thebrenthamtaffy

Most recent activity

• Shimano mountain bike rear brake set up problem

  in Mechanics & Fixin' • 2 months, 2 weeks

  

  @may That looks like an MBK Hi-Tech Ranger to me! It was my first proper mountain bike back in 1989 :)

• Cargo Bikes

  in Bikes & Bits • 2 months, 4 weeks

  

  @gillies never under estimate the awkwardness of manoeuvring heavily laden cargo bikes!

  Hopefully you'll be using it all year around so you'll need to factor in getting kids in/out in rain & dark then getting them inside, then sorting the bike out. You'll soon get adept at dragging these bikes around. Ours has cable steering so has 150 degrees of movement which is massive compared to steering/track rod steering but is super useful when manoeuvring into tight spaces.

  If you go away on weekends/holiday I'd be tempted to keep the bike in the house. Pain in the arse, but so is losing a bike!

  I would also recommend running a dynohub so you can have permanent front/rear lights 24/7 for added visibility. You won't notice the drag.

• Cargo Bikes

  in Bikes & Bits • 3 months, 1 week

  

  Hope the rental space works out for you guys. You'll get to meet lots of locals through cycling around on your "crazy" bikes :). A good canopy on a cargo bike is vital in my opinion. We leave ours fitted 95% of the time. We had an usually wet winter in London and not once did our boy ever get wet or cold, unlike his dad! :) It's also useful for holding all the shopping inside as since COVID we cannot get delivery slots from our supermarket so I've been enjoying heading to the supermarket at 06:00am and filling the bike up with a pretty full trolley... Not sure how it all fits in sometimes! :)

• Cargo Bikes

  in Bikes & Bits • 3 months, 1 week

  

  What a beautiful part of the world you're moving too... but then again I'm Welsh so slightly biased :)

  Bullitt vs. Tern, either will be absolutely fine. Both you'll get funny stares from locals! :) depends on how much you're wanting to get on a train with the bike or transport it in the car. I would keep the Bullitt and see how you get on. Also depends on the age of your kids and if you have a canopy on the Bullitt/want to use the bike all year round. Also do you have somewhere dry & secure for a wide & 2.5m long bike?

• Cargo Bikes

  in Bikes & Bits • 3 months, 3 weeks

  

  No signs of any tampering yet. Have also put them on the wife’s bike to make locking it up a simpler task and eliminate the need for two locks. Not cheap mind, but cheaper than a new wheel!

  If someone’s determined to get your bike, they will. A sad sight for me is always a failed theft where they have destroyed the frame trying to steal it and just left the busted bike behind...

• Cargo Bikes

  in Bikes & Bits • 3 months, 4 weeks

  

  We have a Pitlock security skewer on front dynohub to save locking that up separately to keep things simpler as on our Douze you can get pretty messy locking front wheel to frame in the winter, plus it's a bit of a faff as it's low down due to 20" wheel size.

  We then have x2 locks permanently on the bike. Abus Granite Bordo X-Plus which is mounted on the bottle mounts which is OK just to immobilise bike, but they are super-short in practice and they can be a pain to use to get to lock bike/frame to something. Our main lock is an English Chains Thatcham/Solid Secure rated motorcycle lock I had left over from my motorcycling days. it has inner tube over the links to help silence it and I store it in x2 cut-up wetsuit legs which is then stored behind the folded seat so doesn't take up too much room. When the little one is in the bike it doesn't get in the way (fits behind him) and doesn't make much noise unless the padlock bit has fallen out the end and knocks on base board.

  Don't skimp on locks and lock it up properly each time! In West London so plenty of scallys around...

• West Beers : Every Thursday @ Red Lion Ealing, W5 5RA

  in Social • 3 months, 4 weeks

  

  He's not the best sleeper and has been going to bed pretty late recently. I probably average less than 5 hours a night so I'm probably partially to blame! :)

• West Beers : Every Thursday @ Red Lion Ealing, W5 5RA

  in Social • 3 months, 4 weeks

  

  He's in a small Primary School, but all went well dropping him off today - the wife cycled him there on the cargo bike. He was meant to cycle there himself this morning but he had been awake since 04:45am so he went for a 4.5 mile cycle at 05:00am when I walked the dog. Will be interesting to know what state he's in when he comes back! :)

• West Beers : Every Thursday @ Red Lion Ealing, W5 5RA

  in Social • 4 months

  

  You're a true survivor @mespilus enduring such toxic mixes!

  Home schooling stopped a while back. Way too stressful, especially with both parents trying to work in one open plan space. His (and ours!) mental health has really suffered during this lockdown. He's back on school Monday which will be very interesting...

• West Beers : Every Thursday @ Red Lion Ealing, W5 5RA

  in Social • 4 months

  

  Socially distanced Tramp beers in a park somewhere next week?

  Beautifully phrased!!! Doubt I can make it, but does sound great! :)