Heatsink

Superlative vid! Loads of fresh ideas in there and I thought there was some ballsy stuff nailed too! Great fun to watch your vids Joe as always Hope all is going well! Steve

I saw it tonight. There was a definate run up to Clare's demise (that's if she's dead), but the Justin bit - I wasn't expecting that! Here are some of the characters: http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/m...larecunningham/ The mugshots have had a little retouching, despite the actor/resses being really young! Some bizarre trivia: Justin's girlfriend (Warren's sister) is the real life sister of the actress that plays Dawn from East Enders.

For the record, Irfanview (free) has a great batch resize option Steve

Hi, Check out Gabriele's video from Umbria, Italy! http://www.heatsinkbikes.com/?p=team I hope you enjoy it! Steve

Hi Matt, Sorry to hear about this problem. Bit of a rogue pad there! If you drop me an email with your postal address in it to Steve@heatsinkbikes.com then I'll get free replacements sent out 1st class today for delivery tomorrow. For the quickest resolution of any problems with pads, best send me an email since I check my email more regularily than TF. I hope that in the case of any problems riders can first give me an opportunity to exceed their expectations with my level of customer support! Steve

I'm sorry I can't make it! My weekends are more packed than ever nowadays. Steve

Cheers Adam! That's the mystery solved them I wish I hadn't rechecked that site at work just now....Make sure no one's looking over your shoulder! It seems Digital Crocus is the provider of choice for Escort services! Steve

Thanks for your message Bob! This is one of the many sites inspired by the original one which was all over the news for making the originator a millionaire. I was just surprised because I didn't pay to put the advert on. The only thing I can think of is that the guy who started this site wanted to get the ball rolling and I must have made a good impression! I can't see someone paying for $1600 of advertising for HSB on my behalf! Steve

HeatsinkBikes.com is worth $3053 apparantly When I clicked on the sites that link to HSB, I was very surprised to find this site: [Link removed due to goatse] If you click on the "Pixel List" then the HSB image is $1600 worth of Pixels - Wow! Who paid for that? It must be the kind fellow who set the site up - Any one know more about this? Steve

That size chain won't fit properly on my Rohloff at all! There's a limit to how much you can space them out due to the circlip on the top axle (you can replace the lower axle with a longer M4 bolt). I don't know if they've varied the design, but mine only allows 2mm extra of clearance, that's if you remove the 2mm spacer on the outside of the cage (between cage and circlip), and add a 1mm washer either side of the upper and lower sprockets. I've got a KHE Collapse to fit now only by getting a new longer top axle turned up by Dave85. It looks rather pimpin' with the replacement CNCed gold sprockets Steve

Square taper cranks are perfectly good! I'd hardly say that ISIS cranks make Square taper redundant. The classic Shimano LX or XT BB for £15 are excellent choices. You'll find many Trials riders perfectly happy with square tapers and there are always failures of both type of BBs eventually.

I really like the aesthetics of Mod 2 & Mod 3, but please don't cantilever the BB, unless you're wanting lots of warranty claims! It's a shame that joining the top tube behind the BB creates a weakend structure compared to the normal structure, because looks wise it's great. Steve

Here's a summary table I knocked up in an earlier thread. It goes to show that it's always a good idea to challenge opinion on material properties, move from subjectivity to objectivity. The actual figures may surprise you! Check out the Stiffness/Weight ratio column for example, amoungst others. In the absence of solid info (that I could find) on the reduction in strength from various heated joining methods for the full list of steels I was researching, T45 which is apparantly unweakened when exposed to the heat levels commonly used, had an enduring appeal. On the subject of Steel in frames, I did make an interesting observation the other day. Whilst you can choose the geo tubes to suit a steel construction (smaller OD than an Alu equivalent to give acceptable strength and weight), you can't change the tubing sizes of the BB and Headtube. So when working in steel you have to be aware of the possibility of higher stress risers than in an equivalent Alu construction (larger tubes) due to larger step up/down size between the tubing at joins. Steve

For answers I'd phone up Reynolds: Reynolds tubes, Tel: 0121 7065151 - they're based in Birmingham. This number was the last one I used. From my experience they may not be able to answer all your questions though. Steve

I'd take advice from close family (parents?) so the idea could be protected, whilst getting a reality check from someone not already caught up in it. If not patentable/not feasable to patent (I wouldn't consider patenting even if I did have a complete revolutionary component idea - just don't have the time or money to let this be as consuming as it would need to), ask yourself what you could offer that others can't. Maybe others can copy your design, but by then you would have say, established a reputation as a reliable seller/ already been first to market so had the lion's share of business. Can you get this product made to top quality at a price which others can't? Are you able to reach customers in ways others can't? Aside from having a great product, you'll need strength across the board to make it a success. Steve

You can't be sure to be able to patent any ideas you have. They key thing is that it "Not be obivous", and just because someone isn't selling a product like that on the market already, doesn't mean that you will immediately be able to protect the idea. If your idea is innovative enough, then it must also not have any "Prior art", which means if you can see that anyone has done anything like it before, there's no way you can patent it. In many cases certain products may not be sold because there is no percieved demand for this from consumer. However there have been many examples of the ideas-man knowing best and making a fortune, but of course a much much larger number of cases where it all came to nothing and just alot of uncompensated expenditure and time for the originators. If you did have a revolutionary idea, on which the ability to patent it was the means to unlock the door to a fortune, for an individual to follow this through with all the costs involved, is pretty hard work. You don't need to have a patent to be able to have a profitable product. For example, although there are lots of new ideas happening in bike components, there a precious few patents. Steve

Bonne chance! Steve

My preferred method

Hi, There's loads of info here: http://www.observedtrials.net/vb/showthrea...1450#post391450 Steve

Good riding there! The photos are quite small, but it would have taken courage to start getting to the level shown. Keep it up! Steve

The bottom line is that this sort of failure is very dangerous if it happens at a critical moment. I'm relieved that you weren't hurt Martin! I hope it's not unprofessional for me to comment on this, but back in the day I did have experience for my Heatsink pads of what seemed anecdotally (since it's very hard to put numbers on this for other pad manufacturers!) more than the usual very low failure rate for Powerpad backed pads. This worried me hugely! Through investigation I learnt that there were aspects in my old assembly method which were actually increasing the likelihood of this failure. I couldn't simply blame the backings being weak. I knew that the same pad backings were being used by other pad manufacturers who were only experiencing very rare backing failures. In my case, I discovered that the following things needed to be addressed to reduce pad snappage down to the negliable risk it normally is. I would like to share this info so that there are as few failures as possible for everyone! Improvements carried out for my Heatsink Pads: Challenge my choice of degreasing solvent and the application method I had been using on both pad and backing to maximise the adhesive bond between the two;1a: For the backings, use a degreaser which is designed for use on plastics, and speed up evaporation time by pumping air over the top of the coated backings. My original choice of degreaser could cause weakening of the backing plastic if over applied. 1b: Continue to use the aggressive degreaser for the pads but apply in a wipe technique rather than immersion so that only the top surface is primed and the whole pad structure doesn't become softer to the core. A softer core allows greater pad backing flex which increases the backing failure risk. Cut up examples of assembled Heatsink Pads and inspect the actual areas where glue has reached. Improve the glue application technique and check by cutting pads up that the overall pad-backing structure is as uniformly bonded as possible.Steve

It's him I reckon, he's just aged well Check out "Ask Mr T" http://www.getsomenuts.tv/ Quality!

Night At The Museum, 6/10

Life is certainly busy, but if I can make this machine earn its keep plus a bit more, then it helps the bills. I'm really happy if I can ensure that my wife isn't forced to return to work leaving the children at nursery like others do. For bike parts I had a few things in mind. I was thinking of boosters in unusually wide sizes (when running Vee adapters on 4 bolt frames). Plus a wider variety of bashguards. All the above should be straightforward! With a machine like this I could also personalise parts for riders with their own designs / text. I'll have to see how much time all the coding takes, but unless I'm mistaken about its capabilities, it's certainly allowing some cool new things to be explored. Thanks for reminding me about full size cars! The bed is almost 1/2m square. Parts for full size cars would be possible The idea of "Modding" products like gear knobs, brake pedals occurred to me. I could offer people a one off service, with those things that may appeal to others getting priority Steve

Thanks Danny and Daniel! Your essay is much appreciated DJB! Those links are great. There is such a huge range of kits out there and some very cool cars and bodykits to be had! Reviewing all the cool help everyone has given me has got me thinking that it's a pretty saturated market really. There appear to be plenty of others who got into the sort of thing I was thinking about, 5 or 10 years ago! The market has really exploded in the last 15 years since I last had an RC car. Currently I think it makes sense for me to stick to what I know. In an act of financial abandon I ordered the desktop CNCing machine From speaking to the designer behind it, it will open up alot of possibilities to make huge variations of components in as small batches as I like. It isn't as sophisticated as the large scale machines I normally use, but it'll definately be very useful to compliment what I can offer, opening up possibilities of more designs being economically viable. I think I'm going to have my hands full when it arrives learning all it's ins and outs! Steve