Cycling UK Forum

I got my first "bum up head down" bike in 1945 or '46. A pre-war James Ace, it had steel drops with the sort of steel brake levers that curved outwards from the pivot, and were mounted where the bottom of the bends met the drops. The bars were mounted with the drops more or less parallel with the ground. No tape, just rubber grips on the drops, and as mentioned above, cold hands when on the tops. There were really only two riding positions, tops or drops, the bend had insufficient grip to be held for long. Nevertheless, I did a few thousand very comfortable miles on this bike, until a large sow decided to flop down on it when it was laid down in some long grass. It's amazing what damage 20 stone of pig can do

All its replacements since have over the years been much as variously described above, and nostalgia says none have been as comfortable, but the reality is that the most recent replacement, a Dalesman with brifters and padded tape has more position options and they're more comfortable than any of the others.

Just reported on BBC 4 news in brief, now on the web at:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-26705915

"A cyclist has been killed in a crash with a car in Kent while on a 24-hour charity bike ride.

Christian Smith, 38, from Boughton Aulph, near Ashford, Kent, was raising money for mental health charity Mind when he died on the A2990 Old Thanet Way, near Chestfield, Whitstable.

An 18-year-old car driver was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and causing death by dangerous driving. She has been bailed until 26 July pending further inquiries.

The crash, involving a Peugeot 206, happened at 04:00 GMT on Saturday. Mr Smith was declared dead at the scene. He began his "Kent Epic" 248-mile trip round Kent and Sussex on Friday."

When will it ever end?

Hi Simon, welcome aboard.

For 20 years I managed to get the weekly supermarket shop for two into two Carradice super C panniers and a Carradice camper saddlebag, though i occasionally had to make use of one of those lightweight nylon? rucksacks (kept in the side pocket of the saddlebag) for light bulkies like toilet rolls. The bike was Revell Romany tourer, with a nice long wheelbase, converted to straight handlebars, and was remarkably stable with 25Kg or more on the back. I had no real problems in all that time, except that in the end the rear hub chainside flange disintegrated. As by that time old age and the steepish climb back home were getting the better of me, I reluctantly reverted to motor transport at that point. The Carradice bags are still going strong for more local shopping and general utility work.

I can't help ypu with the laptop bag - I just stick mine in the padded attache case style bag that came with it as a freebie, and stuff that in one of the the Carradice panniers. Over the years none of the three I've had has suffered any ill effects from this.

I only carry a pocket camera, either in my pocket or in my handlebar bag if I'm using it (Carradice, if you haven't guessed!)

Mike

My height 5' 6", APE index -3" . However, I'm still recuperating from a total hip replacement, and am definitely inlexible at present ( I still need a special device to put my right sock on) so this may be a false measure.

All my immediately accessible bikes have 20" top tubes. Three have brooks B17 saddles, the fourth has a B66. All are set up so that my knee is over the pedal spindle crank is at the top. I've just measured the saddle nose to bar centre distance on all four, and find:

Drop bar lightweight (Koga Myata) 17.25"
Straight bar utility (Revell Romany) 17" (This was a drop bar tourer years ago, now fully bagged and panniered for shopping)
Drop bar day-ride bike (Dawes Galaxy) 16" (this is a mixte frame, and the only one I dare ride at present, since I can't 'cock on'* )
Drop bar tourer (CB Dalesman) 15"

I have found the riding position of each of them comfortable for purpose. I didn't expect to find the descending order of the measurement for the three drop bar bikes, but thinking about it it seems more appropriate. If it wasn't so cold out I'd go back and measure Handlebar height relevant to saddle height. Excluding the Romany, I suspect that would show a similar decrease.

Is this significent, or not?

* Is this expression still in use? In the West Riding well over seventy years ago when I learnt how to mount by swinging a leg over the saddle it was something to brag about at infant school.

Grandad wrote:Pity Sustrans don't (dare to?) have a website forum where these sort of problems could be aired.

They say on their map information page http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map/about-our-online-map:

"Commenting on routes
You can now add your comments to our route pages
Post your experiences of using a particular route
Share your advice for other route users on places to visit, to stay, to eat or drink
Let us know if you have suggestions for us to add to the route description"

So if you can find the right route page, have your say. (They don't say if they read any comments )

Adam S wrote:+1 All points I would have raised. In particular the web interface.

+2

That sounds rough:

rjb wrote:I'm pulling my hair out here - any advice welcome, I am struggling to get a grip with the painkillers, co-codamol and ibuprofen as they are making me very sick. GP has now advised me to just take paracetamol but pain relief is not so good now.

When I had a new hip (8 weeks ago) they sent me home with both Paracetamol 500mg and Codeine Phosphate 30mg, recommending they be taken as necessary, to a maximum of two tablets of each, four times daily. Worked a treat in controlling the pain. However, the codeine does tend to bung you up, so I was breakfasting on All Bran and stewed prunes .

I only needed the full dose for the first few days, and was managing without the codeine within a couple of weeks - which was perhaps as well, as it says on the pack taking codeine regularly can lead to addiction.

Hope it eases up soon.

From The Guardian g2 today:

"police have fined a Spanish cyclist €100 for eating a croissant while riding his bike in Catalonia"

I wonder what the charge was

OK, it's confession time.

I'm not a real cyclist!

Yes, I know I've been riding bikes for 75 years, and that I've got six bikes and a trike in the shed at the moment. I know that two of 'em have single chainsets (and hub gears) and the rest are triples, and the newest is nine speed, but off the top of my head I can't tell you which of the rest are 7, 6 or 5 speed, and I've no idea what size any of the chainwheels are.

So I can't be a 'real' cyclist

But then, I just ride 'em. Most days. Summer and winter. Rain or shine. Whichever I use I can usually find a gear somewhere that I'm comfortable with, and if I can't I'm either happily freewheeling or walking and admiring the view. And whilever I can do that I don't care that I'm not a 'real' cyclist. I'm just a happy peddler .

I am old. That's why I need to lie back to enjoy it!

Thanks for the url, mrjemm. The price seemed rather high initially, but more acceptable at the final offer. I liked the look of the boot, though I suspect it would be noisy, especially when empty.

I will probably buy new, whatever I end up with, so parts should be no problem, Cunobelin, at least initially.

Mike

Does anyone have one of these, or know anything of their quality/durability/rideability. I'm looking for a (semi?) recumbent trike with a seat height about 17" or 18". I can't consider anything lower at present, as shortly to get a hip replacement, and I am advised that low seats will be verboten for quite a while. Any suggestions for alternatives with similar seat height are welcome.

Thanks in advance

Mike

Many many years ago as an army cadet, we went by train to camp, marching as a squad from station to camp on steaming hot day on a newly tarred and gravelled road. By the time we got there we all had about an inch or more of gravel and tar under our boots. A sympathetic army driver siphoned a couple of buckets of petrol from his lorry for us (no elf an safety in them days! ) in which we bathed our boots, scrubbing the muck off with an old boot brush. It worked alright, and the boots survived, though we all had a heck of a job to get them polished again in time for next morning's muster.

NOTE: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PROCESS

For nearly three weeks now the wind in this part of Kent has been consistently in the north to east quadrant, blowing at 20 mph+. and gusting up to 40 mph+. The temperature has been between +2 to -2 Centigrade, but wind chill has brought that to an effective -3 to -8. As I live very near to the North East corner of the land, every ride I've taken ended up faced with a vile freezing headwind on the way back. However, the local Met Office 5-day forcast forecast suggests that at at last the wind speed will finally drop into single figures by Sunday morning, with no gusts. . I'll bet it rains, though

Mick F wrote:One thing I like about cycling, is that it's wonderful exercise, so I can eat as much as I like. I don't worry about diet or weight or what I eat coz I've a healthy appetite and love "real" food, and I do like a beer or three!

Mick, I agree wholeheartedly. As my old dad used to say "you should always develop a taste for good food and fine wine, 'cos there aren't many vices you can indulge in three times a day after you're 70".