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Agree that not everyone needs a full 4-pannier setup, and that a bikepacking setup may have advantages on an off-roading setup, but as I said I'm not sure the racks are all that well engineered - even on the rim brake version there's not a huge amount of triangulation. I'd be happier with a Tubus Tara-style loop over the rear wheel, or Blackburn-lowrider-style mounts either side of the seatstay. Of course you'll most likely be ok - otherwise I guess they'd have already had reports of breakages - but if you're already going full custom for the frame and bags, why not sweat all the details?

Bikepacking supports to strap dry bags to? Can't say I fancy the look of them for any significant load - they're not triangulated either vertically or horizontally, and the latter means there's the potential to end up in the spokes in case of a bump.

Nexus are fine for a cargo bike- my Kr8 has a Nexus 8, which is fine, if slightly draggier than the Alfine (IIRC Nexus premiums have roller clutches like the Alfine so are better).

Yeah, a Mk XI would be a grail watch; up til now I'd have said an original Speedbird was as close as I might ever get, but the Navigator looks very very nice.

Yeah, apparently the car club still have some of the aero-engine books the Heritage Trust have sold out of...

Ha - I did wonder whether to post that request here or in the car thread! Nothing to do with the automobiles - all on the aero-engine side of things, if that makes a difference...

If and when I can actually get out for more than an hour, I might give this a go...

(I didn't even spot the road sign at first, doh; I worked it out from the landmark and road orientation on Google maps...)

As a mate of mine says, I like to think that somewhere out there there's a big blue piece of Detroit iron called the General Grant, giant stars and stripes on the roof, that crushes the Dukes of Hazard every race they meet...

That's disappointing - from my experience, and from what I've heard, Eddie's customer service is occasionally rather Yorkshireman, but he works hard to fix any major screwups.

I really want a Navigator when they're released later in the year, but I'm not holding my breath...

That's because Eddie's ordering procedures make Rolex look like Tesco! (For understandable reasons, but still...)

Is anyone on here a member of the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club, and would be willing to order some books from their website for me? As my usual research libraries are closed at the moment, I need copies of some of the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust publications for a project.

Did you use a mechanical mixer for these?

Mother of God.

Oxford vaccine results being reported everywhere as breaking news, but this is basically a necessary but not sufficient requirement for a workable vaccine, right?

Oops, meant to say 'relative magnitudes' there. Also assuming that this is a UCI-compliant answer, such that 'turn it into a fairing' would get you on the naughty step.

I can bullshit rationales for a number of locations, but can't decide what the magnitudes of the effects would be. Purely on the ∆h of the mass I'm going to guess at the rear dropout?

To a first approximation, unless the ground is going steeply uphill, any small change in weight is dwarfed by changes to rolling resistance and aeros. There's a reason the UCI quickly banned recumbents, despite most designs being significantly heavier than diamond-frame uprights...

Depends on your path round the velodrome, doesn't it? If you're managing a steady speed round the track and not going up and down the banking, the only difference is going to be in the initial work of accelerating up to speed.

I would have thought that on a track it was the reduced rolling resistance of lightweight tubes that made the greater difference (and wouldn't they have used tubs?). Rolling resistance is also a function of load on the tyre, but a 50g difference is going to be an infinitesimal effect at track pressures.

(Edit - beaten to it by Tester)

If you just want to boil water for coffee/pot noodle/boil-in-the-bag food, then a meths stove/Ti mug setup can be pretty lightweight. I've got a Speedster stove & windshield for an Alpkit 650ml Ti mug. Total weight for that is about 170g, plus whatever meths I want to bring. The main bulk/weight is going to come from the food and water itself rather than from the cooking kit.

For actual cooking I prefer a proper Trangia, but at about a kg and reasonable bulk that's touring rather than bikepacking kit.

If I wanted discs, I wouldn't be starting from there - they've already got drum brakes, so will have consistent wet/dry performance.

Tbh, for a hack/shopper, most postal bikes are pretty much ideal as they are - they're designed to carry heavy loads, and the components are chosen for reliability and long life. 'Decent' (lighter?) parts are unlikely to make a functional difference, and even if you replace most of them it's still going to be a heavy bike.

Of course, if you're doing it for the fun of the project, knock yourself out! Now I'm imagining a postal bike with deep carbon rims, CK headset, etc...

If it's 130mm spacing you could replace it with a road 8/9/10-speed hub and cassette, no? Or if it's a 7-speed freehub you could modify higher-speed cassettes by removing the smallest socket; 8-from-9 and 9-from-10 cassettes should both fit on a 7-speed freehub body.

Interesting - on my bakfiets it needs more forward motion than you can get from a locked back wheel to drop it off the stand, which may be why I've never had any problems.

I wouldn't have thought you could get enough of a run-up to dent or break a spoke with a nurse's lock - I've set off many times on regular bikes without mishap, and cargo bikes tend to have beefy 13g spokes.

I was on a short webinar with David Spiegelhalter earlier in the week, in which (if I'm remembering this correctly) he suggested that non-Covid deaths in hospital are down by about 14K over the lockdown period, but at-home deaths were up by about 15K. Which suggests that there is an effect from untreated heart attacks etc, but that it's still small overall compared to Covid deaths.

So, going by the announcement, everything's going to be back to normal by November then? Fucksake.