for your bike, providing simple visual prompts. As a cyclist who gets irredeemably lost when straying away from my usual route, being able to not get lost in the first place will be a boon. Furthermore, just being able to go exploring but knowing this device will get me back when I'm ready, is ace.

Their slightly schmaltzy video does a better job of selling it than my witterings.

I like how it combines a load of useful apps into one thingy, but I'm also of the opinion that satnav takes most of the adventure & joy out of driving, never mind playing on bikes
(Although I will concede that it does remove most of the frustration when you're looking for a specific address in a strange town)


With that in mind I recommend that you compliment your purchase with the Ordnance Survey Landranger map(s) for your area. Once you learn how to read them you'll find all sorts of weird stuff surrounding you that you never knew existed, your mental map of the area will improve, you'll find a whole host of quiet(er) roads and with experience you'll learn how tough a route you're planning based on how far the contour lines are spaced. You will also feel a whole lot more manly once you can read it, find your location on it & find your way to wherever you want to go. Face it, using a satnav is pretty much just asking for directions the whole time

Plus, if you've got nobbly tyres on you'll be able to see the bridleways & stuff you can ride on too. (England & Wales only. In Scotland you can ride wherever the fuck you want, within reason)

Interesting, thank you! I wonder what jewels it will uncover in south-east London? An abandoned mine in Croydon. A cave in Catford. A bunch of entitled tossers in East Dulwich. There's only one way to find out: purchase!

I will report back with my findings.

And don't worry, I feel perfectly manly asking for directions on my bike. I don't even wear lycra. I wear bottomless chaps.

You've missed a word out there fella.