Trundling again

you know? said:

I went out shopping on the 'bent today, getting some bits for the Volvo from Kingsley at Shepherd's
Green, then over to the Oxford Road to get a manual from Halfwits

Interesting enough <and forgive me if this has already been covered
here>, but there has been a very specific reason for all these
avaricious individuals here on this ng getting their truing stands for a tenner <note jealousy>,
this here shop called Halfwits have been taken over by a bunch of clueless accountants who have
decided it's a bad idea to have a lot of 'stock' in the stores! So.....sell it cheap to get rid of
it. And in future, if you want anything then you'll be presented with a nice glossy stock list from
which you can view a picture of the product you want, which will then be ordered. Really great.

All this coming from one of the guys in the bikehut at Watford. Looking round at an increasingly
uninvited bare store, I said,

'Oh,right, that's a shame, surely this means a big potential loss of business'? 'Yeah, more probable
than not'.

Not flying the Halfords flag here, but I did think that the bike huts had started to look ok,
definitely an improvement on the archaic previous offerings. Is this policy anything other than
business suicide?

Still.......glad you all got your truing stands for a tenner :-)

bobf

and something from the Shop on the

Quoted message said:

Bridge. So, riding back down the Oxford Road I met up with a roadie on a nice bike with carbon
forks and such.

Roadie: "I've always fancied one of those" Self: "So have I - so I bought one!"

He professed himself impressed with the turn of speed - once he caught up after the traffic had
stopped again ;-)

I suggested that the engine was at least partly responsible, but yes the bike is quite responsive.
As indeed it is.

So there you are: bloke on 'bent with suspension (and shopping) drops racer on lightweight bike. A
nice little trundle, say I.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

Bob Flemming said:

in future, if you want anything then you'll be presented with a nice glossy stock list from which
you can view a picture of the product you want, which will then be ordered. Really great.

Ah, that would be like wiggle.co.ukwiggle.co.ukOpen ↗ then, but without the bend-over-backwards customer
service :-)

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ah, that would be like wiggle.co.ukwiggle.co.ukOpen ↗ then, but without the bend-over-backwards customer
service :-)

Or like chainreactioncycles.comchainreactioncycles.comOpen ↗ but without the rock bottom prices and free next
day delivery.

Pete

Peter B said:

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ah, that would be like wiggle.co.ukwiggle.co.ukOpen ↗ then, but without the bend-over-backwards customer
service :-)

Or like chainreactioncycles.comchainreactioncycles.comOpen ↗ but without the rock bottom prices and free next day
delivery.

I'm tempted to add: More like Argos, but without the ability to take what you've purchased with you.

Jim Price

you know? said:

So there you are: bloke on 'bent with suspension (and shopping) drops racer on lightweight bike. A
nice little trundle, say I.

I've been dropped a couple of times around the Hampton / Twickenham / Richmond area by a commuter on
a Challenge Hurricane. Once the speed winds up he sits on my wheel and waits until he senses I'm
beginning to tire (not that long to wait) and then puts the hammer down. As he comes past I move
straight onto his wheel but there's just no tow there to speak of for an upright. His bike probably
has got a better engine than mine, and it don't 'arf shift once he gets it wound up.
:-)

--
Dave...

Dave Kahn said:

I've been dropped a couple of times around the Hampton / Twickenham / Richmond area by a commuter
on a Challenge Hurricane. Once the speed winds up he sits on my wheel and waits until he senses
I'm beginning to tire (not that long to wait) and then puts the hammer down. As he comes past I
move straight onto his wheel but there's just no tow there to speak of for an upright. His bike
probably has got a better engine than mine, and it don't 'arf shift once he gets it wound up.

Sounds like it could be Tim Costen. Useful engine. Could be scary fast in races when he gets his
hands on the New! Improved!! version of this:
legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukDaveWilliams0Open ↗
80.html

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sounds like it could be Tim Costen. Useful engine.

OK, Dave, I have a question. You prolly know I ride a lowbike as my commuter, and you may have seen
that I was able to turn in a fairly useful time in a recent team duathlon locally. I have only once
been dropped by another cyclist, and he was riding a road bike while I was on my trundly tourer at
the time. I have, on the other hand, dropped roadies while riding said tourer with a dynamo running.

So I think I might be reasonably fit for a 40-year-old asthmatic, and I have a supicion that I might
not make a complete [censored] of myself in an HPV race. Well, not in the race itself, anyway.

Where can I go to find out whether I could actually keep up with even the tail-end-charlies in an
HPV race? My bike isn't set up for racing (covered in lights and dynamos and stuff), and setting up
a bike is a complete pain - are there People Out There who will hire me a Baron for a day to try in
a race? Or is it really a matter of bunging on a pair of Stelvios and trying with the bike I have?

I feel motivated to try some of this hairy-arsed racing stuff, just for a laugh, but don't know
where to start at all.

--
Guy
===
I wonder if you wouldn't mind piecing out our imperfections with your thoughts; and while you're
about it perhaps you could think when we talk of bicycles, that you see them printing their proud
wheels i' the receiving earth; thanks awfully.

Just zis Guy said:

OK, Dave, I have a question [...] and I have a supicion that I might not make a complete [censored] of
myself in an HPV race. Well, not in the race itself, anyway.

Where can I go to find out whether I could actually keep up with even the tail-end-charlies in an
HPV race?

See here for the calendar: btinternet.comevents03.htmlOpen ↗ Next up
is Castle Combe next Sunday, which is traditionally the annual Long Race (2 hours, ugh!)

Quoted message said:

My bike isn't set up for racing (covered in lights and dynamos and stuff), and setting up a bike
is a complete pain - are there People Out There who will hire me a Baron for a day to try in a
race? Or is it really a matter of bunging on a pair of Stelvios and trying with the bike I have?

I don't know of anywhere who would do this, though asking around the Usual Suspects - Bikefix,
London Recumbents, Future Cycles might yield results.

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

Dave Larrington said:

See here for the calendar: btinternet.comevents03.htmlOpen ↗ Next
up is Castle Combe next Sunday, which is traditionally the annual Long Race (2 hours, ugh!)

It's really quite disappointing that the meet at my local racetrack happens to coincide with
Bristol's Biggest Bike Ride this year :-(

I'll be doing BBBR with my family.

BTW Dave, my mate Jamie (who was asking you about the Speed Machine at Thruxton) is due to take
delivery of a shiny new Speed Machine next week.

--
Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( juggler.netdannyOpen ↗ ) Recumbent cycle page:
speedy5.freeserve.co.ukrecumbentsOpen ↗ "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." -
Thomas Paine

Danny Colyer said:

Dave Larrington said:

See here for the calendar: btinternet.comevents03.htmlOpen ↗
Next up is Castle Combe next Sunday, which is traditionally the annual Long Race (2 hours, ugh!)

It's really quite disappointing that the meet at my local racetrack happens to coincide with
Bristol's Biggest Bike Ride this year :-(

I had exactly the same problem, having seen the meet at Thruxton advertised, where I fancied taking
the trice for a spin. It unfortunately clashed with the Round the Island ride, which I'd promised to
ride with my daughter.

Luckily the local scouts have booked Thruxton for a fund-raising day on Sunday 22nd June, so I'm
hoping to muscle in on that.

John B

"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Sounds like it could be Tim Costen. Useful engine. Could be scary fast in races when he gets his
hands on the New! Improved!! version of this:
legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukDaveWilliams0Open ↗
80.html

I'll ask him if I bump into him again.

--
Dave...

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Where can I go to find out whether I could actually keep up with even the tail-end-charlies in
an HPV race? My bike isn't set up for racing (covered in lights and dynamos and stuff), and
setting up a bike is a complete pain - are there People Out There who will hire me a Baron for a
day to try in a race? Or is it really a matter of bunging on a pair of Stelvios and trying with
the bike I have?

You clearly need a fully faired racing recumbent to go with your utility recumbent. Add a trailer so
you can use one to transport the other to races and you're all set.

:-)

--
Dave...

Dave Kahn said:

You clearly need a fully faired racing recumbent to go with your utility recumbent. Add a trailer
so you can use one to transport the other to races and you're all set.

What you actually need is the setup that Sacha Knoop had in 1996. Method:

o remove low racer from full fairing o attach pair of wheels to fittings on side of fiaring o attach
drawbar to fitting on front of fairing

And voila! A streamlined trailer with vast capacity. He used this to ride from Harwich to Leicester
for the 1996 European Championships, and thence up to Lancaster for Cyclefest. Shortly afterwards, a
friend riding his recumbent in Holland was told by a passer-by that he had seen a similar bike on
the ferry from England, but it was towing a caravan! Photo on page 20 of the BHPC Newsletter, Issue
47 - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukIssue47.pdfOpen ↗ (1051 kb)

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

[email hidden] (Dave Kahn) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Sounds like it could be Tim Costen. Useful engine. Could be scary fast in races when he gets his
hands on the New! Improved!! version of this:
legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukDaveWilliams0Open ↗
80.html

I'll ask him if I bump into him again.

/Unlurk

Yes, it is indeed me that keeps burning you off Dave. But do say hello next time I pass you :-)

Best moment for a few weeks was in Richmond Park recently. Overtaken by two roadies up the steep
hill from Kingston Gate to Robin Hood Gate (I didn't see them coming up behind me, and they jumped
me). They got 100 yards clear. Once we got on the flat they settled down into a mini paceline,
giving it all they had. Overtook them with a ~5mph speed difference (i.e. I was doing about 30mph)
and left them in the dust. Such shocking language !

Tim Costen

/lurk

[email hidden] (Tim Costen) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Yes, it is indeed me that keeps burning you off Dave. But do say hello next time I pass you :-)

Hello Ti.... :-)

--
Dave...

"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

What you actually need is the setup that Sacha Knoop had in 1996. Method:

o remove low racer from full fairing o attach pair of wheels to fittings on side of fiaring o
attach drawbar to fitting on front of fairing

And voila! A streamlined trailer with vast capacity.

That looks brilliant although the nose of the "caravan" seems a little vulnerable if it pitches at
all. Guy would still have the problem of either having to remove mudguards, lights etc. or race
with them on. However, it strikes me that a racing tricycle could possibly me made to serve as its
own trailer.

--
Dave...

Dave Kahn said:

However, it strikes me that a racing tricycle could possibly me made to serve as its own trailer.

Back in the Old Days, when trains had Real Guards Vans (tm), the Norwich crowd - Mike Burrows and
Co - used to travel to races by train. The fully-faired Works Lightweight Windcheetah was both
illegal for road use and somewhat on the fragile side, so instead of riding it to and from the
station, Mike built a little two-wheeled trailer which was towed behind a standard unfaired
Windcheetah. The rear wheel of the Works Lightweight then sat on the trolley, with the machine
pointing backwards, giving an overall train length of about fifteen feet (and with seven road
wheels). Alas, I have no pictures of this.

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

Just zis Guy said:

So I think I might be reasonably fit for a 40-year-old asthmatic, and I have a supicion that I
might not make a complete [censored] of myself in an HPV race. Well, not in the race itself, anyway.

If a fat bird on a tricycle (i.e. me) can do it, I'm sure you'd be fine.

You can be sure of going faster than me anyway :-) [1]

I find it most amusing that I'm currently leading the Multitrack section on points....

[1] This is not difficult.

--
Carol Hague "...it's not normal if you don't like cake..." - Sean Yates