Author Topic: what I have learned today. (Read 861954 times)

T42 · « **Reply #1875 on:** 16 July, 2017, 03:56:50 pm »

Quote from: Cudzoziemiec on 03 July, 2017, 05:25:11 pm

Perhaps T42 doesn't want dog lovers filling his pool?

Our dogs loved it too much and were always coming indoors covered in mud, so we filled it ourselves.

Meanwhile, I learnt today that Pablo Casals played for Queen Victoria.

Ham · « **Reply #1876 on:** 17 July, 2017, 08:05:41 pm »

And today I learned that replacing a Shimano 5800 gear cable is easier^³ once you have done it once.

nikki · « **Reply #1877 on:** 31 July, 2017, 01:50:19 pm »

That energy gels are a workable way of preventing total collapse if you've got losing-3kg-in-4-hours levels of D&V.

Have just broken out the sample pack of sports drink powder to start working on the electrolyte levels...

Kim · « **Reply #1878 on:** 31 July, 2017, 01:53:35 pm »

Ugh, you too?

I'm pretty much over it now, thankfully, apart from the cumulative effects of even more sleep deprivation. Rated about a 0.3 of a Long Itch Lurgy.

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #1879 on:** 31 July, 2017, 01:58:01 pm »

What have you two been up to? Some camping-acquired infection or is this just the result of too much Birmingham? GWS.

Kim · « **Reply #1880 on:** 31 July, 2017, 02:00:27 pm »

In the absence of any better ideas, my working hypothesis was that it was down to my awesome cookery skillz, but I can't really claim not to have been in Birmingham too long...

I've not been near nikki since the middle of last week, which suggests we've acquired it independently.

nikki · « **Reply #1881 on:** 31 July, 2017, 02:10:40 pm »

I blame either camping, a motorway service station on the M5 or the Winterstoke Road Sainsbury's.

At least I've got an excuse for not cleaning the tent just yet...

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #1882 on:** 31 July, 2017, 02:16:32 pm »

I think I'd blame Kim's kooking, even without eating it!

T42 · « **Reply #1883 on:** 02 August, 2017, 04:35:45 pm »

Leo Fender wasn't a guitarist.

rogerzilla · « **Reply #1884 on:** 03 August, 2017, 09:29:10 pm »

25 years too late, how to set up low-profile cantilever brakes.

Pads pushed inward on their studs, as far as possible while still allowing the eye bolt to get a good grip. Ensure they're hitting the rim squarely (overtighten the main cable, hold the pads against the rim while securing them, then slacken off for clearance).

Straddle cable half an inch off the tyre.

Perfect braking. Stops on a sixpence yet still feels firm.

Kim · « **Reply #1885 on:** 03 August, 2017, 10:31:02 pm »

Why you shouldn't buy cheap imitation Makita Li⁺ battery packs^[1].
(With a supplemental lesson on the foibles^[2] of the official ones. PSA: If you haven't used yours recently, go and charge them!)

_{[1] The combination of a complete lack of cell balancing, combined with a tap off the first cell to power the battery electronics means they're doomed by design, no matter how good the cells themselves might be.
[2] Short version: They also power the electronics from the first cell. Which can drain it flat if left unused for too long.
When you then attempt to charge, it refuses. If it fails to charge charge three times in a row the electronics deliberately brick themselves^[3] via a fusible link. Bastards.
[3] So if your Makita battery pack fails to charge, don't try again: Get someone with electronics-fu to take it apart and persuade the first cell back to life first.}

ElyDave · « **Reply #1886 on:** 06 August, 2017, 01:38:14 pm »

See div of the week thread. Prickly pears are appropriately named

mcshroom · « **Reply #1887 on:** 06 August, 2017, 04:40:15 pm »

That the old 52-42 Sakae SA crankset I had in the loft is actually a 110mm BCD, not a 130mm as I'd assumed. I'd have prefered to discover that before I bought a shiny new crankset though

They're actually pretty shiny and might suit the mid-80s Raleigh. Decisions, decisions.

(mine are a little more knocked about than those)

Peter · « **Reply #1888 on:** 06 August, 2017, 10:01:30 pm »

Quote from: rogerzilla on 03 August, 2017, 09:29:10 pm

25 years too late, how to set up low-profile cantilever brakes.

Pads pushed inward on their studs, as far as possible while still allowing the eye bolt to get a good grip. Ensure they're hitting the rim squarely (overtighten the main cable, hold the pads against the rim while securing them, then slacken off for clearance).

Straddle cable half an inch off the tyre.

Perfect braking. Stops on a sixpence yet still feels firm.

Roger, how do you adjust for wear if you've got the pads as far in as is secure? Have you got in line or other adjusters? Otherwise, I would have thought it would be a bit of a fag to mess with cables.

Peter

Guy · « **Reply #1889 on:** 07 August, 2017, 02:20:50 pm »

Miguel Cervantes died on the same day as William Shakespeare

T42 · « **Reply #1890 on:** 14 August, 2017, 04:08:50 pm »

Not to leave my Moto G3 phone with "double karate chop turns on torch" enabled when it's riding in my HB bag. Phone alarmingly hot and battery down to 40% on arrival.

rogerzilla · « **Reply #1891 on:** 16 August, 2017, 10:49:26 am »

Dia-Compe 188 brake levers, the go-to choice for time triallists and fixie fashionistas with bullhorn bars, are actually designed for flat bars on Chinese utility bicycles. For some reason that market prefers them to clamp-on levers.

Tim Hall · « **Reply #1892 on:** 16 August, 2017, 12:44:17 pm »

My sister ~~is a witch~~ has perfect pitch.

Wascally Weasel · « **Reply #1893 on:** 16 August, 2017, 03:12:29 pm »

Quote from: Tim Hall on 16 August, 2017, 12:44:17 pm

My sister ~~is a witch~~ has perfect pitch.

Does she weigh as much as a duck?

T42 · « **Reply #1894 on:** 18 August, 2017, 10:01:21 am »

In the event of nuclear war, do not use hair conditioner.

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/one-worst-things-nuclear-war-breaks-out/

Moot in my case. You can't condition what ain't there.

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #1895 on:** 18 August, 2017, 04:11:24 pm »

That bicycle polo was an Olympic sport at London in 1908. http://www.citymetric.com/horizons/both-clever-and-fast-montreal-just-hosted-25th-annual-cycle-messenger-world-championships

ian · « **Reply #1896 on:** 18 August, 2017, 04:19:16 pm »

The first American woman (Margaret Ives Abbott) to win an Olympic 'gold'* didn't know she's won on account that she thought she was playing a round of golf and not entering the Olympics. Her mother came seventh. They were both dead by the time someone figured it out.

*the 1900 Olympics didn't give out medals, so she got a far more useful porcelain bowl. Olympic medals don't even contain chocolate.

Andrij · « **Reply #1897 on:** 19 August, 2017, 06:55:36 pm »

The Reims Gospel is written in Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #1898 on:** 20 August, 2017, 03:52:25 am »

Quote from: Andrij on 19 August, 2017, 06:55:36 pm

The Reims Gospel is written in Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets.

iRTA "Cyrillic and Glaswegian"

Torslanda · « **Reply #1899 on:** 20 August, 2017, 07:19:05 pm »

"Oi, Rasputin!"

"See you, Jimmy..."

No, mine's on the back of the door.....