FNRttC Friday Night Ride to......Brighton on Friday 17th June

[Flying Dodo]

Bear in mind we haven't actually sent out an email yet, so the participants so far are those who have actually read this thread. An email will be going out shortly.

Adam B
Adrian C
Andrew B
Andrew F
Dan H
David S
Ian M
Izzy H
Jacquie D
james H
Jenny M
John M
John M
John S
Martin W
Michele B
Nick L
Paul C
Rob H
Simon C
Sonia W
Stuart A
Stuart G
Tim O

 

[Tim Hall]

In.

 

[rb58]

Registered.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Hmm. I can't do both this AND the Swansea ride the week after. I'm considering defecting.

 

[srw]

Registered. Much as I'd love to ride to Mumbles I can't, as it would involve improbably quick transport times. Now. Do I give the newly 8-speeded Brompton its first big outing, or do I play it sensible with the road bike?

 

[mmmmartin]

do I play it sensible

play it sensible?

 

[AKA Bob]

How is your Brompton puncture fu?

And his willingness to drag around the extra weight for all those additional gears.....

 

[srw]

play it sensible?

Lighter, but needs the dynowheel and light transferring on.

How is your Brompton puncture fu?

(Smug face) Marathon (plus)

And his willingness to drag around the extra weight for all those additional gears.....

With a very sexy lightweight rack, the whole thing weighs no more than it did before changing the hub. And the extra weight of the rider rather swamps all other considerations.

 

[TimO]

How is your Brompton puncture fu?

(Smug face) Marathon (plus)

How are your Brompton wheel and your Marathon Plus removal/re-fitting fus

Remembering, that those with impossible to repair visitations will forever enter the annals of The FNRttC TECs, and be mentioned at every opportunity.

As I recall, it was Adrian who was the other TEC when near Greenwich, we repeatedly took a tyre off and put it back on. It needed three of us and several tools to get the tyre back on, ultimately resulting in us damaging the inner tube in the process. After half an hour of struggle, we gave up, and that rider got sent home in a taxi.

(... and yes, I know you "should never use" tyre levers to get a tyre back on, but if you're firmly convinced of that, you're welcome to become a TEC!)

 

[mmmmartin]

impossible to repair visitations

'Tis rumoured in the taverns of the town that nothing is impossible to the TTs

Spoiler: who?

@Tim Hall & @TimO obvs

you "should never use" tyre levers to get a tyre back on

I've become a fan of these:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/topeak-shuttle-tyre-levers-1-2/rp-prod28714
as, I suspect, has @Trickedem since about three seconds after he very easily broke one of these:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tool-tl1c-tyre-levers/
while fixing his rear Brompton visitation on the way to Southend.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Remembering, that those with impossible to repair visitations will forever enter the annals of The FNRttC TECs, and be mentioned at every opportunity.

As I recall, it was Adrian who was the other TEC when near Greenwich, we repeatedly took a tyre off and put it back on. It needed three of us and several tools to get the tyre back on, ultimately resulting in us damaging the inner tube in the process. After half an hour of struggle, we gave up, and that rider got sent home in a taxi.

(... and yes, I know you "should never use" tyre levers to get a tyre back on, but if you're firmly convinced of that, you're welcome to become a TEC!)

My friend Brian. His first and only FNRttC, from HPC to the Rotherhithe roundabout (it was my first).

 

[TimO]

I think we had three different types of tyre levers, and I had a VAR Tyre Tool, which is designed to put tyres back on.

VAR Tyre Tool

I've never had a problem getting a tyre off, and that is the only tyre that has ever totally defeated me getting it back on. Marathon Pluses tend to make me swear a bit, but this particular tyre and rim combination was an utter nightmare. I think ultimately we worked out that with two people using three tyre levers and the third using the VAR lever, we could just get the tyre back on, but almost invariably at some point we caught the inner tube enough to put a snake-bite in it.

I only recall one other really bad tyre incident, which was just before the Dartford crossing services (so probably a Southend ride), where about half a dozen TECs, including Charlotte and Simon, kept on repairing a tyre, only to find a hole appearing almost immediately. The tyre was inspect three or four times for whatever was causing it, and I think five or six inner tubes ended up being sacrificed before defeat was admitted, and a taxi was called out.

After 30 to 45 minutes of trying to sort something out, you have to give in and let the ride continue, otherwise it will end up being late to breakfast and people will be getting bored and very cold on all but the most mild summer nights.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Was the experience so bad that he never wanted to try again?

There were three brothers + me on that ride. I was hooked immediately, and I've dragged two of the others out a few times for repeats but not him.

 

[TimO]

There were three brothers + me on that ride. I was hooked immediately, and I've dragged two of the others out a few times for repeats but not him.

As I recall, it wasn't his bike, he'd borrowed it off of someone else.

 

[Dogtrousers]

As I recall, it wasn't his bike, he'd borrowed it off of someone else.

It wasn't my bike It belonged to one of the other two brothers.