Rode out to Kew Gardens. Marvelous what you Brits do with the open space you have left. Who got married?
I suppose it depends on when you went to school. When I was there, the Victorian era was a period from history
.Seriously, I know that the ceremony as we know it is a fairly new evolution in the history of the monarchy.
Successful demo/tryout at street party marred by mechanical breakdown
So we pitched up at the street party, and I posed with my Kalkhoff Agattu and extolled its virtues to all who would listen. After the barbecue and a little wine I started to give tryout rides, to those big enough to fit and confident enough of their riding. They all came back really smiling after a short run up an down the (flat) road with max assist and in top gear.
Then we had a malfunction. A man in his 50s who cycles to work (push bike - 18 miles round trip with a bit of hill, therefore fit and strong) had a go. He accelerated rapidly. After 30 yards there was a bang and he slithered to a halt.
The rear wheel had pulled out of its mounting slots on the rear forks. The wheel jammed forward and was completely locked solid. The tyre pinched somehow between the mudguard and part of the battery. Both sides at the fork really jammed. The anti-torque device on the side opposite the gear change cables out of its location and jammed on part on the frame. I had to walk home for a spanner and remove the wheel nuts and the gear changer before we could get the wheel unjammed and reseat it correctly. I torqued up the nuts as far as I dared by hand - no idea what the correct torque is for the thread, so I asked the guy with the powerful legs who had overloaded it, and who is a mechanical engineer to judge by feel whether I had tightened the nuts enough. Fortunately no damage done and the bike is working fine now.
Obviously fit young legs accelerating hard with max assist put more strain on the wheel mounting than I ever had. But it is a wake up call to carry tools with me always. I have got so confident with the bike over the past month that I am now neglecting to put on the pannier bag with tools.
Anyway the demo went very well - all who tried were very impressed. I may even be able to help our dealers make some sales in due course.
So we pitched up at the street party, and I posed with my Kalkhoff Agattu and extolled its virtues to all who would listen. After the barbecue and a little wine I started to give tryout rides, to those big enough to fit and confident enough of their riding. They all came back really smiling after a short run up an down the (flat) road with max assist and in top gear.
Then we had a malfunction. A man in his 50s who cycles to work (push bike - 18 miles round trip with a bit of hill, therefore fit and strong) had a go. He accelerated rapidly. After 30 yards there was a bang and he slithered to a halt.
The rear wheel had pulled out of its mounting slots on the rear forks. The wheel jammed forward and was completely locked solid. The tyre pinched somehow between the mudguard and part of the battery. Both sides at the fork really jammed. The anti-torque device on the side opposite the gear change cables out of its location and jammed on part on the frame. I had to walk home for a spanner and remove the wheel nuts and the gear changer before we could get the wheel unjammed and reseat it correctly. I torqued up the nuts as far as I dared by hand - no idea what the correct torque is for the thread, so I asked the guy with the powerful legs who had overloaded it, and who is a mechanical engineer to judge by feel whether I had tightened the nuts enough. Fortunately no damage done and the bike is working fine now.
Obviously fit young legs accelerating hard with max assist put more strain on the wheel mounting than I ever had. But it is a wake up call to carry tools with me always. I have got so confident with the bike over the past month that I am now neglecting to put on the pannier bag with tools.
Anyway the demo went very well - all who tried were very impressed. I may even be able to help our dealers make some sales in due course.
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£20million for 5,000 police officers? I never realised that cops were paid £4k for a few hours work - I'm obviously in the wrong job!
Even if £20million is generated through tax, we still lose out because tax is paid to the government. Never forget that the government have no money of their own, only what they can tax from us commoners.
A classic example of creative accounting. Chances are many of those officers would have been on duty anyway, but they still add them to the cost.... probably worked out on the back of a fag packet...same as the cost for London 2012 Olympics.
The event was brilliant, but I'm a staunch royalist, so I would say that wouldn't I.
The event was brilliant, but I'm a staunch royalist, so I would say that wouldn't I.
10 mph, there is a torque figure for those rear wheel nuts. If you go to the Shimano web site and find your particular hub gear, there will be a data sheet giving the figure. I can't look it up for you as I am using my phone and it's too fiddley.
I remember the torque figure is quite high for the 8 speed Alfine, about 40-45 Nm. My Pro Connect wheel moved as you described when the bike was new, but once correctly tightened the wheel hasn't moved since. They are probably set correctly at the factory, but the teeth on the washers sink into the soft aluminium frame after a while, slightly loosening the nut.
I remember the torque figure is quite high for the 8 speed Alfine, about 40-45 Nm. My Pro Connect wheel moved as you described when the bike was new, but once correctly tightened the wheel hasn't moved since. They are probably set correctly at the factory, but the teeth on the washers sink into the soft aluminium frame after a while, slightly loosening the nut.
Fair point... Some of the coppers may have been on duty - and they'd probably have made more arrests if they'd taken the slightest bit of interest in crime that affects us common scumbags - Such as attempted theft of batteries from pedelecs. I'm a staunch victim of attempted theft which although unsuccessful has left me me a £100+ bill for a new set of batteries so I would say that wouldn't I... Oooops.. I almost forgot that £100 is nothing to most staunch royalists.
Oh dear, has the nasty country with it's nasty royals and uncaring policemen stood idly by why someone has tried to pinch your battery? You poor, unfortunate, downtrodden, victimised, tragic little person. Its so easy to forget the unfortunate during such magnificent events as a royal wedding. It is after all, everyone else's fault except yours, that someone has, "had a go" at your bicycle.
Well, perhaps it's a bit much after hearing the chief participants in that wedding both say "for richer, for poorer".
They might at least have had the decency to say "for richer or even richer".
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In my view the 'wedding' was a spectacle put on by the elite for the elite and paid for, whether directly or indirectly, by you and I. In its favour I suppose the world will see us as great wedding planners. Some will always get vicarious enjoyment by being allowed to watch but the experience is temporary and a hugely expensive diversion from the real social, economic and political issues facing this country. We need to face and deal with this issues and one small step to accomplishing this, in my view, is to be allowed to be citizens rather than subjects.
Thanks for the the very useful info and explanation. I can see where the serated anti-torque locking device has scraped the metal of the fork as it was dragged forward by the pull on the chain.
I found Shimano say 30-45 Nm torque for the 3 gear Inter Hub, i.e. about 22-33 foot lbs. So I searched out my torque wrench, and then found I did not have the exact socket to fit the axle nuts. Anyway it was clear I had been a bit cautious about stripping the thread when reassembling yesterday so I gave a harder pull estimated to be within the torque range.
Its a bit demeaning towards those involved in the planning and orchestration of events to refer to them as wedding planners. To stage an event such as this will require great skill and knowledge from many talented people, hardly wedding planners. This wedding was an event which pulled in two thousand million spectators from around the world. No other nation on earth has ever achieved that or could achieve it. In particular our smart soldiers, some freshly arrived back from Afghanistan, were immensely impressive. I would imagine that it was a great honour for them to participate in the event and one which they will rightly be proud of for the rest of their lives. The million people, many of them children, who lined the Mall and entrance to Buckingham Palace, they too will fondly remember the occasion for many years. The euphoria will subside and be a temporary state of mind, but the experience of actually being there, being a small part of the event, will live on.
This peevishly motivated dripping about it all being for the elite. All of this, "its not fair", its not "socially inclusive" is the real diversion. It is a diversion from the fact that some people won't get off their lazy fat arses and make good things happen to themselves.
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Well put and i couldnt have said that last bit any better. Tourism is something we need and the Royal Family bring tourism. They have just focused 2 billion pairs of eyes on our country what an advertisement that is. Im not really a Royalist although i am warming to Wills and Harry but i do enjoy our pomp and stuff lol
Apparently not. This figure has just been commented on today on the BBC by an ex BBC man who was responsible for stopping nonsense news like this appearing at one time. It appears that was an estimate first published before the wedding, then quoted repeatedly thereafter. It apparently cannot be accurate, firstly because many of the largest of the world's countries have no audience measurement facilities, and some who do only have sampling in very restricted areas.
And as he observed, much of the world was asleep throughout!
His view was that the true figure is very much smaller, adding that from surveys after the event, the record world audience was for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, one billion. That of course did have universal appeal.
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Blimey tillson, you're SO right! I am immediately going to get off my lazy fat arse and become a PRINCE instead, inherit MILLIONS of unearned pounds, and never criticise my betters again.
Can't find an appropriate smiley, I'm afraid.
A
Sorry Allen i have already baggsed the Prince spot lol
Oh and if that figure of 2billion is wrong i cant even give an alternative i knew it would be a prediction as how can you count how people watched it in India or say China with so many people but i heard it on the beeb and they are normally not to bad for sensationalising but well i dunno and dont care too much i just thought it was a good boost for our country
Stop press lol Beeb just said 25million people watched it in the UK. Sounds impressive but its not quite half the population
You must be kidding, their standards have plunged since the mid 1980s political attacks on the organisation, and it was an ex BBC man who was making the point about this inaccuracy, on the BBC's Radio 4, where some vestige of standards remains.
As you say, it was a brilliant show and I've already remarked on how we do this much better than anyone else.
My objection was to their knowingly reporting a ludicrous pre-wedding live viewing estimate as fact immediately after the event. On the news I expect to hear facts with some attempt at accuracy and verification, not hype.
P.S. Your further post emphasises my point. If less than half of Britain watched, the notion that a third of the world did is silly, especially when only half that number watched the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, something that did very much involve all their countries.
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There has to be a future in royal weddings... Get them breeding and lets have one on the hour, every hour. Or maybe there's a future for the UK that insn't disney style weddings? Industry or Disnetry?
Rant over.
Rant over.
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