Cycling UK Forum

There's a school of thought that turns this on its head and asks: how do you get to be 80? And the answer of course is through cycling in your seventies. So you aren't cycling despite being old, you are old because you cycle. Nevertheless, I think it will be an interesting piece. Just to add, one t...

Despite it being something of a heresy I always wear underwear under cycling shorts ( obviously not "boxers" ).
I can cycle all day - multiple days without discomfort.
You could try that and see how you get on.
I'm not alone in this.

Next year we are planning to do a rail/cycling trip in France - we want to travel on some of the scenic routes and I know that some of them won't take bikes - that's not a problem we'll just do day return rides. I don't usually have a problem navigating the French rail system but the above route see...

This became a problem in Belgium. Every year we ride a Randonee with a Belgian club. This used to make extensive use of the canal side cycle paths. Of recent years the event has been routed on road, the club was requested to do this because large groups were using the cycle paths for training rides ...

I get that. And if the hassle would stop you enjoying it, fair enough. But how about the phone and other devices? Could you enjoy a LEJOG without a phone? With no internet access along the way? I did JOGLE in 1993 so I didn't have GPS or a smartphone. I enjoyed the ride but the GPS would have been ...

I started cycling in the fifties so I grew up with paper maps - I lament the passing of the old Bartholomew 1/2" which gave a decent area with a pretty good scale. I still use paper maps but in recent years I've used a Garmin etrex for audax and touring. One advantage of the Garmin is that one ...

I can't see the lowriders making a significant difference and in my admittedly limited mileage, but quite harsh, offroad touring experience with 1" threaded and a significant front load, it's been no issue. If it does continue to work loose, swapping your top locknut to one with a grubscrew sh...

If you shave your head you won't need a comb.

...Don't have front panniers if it's at all hilly - swinging the weight as you go up a hill can be tiring, but no prob coming down or level.... I tour with a four pannier set up and I've no idea what swinging the weight means or what this effect is. If you need/want front panniers, use front pannie...

As I've always had small framed bikes loosening has often been a problem with threaded headsets. My touring bike has a threaded headset and I found that on a long climb with front panniers at slow speeds the front end was a struggle to control. This got worse if the headset started to loosen. Last y...

You are not alone in being advised about obesity by someone markedly obese - especially when they are using BMI as an exact measure (my BMI was a fraction over 25 at the time.) Health professionals don't all have healthy life styles - e.g heavy smoking and drinking IME are not unusual. Perhaps there...

If you can ride 50 miles a day for a few days comfortably I can't see any reason why you won't be able to do 50 miles a day for a month. Keeping going in rain if you are camping may be a drag but if you can dry your kit out - I suppose most camp sites have some sort of drying facility. Cycling rain ...

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,


Ignore age on this chart, as its unlikely you hit your max on a ride, just select say 50 years at 100% for a guide and decide what training you want to aim for.

I would ignore it but it's not on there

The Sheldon Brown pic reminds me of an article I read about the 1942 Wolverhampton - Holyhead road race. Being war time one of the riders couldn't obtain a 3/32" chain. His solution was to completely dismantle a 1/8" chain and use a surface grinder to reduce the pins and rollers to the app...

At one time all my riding was done on tubs - even touring. I used tub cement on the rim and when it had dried used the brown double sided adhesive tape - Jantex? If I had to change a tub the surface was still tacky. +1 for X's when stitching up. With a bit of practice repairs weren't very lengthy. M...