Cycling UK Forum

Sweep wrote:

Richard D wrote:A linen towel. Packs down smaller than microfibre, dries me better than microfibre, doesn’t whiff like microfibre, feels nicer than microfibre, and takes only marginally longer to dry in the open air than microfibre (I use a black one to better absorb the sun's heat).

.

where would you get such a thing?
A full size bath towel type thing or do you really mean a Tea towel?
A big one would be rather pricey?

Etsy. Lithuania-based sellers in the main. And the towel I have is either a "shower towel" or a hand towel; if it’s a hand towel, it’s still plenty large enough to get dry with given linen's superior performance.

Steer clear of the £10 ones on AliExpress; you'll not find any down in them.

The £50 type from a brand like Naturehike are much better; probably not as good as a £150 jacket, but plenty good enough. Just remember to ignore their size guide and upsize by two or three (I’m normally somewhere between a M and L; for the down jacket, an XXL fits).

A linen towel. Packs down smaller than microfibre, dries me better than microfibre, doesn’t whiff like microfibre, feels nicer than microfibre, and takes only marginally longer to dry in the open air than microfibre (I use a black one to better absorb the sun's heat).

The only use I have for microfibre is wiping the bottom of my tent as I pack up.

Jdsk wrote:But we've just put up the tents and remembered that on the last tour we took one of these. It's a plumbing T piece, mass 18g.

Same here.

But then I blow the weight savings on carrying extra pegs to cope with every situation. For example, the only way to get a peg into the ground in my back garden without bending it is to use a chuffing chunky Ti nail.

And I use walking stick ferrules on the bottom of my folding camping chair, to stop it sinking into soft ground.

PaulaT wrote:I'm currently using Tyvek to make my groundsheet/footprints. It folds or rolls easliy, especially once it's been though the washer a few times to soften it up The one I've made for my Wild Country Zepheros 1 weighs 175g. The ultimate is supposed to be a material called IRC Polycryo which is an incredibly thin but strong clear film. I looked for some last year out of curiosity. It seems hard to obtain in the UK but I think the film you can get for secondary double-glazing is similar (possibly the same?) stuff.

Double glazing film IS the same stuff. FWIW, I’m using polycryo/window film Under the body of my tent, and tyvek in the porch area which doesn’t have its own groundsheet.

I’ve been reliably informed elsewhere that anyone who owns a Ford Escort and changes their own brake pads will know the pain of not finding a 7mm hex key in a standard tool box.

I have an Edge 800, purchased in 2012. By 2019 the battery was pretty much gone - it could run for about 5 hours, forget using the backlight!

I watched a YouTube video, bought a new battery from Amazon/eBay plus the tiny torx driver to open it up, and swapped the battery over. Piece of cake (but if you decide to do it, use a little bit of padded double-sided tape to hold the new battery in place; I didn’t, so mine rattles if I shake it).

No soldering involved, in case you’re worried; the old battery unplugs, the new one plugs straight in.

I’ve not checked how long the new battery lasts - 10 hours? But I’ve charged mine today for the first time in a fortnight, over which time I’ve covered over 120 miles and it had been on for over 8 hours; it had not, however, given me the "low battery" warning yet.

Walking stick ferrules, fitted over the original feet, largely eliminate the "sinks into the ground" problem.

I bought one of these:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_dUfpvVt

I’m not sure if I’d let it get anywhere near a zero degree night, but it was plenty warm enough when I used it in the back garden over Easter.

I find speed useful in terms of reminding me whether I ought to be in the big or small ring. The other two measures I have up 0% of the time are cadence and HR zone. Speed would only matter if I was going for Strava PBs (I’m not), and there is only one distance measurement that matters a damn - "Am i there yet?"

flat tyre wrote:Five minute wonder in my view, once the traffic and weather returns to normal all these would be cyclists will be back in their cars.

Could not agree more. The lessons I take from the last few days is that the motorists cannot wait to get back into their little metal boxes, to swap the queue on foot outside the supermarket to a queue in their little metal boxes at the next roundabout/traffic lights. It’s flaming obvious from my ride today that however good three east got at judging 2 meters of separation when walking, they have absolutely no idea how much space to leave between their little metal box and someone on a bike.

I am a cynical, cynical man.

But does anyone else find it significant that the Government isn’t proposing a trial legalising E-scooters; it's going to trial a scheme that allows people to HIRE E-scooters.

No doubt there is an organisation behind it with slick branding - and perhaps a corporate sponsorship deal - itching to roll these things out across London and Manchester.

Not Birmingham, though. Our native motorists eat any non-motorised transport users for breakfast.

Seems entirely sensible to me. When I started cycling, it dealt with my obesity, helped control my depression, made me much less likely to trouble the GP with heart problems or type 2 diabetes, and has a host of other obvious societal benefits.

I’d also want the courts to be able to impose cycling as a sentence for motoring offences.

I don’t think it’s fashion, so much as the sort of bikes that are sold these days.

For the past 40 years, bikes have been one of two things - either a children's toy, or a piece of sporting equipment. You can stick mudguards on the child's toy, but not on a racing machine!

Except of course (1) the vast majority of bikes sold will never go near a race, and (2) it tends to be a bit damp around here for quite a lot of the year.

Personally I’ve got no time for a bike without mudguards. I’m NOT in the TdF, and I do not like getting unnecessarily muddy.

Between 10 and 20 I’ll be wearing a merino base layer (usually SS, LS at the bottom of that range, and a "sportswool" (merino and polyester blend) jersey - LS, but I might go out in SS plus arm warmers if it’s above 15 and getting warmer.