Cycling UK Forum

Dupont wrote: ↑18 Mar 2024, 9:03pm

ChrisF wrote: ↑17 Mar 2024, 9:06pm ....
I used a Rohloff touring bike with added e-motor.
....

How did you charge the engine on the continent?

I just took the charger with an adaptor for the campsite power points (ones used by caravans etc). I don't think any sites charged me to use the power points if I told them it was just for the bike charging. Sometiimes though I didn't ask . Sometimes I used a normal powerpoint in a washroom etc.

I did it in August 2022. Short ride the first day to a nice campsite next to the route at Neufchatel-en-Bray, Then a long day to the outskirts of Paris where I stayed in a cheap hotel.
I used a Rohloff touring bike with added e-motor.
Very easy ride, good surfaces, reasonable scenery.

plancashire wrote: ↑10 Mar 2024, 11:30pm
Please maintain OpenStreetMap (easy to do). It is OUR map. It is used by many bike routing apps. It has places for opening times but no reviews - just facts. I never use Google Maps and do not have an account.

Thanks for remonding me. Ferry details added. Also changed a couple of 'roads' that I found today to gravel

OP Postscript.
Today I took the ferry from Alcoutim (Portugal) across the river to Spain. So it does run in March (seemingly every half-hour) and it does take bikes. 2.50 euros.
I did a one-day round trip, crossing back into Portugal via Mertola. Only a small sample, but Spanish roads have better surfaces than Portuguese ones!

MrsHJ wrote: ↑22 Feb 2024, 7:40am
..... I think maybe people from Devon and Cornwall like to use the ferry from Plymouth and then the Cornish folks drop out as they’re too tight and hence we’re all from Devon and cycling in Northern Spain! I guess if I lived in east anglia the Harwich ferry would be more appealing.

What are you getting at here? I live in Cornwall and have used the Plymouth ferries loads of times (although more to France than to Spain, I am booked to Santander again at the end of March - first one of the year)!

One aspect which hasn't been mentioned yet. Although I wouldn't sign a petition for faster e-bikes, I sometimes wish that I had one! - I bought a light e-bike partly with the intention of being able to keep up with club rides as I get older. Fine, I can now keep up easily when it's hilly. But on a long stretch of flat, or slightly downhill, I get left far behind because the group is going at 20mph or more and I am left struggling - even though I've saved some energy on the previous hill(s)!

I'm 60kg and often tour with 10-15kg luggage. I have toured on many different bikes, with many different types of wheels, some of them very lightweight (though not carbon). Apart from the occasonal puncture in the last 10 years I have only twice had a 'wheel' problem:
- once on a hire bike (a quite heavy 'touring' one) in Majorca - a broken spoke which then got tangled in the derailler (that was messy and I had to call the hire shop for a rescue);
- once on my 35-year-old Gawes Super Galaxy; a broken spoke in Holland.(The wheels weren't 35 years old but had been replaced with something similar to the original). The wheel still worked OK until I got to a bike shop who replaced the spoke in 5 minutes.

I'd not heard of Boost conversions before but having looked at the website it seems pretty good. Yes the battery is small but not much different from systems like Fazua and Mahle. And the spare bateries are half the price of those.

bohrsatom wrote: ↑7 Jan 2024, 10:00pm ..........And flights should cost more: it's not that train travel is expensive, the subsidies available for airlines give flying an unfair advantage.

I've seen this mentioned in so many places relating to green issues. As I understand it, it's because there's no tax on air fuel, unlike on deisel etc. But trains are also very heavily sibsidised. I have lost the links now, but a few months ago I looked up the state subsidy for rail travel in UK, Germany and France - in all cases the subsidy was equivalent to the amount taken in fares.
I'm not condoning air travel by mentioning this; I would just like to know the real reason why rail travel (for international routes) is so expensive compared to air.

Another related aspect - if all the people who currently fly to Spain / Portugal etc for holidays were somehow be persuaded to go by train, how many extra HS2-like railways would have to be built across Europe, at huge environmental cost, to accommodate them?
I conclude that the problem isn't really about flying per se, it's more about travelling at all.

I'm puzzled why you need this. Lithium batteries are pretty good in cold weather (e.g. see https://www.relionbattery.com/knowledge ... ld-weather. You shouldn't charge them below freezing, but using them to power your trike should be OK. Have you actually noticed any degredation?

JohnR wrote: ↑29 Dec 2023, 3:28pm

rareposter wrote: ↑29 Dec 2023, 3:09pm Chain Reaction / Wiggle have sold a lot of their stock now at liquidation prices, not sure what their deal is with any potential restock / buyout but there's not much left.

It's unclear to me how much stock is remaining but the month long Black Friday sale included some bargains and must have turned some stock into cash. I bought a pair of wheels for £59.99 which are still available at £219.99. Of course, they are only a bargain if I use them and like them, but at the sale price that's a risk I was willing to take.

I bouht one of these https://www.wiggle.com/p/vitus-e-substa ... bike-fazua on 'Cyber Monday' when there was an additional 10% off. Still a good bargain now, and available in most sizes.

rivers wrote: ↑29 Dec 2023, 6:26pm

kevinmac wrote: ↑29 Dec 2023, 2:25pm I have seen various posts here about inadequate bike storage.
I would like to go from Bristol to Plymouth (to get the Ferry)
I have an ebike which is 28kg (without luggage) and 42mm tyres.
I am fairly certain I'm not getting it in whatever bike hangers there may be on board and even if I book and manhandling it onto the train may not be straightforward either. I am wondering what the chances are of being refused and left on the platform are, as the Plymouth trains come down a popular west coast route and could easily be stuffed full before I get on.
I'm looking at other options to deliver the bike to Plymouth, but as the ferries go out at 10pm I wasn't planning on staying in Plymouth so won't have a hotel address to deliver to.
I'm certain a thousand people have solved this problem. Would like to know what people's success stories involve

If they haven't phased out the castle class trains yet, you'll definitely be fine. If they have, book a space, you'll still most likely be fine. Travel off peak, pop your bike in the cupboard in its normal position, and sit nearby to keep an eye.

Sadly there are very few 'Castle Class' trains (the ones with 6 bike spaces in the 'guards van') left running to Plymouth. They were used on the Cardiff-Penzance route until earlier this year but now I think they too have ben replaced.
So it's the hangar-style cupboards on all trains now, and you're correct they don't fit 42mm tyres (even if you could lift the 28kg weight). As Rivers says, book anyway and see what happens - if all spaces are already filled with suitcases you may have to argue a bit. but if you have booked a space you should be OK. Please let us know anyway.
BTW I wouldn't bother arriving at the port 2 hours in advance as BritannyFerries suggest. You'll be left waiting in the cold & rain for ages. If you arrive in Plymouth early, spend the time in a pub or cafe!

Mick F wrote: ↑27 Dec 2023, 2:36pm What I may have to do, rather than wait for maps to be updated, is drive to Chiverton and back to assess the new bridges.

I wouldn't bother driving down the A30 until later this year; it's currently all a big mess with diversions and closed roads all over the place. I suspect that the OpenStreetMap (and possibly Google) maps will be updated before the new road is officially open.

simonhill wrote: ↑18 Dec 2023, 6:15pm Are you hiring the e-bike?

I ask because most airlines don't allow them to be carried.

I'm planning to either send one by special courier, or to buy a spare at a local shop. Maybe both. If all goes to plan I'll be returning via rail & ship.

There's also a new cycle bridge at Chiverton. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-67640749 . You can't yet cross it though. Maybe by Easter if we're lucky.