T_Dog

Euro Sport Live TV has it on every evening. One of many websites for highlights:

http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/

Looks like it will be an interesting one this year!

We had a fine time. Band was great, kids there enjoyed themselves, good talks with friends, food/drinks were reasonable, and it didn't rain. It's nice to have a party like this available.

Tonto, You might try going to Cherry Bike on the Doi Saket road and talking to Khun Dton, the mechanic there. He speaks passable English and he could fill you in on upcoming events. I'll keep my ear to the ground as well, and I know the Engineer's race is coming up soon. Maejo has some major events throughout the year as well.

Guano... What do you think about having the new one made up in stainless so it doesn't break again? Here are some photos of it de-shafted from the hub. I rode Doi Suthep one last time on it yesterday as I really needed a ride. Hope Technology makes some darn tough hubs in that they can have a broken spindle and still be ridden with little problem.

Did you get the email? I don't think that stainless is any stronger than Hi-ten. Chromoly or titanium would be ideal but expencive and difficult to find here. Maybe you could look at using Hi-ten but putting a bit of extra steel around where it broke. Whether this is possible all depends on how the hub goes together.

Negative on the email. I'd suggest a copy-and-paste as I get it wrong myself.

I did look at that area to see if more metal could be added but it butts right up against a bearing so no joy there. My only thought on steel was that it resists fatigue failures like this better.

Guano... What do you think about having the new one made up in stainless so it doesn't break again? Here are some photos of it de-shafted from the hub. I rode Doi Suthep one last time on it yesterday as I really needed a ride. Hope Technology makes some darn tough hubs in that they can have a broken spindle and still be ridden with little problem.

I've had a few axles made over here and most seem last longer that the originals. There are a few places on the way out of town I use. Pm if you would like directions, as it's difficult to explain. I also used a place in near Chiang Mai gate the other day and the guy did a great job, He's pretty much opposite the U-turn before Chiang Mai gate (on the outside of the moat).

GUANO..... That sounds like the expertise I need. I sent you a PM. Thanks.

David & Ta... Thank You for the responses. I'll check those out, armed with the broken part and a drawing.

I need a 150mm long shaft turned with 5 different diameters. (No grooves or tapers.) The challenge is that it needs a 5mm diameter center hole all the way through and my regular guy can't do it. Can anyone recommend a shop & location that might do it?

It is for an obsolete bike hub and I can't buy a new hub due to disk brake compatibility. All help appreciated.

Holy Haima it has rained a lot the past few days...... Lots of beautiful clouds blowing by.

Average time lately to Chiang Mai from the USA has been running about 14 days. Best time I have ever seen is 8 days. I'm waiting for a letter right now that was mailed 21 days ago so I am also hoping to get my mail.

You only miss seeing my dogs?

.

Well of course we miss seeing you! Didn't I say that? Errr, I guess I didn't! Glad to hear Buddy found a good home. Yah done good, as usual.

This website has a good listing of the shops in Chiang Mai, including maps: http://bicyclethailand.com/bike-stores/

OP: It sounds like you're talking about road bikes, right? Many shops here only do mountain bikes. There are some previous TV threads with opinions on these shops from folks who have been riding here a long time.

My personal conclusion after trying just about all the shops in Chiang Mai is that there's no single amazing shop with both great selection and great service. I like the service at TCA, but when I wanted to buy a bike in a size they didn't have in stock they said it would take 3-6 months to order. They also don't stock any Shimano, which makes it tough since 90% of bikes seem to run Shimano these days.

The guys at Spin Bike (down near the Night Safari) are serious cyclists and know what they're doing. They have a handful of used high-end road bikes sitting around, along with some miscellaneous high-end parts.

For parts and accessories I'd say Velocity or Jacky Bike (on Nimman) has

the largest selection.

Wynzlo....I was going to add a kmz locator for TCA as it's so hard to find, but I see that website now has GPS coordinates. Very cool. TCA has rebuilt Fox shocks for me with impeccable results, but I agree that they take forever to get parts they do not stock. I tend to use Jackie and TCA for all my needs these days. I had one shop lace up a rear wheel for me a last year and it lasted two weeks. Jackie redid it with real DT spokes and things are good.

Bangkok Post had an article yesterday about a planking gone awry in Chiang Mai when a tourist fell through a roof damaging a car. It's all the rage.

I just miss seeing some of Nienke's dogs at Tuskers! I sure hope Buddy is well.

Anyone know of a dealer for Michelon Sirac tires in Thailand? Looks like the 110/70 (rear) would fit the OLD CBR-150. After having an IRC front tire fail on me, I can't go down the road with IRCs on.

Edit: Although that size is on the USA brochure, it's a "no go" in Thailand. Here are the Thai sizes available:

http://motorcycle.michelin.asia/twproduct/findProduct/moreProduct/221

Regarding Thalassemia, be aware that if one has it and gets a moderate or high fever, there is a high likelihood of hemolysis occuring which puts the patient at risk. My wife has a mild form of Thalassemia and nearly died two years ago from a fever due to a viral infection. If you go to a hospital regarding a fever, make sure to tell them that you have Thalassemia. The doc told us to stop by the hospital any time she has a fever to get the red blood cell count checked. In the case where we found out about this, my wife was unresponsive until two units of blood were administered. It was a very scary way to find out about this sensitivity with Thalassemia patients.

My MacBook has been running about 18 hours a day for six years. It's my phone, music, photo, and video server so it's on if anyone is awake and at home. No problems except for a swelled battery a few months ago but I do feel like I am living on borrowed time with the hard drive. I make a bootable back-up every month.

Regarding YouTube, it has its bugs. Try pausing it, then move the place cursor back about 20 seconds or so. Hit play and it should re-start. I see the problem you mention with YouTube and FireFox often.

Agree YouTube is buggy. I see the pause issue quite often too. What reboots it for me is to move the little slider a second back or forward - then it starts working again. But these are bugs in YouTube / Flash and have nothing to do with the age of your laptop.

With a 5 YO HD, better make daily and hourly backups - T_Dog I hope you're using TimeMachine. You can be lucky but at some point, the HD will bite the dust.

Anyway, if you have the money, get a new Laptop, preferably something decent this time, like a MacBook Pro If you plan to keep it for 5 years the advantages out the box would be: You never have to re-install the OS to keep it fast, and the added cost spreads over 5 years.

Likely that's the issue with your Windows machine - my own Windows installs usually only last 18 months before they slow to a crawl and no amount of defragging or registry cleaning or whatever can save it. It's just Windows that decays over time. Admittedly I am a power user and prone to installing and un-installing a lot of software. The Mac? Never slows down. It's just fine. Never defragged it, never "cleaned the registry" etc - it's just a stable system that doesn't collect crap.

Nikster is right. In 6 years, have never had to reload the OS or to use the start up disk in any way. Total cumulative time to debug SW/Computer problems amounts to maybe 45 minutes total over six years. I spend that much time every week helping Windows friends! I hope my next Mac proves to be that reliable.

And Nikster, I use SuperDuper for back ups as it makes a bootable copy. I've taken my external drive to another Apple, booted from my external firewire drive by holding down the apple key, and end up using "my own" computer and desk top. Monthly back ups are fine for me based on the type of stuff I am saving.

My MacBook has been running about 18 hours a day for six years. It's my phone, music, photo, and video server so it's on if anyone is awake and at home. No problems except for a swelled battery a few months ago but I do feel like I am living on borrowed time with the hard drive. I make a bootable back-up every month.

Regarding YouTube, it has its bugs. Try pausing it, then move the place cursor back about 20 seconds or so. Hit play and it should re-start. I see the problem you mention with YouTube and FireFox often.

add a little bleach to your wash. Some bacteria can live thru normal washing and drying.

I agree that helps a lot, and I always add bleach when I wash my CamelBak. My original post is in regard to the scientific reasons as to why the normal polyester will smell worse than other materials after an equivalent ride.

I hope you guys had a good turn-out for the Toy Ride. I simply spaced it and then noticed a lot of bikes on the road coming back from a sortie out to Mae On. Stayed dry all day until I was stopped at a red light on Canal Road one km from home. Got soaked...... It only rained within 100 meters of that red light.

Rinrada is on fairly often and he is like member 13 or so......

the longer your jerseys are "wet", the more chance they have of growing bacteria or molds. my fancy pants dri-fit, etc jerseys wick the sweat away & seem to dry quicker while riding. the plain polyester ones breathe less so they stay wet longer.

you can get rid of the stink by using some baking soda to soak the jerseys in, then wash them normally. if that still doesn't do the trick repeat but follow up with diluted vinegar rinse.

but i wouldn't do this to the specially treated jerseys, even fabric softening ruins the chemical coating on them.

I think you might be on to it. My CoolMax stuff does evaporate moisture much faster than the polyester jerseys. Going to have to find a Thai supplier of the more breathable stuff. I always rinse out my jerseys as soon as I get back home from a ride before washing them with other clothes. The CoolMax stuff rarely smells bad.

The rule you have to know well is that any portion of the roadway between the trees or houses is usable by any type of vehicle, going at any speed, in any direction, at any time, and that vehicle does not need to look for nor yield to oncoming traffic. We just got back from Pai and had a great trip, but braking into some corners was a bit sketchy when you see a pickup carrying a ton of garlic in what the West would call "your" lane. I don't mean just crossing the center line; I mean completely on the opposite shoulder following the rule above.

Spend a few hours riding in Thailand with a normal polyester jersey and wow, do they stink. I've got a few CoolMax jerseys too (they feel a lot softer than normal biking jerseys) and they hardly smell at all after a long ride. Anyone know the science behind smelly jerseys? It seems to be they should both smell bad!

Jim.... Here's a .kml route for a wild ride from CM to Mae Taeng. It's about 70 km and lots of wild country once you leave the Hmong Lodge area. (It passes a few km south of Wat Pra Ba See Roy). Not for the inexperienced mountain biker however. I could not figure out how to add this route to your map so just open it up in Google Earth and then select the route in the left hand column. (G=E has a bug in that it opens up the USA and you have to select the route.)

Doi Kham is a great place and I try to go there a few times a week. It has the friendliest dogs of any Wat in Thailand!

Let me know if you want to find some routes between the Samoung Road and the road to Op Khan Park as I ride there often. I tend to stay away from stinky roads.

Mae Taeng Via Hmong Lodge.kml