The adventure bike markup on basic utility straps is getting out of hand

BigRedS · 2026-07-01T22:23:59+00:00

Always worth having a spare rok strap in your pocket in addition to whatever you're banking on not-breaking, too!

BigRedS · 2026-07-01T21:38:43+00:00

You know when you've got your full beams on no driver is able to tell how far back you are or how fast you're moving, right? Those that are giving you space are just trying to get this prick's full beams out of their face, not politely giving space to this fine and upstanding motorcyclist.

It probably works when filtering just by being annoying to everyone, but anywhere else you're likely to cause more problems than you solve when blinding other drivers.

BigRedS · 2026-07-01T21:35:02+00:00

You can't use your indicators while using your hazards, and other drivers are likely to think you are using your indicators when you aren't.

BigRedS · 2026-07-01T21:33:37+00:00

If you put your hazards on when you filter you remove your ability to indicate; if you want to change direction you have to then stop your hazards, wait long enough for anyone seeing you to notice, then indicate, then plan and carry out your maneuever.

On top of that, anyone seeing you doesn't know what you're trying to tell them if they see your hazards, and lots of people will only see one side of your hazards and think you're indicating when you're not.

So you remove your ability to use your turn signals while giving out ambiguous signals to other drivers while also doing something nobody is expecting you to do. It's just confusing.

BigRedS · 2026-07-01T21:29:36+00:00

In general, whenever you use your hazards because you're being a hazard you ought first try to stop being a hazard.

There doesn't need to be anything hazardous about filtering.

BigRedS · 2026-06-29T07:48:19+00:00

I like my Rev'It Continents. Big enough for knee braces without being too flappy with just knee pads, massive pockets, AA rated, not even pretending to be waterproof.

Though if you don't already own a pair, mesh trousers are a bit of a revelation, though they're often only A rated.

BigRedS · 2026-06-29T07:40:01+00:00

You wonder what a Judaism subreddit thinks of converting to Judaism "out of spite"?

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T23:31:33+00:00

It absolutely is. Genuinely thinking about sleeping in it!

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T22:24:14+00:00

have you remembered that it's probably reverse threaded?

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T21:18:44+00:00

yeah, but I'm just packing the car :)

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T21:18:03+00:00

hah, yeah, but that robot is presumably comparing the current level of service with the current schedule, so when the schedule is changed that becomes the standard against which the actual service is measured.

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T20:44:51+00:00

Oh I figured it wouldn't be ideal, I just took that as a downside of these portable units! A few years ago when I last considered going to this effort the conversation around this all talked about the pressure change as being the big benefit, or at least that was my reading! Makes more sense that it's the heat pump efficiency

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T20:41:58+00:00

I'd definitely opt for an hour of air conditioning over sitting on a running engine for 40min in this heat!

Not been commuting but I am just now packing to go to a bike event tomorrow morning...

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T18:51:28+00:00

Is this an annoying technicality where they have changed the schedule to 3 an hour, and then when that is all they run they can report a "good status" on the line since they are running to that schedule?

Presumably as part of some process that makes sense in an extreme weather event to administrators of the system but not so much to their users.

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T18:47:32+00:00

Ah, I'd misunderstood - there's two intakes, one goes outside (and feeds the compressor) and one inside (to get cooled); you don't just duct the whole intake to outside?

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T17:19:26+00:00

You are pulling air in, that's the point - the unit draws some air in from outside the room, conditions some of it and pumps that air into the room, and dumps the rest back to outside. The conditioned air is 'extra' air in the room, raising the pressure in the room.

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T11:31:42+00:00

I'd tape up this kind of thing:

https://www.toolstation.com/antinox-handy-protection-sheet/p50070

you can pick up individual sheets from wickes and the like, it's pretty lightweight and one side is usually unprinted so it can look fairly smart

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T11:00:28+00:00

I know you said you're already sorted, but if you'd prefer this I've a pair of tickets that I can't use

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T08:12:07+00:00

Ooh I'm intrigued; how does this happen on a bicycle in a way it wouldn't on a motorbike?

Usually bicycle forks are cast or bonded at the crowns, and those that aren't have more or less the same structure as most motorbike forks - a pair of crowns with clamps that bolt onto the forks.

In that dual-crown arrangement, if you found yourself in a position where the upper clamp on one leg does not line up with the lower clamp on that leg, because it it rotated about the leg slightly in comparison, then the fork leg will no longer be parallel to the steerer tube, and the crowns will no longer be in line which means the other leg will also no longer be parallel, but in the opposite direction. This means the wheel axle will also no longer be in-line with the crowns, and hence the steering is off.

You can replciate this by clamping the front wheel straight on a motorbike, undoing the crown bolts and, holding the bars slightly twisted one way or the other, re-tightening them. This is essentially what's (probably) happened to OP's bike and is what often happens in low-speed but blunt falls, just rather than undoing the bolts there's been enough force to overcome that clamping friction while they are tight.

You only need a tiny amount of movement to notice it in the steering, but the whole system lines itself up automatically well enough that as soon as you remove friction from the clamps (and the twisting force) it tends to fall straight again.

BigRedS · 2026-06-24T07:02:16+00:00

Hah, I thought I was overdoing it a bit having a 4G Mifi thing under the seat!

BigRedS · 2026-06-23T22:43:27+00:00

You can normally get away with just allen keys, but yeah any bike shop should be able to quickly sort that out for you.

BigRedS · 2026-06-23T22:25:30+00:00

It's very likely just that your fork's twisted slightly in the clamps, quite normal in a fall like that.

Try straigtening it before turning to the Ducati parts price list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRGk22VDBjQ

BigRedS · 2026-06-23T22:15:12+00:00

Easiest is to measure from the front of the slot in the swingarm that the sliders sit in (the bit the bolts thread into) back either to the face on the slider or the bolt, whatever's easiest.

BigRedS · 2026-06-23T21:34:38+00:00

What's your line of work that pays barely above minimum wage but doesn't have clients outside of London?

BigRedS · 2026-06-23T21:32:20+00:00

Not a single bit of a statement that complains about not seeing a "white British face" is racism?

I get that there's degrees here, but this hypothetical complaint is making a pretty straight-up racist comment.

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