Cycling UK Forum

eileithyia wrote:But what of the type of bike hire? With more air lines charging and requiring fancy packaging, what is the market for reasonably decent quality road/touring bikes perhaps in the outer London / Heathrow area? Have met cyclists in the past who were on bikes they had bought once in this country.

Good question. When I was looking for decent hire bikes for two Americans who wanted to come on a cycling weekend last year, there seemed to be very little available, even (especially?) in London. I suspect there is a market there, but a relatively small one, so the hirer would have to be prepared either to ship all over the country or (as you suggest) be based at Heathrow. And even then, that probably means specialising in folding bikes because the last thing a visiting tourist wants is hassle with the train companies...

I'm not an expert but I'd say you need to beware overdoing it in May. Broadly speaking endurance training relies on contrast, to allow your body to recover: easy ride/hard ride, easy week/hard week. So three 50-mile rides a week thorughout May is not necessarily a good idea. Maybe do one long one a week, gradually increasing in length, and a couple of shorter ones. Taper off to a few very short and gentle rides in the last week or two before the event - it's too late to train any more by then, you should be letting your body build up its reserves.

Most of all, in the event itself, make sure you ride with a group of slightly stronger riders who can tow you along. It works for me - I managed over 300 miles in 3 days by hiding behind my friends...

I certainly wouldn't want to cycle long distances without something holding my foot to the pedal. It makes a huge difference to efficiency, and anyone who thinks otherwise simply can't have tried it for any length of time. No, real cyclists don't actually pull up on the pedals but there is a slight, almost unconscious lifting of the weight on the foot that helps a lot with a steady pedalling motion. You wouldn't do it on a platform pedal because it would be inviting you foot to slip disastrously. After a few months' practice, twisting your foot in and out becomes second nature. I use Time Atacs which have some lateral float so the alignment problem is less of an issue. As for the placement fore-and-aft, once I've found the right spot, it suits me for any amount of riding. The only trouble is that the right spot can take hours to find through trial and error each time I get a new pair of shoes.

Whether that something is toeclips-and-straps or cleats... I used to swear by the former, and still do on my utility bike because I have no wish to put on special shoes just to pop to Sainsbury's. But I find clipless are much easier to get into and, yes, out of. I stuck with the clips and straps for touring until I discovered that using clipless reduced the extent to which I got cold feet while cycling.* I guess the pressure of the clips and straps, however light it may seem, restricts blood flow.


*Talking of which, what idiot designer decided that cycling shoes need 'ventilation'? I bet he lives in California. And I bet it was the same idiot who first put leg grippers on lycra shorts and elasticated waists on cycle jerseys, neither of which serve any useful purpose, mutter mutter grumble...

How about the Optima City - ladies' model? Step through frame, Sturmey Archer 3-speed, alloy wheels. Seems to be on sale in various discount bike outlets for £199. (Less for the gents' model.)

Optima is part of the Falcon group - that usually guarantees a bike that is at least competently built.

Personally I consider Sturmey Archer hub gears to be conclusive proof that pure evil exists and can manifest itself in physical form, but each to their own...

Biscuit wrote:Point 1 - dont bother with the 'cycle track from Chiseldon to Marlborough as its more 'off road' than cycle track think bridleway at times and can be very boggy after rain/snow/meltwater. I'm sure someone will tell you theyve done it on a unicycle in the dark after 40 days and 40 nights of rain but I wouldnt. unfortunately I would also avoid the Chiseldon to Marlborough road (the direct a road - cant recall the name at the mo'). When you look at a map look to the roads to the west of the cycle track and join them up if going Marlborough way

I agree. The A road is the A361, by the way (like I said above!).

Biscuit wrote:Point 2 the A420 is pants in my opinion but is doable as MickF suggests (while I am a very positive rider - I wish I had half of MIckF's grit re some A roads) - I would avoid it due to speed of traffic even tho' some of it is restricted to 50 mph. If you do decide the A420 is for you, dont negotiate the 'Sainsbury's' roundabout as there is one of the more useful cycle bridges from one side to the other that goes under the A419. Traffic speeds on the roundabout are quite dsturbing as the A419 dual exits ont it.

I have ridden along the A420 and I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole - not when there are such obvious better alternatives. You'd really have to be in a hurry to use the A420, and even then it's not the quickest bike route out of Oxford.

I used to do the "Sainsbury's" roundabout 2-3 days a week in the rush hours. I didn't normally bother with the footbridge. Let's just say the roundabout gets the adrenalin going!

Mike - rather than camping, wouldn't the youth hostel at Street be in roughly the right area to stop for the night? It saves carrying all that camping gear with you.

I've been using the Cateye EL610 Single Shot Plus (just short of £75 from the CTC shop, but shop around). The beam shape is a bit odd and it takes up a bit of space on the handlebars, but it does a good enough job for speeds up to 15mph on unlit roads. Any faster and I'd want one of these fancy £100-plus ones. It's got two brightness settings and a flashing mode, handy for saving battery power at dusk. Full power is pretty bright: since I've started using it I've noticed that a lot more oncoming motorists dip their headlights and pull over to give me room on narrow lanes.

The only downside to the EL610 is that the mounting bracket is utter, utter rubbish. Cateye used to do pretty good light brackets but they've all been phased out in favour of a glorified zip-tie that is fiddly to tighten and just won't support the weight of a light as big as the EL610. Every time I hit a rough patch of road, the light would gradually rotate downwards. Totally useless. Luckily you can still buy the old-style quick-release bracket as an accessory. (Rant over.)

You're talking about 75+ miles a day over rolling terrain, so to start with I'd avoid cycle paths anyway as they'll only slow you down.

Your quickest way would be A roads, but not very pleasant. I prefer to follow straight-ish minor roads, but B roads will generally be OK for traffic and will be faster, not least because they're easier to follow at junctions.

For the first leg I suggest going west out of Oxford to Cumnor (there is a cycle route from the centre that skirts to the south of Botley, though it's not too easy to follow).

From Cumnor pick up the easy minor road that goes downhill through Eaton, Appleton and Longworth to the A420.

When you meet the (nasty) A420, turn right for a few yards then off onto the B4508 - it's fast, flat and quiet (except in rush hour) all the way to Shrivenham.

Out of Shrivenham south on the B4000, then branch off to the right on the lane to Hinton Parva.

Hinton Parva to Chiseldon (by either of the back-lane routes).

There's a cycle path from Chiseldon to Marlborough; alternatively there's a beautiful back road route that I prefer, from Chiseldon to Ogbourne St George, then to Mildenhall and into Marlborough. Either way, avoid going on the A361!

SW from Marlborough on lanes to Alton Barnes, then skirt south of Devizes to pick up the B3098 all the way to Westbury.

After that you're out of my area of knowledge but I expect someone else can oblige...

PW wrote:You could use 10 speed Ergos with a 9 speed Shimano rear end www.hubbub.com
That should solve it!

True but if I was that desperate to use Ergos I would have ordered Ergos in the first place!

Neil F wrote:... I had a good think about what I wanted in a bar bag.

Yeah, true, I don't need much, just space for wallet, phone, camera, spare maps, keys, gloves, hat, a couple of munchy bars, the windproof (so I can put it on without stopping), map pocket in the top for the current map, a couple of guidebooks, a novel, notebook, pen, pencil in case the pen stops working, spare pencil in case the lead breaks on the first pencil, MP3 player (for dictating route directions into, not for listening to), emergency contacts list, first aid kit...

Seriously though you're probably right, and my old barbag is falling apart. The Topeak one looks interesting.

Thanks all - to summarise, it seems I may be able to squeeze a small bag on anyway, but if not I have a couple of alternatives.

I ordered my new tourer from Condor last week and, after much deliberation, chose Shimano kit for it. The old tourer has downtube shifters* and my road bike has Campag Ergo, so this will be my first encounter with Road STI and its sideways-sticky-outy cables.

I asked the assistant about potential problems installing a bar bag. He said that some people add 'noodles' where the cable leaves the STI lever, taking the cable through a 90-degree bend to keep clear of the bag.

So my question is, is this really necessary, or can you just get away with squeezing the cables round a bag as they are? Do many people do the noodle trick? I can't remember ever having seen a tourer fitted with them.

* "That's right, son, in my day you had to let go of the handlebars to change gear..."

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Hubgearfreak: No, Impsport and Running Imp are two different companies. I have some vague memory that they used to be part of the same company many years ago but split up, with each party taking up a variant on the original name. As it happens they're both offering what look like decent water bottles, but again, I'd like to hear from anyone who's actually ordered some!

Andy

Sometimes the view is the best because of the ride. The view north from Hay Bluff is one of my favourites, but it isn't the same unless you've pedalled all the way up the Lllanthony Valley to see it. The moment when you ride over the cattle grid and find (seemingly) the whole of mid and north Wales opening up before you is sheer magic.

Can anyone recommend a good supplier of custom-printed water bottles?

I'm after someone who can supply a decent quality bike water bottle, printed in two colours, in quantities of a few hundred.

Many of the marketing firms who provide printed water bottles only do rather nasty-looking ones with poor-quality tops. We're thinking of giving away bottles to riders in a charity event, and I'd like to be able to provide something they'll actually want to use!

I'm looking for personal recommendations based on your own experience of having ordered from them (or knowing someone who has). I have already Googled for suppliers online, so don't feel you have to repeat that exercise for me.

Many thanks

Andy

Not at the front. Full-length guards are attached at the fork crown and - via struts - at the bottom of the forks, to stop the long tail of the guard from flapping about. Suspension forks keep changing length as you ride, which is a bit of a challenge for a mudguard designer.

You could use a traditional full-length guard on the back (Zefal and SKS both do them in MTB sizes) but as far as I know they're only available in pairs so you'd be wasting half your money.

Some of the MTB-specific clip-on guards cover more area than others. Try looking at the Topeak Defender for the front and the Crud Raceguard (or Defender again) for the rear. Long and wide enough to keep the spray off your back and out of your eyes.

1 1/4" is 32mm (well, to within quarter of a mm). But tyres with the same width rating actually vary quite a bit. Maybe try the Panaracer Pasela - I think they come up a bit narrower than some. Available from the usual suspects (Wiggle, St John Street Cycles etc)