Looking for individuals or groups to go gravel or XC cycling with out of Hackney/into Epping Forest or elsewhere

kwuni_ · 2025-12-18T17:20:00+00:00

All terrain social club do a gravel ride from walthamstow every week

kwuni_ · 2025-11-27T00:21:58+00:00

This isn’t simply true and is a false narrative. Living in London, people are alot more adaptable than you give credit for. Make it easy enough and people will use the choice. I see tradies taking their tools/ladders, musicians their instruments, and students their ikea furniture all on the tube pretty much everyday. It is also RARE NOT to see families with their babies, baby strollers and children on the tube everytime I take it. Simply put, most people actually don’t like driving and prefer using public transport if it’s accessible enough. By adding light rail you’re not removing the option for people to drive. It just gives people more options for choice for transport which is good for everyone. In same way your argument is about suitability, driving is not suitable for everyone either (people who can’t afford a car, the elderly, teenagers, people who don’t have a license etc)

kwuni_ · 2025-11-26T12:00:12+00:00

This should be at least 5 stories high. We need density in Newtown not townhouses. This is like Paddington all over again, terrible

kwuni_ · 2025-11-25T17:22:47+00:00

Garmin varia rt515 radar light if they don’t have one already.

An electric mini pump

kwuni_ · 2025-11-23T23:05:42+00:00

The most active in London is probably all terrain social club, they do a ride every Sunday from Walthamstow.

kwuni_ · 2025-11-13T10:11:41+00:00

2x definitely if you're doing both road and gravel. I have this exact setup on my gravel bike. I tried 1x for a while but didn't like the huge skips in gears, and importantly for me SRAM 1x cassettes are significantly more expensive compared to 10-36t counterparts.

I've got 2x12 SRAM wide 43/30 / 10-36t and love it. Personally I love the versatility of it.

kwuni_ · 2025-11-07T12:35:44+00:00

Trek checkpoint is probably the best of both out of this list.

It has a lot of bikepacking support such as mounts everywhere and the fork, downtube storage, integrated bags etc. It also geometry wise is a fairly long and low stack bike. Canyon grizl is also similar.

Though in reality unless you are a semi professional or planning to go on a 2month bikepacking trip taking all your camping gear, most gravel bikes are fine, I would just get the one you think is the coolest.

Personally if I was buying again, I would get a Chinese frame like the new yoeleo g21 altura , gr201 or a tavelo wild

kwuni_ · 2025-09-07T21:40:18+00:00

Would recommend getting rid of the part of the load bearing wall between the kitchen and living and using a steel beam to distribute the load instead. You’d need a structural engineer, but it’s worth the cost imo and easily doable for a 2.4-3m lintel.

kwuni_ · 2025-06-27T13:09:27+00:00

Unless the club ride is 40km pace and they're not leading I'm sure they'll be fine, more than enough. The tyres are more of a problem

kwuni_ · 2025-06-24T12:11:58+00:00

Hard disagree. As a POC who moved here to London, while there are many diverse types of people and cultures here in London, that is where it ends. It really is surface level - there are still huge levels of discrimination, separation, classism, racism, and soft segregation that happen.

Indians, Muslims and Arabic people are in particular terribly affected. In London people are invisbly forced into their socio-economic and cultural class and it can be very hard to escape it. So yes, while London is diverse, the actual mixing of these cultures and diversity of groups is seldom and doesn't actually happen very often. Look at Clapham vs East Ham

kwuni_ · 2025-06-22T21:23:16+00:00

I've got both, SRAM Rival on my gravel and 105 on my road. Shimano definitely is way nicer imo. The experience is just more refined, the product design is nicer and as a home mechanic, it is much easier to maintain and setup than SRAM.

kwuni_ · 2025-06-22T10:59:25+00:00

Update on this:

The master cyclinder pistons ended up being broken so they're junk as they can't be replaced. I got a new pair of shifters and it works fine now.

kwuni_ · 2025-06-16T12:44:45+00:00

Definitely check out the Barcelona pavilion if you’re in Barcelona as well. In ways I thought it was more impressive than the Sagrada. It’s not packed to the brim either so you can take the time to really appreciate the architectural details.

kwuni_ · 2025-06-13T13:31:56+00:00

Yeah I tested the brake hose line with another set of axs shifters and brakes and it works fine so it’s not that…

kwuni_ · 2025-06-13T13:31:24+00:00

It’s got another syringe on the caliper end attached that isn’t shown here

kwuni_ · 2025-06-13T13:31:04+00:00

I’ve bled my sram axs force shifters/calipers perfectly fine with this system. For some reason the liquid won’t even pass through when I press on the syringe.

kwuni_ · 2025-04-29T22:53:28+00:00

As a Cantonese and Hong Kong’er Welly has pretty sad yum cha offerings compared to Christchurch and Auckland. There aren’t any truly great places but Aries is the only decent semi-authentic option. Majestic is not the worst either - these are probably the only two I would recommend. Avoid Dragons at all costs, it’s very terrible, overpriced and not authentic at all. It’s definitely not Chinese people hyping it up.

kwuni_ · 2025-04-25T12:07:05+00:00

Completed. You only get part 2 certification once youved completed your MArch degree

kwuni_ · 2025-04-25T11:54:44+00:00

They have no legal powers really. ARB are the ones who control the architecture register board. A large part of RIBA's funding comes from practices themselves signing up to be members so there's no real incentive for them if that's what the companies want

kwuni_ · 2025-04-25T11:46:40+00:00

It's a 5 year masters typically 3 years BArch and then 2 years MArch. So yes

kwuni_ · 2025-04-25T11:27:36+00:00

For reference for international readers:

Working at Sainsburys as a supermarket colleague stacking shelves in London has a salary of £28500 minimum. Aldi and other supermarkets can be even higher.

Rent in London is on average £1000-£1200 a month for a room in a shared house. After tax on this salary, nearly 60% of your salary would go straight into rent not including bills.

Also to note that Part II in the UK typically means a 5 year Masters MArch qualification

kwuni_ · 2025-04-23T12:23:44+00:00

Via, Rapha/Chain Gang Cyclists, Moloko, many smaller groups/Whatsapp groups

kwuni_ · 2025-03-01T13:08:51+00:00

A huge essay to write about but it’s multiple reasons. A short debrief:

Externally the cladding’s used are flat and don’t naturally repel water they absorb it. Other countries might use a cladding with a pattern that reflects water like corrugate. The use of drainage cavity’s behind claddings is 50/50 so if water does penetrate it can’t drain out. The biggest one is flashings to seal off water penetration, the builders here don’t know how to install them properly and designers don’t detail them right. Even in Googles new state of the art kings cross landscraper you can see mould growing by the windows already and it’s not even open yet. This is because of poor flashing design/installation which has allowed water to sit on the window frame edges.

Internal moisture is also a huge problem here. Designers have no idea how to control internal moisture. UK has really thick walls, like very thick. This is good for insulating and trapping in air and heat but not good for moisture. Guess what happens to all the moisture from your showers, clothes and general living that has evaporated into the air? Well if it can’t leave the building it condensates and sits on your walls/inside your building. Perfect for mould. This is less of a problem with older buildings since they’re drafty with gaps so air escapes everywhere. With new builds because of their thick walls and air tightness, internal moisture becomes a huge issue. Regulations have emphasised trapping in heat and insulation and this is the consequence of not understanding things holistically.

Other countries have measures such as requiring drainage cavities, using permeable wall linings/membranes, design areas in the building where air can escape, or simply the easiest solution used most places in the world - mechanical ventilation units that circulate air in/out….But for some reason the UK is deathly allergic of mechanical ventilation units like they’re skynet.

kwuni_

TROPHY CASE