Cycling UK Forum

Absolutely fantastic piece of kit, probably my favourite cycling garment. Small enough to have it permanently on the bike, excellent windproof, will hold the rain off for around an hour and dries quickly when the rain stops. Unless it's really cold I prefer it to my Gortex Paclite.
Only downside is, as you'd expect from something that thin, is it's lack of abrasion resistance.

You might consider a hub geared bike.
I spent this evening cleaning and doing some maintenance on mine. Apart from squirting a bit of 3 in 1 on the chain when it squeaked it hasn’t needed any attention since November, about 4,000 miles ago.

If you already had a road bike, although it wouldn’t be ideal, yes you could tour on it. As you’re looking to buy, you should be able to find something more suitable whatever your budget. I don’t know of any road bikes that don’t have a comparable touring machine at the same price point. Around £400 - £500 could get you a budget or NOS tourer ready to go. £250 - £350 would buy a decent hybrid/trekking bike, the sort of thing that most of the world considers the ideal touring bike. You have to be careful spending much less than this, though I’m sure there are some bargains, there’s also a lot of rubbish. The CTC page on bike types and their suitability is worth a read
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3790

Yes, good idea.

Kipps. Canterbury.
Easy walk into town. Good kitchen, cycle store, launderette. As with all city hostels it tends to attract groups of students, so not the quietest place. For an extra fiver you can have a private room.

Backpackers. Whitby
Close to town centre. Bikes come into the corridor. Decent kitchen and lounge. Fantastic showers, limited drying facilities but short walk to laundrette. Otherwise pretty basic and all the better for it. Cheaper and more friendly than the YHA. A quiet after midnight policy, good thing.


The Ship. Kirkby In Furness.
My favorite. A hostel in a pub. Good beer, food, showers, drying room, cycle shed and cheap. I can’t do it justice, I’d detour to visit again, have a look at the website;
http://www.theship1691.co.uk/

Backpackers. Bala
I liked it, my traveling companion didn’t so I’m reluctant to recommend. All facilities and close to town. The quiet after 11pm policy could have been better enforced.

Morags. Fort Augustus
We had the hostel to ourselves due to a group cancellation. It seems to be geared up for coach parties (as many Scottish hostels are) It has everything you could want, but the dorms are large and I’m not sure I’d want to stay when it was busy.

Newtonmore.
Run by a keen cyclist and offering everything you’d expect. Pioneers of independent hostels and very enthusiastic, they ought to give lessons to the YHA. Plenty of local knowledge if you’re cycling in the area. One of the friendliest places I’ve ever stayed and a discount for not arriving by car.

That’s it, some have been better than others, no really bad ones. They’ve all been clean and well managed, more than can be said for some YHAs.

Aways good to read others experiences, thanks.
Sounds like fun.

PW wrote:You can't use mini Vs either, the clearance isn't enough for anything much over 25C + mudguards.

I've read recently, on the dead C+ forum , that Campag mini Vs are being recommended by Paul Hewitt for his touring bikes, 32mm tyres and mudguards. I'm hoping to try it soon.

For excellence in engineering combined with a fair bit of bling, Paul Components are worth a look, just which ones...
http://www.paulcomp.com/brakes.html

Or do you have to stick with special canti blocks which have a big long bolt buried in them, and chuck the bolt away every time you renew the blocks?

Most modern cantis use the same blocks as V brakes, either stud or cartridge, probably the easiest blocks to find worldwide.

glueman wrote:John - I like Ergo levers, but not on a tourer. The image of lever springs flying into a French hedgerow while I battle with the innards as dusk descends is too awful to imagine. DT levers are as near foolproof as you can get and these are indexed Campag. Some might call it pessimism but it gives me a frisson of security.

I've seen your bike but can't think where, there can't be two like that can there?
I had an Ergo pack in on an Audax, struggled on till I was out of time and got the train home. My Security now comes from carrying a friction downtube lever and cable in the tool kit, takes up little space. I had a practice fitting it, takes less time than a puncture. It’s as close as I can get to having my cake and eating it…

AlbionLass wrote:I went out for a quick 24 mile pipe opener before breakfast, taking a route I haven't used before. I spotted this scary pair near Cloud Hill Quarry.
Perhaps they wait for unwary cyclists knackered from the short sharp climb to the viewpont over the quarry.
I was a little worried as the one on the right is evidently guarding an egg and they don't look as though they have eaten for some time.

Did you also notice the fossilised egg at the bottom of the hill?



I like the Cloud trail and can't go past the birds without going up the bank to look into the quarry.



I was once rewarded with a view of them blasting.

Mick F wrote:Freudian slip? Or typo? Either way, I bet someone (PH) feels silly!!! What happened to spell-check? What a tw(i)t !

Whoops

vernon wrote:The first train leaves early in the morning and is worth catching as it takes around 11 hours to get to Leeds via Inverness and Edinburg.

Err...as ransos is catching the sleeper he may as well catch the later train.
You can join the same train that goes from Thurso at Wick, which is a little closer to JoG.

No ghosts on my visit. Plenty of noisy Americans (are there any other sort) and the tartan carpet hurt my eyes

There are some good views but on the whole a disapointing experience, very Scottish theme park. Before staying I thought it was a genuine castle rather than a 20th century reproduction.

EDIT - Typo

The Derbyshire DA has three sections;

Burton on Trent
http://ctcburton.cjb.net/

Derby
http://www.derbyctc.org.uk/

Alfreton
http://www.buggc.freeserve.co.uk/

I've ridden on intersection rides and Audaxes with Burton and Alfreton members, but the only section I frequently ride with is the Derby one. As you can see from the runs programme we aim to offer plenty of variety. My experience is that all three sections are very welcoming.

Sounds good, look forward to the photos.

Sgt Pluck wrote: Surely somebody makes something like this commercially!

Here's something similar

http://www.bonthronebikes.co.uk/231-18884-11