Zenrat's Flying Circus

Rheged · July 27, 2021, 10:05:57 AM

When I was still involved with older Scouts (over 16's) the unit rule was that "unparliamentary language" was frowned upon except in exceptional circumstances...........this was judged on a case by case basis...........Neil getting kerosene in his tea or Mark getting part of his bike front pannier caught up in the front wheel and going base over apex into a ditch both counted; Bruce hitting his thumb with a tent peg mallet didn't. Other expressions were used in place of swearing.

I'm still in touch with most of them...........all of them married with children now.............and they agree that "OH DEAR ME!" or " DALMATIONS" shouted with sufficient venom usually suffices, without offending wives or children.

scooter · July 27, 2021, 10:22:24 AM

Suffice it to say, my father could have been the archetype for Darren McGavin's The Old Man from A Christmas Story.

zenrat · July 28, 2021, 04:10:58 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on July 27, 2021, 05:51:44 AM
Dad very seldom swore in front of me, if I'm honest I can't actually remember an occasion outside of a sporting event. My generation unfortunately is/was a bit different. I blame those market traders I used to drink with

Derek and his brother Rodney?

NARSES2 · July 28, 2021, 05:20:32 AM

Quote from: zenrat on July 28, 2021, 04:10:58 AM
Quote from: NARSES2 on July 27, 2021, 05:51:44 AM
Dad very seldom swore in front of me, if I'm honest I can't actually remember an occasion outside of a sporting event. My generation unfortunately is/was a bit different. I blame those market traders I used to drink with

Derek and his brother Rodney?

Nope these were "proper market traders", fruit and veg etc. Mind you I did know a guy who Del Boy could well have been based on. When me and Jan got married we didn't have a fridge to start with (freezers were unheard of except for use by the aristocracy

) and a few weeks after out nuptials he came down the pub, apologised for his absence from the wedding (he'd been a guest of HM at the time) and said he had a fridge in the back of his van that we could have cheap. When Jan opened its door it was still full of food etc. When Jan pointed this out he calmly said "I won't charge extra for that" . We turned his kind offer down

zenrat · July 31, 2021, 06:09:58 AM

Watching Olympic coverage. Where are all the Eastern European shot putters & discus throwers?
Enjpying the freestyle BMX. Missed all the skateboarding but the number kids on skateboards in town today shows it's been popular.
Slalom canoeing was also god but I didn't get to see too much.

Apart from that i've been trying to adjust the gears of my bike. You'd think that having a degree in Mechanical Engineering i'd be able to manage this.
No.
Shimano Tourney Derailleur 1 : Fred 0
A second attempt seems to have been successful but I haven't managed a test ride yet.

A little modelling was undertaken.
Upper wing of the Fokker DVII primed.
Fiddley bits of Bearcat painted.
Began painting first set of Sea Witch Deadeyes.

Rheged · July 31, 2021, 06:14:44 AM

Quote from: zenrat on July 31, 2021, 06:09:58 AM

Apart from that i've been trying to adjust the gears of my bike. You'd think that having a degree in Mechanical Engineering i'd be able to manage this.
No.
Shimano Tourney Derailleur 1 : Fred 0
A second attempt seems to have been successful but I haven't managed a test ride yet.

Derailleur gears strange devices that I've never understood........I've assumed them to be like dragons or fairies.......they work if you believe in them, but the moment you stop believing, it all goes pear shaped!!

zenrat · August 01, 2021, 02:49:34 AM

That's also how wide body airliners work. There is no way those wings can generate enough lift. It's only the belief of all those on board that keeps them up.

PR19_Kit · August 01, 2021, 03:10:10 AM

Quote from: Rheged on July 31, 2021, 06:14:44 AM

Derailleur gears strange devices that I've never understood........I've assumed them to be like dragons or fairies.......they work if you believe in them, but the moment you stop believing, it all goes pear shaped!!

I recommend this site, all you never wanted to know about such devices.

https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site/home.html

Having spent hours on that site, I found to my amazement that I've ridden bikes with maybe 10-15% of the gear mechs mentioned!

zenrat · August 01, 2021, 05:10:22 AM

I understand how they work. Adjusting the on my bike was the issue.
I'll know tomorrow morning if I got it right. My first attempt resulted in not having the use of first or seventh gears. Not a major issue as it's an e-bike and the motor can do most of the work, but it does bug me not being able to adjust it. Plus if I can't get it right i'll have to spend money to get it serviced and that money would be better spent on other things.
It's the indexed/push button gear shift which is the problem. In the old days of my youth (and on my mountain bike) you just had a lever which you moved until the chain swapped cogs. If you moved it too far you went up or down an extra gear. All you had to adjust were the limiting screws which stopped the chain coming right off the top or bottom. Now I have to synchronise the position of the chain with the clicky handlebar mounted shifter thingo.

Olympic mens high jump. These blokes are jumping over a bar which is only a few cm lower than the ceiling of my lounge room.

The Bearcat is almost finished.

NARSES2 · August 01, 2021, 05:47:42 AM

I only ever had 5 gears on my bike, and probably only ever used 3, but I was fit then. Always had Derailleur type gears never the hub type, were they Sturmey Archer ?

I to am enjoying the Olympics, although I am tending to only watch the "Catch up on Today's Events" style of programme. The BMX was good and I really enjoyed the mixed relay races, yes I know "we" won, but it was an interesting format and particularly in the swimming it was fascinating ordered their male/female competitors. I find the Olympics is a chance to see sports you would never ever see or indeed never dream of watching

As for the Eastern/Central European hefters and throwers ? Out of competition testing and more capable testing over the last few years has evened up the playing field a bit, and the effects of such testing have not been felt just in those teams either.

PR19_Kit · August 01, 2021, 06:12:17 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on August 01, 2021, 05:47:42 AM

I only ever had 5 gears on my bike, and probably only ever used 3, but I was fit then. Always had Derailleur type gears never the hub type, were they Sturmey Archer ?

They were, and still are, but no longer the same company. It was a Nottingham firm originally but it was sold to Taiwan in 2000. They still make hub gears now, but there's a lot of competition, not the least from Rohlhoff who make a 14 speed hub gear!

Since the mid 60s I've used hybrid gears on all my bikes, with a derailleur gear block mounted on a hub gear, starting with a triple block on a 4 speed hub, giving 12 gears. The big advantage is you can change gear under any conditions.

Currently I'm building a bike with 63 gears

A 3 speed hub with a 7 speed block and a triple chain ring.

Like most of my projects I've been doing it for at least 10 years...............

NARSES2 · August 01, 2021, 06:25:06 AM

And I thought those who had "double clangers" were adventurous and those who had "triples" were mad

PR19_Kit · August 01, 2021, 08:10:18 AM

I am...........................

And all this on a Moulton with 17" wheels too.

NARSES2 · August 02, 2021, 05:02:00 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on August 01, 2021, 08:10:18 AM

And all this on a Moulton with 17" wheels too.

How the heck will you be able to ride it if the lowest gear is bigger than the wheels ?

zenrat · August 02, 2021, 05:07:12 AM

As a youth I put together a six speed set up consisting of a double front chainwheel and a three speed hub. I used a derailleur to tension the chain but it was locked in position.

I missed out on BMXs by a couple of years. If I had been younger I might have got into racing them.
I couldn't believe it when in his second run the Aussie Gold Medalist Logan Martin, while in mid air threw his bike away from himself so it rotated 360 degrees in the vertical plane and them grabbed the handlebars and landed on it. Amazing.