Cycling UK Forum

Don't just sort the bike, the important thing is to make sure the points of contact are comfortable. Hands, gel mitts will save hands getting sore and provide a degree of insulation from vibration. Bum, padded shorts or at least a short liner, coupled with a layer of cream ie E45 will reduce the chance of soreness. If you'r bashful about wearing Lycra wear baggy shorts/joggers over them. Feet, shoes with enough toughness in the sole to protect your feet from the pedels.

Training, ride as often as possible, 10 miles a day 5 days a week is better than 50 miles once a week

Good luck

About 20 years ago I had a cheap olmo training bike, super ride but a bit heavy. The steerer broke after a few years of use, it didn't exactly snap but cracked along the cut of the headset thread. suggest you take the forks out and have a look.

I used one for a daily comute for 4 years, ideal if the fold and stowage are the most important factor. The ride is poor, poor compared to the high quality lightweights that I have always riddn. ride and quality is probably comparable to bikes of say £400 and less. An important point in the Bromptoms favour is that they have been around a long time and spares are readily available. And yes I am a bike snob

My first proper bike, when I was about 10, was a 19'' Russ, 26'' wheels, Williams c34 44t chainset, 3 speed cyclo 16, 18, 20 cogs, GB drop bars. gears didn't last long and wheel was turned, gear/fixed hub, and fixed cog was fitted. A no-nonsense cycling dad said it would do me good! And it did now in my 65th year and still riding a fixed bike most of the time.

two-wheel drive solutions for rear drive trikes (I assume delivered via a differential),

Most if not all modern trikes use a double freewheel system rather than a differential. I think that Higgins were the last cycle enginers to produce a true diff.

real men don't use plasters... just slap on a bit of electrical tape and carry on

Not that new, I have a dunlop cycle tyre pressure guagethat predates my starting club cycling in 1962

Are you a committed cyclist? Then the answer is, and this goes for all tools that keep the bike(s) running, that it is an investment rather than an expense. Buy good and buy once.

One of the many joys of retirement is that I don't have to ride the Brompton any more. Brilliant in the way it folds but I found it horrid to ride. whippy frame, transmission that seems to take up a large proportion of the riders effort, bars so bendy that they wave about in the wind, frame bush and folding pedel bearing made of cheese, for a start.

But it was a very useful tool for the commute, Its now the 'pub' bike

check in a logical progression: brake, is it fixed and working correctly, headset, is it correctly adjusted and correctly fitted, bars and stem, are they firm and correctly fitted, forks, are they damaged including steerer, frame is is damaged.

I would not use a bike with these symptoms until I was sure that it was safe and I have ridded some fairly awful bikes over the years.

Check the fascinating website Classic Lightweights UK for a history of Claud Butler.

"Claud Butler’s business was declared bankrupt. The Clapham Manor Street works closed in 1956, and so ended the Claud Butler empire and production of real Claud Butler cycles."

I think that by the 60s and into the 70s they came under the Holdsworth banner as their cheaper bikes

If the transmission is working ok the easiest change is put on a compact chainset, 50-34, this will signifigently lower the gears but maintain the fairly close ratios of the gears. The jumps on a 12-32 cassette may prove to be uncomfortable for your friend, they would be for me. Just move the front changer down a little and a couple of links out of the chain and away you go.

Like most things not a new concept, a length of mother's washing line wrapped around the the rim of the drive side wheel of the trike gave traction in the snow. How to stop the thing never seemed too important years ago

Hardly any snow in South Oxfordshire, roads ok except for some minor roads. -2 and falling. Near froze to death this afternoon topping up the oil in the back axle on the Land Rover, reallr must fix the oil seals!

Always found my brompton unridable in the snow due to the proximity of the transmission to the white/grey stuff. Now I,m retired if I venture out on snowy roads its on fixed, on my trike