We had a band rehearsal last night. Well more meeting than a rehearsal.
I had to make the point that I need to give 3 RC until the end of the year and then reassess things. To be honest, the country/folk side project will soon become THE project for me soon, as I really enjoy that acoustic side of things. Unfortunately, the days of us doing rock sets is out the window. We did it to death and it got us nowhere. I also can't be doing with dealing with stroppy teenagers anymore at gigs, as that's who we invariably play with when doing that type of show. 3 RC may do a couple of electric sets in the remainder of this year but that's not a sound I wish to revisit.
Russell and I have found it fairly easy to get acoustic gigs but band shows seem few and far between. Thats partly due to the fact that a lot of decent local venues have closed down. And our acoustic band sound is quite rare so I think some promoters don't know how to deal with us. We go down really well thug every time we play so I don't get why we aren't getting offered better shows. When we played at the fishpond recently in Matlock, we got a great reception and a woman who watched us said we were far too good to be playing somewhere like that. Tell us about it love!!
3 RC may try something different, I don't know. But R and I are concentrating on this "side project" and we will have to come up with a new name which is not easy. The two of still want to get somewhere with this so a re launch and a new sound and direction may get us into places where we've been ignored so far. And I just need a new beginning.
We have some awesome new songs on top of the ones we have also played live that will blow peoples socks off so I have to keep positive. And fuck the doubters they are "soul less cunts" TM R Meek!
Keep rockin people
S
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Friday, 27 August 2010
Sunday, 22 August 2010
Mud, glorious mud
A very muddy 18.7 miles yesterday. Would have been further but I saw someone I know through work and ended up chatting for a while. Trowell/Cossall was particularly muddy thanks to the horses cutting it up and one particularly ignorant horse rider ignored my friendly hello completely. Arse.
I'm liking the Alfine more and more. You definitely have to back off a bit when changing down, but I'm getting used to it. It is good to have an emergency gear every now and then.
I've also realised that summer tyres are a misnomer in the UK. I could have had the mud x's on yesterday, it was that bad.
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I'm liking the Alfine more and more. You definitely have to back off a bit when changing down, but I'm getting used to it. It is good to have an emergency gear every now and then.
I've also realised that summer tyres are a misnomer in the UK. I could have had the mud x's on yesterday, it was that bad.
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Wednesday, 18 August 2010
I quite like the Alfine
Second ride on the Alfine, this time 20.6 miles at exactly 12 mph average.
I am now definitely faster on the downs and flats, although the tope gears are tougher to turn than I thought they would be, given I've been ss - ing for 2 and 1/2 years. I realised also that the delay in shifting down from 5 to 4, may be due to the fact that I wasn't pushing the shifter far enough. It still appears a little slow at times, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Still didn't notice the weight much, even when lifting over obstacles.
So faster on the flat, faster on downs but not faster up. Yes, I can get up things more easilly and on Top Cut climb I did keep in 32 - 18 ish and stomped at the top. However, there is a tendancy for me to get into an easier gear up some climbs where I would have stomped up them in ss mode. Yes, its a case of balancing getting up things more easilly against stomping up them faster. I don't want to keep going into widdling mode, but we will see what happens.
The first half the ride was faster and I got to my stop point about 5 to 6 minutes quicker and that should improve further as I get used to turning harder gears again.
The initial impressions are positive and I think I can ride farther with this setup and hopefully I can get a 30 miler in soon. I got upto 28 mph on the flat today whereas ss I was spinning out at 17 mph tops.
Its made me realise how good gears can be but I'm never going back to traditional derailiuers. Next frame will have a 11 speed Alfine or, money allowing, a Rohloff!!
Some pics:
I am now definitely faster on the downs and flats, although the tope gears are tougher to turn than I thought they would be, given I've been ss - ing for 2 and 1/2 years. I realised also that the delay in shifting down from 5 to 4, may be due to the fact that I wasn't pushing the shifter far enough. It still appears a little slow at times, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Still didn't notice the weight much, even when lifting over obstacles.
So faster on the flat, faster on downs but not faster up. Yes, I can get up things more easilly and on Top Cut climb I did keep in 32 - 18 ish and stomped at the top. However, there is a tendancy for me to get into an easier gear up some climbs where I would have stomped up them in ss mode. Yes, its a case of balancing getting up things more easilly against stomping up them faster. I don't want to keep going into widdling mode, but we will see what happens.
The first half the ride was faster and I got to my stop point about 5 to 6 minutes quicker and that should improve further as I get used to turning harder gears again.
The initial impressions are positive and I think I can ride farther with this setup and hopefully I can get a 30 miler in soon. I got upto 28 mph on the flat today whereas ss I was spinning out at 17 mph tops.
Its made me realise how good gears can be but I'm never going back to traditional derailiuers. Next frame will have a 11 speed Alfine or, money allowing, a Rohloff!!
Some pics:
Monday, 16 August 2010
Shimano Alfine 8 speed hub - initial thoughts
I made the lovely trip up to 18 bikes last Saturday to have the Alfine 8 Speed hub fitted to my Simple. My initial impressions after a 15 mile ride yesterday:
- Getting the wheel out was a worry given its not quick release and its held in by 15mm bolts. However, it came out alot easier than I thought. Its a case of putting it in the easiest gear so the cable is at its slackest. You then undo the bolts, release the outer of the cable from the carrier and then by turning the cable carrier, you release the cable from it. Its alot easier to do in the flesh than it sounds when explaining it. I've put a sludge self sealing inner tube in the wheel which will hopefully mean I won't have to take the wheel out much for punctures.
- Changing gear is pretty smooth. On flats, going downhill or when stationary, the chages are inaudible and very smooth. Under a bit of pressure, it can be heard and takes a revolution of the cranks to go in. Initial impressions are good and indexing is very easy to do to compensate for any cable stretch. I have noticed a slight delay going from gear 5 to 4, but that will hopefully get better once I've run it in.
- Its heavy! Coming from single speeding, its was bound to feel heavy when lifted but I honestly didn't notice the extra weight when riding. I didn't release notice it when lifting the rear over obstacles like kerbs, but we'll see in the long run.
- The shifter is big and a bit cumbersome and it doesn't fit well with my Hope X2 brake lever. Thats more the brake levers fault than the shifter, but I think it will take some fine tuning of the position of the lever and shifter to get it right.
So after one ride only things look positive. Its very strange riding with gears again after 2.5 years of ss. I need to avoid going up hills in too easy a gear now, when I can easilly get up stuff in a sligthly harder gear as I did ss. That was mainly on the road yesterday but it will be nice to have easier gears so I can spin a bit up hill when I need to. It will also be easy to go back to the ss setup if needs be as all I'd need to do is take out the Alfine wheel and take the shifter off.
A full report after a month or so will follow.
- Getting the wheel out was a worry given its not quick release and its held in by 15mm bolts. However, it came out alot easier than I thought. Its a case of putting it in the easiest gear so the cable is at its slackest. You then undo the bolts, release the outer of the cable from the carrier and then by turning the cable carrier, you release the cable from it. Its alot easier to do in the flesh than it sounds when explaining it. I've put a sludge self sealing inner tube in the wheel which will hopefully mean I won't have to take the wheel out much for punctures.
- Changing gear is pretty smooth. On flats, going downhill or when stationary, the chages are inaudible and very smooth. Under a bit of pressure, it can be heard and takes a revolution of the cranks to go in. Initial impressions are good and indexing is very easy to do to compensate for any cable stretch. I have noticed a slight delay going from gear 5 to 4, but that will hopefully get better once I've run it in.
- Its heavy! Coming from single speeding, its was bound to feel heavy when lifted but I honestly didn't notice the extra weight when riding. I didn't release notice it when lifting the rear over obstacles like kerbs, but we'll see in the long run.
- The shifter is big and a bit cumbersome and it doesn't fit well with my Hope X2 brake lever. Thats more the brake levers fault than the shifter, but I think it will take some fine tuning of the position of the lever and shifter to get it right.
So after one ride only things look positive. Its very strange riding with gears again after 2.5 years of ss. I need to avoid going up hills in too easy a gear now, when I can easilly get up stuff in a sligthly harder gear as I did ss. That was mainly on the road yesterday but it will be nice to have easier gears so I can spin a bit up hill when I need to. It will also be easy to go back to the ss setup if needs be as all I'd need to do is take out the Alfine wheel and take the shifter off.
A full report after a month or so will follow.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Not too muddy today
Managed a 18.6 miler today. Felt quite good and started to wonder if I need the Alfine Hub which should be here shortly. I think it will be better on the flats giving me more speed and will also give me the option of easy gears to widdle up some hills. Lets hope it will be here for the weekend.
Bike was spotless when I went out as I'd cleaned for first time in a while, as I thought the Alfine would be done last weekend and I wanted 18 Bikes to work on a clean bike. Not too much mud today but I managed to find it in Strelley. And had a confrontation with a horse which obviously resulted in me giving way.
I annoy myself with everything I do either music or biking, that I beat myself up about what frame or guitar I want next, before I can afford it! No more credit cards, I need to save up. And there is nothing wrong with my Cotic, an 853 frame should last for years. I can always get it resprayed in a year or so.
However, seeing PJ on Hard Rcok calling: I think I will buy a new Les Paul next year!!
Bike was spotless when I went out as I'd cleaned for first time in a while, as I thought the Alfine would be done last weekend and I wanted 18 Bikes to work on a clean bike. Not too much mud today but I managed to find it in Strelley. And had a confrontation with a horse which obviously resulted in me giving way.
I annoy myself with everything I do either music or biking, that I beat myself up about what frame or guitar I want next, before I can afford it! No more credit cards, I need to save up. And there is nothing wrong with my Cotic, an 853 frame should last for years. I can always get it resprayed in a year or so.
However, seeing PJ on Hard Rcok calling: I think I will buy a new Les Paul next year!!
A gig in sunny Loughborough
3 rc played in Loughborough last night, just me and Russ as a acoustic duo.
Ace room, lovely queit audience who actually listened and fab sound. Howard, who runs the nights, has gone for micing up the guitars. This is quite unusual but the sound was fantastic.
We played 7 songs including the 2 uke ones which went down well. We got rid of a few cds, some people wouldn't take em for free. I think we went down well but it was an older audiance and sometimes they are difficult to read. Russ worried we are too commercial but I make the point that people only remember songs with strong melodies and strong choruses, which we have in abundance.
Lets hope we can get on there again.......
Ace room, lovely queit audience who actually listened and fab sound. Howard, who runs the nights, has gone for micing up the guitars. This is quite unusual but the sound was fantastic.
We played 7 songs including the 2 uke ones which went down well. We got rid of a few cds, some people wouldn't take em for free. I think we went down well but it was an older audiance and sometimes they are difficult to read. Russ worried we are too commercial but I make the point that people only remember songs with strong melodies and strong choruses, which we have in abundance.
Lets hope we can get on there again.......
Friday, 6 August 2010
A lovely show in Matlock Bath last night
We played at the mighty Fishpond in Matlock Bath last night as an acoustic band. We were to play on what appeared to be a very small stage, but we managed to get all our stuff on. We used one of robs pa systems which ended up sounding pretty good.
All in all a good turn out for a Thursday night and a great response to boot. We also managed to get rid of 25 CDs which lightened the load a bit going home. We should be playing there again in October, so stay tuned to our myspace page for further details.
On another note, I was hoping to have the alfine hub installed today but unfortunately all the bits aren't in yet. Hopefully it will be here next week, I'll let you know what my initial impressions are asap. I'd cleaned my bike as well in preparation of it going on!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
All in all a good turn out for a Thursday night and a great response to boot. We also managed to get rid of 25 CDs which lightened the load a bit going home. We should be playing there again in October, so stay tuned to our myspace page for further details.
On another note, I was hoping to have the alfine hub installed today but unfortunately all the bits aren't in yet. Hopefully it will be here next week, I'll let you know what my initial impressions are asap. I'd cleaned my bike as well in preparation of it going on!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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