Cycling UK Forum

Just to confirm:

It's not a Gatwick thing. It's a Norwegian Airline thing.
For example easyJet, British Airways and SAS fly from Gatwick and do not have the requirement of bikes in boxes but not bags AFAIK.

It's only a Norwegian thing if you're flying out of Gatwick.
For example Norwegian flights out of any other airport they fly from do not have the requirement.

Simonhill, yes I could have pursued it, but as I wasn't planning to fly to Norway in the immediate future it was a backburner thing and I didn't.

You could of course fly Manchester-Oslo/Stavanger or Edingburgh-Oslo with Norwegian and this packaging bs wouldn't apply.

Norwegian Air have gone wrong. After my last posting on this thread I had several more attempts but got bored - you only get as far as the numpties in the contact centre. My line of attack was still "Why do you insist bikes are frozen in carbonite for flights out of Gatwick when this condition does not apply to any other airport Norwegian fly from, and Gatwick does not require this from any other carrier." I gave examples but Norwegian refused to "click" on any "links" and it proved tedious trying to get written details from other airlines who also have contact centres staffed by numpties. A classic case of a corporation forming a roman tortoise when challenged by an outsider (aka a customer) rather than deal with the issue head on.

Yes I noticed those thanks to Catsnapper's post above. They look like they have design advantages over Powergrips (which I've never tried) so I've waded in and ordered a pair. There's a video at http://www.restrap.co.uk/ of them hooning around west yorkshire doing skids on fixies to a pumping beat, but at 2mins 41 seconds it changes to a discussion of a new strap and you can get a sense of the build quality of the product.

Have a look at http://www.goingslowly.com. IIRC yer man Tyler had some sort of computery job that he fitted in whilst touring. Just had a look now and they don't seem to be on bicycles at the mo but there's loads of detail on the site. It's a great blog all round, and the photography is fantastic.

+1 to all the above comments - first and only wheel I built was done by taping the new rim to the old and swapping the spokes over. It's my mountain bike rear wheel, it takes some punishment, it's been fine.

You don't need a jig but if you have an old pair of forks in a vice it's a more compact solution than having the whole bike upside down, especially if you work on it over several evenings. I actually did my wheel using a turbo trainer on the kitchen table but wouldn't recommend this as there's too much play.

You could buy a tensiometer, but I did mine by plucking. You can have all the spokes on each side having the same note or you can have the the wheel true but not both at the same time.

The one thing you might find helpful is a dishing tool. Apparently you can buy these, but completely adequate is a bit of straight wood around 26-27" in length (eg a piece of 2x2), a couple of 3" screws to touch the rim each side and a 1" screw for the middle to touch the axle.

How long are you planning being away, do you want specific cycle cover? Usually cycling isn't considered a dangerous activity so surely whatever travel insurance you get would be okay? Not taking the mick but surely Saga would do insurance for older people who dare to go on an active holiday?

If you've googled these you'll know that a lot of reviewers complain about the narrowness of these sandals compared to normal Keens. I have to agree.

I usually get a size 9 mtb shoe to allow for thick socks, and Keen say on their own website that these are 1/2 a size small, so I ordered a pair of 9.5s.

Sorry no pictures, but when you put the sole of a Keen Newport up against the sole of a Keen Commuter and roll them heel to toe, you notice that the Commuter is about half an inch narrower than the Newport on both sides, ie a Commuter is an inch less wide than a Newport.

My normal MTB shoe is a size 9 Specialized BG Comp shoe and the 9.5 Commuter sole is more or less the same shape and width, so in theory I would be happy in the Commuter, but it seems to have less volume than the Specialized, not that I have a particularly high instep, and it felt a bit tight even with the elastic loosened off. The absolute showstopper for me however, was that my big toe nail was catching the gap between the rubber bumper and the webbing because in getting a size wide enough for my foot I end up with something a bit too long.

The other thing to mention is that compared to the Specialized, the Commuter doesn't have as much of a curve to the sole, making my heel lift when I walked. (Newports are flat and flexible so not an issue.)

The rest of the shoe is like a normal webbing Keen sandal, with the addition of a strap to pull against rather than elastic laces. Oh and the footbed is removable, which is probably really useful but can't think why at the moment. I really wanted to like these sandals but they don't have that lovely spatulate Keen look and fit. They got posted back.

Touring set up for me after a saturated tour in Norway is ordinary Keen sandals and toe straps. I would prefer to be cleated, but I haven't found a better sandal with an enclosed toe, and there's a width "problem" on the current Keen cycle-specific sandals.

Anyway, you don't have to go for shimano SPD pedals and cleats that's all I was going to say. Time ATAC pedals and cleats get my vote because there's nothing to adjust and little to go wrong. You can wear the front edge of the cleat down to practically nothing and you can still clip in, which is not the case with SPDs I understand.

It depends if you mind getting off and pushing. I was on a section of Pennine Bridleway near Burnley with my tourer this weekend as it happens and it was muddy and stony in places, and no worse than a (steep) canal towpath in others. With a mtb you would fly over all of it and not worry about your rims, with a tourer you have to pick a way round potholes and stones, and you have less traction due to your slick tyres. As PH says, I would probably go with a mtb if that's what the rest of the group is doing.

The kit looks fine but if you already have the bleed adapter for your brakes and the correct fluid you can get syringes and tube off ebay separately and cheaper. A longer bit of tube than provided in the kit makes things a lot easier. You won't need the clamps. In my experience the rubber syringe bungs expand slightly after a couple of uses and then you've got to get new syringes anyway.

Alpkit Numo.

flat tyre wrote: Hufty, I assume you mean the brake pipe fittings?

Sorry you're right, when I said bolts I meant the brake line fittings, which are probably nuts

Also check bolts on the brake lines are nice and tight. IME problems with hydraulics have usually proved to be user error not seals, ahem. Usually it's me thinking I've got all the air out of the line but then finding I haven't when I've pumped more fluid through, or forgetting to wind out the screw that sets the lever start position.

One time I did have a leaky seal on a Marta and the UK agents for Magura were pretty sniffy about the idea that anybody could possibly have the skills to replace a seal. In any case you can't get the spares, the cost of a replacement master cylinder is prohibitive, and for some reason the seals on your replacement unit won't come with a proper warranty. I got a cheap not-Deore Shimano thing and lo and behold it works just the same I couldn't tell the difference on the trail.

531colin wrote:I have built a rear wheel for a downhill type bike which had a Rohloff hub gear mounted...

Proof that at least one person at Spa has heard of the Rohloff!

speedsixdave wrote:Yep, but you're an advanced user, as am I. The amount of new cyclists I meet who struggle to figure out the correct sequence of front and rear changes is surprising to me.

With a hub gear the shift sequence is about as straightforward as it gets.

Edit: drat someone's already pointed that out on page 3.