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

Lumen

Truffle hunter doping fail. :pac:

http://www.coni.it/attivit%C3%A0-istituzionali/antidoping/18235-antidoping-positivo-valerio-magnani-uisp-%E2%80%93-ciclismo.html

AdMMM

Just got word through that my Bike to Work order has been processed. I'm giddy with the excitement of collecting it at lunch. I'm currently commuting on an old Dunlop mountain bike with double suspension and really fat tyres. How much of an improvement will I see with this:

.

AstraMonti

About 48.7%

awec

AstraMonti wrote: »

About 48.7%

Your maths is off a bit. 48.8%.

Probably a rounding error somewhere.

Hungrycol

AdMMM wrote: »

Just got word through that my Bike to Work order has been processed. I'm giddy with the excitement of collecting it at lunch. I'm currently commuting on an old Dunlop mountain bike with double suspension and really fat tyres. How much of an improvement will I see with this:

.

None whatsoever :rolleyes:

doozerie

I was reminded this morning that the G30 lense I have in a pair of Oakley sunglasses is actually marketed as being for golfers. Oh the shame. That might explain why, when wearing them, I feel an unconscious desire to scowl at any cyclists I see wearing jeans or runners - you are lowering the tone of *my* roads, you know!

My G30 lense is also vented, presumably to give the illusion that golfers actually exert sufficient effort to generate heat or sweat. I would have thought that any excess heat would simply be repulsed by the regulation issue argyle trousers and sleeveless geansai and so would never linger long enough to condense on even the least ventilated of glasses.

DirkVoodoo

AdMMM wrote: »

Just got word through that my Bike to Work order has been processed. I'm giddy with the excitement of collecting it at lunch. I'm currently commuting on an old Dunlop mountain bike with double suspension and really fat tyres. How much of an improvement will I see with this:

.

Faster, but certainly more comfortable and enjoyable a commute.

Mudguards and a rack will make it a proper commuter too.

doozerie

I built a new rear wheel for my MTB commuter at the weekend. The previous rim had developed significant cracks around the spoke eyelets, and I replaced it with the same model of rim. I assumed the cracks were the result of me over-tensioning the spokes when I built the wheel up previously so I spent a lot of time being more cautious this time. Took bloody ages as I used a tensiometer throughout, which I wouldn't typically though but this time I was being paranoid. Having eventually finished it, I was glancing through the WheelPro Wheelbuilding Guide (it's always best to look at useful sources of info after the fact, I find :rolleyes:) and found a paragraph that described my situation exactly. According to the author though, excessive spoke tension does not cause such cracks, and he had it happen himself on an MTB rim which he'd found entirely reliable in the past. Turns out that the customer using that wheel had fitted it with a narrow high pressure tyre and was commuting to work on it, just as I do, and the rim manufacturer said the rim was not designed for this use hence its failure. Looks like I'll be looking at another cracked rim before long then. *sigh*

Plus, being out of practice with building wheels, I made a rudimentary error at the outset resulting in a wheel I'm not happy with so I'll probably re-do it in the near future. *mournful sigh*

I also finished building up a rear wheel for my wife's commuter late last night, using an old-ish Ultegra hub and an Open Pro rim I'd previously built into another wheel. Her existing rear wheel was well on the way to being worn out, but it looks like someone may have helped it along its way while it was locked up in the city centre yesterday as it was a cornflake-ish mess when she unlocked it and headed home. *angry sigh*

I rarely re-use rims when building wheels, and this was a reminder of why I try to avoid it. It was a right pain to get it "right", showing up the limitations of my wheelbuilding abilities. Eventually I settled for "good enough", whipped it off the truing stand, swapped over the tyre, tube, and cassette, and lashed it onto the bike. Funny thing about 8-speed hubs is that they're not great on 9-speed bikes, it's all a bit crowded between the smallest cog and the bike frame. Too crowded for a chain, that's for sure. I could have sworn it was a 9-speed hub, and of course there is nothing other than "Ultegra" written on the poxy thing to give any clue. Screw you Shimano and your lack of labelling *wavy fist*. I adjusted the limit screws on the rear mech to disable the smallest cog and at least the wheel is usable until we sort out a replacement wheel. But really, just, *pissed off sigh*

Still, on the plus side, my wife's new road bike arrived yesterday so I suspect she'll be accruing more QoM's on Strava in the near future (as an aside, there should be extra QoM points awarded for obtaining titles on a hybrid and wearing sensible shoes). So the doozerie family online trophy cabinet could well expand quite a bit over the next while. Which will only serve to highlight my paltry (and short-lived) contributions to it. It'll also serve to well and truly answer the question of who wears the lycra trousers in my house. *conflicted sigh*

Lumen

@doozerie, I was running some Stans ZTR Crest 29er rims on my winter bike last year.

They are super-light (380g) but the maximum pressures are apparently:

1.0 tyre - 55psi
1.5 tyre - 50psi
2.0 tyre - 43psi
2.2 tyre - 40psi

I therefore conclude that both pressure and force are factors.

I occasionally pumped the 1.5" tyres to 80psi (60% over maximum, because I like to live on the edge) and whilst they didn't *plode they didn't stay very true and were eventually abandoned due to the near impossibility of changing a conventional road tyre with the tubeless rim design.

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

Truffle hunter doping fail. :pac:

http://www.coni.it/attivit%C3%A0-istituzionali/antidoping/18235-antidoping-positivo-valerio-magnani-uisp-%E2%80%93-ciclismo.html

You can't make that stuff up.
Class.

I have a lovely tartufo bianco olive oil. Very potent but nice in small doses - particularly on mash potatoes.

buffalo

So I got a little camera, and sellotaped it to the side of my head. It works nicely, but all my videos are going to need to be rotated 90 degrees. Anyone got a little utility to rotate them?

manwithaplan

buffalo wrote: »

So I got a little camera, and sellotaped it to the side of my head.

Oh no.

cdaly_

buffalo wrote: »

So I got a little camera, and sellotaped it to the side of my head. It works nicely, but all my videos are going to need to be rotated 90 degrees. Anyone got a little utility to rotate them?

mencoder -vf rotate. Works on linux and apparently MS Windows too.

buffalo

manwithaplan wrote: »

Oh no.

Helmet! I meant helmet! Though I am trying to figure out if there's a way to attach it to my head without a helmet, I don't tend to wear one on the commute.

Darkglasses

buffalo wrote: »

Helmet! I meant helmet! Though I am trying to figure out if there's a way to attach it to my head without a helmet, I don't tend to wear one on the commute.

Handlebar and chest mounts are a bit less conspicuous and easier to make too. Just a suggestion!

manwithaplan

buffalo wrote: »

Helmet! I meant helmet!

It was more the prospect of epic commuting videos that I was bemoaning than the means of attachment.

doozerie

Lumen wrote: »

I occasionally pumped the 1.5" tyres to 80psi (60% over maximum, because I like to live on the edge)

That really is right out there on the edge. Ironically the edge is where you'd expect to find pinch flats too, but what with your tyres inflated to epic proportions you probably laughed right in the face of hoody-wearing gangs of pinch flats. Watch your back though, they have long memories :pac:

I'm interested to hear of your experiences with the Stans rims, so thanks. Most of my experiences have been with Mavic rims, and I've only ever used Mavic rims in the wheels that I've built myself. It's partly a nostalgia thing I think, I've been trying to recreate the euphoria of the best wheels I've ever had, hand-built with Mavic hubs and rims by a Breton wheelbuilding wizard (named Bikerepairmanafix, I expect) over 20 years ago. I've never bought or built anything that matched them and I've been slow to look at alternative brands for my own builds, naively assuming that Mavic quality wouldn't have diminished over time.

I have been questioning that assumption more and more though, which is one reason why I looked at Wheelsmith.co.uk recently since they build with various brands that I've never tried. They replied very quickly with a suggested build for my wife's bike which seemed to take the needs properly into account (towing child trailer being a biggie) and giving what seems like a very honest appraisal of some of the options. They also mention that Mavic quality is not what it used to be, which rings true to me. I'm sold, looks like there will be a set of Ambrosio wheels (hubs and rim) in the family bike stable soon. Very interesting website they have too, full of very straight-talking advice on the various options, the kind of approach that I like but find sadly lacking in many local bike shops.

buffalo

manwithaplan wrote: »

It was more the prospect of epic commuting videos that I was bemoaning than the means of attachment.

I was trying it out on the way home, and came across a woman in a car trying to go around this corner - http://goo.gl/maps/XwJji She had pulled out of the line of east-bound traffic on Portland Row to nip down the wrong side of the road while there was a gap in oncoming traffic. Unfortunately she didn't quite make it to the junction in time, and was left facing the wrong way while a small flock of cyclists filtered around her car.

Bloody water on the lens of the camera meant I didn't manage to film it though. :mad:

manwithaplan

I've seen a few close calls there as a result of drivers attempting that very manoeuvre at speed meeting cyclists emerging from Killarney Street having ridden the wrong way down it.

doozerie

buffalo wrote: »

So I got a little camera, ...

I should put my little camera on my bike too. We could cross our video streams, maybe we'd produce a super-grumpy super-old man with a withering look capable of felling the most psychotic commuter from 100 metres.

RobertFoster

doozerie wrote: »

I should put my little camera on my bike too. We could cross our video streams, maybe we'd produce a super-grumpy super-old man with a withering look capable of felling the most psychotic commuter from 100 metres.

Be careful, it could also cause total protonic reversal, which I'm told is bad.

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

colm_gti

doozerie wrote: »

Still, on the plus side, my wife's new road bike arrived yesterday so I suspect she'll be accruing more QoM's on Strava in the near future (as an aside, there should be extra QoM points awarded for obtaining titles on a hybrid and wearing sensible shoes). So the doozerie family online trophy cabinet could well expand quite a bit over the next while. Which will only serve to highlight my paltry (and short-lived) contributions to it. It'll also serve to well and truly answer the question of who wears the lycra trousers in my house. *conflicted sigh*

Ah jaysus, she'll be killing us in the mountains on the next club spin

Inquitus

http://gizmodo.com/5948864/this-beautiful-bike-is-made-from-bent-beech-wood

Yours for $70k

AdMMM

AstraMonti wrote: »

About 48.7%

You're not far off .

Just rode it back to work from the shop. Much smoother - although my sack and ass got a fright when I went over my first speed ramp... the MTB I had being much more forgiving at speed! Front brakes don't quite seem as sensitive as I'd like, would this just be down to the rims still being all shiny and polished and more prone to slipping?

Mycroft H

Inquitus wrote: »

http://gizmodo.com/5948864/this-beautiful-bike-is-made-from-bent-beech-wood

Yours for $70k

Reminds me of a sweeping brush for some reason.

doozerie

Inquitus wrote: »

Yours for $70k

'Twas a tough challenge, but they've managed to set a new low bar for ugly-ass fixies. On the plus side, there will only be a small number of couriers and hipsters riding these in the near future.

smacl

Inquitus wrote: »

Yours for $70k

Wow. Didn't even know that IKEA made bikes.

jimm

Happy "Cycling Forum Day" everyone.

410 Geddit?

Beasty

jimm wrote: »

Geddit?

10-4 Buddy ...

thebouldwhacker

Beasty wrote: »

jimm wrote: »

Geddit?

10-4 Buddy ...

Hmmm, nice Jimm I like this. Could be a good charity fund raising idea for next year......It will be a Friday.... There will be sweat.