Heatsink

It looks like the success of the Base 26" has injected new life into the company, or at least they've realised it makes sense to get their website upto date. I'll happily work as a consultant for them if they want to improve that site abit, if they have some cash knocking around, maybe half singed from lighting cigars with! Seriously though, this little beauty simply must be sorted out (rollover text): Steve

Nice one Julien! It looks like the Cambs ride really kicked off once I'd left! Wish I could have stayed longer, but duty called (Y) Hope to catch up with you in Cambridge again very soon. Steve

Hi there! Just a quicky to answer some questions: The pads are very slightly softer than plazmatics so I'd be very surprised if there's the issue of them wearing out grinds which happens with some pads harder than Plazzies. The wear rate isn't on par with Plazzies, it's faster than I'm happy with on a harsh grind, hence the very attractive pricing! Since they're not the compound to go forward with, I may aswell let them go at a decent discount because I'm sure many people can get alot of use out of them even if they aren't the life kings on harsh grinds. There's a story behind this compound - According to a supplier, it was meant to be top notch for wear life, the very best you can get, and I had to buy a considerable minimum order quantity for them to consider it worth their while making because it was also more complicated for them to process as well as being more expensive. 3 weeks later the batch arrives and from there it becomes apparant that the supplier was wide of the mark :huh: Since then, during the Tartybikes/Heatsink testing we've ow hit on some exciting compounds which are giving new levels of wear life better than anything I've found in the past. However, learning from past lessons we're waiting until we're 100% sure of the state of play before making the pads available at the full RRP. Steve

If only my hands and head were smaller! Gloves and helmets only available in S or XS it seems :P

Hey! Some huge riding going down there! I personally like the slow-mos :P The focus in the vid is constant powerful moves - Looked impressive to me! Some big belief going on there which is something I wouldn't have so I can't comment on the smoothness of landings! It seems the bar is being raised higher all the time - Good work there Lee! I've written a little blurb about the vid on my website link: Lee's Vid News Steve

Seb! Nasty stuff :P - hope it heals quickly and without obvious scarring. That bloke can be done for assault, although it understandably it could be too much hassle and stress. Worth chatting to the Police about though. Steve

Good plan! How's about this stuff: http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/subRange...heID=uknetscape shrink ratio is 2:1 so don't buy bigger than 10mm ID tube or it won't shrink enough! Plenty more on the RS website to browse through

I bought some in to test out, but had trouble getting the precise size which is 2.5mm ID, 5mm OD. It's an odd size unfortunately and I bought in 2.5x4mm instead which I wouldn't be happy selling onto people because of the reduced strength. It comes in lengths of over 20m or so, and only works out as cost efficient if you can sell all the surplus! Somewhere out there someone is selling the identical size needed with no compromise on strength. It's simply Nylon tubing (stiff and resists oil attack) which is supplied for lots of pneumatic applications. I imagine that Magura have chosen the custom size to try and protect their market in aftermarket spares etc. As if they haven't taken enough money off you for the brakes and their official oil in the first place!!! I'm sure that someone could do some more homework and locate a supplier - that would be great! Didn't Mr Savage have some available at one point? Steve

Hey, I've just put a limited number of the Honig pads on a 1/2 price sale because we're currently doing more testing for future compounds to increase the wear life. If you're quick you can grab a bargain (Y) The info is on my website. Steve

Tell me about it! It's all cost me alot more in terms of time, money and stress than I was ever expecting. After starting to go down the road and becoming comitted to it I've forked out many thousands of pounds to get to this point with backing supply and quality moulded pads sorted. The final part of the jigsaw puzzle is very thorough and objective testing (not subjective!) For the testing, it really is a full time job and so easy to be affected by other perceptions such as colour and who the supplier is etc. I just don't have time to do this aswell, hence me pausing pad supply again and turning to Adam for his honest assessments. If you're going to do some testing and eliminate a good deal of the subjective side, you could copy the model that we've currently got going. I send Adam pads which look identical to the previous ones (same colour and height) and only tell him about their source and the grade once he's come to his own conclusions based solely on how they ride. In the long run this approach will be worthwhile because the performance of the compound will be understood as clearly as possible so there will be no need for any embarassing pauses to do more testing! :"> Getting the right compound takes a long time - some grades that last really well don't grip, whilst the majority of commonly available grades grip great but don't last long. Then there's finding a decent supplier who can release the compound so it's consistantly to the same spec - for example the usual softness tolerances are really a bit wide for the ideal pad spec. Plus how to get the pads into the right shape to fit the backings presents problems - either spend ages (it took me 1 hour of concentrated work to make a pair of pads by hand) cutting your fingers to ribbons, or dig deep into your pocket to get a mould tool sorted out. All very time consuming, annoying, and often costly! Looking at my finances, I won't be making any money on the pads for quite a while. But I could have easily blown the same amount of money on something like a fancy car I guess, and for me the pads have kept me busy and interested! Good luck! Steve

I've offered to host the vid temporarily, but I may need to remove it soon because I need to sort out more bandwidth for my site! Hopefully Lee will be uploading it as I type this onto the Heatsink server, and then Phil will have it up on the Selectbikes server very soon :blink: If you're bored waiting for it to download off the current site, then check out Lee's new rider profile that I've just put up. Be sure not to let any lady folk see the manly nudity at the top - I can't be held responsible for any rampage desire that may overcome them B) http://www.heatsinkbikes.com/?p=team

Did anyone mention it takes on average 10 years of useful life away? I say keep bashing smokers because by pussy footing around then it's premature death. Steve

For my sins, in a previous life I bought some of the www.ruracing.co.uk adhesive perforated sheet and fitted it over the rear lights of my fiesta after it had been sprayed the same colour as the car. Looked rubbish close up, and was a knightmare to mould around the light curvature and cut in situe (removed some of the paintwork) but in my opinion, the stealth look is much better than bright white lights all round. Be careful though John! It's a slippery slope to full Barry boydom! Steve

In our Uni house we tried some home brewing too. It also tasted disgusting but was rather high in alcohol content/we were student lightweights, and so a good time was still had by all, although lots of excuses were found in the high jinks to spill a good deal of it to avoid having to actually drink it! Steve

Here's a new idea to throw into the mix: If there is a certain amount of energy that is dissipated in a brake block when you lock the wheel, it could be that the higher the proportion lost as noise would mean that less would be lost as heat. Pad wear could be linked to the heat build up.....so encourage your brakes to be loud if you want to maximise their longevity! Whether or not the amount of energy lost as sound is significant, I haven't tried to calculate, but nevertheless another thing worth considering! Steve

I'd recommend meeting at the Skatepark because it's easy to get to for newcomers to Cambridge, plus we can play around on it whilst we're waiting! BTW, if you are coming by train you're in for a treat because of all the Train Stations I've visited, Cambridge is one of the nicest! Very smart and modern (Y) Steve

Here's the map! Hopefully it's helpful for both people arriving at the Train Station to see how to get to the Skate park next to the Swimming pool, and also those coming by car who may be coming into Cambridge from the M11 (Junction 11) which is shown as the A10 road coming up from the bottom left hand corner. This A10 road coming into Cambridge is longer than shown, starting with about 4 sets of speed cameras (maybe I'll exaggerating!) and then after numerous traffic lights, there are some mahoosive houses on left and right before you emerge at what looks like the edge of the town centre, the double roundabouts shown on the map. Alternatively, this will be useful in conjunction with whatever other route you have to get into Cambridge. I'll be coming into Cambridge from the top left hand corner, Junction 13 of the M11 - There are many other routes, but the J11 one is simplest and worth the extra 10 mins driving south down the M11 if you want to keep it simple (Y) The place that I always park for free all day parking is "The Beehive Centre" which has a huge Asda store amoungst others. Just ask directions to there if lost! The Beehive centre is only 5 mins by bike from the Skate park near the Swimming pool. Steve P.S. Cambridge is a very easy place to get around - it really is as simple as it looks on the map!

I'll be there Sat :D I'll post the map asap too! This could be the best attended Cambridge ride for as long as I can remember!,.

Don't touch the drill - that's for sure! Be really careful with the stanley knife too, since the blades loose sharpness very quickly and so you'll find yourself pushing with some considerable force and when the blade slips, fingers are much easier to cut apart! Always cut away from yourself and never be tempted to do one cut towards - every time I have done it towards, disaster! You won't believe the amount of bleeding fingers I've had over the past year! The worry about doing it fades, but they tend to bleed for ages!! To make 2 pads, you'll need to use several blades to keep it relatively easy (so you always have a sharpish blade) Also, cut somewhere that you don't mind the surface being cut up - avoid the family dining table! To make it easier to hand cut accurate pads repeatably (cuts in the right places, to the right depth etc), I developed some jigs, and Adam has too I believe. It's not worth putting the amount of time and effort into making up some jigs if you're only going to be making a couple of sets of pads, they only make sense in the long run. I found that it took me many days of making difference versions of the jigs before I finally had them working well, and their design will remain a trade secret! Steve

Those test pads are 6mm, which is the same as Plazmatics I believe. You're right they don't look very thick compared to the 10 and 8mm ones, but rather bizarrely, them being thinner can actually mean they last longer! Steve

Hi, I've decided that there are still some things that can be optimised about my pads, so I've taken them down from my site whilst this is sorted out. The good news is that one year on from the initial Tarty/Heatsink/RimJam pad wars, we're all in a much nicer place and Adam has very kindly agreed to help me out getting these pads sorted once and for all. By pooling resources we're hopeful that we can finally achieve the intial objective of offering performance pads in all aspects comparable to the best available, and importantly for all us riders, at new levels of value! It's all rather nice and fuzzy that both Adam and I have also been generous with our assistance to Chris too. Overall the most important thing is to challenge the hegemony of arguably overpriced pads so that riders have more choice :turned: Although you're not happy with the pads Sam, I'm pleased that they were some generous freebies that I sent out :D Back to the Tartybikes/Heatsink collaboration....No one could have expected it, but basically it's great news for everyone. The pads will only be available again once Adam has given them his renouned scrutiny, multiple thrashings and is happy with them :D This pads developement thing is certainly more work than I was expecting when I started thinking that it was possible to offer better value than the pads we were buying at relatively high prices. Since then, 1 year ago, I've had a baby (now 8 months old!), and spent out more money out than has ever come back in! It's like approaching the end of a marathon race only to discover the finishing line has been moved to the end of the street! I'm committed to breaking the tape, but at the moment with all the aspects of my life I'm trying to juggle (full time job, married with young baby etc) I can only reach it with the kind assistance of others, and who better than Adam Read to help nail it! Cheers if you could be bothered to read the above! Steve

Hi, I've got a black X-ile which I never got around to building up into a muck around bike. I bought it second hand on TF and it's just got some paint chips which have I've very professionally touched up with a permanent black marker! I tried selling it a while ago because my shed is full to bursting of bikes in various disassembled states. I'll get around to trying to sell it all some time, but at the moment it's just too much hassle and I don't have the time! I've also got a GT Chucker frame too. Bare in mind that postage will be around £7, and I'd let the frame go for £20 (you pay postage on top) I can get some photos up if there's any interest :- Steve

Excellent photos and some crazy riding! However........it's been said already in this thread, but it was really was stupid to take things up to that scale without helmets......No excuses cut it when you've only got the one life. /dad mode Steve

Si's Vees will be sent off tomorrow so he'll be ok to make it (Y) I'll be busy though on the w.e. (Y)

I should be able to come along for a bit :P Steve