Cycling UK Forum

On my LEJOG last summer I took a VERY roundabout route because of some bits I wanted to pass through and I didn't want to use A roads any more than I had to. I wasn't in a hurry though! :
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/235061 Brtistol - Llanthony Priory
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/235156 Ludlow
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/235200 Crew Green
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/235202 Llangollen
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/200560 Chester
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/200857 Southport

Highlights were the Black Mountains, the aquedct at Pontcycyllte (apart form trying to pronounce it as a non-Welsh speaker!) and the Mersey ferry. The route was also in part dictated by campsite loacations. There was a nasty bit of rain between Llangollen and Chester but it might have moved by now .I really enjoyed the whole thing, which was quite varied with some stunning scenery and industrial archeology too.
Hope that gives you some ideas.

Well I liked your ambling reply thank you Colin. I have browsed some of the links and have parked the Humphries and Dawes route for the moment as having only indirect links to my mother, the focus of this trip. All the stuff about CWS is pure gold and I shall investigate the possibility of getting to see inside the CWS factory - a letter or two might do the trick - who knows? Hay Hall sounds fascinating too. As an aside, my mother's half brother Eric Evans drew the posters for the "lead the way with BSA" campaign in the 20's. Mother used to have one of the original posters - I ewonder what happened to that?

Thanks again to all of you!

Thank you both - really good information and links too. My brother found a newspaper cutting which indeed confirms that George was the first manager of the factory when it opened in 1920, moving from Dawes where he started in 1913. Don't suppose there's much left of the 1920's factory but we'll go and have a look anyway. I remember my grandmother was given a top-of-the-range bike by the factory when George retired. Painted black with gold lines on the tubeset (of course) and with a closed in chain and lugs for fastening on a dress-protector. Granny used to ride it when taking the two of us out for our first bike rides, which in hindsight was a way of giving our parents a break but which probably sowed the seeds of my later enthusiasm.

Thanks again - really getting in the mood for a bit of nostalgia now

PS Just seencolin54 's post. Good to know that there's still something to see of CWS, but I'll have to control myself when explaining Reynolds tubing or the other two will never go on another trip with me.

Some of you super-knowledgeable forum members might be able to help me out....

My grandfather George Evans (whom I never knew) was the manager of a bike factory in the Birmingham area in the 1920's. I would like to find the site for a family history trip with my brother and daughter, but niether of us is sure where the factory was. It might have been the Co-op factory. all our relatives of that and the next generation died years ago and we can't find any written information in our mother's papers.
Our mother used to reminisce about watching the "old lady" paint the gold lines on the frames freehand. She also claimed that her father was the first person to think of putting a footbrake on a pram.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Adrian

stockman wrote: ↑12 Sep 2021, 3:43pm Re-purposed Condor 531ST "Special Cadet" which i bought new from them in 1988.

My partner rides a Cadet from about the same year. I had the frame adapted a few years ago by Edison Cycles of Clowne to take 700c wheels and built it up as a 9sp flat bar. Still going strong. Think it was Deda tubing though.

My daughter's partner's bike was stolen from the basement parking of their flat in central Birmingham. Dawes Tanami hybrid, unpainted finish, Shimano Nexave 8 sp, medium - large size, missing front mudguard. Sometime this month (July). I bought this bike about 20 years ago, but it was well maintained.
If you do happen to come across any information I would be very grateful and so would Tom!
Thanks for reading this,
Adrian

My very best wishes to Brucey. Your pearls of wisdom are treasures indeed and I hate to think of the potential damage to bicycles for want of your advice. I am desperately trying not to tinker too much!

Puncture-resistant tyres are always a good idea - there are many out there. Have you checked that the spokes ae well-covered by the rim tape? Nothing lodged in the tyre? Good luck!

Emyr Parry wrote:Yes - it is Manod Mawr (and Manod Bach) near Ffestiniog.

And the bike is a Thorn Mercury, which I use all the time now. I have had some problems with my hands which doesn't allow me to use drops any more or do any gear changes with my LH.
So I switched from my Spa Ti Audax to this. The Thorn is not as quick or as responsive to a few quick turns of the pedals, but I have grown to like it, and it is certainly very comfortable.

Great looking bike and a lovely photo - I can almost smell the moorland!

I have found all your advice and comments really helpful and enjoyable to boot. I have taken a number of bits of advice and I'm really happy with the result:
Same Condor Heritage frame, because I really enjoy riding it, but in a smaller size and disc brakes. Have found this much more comfortable. Not yet sure about the disc brakes as they haven't bedded in properly yet as it's been too cold and miserable to ride very far. Cycling to work through snow and ice I appreciated the more subtle modulation to avoid locking up the wheels.
Wider tyres: 35mm Schwalbe G1 All Round. A much gentler ride and much more fun on gravel/tracks. Put them on the old bike first and the rear showed wear pretty quickly so will change them for Panaracer Gravel Kings in the same size.
Handlebars changed to Salsa Cowbell - very easy to get a range of back-friendly positions.
I started to get nervous about the carbon seatpost now there's more clear of the frame, having heard various tales of serious injury so changed it to a titanium one from Spa. Indulgence. I have no idea if it absorbes more vibrations than an alloy post but I feel it does.

Now I can't wait to take it on a multi-day tour and, with any luck and vaccine or two, LEJoG in the summer. Thanks again for all the thoughtful and intelligent comments.
Adrian

Why not try putting them on the "for sale" board of this forum? Or you could put them on the "free" section and suggest a donation to charity. Worked for me when I gave away a tent. I did pay postage and asked the recipient to make a similar donation to Oxfam.

Thanks for that PH. Most useful. I am currently building up a new frame, a Condor Heritage Disc, and it's all those little details which take up so much time, especially as I need the old bike to stay functional so I can't just plunder it for parts willynilly. I hope we can all get some long trips next summer to try out the the various modifications we've been doing in lockdown!

PH wrote:

peetee wrote:I’m curious. Where does to cable under the top tube cone from/ go to? It looks like it comes out of the fork crown and goes to the pannier rack!

Ha! Well spotted - It's the dynamo cable threaded through some 6mm tubing. Not only is it tough, it utilises the unused front mech cable bosses.

That would help my dynamo routing - what type of tubing do you use and where did you get it?
Very nice bike, BTW!

You say "anyone" but that doesn't allow for my level of incompetence!

Thanks again for all your work.
Adrian

As the OP I thought I ought to update you all after your brilliant suggestions..... I had, of course, to abandon this year's trip due to the pandemic, but I hope to revisit the idea next year or the year after. For the present I'm only planning UK trips until I see how things pan out for travel in mainland Europe.
All the best,
Adrian