Cycling UK Forum

simonineaston wrote:I've been looking at tyres on t'internet since I posted... I think tyre technology has moved on since I last made a choice. You know how it is - you read around a bit, talk to a couple of folk and make up your mind and then stick with that decison for years without giving it a second thought! Tha's why I still got Marathons...

I recently got back into cycling after several years absence - imagine my dismay when I couldn't find Michelin Elans anywhere!

Mark1978 wrote:I had noticed on occasion I'm cycling with a friend of mine who is taller than I am weighs more than I do and he rides a heavier bike. However if we crest a hill side by side then stop pedalling in general I will pull ahead. I can only put that down to aero difference.

If I was in that position, I would like to think that it was because my wheel bearings were better adjusted Have you considered tyre size/type and pressure?

Did you check the date of the linked article?

Until you get used to gears, try thinking of it as having three lots of gears - the left lever selects 1st, 2nd or 3rd range, and the right lever shifts gears up and down in each range. Start in the 2nd range, and if you feel that you might need even lower gears, go down to the 1st range. Likewise, if you feel you need higher gears, go up to the 3rd range. Your individual preferences and style are yet to be discovered, but try to aim for a pedal-spin rather than struggling to push the cranks round - an oft-quoted 'optimum' is about 120 rpm on the pedals. Many people find that they mostly stick to one chainring and they 'learn' when they are better off leaving it for another one. Like a car, it is much kinder on the engine to start in a lower gear rather than a high one.

Lucyhan wrote:I think it is weird that an assistant would tell you negative things about a product they are meant to be selling. Who is this person and what have they got their information from?

Wasn't it the LBS assistant criticising a competitor's (Halfords') product?

One of the good features of cyclestreets is that the (Android at least) app has a downloadable offline map that only takes up 319MB but gives incredible detail - so you can use it on your phone where you have a gps lock but no phone data connection. I now use it quite often instead of google maps when i want to see where I am on or off the bike.

My cramp tends to be rather specific.
There's a straight, busy road on my home stretch with a steady incline. There is a nasty T junction at the top and the traffic separates into two queues where the road flares out at the corner and visibility either way for turning onto the busier main road is bad.
No matter how long my ride has been, when I'm queuing to turn right, and I put my right ball of foot on the ground whilst keeping my left foot locked in the pedal, I get cramp in my right calf muscle as it stretches to reach the ground. If I can react quickly enough, step off the saddle and straddle the top tube so as to put my foot flat on the ground and not stretch the muscle, the cramp fades away.

re. electrolytes and drinking water - would a pinch of salt added to the water do the trick (or will you need so much that the water becomes unpalatable)? I always have salted porridge heavily sprinkled with sugar before a ride.

Ayesha wrote:A good quality 6" Adjustable.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/KS-Tools-965-00 ... B007XU8FKW


OK, maybe this,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stanley-090947- ... 6Q14JZQ76C

The first one is reduced in price quite a lot

Due to eczema, I have problems using soaps and detergents (and therefore with barrier creams too because they need soap/detergent to wash them off) but I do find that the moisturising creams that I need for my eczema work very well at getting rid of oil and grease based muck from the skin. They're also not bad at removing some label glues from glass and plastics.

Wouldn't the white coating be likely to be an application of grease to the threads before assembly?

I came across this thread after unsuccessfully searching the CTC website for winged wheel lapel badges (hasn't the winged wheel always had the letters C-T-C incorprated into it?)!

I came back to the CTC (I've always known it informally as 'the CTC' and have reserved the descriptive 'Cyclists' Touring Club' for those not in the know) last year after several years absence. When I rejoined, I noticed (was surprised at) the new logo and the strapline 'the national cycling charity' and didn't think about them much further but I have to admit that I was a tad turned off by them. I've always thought of the CTC as a club (including DAs and Sections) comprising and serving its subscription-paying membership of recreational cyclists - be they active or inactive members (not a charity) and I've always identified the winged wheel with it. I use the term 'recreational cyclist' to loosely encapsulate all defintions of touring cyclist and to distinguish from competition cyclist.

I've nothing against the CTC campaigning or charitably acting on behalf of cyclists generally, but personally I think such activities should be ancillary to the main thrust of it being a club as I perceive it.

Does the Cyclists' Touring Club need to be identified (as a brand) outside of the 'cycling fraternity'? Does it matter if your 'man on the Clapham omnibus' doesn't know what CTC stands for? I think 'no' on both counts irrespective of whether it would be favourable. I do think it is necessary that the CTC maintains an identity within the cycling community as the club for the recreational cyclist.

People join clubs or associations for different reasons than those that move them to support charities. Cycling as a pastime is enjoying a big boom at the moment and the CTC could benefit significantly because of this - not by rebranding as a [vague] charity but by building on and strengthening its identity as the club for the recreational cyclist - offering benefits of membership such as third party insurance, resources for planning rides, advice and tips, local events/rides, etc. After this, then the charitable and campaigning work can follow and even be integral.

Not sure if that's possible given that it seems to have now become primarily a charity - maybe it should rename and leave the old name to be used for a real Cyclists' Touring Club

I have the tick-twister tool too - have used it on animals but thankfully haven't had to use it on a human yet. Even in the summer, I wear long thick socks (except when on the bike) and always wear long trousers so that should reduce the risk. A walking forum that I used to frequent had a member with some health problems that he puts down to a case of Lyme disease caught from ticks when he was younger.

I'm not a fan of the big fancy multi-tools - they look very unwieldy in the pictures - but prefer to carry a small 'tool kit' and I always carry my Leatherman Juice Pro too. I also tend to be one of those who carries more than I ever need/use.

As part of that kit, I do carry an old but cheap Halfords-branded tool which incorporates folding allen keys, cross-head and flat screw-driver, and has a couple of spanner tools. They don't do it any more but I found something almost identical - the IceToolz Release 20 (see here for details).

I also carry a 6" adjustable spanner, chain-link tool (plus bit of bent coat-hanger wire as a chain third-hand tool), a couple of cone spanners, puncture repair kit and tyre levers (also a spare tube), plus a few spare screws/bolts, washers, nuts, cable ties and some duct tape wrapped around a plastic card (credit-card style). I keep meaning to get a small syringe filled with grease too!

Edit - Added bit: Sheldon Brown has something to say about on-road repairs and the tools to carry

I suppose a lot depends on the sort of roads and routes you will be cycling on. Years ago when I used to cover large (to me) distances, I used to use the 'Barts Motorist Map' series at 1:253 440 (4 miles to the inch) or OS 1:50 000 (1¼ inches to the mile - now marketed as 'Landranger'). Main roads and B roads were a lot more (imho) cycle-friendly and pleasant then and I stuck to them. A route sheet giving me my turns and distances together with the map enabled me to find my way quite easily.

Nowadays, I find main roads much less appealing; I plan my routes with far less discipline and I often take a wrong turn and get lost. Part of this I blame on no longer being able to hold a route in my head after working it out on the map - but I anticipate that this will improve when I obtain a handlebar bag that I can attach a map-case to the top of and follow my route on the map as I go along. I now have a habit of seeking out the more obscure and minor roads/tracks, changing my route on a whim, and I rely on the OS 1:25 000 (2½ inches to the mile) 'Explorer' series.

I have been toying with the idea of using the smartphone (or at least printing out the cue sheet) for routes devised using 'cyclestreets' online - looking at the routes it suggests, I'd be best off using the OS Explorer series with it. If I were to stick to more 'mainstream' routes, I reckon that I would find OS Landranger ample. I haven't looked at anything smaller scale for years.

Just looked at one Landranger sheet that I have - about 25 x 25 miles coverage. An Explorer sheet - about 13½ x 18 miles (I looked at two sheets - one about 13½ x 15½ miles, the other about 13½ x 20 miles).

Hope that this is of some use.

Cheers Trigger Sorry for misinterpreting you Regarding the 'six-shooters' - I don't ride in packs and so the risk of getting a 'ribbing' by other riders and of impaling another rider is greatly reduced

I wouldn't say that drop bars are only for racers - there are many positions to hold such handlebars and on the drops is only one. Riding on the drops can give some serious relief on a long straight road in the fens with a head-wind and is also good fun on a long downhill stretch elsewhere. I've considered using other types of bar and before I returned to cycling and got myself a 'proper' bike, I had a cheap rigid mountain bike type affair with slicks and full mudguards and straight bars - found them very uncomfortable after a few miles; bar-ends might have solved the problem but drop bars do so much more.