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Flying Tonight? Thursday, July 1st, 2004

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#78) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

 

Nobody really likes public transport. We would all rather drive ourselves to our destination. Door to door with our own timetable and agenda. Unfortunately there is a flip side to this. I am not talking about congested roads or the coming apocalypse of global warming. No. Simply that nobody likes public transport and public transport doesn’t like us…. If you don’t believe me go down to the railway station and ask for a ticket to say London. You may at first think that the guy at the counter is trying to guess your mobile phone number but no, that really is the price he expects you to pay! Now turn to him and tell him you want to take a bicycle with you. He may openly laugh in your face so brace yourself and don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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Bottom Bracket Compendium Tuesday, June 1st, 2004

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#77) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

You may remember that 2 years ago in issue 58 I wrote about the new Euro Bottom brackets that were starting to pop up on some frames. I also predicted that there would be some other new standards to look forward to. Well now they seem to be starting to come through so I thought now would be a good time to try to review the whole lot… Hold on to your hats, it’s going to be dull…

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Steering Geometry Saturday, May 1st, 2004

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#76) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

Someone requested that I do a tech column on head angles and steering geometry. I wasn’t sure at first if this was a worthwhile subject, after all, there isn’t that much variation available is there? Most frames have a head angle of 74 and a half! Degrees and most forks have one and a quarter inch legs with dropouts that stick out just enough to get a peg on.

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Three Piece Crank Fitting Monday, March 1st, 2004

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#75) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

Once again I find myself sitting in front of the computer wondering how to start my tech column. Every few seconds I turn my head to look out the window for inspiration… or is it distraction.

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They’re playing R-Tune… (groan) Thursday, January 1st, 2004

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#74) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

The progress of civilisation is based upon one thing above all others, Albert Einstein put it very well when he said that “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants.”

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What the hell is a Hidden Headset? Monday, December 1st, 2003

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#73) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

What the hell is a Hidden Headset?
Good question. And surprisingly hard to answer.

Fifteen years go when I became a born-again BMXer, headsets were utter utter shite. You had two choices, a Tioga Beartrap in a size that fitted, or a Tioga beartrap in a size that didn’t fit. These were all one inch threaded headsets but for some reason there were several sizes to choose from, getting the right one was always a pain. Once you had your headset fitted you then spent most of your time tightening it. After every ride it was loose, shit, it was probably loose five minutes after you started riding. This was only 1988 but headsets were working on technology from 1888, or rather NOT working on technology from 1888.

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Avoid bicycle maintenance bloodlust Saturday, November 1st, 2003

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#72) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

A few months ago I did a tech column moaning about how the parts for your bike often don’t fit together very well, hopefully some people found it interesting but I later realised that it wasn’t a fat lot of use to most riders. So this month, rather than rattle on about some deep technical issue, I thought it would be more helpful to describe some of the less well known “tricks” that can make your life a hell of a lot easier when it comes to mending your bike.

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Lard Inspired quest for reliability and tranquility Wednesday, October 1st, 2003

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#71) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

The last tech column had a stupid name. It’s not the name that I gave it so please don’t blame me. It was entitled “Truth” originally but for some reason it got changed to “Build Your Own Wheels”, which, although a good idea, was very little to do with the article which was just about truing wheels. This month the column is called “Lard inspired quest for reliability and tranquillity”. If it has been changed then you know it’s not because of me. I don’t think Mark ever proof-reads these articles, I think he just does a “search and replace” on fuck piss shit twat etc so this paragraph should escape editing and you will all know the real title…

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Wheel Truing Monday, September 1st, 2003

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#70) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

With Tex taking a very ‘tech’ approach this month I thought I would go back to some basic stuff and do a good old fashioned tutorial. I always said I wouldn’t do this. I always said that it wasn’t really possible. What I meant was that I didn’t think I could face it. Truing wheels is an essential skill for anyone wanting to look after their own bike, yet there is no easy way to learn. Most people learn from their mates and from trial and error, but I am feeling cocky so fug-it lets have a pop at writing it down.

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Stretching Friday, August 1st, 2003

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#69) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

This month I want to discuss something a little different. BMX has been around for about 30 years now and so have I. In that time riders have come and gone as you would expect but there are a surprising number who came and never went.

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