July 16th – In the bike shed at Telford, something that worries and irritates me.
So many companies sell seat post mounting rear lights and reflectors, which seem like a good idea.
Until the rider wears a jacket that overhangs the saddle. Or uses a carrier.
I’m surprised this issue never, ever seems to have been addressed.
July 3rd – I had stuff to do in Telford mid-morning, and was eager to see how the footbridge project was progressing. I wasn’t disappointed.
On site, the assembled over-railway portion of the deck had been lifted into place as I suspected onto the lattice piers – which despite my scepticism last week appear to have been positioned without breaking any glass at all. Remarkable.
The crane used to lift the 96 tonne structure into place was being dismantled on site – by another crane. It was terribly meta.
It was heaven for a machine geek like me, I was transfixed for some time.
It’s nice to see the new footbridge taking shape at last.
May 4th – I’ve noticed over the ;past few days that engineers have been examining a lot of local roads since the cold, wet winter left many in a parlous state.
Walsall Council on the whole have been very good at dealing with damage, but more can always be done. Here in Darlaston on a number of streets – but most noticeably Station Street and Darlaston Road – technicians have taken periodic core samples to see how thick the road surges is and what it’s composed of.
This helps with resurfacing, and knowing how much to plane away before laying new tarmac.
When the sample is taken, the perfectly round hole left is filled, leaving this curious scar.
Looks like we’ll be getting some better road surfaces in Darlo soon, then…
March 30th – At Tesco, a reminder in the bike rack that there’s always someone having a worse day than you.
An odd bike was locked there – a Raleigh Jamtland ‘Special edition’ which is a very old-school, low end mountain bike. If the colour scheme rings a bell, that’s because they were designed and made to given as a gift by Ikea to many of their employees in the UK, I believe around Christmas 2010. They were not ideal commuting bikes, with poor gears, awful tyres and no mudguards, and many to this day end up being sold on eBay and the like.
Considering they were an act of largesse by a company known for radical design, they were just awful, cheap bike shaped objects, to be perfectly honest.
This one was in good condition, with little sign of wear, other than a peculiarly worn front tyre, which I suspect had been swapped for the rear at some point. There was little or no rust, and the frame was barley scratched – but there was a slight problem. A puncture.
It was raining hard, the bike would not be a light push and no tools or repair kit were in evidence. I hung back a little to offer assistance if the owner appeared, but they didn’t.
My sympathies to the rider…
March 24th – One thing I am liking very much at the moment is the improvement works to the Shire Oak Junctions. At 8pm on a Saturday it was of course quiet, and the asphalt glistened in the light in the damp of a short, passed shower. But the new surface, more intelligent light operation and better lane markings have made a real difference, and queues along the A461 – particularly at peak times are significantly reduced.
When Streets Corner is also complete, I expect the difference will be really noticeable.
Well done to all concerned.
March 19th – The thaw was thankfully quick, and the day felt positively warm and sunny as aI zipped about the Black Country on errands.
I was only when I got back to work and the bike started to dry out did I realise the toll the snow had taken.
That bottom bracket won’t be long for the world now with all that grit. My bikes will need some real TLC when the better days arrive.
February 13th – I wore out a set of front brake pads, and still have a fair few part worn ones glazed out from the problems with the rear brake, which I wouldn’t throw away in case I found a way to reclaim them.
I’ve been thinking about it idly, and I’ve managed to recover a set. I filed off the surface a little with a clean flat file surface. Filing alone doesn’t work, so working on the basis whatever has destroyed them must be oil based, I took the pads, placed them on an aluminium sheet, and gently heated them with a very hot plumber’s blowtorch for ten minutes, until they stopped smoking when I removed the flame.
I then cleaned off the oxidisation with a scotchbrite pad and finally degreased them with a zero residue spray cleaner.
They are as good as new. Without the heat, none of these steps have worked before.
I guess you could stove the pads in a normal kitchen oven if you don’t have a blowtorch.
It’s saved a few bob, I guess. Be interesting to see if they wear any quicker or glaze again.
February 7th – Spotted on a city-bound train, the first instance of something common in the US and mainland Europe – a bike fitted with a Thule coffee cup holder.
This is a pretty good idea to anyone who’s tried carrying a take-out coffee with a bike. My only observation in this instance would be that on my bike, I’d be prone to catch it with my knee so the other side of the bars would be better. Also, that bracket looks a wee bit clunky and industrial.
Interesting sign of an urban commuter, though!
February 6th – I noticed this interesting steed in the usual customer bike shed in Telford today, a Nukeproof mountain bike. It’s interesting because it’s continuing the trend for almost fat bikes. An expensive steed, it’s fitted with some impressive components.
Fat bikes are in my opinion, preposterous; a bike designed for sand or gravel use, they have huge tyres and matching frame clearances, akin to motorbikes. I see the odd one bought by commuters, when used on normal roads with balloon-like knobbly tyres they must be really hard work. I see more on trails, where the riders look less ridiculous but still quite daft.
The almost fat bike is a bike with larger than normal tyre clearances and usually, larger tyres, but not as huge as a fat bike. They tend to have broader axles than normal, but conventional group sets in the drivetrain. This bike demonstrates that amply.
I can’t imagine this is much fun to commute on either – those rubbers will drag, and the gearing must be quite hard work with such a small chainring. I still can’t get used to drivetrains with front sprockets smaller than the rear. Fine in their place – the trail – but not on road.
I was troubled by the rather tight clearance between the fork brace and tyre tread: carry a solid object like a stout piece of branch up there and it’ll do some damage.
December 6th – Something today I noticed on a couple of bikes in a communal bike shed whilst locking mine up – what is it with quick release seat clamps?
For me, you find your ideal seat heat for a bike, and stick with it. Once you’ve dialled it in, there’s no need to fiddle. Unless you’re riding a folder, or a serious off road bike that requires a remote dropper that can be adjusted on the fly, I don’t understand why you’d use something so insecure, non tamperproof and pointlessly complicated on such a seldom adjusted clamp.
Can anyone enlighten me please?
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