Thrustvector

Most recent activity

• Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

  in Bikes & Bits • 1 day, 2 hours

  

  Are we talking touring loads or Audax/day rides? Because with a day ride load I honestly don't notice a Carradice on the back. The couple of times I've borrowed a low-trail bike with a front load it's felt different but not noticeably better; the kind of thing you get used to and forget after a couple of minutes' riding. Though I'm possibly not a spirited or aggressive enough rider to feel the handling benefits when pushing it.

• BBC 6 Music

  in Miscellaneous and Meaningless • 1 day, 5 hours

  

  I do think LL has settled into the slot a bit and is sounding much more comfortable. Still wish they'd kept the 7am start, mind.

• What time is it? Watches and horology

  in Miscellaneous and Meaningless • 2 days, 17 hours

  

  Rolex made a small number of 5513s with explorer dials (e.g. https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/rolex-­submariner-dial-auctioned-uk-from-origin­al-owner ), but I don't know if they did this with other sub models as well.

  ION, I've had my first (minor) ding on my 36mm Everest, so now I can relax and accept the patina...

• Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

  in Cycle Touring and Bikepacking • 4 days, 15 hours

  

  "Hey guys, I've had a great idea. I know it sounds crazy, but what if we added some metal frames over the front and rear wheels to add rigidity and strapped the bags to those? We could call them, I dunno, racks or something..."

• What time is it? Watches and horology

  in Miscellaneous and Meaningless • 1 week

  

  Still on the Smiths.

• BBC 6 Music

  in Miscellaneous and Meaningless • 1 week

  

  Still not sold on the new schedule - the 7:30 start time for the breakfast show means it breaks my morning kitchen routine and confuses me while I'm still insufficiently caffeinated - but this morning it seemed to be coming together a bit more. Which is good, because I used to really enjoy LL's morning show, but am a bit meh about her in this slot.

• Stylish cycling kit

  in Bikes & Bits • 1 week

  

  I've got a Carradice waxed cotton cape and a Lidl fluro plastic hiking one. Both work pretty well; the Carradice has waist tapes so it flaps around less, but is less waterproof (though that's possibly because it needs re-waxing), and the plastic one packs down lighter and smaller, but may I suspect be less durable in the long run.

  Depending on how tall you are and how the cape falls you may get a bit of rain coming in underneath and onto your lower legs; I considered getting some of the Carradice spats, but decided it was probably a bit much faff for the handful of times a year I actually would have to ride through pissing rain. I also occasionally get damp shoulders I'm not sure whether that's because the fabric needs reproofing, or because I'm sweating where the cape sits on my body. But if you run any way hot like me, a cape is by far the best solution to cycling in civvies IMO.

• Dunkirk to Hook of Holland. Recommendations please.

  in Cycle Touring and Bikepacking • 1 week, 6 days

  

  I'm hoping to do a week's tour Dunkirk-Hook this summer, family commitments permitting. My plan was to do easy days of 60-80km, leaving plenty of time for beer and sightseeing.

  My days were going to be roughly:
  Dunkirk-Westvleteren (beer!)-Poperinge (hops museum) - Ypres (Menin Gate ceremony)
  Ypres-Roeselare (cycling museum) - Brugge (possibly brewery tour?)
  Brugge-Ghent
  Ghent-Antwerp
  And then take a day and a half to get back to Hook for the afternoon ferry.

• Proper leather shoes

  in Miscellaneous and Meaningless • 2 weeks, 6 days

  

  Yeah, looks like they may have stopped them. I found this, but I guess it's NOS (and not exactly cheap): https://www.uttings.co.uk/p110776-zamber­lan-1023-latemar-nw-walking-boots-men-s-­waxed-dark-brown-1023/#.XFWVzWmnw0M

• Proper leather shoes

  in Miscellaneous and Meaningless • 2 weeks, 6 days

  

  Zamberlan still look to have a couple of non-GoreTex leather boots in their range; my pair's getting on for 20 years old and is still going strong, though the uppers are fairly scuffed now.