Cycling UK Forum

When I was younger I was an athlete, I played rugby, cricket and ran for my school. I ran for my local club (100 & 200 meters, Long & Triple Jump). There was not one part of the year when I was inactive, even in the holidays I was never off my bike. In all that time as a youth, I never snacked between meals (apart from the regular apple), we had breakfast, lunch and dinner and that was it. And what we did have for dinner was freshly cooked home meals, lots of veg and fish and yes meat.

Snacking was not part of the British psyche back then, (I am 47 by the way) so we are talking the 70s really. Even as adults our lives were not as sedentary as they are now, less people sat in offices at PCs all day, most were manual workers.

To this day I still do not drink pop or eat snacks, and I am still not off the bike, it dose help I suppose that I have never learned to drive a car!

It is very simple, keep active, cut out the sugar (if you want sweet stuff eat fruit) and leave the fast food establishments to get on without you, I still am proud of the fact I have never eaten a Mc Fatty or what ever its name is.

Don’t get me wrong, I am no goody two shoes, I drink copious amounts of Red Wine and smoke more rollies than I should (should being 0).

Hi Al,
I too will be charging a battery pack, sorry forgot to mention that. I did not know that about Google Maps, maybe the articles I was reading were out of date!

I have yet to read many reviews on CoPilot Live to compare to google, it may be worth the £19.99 for the CoPilot maps, not sure yet.

sbooder wrote:I have just read though that my google map plan maybe up the spout. If I read it right, google are only licensed to access the maps in real time so they can not be installed and then followed off line by the GPS, is this correct?

It is OK, I found CoPilot Live to be the map answer. http://www.copilotlive.com/uk/

Barrenfluffit wrote:using the smartphone as a media player and book-reader presumably.

There is a tension between the concentration of functions reducing load and reducing the impact of a device's failure. I'd suggest that where that place lies depends on how easily substitutes are available and how important a functioning substitute is.

Having travelled under the direction of a GPS I'm far from convinced that its a complete solution. Exceptionally helpful in cities and locating specific addresses but less so in finding pleasant cycling routes. Ultimately screen size (and thus resolution) is a limiting factor from a planning pov.

A torch function?

I do not listen to music when out on the bike, I like to hear what is around me, being a birder I would hate miss a good bird, and if I want to read I would take a book, I am not very comfortable reading books from screens.

I have just read though that my google map plan maybe up the spout. If I read it right, google are only licensed to access the maps in real time so they can not be installed and then followed off line by the GPS, is this correct?

meic wrote:You must consider adequate waterproofing for your system.

My GPS temporarily stopped working last weekend as the IPX7 (or whatever) waterproofing standard doesnt apply to the battery case. I imagine a smartphone is nowhere near as waterproof as an outdoor activities GPS.

This http://store.drycase.com/DryCASE-Waterproof-phone-camera-and-music-player-p/dc-13.htm should do the trick?

Brucey wrote:how long are you going to be away and where are you likely to go?

Some folk would say ditch the keyboard and use VR to dictate?

BTW 'need' is a bit odd in this context; years ago a little kodak camera, paper maps, change for the phone and a few postcards did quite well. Expectations and 'needs' have changed somewhat. Sorry if I sound like a BOF...

cheers

Not at all, I suppose need is a little western, all I really need is food and water. Maybe I should have said, all I desire!

But to answer your question, most of my tours will between 1 to 4 weeks and all in France and the UK for the foreseeable future (perhaps a big one down to Italy to see my cousin).

Hi all,
can anyone pick holes in my idea please, I need to know what I may have over looked.

I am always looking to save money space and weight. I have decided that the best solution to my technological needs on tour can all be resolved by carrying two devices.

1, a Smartphone, for GPS (with already installed routes from Google Maps), pay as you go simm (for the emergency calls to family and friends), WiFi (for uploading to my blog), and camera.

2, Bluetooth mini keyboard (for typing posts and emails).

All this can easily by charged by the Dynohub and E-Wrek setup. And I can of course purchase DataPlans as and when I may need them if no WiFi available for blog uploads.

So please let me know if I have missed anything?

Thanks.

I have just found this http://www.ecoxgear.com/ecoxpower/ it makes some bold claims, anyone used this yet?

squeaker wrote:Or one of these for a lot less dosh?

SP Dynamo don't seem to do a 36H. The only place where I could find a 36h by them was on ebay, which is a little odd!

Hi Bob,
good reply. I was leaning to the 28 because of the charging capability, and am not too worried about lights so much as I tend not to ride after dark on tour, and only tend to use lights when the light is dim during the day.

Thanks.

Hi All,
I am selling my muched loved telescope to do some upgrades on my bike and would like to know which is the better dynohub for touring (1 to 4 week tours) please? The Son delux or the Son 28, info from anyone who uses either of these would be most welcome.

Thanks.

First I should say that the delivery was beyond expectation. I live in France and ordered this from Black Dog Bikes through Amazon UK on a Sunday night (so to all intense and purposes, it was Monday morning), the repair stand arrived on the Wednesday morning, that is top service.

It took little longer than 5 minutes to set up the stand and the bike hanging from its saddle post. This stand with its four leg quadpod design is not going to topple (make sure you set one of the legs dead centre front) even if you put some pressure on the bike.

My bike is a tourer and it took the weight easily and you get no more movement from the stand and bike when turning the peddles than on a Park Tool stand. The grip of the clamp feels secure and is fully adjustable for many frame sizes. The latest models clamp (as with the two telescopic tube clamps) comes with a quick release handle.

My only criticism is the tool/parts tray. In its self the tray is OK, it has a magnetic zone in the larger dish and is large enough to take nuts bolts and the like, it even has holes of varying size to accommodate some smaller tools, screwdrivers and hex keys etc. The problem is the diameter of the circular clamp, it is too wide for the upper tube and if attached where it is meant to be attached blocks peddle rotation, if the bike is at a tall working height. This though is easily remedied by adding a rubber shim to the upper pole and clamping around this.

Over all this is the perfect stand for the amateur bike mechanic, at home. It is right for the job and at an unbeatable price. Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008MI0YTO/ref=s9_simh_gw_p200_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=01QDQZSFXTN46RMNS9NV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=317828027&pf_rd_i=468294

HI Ron,
may there is a gap in the market for some whacky looking bars that have not been thought of yet. I am thinking more and more I should have gone with a 54cm bike. I would shorten the horizontal stem but I do not want to take the bars too far back from wheel centre.

Ron wrote:Why persist with drops if you don't like the position they demand? The majority of touring cyclists nowadays (from my own observation!) are using straight bars with multiple variations of bar ends, or butterfly bars.

I like the positions they give me, I am not sure I have said I don't. What I said was that the bars on the Voyage were 1, too low and 2, I found the hoods to far round the bars for me. I have always had drops and love all the positions I can use, where as with flat bars you have one position, I know you can have bar end variations but why bother when drops are out there. I have not tried butterfly bars, but from what I have seen, you do not have a drop position for headwinds?

snibgo wrote:We are all different, and we age. I raised my bars not long ago, so they are now about an inch below the saddle. I use the drops for headwinds and braking down hills.

You might move the brake levers back. This is probably easy, but you'll also need to partially unwrap the tape.

I think I will move the leavers when it comes time to re-wrap the bars, then move the bars back to a better position.