Cycling UK Forum

I managed a two week camping tour with rear panniers on a racing bike - which I also use for daily commuting and for day rides and sportifs. I fitted a Old Man Mountain rack using a longer quick release, and some 28 tyres. Though it left minimal clearance, I had no problems. But if I was doing it again, I think I'd be looking into some different gearing options - some of the steeper hills with fully laden racks left me standing on the pedals for relatively long periods!
g

Hi Stu
Don't think this is a particularly new scheme. You have to get your company to sign up - in my case its proved a little difficult but apparently they've recently given the go-ahead so I'll hopefully be on a shiny new bike some time soon!
I think various dealers can opt in and out of the scheme. I have friends who've accessed the scheme through evans cycles - the link?
http://www.evanscycles.com/ride2work.jsp;jsessionid=8384FB1933542C4DD8432E6AC4150099.tc7
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Thanks for your advice - I'm off to Merlin to have a look in a couple of weekends time. Si, I've tried full suspension but can't get the hang of it - probably just being a bit of a luddite...and I'm not racing, just riding with mates so I figure it keeps things on a more even footing - or at least thats what I try and tell myself Probably I'm also just being tight with my cash and know that for a comparable weight full suspension with the same kit, I'm probably going to end paying a bit more!
And what about when I want to tour? Guess I'd need an adapted rack for a suspension bike? I've already got so many racks I could set up my own inquisition...
I've googled 'tinbread' and seem to get a lot of sites with bread and wheat based products returned. What's 'Tinbread'? Other than some type of loaf?
But thanks for your help

Wait a sec - I'll just pop down pit and get me rose tinted glasses on.
Joking aside, I used to notice that when I was mainly mountain biking as a teenager, it was the 'roadies' who would never acknowledge a wave or nod of the head. Age seemed irrelevant. Now, I'm mainly stuck to the roads, I have to say that it seems fairly evenly split between those who acknowledge you and those who don't. Perhaps it's because I do a lot of cycling in London, and there seem to be a lot more cyclists about recently, whether lapping Richmond Park or commuting to work. If you wave at every other cyclist, you'll constantly have no hands on your bars. Even when I go home to Lancashire, there's as many who will be so focussed on what they're doing and where they're going to be too busy to say hello as there are people who'll give you a wave. On a ride recently round the Trough of Bowland I passed a group of 3 (significantly older than me- by about 40years) who seemed distinctly put out that I'd passed them and ignored me completely - the next pair that I passed, a younger couple out for a jaunt on a couple of bog standard Halford hybrids seemed genuinely pleased to see me and had a chat as I passed.
I'm of the opinion that if someone doesn't feel the need to share some camaraderie, then its their loss rather than yours. Just a thought - didn't think it's age related.
G

Being a skinny runt, Im looking for the lightest weight hardtail XC bike I can find. I'm fairly rubbish on downhills - lacking the nerve to let loose and bomb down hills at the speeds my mates seem to have no problems with. The only way I can manage to keep up is to bomb up the hills first. As current mtb - which I got off a mate 7 years ago in exchange for a chicken madras - is pretty much ready to fall apart, I'm looking to replace it. So I want the lightest possible weight hardtail I can find in order to try and maintain some advantage up the hills! I'm 6ft2. 72kgs and don't want to spend silly money. Any suggestions? I've been recommended a rock lobster titanium but thought I'd ask to see if anyone knew of a lighter (cheaper!) alternative...
Thanks for any help.
g

Hi all,
Does anyone know whether rollerbladers have a 'right' to be on cycle paths? I don't have a problem with them normally - but after some dancing Christopher Dean wannabe yesterday decided to pirouette gracefully across the cycle path adjacent to Hyde Park and sent me crashing into the road leaving me with numerous bruises and scratches and left me feeling decidedly stiff and semi-mobile... I think my opinions have changed slightly!
Fair enough if they proceed in a straight line, but the dancing and weaving that seems to be part of numerous bladers routine is surely a little dangerous...
How does everyone else deal with them? A bell might be a good idea but as many seem to be dancing away to ipods and so on, I thought it might be quite ineffectual.
G

I think there used to be a camping barn at Chipping...might be of use.
g

tour website maybe?

http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/COURSE/us/index.html

g

I had a clicking noise too. But it was only happening when I was putting quite a bit of pressure on the pedals - began to drive me insane after a while - I began to suspect it was my ankle...
But after preparing my bike to catch a plane, and regreasing pedals after a particularly difficult session removing them with a large mallet and long spanner, the clicking stopped. It might have been the grease, it might have been an effect of the mallet, or it might have been a coincidence!
g

My tuppence worth - seems as if jumping red lights, while it might be possible to do it safely and without injuring anyone, is one of the things that seems to put other road users backs up. Then they treat cyclists less respectfully than they would otherwise. If I can't be bothered to stick to the rules, then why should they? I'm sure when they drive like Nigel Mansell round the Hammersmith roundabout, they don't differentiate between me and the guy who skipped a red light in front of them yesterday.
If people feel that in order to be safe on the road, they need to jump red lights, perhaps they shouldn't really be on the road?
I reckon those green cycle areas before traffic lights should be strictly enforced - keep motorbikes and mopeds/hairdryers out of them too! And then people wouldn't feel the need to jump red lights to get out of the way of following traffic.
gareth

Had a similar experience with the Old Man Mountain rack as Jamie recently while touring with one and a couple of reasonable weighty panniers. I found it quite difficult to get the QRs tight enough to stop the wheel moving. In the end I just opted to get it as tight as I could and then periodically check that the wheel hadn't moved out of line. I had to retighten the QR every 300km or so.
But the rack itself appears fairly bombproof. And gave me the option of putting a rack on a bike not really suited to carrying loads. I'd use it again.
Gareth

Thanks for all your advice – I got back on Tuesday after nearly three weeks in Norway, starting in Tromso, down through Vesteralen Isles to the Lofoten Isles, down to A, and then back up North to Tromso again, mainly via different routes. Weather was fantastic with only a couple of nights of rain, and on the whole, clear blue skies. I got sunburn in the arctic circle… I would head back there without a moments hesitation. Especially as I’m now back at work, failing to be motivated by the report I should be writing!
Ramsberg was beautiful, as was most of Lofoten. Andoya was very dramatic too.

Next time, I’ll get a proper tourer. Although the hills aren’t too steep, there were enough times when I’d been honking for too long for it to be comfortable or enjoyable with my limited range of gears. 700 * 28 tyres made for some hairy moments on gravel roads with fully laden panniers! And extremely limited clearance between tyres and frame. I’m sure there was some clearance.

Wild camping is great – but where do you wash your shorts? Also, sea water is no good for shaving with. It just makes it sting more.

Bugs weren’t a problem. I used a deet based repellent. This was fine around the campsite. However deet does not dissuade bugs from landing on you when you’re heading downhill at 40mph. It just means that they stick to you on impact. Then, having been fatally wounded by the force of the impact, they bite whatever they can reach in their death throes. I entered a number of villages late in the evenings absolutely splattered in dead insects. And under no circumstances, apply deet while wearing cycling mitts, unless you want to be permanently attached to your handlebars.

Tunnels make for an exciting cycling experience. Very cold, especially the ones under the fjords. 2km downhill followed by 2km uphill – the whole time you can hear the noise of the lorry approaching at 60mph getting louder and louder in your ears. Some of the fastest ascents I’ve ever managed in my life! Or at least the most frantic.

A fantastic holiday. Go to Norway. Awesome.
Gareth

Thanks for your help - trip to the camping shop to get nets and repellent I think!
Gareth

Hello, I'm off to Northern Norway next month, starting off in Tromso and thinking of bashing around Lofoten Islands and then perhaps up towards Nordkapp.
I'm a little nervous - especially about mosquitos! How often am I likely to get bitten? I've been driven close to insanity in Scotland by midges...

Gradients on coastal roads. Would I really need a triple? Made a half hearted effort to find a cheap 2nd hand tourer, but have decide to bodge it on my road bike by sticking an old man mountain rack on the back. I've managed to get through a couple of Alpine tours withouth having to walk but then the uphills in the Alps aren't that steep - just long! I'm going to be carrying camping gear. And possibly walking up hills a lot.

Anyone got any experiences of cycling in this area?

I'm planning on three weeks touring in Northern Norway this summer. Any ideas on the best way of getting there with bike?
I'm thinking of Tromso, but ferries from the UK only go as far north as Bergen, and flights all seem to be via Oslo.
Previous experience of flying with bike has led me to believe that the whole hard case, wrapped in plastic, pedals removed ... seems to be pretty dependent on the mood of the check in staff at the airport on that particular day!
I could take the ferry and then the train ... but seems ias if I'm going to be spending most of my holiday trying to make it to and from my intended start point...