JNugent wrote:

Ian Smith wrote:
JNugent wrote:
Ian Smith wrote:

Oh, _road_dirt_? You mentioned hardened steel spikes meaning that
well-known sub-class of hardened steel spikes, "road dirt". Or is
"road dirt" a superset of hardened steel spikes? I forget.
Whatever.

Road dirt. The stuff that fouls translucent grease and turns it
black, as it does to most of what it comes into contact with, not
excluding clothing.

Really? I did actually have some vague notion about what you might
mean by the term. What I'm more confused about is why, if road dirt
is what upsets you, you decided to start the conversation by
complaining about non-existent hardened steel spikes.

Yes... "spikes" was a bit OTT.
I should have made it clearer that I was referring to cogs. Not quite
spikes, but still hard and fairly pointy. And almost always greasy
and dirty (relative to clothing).

....and in fact, I *did* make it clear!

Re-reading the post you refer to, I am reminded that I made no mention of
"spikes", but of "hardened steel sharp bits".

Hmm...