gradezero.com

twats

2008-11-06T14:08:00.000Z

baldy

2008-10-20T21:25:00.000+01:00

anybody fancy a ride on this?

2008-10-16T16:58:00.003+01:00

expositiontastic!

2008-10-08T20:03:00.001+01:00

as a kid i always thought this video was really cool (don't tell anybody but i still do) but this has just made it betterer.

country boozes

2008-09-15T21:42:00.000+01:00

srsly, buy the dandelion as a desert wine. it's lubberly.

true

2008-08-15T12:00:00.001+01:00

g-g

2008-08-07T20:29:00.001+01:00

shit

2008-06-21T23:18:00.001+01:00

in a box.

i really wish i had thought of this.

rotafix ftw!

2008-06-18T21:22:00.003+01:00

i've had an old cog stuck on the flop side of my rear wheel for months, despite the usual soaking in penetrant spray, grunting, hammering and breaking chain whips trying to get it off; there it remained, grinning it's 16 worn out teeth at me. then i remembered seeing some way of using the bike frame itself as a tool to get it done.

enter the rotafix method

it was still a bit of a struggle but off it came... no way it would have shifted with a chain tool.

rotafix 1 - old cog 0

"i like to ride my bicycle......."

2008-06-18T01:22:00.005+01:00

i know it seems a strange conception but i accept being shouted at, spat at, thrown misiles at and driven at while i am on my bike. it's all a part of cycling......for now.

common predictions are that the world will run out of oil in 25 years. assuming they are right in the next 5-10 years short journies will have to be made walking or by bicycle and long journies will be essential only.

for 200 years the bycycle has been the first real freedom people get. as a child, remember the first time you went out on your own on your bike, you could cover twice as much ground in the same time, you got to see more of the world and still get home in time for tea. sadly today when you get older; you learn to drive and "grow out of" bicycles into cars, yet the motor car is 18%ish efficient. the bicycle is 90% efficient. i grew out of bicycles when i got a car; then i grew out of the car into to a bicycle.

travel by bike and the passenger to weight ratio is 5/1 by car it is 1/10... and that is being kind to the car. is that really progression? if the rest of you rlife followed that we would all "need" a 5 bedroom house yet people live perfectly well in small flats.

by bicycle you can travel anywhere between 4000-7000 miles on the calorific equivilent of a gallon of unleaded petrol. in the most frugal car you can get today you are looking at about 70 mpg for diesel; and you get to eat a load of pies and not get fat.

seriously, fossil fuel based transport is done (and more worringly the fossil fuel based economy); it cannot survive simply because there is not enough fuel to go 'round. catch the bus and (in reading at least) you are promoting growing fuel crops instead of fuel.... what would you rather do; eat or get to work by bus? or go b y bus and somebody dies of starvation... go by car and you lose on ever angle. ZEV (zero emmisions vehicle)or HPV (human powered vehicle) are your only real choices.

and this from somebody who has 2 cars ans is moving 120 miles from work. i should just kill myself now. although i still will only drive 1000 miles a month.. less than the average.

talk to me in 20 years time.

hayfever

2008-06-17T23:06:00.001+01:00

is a bastard

the final front ear

2008-06-14T17:07:00.001+01:00

i hate to go on.....

2008-06-13T15:55:00.009+01:00

actually, that's a lie; i like to complain, and moan, and generally point out how shit the UK is at a lot of stuff; and this will be no exception. but i digress......

cycling came to the news again today as a "fuel free" form of transport because those i like to call "fucking idiots" have been panic buying petrol and diesel (all because 2 haulage companies that service i petrol station chain that runs 10% of the petrol stations in the country are on strike. ZOMG!!!!!11! WTF!!111!! we'd better buy all the petrol; and all the bread and milk while we're at it.) Unfortunately people still aren't getting it, cycling still has a bad rap.

1. cycling is still seen as "poor mans" transport; conjuring up wartime images of factory workers leaving heading home on their bicycles. factory = working class = poor = "i'm not riding a fucking bike, what do you think i am? poor or sommit?"

here was me thinking everybody likes a bargain. we're always being told that shopping around is smart and "why pay more" why does this not translate to transport? or if you're really worried about looking poor you can easily spend £3k on a bike and tell everybody how much it cost.

2. bikes are too expensive.

nonsense. give me £50 and i'll get you a bike that will get you anywhere. if you're lucky you can even get them for nothing.

3. the weather here is too nasty for cycling. it's always raining etc:

copenhagen is the cyclingist city in the western world (i couldn't find details for china... strange that) a third of all trips are made by bicycle (a third by car, and the last third by train or bus), but the climate there

is pretty similar to london, but london has less rain in the summer

linky has more uk graphs

where around 3-4% of journeys are made by bicycle.

4. i'll get all dirty and sweaty if i ride a bike to work, and cycling gear looks stupid.

depends how you ride... i go flat out whenever possible; but i can shower and change when i get to the office. if i'm going somewhere i can't get washed up then i just ride slower. and tell me, do these people look stupid?

and did you notice their bikes... no? that's because people don't notice your bike. just ride one.

5. it's not safe, i'll end up under a car/bus/cement mixer.

sadly, motorists are blind to cyclists most of the time; but the only way to change this is to make them more aware, and the best way to make them more aware is to get more people cycling. it would be a help if the pitiful managers of the uk actually put their hands in the coffers once in a while and added some infrastructure.. but that's a whole other rant. it's a bit of a catch 22: cycling isn't as safe as it could be, but to make it safe more people need to be cycling.... i'm sure i don't need to point out the long term health benefits outweighing the short term chance of being squished; i'd rather be in fine health until i get squished than fat, lazy, poor and unsquished.

92, not squished.

so if you're able bodied, and traveling less than 10 miles (for a start) just leave the car at home. it's easy; and you'll feel better.

i'll leave you with this zen proverb:

A Zen teacher saw five of his students returning from the market, riding their bicycles. When they arrived at the monastery and had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"

The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!"
The teacher praised the first student. "You are a smart boy! When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over like I do."

The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path!"
The teacher commended the second student, "Your eyes are open, and you see the world."

The third student replied,
"When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant nam myoho renge kyo."
The teacher gave his praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."

The fourth student replied, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all sentient beings."
The teacher was pleased and said to the fourth student, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."

The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle."
The teacher sat at the feet of the fifth student and said, "I am your student."
more quotes

manly

2008-06-11T23:33:00.002+01:00

If you cant Bring yourself to buy a blender, or heaven forbid, a smoothie maker because they are a bit... well.... gay. How about this?

a 2 stroke blender; with handlebars.

grrrrr. MEN!

yeah baby!

2008-06-04T14:54:00.001+01:00

we should all be wearing stuff like this.

retro pr0n

2008-05-15T14:08:00.001+01:00

seems smut was a bit different in 1914

mooooooo

2008-05-01T14:31:00.000+01:00

really stupid saddle covers

bike nerd

2008-05-01T14:04:00.003+01:00

i was discussing replacement cranks for somebody's bike and the question of crank length came up.. somehow i ended up with a short essay:

my opinion is shared by a vast amount of pro riders, coaches and ergonomists (is that a word). don't get anything longer than 172.5. i use 170 which is probably a bit long for me, 165's would be better but i couldn't get any.

most people use cranks that are too long. you need to be 6'+ (or have freakishly long legs) to use 175s. cranks too long will push your knee angle under 90 deg on dead top centre, this is not good for your knees, they don't like to push out from an acute angle like that, you know it aches when you stand up from a crouch... it's the same thing. there is no physical detriment i have been able to find from using shorter cranks (apart from possible inefficent cadence, but that's what gears are for).

it's a problem for mass market bikes that they use mass market parts which for economies of scale are punted out at whatever size they decide will bolt onto the majority of frames, on "tiny" and "small" frames you will get 170s; "medium" will be 170 or 175 and "large" and "extra large" will be 175. 4 frame sizes, 2 crank lengths... you get the idea.

people argue that you need good long cranks to get decent leverage. this is utter nonsense on a bike with gears, yes crank length makes a difference but this can be compensated for with the geary gubbins. singlespeeds and fixed wheel have their own concerns but still too long is too long (there are exceptions - specific hill climb events will benifit but we're talking short term use). lots of singlespeeders complain about having sore knees; this is less to do with the lack of gears and more to do with the added stresses of a misproportioned bike setup.

i've argued this with people before and it makes even more sense to me written down. take my opinion as you wish but i'm right :)

sage

2008-04-29T13:51:00.001+01:00

click for biggerness

bring back the 50s

2008-04-25T20:19:00.001+01:00

seems i'm a bit behind the times. bikes have been great since before i was born...... funny that

just the one please mrs wembley

2008-04-25T20:02:00.003+01:00

not content with one gear bikes on xmas day i migrated to one of these

but now i'm thinking one of these is more hardcore

more words here

EMI miss the point totally, again.

2008-04-24T08:11:00.000+01:00

seems emi are desperate to prove they don't have a clue what the internet is about. it's not all pedos and illegal music downloads you know

what's wrong with this picture?

2008-04-21T10:30:00.003+01:00

done ii

2008-04-14T12:06:00.001+01:00

WANT!

2008-04-12T20:42:00.002+01:00

really. i do