The grumpy thread

[retrogeezer]

Just walking home from school with my 8 year old daughter and there are 3 kids in front of us, one is in year 3 so is 7 years old, the other 2 were in high school uniform but can only have been 1st year's so only 10/11.

 

They were messing around with a yoghurt drink and throwing it at each, it was clearly very well off as it stank as I walked past but they were shouting 'you f'ing stink' 'that f'ing stinks' 'f'ing hell' etc etc....

 

I did say watch the language as I went past but that just made them shout it even louder as I got further away.

 

What kind of parents do these kids have....

[Negative Creep]

My Sister's Sister-in-Law (don't think that makes her a relation) had a stroke yesterday. 31 years old...........

[Lankytim]

Where's Team Blitz gone then?

[autofive]

Where's Team Blitz gone then?

 

 

deleted,

Buttle instead of Tuttle, he's off to information retrieval

[Lankytim]

That a shame. I liked TB!

 

Anyway, It's been covered in the last few pages so i'll shut up now!

[maxpower]

i guess this is a grump at cyclists (kind of).... going to work this evening only to find utter chaos after roundabout was closed due to a 34yr old woman cyclist being killed under the wheels of a tipper lorry... the very same roundabout that saw a 54 yr old cyclist killed a week ago to the day

both truck drivers have been charged with dangerous driving... even though both cyclists where undertaking on the inside of the trucks!

 

this roundabout has just had cycle lanes put in all round yet there has been 2 deaths in just over a week... well my kind of grump is.........

 

shouldn't cyclists be made to sit a compulsory road test similar to motorbikes? as a driver myself i seem to have noticed that since the introduction of cycle lanes some cyclists seem oblivious of other road users and think just because the tarmac is blue they don't have to stop or worry about cars entering the road they are using from junctions and side streets..

 

what do you guys think?.... sorry if this is wrong section for this.

[MrDuke]

I'd actually agree with you, speaking as an avid cyclist myself - in all the 20+ years that I've been cycling on the road, I've never even come close to being wiped out at a roundabout or junction, mainly because I'm acutely aware of whether or not drivers can see me. I tend to exaggerate my hand signals, and if there's anything bigger than a Transit on the junction, I'll wait until it's gone before dashing in.

Obviously, being a regular driver I can see it from both sides, but it'd be good if cyclists could sit some kind of basic training before going out on the road. No way of ever enforcing it, though, so it'd never be actually implemented. Pity for the truck drivers you mentioned - as if it wasn't bad enough actually killing someone, being punished for it when they were riding recklessly does take the biscuit.

[Cheggers]

Yup, as a fellow cyclist, I'm with Mr Duke. I currently ride around 100-150 miles a week and regularly find myself cringing at the antics of other cyclists. While I'm sure there is an element of "cycle lane complacency", an awful lot of it is down to a basic lack of knowledge...not just in terms of the rules of the road, but also in being able to read what's happening around you.

[Cavcraft]

/\

Agreed.

Locally there's a cycle/foot path that's a really nice walk and yet you're always looking behind you due to idiot cyclists who come bombing up behind with no warning then almost run into you or get knocked off by dog leads.

It's a very popular route and if ever someone doesn't ring their bell or shout a ploite warning it's always the spandex clad gobshites. Old Sid and Doris, their children and grandchildren ring the bell, shout 'excuse me' and are always polite, yet Captain Wankchops and his £4,000 cycle mates can't manage this.

One of them swore at my 15 year old daughter the other week after riding up behind her and spooking her and the dog. Her grandad was remarkably restrained about it, personally I'd have just lobbed a large stick or rock at the twat and dragged him back to apologise.

[Cheggers]

/\ Now there's part of the problem as a cyclist. I'm usually on a road/ race bike, averaging around 25mph. Motorists think I should be using the cycle paths as I'm on a bike, peds think I should be on the road as I'm going quite quickly. Personally I tend to stick to the road, especially where there's a shared cycle/ footpath (a fundamentally stupid concept). The best infrastructure for cyclists is in The Netherlands, where there's a network of cycle paths often well away from the road & pavement. I will stand up & defend the majority of lycra-clad road bikers - we tend to be "the enthusiasts" who take our cycling & safety pretty seriously. Most genuinely dangerous riding I see seems to be chavs on their JJB Sports £80 full-sus mountain bikes, wobbling to/ from the pub.

[retrogeezer]

There is a junction near me with a cycle path that approaches on the foot path. At the head of the junction are lines indicating cyclists should stop and wait for traffic turning into the junction but they don't, they just fly off the path and into the road regardless of what is happening on the road itself.

 

If you are turning right from the opposite side of the road you are already waiting for a gap in traffic so you see a gap, go for it and then some twat on a bike just flies down off the footpath without stopping right in front of you. What do you do?? Hit the bike or stop right in the path of oncoming traffic.

The cyclist obviously think you can see them through cars and lorries as they tear along the footpath. all they need to do if they want to keep going is get in the road further back.

 

I'm amazed that no-one has been killed there ... yet.

 

[Cheggers]

A fine example of the stupidity of our half-arsed cycle lanes.

 

If I'm on the cycle path, I have to give way (as you say, clearly marked). If I'm on the road, I have right of way. However, a driver waiting to turn right not only has to see I'm there, but also has to work out whether I have right of way or not. If there's room to do it, I would normally take up "primary position" (move out from the kerb) to make it clear I'm on the road and coming through.

[M'coli]

The more poorly though-out cycle lanes there are, the greater this problem will become. This roundabout problem is a prime example - drivers and cyclist want to get somewhere, but the cyclists are supposedly channelled into their cycle lane, thus drivers get on with ignoring them. The cyclists are now pedestrians with bikes who have to cross 1,2,3,4 or however many busy junctions to get to the road that leads to their destination. This adds so much more time and risk to the cyclist's journey that they go "fuck that, I'm going around the roundabout" and have the drivers going "what's that bloody cyclist doing there? Get out of my effing way and back on your cycle lane - you don't even pay road tax!" It's a divisive problem with arseholes on both sides of it...

[Cheggers]

Amen M'coli - It's amazing how many drivers are convinced that cycle lane use is compulsory and bikes shouldn't be on the road!

[maxpower]

the cycle lanes i mentioned are on the road, i think they need to introduce those cycle traffic lights on the lanes at the roundabout as all 4 entry points have traffic lights for cars there anyway. that would ease the confusion and give cyclists a bit of time and safety to cross the roundabout.

 

they have put cycle traffic lights on cycle lanes in poplar area of london and so far no accidents/deaths so maybe it's something they need to think about seeing as 2 families have lost loved ones in the run up to xmas

[CIH]

the cycle lanes i mentioned are on the road, i think they need to introduce those cycle traffic lights on the lanes at the roundabout as all 4 entry points have traffic lights for cars there anyway. that would ease the confusion and give cyclists a bit of time and safety to cross the roundabout.

 

they have put cycle traffic lights on cycle lanes in poplar area of london and so far no accidents/deaths so maybe it's something they need to think about seeing as 2 families have lost loved ones in the run up to xmas

 

Can't see how they can be enforced, without the use of a HGV's wheels, plus whenever I've seen them they're usually being ignored.

[maxpower]

the cycle lanes i mentioned are on the road, i think they need to introduce those cycle traffic lights on the lanes at the roundabout as all 4 entry points have traffic lights for cars there anyway. that would ease the confusion and give cyclists a bit of time and safety to cross the roundabout.

 

they have put cycle traffic lights on cycle lanes in poplar area of london and so far no accidents/deaths so maybe it's something they need to think about seeing as 2 families have lost loved ones in the run up to xmas

 

Can't see how they can be enforced, without the use of a HGV's wheels, plus whenever I've seen them they're usually being ignored.

 

i have seen them being ignored too, and i have seen the guy being pulled and giving a rollocking from plod

 

but if they want to ignore them and play russian roulette then that is down to them, but at least it will stop the truckers and car drivers from constantly being labelled as the cause

[eddyramrod]

Now what's a lovely Sweeney-style cornering shot doing in this thread?

Wait a minute, who's driving?

Oh.

Bo-lerks.

Scooped up by a recovery truck six hours later, in the dark, in the middle of a full-on thunderstorm. Grumpy? Betcha bippy!

[fiatdaft]

Bugger.

[eddyramrod]

Yeah, exactly. Anyone know if these components are interchangeable with anything, like say Mk3/4/5 Cortina? (Just to make the hunting easier, you understand...)

[Albert Ross]

I will go to my local parts emporium tomorrow to find out. He had a set of upper and lower balljoints for a 1984 CF on the shelf earlier this year...... He's a goldmine. If he has one, I will pick it up for you, and get it sent off to you. 1975 Offside lower? 2 bolt fixing? It might be a QSJ 711.

[eddyramrod]

1972, but it's probably the same, and thank you sir, you are a hero!

[Albert Ross]

It's the very least I can try to do, given the last few weeks you've had. My parents met in Cyprus.... And it's a special car. You deserve summat nicer going on.....

[eddyramrod]

PM sent...

[whitevanman]

If it's the same as the Cortina, which I think it is, let me know as I have loads in stock, soon get one out to you if needed.

[Albert Ross]

Cortina is a different part number...... might be a different tapar angle, or diameter. I will research this morning.

[Albert Ross]

Right... just been to see "The Man"...

He's at the NEC today. His Wife tried to help, but she had a Policeman enquiring about a damaged car sporting one of their numberplates, and she had to use the paper records as the computer wouldn't boot up!! All the knowledge is out of the building. QSJ711S is a good number with some of the books, it would appear the 711 is the part to look for. 710 is an upper balljoint. I left my number to see if he might ring me when he gets back. They do have a customer with 3 Granadas, so one might turn up yet.... I will keep you posted.

[Des]

^That joint, maybe you should change both sides in case the other is about to let go as well.

[Albert Ross]

If I find ANY bits for it, I'm bagging them for eddy..... just in case.. the ARB link loks a little frayed, but that's also different to the Cortina unit. Everything must be a little "inflated" by 10% to cope with the weight! If smaller units are fitted, my concern is that it would alter the camber to positive or summat like.

[whitevanman]

I think the bushes are the same though on the suspension, I'll dig my manual out later