Cycling UK Forum

Every time I've logged into this forum recently, it says I have exceeded the number of attempts I'm allowed and I have to try read that bloody gobbledygook to log in.
I'm getting really upset with it. I am logging in one time as I always have done. Is this classed as one time too many now?
Is this a glitch in the system? Is anyone else having the same problem?

OK. I feel better now.

The leather Stelvio (Exustar?) touring shoes get wider with use. I should be a 44 size length wise but usually have to go to 45 for width. The Stelvios were no exception - I bought a pair of 45s.
Having done about 3000 in them, they've 'given' enough that I'm considering getting another pair - but 44's, hoping they'll end up just right after a while!

I have a pair of Specialized BG MTN bike shoes........and although they are wider than most, I still had to buy one size too big so the width was acceptable. ....so they are not that wide.
People say the Northwaves are the widest, but after looking in many bike shops, I haven't as yet found any Northwaves in my size so can't comment.

Forget the 'extra wide' shoes from Shimano and Sidi - they are both very narrow.


I have the same problem with hiking boots. Even Altburg - which makes 5 width fittings, aren't wide enough for me.

It must sound like I have trolls feet.....but they look perfectly normal. Honest!

I bought a Rohloff-equipped Tout Terrain Silkroad last year and love it. It's a great ride when weighed down. Check out the attention to detail on everything from the forks to the rack. I knew when I saw it that it was THE touring bike.
I got a cheapo flight to Germany (they are made near Freiberg) and saved myself best part of a thousand pounds over that over-priced and under-helpful sole dealer in London.

Quality oozes out of this bike!

meic.......mine was the post before yours.........it said 'who gives a [edit] damn'.........obviously the politically correct police didn't like it.

Edit : Graham : Thwack! . . . . . "politically-correct" my elbow: it's a no swearing policy that includes thinly disguised asteriskizations ##.

## My thanks to G W Bush for that gibberization.

johnsie..............you hit the nail on the head there...........

I've lived in Mexico a couple of years, and bumbed around Central America for two years.

Mexico ain't cheap anymore...though it's way cheaper than most of Europe (Slovakia is still reasonable).
Camping or not? Close call.

As for C.A. most of it is cheap.....as in CHEAP!!! Place you're most likely to get robbed/ripped off is Costa Rica - the opposite to what most people think. The 'dodgy' places, are in general the safest......'
Best' of all C.A. is the Western highlands of Guatemala. Cheap as anywhere, great people (Maya), cheap and good food (beans, rice, and tortillas for less than a dollar)....not sure I'd want to do that region on a bike though. Mountainous to say the least - but buses are the proverbial 'chicken' buses, so you can put anything on the roof without a problem.... you too if you want. Bikes not a problem. rest of guatemala is typical Hispanic. No need to linger elsewhere.
Nicest people - Nicaragua, Panama.
Watch out in Honduras. Bad place since the big hurricane 10+ years ago.
Most expensive - Belize and Costa Rica.

You can't imagine the number of travellers I've come across been robbed in C.R........quietly though - not violently.

You want see something waaay out there? Go to the Caribbean side of Guatemala.....ALL shops have a guard with shotgun in the doorway......and quite a few buses have a guy sat on the back seat with a shotgun. Great stuff!

Oh........and throughout C.A. expect to see most men carrying a machete. It's the No.1 work tool. I usually carry one on the side of my backpack (a la Michael douglas). Just to even things out.

Latino Spanish, especially in C.A., is much easier to learn and understand than Spanish in Spain. I can get by in C.A......I haven't a clue what they're saying in Spain.

I love C.A. I could rabbit on about the place for pages.......lol

As for the Foreign Office advice - if you read it you wont go anywhere. The Yanks are even more paranoid, so dont go there either.
Lonely Planet Thorntree forum is a good place to get up to date advice/tips from travellers (like me!).

I have the same problem....relatively short and fat (for a cyclist!). To get shorts/tights/bibs to fit me around the waist, they have to be long enough for someone a foot taller than me.
I recently got a pair of lycra shorts in a 'large'..........they wouldn't be big enough for a skinny 12-year old. I'm 5'7" with 34-36" waist (depends on time of year!)........I didn't used to consider myself 'large'..........but now I seem to be an XXL.....at least!
Are all cyclists really beanpoles?

I also run a wider rear tyre on my loaded tourer..........1.75 compared to the 1.35 on the front. It seems to roll along better than having a 1.75 on the front too.

That's on the black stuff! If I do any rough/gravel road places, like southern Chile, I'll be fitting as much rubber all round as possible!

I should add that my steel touring bike cost........well, I'm too embarassed to say what it cost.....I can't believe I paid so much money for a pushbike. Let's just say, it's a 'keeper'!!!!!! (Unless some b****** decides they should keep it for me.)

So again, it's not an equal comparison.

I have used the steel framed bike with a heavy load........for an extended camping trip. I would not use the Tricross with so much gear. So it's not really a like-for-like comparison.
The steel bike with a heavy load rolls over the bumps like a comfy armchair........but with a light load/solo the Tricross is more comfortable.......mainly to do with riding position I think.....and it's much quicker, but then again the steel bike is running with straight bars, bigger tyres and a Rohloff. And the rider is fatter than he was......
I did the LEGoG with 2 full rear panniers and a saddle bag on the Tricross, and it felt fine. The balance felt good, and the ride inspired confidence. It felt very stable flying down long hills and round bends!

I have no experience of the others, but I had a Tricross Sport and I absolutely loved it. Most comfortable bike I've ever riden. Did the LEJoG on it unsupported - with panniers). Only faults are that on some, the brakes judder a bit (which never bothered me) .........and .......there's no toe clearance to the front wheel, which is a bummer at slow speeds. However, I soon got used to it, and still ride accordingly on subsequent bikes, i.e. expect to catch my foot on the front wheel when manoevering at slow speed!

I changed the regular wheels/tyres for a pair of Sputnik/Xt ones from Spa, shod with Panacela 28mm rubber. (wheels are mint and are for sale if anyone is interested?). The bike rolled along much easier and quicker.
I've also got the Blackburn rack for sale that I used on the Tricross!

I did some serious hours on that bike! Only reason I sold it was because I wanted a dogs' doodas, heavy duty, carry-all, steel touring bike (which I got), to do some fantasy tours in some fantasy lands..........
Guy that bought the Tricross from me kept in touch for a while. He also did the LEJoG on it............and also loved the bike.

I used a Tricross last year. Very comfortable bike. I'll sms you and see if I can catch up. Interested in what you paid for the train to Paris..........

I have a Tourer and have been using it the last month. The best way to use it for the bike is NOT to use the porch rod, or peg it out............put up the main tent and fold back the porch over the tent until bed time. Then just lay the bike down and cover it with the porch bit. If you put up the porch and try put your bike in - you'll get stressed out and wonder who designed the bloody tent!


It's not let me down weather-wise though. I have faith in it. Putting it up for the first time seems a bit complicated, but by the third time you'll have it sussed.

I'm heading towards Geneva from UK in the next few days. Anyone else going that way?

I finished it a couple of weeks ago on my way to Sweden.........first 100 kms north from Kasel is the best, then it's quite mundane. You'll see nowt of the river because there's a big dike between it and the cycle route/path.
I was hoping to cross the Elbe at Cuxhaven - got there on a Friday - ferry only runs Thursday and Monday (or Tues?). Anyway, I peddled another 50kms towards Hamburg to the first available ferry.
I too couldn't find reasonable-priced accommodation in Cuxhaven. It was very busy.

The Fulda Radweg is even more boring.

The Kiel Kanal is interesting with the ocean-going ships passing by, and the path is right next to it. About 100kms long if you pick it up opposite Cuxhaven and take it to Kiel.

German trains can be good value. Each state has a day ticket ranging from 21 to 41 euros and you can travel all day................or on a Sunday I think it's 39 euros and you can travel all over Germany. You can't take the fast trains, but all other trains you can take your pushbike. The Germans are well geared up for cyclists.