Any question answered...

Folks who have and use power meters: I have the chance to get some brand new Vector 3 power meter pedals for a massive discount, but it’s still a few hundred £. I’ve never owned a power meter, but am a keen cyclist. Is having a power meter worth the expense to improve my cycling, or should I put that money towards something else, eg a turbo trainer (I haven’t really enjoyed using turbos before)? Are the Vector 3 worth having? Is buying one pedal significantly less good than buying the set?

which is least bad for the environment, petrol or diesel?

Global ecosystem or localised environment specifically relating to human health?

Petrol: generally higher CO2, lower NOx & PM2 particulates; Diesel the inverse of those.

Modern direct-injection petrol engines skew the above rules a little though...

Headset spacers: I'm looking for 1-1/8" spacers with an outer diameter of ~31.5mm... anything out there?

Anyone ship a bike (in a box) in the UK recently? Who did you use? Some of the quotes I'm getting are for pallets which seems a bit silly.

on a global level, really

i suppose mpg is a factor too

likely to be looking at 10 years old engines either way

Diesel is better for the environment doubly because there's less CO2 and it also reduces the human population.

Please don't get a diesel. The slight reduction in CO2 emissions is not worth the massive amounts of localised human-killing particulate and NOx they shit out, even 'clean' Euro 6 models.

Isn't it also generally accepted that diesel engines have a longer service life?

Paisley freight had good prices a while back.

Older mechanical injection ones maybe, but modern ones with swirl flaps, EGR valves, DPF filters, twin-scroll turbos etc are notoriously fragile past a certain age.

Particulate filters are a real sore spot, as they clog easily without regular motorway miles and are uneconomical to replace on older cars, meaning the owners get them chopped out (now technically illegal) and their car becomes an obnoxious belching agricultural monstrosity.

Ah, they do! by quite a large margin compared to the others I've looked at. Assuming there's not gotchyas that looks great. Thanks!

they can be fun and useful if used correctly, but it probably won't make as much difference to your fitness as structured training on a turbo. motivation matters more than equiment and numbers, as ever

I'd also recommend Paisley Freight!

Nice one, thanks guys!

Get smart turbo first, you can then do structured training and measure power in all weathers/time of day.

Edit: also found smart turbo with Zwift/Rouvy/FulGaz vastly more interesting than dumb turbo. In fact I reckon it's the best £225 (+ Zwift subs) I've spent for quite a while.

I haven’t really enjoyed using turbos before

I had two failed attempts with dumb turbos in the past (I'm very very bad at judging relative effort). A smart trainer with power data and software of your choice (I've been zwifting) changed that. I've improved a lot since March. I think if training is your goal you'd get more from a trainer than pedals (to start). Also, winter's coming.

@Hjusth @Pifko

When you guys shipped with Paisley, did your bike boxes fit their size criteria? The one I'm trying to ship is a bit bigger than what it says on their webpage, and that because of this the driver "may" reject it.

Shipping. What a ball ache.

which is least bad for the environment, petrol or diesel?

The conclusion you should have drawn from the ensuing discussion is that it is delusional to pretend that picking one or other of the automobile motive power options over another will make any material difference to your environmental footprint.

Fair enough. I'll save up and buy a boat.

BBB Seat post update:
(https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15482987/)

The good people at BBB have responded to my email
and requested pictures of the snapped bolt and seat post.
These have been sent.

Thanks @fredtc @chez_jay @howdoiwriteyourname? .

KMC chains all say ‘KMC’ on them, right?

decathlon ones don't.

edit: yes they do.

KMC chains all say ‘KMC’ on them, right?

Some of them have Shimano part numbers and HG logos on them 🙂