Cycling UK Forum

...with crude maths you will not be able to work out the tiredness! It will get you....

Plus, you will have to buy a robust bike, which will cost you, and you will go through parts like no-ones business and then there's the food - doing that you will eat an awful lot more than normal.

There's also lost time for maintenance both at home and on the road. Potentially you could break down miles from anywhere.

Really, I admire your spirit but this is a non-starter. Driving half way - all the way in bad weather - now we are talking.

I'm a positive thinking person who believes that the body is able to be pushed longer and harder than the vast majority of people generally believe...... I still think this is too much.

It's not possible to say, laden I go x mph so unladen I should go at y mph. I'd have though 15 mph would be your average, taking the terrain, weather, your condition and the traffic into account - that makes for a six hour commute. In the end, I think the tiredness will get you. Possibly OK for a few weeks, but no more. This is not something that you will not find out by hiring/borrowing a bike for a few hours, either.

There's a chap I know who does 50kms each way on a Van Nicholas Yukon (£4k-ish) four times a week. He averages 20kms per hour unladen and that is with a the flat ride. He has still ended up buying a car for when he can not face it, for when he is knackered, for when the weather is terrible and for when his bike is ill .... or he is. In reality, he cycles in about half the time he claims to.

I'm not in the habit of denting people's enthusiasm or drive, especially when it comes to cycling. Sadly, in the case, I have to. Sorry.

As per a previous post, Condor is worth a visit....
This happens to be on offer and considerable cheaper than your quote.
https://www.condorcycles.com/collection ... -road-bike

There's just the frame available too (older model, non disc version) so you could build up a spec to your budget/likes/dislikes:
https://www.condorcycles.com/collection ... meset-sale

The reviews on these are excellent. I've had the touring version and still have the single speed version of the same bike - both are wonderful.
http://road.cc/content/review/143345-co ... -road-bike
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/reviews/ ... tello-2015

If you look here

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b65s6p0/ ... oad-Racing

you will often find Cannondale's on offer. Not the one you have mentioned, but nevertheless, something to bear in mind.

In November, the temperature is, on average between 38-49f with an average rainfall of 3.1inches. I think of Belgium as slightly drier and slightly warmer than when I lived in London.

Between Amsterdam and Brussels it's as flat as a pancake which I find boring and dull. It will also be windy - hedges and trees are few and far between, for a reason that I've never got to the bottom of.

If you want to go 150 miles back to Brussels, I would head towards Luxembourg and make my way back. Then you will get rolling hills and nice roads through the forests, some history at - for example - Bastogne - and you will pass through Namur, a lovely historical town with a great citadel. The trains take 3h to Luxembourg. Plus, you will be able to find a good beer at every corner and bakeries are everywhere.

That's one suggestion. Naturally, there are many others.

Oh yes, Exal LX17 rims. Fairly standard from Van Nicholas. Nice rims. I've a few of them now!
Thorn do not stock Exal, but Spa do and they will buy in a Rohloff hub and make one for me.

Anyone out there with a Rohloff and Exal rims?

Thanks for your answers so far.
I'll look into the Stoater and Mercian.
PH - I already have a VN Yukon with Ultegra! I use it during the summer and it is lovely but I have this nagging doubt about Ti in the long term and want something that will go on and on and on and on. If I went down the made to measure route, I'd ask them to copy geos on my Yukon. It is very comfy.
Any views on the Thorn Mercury, anyone?
There's one here (as it is, it is lightly too small but they do my size):
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/bikes/thorn ... -bike-new/

Hello All
I've fancied a Rohloff Hub for some time now and I do a fair amount of audaxing - in all sorts of weathers.

So, does anyone make a decent steel audax frame for a Rohloff hub? Of course, there is the bespoke route and I know of the Thorn Mercury - is this suitable though? Anything else?

Also, whilst I'm here, what would be a good rim for this purpose?

Thanks in advance.

Hello from sunny Belgium, Heltor,

Belgium consists of three places really.
(1) There's the capital, with all of the institutions and super aggressive car drivers.
Then if you draw a line, east to west, through Brussels -
(2) To the north, there's Flanders, super flat, fairly windy because they don't believe in hedges, many canals with lovely cycle paths running along side, cycle shops even in large villages, people who will not appreciate you speaking French to them but are happy to take your money and some well known tourist places: Brugges with it's cobbled streets, Ieper and Poperinge which are both very sobering, around Kortrijk is a bit grim on a bike and Ghent has it's nice parts. Leuven has a decent centre and good university - pity then that the French speakers were pushed out. I go to Lier quite a bit because quite a few Audaxes start from there. More canals....
(3) To the south, there's more interesting scenery in my view. Rolling hills, hedges, huge sections are covered in lovely forest, I much prefer the architecture in this part, the houses and Namur is beautiful, ditto the countryside around Spa - St-Hubert, Hansur-Lesse and/or La Roche-en-Ardenne. For beer and cheese, how can you beat Chimay? It's further from the UK, but worth it.....
The French and Flemish rarely mix, they have different everything. It's a huge shame and it really holds them back. And, only when I started to wear an Audux UK cycling top, did both "sides" start to speak to me. They each thought I was from the other "side" and for the first 25 audaxes I did here, I didn't even get an hello out of anyone. Crazy.....

Eurostar offers a bike service. Turn up at St.Pancras (at least an hour before) and pay £20 for your bike but you can only get off at Brussels - not Lille or Calais.
The ferry is also £20. Turn up and and pay for the next one, this is what I do.
Eurotunnel I avoid. There are only two trains a day - 9am and 3pm I think.

* Remember that if there is a cycle path, then by law you have to use it. Drivers tell you in their own special way, if you don't.
* Take tools etc with you. If you break down - as I have done a few times - other cyclists will not stop to help you out.
* Be careful with Garmin maps. Roads are just marked as roads, that's it. So, it could be a dual carriage way, a standard road, a dirt track, a bridal path - anything! I've been caught out many times. Mind you, on your Surly, I don't suppose it will matter
* If you are passing through the East of Brussels, then feel free to contact me. I do a decent - and unbelievably cheap - cup of tea

With the rrp being so high and the components so low, I had assumed that Dawes had to pay some one like Pashley to make it for them.
Where else could the money have gone?

How's about this?

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/luggage/lim ... -27-litre/

£31.99.
4 colour ways.

These two work well....the light is surprisingly bright. 2 AA batteries.

Bracket - It's a Cateye version of the bracket in the dynamo pic above
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/lighting-sp ... t-bracket/

Light -
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/lighting/ca ... ont-light/

2 minutes to fit.

I'm unable to help you, but I can upset you, by mentioning that there isn't a cycling friendly route, I'm afraid. Plus, the sign posts are terrible or non-existent. When the ferry docks, my advice is to let all the cars and lorries off first so that you are the last off (drivers tend to be very excited when they arrive and drive in a way that expresses this) and then at least you will be left alone on the fast and horrid roads around the port.

Sorry to be the messenger on this one. However, on a positive note, the roads up to Ostende are wide and have cycle sections painted out, which cars respect. It's flat (you will be following the path of the longest tram route in the World) and usually fast, with the wind behind you. I've done this route upteen times and I've always enjoyed it.

Welcome.
Eurostar - You can book in advance and this will guarantee that you and your bike travel on the same train. You can also turn up an hour before and risk it. It's £25 to take one bike, one way. Bikes can only be put on at a terminus - London, Paris or Brussels.
(BTW, and for other who are reading this, folding bikes can go on as normal luggage - which seems fair. Most suitcases are the size of a Brompton but you need to put it in a bag - I've turned up with a bin liner before)

Alternatively, you could catch a train to Calais and go
....on the ferry. Any ferry, turn up, there's loads of space, £20 per bike, each way. There are a couple of companies, running, say, in total, every half hour. Dead simple.
....Eurotunnel. Bikes need to be pre-booked, there are only 2 trains per day and only 8 or so per journey. Bikes go on a trailer, you in a Transit and they let you out at a nearby hotel in Ashford. Details on the website. This is the least satisfactory solution, in my opinion.

Have a good ride. I ridden a lot in Northern France and it's wonderful.

.....I'm really, really sorry for pointing it out.
Please forgive me, then buy it and send me a beer afterwards I'm doing you a "favour" !!!!