StuartM

Rest in power, Hirata-san. https://www.yokogaomag.com/editorial/kapital-founder-toshikiyo-hirata-passed-away 

9 hours ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Interesting article on place, globalisation, Instagram, algorithms and homogeneity (and how they all relate):

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/16/the-tyranny-of-the-algorithm-why-every-coffee-shop-looks-the-same

You might be interested in 'blanding'. The tendency for individuals, groups and brands to end up all looking the same. There's a fascinating art project from the mid 1990s called People's Choice, but the trend towards the mean seems to be accelerating. http://faculty.las.illinois.edu/rrushing/501/Images/Pages/The_Beautiful.html 

8 hours ago, reallypeacedoff said:

It's so funny, but I had a think (doesn't happen often) and loosened the brake pads, added a  temporary zip tie between the rim and pad, and then tightened it down. As you said, toed them in. Boom, no squeak. I put the zip tie at the top so that the bottom of the pad would hit the rim first. I doubt it makes a difference at which part hits the rim first?

Perceived wisdom is that you want the front of the pad to hit the rim first. But if you have no squeak, then you have true peace! 

17 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Thanks Stu.. yep, it sounds like a positive thing to be part of.. trialing a vaccine against typhoid would be even more beneficial (or at least comparable) to my work trialing the Gillette Mach3

It's a 14mth trial but i only have to visit Oxford twice.. maybe three times, everything else is conducted at my local NHS trust which is a short walk from my work. I was given this link to read https://trials.ovg.ox.ac.uk/trials/vasp-sheffield along with an email from my GP ..

My only doubts.. my wife is immunocompromised, would i be contagious?

IANAD...

Digging into the full protocol, I think you would not be able to take part. A stated exclusion criteria is: 

• Close household contact with young children or individuals who are immunocompromised (including pregnancy).

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/5/e068966.long

14 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Has anyone ever done a clinical drug trial?

 

As an adult, i've been to the doctors less than 5x in 30yrs and this was for minor ailments, i've never even had a day off sick (apart from that day at work when i ate homemade space cakes ) ..

 

..i've been contacted by my local surgery on behalf of Oxford University who're looking for 14 volunteers for our age group 40-50 who're fit and healthy with no history of medical conditions to conduct a study into developing a vaccine against Salmonella Paratyphi A. basically Typhoid.. i don't get paid as such but they will reimburse me for 'inconvenience' and my travel expenses to and from Oxford up to the sum of £3600.. it could be quite interesting if i'm not busy at work.

I've worked as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry for almost 30 years. Taking part in a clinical trial is really important and I always encourage people to take part.

The big thing is the amount of time it takes. Not just the travelling to and from assessments, but also potentially lots of time spent waiting in a clinic or trial facility and lots of, frankly, interminable forms to be completed. I'd ask questions about the protocol (the process and method by which the trial is being run) and what is expected, time-wise, of participants. Often when trials are set up now, people time how long every stage will take.

You might also want to know the stage the medicine is at. Phase 1 tends to mean early stage with small groups of participants. Phase 3 are the really large studies that are needed before drugs get regulatory approval. 

Vaccine trials can be wonderfully chill. You give informed consent, you get the jab or a placebo version, and get followed up over a long period because they have to wait until enough people in the trial have come down with the disease to see if the vaccine worked. 

Scrolling down here there's a list of good questions to ask. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/clinical-trials

On 11/11/2023 at 10:17 AM, Double 0 Soul said:

Textbook use of headset spacers. 

I think eBay links are OK in here... 

A few bits I'm selling that people here might be into: 

Kapital Century jeans 34"

Ande Whall Grizzly jacket

The Real McCoys jacket

More than delighted to sell off eBay so happy to entertain offers in DMs. 

1 hour ago, Maynard Friedman said:

She was sportingly retrieving the ball that went out of play, how would she know another one was being sent on behind her? Game management is to be commended but I’m not sure there was much time wasting - and with the new guidelines on added time, it serves little purpose anyway.

I think this comment should come with a winking face emoji. She watched the goalkeeper be given a ball and then dribbled another on the pitch and left it, positively sucking up the inevitable yellow card. Its *chef's kiss*. Wasted a bit of time and slowed down play. It's bloody brilliant. Bringing that intensity of focus is something the best teams have been doing for years. 

17 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Pfft! .. that wasn't what i'd call football

Where was the diving on the ground for no apparent reason?

Where's the writhing around in make believe agony?

No wonder there is such a pay gap if they don't even understand the basic concept of the game.

 

I watched in awe at the level of game-management/timewasting on display. Credit to the England team, I've never seen better. Deliberately dribbling a second ball onto the pitch to prevent the goalie from taking a kick near the end was the finest piece of shithousery I've seen on a football pitch in my 46 years. 

10 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

My kid introduced me to something called a Tango Ice Blast recently.. I had blue and pink flavour.. haven’t felt that wired since 1989 

I drove past a sign for a sandwich shop last week, it advertised breakfast, lunch and Tango Ice Blast. 

Might also pop your head into Blackhorse Lane Ateliers? One in Walthamstow and another in Coal Drops Yard (King's Cross). Claim to be London made. 

135mm is both well Pro, and also likely to make the steering like the tiller on a boat. Its amazing how the fashion has gone from twitchy angles with long stems, to super slack geometry with tiny almost BMX like stems. 

Here's a new-to-me frame. Built by London-based Matt Talbot. Repaint by his framebuilding partner, Caryn Hartley. Actually rides wonderfully, and I've had a LOT of winter bikes. It might be a bit contemporary for some tastes on here. 

He's certainly technically amazingly capable, but his Instagram is a litany of crimes against velocipedes. 

Please don't strip the anodising off that NOS X-Lite stem, @Double 0 Soul. It's a perfect little time capsule (only more so if in purple ano). Build a whole other bike around it! 

If I hadn't just bought an Aboubakar Fofana indigo shirt, I'd have been all over this jacket. Looks so much more practical than a type 1/2, as mentioned above. 

22 hours ago, smoothsailor said:

yes thought about it, but i keep hearing that it won.t hold up.

I like blueing too, i <m going to do that with the rack and possibly the stem.

And i,d like to make a bit of a show piece, tu lure people in to buy a frame

A clear powder coat layer would do if you're worried about durability? Needs a good painter though, otherwise you can get the dreaded orange peel effect. 

Not a great fan of the hype that surrounds Jono Smart as a potter. There are plenty of other artisans doing wonderful work without the artificiality of the Instagram waiting list and drops. Leach Pottery offers lots of temptation. https://www.leachpottery.com/individual-makers-1. That being said, Jono Smart's work is very accessible price wise, when compared to Steve Harrison. 

Bringing together two passions. Original 'large French' movie poster for the classic cycling film La Course En Tête. 

Helluva of a job of work to assemble that Pace. Most of those components would've been considered esoteric in the 90s. Now they're as rare as rocking horse shit, not to mention about 2-3x their initial purchase price. 

I had white Onza Porcupines and Porci-paws on an ancient Trek. Thought I was John Tomac. 

Words absolutely fail me. 
https://shop.doverstreetmarket.com/collections/whats-new/products/jean-paul-gaultier-high-waist-trouser-with-denim

In case anyone UK-based might be interested, the 45rpm store in London is closing down. They are doing 50% off all stock until end of today. I popped along yesterday. There are a fair few sizes of the Futatabi 6.5 Sorahikohime jean still in, especially in large sizes. There's plenty of other lovely bits too.

I don't quite know what's more brilliant, the fades on the jacket or the French Kiss patch. Chef's kiss to both!

Very good! There was definitely a crossover in style between geography teachers and physics teachers. Always a filthy coffee mug in hand too, except for my old geography teacher who was an old soak.  

Can't be too cruel though, I have a fine pair of Spellbound indigo-dyed rice cord trousers.

And I learnt to my dismay recently that the Cord du Roi / Cloth of Kings thing might be a myth. 

So much great knowledge in that book. @PaulT has swopped workwear for watts these days and become a physics teacher!