The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.

[Ashaman42]

I could get the steel equivalent of my current fork and coldset it but a 26mm increase feels like a bit too much.

[Polar Bear]

I think there is a business called swytchbike who make a modular system which fits with minimal fuss and they will build the motorised front wheel.  Might be worth further investigation.

In some ways I agree with Rob's point of view but I have seen a couple of conversions specifically for people's deteriorating physical conditions which have worked out well.

Kits do tend to be a compromise but the Swytch kit looks very good to me.

I did see the Swytch and even signed up for the half price on the just finished run of preorders but it's the same problems as the others, the Brompton kit is built around a 16" wheel and the universal kit has a too wide hub at 100mm.

I did see the Tern Vectron which looks like a very nice bike but alas at £3500 it's rather out of budget.

I thought that I saw a swytch ad on their upgraded (mk2 ?) kit where they said they would build the wheel to the customer's needs.  Perhapz there was an asterisk hidden somewhere in microscopic lettering just beneath the bottom of the picture. 

[robgul]

Feeling the potential need for some assistance I researched long and hard for conversion stuff for my Dawes Galaxy - whatever I looked at (obviously just front or rear hub motors) there were issues with all manner of stuff relating to controls, battery life, battery location, weight, weight distribution etc.  All of which ended in some sort of compromise with no realistic warranty.

Fair point about compromise but most people seem content with that.
Warranty? - Mrs ppg's battery expired after 10months and Yose found they couldn't fix it (in Germany) so refunded the full purchase price without quibble.
Technology moving as it does, she bought a larger capacity replacement for the same money

In the end, being in the position to do so, I bought an electric road bike - an Orbea Gain which I use for some club rides and some touring.  It probably cost about 2.5 times what the "best" conversion would have been but I could live with that

The Orbea does look like a good bike but is compromised IMO by having such a small battery (250Whr vs 500 for the Yose)
With the hills round here that would severely constrain my riding distance.
And at more than £2k that is double what my 3 conversions cost!!

The point about the battery was a minor issue when I was looking at buying the Orbea - but I planned (and have pretty much succeeded) to ride the bike as a normal machine (i.e. not running the motor) and just switching on for hills or if I'm tired on the way home. 

My estimate is that I only use the motor for around 20% at the most on virtually all my rides.   The Orbea is pretty light - only a shade heavier than my Galaxy was (531 1975 model - although now sold) and the gearing is similar - there is some drag from the motor when running without the battery but not a lot.   AND there is a supplementary battery available that has a bottle cage mount (it's a bit pricey - I have yet to succumb)

... and mine cost £1,800 in April 2018 (it's the cable disc model which was my preference over hydraulic) ... I've added mudguards, rack and a B17 saddle

[rower40]

My Irish Passport was issued in 2003 and expired in 2013.  As 2003 is more than 15 years ago, I have to submit a whole new application, including:
a) ordering a new birth certificate (I've searched everywhere)
and
b) hunting round my siblings for our deceased father's Dublin 1928 birth certificate
and
c) getting driving licence copied and certified
and
d) finding an approved witness (who is not related nor retired).  The local (Anglican) vicar satisfies the "Member of the Clergy" criterion, but let's hope that doesn't enrage the Irish Passport office.

Had I applied before May 2018, I would only have had to send in my expired passport to get a new one.

[T42]

Last day of freedom before lockdown.  It pissed down all night, it's blowing 30 kph now and getting ready to piss down again.

[rafletcher]

So I went onto the RM website to see if there was one of their New! Shiny! Parcel Boxes! near me - the Click and Drop options having reduced dramatically the parcels you can drop off at a post office, instead directing you to collection (for which you have to pay, or course), or delivery office or a New! Shiny! Parcel Box!  And I'm presented with an alphabetical list of locations - with no search function available as a short-cut. Oh, and a find-on-map option that ONLY shows the one you've picked, not others in the local area.  Genius.

ETA: It get better still! Clicking on the "show on map" option just shows a pin dropped in Google maps - no address. Clicking on the pin gives the wrong info (I happen to know that location houses a RM delivery office, so GRG One Fee Ltd mat be surprised by folk wanting to drop parcel off!). Oh, and the other supposed location in the same town (Tring in Herts) well, that goes to a pin dropped..... in Eastbourne.  The actual postcode is the local Tesco. Fucking useless.

[ian]

Another GP grumble. So having finagled a reasonable appointment last week, and following the advice to phone back for a followup if it's still 'that colour'* in a week, apparently the doctor isn't there until Thursday. OK, can I book an appointment for Thursday then? No.

*lie, it's an ear infection. Or someone has been whisking me off in my dreams to a deathmetal concert every night.

[rafletcher]

The scroll function on my mouse has just stopped working on YACF. It still works on every other site I visit. Same for the touchpad. The only way to move vertically is to "grab and drag" the sidebar slider. Really quite irritating.

ETA: Now it's working again. Odd.

[ian]

I'm not sure how the GP appointment system works, but despite telling me I couldn't have an appointment, a doctor phoned me back and offered me an appointment in thirty minutes. Again.

So I have to reverse my grumble, it's inadvertently proving very effective. I contact them. Reception says no. Doctor phones back and says yes, come in now.

[Mr Larrington]

Natch today, when I stayed up all night swearing at the distascope before retiring to bed with at the same time as TV's Katty Kay, was the day that shouty men with power tools came and Did Things at the back of next door, about ten feet from my sleep-deprived ears

[Ashaman42]

Fwiw I have started a new thread in the Folders subforum with some questions about making my bike accept a motor:

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=117391.0

Any input would be much appreciated.

[Mrs Pingu]

Why can't we just have silent fireworks FFS.

[phantasmagoriana]

Why can't we just have silent fireworks FFS.

Not sure whether it's just me, but they seem especially loud this year! Have fireworks got more bangy?

[Cudzoziemiec]

I don't mind the bangs. I'm just glad the ones in the UK leave some oxygen in the air.

[Kim]

Silly Oak PM10 count: 138.8 μg/m³ and climbing...

[Mrs Pingu]

I don't mind the bangs. I'm just glad the ones in the UK leave some oxygen in the air.

It's not about me, it's my poor moggies.

[Tim Hall]

I can't find a SCIENCE that makes you cringe thread, so I'll just grumble here.

Dear TV's Keeley Donovan, don't say "the generator is producing a current of 50Hz".  Don't then make it worse by saying "each turbine at Drax produces more than 600MW of energy".

kthxbai

[Kim]

What's the voltage?  In amperes per hour, please.

[Deano]

I need to measure something using imperial units, and luckily my (Aldi) Vernier calipers do have an imperial edge.

Except... It's divided into tenths.

Who the fuck divides an inch into ten?

[Kim]

Who the fuck divides an inch into ten?

Electrical engineers.

[matthew]

Who the fuck divides an inch into ten?

Anyone who works in thou. Just think of the tenths as 100 thou and the tenths of that from the vernier as 10 thou.

[Deano]

It was a rhetorical question.

[ElyDave]

I can't find a SCIENCE that makes you cringe thread, so I'll just grumble here.

Dear TV's Keeley Donovan, don't say "the generator is producing a current of 50Hz".  Don't then make it worse by saying "each turbine at Drax produces more than 600MW of energy".

kthxbai

A Watt being a J/s, why not? Or is your objection that they've not specified it as output electrical energy?

[Kim]

Silly Oak PM10 count: 138.8 μg/m³ and climbing...

Yep, it's bonfire night.

[Tim Hall]

I can't find a SCIENCE that makes you cringe thread, so I'll just grumble here.

Dear TV's Keeley Donovan, don't say "the generator is producing a current of 50Hz".  Don't then make it worse by saying "each turbine at Drax produces more than 600MW of energy".

kthxbai

A Watt being a J/s, why not? Or is your objection that they've not specified it as output electrical energy?

Watt is power, shirley. If she'd said "...more than 600MW of power" my teeth would have remained unground.