Cycling UK Forum

Perhaps the answer to the OP's problem, would be to offer interest free credit. This would certainly generate some sales. The sticking point for a lot of people buying a new bike is the cash outlay. Cyclescheme is one way around that, interest free credit another.

My wife's firm doesn't do the CTW scheme, so we're currently looking at a Scott Contessa for her from Evans on interest free credit.

I've previously bought a chainset from Spa nad they allowed me to choose my own rings, so I went for a 42-32 double on a Stronglight 99 spider. Not sure if they still offer this service, but worth an enquiry.

I can't wait for the new road to open. I have to cross the A46 at East bridgford virtually every time I go out for a decent ride and it's a nightmare. The new overbridge will make life much easier. Looking at the construction on thr ground, it does look as though they are building brand new carraigeways for much of the length of the road, which implies that the old road will become a link road for local traffic and cyclists. There's a network of local lanes to use, especially north of Bingham, so I wouldn't use a cyclepath along the A46, even if they built one.

We were just saying on Sunday, on our return ride from Newark south of the river, how lucky we are to have such a network of quiet lanes, so close to where we live. We came back through Thorpe to Sibthorpe and the road is so little used that there's grass growing down the middle. Not one car passed us in 10 miles.

It's horses for courses. I have both a steel tourer (Ridgeback panorama) and an Alu cyclo-cross bike (Ridley Crossbow). I wouldn't go touring on the cross bike, though I probably could, at a pinch. I don't even ride the cross bike on the road, it's for playing about in the woods, but great fun to ride. The tourer is probably a bit more sluggish but far more comfortable for long rides.

Giant FCR - though it doesn't have a rack or mudguards or lights.

Specialsed Sirrus or Globe.

The advantage of Ortlieb's is that they are completely waterproof, but if you can time it so that you don't go shopping in the rain, then cheaper panniers will do the job.

I have Ortlieb Back rollers but only use them for touring. I have an Altura Fusion (yes, a single pannier!) that I use for work and occasional shopping. We also have a pair of Altura Arrans that we use for work and shopping - my wife uses one and my son the other.

Michael R wrote:I am baffled by some of this. I am 5 81/2 and found that my old Super Galaxay 221/2 inch was the right size and not on the big size and my 20 in Dawes 601 well set up but could take a bigger size.

I am wondering about a 60 cm dawes Galaxy next but all say it is too big, but then I like having legs at long stretch for efficiency and comfort

60cm would be too big for you, I think. I'm 6ft 2in and ride a 58cm Ridgeback Panorama. If you go to Spa Cycles in Harrogate, you can try out various sizes of Galaxy and see which one suits you best.

We have the silver MA3. It was put on as a replacement for a Campag Mexico 68 that didn't survive an encounter with a pothole. The Campag Mirage rear hub is 15 years old and the MA3 rim about 7 years old. Never had be be re-trued and still in almost daily use.

There's a guy who lives near me, who has only one arm and rides a normal road bike, except that it has only half a handlebar and both ergo levers on the same side, so it's certainly possible to ride an upright one armed.

I have one of the nylon-fronted jackets described above, it's made by Gibbsport. They still seem to have a shop in Manchester, might be worth a try.

Or it's the sort of thing that you might be able to get at the York Rally - probably in a lurid shade of purple/mauve .

I spent my non-riding time eating, drinking, watching TV and sleeping. Too tired to do much else.

I'd agree about not taking energy drink powder. You could take Isostar tablets, but you can buy ready mixed energy drink such as Gatorade from most shops/petrol stations. Milk is a good recovery drink.

We drank mostly plain water and relied on food for energy (and plenty of it!).

I live in Nottingham and if we're second, then some of the others must be awful.

Whilst cyclepath provision is OK, there's no continuous route that crosses the city centre, either east to west or north to south. The paths on the Ring Road throw you back into the traffic at the most dangerous points - the junctions. At least they now seem to have done away with the famous slalom course of Castle Boulevard. And you can do a circular route along the canal and the river - nice, except it doesn't go anywhere you really need to go, unless you live in Beeston Rylands or work at Boots.

I've had various creaks on bikes i've owned.
1. Seat pin clamp was creaking in time with my pedalling. the saddle was moving slightly as i pedalled - I had to swap the 2 bolt seat pin for a single bolt one.
2. My B17 creaks at the nose, especially just after I've tightened it up - cured by a spot of oil on the thread.
3. On my Panorama, the BB creaks when i've just cleaned my bike - not managed to get to the bottom of this yet, but I suspect the Crank/BB interface.
4. My old Mercian used to make a creaking sound when I climbed a hill - turned out that the seat tube was cracked near the BB.

Suffolk Coast isn't on the East Coast mainline. It's National Express East Anglia.

eileithyia wrote::D Well done, the Lincolnshire Wolds not hilly, not my experince of them!
First time I rode in them was King's Lynn to Grantham (when there was hostel there) flat roads into headwind then the sting in the tail of climbing into the wolds!

Welcome to the world of Audax and here's to many more of them!

You must have gone via a very roundabout route, if you rode through the Lincs Wolds enroute from Kings Lynn to Grantham. The Wolds are actually north-east of Lincoln, the hilly bit near Grantham is actually the Lincoln Cliff/Edge.