Garden, Bike and Travel
Bit of an update this entry.
So, I finished the trench and moved a bunch of gravel into the back. I think it’s the fences next, or the pond. This below is the completed trench.
That was before it rained. It’s currently filled with about 10 cm of rainwater, or ground water, as I suspect it has come up and filtered through the clay rather than down (it is crystal clear). Ho hum.
The next weekend I went to the Cycle Show. I saw this Moulton with a child seat on the way back. I like the way the child gets her own pedals, linked to the chain wheel.
I had a look at the hubs on the Shimano stand.
Nothing there for me really, no drum brake option on the Alfine, and the dynamo hubs only work on 26-inch and bigger wheels. I saw the new IF folding bike, remarkably expensive, some wooden rims, the new Moulton 50 and had a terrible ride on a Mezzo on the rather flat commuter test track.
I got there far too late to try the mountain bike track. I mean it was open but the queues were ridiculous. I should have known that from last year.
I visited Southampton the next week for a conference. Nice train ride down via Megatrain, which puts you on the normal train, but on the slow service, but at half the price. Shot from the train window below. It didn’t actually rain.
My hotel was down by the docks and the walk there took me through a huge new shopping development and then the old walls of the town, and Jane Austen’s house (or something near it, according to the plaque).
These walls were actually on the sea. It’s been reclaimed as a road now though. And from my window (facing the docks), this rather impressive sight.
Walking back to the station, I went through the main centre park. The main attraction in there was a crime scene:
I popped into the nice art gallery (some nice impressionism and a Monet in there), and then back on the very slow train back home.
Now, the bike. I got a puncture on the rear wheel, and on inspection it was clearly end of life. The external rubber had worn through, 2 spots of the blue pucture barrier peeked through:
So, when I took my new hub to Bicycle Workshop, I asked them to replace it, but they didn’t have any. I wished they had told me during the 2 weeks they had the wheel (so I could order one), but hey ho. I got the bike back from them on Saturday. I had to leave at 5:30 to get
there for the 7am workshop collection. I got totally lost on the way and it was almost complete chance that I found it. Anyway, fundamentally, they think, because of the width of the hub, I shouldn't be using v-shape rims. They say the Velocity Aeroheat I bought is a deeper V than the Alex DA-16 I was replacing (personally I can't tell the difference). They said the angle of the spoke at the rim is too much, and causes the spoke to bend, and indeed I can see the spoke bending into the eyelet when I look. So, they predict that the spokes will start breaking, especially as the wheel is slightly dished. (OH FFS not again!!!) When this happens, they'll order me a Sun rim — which I really hope offers me a longer term solution.
Well, that fills me with confidence!! On the other hand, they might not break, they've used high quality Sapim spokes, which look thinner than my front spokes and I’ve still got all the spokes. The hub brake is OK and the new gears are working well, smoother than the last one, but as with the last one, the very occasional slip in 4 and 6.
While I was waiting for the bike (I took it in a 7:30 and got it at 17:30), I visited Westfield, the new shopping centre in Shepards Bush/White City. The biggest urban centre in Europe, I gather. It is indeed big, although not big enough to provide rain cover for those coming on public transport or on foot. It rained and everyone got wet (except those coming by car, presumably). Inside it was horribly packed and had all the same shops, it seemed to me, as Oxford and Bond Street, where I had just come from, except without the sales. Only 2 things in there delighted me, 1 - the sight of children playing Nintendo Wii, and 2 - the Alessi store, the one and only reason I may return there.
On my way to Westfield, I saw that Monument is coming along well with its refurb. Its going to look nice I think.
So, I finished the trench and moved a bunch of gravel into the back. I think it’s the fences next, or the pond. This below is the completed trench.
That was before it rained. It’s currently filled with about 10 cm of rainwater, or ground water, as I suspect it has come up and filtered through the clay rather than down (it is crystal clear). Ho hum.
The next weekend I went to the Cycle Show. I saw this Moulton with a child seat on the way back. I like the way the child gets her own pedals, linked to the chain wheel.
I had a look at the hubs on the Shimano stand.
Nothing there for me really, no drum brake option on the Alfine, and the dynamo hubs only work on 26-inch and bigger wheels. I saw the new IF folding bike, remarkably expensive, some wooden rims, the new Moulton 50 and had a terrible ride on a Mezzo on the rather flat commuter test track.
I got there far too late to try the mountain bike track. I mean it was open but the queues were ridiculous. I should have known that from last year.
I visited Southampton the next week for a conference. Nice train ride down via Megatrain, which puts you on the normal train, but on the slow service, but at half the price. Shot from the train window below. It didn’t actually rain.
My hotel was down by the docks and the walk there took me through a huge new shopping development and then the old walls of the town, and Jane Austen’s house (or something near it, according to the plaque).
These walls were actually on the sea. It’s been reclaimed as a road now though. And from my window (facing the docks), this rather impressive sight.
Walking back to the station, I went through the main centre park. The main attraction in there was a crime scene:
I popped into the nice art gallery (some nice impressionism and a Monet in there), and then back on the very slow train back home.
Now, the bike. I got a puncture on the rear wheel, and on inspection it was clearly end of life. The external rubber had worn through, 2 spots of the blue pucture barrier peeked through:
So, when I took my new hub to Bicycle Workshop, I asked them to replace it, but they didn’t have any. I wished they had told me during the 2 weeks they had the wheel (so I could order one), but hey ho. I got the bike back from them on Saturday. I had to leave at 5:30 to get
there for the 7am workshop collection. I got totally lost on the way and it was almost complete chance that I found it. Anyway, fundamentally, they think, because of the width of the hub, I shouldn't be using v-shape rims. They say the Velocity Aeroheat I bought is a deeper V than the Alex DA-16 I was replacing (personally I can't tell the difference). They said the angle of the spoke at the rim is too much, and causes the spoke to bend, and indeed I can see the spoke bending into the eyelet when I look. So, they predict that the spokes will start breaking, especially as the wheel is slightly dished. (OH FFS not again!!!) When this happens, they'll order me a Sun rim — which I really hope offers me a longer term solution.
Well, that fills me with confidence!! On the other hand, they might not break, they've used high quality Sapim spokes, which look thinner than my front spokes and I’ve still got all the spokes. The hub brake is OK and the new gears are working well, smoother than the last one, but as with the last one, the very occasional slip in 4 and 6.
While I was waiting for the bike (I took it in a 7:30 and got it at 17:30), I visited Westfield, the new shopping centre in Shepards Bush/White City. The biggest urban centre in Europe, I gather. It is indeed big, although not big enough to provide rain cover for those coming on public transport or on foot. It rained and everyone got wet (except those coming by car, presumably). Inside it was horribly packed and had all the same shops, it seemed to me, as Oxford and Bond Street, where I had just come from, except without the sales. Only 2 things in there delighted me, 1 - the sight of children playing Nintendo Wii, and 2 - the Alessi store, the one and only reason I may return there.
On my way to Westfield, I saw that Monument is coming along well with its refurb. Its going to look nice I think.
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