Road Cycling

physichull · 8 Jul 2015 at 12:30

FrenchTart said:
Hadn't planned on it - would be tempted if it were not for the weather forecast

I've heard bad things about this particular event being full of people just using mountain bikes and hogging the whole of the road etc.

Vonhelmet · 8 Jul 2015 at 13:01

We're ******. George Osborne has just announced that going forward VED will be ring fenced for road spending.

lordrobs · 8 Jul 2015 at 13:06

ShiWarrior said:
currently thinking of getting a bontrager air rush

its has the normal pump and co2 pump in one

Can't help I'm afraid as I went for a Birzman Inflite with CO2 in the end but it was down to that or the Bontrager Air Rush. The Birzman being £17.50 swung it in the end

I'd definitely only go CO2 with mini pump now though. CO2 is effortless and the mini pump is essential for my peace of mind if nothing else. Also means I can get away with just carrying one CO2 canister.

Roady · 8 Jul 2015 at 13:17

Kimi said:
That Superstar Garmin/Gopro mount looks like just what i need.

The best mount ive got is the chest mount, thats awesome for getting a actual feel of riding but i just need one for saftey on the commute and to keep my mum quite so that Garmin Go Pro one looks great

I believe grudas is using the same one if you want to see footage. I don't tend to put my footage online, it's purely for safety.

Vonhelmet said:
We're ******. George Osborne has just announced that going forward VED will be ring fenced for road spending.

Explain for those of us who don't follow politics and spending? Car tax only going to be spent on roads that cars use?

Vonhelmet · 8 Jul 2015 at 13:28

Roady said:
Explain for those of us who don't follow politics and spending? Car tax only going to be spent on roads that cars use?

It means that there actually will be such a thing as road tax. So we can expect to increasingly demonised by car drivers as they will in fact be paying for the roads they are using.

PermaBanned · 8 Jul 2015 at 13:31

Source?

ShiWarrior · 8 Jul 2015 at 13:37

PermaBanned said:
Source?

not published yet, I heard him say on the TV a min a go, that he's going to introduce new tax bands by 2017 and that the car tax will all be going into one pot and this money will be spent on improving UK roads

Vonhelmet · 8 Jul 2015 at 13:49

PermaBanned said:
Source?

Listening to the budget live

Here you go, budget summary at the BBC.

PermaBanned · 8 Jul 2015 at 13:58

As i understand it VED doesn't even come close to meeting the road maintenance budget so they're still going to have to draw from the normal tax pool. What possible reason could there be for this?

Kimi · 8 Jul 2015 at 14:40

I would actually like them to fix the pot holes

daveski · 8 Jul 2015 at 15:00

Loads of roads near me have been stone chipped recently. Some that seem to have perfectly good surfaces yet the really bad roads are left alone!

grudas · 8 Jul 2015 at 15:32

Vonhelmet said:
It means that there actually will be such a thing as road tax. So we can expect to increasingly demonised by car drivers as they will in fact be paying for the roads they are using.

being realistic tho, yeah more people will scream roeedd texxx... unless they had some brain and actually realized that 100kg on the road with skinny tyres does no damage lol.

janp · 8 Jul 2015 at 15:53

grudas said:
being realistic tho, yeah more people will scream roeedd texxx... unless they had some brain and actually realized that 100kg on the road with skinny tyres does no damage lol.

This was my my initial thought, give them more ammo to attack me with. I already get enough abuse, which means I've had to extent my commute to take quieter roads.

lordrobs · 8 Jul 2015 at 15:58

Many cars (currently) don't pay VED either. That would be my response if I ever got the "road tax" argument aimed at me. That and the silly sum I pay on my two cars.

Slow day in the office so I've been half considering the idea of a cheap folding bike that I can chuck in the boot for when I'm away for work. Problem is that the cheap ones appear to be pap and the good ones cost loads more than my proper bike

Maybe I'll have to take up running while I'm away

janp · 8 Jul 2015 at 16:03

lordrobs said:
Many cars (currently) don't pay VED either. That would be my response if I ever got the "road tax" argument aimed at me. That and the silly sum I pay on my two cars.

My understanding is that even low emission cars built after 2017 will be charged £140 a year.

Roady · 8 Jul 2015 at 16:23

lordrobs said:
That and the silly sum I pay on my two cars.

Slow day in the office so I've been half considering the idea of a cheap folding bike that I can chuck in the boot for when I'm away for work. Problem is that the cheap ones appear to be pap and the good ones cost loads more than my proper bike Maybe I'll have to take up running while I'm away

I think that's one of the main things - the majority of us 'road riders' usually have our own vehicle which we tax. It effectively uses the road less (as we cycle to some places we'd drive to), so it would be nice to think the 'excess' (lol) tax we pay was spent on some cycling related improvements. Ideal world and all that!

janp said:
My understanding is that even low emission cars built after 2017 will be charged £140 a year.

Sounds good, shouldn't just be emissions which dictate road tax. Although on my '11 plate 1.6 fiesta I already pay north of that (only by a few quid IIRC, it's due again soon...). Makes my <6k miles a year quite expensive!

grudas said:
being realistic tho, yeah more people will scream roeedd texxx... unless they had some brain and actually realized that 100kg on the road with skinny tyres does no damage lol.

The amount of rubber you leave on the roads you're actually helping to repair them!

Kimi said:
I would actually like them to fix the pot holes

Report them to your local council, I don't have the info now but a while ago there was even an 'app' to tag pot hole locations with which would then report it. No idea if it worked/was rolled out but the specifics shouldn't be much different - report hole, it gets fixed. If it doesn't, report again and get everyone you know to report it!

topgun06 · 8 Jul 2015 at 17:13

daveski said:
Loads of roads near me have been stone chipped recently. Some that seem to have perfectly good surfaces yet the really bad roads are left alone!

Same here. Large parts of the A53from Stoke - Leek have recently been chipped. And the roads weren't bad at all to begin with. Whereas form a cyclists point of view there are parts of some of smaller, country, less busy roads which are frankly dangerous.

I guess its more cost and time effective for them to get the chipping rubbish down earlier on the main roads before the roads begins to break up too much. I'd just like a bit more loving for the country cycling roads

tedmaul · 8 Jul 2015 at 20:33

This seems to suggest that zero emissions vehicles still won't pay anything:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33447106

It's more that low emissions vehicles will now get hit with a tax where before they wouldn't have.

oli collett · 8 Jul 2015 at 20:43

Right I can't figure this out.

Got an FSA EVO-8681 bottom bracket:
http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/bottom-brackets/megaevo-bottom-bracket/

It's currently fitted with the following FSA Chainset:
http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/cranksets-road/gossamer-pro-bb386evo/

I don't like the size of the cranks on it, and I fancy just getting rid and fitting a Shimano 105 Chainset. It sounds like it's not as simple as I'd like, can anyone help me with options? I've never replaced BBs before so I'm a bit lost

physichull · 8 Jul 2015 at 21:35

Tough slog out to a local slope tonight. Wasn't really feeling it and the head winds out to half way were just ridiculously strong and by the time I got to the climb I was toast! Good spin out though and will do me good.