Cycling UK Forum

Hi! I got fed up with the original canti brakes on my Galaxy went to Condor in London with the intention of having some mini vees fitted, ended up with some shimano cantis on advice of their staff and spent £80. Outcome was bought some Campag Veloce mini v's a year later in Condor now fitted problem of braking sorted!

Thanks folks,
for all your suggestions today I decided to go into London and get the saddle sorted, in the end I bought 2 a Charge spoon + Fizik Arione kium. Just put the Arione on my new Enigma Etape Ti bike just been for a short spin, lovely and comfy just what the backside needed! Thanks to you all another forum member satisfied!

Hi all,
Hope you can help me with this one, any suggestions re: new saddle for my new bike I would be grateful, apart from Brooks B17, the type of riding I intend to do will be long day / Audax type of rides have been looking at Fizik Arione saddle seems to get good reviews straight out of the box! Thanks in advance!

Ewel regarding equipment look at peoples cycle kit touring lists on the internet, some things you can get away with going for the cheaper option, but if this is going to be something you can see your self doing over the next few years invest, think carefully before you buy as you buy rubbish you end buying twice to replace it! Decent panniers Ortlieb back roller panniers are expensive but good quality and last for years, a good camping matress is essential as uncomfortable nights sleep on a thin camping mat is a recipe for disaster I use a thermarest Trail Comfort £80 a nice tent not too heavy,- please research before you lash out big money, happy shopping!

Hi horizon we all have ideas opinions in the end no doubt ewel will read the postings that we have all spent time writing, with a better idea of what touring is all about than when the first posting was made and hopefully she will have a great experience.

Thanks a lot Helen as I use that card as my main means of payment/ withdrawing money abroad forget the other miserable buggers who disagree with your posting!

Hi ewel,
The best thing I'd say is go for it read the comments people have wrote above, but you can do what you want these days with air travel bikes and plastic or cardboard bike boxes! I've cycle toured the whole med basin from Malaga in Spain around to Sicily + Adriatic down to Greece also Santiago Compostella - French border. If starting in Portugal start south go north towards France.

* As above buy your bikes in England 2nd hand tourers or hybrid ( which I prefer)
* Buy decent panniers / rack / tent/ camping mats/ travel light.For how to carry stuff on a bike see photos on Fully loaded Touring website
* The wind comes from the south west generally start in southern Europe work your way north fly with bikes as far south as you want cycling is easier in sunny finer weather.
* Out of experience Spanish med coast is a bit boring / too much tourist traffic. Corsica / Sardinia are nice Greece Peloponese / parts of Croatia coastline / Islands lovely fly with a cheap carrier like Easyjet/ Ryanair so you can always change your return ticket dates online if you get into difficulty/ or get fed up.

Cycling is always easier in sunny weather not northern climes where it is more likely to rain and be windy. Feel free to ask any further questions it's a great sensation to tour you get better as the days. I recommend people do it then you discover how to fine tune your touring technique the sense of freedom is incredible!

Yes I love the place for me Corsica and Scotland are Europe's finest destinations for walking, cycletouring.With regards to wild camping usual applies put your tent down late at night get up early ask permission. The west coast and the Cap corse & mountainous interior are the highlights forget the east coast road to Bastia. Hope you get good weather snow can stay on high ground well into June. Expensive but it's fantastic `this August will be my 9th visit in 11 years yes it's sad I know but I'am in love with the place !

AS I said earlier a good thermarest and the Decathlon pillow your problem will be sorted, forget all the rubbish about stuffing panniers with spare clothes inside, tried it over the years it doesn't work,the solution is quite simple, inflated Decathlon pillow gives you a good nights kip!

I have this pillow and it works perfect for me with a thermarest trail mat as well I snore my head off but always get a good nights sleep!

Roads were pretty quiet most of the traffic was along the northern coast as there is a link between Athens- Patras via ferry port to Italy, but most lorries take the express road which runs parallel to the coast. Mileage per day 60-100Km depending on the Ouzo the night before we were on a 4 week trip so had plenty of time. Accomodation is the same all over the Med ask go into a bar / restaurant / taverna someone is always keen to earn a few euros or know a relative friend etc one night we stayed in a pension a french couple were doing up they asked us just close the door when we left in the morning cost us next to nothing in drachmas.I do hope you get some blue sky I didnt see any clouds all month in july/ August.Feel free to post any other questions.

Did a tour of peloponnese about 10 years ago now in July-August loved it weather hot as you would expect. April should be a bit mixed weather wise, but much better than uk! Dogs not an issue but we mainly cycled on the road, dogs are normaly attached to chains around farms in the med but there are always exceptions!My route was into Athens from old airport out of Athens to Corinthos quite interesting then we made our way along the north coast which was quite nice as it hugs the coastline and there are plenty of little places to stop off then we did a full anti-clockwise route along the coastline via Patras- Kylini-Pirgos- Kiparissia-Pilos- Methoni-Koroni-Kalamata-Areopoli-Githio-Neapoli-Monemvasia-Leonidio-Nafplio Boat to Spetses-Hydra(nice harbour) Poros - Pireaus Athens.I really enjoyed the trip Greece was alot cheaper then. Greeks are very friendly and I felt very safe there, many greeks dont lock their bikes up and I can remember them looking strangely at me D locks and all!The north coast stands out and most of the coast is quite scenic Monemvasia is a lovely place.Get a good map from Stanfords london I remember we used the Hellenic Army Geographical map number 5 for the Peloponese, most signposts are in old greek but fortunately the easier to read stuff is underneath. Feel free to ask further questions it was a great trip I will repeat in the future.

Hi Caldini,
I cycled from Malaga to French border a few years ago sticking to the Med coast the best bits were the southern section Malaga to Cartagena and in the north Costa Brava coast. From memory areas around Valencia difficult to find route north ended up cycling on the motorway for about 20Km on the hard shoulder( not a good idea but frustration took over) one quiet sunday morning.Section Castellon to Barcelona pretty flat and boring not a big fan of Spanish med coast give me Corsica + Sardinia anyday!