Any question answered...

Can someone remind me of, or link me to the Guardian article which coins a phrase relating to the way people think or make decisions based on the normalization of motor travel. Can't seem get anywhere on Google. @Oliver Schick ?

Found it - 'Motornormativity':
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/17/motonormativity-britons-more-accepting-driving-related-risk

Can anyone tell me which chainrings from specialites TA I need for a standard (not compact) chorus 10s carbon crank please? I cannot work out how to change the language on the TA website and my French is shit.

Thanks - tried it this morning. Connected it to a closed network. Wiped it. Flashed new firmware. Probably not perfect but equally probably overkill given the library regulars. He's currently programming it to play the Zelda main theme. Might get a couple of the newer ones with speakers rather than playing audio through the computer. Quite fun little things.

Can anyone tell me which chainrings from specialites TA I need for a standard (not compact) chorus 10s carbon crank please?

Vento is the traditional 135mm 5-bolt 9/10V Campag compatible ring.
https://specialites-ta.com/double/135-640-double-plateau-specialites-ta-vento-exterieur-9-10v-135mm-noir-specialites-ta-pl50135309.html
https://specialites-ta.com/double/131-619-double-plateau-specialites-ta-vento-interieur-9-10v-135mm-noir-specialites-ta-pl50135109.html

You might have to use Google translate to distinguish interieur from exterieur 🙂

They're all varying degrees of shit. Duncs has suggested google's live transcription, which is probably the best free one.

You could also try otter.ai - it's explicitly designed for what you're trying to do (and it has a free tier on its pricing plan). Their What is Otter page explains the basics.

A family member has asked for a coronation/royalty themed fridge magnet. Is there a shop in or near Herne Hill where I could get one, as I won’t have time to go downtown.

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Pipe audio through a recorded Zoom call - it will produce a transcript but as above you'll need to correct a bit afterwards.

Their What is Otter page explains the basics.

About time someone did.

The Google recorder app does transcripts too.

Has anyone successfully claimed knock-on losses from a delayed plane? I’m on my second night of unexpected additional travel and I’m going to miss the gig my wife and I were planning to attend tomorrow because I won’t get back in time.

I got stuck in Prague for an extra night a few years ago. BA paid for accommodation, food and travel to the airport the next day, along with some compensation. They wouldn't shell out for the expensive af train from the airport to home though.

Hi,

Could anyone recommend the best place to get a BB fitted tomorrow (Sunday) ideally south London but anywhere if they can do it on the day? Quite a few shops are closed for the long weekend. I'm unsure of the exact size but it's square tapered.

Thanks!!

Give the cyclery a call - https://www.thecyclerylewisham.com/

Thanks! They're the one place I've called and they'll be open!

Saw this, remembered that, thought I’d share.

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I also have stupidly wide feet and, looking for new hiking boots recently, measured them - they are almost half as wide as they are long. And in length they are about size 8 at the most though I've always worn size 9. I ended up buying ones from Altra that pifko mentioned; they do look odd but they feel amazing.

That second foot is grim, but exactly how I feel looking for shoes

@ WillMelling, paddle feet unite ✊

Is there any prospect of long distance HGVs being electrified? This tweet seems to imply that it's coming https://twitter.com/EnvDefenseFund/status/1662534387475398662. But I read something saying it can never ever happen because the batteries would have to be far too big. Only short distance things like buses and bin lorries can be EVs. There are some HGV fleets in the UK converting to bioLPG. They are building their own private filling stations for it. What's the future for the world's haulage industry?

Is there any prospect of long distance HGVs being electrified?

It depends on the charging infrastructure. If it's always possible to recharge in the mandatory 45 minute break every 4.5 hours, the battery range needs to be about 300 miles, which is about 150 litres of diesel. At 37MJ.l^-1 that's 5GJ, and at ~30% GTE for diesel and 90% efficiency for a battery/electric drive that's a battery capacity of 500kW.h or 5 Teslas (the car, not the unit of magnetic flux) Tesla's own Class 8 tractor design (that's equivalent to a 40 ton artic in Europe) has a battery capacity of 850-900kW.h

TL;DR it's feasible, but may need some relatively small changes to vehicle regulations and working practices, and some large and expensive changes to power distribution infrastructure.

Are any big countries going that way? Hydrogen cell tractor units seem to be available from the likes of Volvo. And the UK has big fleets building their own private infrastructure for bioLPG, but nobody is putting bioLPG pumps in the commercial vehicle filling stations on the motorways. There seems to be even less of an agreed strategy than there is in the private car world.

Commercial vehicle operators are free of emotional attachment to rorty engines and penis substitutes, so can't they agree the best common strategy and pool their resources?

can't they agree the best common strategy and pool their resources?

No, because the prize for the winners of the competition will be huge, including possibly putting one of their rivals out of business. This seems inefficient, but it's nowhere near as bad as everybody being told which one path to follow if that turns out to be the wrong one.

Your truck has to recharge 500kwh in 45 minutes. A Tesla will start charging from 20%full at 150kw/hr as it nears 80% charge it drops to 50 at this time of year. If it’s raining you get clouds of steam from the battery. If someone else is plugged into the next charger the rate is slower.
I don’t think you will be able to get the power into your Artic fast enough.
The infrastructure would have to be capable of transferring massive current and the truck would have to be able to manage the waste heat.

Maybe without batteries?

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/frankfurt/teststrecke-bei-frankfurt-elektro-highway-im-vollbetrieb-16824051.html

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The infrastructure would have to be capable of transferring massive current and the truck would have to be able to manage the waste heat.

These are not insurmountable problems, 1MW is not a lot of electrical power and the engine cooling system on a diesel truck has to dump about 100kW of waste heat. The challenges fall within the realm of economics, not physics.

ETA: At the moment, trucks have a very low duty cycle due to mostly being driven by one human per tractor unit. In future world, it wouldn't matter if charging were relatively slow, because the robot would still be able to get 75% duty cycle by never sleeping.