Cycling UK Forum

We did it in the opposite direction last year and it was very busy from Taunton to the Motorway turnoff, but OK after that. It was a Saturday afternoon, though. It was made worse by the fact that they had recently put down granite chippings on this stretch, but they'll be well worn in by now. We followed the Canal towpath (NCN route 3) between Bridgewater and Taunton - a lovely route

My son uses Ultegra 10 speed on his cyclo-cross bikes (he has 2 matching ones). On muddy courses, these get covered in gloop/mud/dirt, but the indexing still works fine.

I personally think that roadside fixability is over emphasised (sp??). I've not had any trouble with my 9 speed STI's, nor my wife's 8 speed STI's. Aren't bar end levers just as liable to get bashed in transit?

You could get 13 days of rain or no rain, it's that unpredictable. July usually brings thunderstorms, so you could potentially get quite wet. For the record, on our 19 day JOGLE ride from mid-May to early June, it rained on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th days and then never rained again, apart from one brief shower. It was a heatwave for the last 9 days (and a North-easterly tailwind).

I understand what you are saying about your Camelbak, but apart from the far north of Scotland, you'll be passing a garage or shop every few miles, so if you run out of water you can stop and buy more. We had two 750ml bottles each and found that these would usually last til lunch. We'd fill them up again and they'd usually last the rest of the day, except when it was really hot.

I have a Ridgeback Panorama, which I bought to do JOGLE on and I'm very happy with it. We rode unsupported with 2 panniers each and the gears were low enough that I never had to walk up any hills. I did test ride a Super Galaxy and would have been equally happy to have had one of those, but the Ridgeback was cheaper at the time.

If you are looking at a custom build or something a bit less run-of-the-mill, then perhaps a trip to Mercian would be in order.

No real idea, but campag 8 speed stuff is becoming quite rare. I reckon you might get at least £30 on Ebay.

The top one is an 8 speed Avanti. I think the bottom one is an 8 speed Mirage.

DavidT wrote:

TrevA wrote:I've never bought a bike from them, but bought lots of bits. Netherfield Bikehut are OK as is Chilwell.

Thanks for the feedback. My mate will be happy to try Netherfield no doubt. Relatively convenient and a large store.

Speaking of Netherfield I recently visited the nearby shop that once used to be essentially the Raleigh factory shop. (And as a Raleigh fan, a nice place to visit - my Pioneer was bought from there) but oh dear! Thousands of bikes, maximum £300, and to me at least no recognisable brands. A strange place. Perhaps I've become a bicycle snob?

Ah yes, used to be Graham Read's Cycle Warehouse - used to boast they could get any Raleigh model and sell it cheaper than anyone else. I bought my Raleigh Clubman from there (later stolen) and my wife's Raleigh Pioneer. It's now been taken over by Hawk cycles, a stack em high, sell em cheap dealer selling largely tat.

There is a Raleigh shop on Carlton Road, near the Ice Stadium (used to be Supercycles), which is worth a look.

You can buy an adjuster that fits onto the gear cable outer as it exits the STI shifter. This means you can adjust your gears on the move. My wife has them on her Dawes Horizon.

I've never bought a bike from them, but bought lots of bits. Netherfield Bikehut are OK as is Chilwell, though I was looking at a Voodoo Limba Cross Bike in the Netherfield shop and it was badly assembled (No front brake hanger!).

I usually buy bikes from Evans, Freewheel or Langdale Lightweights.

A lot of sportive bikes are pretty much like racing bikes but with a slightly higher front end and perhaps lower gearing. Not really meant for mudguards and racks as mudguards aren't a requirement in Sportives.

Ben wrote:Hey guys and girls,

I've been toying with the idea of a fund-raiser recently, and after watching sport relief this year, seeing the end to end, it tickled my fancy to give it a go! At first, I must say it seem'd to be one of my far fetched fantasies, but when I mentioned it to some class mates (Yes, I currently still go to school) a few of them said they'd love to give it a go!

What made it for me were the people that out right said it wouldn't happen, the doubters as I like to call them. I'm a stubborn chap, and if someone says I cant do something, I'll go out and do it just for the self satisfaction. So from then on, we've decided to go ahead and aim to JOGLE next august. So enough of my babbling on, what have I come here to ask...

Well, i'd like to know from you experienced cyclists:

What bike is best for the job? (Budget of about £500)
Do you have any tips for a first time JOGLE'r?
Preferred routes? (i.e main roads, back roads, etc)




Kind regards, Ben

You can use any bike. Do you have any idea of the timescale you want to do it in?

The faster you wish to do it, the more you would benefit from having a road/touring style bike. Spa Cycles (www.spacycles.co.uk) do a touring bike (Dawes Vantage) for £400, as do the Edinburgh bicycle coop. Or you can pick up a 2nd hand touring bike for £200-300.

Your route would again depend on how fast you wish to do it. The less time you have, the more likely you are to want to use main roads, as they are faster than back roads (and flatter, usually). From JOG you have a choice of the A99/A9 down to inverness or along the north coast and then down from Bettyhill or Tongue. We went via Bettyhill south to Lairg and Bonar Bridge. Then it's a choice of Great Glen/Rannoch Moor to Loch Lomond and Glasgow, or Aviemore/Dromochter or a more easterly route through the Cairngorms. Most end up at Gretna/Carlise, then follow the A6 or parallel roads south to the Midlands. Then it's a choice of staying east of the Severn or following the Wye valley and crossing the Severn bridge to end up at Bristol. There are a number of routes to the south west.

konaboy2275 wrote:How do you book your bike on with East Coast trains? I've just been on the website looking to go from Newcastle to Whitehaven in May but can't see where you include a bike on your booking.

After you've chosen the train you want to catch and you click "Buy Now", you'll go to a page with seat reservations and bicycle space, where you can book your bike on.

In my experience, MA3 is just as durable but not as light as an Open Pro. My wife's got an MA3 rear on her road bike that's at least 6 years old and done probably 10,000 miles. still in good condition. She did use it for commuting with a pannier before getting her touring bike last year.

We used 1:250,000 maps on our JOGLE and they're Ok 99% of the time. We got lost a few times in towns, but managed to find the way again by heading south using either a compass or the sun. It's not practical to carry 1:50,000 maps for the whole route.

You might be better off asking this question on the time trialling forum:

www.timetriallingforum.co.uk

There won't be many riders on the CTC forum who ride carbon rims!