Cycling UK Forum

Univega did nice budget cromo tandems in the1990s and these had quite low step over at the rear. I’ve seen a few of these go for silly low prices on eBay etc and they were a very under-rated, good quality brand. May be worth looking out for?

https://www.google.com/search?q=univega ... X_C8n-urkM:

I’m interested to see what you think. Fingers crossed, I have only had 1 puncture, but where I cycle there’s loads of hedges and the cutting season seems to progress right from late summer to early spring these days! ...so I think that’s pretty good, though to be honest I think if you’re careful you can do a lot to try and avoid punctures and if you’re running conventional tubed tyres then it’s just bad luck if you do get one!

Cass Gilbert has done a good review on bikepacking.com
(https://bikepacking.com/gear/schwalbe-g-one-allround/)
albeit for the 27.5 x 2.8s - sound very good. I’ve got the narrower 700 x 38’s on my Vagabond and they’re excellent. Very fast and absorb bumps...run them at 25 and 30psi front/rear. Probably would have gone for these wider ones now but they weren’t being made then! I find them great for towpaths, rough lanes and forest roads and roll really well on tarmac.

..for off road, I can recommend sks velo guards, fitted with the optional oversize one-piece ‘U’ stays. They’re more rigid than standard sks guards and are very simple to fit. I’ve fitted mud flaps for extra spray protection. With 40mm tyres there’s loads of mud space on my vagabond, they work for 2.1s as well but with less space leading to the occasional ‘buzz’ on rocky ground.

If you’re using it off road, I would think that’s a bit too high geared. I run a vagabond with a 40/28 double and a 11-36 rear, which gives a good all round range and I can get up most hills on 28-36. I’ve fitted a front loading(?) front mech so that rear tyre clearance is maximised.

Edit..It’s a low clamp side swing mech like this:

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-deore- ... ront-mech/

I’ve run mine on some pretty gnarly terrain with 2.1 off-road tyres but it will easily take a 2.4 or more up front and probably a 2.2 rear with aforementioned front mech. Currently I’m running 700 x 38 g-ones, which are fast on road and good on forestry/ tow paths etc. Run mine with bar-end shifters as well- they’re nice and simple, haven’t any experience of those trp brakes, but am happy with my trp spyres, which are fitted with swissstop green pads and compressionless cables.

I run a 1x system on my longitude but with a much smaller front ring (30), which gets me up anything with a 42 rear. This is great off-road but it’s a bit too low geared if using on road (30 x 11), but I only use it off-road so it doesn’t bother me!

Ha! It’s very very similar. I think my inner has slightly more mesh and the bottom of the fly is higher off the ground with a scalloped cut (better ventilation, but arguably more draughty!). Other than that the basic design is the same. Looks good value that.

Edit-just noticed this is an outer first pitch whereas mine is inner first

I see Alpkit have a new hooped bivi, the Elan. Very basic, but a bit more shelter than a simple bivi with a pole shelter above your upper body/head. Quite reasonable price and looks good quality.

https://alpkit.com/products/elan-kelp

Ha ha...I checked with him first that it can be donated to the household tent ‘pool’. I suspect daughter’s going to be the main benefactor!

Thanks both!

With time on my hands, I got this old Coleman Viper 1 person tent, down from the loft. It was my son’s old tent from about 2002 and whilst it had been put away dry, it was nevertheless quite grubby and had mud on the door and adjacent panels. It was a bit smelly!

First job was to wash the fly using a soft brush and clean cloth in a bath of warm water with a small amount of mild soap flakes. This got the mud and general gunge off it. The inner was put in the washing machine with a tiny bit of ecover and washed on delicates with a gentle spin.

All were thoroughly dried and the outer and underside of the inner were re-proofed with graingers fabsil. I then hung both on the line and left them to have a good blow for 2 days!!

The original pitch required 15 fairly hefty pegs, however I reconfigured it so that 12 would suffice. DD tarpaulins supplied me with 12 lightweight pegs and new lightweight guys. The old shock-cording was replaced and the old stuff pack was tatty and smelly, so I replaced it with a lightweight lomo dry pack which I already had.

I’m really impressed with how well this tent pitches - it feels very solid and there’s loads of space for 1 and a good porch for storage.

Considering it had quite a hard life with my son, it has come out really well. The smells have gone and it has passed the ‘watering can’ test!

The final thing I have done is to make an inner footprint from some Tyvek breathable roof felt, which we had left over from building work.

When I weighed it at the start, it weighed just over 2kg in its original format. With the new pegs, guys and dry pack it is just over 1.75kg. If using the additional footprint, it comes out at 1.95kg. I’m very pleased and my daughter slept in it the other night! The last time she slept in it was with her brother cycling the outer Hebrides in 2005, albeit they were both very small at the time!

There’s a very nice xs Surly Troll in the classifieds. Bombproof Tourer/utility bike

viewtopic.php?f=40&t=136167

Good reviews here:

https://bikepacking.com/gear/gins-surly ... -bikepack/

http://www.whileoutriding.com/gear-revi ... -dirt-road

I've tried the Ergo grips and didn't like them as the offer only a single hand grip position which robs the Geoff/Jones bars of the many hand positions of the outer grip area

I’ve extended the handlebar grip above the ergo-grip so that the brake/gear levers are in approx the same position as recommended by jones and leave a long area to allow different hand positions...I find the ergo grip ends really comfortable for cruising, but I can still move my hands up the bars for better control. I was lucky that I had some old grips which were an identical profile to the ergo grips and that could be cut down to suit.

I care for my Wife but don’t have an indoor trainer, however I’m lucky enough to have a garden - not too big, but big enough to do circuits around! I’ve made a bit of Singletrack through the apple trees and a fast slightly sloping bit with some tight turns. It’s actually really good fun on my mountain bike and if I do 10 laps, I can feel that I’ve had some exercise and all the time I can keep an eye on my wife through the full length glass windows!

The Chirk tunnel is perfectly rideable if you've got a decent front light, there is a rail to stop you falling in. With the tandem I've generally found it easier to scoot through using one foot while my stoker stayed aboard.

...but in my opinion it's much more pleasant to ride via the short (quiet) road diversion...also its a bit of a squeeze if you meet a walker/cyclist mid way! ....having said that I always use the 'second' tunnel (under the A5) as it avoids the traffic on the busy main road and is much shorter than the tunnel next to the Chirk aquaduct.

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is OK to ride over when it is quiet. I've ridden a few time when it is deserted around dusk. Otherwise I reckon it is best to push your bike across

....it's not if you're scared of heights! The alternative route is to leave the canal at Fron and turn right down the hill, over the old Dee bridge and turn immediately left - this is a lovely quiet lane which follows the Dee and turns back towards the canal which you can re-join after about a mile or so.