Cycling UK Forum

I have been running this rim (32 hole, VNT hubs) on my Yukon for quite some time now and I can say that I've had no problems when loaded and they have served me well on long rides in the comfort department. If one of my rims cracked, I'd go out any buy another Exal LX17 again. (And not just because it matched )

How's about this:

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/road-bike ... bike-p1851

Not perfect according to your list, but I think you will be lucky to tick all the boxes for that proposed price.
....but you will have to hunt about to find one. I did see one in "Bike Zone" in Oxford recently....

Don't worry about wheels or tyres.....concentrate on whether you will fly. Monarch are in serious financial trouble. Apparently the Mantegazza family have refused to put more money in.....PwC is standing by to take it into receivership.

Sorry to be mentioning this.

Welcome to the Forum.
Day 1 - there are two schools of thought here. Some like the canal route whilst others prefer to follow the sea and the wonderful tram line (the longest in the World) up to Oostende, before cutting in to Brugge. I like the latter because I hardly ever get to follow the sea, so it's a change. The cycle path is excellent quality and obviously the route is flat

The roads, north and south of the main N49 between Brugge and Antwerpen are quiet, if you choose to go either side of it. I think the southern route is slightly shorter but less rural. BTW, the sign posts in this part are terrible but the people tend to speak English. It's not such a good idea to try French out on them....!!

Antwerpen to Brussels doesn't have a direct route as such. The roads to the west of the A1 are more direct than to the East BUT the eastern side is more interesting and it will also mean that you enter Bruxelles from the north east or east. The northern part of Bruxelles is far from charming. If I were you, I would swing around to the east of the airport (Zaventem) and then enter via Kraainem. Avoid Michelen at all costs.

One final bit of good news and that is that bike shops here tend to be found even in medium sized villages....

PM me for me info. Hope you have a good ride.

Great value, even with the exchange rate at the moment. It works out to be about £1200 with 105/XT components bolted onto an equivalent to 725 frame. I'm not surprised that you are interested. I have seen quite a few around and I can say that one thing that is good is the paint finish which is certainly robust.

If you can stomach the weight - 14KG+ then I think it's worth visiting Cambridge or taking a risk with the German postal service.

I would have thought it was easier to work with a limited choice of bikes here than buy a 700c bike and find nothing there

As for the bike, nearly all stems have an angle in them, so make sure yours is "pointing upwards" lifting up your handle bars to the highest position. Or, even better, buy a highly angled stem thereby giving you a more up right ridding position. This will not make your bike look attractive, but under these conditions, who cares (I've got used to it and now don't notice)

I'm a trustee of a back charity and I'm telling you that backs are little understood, past the fact that we were never really meant to stand up and therefore giving / looking for advice on here or any where else on the internet will not really get you anywhere. People can have identical conditions and different reactions, in one person its agonising, in an other, they feel nothing, one persons minor issue is anothers major one. Physios tend to be great, unlike unregulated others.

If things get serious, to look at discs and the motorways of nerves around them, you will need a MRI scan. Meanwhile, I think just about everyone can agree that increasing your core stability certainly will help. If there is a hydro pool near you (there aren't many in the UK) then a dip in there will also help but be aware that exercise in one is the same as doing four times the same on dry land! Oh yes, and do keep moving.....

For me it is just a bit self effacing -

I've knocked off nine cyclists who have gone down the inside of this van, so it's not such a good idea......

Dunkirk has terrible (no) road signage particularly at the port so make sure you have a good map. I suggest that if you do see a sign to a village, take it and then pick up the route from the smaller place. I went around in circles for more than an hour once.

The tram line - the longest in the World - runs from here, all along the coast to very close by to Bruges and I recommend you take that route. The scenery is magnificent and the cycle path excellent and flat. Not to be missed, despite it slightly elongating your journey.

Don't worry too much. The roads are either busy/medium busy in which case they have decent cycle paths 1m away from the road (small hedges or grass separate the two and btw, if there is one, you have to use it by law) or you will find quiet roads, in which case, you can relax.

Namur is especially lovely and the whole journey is filled with gently rolling hills. It should be great fun.

When you pass by, feel free to stop for a cuppa!!!

Oooh, this exact model was my first decent bike. My, did I save up for it. Dawes did one with grey decals in 89 and changed the colour to white for 1990, the frame colour stayed the same.

I sold it ten years ago but saw it riding about just a few weeks ago! The chap thought I was mad when I stopped him and told him to LOOK AFTER IT.

I first read about what you are up to a few days and it has been rattling around ever since. Of course it is too late to enter now but I have clocked it. I even plucked up the courage to mention it to the wife, very fleetingly, in passing, just to sow a seed for next year. (She didn't say "no")

All the best with it.... please let us have the report, in any language that you choose! I'd love to read about it....but not the bit about you becoming too tired and falling off....

The Head Office is in Holland -

Accell Group’s best known brands are Batavus (NL), Sparta (NL), Koga (NL), Loekie (NL), Ghost (Ger), Haibike (Ger), Winora (Ger), Raleigh and Diamondback (UK, US, Canada), Lapierre (Fr), Tunturi (Fi), Atala (IT), Redline (US) and XLC (international).

Accell Group and its subsidiaries employ approximately 2,800 people worldwide in eighteen countries. The company has production facilities in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Hungary, Turkey and China. Products of Accell Group are sold in more than seventy countries. The headquarters of the company are located in Heerenveen (the Netherlands). The Accell Group shares are traded on the official market of Euronext Amsterdam and included in the Amsterdam Midcap index (AMX).

In 2013 Accell Group has a turnover of € 849.0 million, profit about € 27 million.

Rob,
Morning. I suppose the important question to ask yourself is - will there be any long lasting issues as a result of this. If the answer is yes then I wouldn't have thought this amount of money was enough. If not, then it looks reasonable to me. To give you an idea, 5 years ago, I broke a few ribs and as awarded £2500 by the mad car driver's insurance company. That went through a legal process. (and as a side note, he received 7 points which pushed him into being banned from driving)
Hope you feel better soon and get back on the bike!

Ortlieb seem to have a perfect reputation on here .... but I am the exception. I bought the same bag and yes, it rattles. The cord thing is hopeless and after just three times of changing it from one bike to another (not an unreasonable ask) the wire now needs replacing (£7). I will buy this cord and then sell the bag. Undoubtedly it will go for good money.

I also have a seat bag with their "folding over" closing affair which I have lost things out of in the past. It claims to have a large capacity but when it's all folded over and secure, the bag is tiny which is what I didn't want.

The last few cars I've bought were of the same country of origin too and they broke as well. Nothing special at all.

It's hype I'm afraid. There's better out there and the others put money into the product rather than the marketing....

I now await the halo defence around Ortlieb.....