Cycling UK Forum

As a 'lightweight' tent is usually anything less than 4kg and my 'ultralight' is a shave under 2kg the tent looks a winner on weight and performance - word of caution though, quoted weights often don't include pegs and guys and you probably will need some sort of peg into ground tool, whats the word? of yeah, mallet!

If you value your comfort and sanity don't use the ATB. Get your road bikes wheels checked over/re-tensioned and you should be fine with moderate loading, even on unmade surfaces. make sure there is plenty of pressure in the tyres though otherwise you'll be likely to catch a puncture or two.

You have the sleeping bag, for one night you could forego a mat, a cheap gas stove, kettle, mug and cutlery can be sorted for little cash, take prepacked individual coffee or tea, a cup soup will cover supper - supplement with the local chippy/supermarket. Basic wash kit, microfibre towel, a change of togs (make sure it stays dry!), sandals/pool shoes for off the bike and you are set. Decathlon are good for cheap kit, you will pay top dollar on Amazon for similar stuff.

For a first trip i'd try to find a site @ 50 miles from home with proper facilities - showers etc, don't be put off by big commercial sites they are often well disposed to small rigs turning up! Don't make the weekend too focused on the camping, find stuff to see and do en route.

Have a good trip!

Hi
I did this a couple of years ago, coast to coast and being an archaeologist, it was the Roman stuff i was going to see.
Do not use the mountain bike, you would regret it forever! Your Vita will do the job happily and whilst there is one steep climb mid route, the rest are long drags at worst. The poor surface in a couple of places is not that bad and could be avoided by sticking to the road rather than the diversion for the HCW, the Vita is more than capable. The worst bits as regards potential punctures were actually the urban areas through Newcastle and out to the coast which suffer the blight of cycle lanes in any urban environment in the UK, glass, rocks and yoofs.

The Vita should be able to take 15kg without issue - if you can, use a bar bag which will help spread the weight and give you somewhere for the map, purse, camera etc. I used my road bike and did a combo of B&B and camping, so i had about 10kg on board in two panniers and a top case, you could halve that for B&B only, your Vita is well up for that load but make sure you keep the tyres nice and hard.

Some of the Roman stuff you can ride right up to but a couple of bits do require some walking - you are not allowed to take bikes on the access paths! The 'honeypots' all have some sort of visitor centre and a couple have cafe's too - check out the EH website. I bought the Sustrans map, its micturate poor really so whilst it shows the route i'd advise taking some OS paper which will keep you from getting lost if your accomodation is more than 200m from the route! As its very popular, its well worth trying to book your accomodation in advance!

Whilst Hadrians wall is mostly about the Roman stuff don't forget Carlisle castle, Lanercost Priory, Tynemouth or the other castles along the route. I did the whole lot in 3 days - its not a big distance, and that included visiting pretty much everything that didn't involve long hikes.

Hope this helps, if you want any more help or advice just ask and i'll try to answer your queries.

I have used one but now i use my normal bank card as even with charges i've generally got a significantly better exchange rate - plus i can use it outside of the eurozone eg Switzerland/Denmark etc

Thanks for your replies,

I caught the Nebra exhibition at the Neandertal Museum near Dusseldorf a few years ago, the museum looks less impressive inside than out!

cheers

Bedford - Leicester - Nottingham - Chesterfield

or

Bedford - Leicester - Derby - Bakewell.

I'd use the latter as it avoids climbing some bigger hills towards your destination.

Both of these have the advantage of a fall back train option to within 10 miles of Hassop.

Doable in 2 days, easy in 4, there are quieter roads pretty much all the way up.

Enjoy your ride up into the woolly north, it is several degrees cooler up here than London!

The things that make a good site for me, in no particular order, are

dry grassy pitch - i've spent the night floating in Switzerland and Austria and sleeping on gravel several times
level pitch - one site in Cumbria i almost slid out of the tent!
sensible pricing - I've paid for a pitch big enough for a family frame tent and also been squeezed onto a verge, neither were price appropriate!
clean and working showers - free are best but i don't mind paying if the site is cheap
clean toilets near the pitch - last summer in Denmark i had a good five minute walk to the facilities on one site
quiet - nothing worse than loud music / screaming kids keeping you awake
shop - not essential but nice for treats!
cafe/restaurant - common in europe and saves cooking
location - i've had 25% climbs up mountainsides and remote sites miles down a no destination lane - needs to be accesible to get my 5 star rating
kitchen facilities - more common in the Baltic region but increasingly available in Europe - why struggle on the primus when theres proper stoves and even pots and pans to hand?
dining room / lounge - its lobbing it down and cold, whilst a sit in a pub might be number one an on site lounge is a viable alternative and potential refuge if the weather gets too scary!

My trips can involve a different site each night for anything up to three weeks and whilst you can use sites like ACSI to find sites you do have to take things very much on trust. Most sites will try to find a spot for a man and a bike and i've often paid much less than the advertised pitch price.

Thanks Edwin, it looks like i'll be a pathfinder then!

I've had similar or even negative responses from German friends, maybe the tourist offices need to make more effort!

ossie wrote:Having used a Tricross for touring I am quite happy, when funds allow, to change its 'sexy' looks for something thats up to the job. The wheelset isnt up to loaded touring, carbon forks on a bike used for touring dont sit easy with me and also extreme frame flex when fully loaded leave one lacking in confidence in the machine.

So apart from upgrading the tyres, wheels, saddle, brakes, stem and having also suffered from lightweight bosses pulling out of the frame and having to resort to P clips to secure my panniers, I would say go for something built for the job and ready to go.

Geez, what do you load it up with? having sold @ 150 of them since they were introduced I've never come across any of those problems. Did you talk to Specialized? Frame flex? sure it wasn't a flimsy rack?

I was being quite conservative in my suggestions, my own tourer is a sub 20lb Airnimal Chameleon that i will admit has enough Ti and carbon on it to make any bank manager quail! Given that i usually cycle camp with 4 panniers and a barbag, i'm no lightweight these days and on some trips the route has been 30% un surfaced my only failures have been in the tyre department (not the bikes fault). Unless you are planning an 'extreme' trip i wouldn't recommend a steel frame to anyone these days and given the carbon forks are nigh on indestructable, whats to worry about?

Whatever you decide to go with remember the most important things are:-

Enjoy yourself
maintenance
enjoy yourself!

in that order

Never actually weighed it wet but i'm sure my Taurus Ultralight weighs double when wet - which unfortunately it has ended up being packed too many times - not a bit of dew but sopping wet from continuous heavy precipitation.

Could be a big issue on a heavier tent but carrying a big bottle of water would add more to my payload (and thats something i often do in warmer weather).

i've used several over the years, 'swimming towels' that are like synthetic chamois, a tea towel like affair from Polaris but i've currently settled on a Trekmates micro fibre job.

Generally if i shower in the evening its pretty dry by morning to go in my bags, i sometimes wish it was a bit bigger but the size was my choice so its hardly a complaint.

Nip down to Decathlon and get their self inflate mattress at a smidge under £20. You might need to add some air but it worked fine for me and its half the weight of my Thermarest 3/4 ultra. Team it up with their generous £5 blow up pillow for a great nights sleep!

I'm not against spending money on the right stuff but sometimes the big brands can be beaten on price, size and weight.

Alternatively sleep direct on the ground, no extra space needed but you might get a stiff back on hard ground!

Bit of history needed here.

The www.andrew-robertson.co.uk site belonged to the old defunct Company and if you look on the page it was last updated in 2007! Andrew is actually the site designer, the address in Lancaster belonged to the then brand owner, Simon Gershon.

More recently, 2009 i believe, a new owner took on the brand based once again in the Sheffield area, it is to this outfit that www.orbit-cycles.co.uk belongs.

How do i know this? well i used to be the sales manager around the turn of the century and sold them right up to 2007.

Having helped design the 'gershon' Harrier i might be a bit biased but it was a very good machine, stable, nimble and responsive. Whether the 'new' machines are built to the same geometry / standard i have no idea, i've never seen a new model, the website seems to be using 5 year or more old images so that might be a bit misleading too.

Worth a look but proceed with caution.

Maybe think about why such a limited run bike is in stock? Well the answer is that its a duffer! 2011 means it came out in late 2010 so it might have been sat in Harrogate for 18 months with no buyer.

Whilst i've no idea why you picked out that model i'm sure you would be served better by a more modern machine from a specialist company or at least one that knows what they are doing - unlike Dawes. For 2k you can have a handbuilt custom special with all the latest gizmos. Think before you buy.

Has anyone done a tour of this bit of Germany?

I'm going in August and i'm looking for stuff to see, i've got a reasonable list of stuff but any tips gratefully received.

my only question is - why do you want one?