Search found 198 matches

by randomblue
20 Sep 2014, 11:49am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Cable/wire puller?
Replies: 5
Views: 707

Cable/wire puller?

Hi all!

It's my aunt's birthday next week and I've just been told she is looking for a wire puller for her bike repair kit. As a relative newbie when it comes to bike maintainence I have no idea what this is/where to get one/what a reasonable price is or if there are different features on different brands and which of those features are essential? Any tips greatly appreciated!!! As a student I'd rather not spend too much on this but I do want to get something thats going to do the job rather than being binned and a 'proper' one bought to replace it!

Thanks all!
by randomblue
17 Sep 2014, 8:32pm
Forum: Cycling UK Member Groups and Affiliates
Topic: Changing area?
Replies: 2
Views: 27832

Re: Changing area?

Perfect! Thanks for your help!
by randomblue
16 Sep 2014, 9:30am
Forum: Cycling UK Member Groups and Affiliates
Topic: Changing area?
Replies: 2
Views: 27832

Changing area?

Hi guys!

When I joined before the summer my postal addreas was my Dad's and I've received information about rides in that area but now I'm back at university after my summer tour and am interested in joining some rides in the Birmingham area. Is changing my postal address in the members account area enough or is there another way I need to go about receiving emails or other info about rides in Birmingham/West Midlands areas?

Thanks in advance!
by randomblue
20 Aug 2014, 9:08pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: My first tour (I didn't make it)
Replies: 93
Views: 11871

Re: My first tour (I didn't make it)

Looking at your hesitancy to carry luggage on the bike and the comments about the weight of trailers, is it worth trying to find someone local who will lend you a set of panniers for a weekend so you can try it out that way too and see if you find it noticably easier? I'm currently on my first tour, 3 months in with 1 left to go and have used 2 rear panniers plus tent nested between them on the top of the rear rack and have found it to work really well. I have a cargo net (few £) from amazon which means if I do go a bit nuts on food shopping I can just strap it on top, and I can wash clothes each evening and strap them across the back of the bike to dry on the way. It's a really versatile option as you have extra space if necessary. For example I'm currently carrying 2 cheap foam roll mats that I found in a campsite hedge because my self inflating mat has a hole and I don't have access to a bath to find the hole and fix it!
by randomblue
20 Aug 2014, 10:55am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Dealing with mosquitos
Replies: 49
Views: 11369

Re: Dealing with mosquitos

Sounds like a promising suggestion! Will try it this afternoon! I have often used ice to try and cool them as the bite often feels very hot to the touch but never thought to try heat before!
by randomblue
13 Aug 2014, 8:37am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Dealing with mosquitos
Replies: 49
Views: 11369

Re: Dealing with mosquitos

Its pretty much better now, got bitten 2 nights ago when staying at a hostel as it was too hot to leave windows closed (32celcius at midnight!!!) was a little itchy the next day and then overnight puffed up, went to doctors yesterday morning and they just gave me stronger antihistamines which I took one of rather than 2 and it was basically gone by the end of the day. I've had almost exactly the same bite and reaction in Mexico in Feb and that one went down exactly the same so I'm not convinced the antihistamines actually made any difference xD
by randomblue
12 Aug 2014, 3:47pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Dealing with mosquitos
Replies: 49
Views: 11369

Re: Dealing with mosquitos

So... Today the mosquitos landed me a trip to the emergency room :( Of all the places to get a bite, eyelid is definitely the worst x.x
Image
by randomblue
8 Aug 2014, 8:32pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Storing a bike for a week to travel home
Replies: 5
Views: 1061

Storing a bike for a week to travel home

Ok so I'm not travelling home but I've been invited on holiday with my family and since it's free to me I figure I might as well go! But this leaves me needing to find a place to leave my bike and bags for 5/6 days in Marseille. Has anyone taken a short trip sans bike during a tour and if so what arrangements did you make for bags and bike? I can look for a left luggage place for the bags and I guess just lock the bike up as normal but I don't feel like that's particularly safe! I'm also looking to see if a warmshowers host might be able to help but was wondering if anyone has any other suggestions? :)

Thanks in advance!
by randomblue
1 Aug 2014, 10:18pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Italy cycle resources?
Replies: 26
Views: 3282

Re: Italy cycle resources?

Thanks for the replies!

That website is the only one I found with anything useful on so a massive thank you for putting it together! I've mainly been travelling using open cycle maps but it looks like there's a massive gulf in the middle of the route I want to take. Before anyone says it no it's not because of mountains. But I think there are routes on your site which should fill the gap! Just wanted to be sure I wasn't just typing in the wrong thing and missing a tourist office run overview of all routes throughout the country!

Thanks again!
by randomblue
1 Aug 2014, 9:41am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Italy cycle resources?
Replies: 26
Views: 3282

Italy cycle resources?

Hi all!

Two thirds of the way through my tour and about to enter Italy so am trying to make a bit more of a plan than "cycling around a bit"! I've had a look online for maps/routes/any info at all and found almost nothing! There is one website which seems to be independently run rather than done by Italy's tourism board... Ever biroto and opencyclemaps have pretty limited info for the parts of Italy I'm looking at!

Am I just looking in the wrong places or are there just no online resources for cycling in Italy? Or are there actually so few cycle routes that what I have found is it??

Any help/advice greatly appreciated!

The current rough plan is enter from Switzerland north of Milan and then to Venice, possibly via Milan and/or Verona. Then south to San Marino, train to Rome or Florence depending on how much time I have left and then roughly along the coast to the French border. If anyone has experience on these areas I'd love to hear how you found the different routes and what you thought of the various cities! :)
by randomblue
6 Jul 2014, 8:21am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Dealing with mosquitos
Replies: 49
Views: 11369

Re: Dealing with mosquitos

Yeah I'm obviously not trying to but when I breathe after spraying it even if I wait as long as possible it still catches in my throat. Maybe its totally unrelated though we'll see!
by randomblue
6 Jul 2014, 7:55am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Dealing with mosquitos
Replies: 49
Views: 11369

Re: Dealing with mosquitos

40% was the strongest I could find in Budapest but I'll have another look in Vienna over the next few days! Saying that I'm kind of ill at the moment and I was wondering if the sore throat part might have been triggered by the spray... Might see if I can find an alternative application like cream?
by randomblue
4 Jul 2014, 7:54am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Dealing with mosquitos
Replies: 49
Views: 11369

Re: Dealing with mosquitos

Update on the deet! I got a 40% spray as it was the strongest I found. Yesterday was stopped by two touring cyclists going the other way in the middle of a forested track which prompted me to respray myself as I had bare arms. Despite this one of them got me right on the tip of my elbow which is going to drive me crazy for the next 2 days -.- in addition to that they got me three more time THROUGH MY CLOTHES!!! I get thespray all exposed skin but what am I meant to do bathe in the stuff??? I already feel like I'm going through the bottle pretty fast and relative to my tour budget it wasn't cheap! Especially if it's not actually going to keep them off me! :(
by randomblue
30 Jun 2014, 10:29pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: online hostel reviews - what do you think?
Replies: 5
Views: 5597

Re: online hostel reviews - what do you think?

Just done it :)

As Vorpal said, perhaps it's worth discussing more about the percentages. For example on hostelworld I'll only consider a hostel with 80% or higher global rating and cleanliness rating as I made the mistake of staying at one that had a really high location rating which canceled out the terrible cleanliness one xD its not so much about the individual reviews but more about the ratio of good to bad as Vorpal said :) Good luck with your course!
by randomblue
28 Jun 2014, 6:50pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Dealing with mosquitos
Replies: 49
Views: 11369

Re: Dealing with mosquitos

I'm a marmite eater anyway (bought a little nalgene jar of it with me xD) and that definitely doesn't make a difference. Probably linked to the vitamin B12 theory?