Dr Ferrari's Camper Van (off-topic discussion)

petethedrummer wrote: »

Plumbers tape.

Have that one at home already, will try it out. Thanks.

Hmmzis wrote: »

Just got to know I've been bumped up to Scratch in the club league. Will have to go and meditate on rule #5 (a lot). Anyone has any tips for how to best make excuses and how to sandbag properly?

You've only yourself to blame. My tactic of embracing mediocrity is paying off nicely. I'm hoping to receive word about moving to Limit any day.

The good weather certainly brings them all out. This afternoon I spotted the epitome of sartorial elegance running a red light on Earlsfort Terrace. Black bib shorts worn outside an An Post jersey is not a very good look.
:eek:

Dermot Illogical wrote: »

The good weather certainly brings them all out. This afternoon I spotted the epitome of sartorial elegance running a red light on Earlsfort Terrace. Black bib shorts worn outside an An Post jersey is not a very good look.
:eek:

Some might see me midday Saturday with my shorts and baggy t-shirt panting along the road. I don't really want to spend more money on cycling gear if I'm going to drop dead on my longest ever cycle. (13km, family fun cycles are longer, I am terribly unfit. ) I do have a route planned that will take me past my aunt's house half way in case I need to stop for a chat.

Jaysis that wind on the coast road slaughtered me earlier. Nice to see so many people out on hybrids and stuff giving it a whack. The sleeveless AFL jerseys and tank tops.... Not so much.

Well done Hmmzis, very impressive out there tonight. Don't feel bad about nearly being lapped by Downey, he's a machine. On one lap I called out a ten-second lead for a guy, Downey chased him down and caught him in half a lap. Where a full lap is 100 seconds, closing a 10 second gap in half that is elite level pace. 4th place in a scratch race, bit of winter training and you could easily be competing with Downey this time next year.

The first race in a while where the L/SL race seemed kind of fair (i.e. you weren't in it ) and I happen to marshalling. Bah. Though wasn't loving that headwind.

Not sure if this would better put in the 'Today I did something to my bike' thread or here but since it's not of positive kind I'll just throw it in here.

Yesterday in the club league I managed to break my bike's frame. I suspect it was during the sprint finish, I would have noticed otherwise. Don't think it could have happened in the car. Stepped on it this morning and the moment I started pedalling there was this massive tyre rubbing noise. Stepped off, checked front - all fine, checked back - odd movement of the wheel. First thought was bearings have gone to bits, but then to my horror I noticed the drive side chain stay had snapped cleanly off at the axle/hanger place.

Anyone has a cheap road frame for sale?

What make is it and how old is it?

A lot of manufacturers take this kind of thing really seriously (frame integrity being the core of a good bike) and will replace any broken frame regardless of how old it is. Sometimes for free if it's new enough, other times they'll send a new frame at cost.

If it's less than five years old, that's the first thing I'd do - ring the manufacturer.

manafana wrote: »

sorry to hear second hand frames not covered under warrenty, think be worth your while buying new frame for yourself and then you will be covered if it happens again.

Doesn't hurt to give them a ring though. The worst thing that could happen is they say, "Sorry, can't help".

In fact, an email with photos is probably better than a phone call - it's easier to get the information across.

Yes, my real name is not seamus. I was chatting to you after you dropped out. To be fair, 45 minutes is a long time on that circuit. People ride it like they're in a TT.

Interesting to marshall it though and actually watch what's going on. The pace difference between the L/SL bunch and the S/SS bunch isn't that much, the tactics are just so different.

The L/SL bunch rode really consistently, laps of 1:40 - 1:45 basically for the entire thing. But they didn't work together at all. It fragmented really badly, every time they crossed the line, it was a blob of riders rather than a nice neat line, riders constantly jostling for position. When any pair was left out on their own, rather than work together to catch up, they constantly fought eachother, falling further behind.

The S/SS bunch for the first ten laps had really inconsistent times. You'd get 1:38/1:35/1:52, then someone would try and break from the slow bunch and drag the pace back up for two laps before the while bunch dropped back to a 1:5X lap again. But they stuck together much more rigidly and would cross the line in much more of an even pace line. With only short gaps between the groups. Then the two leaders pulled off and pulled 1:37ish laps consistently while the bunch pulled 1:40 laps consistently. Which isn't that different from the L/SL group, just the discipline and co-operation within the group was a whole different ball game; people realising that if you go for glory you can't escape, you'll only kill yourself.

Optimal positioning appears to be in the front third of the group - you're not killing yourself to try and escape the group, but if someone does make a break for it, you're not too far back to give chase. My typical position at the rear of the group tends to leave me with a long chase when someone makes a break, which ultimately I pay for later on.

Interesting as it is, you orwellers really need a dedicated league thread :pac:

Dermot Illogical wrote: »

The good weather certainly brings them all out. This afternoon I spotted the epitome of sartorial elegance running a red light on Earlsfort Terrace. Black bib shorts worn outside an An Post jersey is not a very good look.
:eek:

I was in the Grange in Ballyboughal a couple of years ago with Mrs WA when two cyclists came in - both with bib shorts over their jerseys. To make it worse, they rolled down the shoulder straps while eating. It was horrible!

My one picture review of the Lidl Chainbreaker after its first use.

(No it didn't open my chain either)

That depends, what's your current level of fondness for brains?

wendell borton wrote: »

The genesis caribou would be great for the z apocalypse.

The On-One Fatty is another option, 4-inch wide tyres and all. They refer to it as the "On-One 'Fatty' Fat Bike" which does little to create an image of a bike that you could use to escape anything with speed.



Here it is towing two little kids on toboggans/sleds in the snow. Good way to escape the zombies with the family perhaps, in winter anyway.

doozerie wrote: »

Sorry to hear that Hmmzis. That's the same place that my (steel) MTB frame snapped recently (and the previous time too). I wonder how common it is that drive-side droputs snap - I've never had it happen other than with this MTB of mine and I assumed a fault/defect in my frame but perhaps it's an area prone to weakness generally?

From reading various forums about this issue I got the impression that it would be one of the more common frame failure scenarios. It gets a lot of punishment in a small place when climbing and sprinting and after a while the metal just starts to fatigue and then it snaps. Another reason is that there are two weld seams (seat stay and chain stay) on a rather small and relatively thin alu or steel plate and it's easy to get heat related manufacturing defects there that would contribute to premature failure.

Rogue-Trooper wrote: »

wearing a pink shirt & tie

First mistake right there.

stetyrrell wrote: »

First mistake right there.

Don't judge me!

And there was me thinking my mistake was the type of clothing I was wearing rather than my colour choice.

I would never have pegged the cycling forum as a destination for sartorial advice