Cycling UK Forum

Apologies for late response to comments, been away.

How did you wangle that, what is it?

Social Network analysis is surprisingly useful if you do the kind of research I do with communities; a simple explanation of it is beyond me, but I'm hoping this will change after the course! Wangled it through the university - I "won" an award - sheer luck that it fitted their criteria butI'm delighted, I wouldn't be doing this otherwise with usual expenses & a new house to rebuild

Used to know FfM fairly well, how has it changed?

You've probably seen it as it is now, but after a long hiatus since my early 1980s visits it was unrecognisable a few years ago - the old centre seemed to have been completely subsumed by the financial centre & associated developments, & the rather picturesque residential quarters likewise. I'd already had to come to terms with the replacement of the old wooden trams by the S-Bahn...more efficient but I was so enamoured of those trams.

Warsaw was quite cycle friendly with some good infrastructure.

Great, I'll research a bit before I get there then

I've also been to Vilnius but only for two days, no cycling, and it was back in the late 80s, so only relevant comment would be on architecture and layout (Nordic - Hanseatic influence, and small, compact).

Delighted if still the case - small is good by bike...

They met in Warsaw, the frenchperson thought she was in Moscow and the russianperson thought he was in Paris

Well, I shall keep a keen eye out for confused French & Russian persons in Warzawa then

Frankfurt/Oder is good for cycling by the river, but I suspect you mean the Other Frankfurt

Frankfurt M I'm afraid - I've spent a lot of time there in the past, my last visit a couple of years ago was a shock - I don't think I've ever known a city change that much outside China. I'll just be using the bike as transport there so probably won't be much fun, but had better investigate any bike infrastructure. The Rhine waits for a longer trip...

What are studying in 'Leningrad'?

Prepare to be fascinated: Social Network Analysis...

I've managed to wangle a study trip to St Petersburg, flying out (taking advantage of BA's generous luggage allowance) & travelling back to Wales by train, stopping in the main cities en-route: Tallin, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Berlin, Frankfurt.

I'll partly be meeting colleagues & friends & partly sight-seeing, hence the Brompton. However, none of them cycle so I can't get any sensible advice out of them wrt particular cycle conditions in each city.

Does anyone have any experience of cycling in these places, & is there anything I particularly need to know about taking the Brommie on any of the trains? (I'm hoping it should be pretty straightforward, especially if I stick it in a laundry bag, Dympa or some such). I'm sure something unforeseen will trip me up, so any advice gratefully received!

And me - amazing

Just to add to Robgul's point about knives, we took our Bike Fridays folded in bags as luggage on the Eurostar a few years ago, they searched our "hand" luggage (ie not the panniers that were all stashed in laundry bags) & confiscated my Opinel knife on the basis that it has a locking blade. My partner was waved through with his (large) Swiss Army knife blade as it doesn't lock. The train into Brussels was so delayed we arrived at our destination 6 hours late... In general I do prefer the ride on / ride off aspect of ferries, but go with whatever suits the trip at the time.

As a woman who has travelled a bit in the Middle East I would say cover up arms and legs, especially in populated areas (except Abu Dhabi & Dubai where clothing rules for foreigners are much more relaxed), and most importantly make the clothes loose - standard western fitted T shirts, even with long sleeves, attract too many stares for my energy levels! Also carry a very light scarf to cover your head at times, this can just make life easier in some places. But I'm sure your friends will have one of those from their travels so far, they're indispensable when touring imho.

Less unstable at first than 16" wheels, but I find a bit of weight on the front never hurts

Sympathies with difficulties in trying them -I have no idea what they do in France apart from the popularity of electric motors I see when I'm there.

Personally I just started with a 70s Shopper bike (surprisingly ok but with steel wheels & therefore no effective brakes - not a good long term option), then a super cheap Chinese job (eventually the brake lever sheared off), then a second hand Dahon from a good burgher of this parish, which worked well until the hinges & components wore out. However, by then I knew what I really needed.

Well worth looking second hand for a Bike Friday, & I'm sure that the more commonly available New World Tourist would do what you need to (at the risk of sounding like a salesperson for them!)

I've toured on a Dahon which was ok but the components just wore out, including the folding mechanism hinges. I own a Brompton but wouldn't use it for touring unless it was a trip with more public transport than cycling.

My recommendation would be a Bike Friday with 20" wheels; I've toured in a number of countries around the world on my Pocket Llama, much off road or on pretty rough, rocky surfaces, including mountain ranges with big climbs & descents, with full camping gear. It's been fantastic, & handles absolutely as well as my tourers (better than some of them ) The only difficulty has been keeping the weight down for flying when taking it as normal hold luggage & packed into its hard case. The bike itself comes in just under the weight allowance of 23kg, but tools & a sturdy lock often tip it over the limit. However, you could obviate this by checking it in as a cycle & paying the fee. I've also toured with it in Asia with a soft bag, carrying the necessary padding, & using trains, buses & planes - this has been fine too although, as with all bikes, packing is important.

Mr AMC has a New World Tourist which he's used more on tarmac/gravel, but which has been a comfortable and well-handling load carrier too; I'm sure it would do pretty much anything you need it to. (The main advantage of the Pocket Llama is the clearance for fat tyres but you may not need this if you're not on very rough surfaces.)

The only disadvantage I can think of with 20" wheels is in countries with wet seasons and very deep mud, which would be best avoided. Agree with Simonhill though that carrying a folding bike separately to all the panniers etc can be hard. I've only done it on Eurostar as it required the bike to be bagged, & we had the bikes in specially made very lightweight bags over one shoulder & the panniers/bar bag etc in one of those big checked laundry bags. This was harder for me as I'm shorter than Mr AMC who found it less difficult lugging them about. It is easier if you can just wheel the bike around with the panniers on using lifts etc., so might be worth checking out the train company regs on this.

Good luck - I do recommend touring on a folder as it opens up a lot of transport options which can be very useful.

Yes, I did think it was a safety issue, & I suggested to Armor-X that they re-wrote their instructions to this end. (Or, given that they later sent me some new ones with the right information on, at least pack the correct ones for shipping.)

I wouldn't put a phone in the bin, but you know what I mean. I hope they can recycle the rare elements, I know some of them are pretty toxic.

Well, I appreciate all your support, I shall let go & chalk it up to something! I suppose I'd better let go of the carefully wrapped folded in half mess of shattered glass & plastic into the bin, although this feels like such a waste of precious & toxic metals. Maybe it can be recycled...

Hmm, I was afraid this might be the (depressing) case. Never mind, I'll try the other links without much hope & grit my teeth , fork out for a new phone & mutter a lot under my breath...thanks for the thoughts though, looks like I'm not alone though am disappointed by the consequential loss thing given the catastrophic failure of their product (at least without instructions.)

I tried the Better Business Bureau but wasn't able to proceed as I couldn't find the parent company or any other details about Armor-X, which didn't fill me with confidence! But I'll have a look at the other two (the Bureau of Consumer Protection seems to be the same as the Federal Trade Commission who were easy to call via Skype & were helpful, although they haven't brought a case against them as yet. ) I might also go back to BBB, so many thanks for that information.

At some expense I bought an Armor-X bike mount & waterproof case from the U.S. for my new mobile phone to use OS maps on tour. I chose it & paid the extra money as I wanted a really reliable product. Unfortunately the instructions made no mention of an orange plastic locking device which (it turns out) you're supposed to jam into the bike mount to prevent the mounted phone coming out. (I received a large number of objects in the package so didn't notice this little clip particularly.) I fitted it exactly as instructed & the phone seemed to mount ok. However, the phone fell off & was completely destroyed in my bike wheel. Luckily this was whilst winching slowly uphill, & not on a fast descent where it could have caused a horrible accident.

I contacted Armor-X with pictures of the now unusable phone, offering to send them back the mounting bracket for them to check as I assumed it was faulty, & asking them to replace my new mobile phone. They seemed to immediately know what the problem was & asked if I'd used the locking device. They offered to reimburse me the cost of the mounting kit, but not the phone. I then sent them the instructions which had no mention of any locking device & reiterated my hope that they would compensate me for the phone. I then couldn't get them to reply for some time, so tweeted them, upon which they sent me a copy of a different set of instructions which did include use of the locking device, (as if this was in any way useful or relieved them of their responsibility.)

I have heard nothing from them since, & am wondering what to do. I've filed a case with the Federal trade Commission in the States, but don't have any great hopes of this being successful. I also checked their terms & conditions, these make no mention of using a locking device (and, to be fair, are a bit laughable as they basically abnegate themselves of any responsibility under any circumstances.) I'm unsure what else I can do, what with them being based in the States (or possibly Hong Kong - I can't find any other company information about them online which is a bit worrying) & subject to US legislature.

Anyone got any suggestions? I'm frustrated to say the least - it's not only cost me a lot of money & left me without a decent phone, but could have been really dangerous, & Armor-X are completely ignoring the problem.

Yes, I'm sure it will be a built up nightmare along most of the coast, Corsica would be great (next time - I would like to go) but I'm just trying to keep it simple & chill out a bit, so will either pootle about the coast or more likely head up into the hill villages & tootle about up there for a few days. All info is much appreciated though!