Cycling UK Forum

Given you're talking about a very mat-protection specific thing and given 450g is quoted above for a groundsheet, would you not be as well off carrying a cheaper emergency use mat (an alpkit or equivalent)?

An alternative, if you just want to get your tandem into action and get in some miles with your child getting used to things...

We put a top-tube seat on the back (kids-ride shotgun type thing) and my girl sits on the normal Stoker's saddle while using the pegs as a footrest from 3 1/2 - 5 yo. She gets the big-bike experience and it was cheap and easy to get running. With all the normal family time pressures it was by far the practical option.

The only complication I would add is putting some kind of guard over the rear wheel. We had a very low speed (thank heavens) foot entanglement when she got bored going uphill and shoved her foot against the rear wheel. It hadn't occurred to me that it could happen because of the level of contortion required. A bit of correx and some cable ties is a cheap and easy solution (and decorating the correx was a nice activity for the girls).

Most merino is no good next to the skin in cold conditions if you're a heavy sweater.

I have a couple of standout Scottish autumn/winter hillwalking experiences where I've wetted out from sweat or precipitation while wearing a variant on a more traditional layering system and bailed into an emergency buffalo/alpha and windshirt type combo with no base layers and gone from tremblingly near-hypothermic to all-day comfort in five minutes. (Although making the transition from one clothing system to another on a high hillside on a blustery winter day does, momentarily, make things worse before they get better - on one occasion I fully expected my nipples to freeze, blow off, and become lost to the landscape forever)

If my exertion is likely to be moderate I'll pop a cheap polypropylene mesh vest underneath and make sure I wear something that will shift sweat on top (often a, non-cycling specific, polartec alpha layer that has done sterling service).

If my exertion is likely to be harder I will make a subjective decision to either:

Wear warmer layers that simply cannot hold onto sweat: (synthetic base layer, some kind of light fleece, windstopper arm warmers, and an uninsulated softshell which does a much better job of allowing sweat out than a nylon windshirt - usually with some kind of insulated layer I can chuck over the top as needed)

Wear a more standard cycling getup, chuck a heavier insulation in my saddlebag, and promise myself to ride hard without ever letting my heart rate drop. Only attempt it when I'm happy with my overall fitness.

For me, the rides you describe makes it sound like sweaty wind hill is probably a decisive factor in your comfort. I would either slow down on the steep uphills, take the gentle uphills and sharper downhills for the sake of comfort, or look to mountain and outdoor clothing that's optimised for sweat removal and cutting the wind.

I'd keep merino for cool summer and for autumnal conditions. It is amazing, but it's not magical.

I left a cotton satchel in a hot car last year.

When my emergency candle (don't ask*) melted in-situ, it wicked through the entire back panel quite comprehensively.

Now if a bottle leaks in my bag, I no longer need fear that its contents may escape without saturating my paperwork and other chattels. That part of the bag is visibly wearing better too. Just need to wait for some better weather so I can get the other side sorted too!


*No, really. Don't!

At the lower-priced end of the market, there's the Beeline Velo 2.

It's a similar idea to the Wahoo second screen mentioned above, running from a phone to provide turn-by-turn directions.

Pros:
It extends phone life (because the screen isn't in use) while coming in a small package without anything extraneous.

I took mine on a (slow) imperial century and only used half the battery (or possibly less, it was a while ago now).

It's inexpensive but does the navigation job nicely (which is all I wanted).

Plays nicely with various planning apps.

Charges on bugger-all, making it a sensible touring option with a power bank.

Physical interaction (not touch screen) so fewer problems with stray droplets or gloves.

Cons:
My unit has been dead flaky, with one niggling software issue (now sorted) and a discharging issue (unresolved). This may be my bad luck, though - I have ADHD and persistently forget that I want to contact customer services as soon as I hop off the bike.

Finally, the bigger ride I mentioned, the people I was with had an array of different options - from phones to the nicer if Lezyne's units. The Beeline was a nicer navigational option by general consensus, but they all ultimately do pretty similar things.

Double post

Fair enough - won't speculate much further what that looks like as an income given it becomes very swings and roundabouts, and probably isn't constructive.

It still highlights the fact that spending freedom around middlish incomes varies a huge amount and is a significant driver for personal judgements of value.

Yours, an impulsively spendy cheapskate.

Cheers!

Really appreciate your reply.

Thanks DevonDamo. I might experiment and pop it on a knackered old rim I have and leave it dangerously overpressured to see how it goes. (I'll do some calculations to see what might simulate a rider load). If nothing else, it'll generate a data point I can refer to next time I wind myself up.

Regarding the recycling/incineration thing, I used to be a waste management specialist (in a niche area). Sometimes combustion is genuinely the least worst option, and the technologies can be pretty clean.

Ironic, given the thread, but at an enterprise level tying yourself in knots to access a 'better' level in the waste hierarchy can create greater environmental detriments

Ah, I see cycle tramp pre-empted my tendency as I was writing.

Thank you everyone.

I think I knew this really but didn't want to admit it; partly because I hate throwing things away, partly because I seem to have afforded a strangely emotional attachment to this specific tyre. I need to watch out for the hoarding old crap tendency before I end up like my Grandfather did!

As it is, I have other part worns I can use for the purpose stated. Guess I need to figure out what achingly hipster, not quite functional tyre re-use I can attempt before giving in and sending it to the council's shiny new high temperature incinerator

maximus meridius wrote: ↑29 Jul 2023, 5:03pm So twice just now I've seen posts moaning about the "expensive" price of things. £22.99 and £36. Are people really so badly off that those are "eye watering" amounts? They are both within my hourly rate, and I'm not some top doctor/lawyer/whatever

If your hourly rate (assuming you mean pay before PAYE, as opposed to a charge-out fee) is £36 then you are comfortably in the top half of earners. That's great, so was I so no judgement there.

However, sitting almost exactly on the median wage at the moment,* I really have to think about purchases that size.

So, yes, it is expensive. Potentially worth it, potentially viable, but not necessarily for at least fifty percent of earners.

Frankly, your tone is pretty churlish.

You don't need to know any of this - most people think that they are representative of 'normal'. However, it would be nice if you hadn't opened a thread that's clearly aimed at riling other people on the forum or used name calling within it, you silly billy you.

I know that those who have succumbed to the madness of tubeless will sometimes sew larger holes to allow the sealant to do it's devilry, but what I am not clear on is whether this is a 'get-me-home' thing or a proper fix.

I have a tyre with a small but significant hole, and the thought of writing this tyre off makes me quietly sad. I am considering sewing it and booting it (or something like that) and prolonging it's life, perhaps as an emergency spare for touring.

What I'd like to establish, ideally based on experience rather than speculation, is whether this is viable and if the fact it's tearing on the bias is a red flag.

Thank you!

Update from my earlier post - I got impatient and chucked it straight on my road bike

Did my first Imperial century last night without anything that could be meaningfully described as training, nor having quite refound the position I want the saddle in.

My bum, while sore, has been substantially worse over about a fifth of the distance when saddle fit has been poor. Seems that removing the backing has been the answer to my (buttocks') prayers!

I have a Nidd that I have used intermittently over around seven years and which clocked up around 2500 miles without becoming any more comfortable.

The width made it more comfortable for short distances than other saddles I own (I have hips like a matronly rhino's) but on hillier routes and anything over about 25 miles the rigidity was absurdly punishing.

It should, by rights, have broken in. I'm pretty heavy, I've toured on it where it has gone days without drying out, the tension bolt has been at full slack and the side laces removed. Nothing has made a meaningful difference.

I was loathe to get rid of it so, having found some time I decided to remove the backing this morning.

My technique was to undercut the liner at the edges, wrap the loose liner around some long nosed pliers, and torque the bugger off. I managed to remove 95% of the material without damaging the leather.

A note on the 'cardboard' layers mentioned by a previous comment.

The brown layer is not cardboard, it is a leather fibre textile. A lot of shoes billed as 'genuine leather' are made this way and it is one the reasons why, for instance, the uppers on Clarks shoes though visually similar to earlier models tend to fail prematurely. I suspect this bonded layer is what gives the saddle its resistance to deformation.

The white layers is some kind of thick interfacing used between the leather fibre and the out textile layer.

Previously, while winding up the person who gave it me, I demonstrated that I could break two by four timbers against the saddle without leaving any impression. As soon as the bonded underlayers were removed, there was noticeable flex in the leather.

I'm popping the saddle onto the tandem later so I can ease it in on local rides with my children and hope to give a longer term report toward the end of the summer.