La Flamme Rouge **off topic discussion**

magicbastarder

crosstownk wrote: »

The manufacturer that I work for market these vehicles as 'Stop/Start'. Micro hybrid was a training term used ten years ago.

any chance of a discount for cycling forum members?

on a vaguely related note, a chap i (used to) know works for a company which produce cameras for cars, i think VW were one of their main customers. he had worked on a system where there were two side facing cameras mounted fairly far forward on the front bumper, so if you were coming out of a driveway with limited visibility, you could stick the nose out a foot and gain a view of any foot traffic long before you'd actually be able to eyeball it. he mentioned there was a project for rear facing cameras which in theory would be able to replace rear view mirrors (to recoup the maybe 2% of fuel consumption they generate), but i have wondered how easy it'd be to get that past regulators. in a normal car, if the mirror is dirty, you can just wind down the window to clean it, but the system he was talking about, you'd end up with people not even knowing where the camera was to clean it, i suspect.

crosstownk

magicbastarder wrote: »

any chance of a discount for cycling forum members?

Only for AG2R pro riders.

I’m hoping for a free jersey.......

tomasrojo

On the looking for parking stat., Donald Shoup's name comes up a lot in discussions of the economics of parking.

We know what happens when city drivers can't find a street-parking space near their destination: they circle the block until their luck changes. Plenty of research has documented the great toll this takes on traffic congestion and air pollution. The field’s leading scholar, UCLA parking guru Donald Shoup, has found that cruising for parking can account for some 15% of downtown traffic at the lower end of the spectrum, and up to 74% at the extremes.

https://depts.washington.edu/sctlctr/news-events/in-the-news/delivery-vehicles-waste-lot-time-searching-parking-cities-can-fix

It's possible the 1/5th stat is referring to what percentage of traffic on average in an American city is cruising for parking?

Mickiemcfist

magicbastarder wrote: »

any chance of a discount for cycling forum members?

on a vaguely related note, a chap i (used to) know works for a company which produce cameras for cars, i think VW were one of their main customers. he had worked on a system where there were two side facing cameras mounted fairly far forward on the front bumper, so if you were coming out of a driveway with limited visibility, you could stick the nose out a foot and gain a view of any foot traffic long before you'd actually be able to eyeball it. he mentioned there was a project for rear facing cameras which in theory would be able to replace rear view mirrors (to recoup the maybe 2% of fuel consumption they generate), but i have wondered how easy it'd be to get that past regulators. in a normal car, if the mirror is dirty, you can just wind down the window to clean it, but the system he was talking about, you'd end up with people not even knowing where the camera was to clean it, i suspect.

The Honda E has cameras instead of mirrors, so I guess they got passed the regulators, pretty cool idea.

buffalo

Great post if you're interested in traffic and infrastructure in Dublin:

https://randall.ie/unfinished-dublin/

Proposals from the 60s for a fully fledged dual carriageway ring road with flyovers - filling in the canals, tunnelling under the Phoenix Park and a bridge over the Liffey where the Samuel Beckett is today. And a lot more... like a roundabout at Christchurch.

Today you would call Schaechterle's recommendations insensitive. Amid the enthusiasm for futurism, no consideration was given to preserving what was there. If it was in the way, it would go.

tomasrojo

I'm glad to be finished cycling around the city centre and inner suburbs of Dublin for a short while after today. The driving today was really quite something.

LollipopJimmy

tomasrojo wrote: »

I'm glad to be finished cycling around the city centre and inner suburbs of Dublin for a short while after today. The driving today was really quite something.

I'm out in the car, its mental

magicbastarder

Went out to malahide in the car. Around midday, a rookie mistake because all the schools finished up at noon. Traffic was mental

Weepsie

I cycled into town yesterday to grab something quickly. Driving was utterly appaling. Buses, trucks and taxi blocking the yellow box and thus blocking any traffic getting from westmoreland to o'connell street.

Loads of rlj-ing too.


Also they amount of bleeper bikes locked so utterly sh!tly to stands was infuriating.

You get the classic then once that yellow box has freed up, ah sure I'll just ignore that fact pedestrians have got a green and are in the process of crossing and barge right through in my taxi beeping at them to get out of the way. Am I right?

magicbastarder

best idea i've heard all year.

https://twitter.com/Dub324/status/1340950196247818241

cletus

magicbastarder wrote: »

best idea i've heard all year.

https://twitter.com/Dub324/status/1340950196247818241

Even a "normal" sized car is a bastard to drive without power steering

crosstownk

cletus wrote: »

Even a "normal" sized car is a bastard to drive without power steering

Back in 1996 my 1989 VW Passat 1.6 (312) had no power steering. I drove it for three years and that was the only time in my life that I didn't have typical cyclist's arms!

That said, it was handy enough to drive. Manoeuvring at slow (almost stopped) was a pain but other than that it was perfectly manageable.

cletus

crosstownk wrote: »

Back in 1996 my 1989 VW Passat 1.6 (312) had no power steering. I drove it for three years and that was the only time in my life that I didn't have typical cyclist's arms!

That said, it was handy enough to drive. Manoeuvring at slow (almost stopped) was a pain but other than that it was perfectly manageable.

Well yes, I should have clarified. Basically anything in 1st gear is a pain in the arse

Was out the car myself earlier this evening, newer model Skoda stopped at the junction coming towards me indicating left, except it wasn't an indicator it was the full headlight that turns orange. Really strange looking, wasn't dark at that point but got me to wondering would that setup not be an issue at night? Looked to see if there were any videos of it but dind't find that specific light combo.

CramCycle

Deleted User wrote: »

Was out the car myself earlier this evening, newer model Skoda stopped at the junction coming towards me indicating left, except it wasn't an indicator it was the full headlight that turns orange. Really strange looking, wasn't dark at that point but got me to wondering would that setup not be an issue at night? Looked to see if there were any videos of it but dind't find that specific light combo.

I've seen similar in a few cars, not that the headlight turns orange but the headlight for the direction it is turning actually turns off, and so all you see is the indicator that surrounds the light. I am surprised it is allowed, I think its an acceptance by the manufacturer that there HIDs are really f'in annoying and they drown out the indicator on some cars but that's just a leap in my mind rather than fact.

magicbastarder

came the closest i've been to crashing the car in years, about 20 minutes ago. a woman pulled out of a pub car park as i was coming past at about 50 or 60km/h, right out in front of us. we stopped maybe a metre short of her. she didn't even wave any sort of acknowledgement that we came within half a second of a bad smash.

Fighting Tao

CramCycle wrote: »

I've seen similar in a few cars, not that the headlight turns orange but the headlight for the direction it is turning actually turns off, and so all you see is the indicator that surrounds the light. I am surprised it is allowed, I think its an acceptance by the manufacturer that there HIDs are really f'in annoying and they drown out the indicator on some cars but that's just a leap in my mind rather than fact.

I don’t understand the headlight going off and only the indicator showing.

My car has extra side lights. When I indicate, the extra light comes on the side that I am going to turn to light up the road more. It points down quite a bit and can’t dazzle anyone.

Santy setup done, time for a beer. Oldest is a non believer and not saying anything just in case I think and the youngest was rattling with excitement going to bed having left stuff outside for reindeer and inside for Santy (It was a tough choice between juice and milk)

Can't wait to sit her up on her balance bike in the morning now.

Happy Christmas to all !!!!!

Seth Brundle

Likewise Enfilade.
We (myself, herself and two teenagers) just watched the Muppet Christmas Carol after a lovely evening.
There's only one more sleep till Christmas:D
Merry Christmas everyone.

griffin100

This is worth a read, an interview with Fabio Jakobsen about his crash and recovery. His list of injuries is frightening.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/fabio-jakobsen-talks-about-his-crash-for-the-first-time/

Wishbone Ash

43 emails so far at work today - the song "Do they know it's Christmas' comes to mind.

crosstownk

Nollaig Shona daoibh go léir!

Roll on 2021. The year of the needle - hopefully......

Wishbone Ash

Mudguard width question:

I hope this doesn't sound like a stupid question but when a mudguard manufacturer gives a width for their product (eg. 40mm, 50mm etc.) are they referring to the width in a curved sense or in a flat across?

I need to replace both mudguards in one of my bikes. Straight across, the mudguard is 35mm, but 50mm in a sort of semi-circle curve. I'm not sure which width to order. (They were supplied with the bike).

EDIT: I should have added that the tyres are 28mm and current mudguards are full length.

Thanks.

cletus

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Mudguard width question:

I hope this doesn't sound like a stupid question but when a mudguard manufacturer gives a width for their product (eg. 40mm, 50mm etc.) are they referring to the width in a curved sense or in a flat across?

I need to replace both mudguards in one of my bikes. Straight across, the mudguard is 35mm, but 50mm in a sort of semi-circle curve. I'm not sure which width to order. (They were supplied with the bike).

EDIT: I should have added that the tyres are 28mm and current mudguards are full length.

Thanks.

I think they measure straight across, but they usually give a maximum suitable tyre width too

Wishbone Ash

cletus wrote: »

I think they measure straight across, but they usually give a maximum suitable tyre width too

Thanks for that. I hadn't thought of checking their max tyre width.

LollipopJimmy

Driving today and a teen on an electric scooter decided to play chicken with me on a one way system. Turns out I'm not a chicken. He bottled it. Next time I'll accelerate.

ednwireland

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

43 emails so far at work today - the song "Do they know it's Christmas' comes to mind.

yeh but you checked your emails !. my laptops are off until the 4th unless I get a call.

Wishbone Ash

ednwireland wrote: »

yeh but you checked your emails !. my laptops are off until the 4th unless I get a call.

Eh, yes, but I'm in work for the past 3 days. It would be a bit cheeky to sit at my desk and leave the PC switched off. :P

CramCycle

Same here, I'm on call for my holidays, and that requires email checking although at least intermittently.