Cycling UK Forum

I do hope my wife doesn't see this....! This covers a period of about ten years. First bike was a Nazca Fuego, then added a Paseo. Coming from a club cycling background I wanted a bike that was lighter and more like a road bike so these were replaced with: Bachetta Giro 20 and a Corsa SS The SS was ...

I've used Radical Designs bags on a couple of tours. They worked fine. As noted they are not waterproof and organising your kit within the bag can be a faff. But they are much lighter than Ortlieb Classic panniers. That said in recent years, since we stopped camping I've used Ortlieb Classic pannier...

Try Laid-back in Edinburgh. (Nazca dealer)

Well, the Borders are hilly - thats almost unavoidable. My mates and I always based ourselves in Melrose. Very central, very scenic, loads of places of interest and most places can be reached in a day.

Yes Upwrong, I used a combination of the limit screws on the mech and the tension of the cable so that it would change cleanly between the two rings. I find that using MTB shifters and a road triple doesn't work nearly as well as the errors accumulate the further you move the cage.

I've ridden a Gaucho 26 on tour (a few years ago) and more recently bought a used 28 HR from Laid-back. As a tourer the handling was outstanding. I ran a four pannier set up so the bike was pretty heavily laden but it never moved off line or felt unstable. The 28HR was much lighter. It had a carbon ...

Ive recently built a Gaucho 28 tour with open cockpit steering. Ive used a compact double (48/34) with SLX shifters mounted under the bars (you can just make them out in the image) the front changer is a Tiagra double and the left shifter a triple. So far seems to work fine.

Hello there from a sunny-ish Dumfries. Ive enjoyed reading your blog. Things are quiet at the mo - don't like wind and rain! Current stable is a Fuego (Tiller but might convert) and a Gaucho 28 tour (under development. Started out as a disc braked HR but it has morphed into a 28/26 general purpose b...

When are you going to do it? Although our weather is dominated by a south westerly airstream there are times when we have a sustained east flow. May and June are often blessed with easterlies. This results in a drier west coast and makes anti clockwise the way to go. In the last two years Ive done i...

My high racer seat height is 60cm. I use open cockpit steering. The seat is in mid position (Gaucho tour, so adjustable) and fairly upright. Vision and situational awareness is noticeably better than my Fuego. I can see over most cars. Still a bit further back than a DF at junctions though.

David at Laid-back has a 1 x 12 setup on his utility Fuego. He has run that system for a good few months and says it works well. But, of course on a 26" rear wheel. I have just finished building a Nazca Gaucho. Like RecumbentRide I am a tourer. I liked the idea of 1x12 but decided it couldn't w...

So far the riding has been confined to fettling runs But here are my first impressions using my Fuego as a reference point. Launching: Even though I have had high racers before it felt intimidating. After half a dozen starts it feels much easier. However this is where the Fuego beats it by quite a m...

Thanks for that. Nice looking bike!

The downside is they need to be kept rock hard to avoid punctures and compared to a wider tyre the handling (roadholding ability) will be reduced.

I've looked at these frames. Was your frame designed for a 20" wheel? Or did you fit 20" forks to a standard frameset? Its just that the steering head angle looks steep. If that is the case do you find it has any impact on handling? Having said that I have found that recumbents are much mo...