Cycling UK Forum

Thanks Lisa. I'm going to Central America. It is a fully supported tour so I have no issues with what type of bag to take as I don't have to worry about storage etc when I get there.

Has anyone any advice on what bike bag to get?
I'm on a long haul flight to America. BA has a weight restriction of 23kg I believe. The bike bags I've seen range from 13.5kg for a hard case and 9.5kg for a softcase. This doesn't leave much to play with in terms of bike weight. I'm not too sure how much my bike weighs as I can't find it on the manufacturers specification, but standing on bathroom scales holding the bike, it comes up as circa 15.87kg with bar ends, mudguards & lights.

Any ideas?

Thanks

The Ford Focus estate is super dooper - bike fits in the back with ease and it's lovely to drive (well compared to the Corsa I suppose most things are!). The dog is quite taken with it as well

Mr Plax has his birthday on the 3rd Feb and we are going to London for most of the week to explore and to see Oliver and Mamma Mia at the Theatre.

My birthday is in July, I always take the week off to recover from being another year older and hope the weather is nice to potter about the garden or do a spot of DIY. It's my 30th this year. No plans (apart from the usual mentioned), unless Mr Plax surprises me, but I doubt it - I suspect my sister will conspire with other family members to have a "surprise" party for me. Having said that, they got me good and proper for my 21st I had no suspicions what so ever, they managed to keep it extremely quiet.

I was very torn between Sean Connery and Roger Moore. In the end went for Roger Moore as he was the 007 I "grew up" with.

Thanks for all the input. I very nearly got a Ford Mondeo estate, but in the end decided on the Ford Focus Estate. Dragged my dad over to check it was mechanically sound etc, and am picking it up on Friday.

jan19 wrote:

Ford Focus, no problem. I've had mine in the back of my Dads had to take both wheels off but went in OK and with room.

we get both my hybrid and Malcolm's tourer in the back of our Focus with no problem, but we do need to take the wheels off. We've also put a rack on the back of the car which it makes nothing of, but Malcolm hates seeing the bikes moving about at the back of the car. It takes a trailer for our tent too, making our camping holidays very easy. If and when we move up to a caravan it will be an upgrade to a Focus Estate (to get the low centre of gravity ideal for towing a caravan).

Nice car - straightforward and uncomplicated and a joy to drive. No problems with reliability. Best we've ever had anyway.

Jan



(no, I don't work for Ford!)

LOL, I shan't show Mr Plax this post. He loves his Ford Focus. His pride and joy - I'm not allowed to put a bike anywhere near it!

ferrit worrier wrote:Ford Focus, no problem. I've had mine in the back of my Dads had to take both wheels off but went in OK and with room.

Whats the verdict on Vauxhall Corsa's?

Malc

I have a 1995 model. I quite like it - it's the 1.2 LS 3 door version, so quite nippy with minimum trim. With the back seats down you can surprisingly get quite a bit of swag in the back. Despite not having any power steering it's really easy to park etc. It's getting on a bit now though and approaching "not so economical to repair" territory. Couldn't comment on the newer model - I find the newer models too "bulky". My sister briefly had a newish 1.2 Clio. It was crap - it was too heavy. Too much trim etc, weighed it down. She has a Peugeot 106 now, think it's a 1.1 and that has more kick to it than the Clio too.

Just checked out the Honda Jazz on Parkers - it has had good reviews and has a low tax and insurance band, so defintely one to consider. Shame after a quick search on ebay they come out more than my budget. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled.

Thanks for the berlingo review thirdcrank - is this diagonally with the back seats down too?

Thanks for the replies so far. Lifting into a hatchback won't pose a problem (not yet anyway!). I have got my hybrid with the front wheel off at a squeeze in my current car, but the Dawes is too big. I do have a car rack but find it harder to lift up and secure than just putting the bike in the back(plus I have nightmares of the bike falling off the back or somebody nicking it when stopped etc).

The Espace looks impressive but just looked at the spec on Parkers and it is a bit too big and expensive to run for my taste. If I went the van route I think I'd be inclined to go for a Daihatsu Hijet - my dad had one and I loved it. Not too big and you could get bikes in the back with ease.

I am torn between an estate and the Berlingo at the moment (the 1.6hdi if I can find one is the cheapest out of the models to run).

Hope this is the right board. I'll shortly be in the market for a new car as bits of mine are quite happily falling off etc. I want a car that I'll be able to get my bike in without having to take the front wheel off. With fixed mudguards etc it is a faff. My biggest bike is a 52cm frame (Dawes Ultra Galaxy).

Does anyone have any experience with various makes of car and being able to do this? My budget will be approx £2500-£3000.

I have looked at the likes of a Renault Kangoo or Citroen Berlingo. Possibly even an estate like a Vauxhall Astra. Any hatchbacks out there big enough with the seats down?

Thanks.

I have a Dawes Ultra Galaxy 2007 model. Best bike I've had (but then my only other bike is a GT Nomad Sport). It's a lovely ride, only problem I had was with shifting down from the middle ring to the granny ring when I first got it, but that was due to a badly fitted mudguard. Following on from the OP, the brakes on this model are Avid Shorty 4 canti's. The 2007 Super Galaxy has Tektro Oryx canti's. I've not had any problems with the brakes once I'd adjusted them to my satisfaction when I first got it (online supplier did a crap job of setting it up. Get the LBS to set it up for you if you can).

I'd save the guinea pigs first. Everything else I could probably easily replace, but providing there's enough time I'd probably grab the photos and my Galaxy.

I was somewhat disappointed in the selection at the Bangor Lidl store. There was no gloves left at all. All the sizes were L or XL in the trousers, jackets and tops. Managed to find one S ladies top and that was it! I went at around 11:30am so there must have been a few early birds in for most of the stuff to go - I normally find Lidl a lot quieter than Aldi as the new road layout is an absolute nightmare (although I suspect some could have cycled there like me!). They had loads of track pumps and foot pumps left though, and a fair few pannier bags and locks.

I used Bike+ for the first time recently. Bought online on Sunday (I really must stop internet browsing - I'm spending too much money!), and it had arrived on the Tuesday. Bought a Carradice Barley saddlebag at a very competitive price, even when you factor in the P&P.
I'd never heard of them before so was going to ask if anyone had ever used them but noticed Paul Smith's photo on the homepage and figured they must be okay!
Will definitely be using them again in future.

Thanks Gaz. SJS Cycles didn't have any in stock when I decided to buy one, so I got this one from Edinburgh Co-op instead;

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 153c003260

It seems okay so far.