Thrustvector

Most recent activity

• Brompton owners (was: Brompton rider outed)

  in General • 1 week

  

  Can't find it now, but it was in a discussion of changes to the spec over the years; one of the regulars said they'd heard there was a new model coming.

• Brompton owners (was: Brompton rider outed)

  in General • 1 week, 1 day

  

  Following on from the Kinetics/explore chat, on the CTC forums someone mentioned rumours of a new Brompton model in the pipeline - any secret squirrel hints? Or had they got the wrong end of the stick with the explore?

• Mince Pie Appreciation

  in Miscellaneous and Meaningless • 1 week, 4 days

  

  In-store bakery 4-decks appearing at my local Sainsbury's. These are snares sent to tempt us into premature mincerdom, brethren - stay strong.

• Calais > Antwerp > Hamburg > Copenhagen

  in Cycle Touring and Bikepacking • 1 week, 5 days

  

  Ta - have added those to the notes for my next tour!

• Microadventuring, mini tours etc

  in Cycle Touring and Bikepacking • 1 week, 5 days

  

  Great trip report! Despite living just the other side of Wolverhampton, I've not been out to the Shropshire side of things yet; looks like I should make the effort.

• Calais > Antwerp > Hamburg > Copenhagen

  in Cycle Touring and Bikepacking • 1 week, 5 days

  

  Depending on what your interests are, and how fast a tour you want:

  • Obviously Belgium is great for beers; if you wanted to head from Dunkirk to Ypres then the Trappist abbey at Westvleteren is on route, as is the hops museum in Poperinge.
    
  • The Belgian national museum of cycle sport is in Roeselare, between Ypres and Bruges.
    
  • Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp all have excellent museums and galleries - the Plantin museum of printing in Antwerp is world-class.
    
  • If you're not a GPS user: I've not used the nodal system in Belgium, but my experience of Dutch cycling is that you'll be ok with a 1:200-250K map and just following route signs to the next town/village - it may be a bit slower, but the cycling's all so pleasant it doesn't matter.
    
• Brompton owners (was: Brompton rider outed)

  in General • 2 weeks

  

  Nice! Where did you get the sick fadez done?

• Brompton owners (was: Brompton rider outed)

  in General • 2 weeks, 5 days

  

  D'oh yes of course - had forgotten the BWR was only on the 6-speed. I thought all other Sturmey 3-speeds in production were direct drive in middle and +33%/-33% gears?

• Brompton owners (was: Brompton rider outed)

  in General • 2 weeks, 5 days

  

  I like my 6-speed a lot, though I spend most of my time in gears 3,4, and 5. If I wanted to go simple/lightweight I'd probably go for 2- rather than 3-speed - the BWR gaps are a bit big for my liking without the derailer half-steps, and I could live with having to spin a bit more when racing for a train. I know someone who built a wheel with a Sturmey AM for his Brompton, and he seems very happy with it - if I came across one cheap I could be tempted.

• Please report dangerous drivers to the police - Roadsafe. Report to plod, not just whinge here.

  in General • 2 weeks, 5 days

  

  I thought driving bans didn't start until you'd finished your sentence, so they're in addition to that? (Not sure whether time out on license is added to the ban.)