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This thing about turning left on a red light is a non-starter. Especially as he cites it as a way to reduce people being killed by left-turning lorries. If the cyclists were turning left too, they wouldn't end up being under the lorries. They're trying to go ahead, mostly, one would assume, having followed his advice of filtering to the front, rather than hanging back 'punctiliously' behind an LGV indicating left.

He's a mass of contradictions, that man.

Humph is just a nasty piece of work.
You can get squeezed by lorries if you are both turning left, as the rear wheels start cutting in to tighten the turn. I think the idea of left turns at red is worth looking at, because you can filter into traffic quite easily, and it's another way of reducing the need to wait at junctions with cars.

Humphrey, obviously ignorant of the cycle death statistics, is probably acting on some misplaced desire to reject what he sees as the sexist suggestion that women are less competent on the road.

I have switched to clipless (SPD) three weeks ago and could never go back. The power transmission is something else and it's just so much more fun! Never had accidental unclipping and only fallen off once (traffic like accident which almost every clipless-newbie will have). I bought Specialized MTB SPD shoes which don't look to crazy and are comfortable to wear and walk in. I ride to Uni every day and leave some normal shoes there but rarely use those as the Specialized shoes are so comfortable.

My shoes:

So those specialized shoes are good for walking in? I've been using the shimano mtb shoes (the blue and black ones with two velcro straps that came out 3-4 yrs ago) but looking at getting something else. The shimano shoes are not great for walking any distance and also the soles seem to be softer, more flimsy than before. I don't know if they deteriorate through use, or if I'm just comparing them with my road shoes which I use more now.

Also, on the Time Atac issue. I've only been using SPDs and never had any problems with my knees, or unclipping. I don't get exactly what it is that makes ATACs so good. Some comments say they have loads of float, so are easy on the knees, and to clip in to. Others say they are more 'secure'. I wouldn't have thought they could be both, can they?

there are almost as many pro cyclist commenters on the Daily Mail website as there are ranting right-wing commentators on the guardian website.

Almost 3 years doesn't strike me as especially lax.
I dunno.

It seems lax to me. He says he intended 'to clip the cyclist and run him into a ditch'. What's more likely, given the injuries to the cyclist, is he intentionally ran into the cyclist with a lot of force, intending at the least very serious harm. And what about his omission to help a man who was practically dying on the road? The prosecution obviously went for a safer option from the various offences against the person.

I reckon Hot Chip's The Warning and Made in the Dark could be listened to in another 10 years, maybe.

I've used Vittoria Rubino, Continental (4 Seasons, Grand Prix 4000, Gatorskins) and Schwalbe Durano Plus. None are rubbish.

The rubinos felt a bit slippery in the wet and had a couple of punctures, but were quite fast.

The 4 seasons felt heavier, with slightly greater rolling resistance, but were grippy and largely puncture proof.

Grand Prix 4000 are possibly the fastest, almost up to if not equal to 4 seasons in puncture protection, plenty of grip.

Schwalbe Durano Plus felt a bit cheap and thin out of the box, but perform like the 4 seasons but with maybe a slightly harsher ride quality.

i guess I'll replace the bearings and hope they'll last a bit longer this time. Decent enough hubs though.

They don't have good shields to keep crap away from the bearing seals (don't need any, it's a track hub innit?), so they can get destroyed quite quickly by dirty weather.
yeah, but I've used an Ambrosio and a Suzue hub in the wet loads without any problems, and Miche are sort of standard on road fixed bikes (condor, wilier, etc)

My miche primato hub now has a slight 'tinkling' sound when the wheel is rotating. This has happened after a ride in the wet, so I'm guessing most likely it is the bearings. They are only 8 months old though, which is disappointing. Are the miche hubs prone to this? I thought they'd be pretty durable as loads of people ride them and condor use them on their fixed bikes.

BlueQuinn: on one hand you say these kids have everything (education, university) given to them on a plate like never before, and on the other you say things have actually gotharder because of the Labour party. You statements seem to conflict with each other.

There was a recent report by Alan Milburn (no bleeding heart lefty, more of a 3rd way centrist) showing that the professions like law, medicine, architecture etc have become narrower in their recruitment in the last 30 years. The idea that we are more equal than we have ever been, or that some how kids from council estates have equality of opportunity to go to oxbridge as those from private schools living in Chelsea is completely wrong. I studied Law, and recently spoke to a friend who is now doing his bar course. Like me he went to a comprehensive, but he says he now feels totally alien to those in his class who have come from a background that is so totally different. The working class students at oxbridge are really the exception to the rule, and unfortunately the culture at the very top unis is geared towards a smooth transition from posh private school to oxbridge college.

No one's talking about absolving anyone of anything, or of calling the accused 'victims' themselves. Those of us who aren't knee jerk right wingers are just saying that the problem is a bit more complicated and subtle than 'they are all benefit scrounging scum who have everything given to them and choose to become criminals because they are basically inherently evil'. If you hold that view, then you don't have to consider them as humans properly and it makes things simpler and easy for you to deal with. The problem is it's not that simple. Oh, and the suggestion earlier that kids from these estates get offered 'money, jobs, universities' is pretty weak. You really think one of these kids is going to go to Oxford and qualify as a barrister?

who can sound most like Richard Littlejohn?

I think joelovesfixed and jonty ponty are the ones most talking sense here. The ones who are dangerous are probably a tiny minority. This whole 'society is falling apart' tone has been heard forever. In many ways I think we actually live in a much safer society. Think of the 70s and 80s: football holiganism, sectarianism etc. There are pubs I walk past now that 10-15 years ago would have regularly had fights outside which are now totally civilised. The hyperbole and adrenaline on this thread is understandable, but I do not think we are facing an epidemic of 'feral scum'.

A bit harsh this thread.

+1

Any sadness at the loss of the original paint/decals on what *might *be a vintage bike is forgotten when you read the self-righteous comments by edmundro.

110 psi front and rear (Schwalbe Durano/Continental 4000 on 23mm rim). This is I think what roadies I spoke to recommended. I'm not heavy though, and I've found 110 on wet roads/cobbles can get slippery, so sometimes drop to 100 or lower if commuting in the rain. Still high enough to stop punctures, but less sketchy.

Just gone through this thread and really enjoyed these pictures. Reminds me a bit of a book of photos I have on deserted towns and industrial areas in America, can't remember the title though.

That kind of apologist blame-everyone-but-the-criminal attitude legitimises these crimes and breeds more of the scum who commit them.

Society already provides housing, money, free education, universities and all manner of jobs for these feral little shits. It's not society's fault that they choose not to take advantage of that and instead embark on a life of crime and violence.

Want something else for them to do? I suppose we could conscript them into the army and send them to be blown up in Afghanistan? Was that what you meant?

BlueQuin = Partridge
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGKO9cXXsLA"]YouTube
- Scum, Sub-human Scum[/ame]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75o0k34vYLY

Although the version i've got on my mp3 player doesn't have the distorted guitar at the beginning. Prefer it without.

I saw Nutt being interviewed on Newsnight and he wasn't that impressive to be honest, and didn't do his case much good. He said he saw his role as reducing the harm of drugs to society as a whole. As a scientific advisor his job was narrower than that, though. He was responsible for researching and investigating the dangers of drugs and advising the government. The govt then makes the decision on classification because that is a law making activity. Parliamentary sovereignty etc..

Maybe the Higgs Boson travelled back through time to prevent anyone posting anymore stuff about God in the Large Hadron Colider thread, and sabotaged the servers...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/biology_evolution/article6879293.ece

I think Jack Straw couldn't look at Griffin because he was so angry about the Holocaust denial statements, and the unbelievable stuff Griffin came out with about changing his mind about the Holocaust because of some radio transcripts. Yeah, he could have performed better on the immigration issue, but I think it must be difficult to elucidate subtle policy, with your blood boiling.

Maybe then we can start highlighting all the other evil the Heil propogates.
As someone posted earlier, see http://www.mailwatch.co.uk/. A brave attempt to highlight Mail bigotry.

Must be very confusing for the Mail. They routinely publish shit like this and get away with it, so they must be wondering how to apologise for this article and yet go on with their hatred of working mothers, immigrants, left-wing politicians etc. I guess this particular article reached a tipping point because of Gately's fans, and because it reached the right areas of the web, twitter etc. It was no more deserving of complaint than large swathes of the Daily Mail. But at least it does bring to wider public attention the bile and innuendo that exists within this excuse for a newspaper.