Cycling UK Forum

Thanks for the comments friends.
I've noted your problem with them Freiston, that's partly why i was concerned about sizes.
It's a shame Cosmicbike that your legs are are longer than mine so size L may not be right for me. Luckily Decathon have a free returns policy, so I'll probably take a punt for size M as a trial.

Thanks again,
Mike

I'd love to buy a pair of these waterproof overtrousers, which incorporate shoe covers. However the Decathlon size charts only quote waist dimensions and not length. My usual trouser size is waist 34", inside leg 29". As far as I can determine from Decathlon's website either I need size Small for length and L/XL for waist. I assume that if the shoe covers are to stay on the leg length seems to be reasonably right. I've tried to get sense out of Decathlon, but the best they can suggest is go to a shop to measure them - which is impracticable from far east Kent.

Has anybody tried them, and can they let me know what size (S, M, L etc) they were, and what the inside leg is, discounting the shoe cover part?

Be aware there's a fair bit of bounce in a bar bag, I never got on with trying to read the map in the Ortlieb map case. Klick fix do an attachment to fit stuff above the bracket, I don't think Ortlieb do anything similar (I haven't searched) Your ortlieb bag will fit the Klick Fix bracket but it all starts getting a bit expensive...
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/accessories ... clip-plus/

But note that if you use the patent wire system to prevent the R&K mount turning on the bars under load, the clips no longer fit (as I've just found out, after fitting the wire to mine. )

Does anyone know of suppliers of padded underware with button flies or Y-fronts?

Thirdcrank's reminiscenses:

I think we can be grateful that the legendary smogs of the 1950's are now history. The days of bus conductors walking in front of a bus as a guide are long gone - as are bus conductors, of course. I remember acetylene flares being used at junctions as markers.

triggered happy memories of several years in the 50's of commuting along the then heavily industrialised and notorious fog-prone Calder Valley. I used to arrive at work black faced from the filthy condensate which ran down from my eyebrows, and also coated my Nomad jacket. I used to escape the traffic along one busy stretch by turning sharp left on where there was a short quay by some locks leading to the canal towpath One really thick peasouper I trundled along the quay, and as it narrowed to the path there was sudden and repetative squeal of brakes. Unbeknown to me a string of cars had been using me as a pathfinder, and had followed me down the sleep and slippery cobbled access. How they all managed to reverse back into the main road I never learned - I left them to it.

Vantage wrote:I'd say that having two lights with a gap to distinguish them might be a good thing actually. Drivers notice lights, not cyclists. Having a a rear light either side of us would cause drivers to give us a bit more room when passing in my opinion. I doubt it would work in daylight but at night when the rear light is a focus point, it might just work.

It does for me - but those on my trike's mudguards are nearly three feet apart

Elizabethsdad wrote:

A lot of roads round our way have the same problem - so many cars parked on the road (and pavements - grrr!) - that the flow of traffic is reduced to one lane and everyone needs to slow down and be patient. On the whole I'd say most people are but the ones that aren't really stand out. The ones behind you are bad enough but it's the ones coming the other way and charge right at you intimidating you to get out of their way that I really hate. I will pull in to let cars by when I can especially for those coming to other way but they do need to give me a chance to get to the gap.

I use a tricycle around town. and experience this sort of thing regularly. I just stop, and when they gesture for me to back up out of the way, pedal backwards furiously (to no effect, obviously!). I then shrug my shoulders and wait for the penny drop. Eventually they cotton on, and reverse to a suitable passing point.

It keeps my blood pressure from rising, though I doubt it does as much for theirs!

Many years ago, when it was fashionable to ride with hub gears through the summer, and then change to a fixed wheel in the winter, I got caught out. I'd had no problem with a new frame all summer, automatically stopping pedalling on tight turns, but the first time out on the fixed wheel, unable to stop pedalling, I caught the front mudguard during a tight bend. It folded up, jammed in the fork, put a bend in the top tube, and put me on the road with a chipped tooth . So beware of fixies with short frames .

I had my right hip replaced 19th September last year. I stayed off the bike through October, saw the surgeon on the 11th Nov. who when I pestered him about riding again finally said "if you can get on without over-flexing the hip joint (i.e. not over 90°)give it a go". Next day I tried my Brompton, because of the low step over, managed 2 miles but was terrified of falling off. Luckily my upright Longstaff trike is a mixte frame, and I found I could manage to get on that by wheeling it to a high kerb. By the end of November my mileage chart shows I managed fifty miles in dribs and drabs on local roads. After that I was away as my healing muscles loosened up. By January I was back on two wheels, first on a mixte Dawes, and then finding I could step over the crossbar of my Koga Myata if I leaned it overt enough. I was back to normal by Easter, when my heast started playing up - but that's another story.

I was lucky that I'd anticipated the need for ease of mounting, as my athritis developed, and had bought both a good (second hand) open-framed bike and also the trike.

Basically, I'd say that, despite being 79, as a regular rider I had a head start over the other chaps on the ward when it came to recovery. So if you've been riding regularly, it shouldn't be long before you're back on wheels. Just listen to your body, and go for it when you feel ready. I hope all goes well.

Mike

Thanks to all of you for the helpful responses. There have some interesting suggestions to mull over. Meanwhile, thanks to Bob, I was encouraged to ring Kevin at D Tek, and he's persuaded me to go over there to try out an Anthrotech and other things. All I have to do now is to find a good friend who I can persuade to drive me the 280 miles to Little Thetford and back. Wish me luck.
Mike

Bob,
I'm not driving at present (had to sell the motor caravan), so Dtek is out of reach. As far as seat height is concerned, the medical advice is uncompromisingly "Your seat should be at least as high as your knee-joint to ground measurement. Don't sit in lower chairs - EVER". I always assume that this is intended to cover all cases, so is meant to cover 16 stone couch potatoes. That being so, with my reasonably supple 10 stone I can stretch the limits a bit, but with an 18½" lower leg I wouldn't want go below 16". With the 20" wheels the Explorer seat is just over 12", so a no-no.

Dan,
The noomad looks interesting. If the anthrotech doesn't work out, I'll perhaps try one out on an open frame upright that's gathering dust in the shed, and if works out OK look for a suitable recumbent bike and electric conversion kit to go with it.

Thanks to you both for responding.

Mike

Edit. Just seen Bob's rapto suggestion. It may work, but adding electric assist looks a bit difficult!

I'm 80 years old, have ridden two wheelers for 76 of them, and an upright Longstaff for 3 of them. Now a combination of a leaking heart valve, a very irregular heard beat, and finally a fairly mild stroke has cut a regular 30 to 40 miles/day to a sporadic, breathless unstable 2 to 3 miles . THIS WILL NOT DO . I need to get out in to the lanes and to the top of the hills. The only solution, if I am to stay sane, is electric assist. I could fit a kit to the Longstaff, but where's the novelty and adventure in that? So i'm considering a recumbent trike. Because I've also recently had a hip replacement, I need a highish seat (tried a trice, got in but couldn't get out!) so the choice seems to be an Anthrotech or a Kettweisel, both of which do a 18" seat height. Of the two I'm tending to go for the tadpole configuration (I've got luggage that will fit!). The problem is Anthrotechs are few far between in this country, I'm in Broadstairs (E. Kent), the only agent is in York, and they don't seem to have sold many if any. There may be other highish seat options, but I haven't found any yet. And every body says 'try before you buy'.

So, please,is there anyone out there with a fairly high seated tadpole in my part of the world who would let me play with their cherished treasure? I'd be incredibly grateful if there were.

If you want a Rohloff (or hub gear) and electrics you can only manage this with a delta

This is not strictly true.The Anthrotech trike from Germany (http://www.anthrorech.de) has a pedelec option with a crank drive, and also has the option of a Rohloff or a NuVinci continuously variable transmission gearhub.

Cyril Haearn wrote:I heard the one about vehicles having to reverse up a steep hill (Arthog hill) because the reverse gear is the lowest. Is it true, does anyone from back then know?

I don't know about the lowest gear, but I do know that my uncle Billy's prewar (very!) car had the petrol tank mounted on the bulkhead above the engine, with a gravity feed from the front down to the carburetter. If the fuel level was low, and the hill was long and very steep, the carb would run dry and it was necessary to turn round and reverse up hill to refill it

I got my first licence in 1953 ( I still have it somewhere, a natty little booklet with a red cloth reinforced cover). I drove several pre and post-war bangers (family cars) using it, and then in 1964 a brand new Bedford tipper. The Bedford was far easier to drive than some of the bangers!