Cycling UK Forum

It’s not been a good few years ! Feels like the four horseman of the apocalypse has finally arrived. The 2008 financial crash, austerity, brexit, covid and now war - who could ever have expected that lot ?
Eight years ago I suffered a heart attack, resulting* in a double bypass ( family history of CVD). Already with a slightly damaged heart ( born a ‘blue baby’) it has put a ceiling on what exercise I am capable of. 150bpm and things start to get a bit dizzy !
I resolved to retire three years later at 60. To celebrate reaching that goal I immediately bust my left femur which was screwed back together but failed six months later. That led to a total hip replacement during which my left adductor muscle was destroyed leaving me with permanent left lateral weakness.
Since then ( now 65) covid and brexit have added to difficulties restarting cycle touring. My last effort was three years ago on a 300 mile, 7 day, trip from Somerset to the Yorkshire Ridings.
Since cycle commuting 30 miles daily twenty years ago I am now 12kg overweight and only manage rides of up to about 20 miles across the easy Somerset Levels. The Mendips, Quantocks etc are just looming barriers at the moment.
I’ve become very much a fair weather cyclist - not been on my trusty audax bike since late October ( and struggle a bit to ‘get my leg over’).
But I dream of more tours and torment myself with Youtube videos of other’s exploits. I am scared to try going further. I know that 40-50 mile days cause lots of problems now with soreness, cramp, hip discomfort and my knees are 65 years old !
I know I need to try and lose weight, increase fitness and just ‘get back in the saddle’ but I am acutely aware I face insurmountable barriers.
Just interested to hear any other stories about, hopefully, how other ‘old-timers’ with problems have battled on.

Adventure or Adventure HD .
Or would that make it too easy ?

Well, defintely sold on an ICE. If nothing else for their fantastic customer support (and I’ve not bought one yet). Just looking for the right used one or save the pennies for a new build for the Spring whilst I rebuild a few muscles.
But here’s the thing . . . Adventure (HD) or Sprint ?
I do want a 26 with RS in either and have asked ICE if there are plans for a Sprint HD - but no.
Just that I find the jump from Sprint to Adventure quite a big one with a big difference in seat height, ground clearance and cockpit width.
I thought it wouldn’t take much to just produce a Sprint with a bit more width but apparently this would take a lot of engineering as it would upset frame stresses, steering geometry etc and probably bugger up the second law of thermodynamics for all I know.

So, how about a new model, or, even, a new cruciform section to allow people a gradual transition ?
For example a slightly less dropped and wider cross member to swap to a more hybrid compromise between the two current models ?

For ICE to even contemplate a new model would mean a lot of engineering input and tha ability to procure at least a couple hundred framesets. So there would need to be significant interest. Wonder if there is and how did ICE decide on doing an HD version of their Adventure ?

Unless anyone knows how to increase ground clearance, width, and reduce seat height on a Sprint what do you think ?
Should I make this into a poll ?

I’ve never lost weight cycling (unless touring for several weeks).
I try to do 10-20 mile trips three to five times each week but all that happens is the tops of my thighs thicken and start rubbing together.
What can I do ?

Goodo - all I need now then is a Sprint HD !
C’mon ICE - maybe there is a demand here ?

Points taken - thanks.
From memory my DF Audax bike (which I have only just started using again after 18 months total abstinence from cycling) has a gear range of about 24” to 105”.i very rarely used the two extremes and, frankly, never got very far anyway on hills more than about 15%.
I am leaning towards a 26 mostly as I doubt I will be tackling steep hills for at least a year. If push comes to shove, i can always change, just a shame that I would have to change the whole rear frame section too. And I do prefer the more ‘grown up’ look of a 26.
Just need to find the bike now and dithering between an ICE Sprint or Adventure HD (both with the rear suspension option).

Sprint
Faster, more agile, lighter but lower (just 3” ground clearance), more difficult to get in and out (knees are not great either) and narrower and shorter seating and cockpit.
Adventure HD
Lower geared, more spacious, more comfortable, twice the ground clearance but slower and heavier.

Anyone of similar size compared the two ? 1.61m, 101kg, 47” X Seam.

I have had a short ride on each, and managed both. Adventure ‘easier’ in general but defintely twitchier at speed. Would Sprint do for lightweight touring (bed and breakfasts etc rather than camping) ?
Use would really be minor roads, bike trails, towpaths. Some of the trails can be a little rough but certainly not cross country !

Ah, but what if you put a wheel over the edge (eg a foot off the tarmac) so a back wheel runs much lower than the other ?
Sure, if both wheels encounter the same obstacle that's fine, but if there is a height differential . . .

Hmmm, interesting, thanks.
I think though my mind is set on an ICE trike and will reconsider the car if necessary (VW Scirocco perhaps).Good to have ICE in the UK for support when needed and you cant fault their information and dedication,
So now looking out for the right bike (if no joy in the next few weeks I will probably cough up for a new one ready for the spring).

But now my memory of my short test rides is fading. I could ride both the Sprint and Adventure HD I tried with the latter more comfortable (unsurprisingly for a beginner) for my 101kg, 1.91m and 47” X Seam frame. I am looking at a used Adventure HD 20 and Sprint X as I type.
Would have liked the Adventure with a 26 rear (ground clearance more than anything) and the gearing on the Sprint X may be a bit tall, as well as the smaller cockpit, but hey, I am not going to fing a used bike in the ideal spec.

Any tall, heavy riders here had a chance to compare the Adventure and Sprint ? What is your experience ?

Thanks for the comments but I am keen to drive the TT. Boot space with rear seats folded is about 900 wide, 1350 long and max 600 tall but the problem is largely with the steep slope of the hatch which goes from less than 300 high at the rear to the max 600 towards the front.

From pictures I am hoping that a folded trike (eg an ICE Sprint) might fit with boom pointing towards the rear and perhaps down to the floor with pedals in line with the boom. May even be able to slide the boom in to get another few mm clearance.

But i guess the only way to know is to somehow try it. Or get accurate measurements of the TT such as floor to roof height at points along the length of the boot floor. In other words an accurate side elevation drawing.

If there is anyone with a TT (mk2) that has tried, please let me know.

Cheers

Spent a very pleasant couple of hours at ICE HQ in Cornwall today, having my first ride in a trike. In fact two as I did my best to compare an Adventure HD 26 and Sprint 26. Wholly different experience from my DF and I know it would take a few miles to get accustomed to the difference. But, I did find it hard work, especially uphill, and know I would have been significantly faster on my DF.

My big issue however is recovering from ill health, which I am hoping a trike would help me more than a more uncomfortable DF. A heart attack and double bypass 4 years ago, and a broken femur (which resulted in a hip replacement 4 months ago after over a year of a failing screw repair) has made things rather difficult and means I get in significant discomfort, probably mostly due to muscle wastage.

Am I being too impetuous at the moment regarding a trike or should I try and build up some strength and flexibility on my DF first ?
At the moment I am just getting out on 10-12 mile level circuits in the Somerset levels, so not too taxing.

And on a different note, has anyone tried loading a folded trike in the back of an Audi TT ? I think one might go in length and height ways but width may be a problem.

Thanks

What a great discussion thread, albeit for mostly younger peeps than I.
Eight months ago I broke my neck of femur ( complete, displaced fracture) and had the bone screwed together with three cannulated screws. I had lost 1cm of femur length. The operation seemed to go well and the recovery over the first three or four months progressed slowly. By the end of four months I had lost the crutches and was walking up and down Glastonbury Tor to try and regain muscle strength etc.
However over the past few months the pain and discomfort has steadily increased and I find it extremely difficult with any twisting or turning movement. Getting in and out of a car, a seat, twisting and turning are all a challenge. Putting my left sock on is becoming impossible.
Consequent X-ray and MRI scan have shown that the bone has shortened whilst healing (so I have now lost at least 2cm) and alignment at the hip joint is not good (sorry, I can’t recall the name of the angle betwixt pelvis and femur, but it’s more of a right angle than a smooth curve like it should be). The shortening has meant that one screw head protrudes more than it did and I have a lot of inflammation around the whole area.
Next step is to have an anaesthetic injection into the hip joint as part relief, part diagnostic - if I can then mobilise with far less discomfort the problem is the hip, if not the problem lies elsewhere.
The consultant seems pretty sure the hip joint is the problem and that I will probably need a hip replacement. At 61 though it is disappointingly early as I would need another when I reach my mid seventies.
But I struggle to understand why the bone has shortened whilst healing and why the operation was seen as a success if the X-ray post-op clearly showed poor alignment.
In the meantime I want to try to replace some muscle wastage ( there is a quite marked difference now between left and right leg) - an indoor cycle would be good - any suggestions ? I have tried my touring bike with a turbo trainer but cannot straddle the crossbar.
I am not a competitive cyclist but just tour and commute. This year I retired early with a view to cycling across France but two weeks after handing in my notice, I broke my leg - what a start.
Aaaaggghh

Tried using a nav app once - with a Tom Tom fitted to the handlebars. Only problem was that I couldn't see the screen at all in sunshine or anything brighter than a very overcast day. . . . .

As I have to squeeze some storage in a narrow corridor outside I don't have room for a normal shed - I'm thinking I need something about 2m x 1m for two bikes nose to tail. Only needs to be about 1.4m tall but the access door needs to be at the narrow end (very few commercial designs that way round unfortunately). I'm too mean to shell out £500+ for a readymade steel box.
So I'm thinking of building a simple 'shelter' from drilled angle irons (like Dexion) for the frame and bolt box cladding panels to it (and for a sloping roof). The four corner legs can rest on concrete blocks and the floor suspended a couple of inches above the ground (there will only be a few 10s of Kg to support). Bit like an outdoor shelving rack with panels on I guess.
Yes, I expect it to get hot and cold but a) the location is in a spot that only gets an hour or two of slanting sunlight a day and b) it will be ventilated (i.e. it's hardly going to be airtight and I could make the floor slatted (old pallets ???).
Anyone done anything like this ?

After a great 2 week cycle tour of Brittany we want to do another and, being well into our 50s, thought an east tour along the Mosel sounds good.

We live in Glastonbury, Somerset and after spending what seemed like hours trying to figure a reasonable way to get us and our bikes to Germany (or Luxembourg) in the vicinity of the Mosel my head exploded.
How complicated can it be ? I've just given up trying to knit together where to cross the channel, find out which trains in France / Germany will take bikes without having to dismantle them (one Audax tourer and one hybrid) and get us where we want to go. There are just so many variations, cycle bans or permitted routes etc.

Have you managed to get to the Mosel with your bike ? If so, how did you do it ?
I'm almost thinking of stashing the bikes in the car and driving over (and then having to park up for 10 days or so) but that's counter to our wish to cycle rather than drive.

Thanks

The NHS are not registered for VAT as far as I know.