Cycling UK Forum

thegirlfrommarz wrote:I haven't yet passed anyone in need of help, but when I stopped to sort out my trouser leg the other night (the trouser clip was slipping and the cuff was getting caught in the chain), .

I've found modern clips seem very poor but you can get them to stay in place better by wrapping an elastic band many times round each end thus prioviding some grip on trouser material.

I always ask if any stopped cyclist is OK and, so far, have always got a thumbs up or equivalent.

First thoughts:
You could set up a simple loyalty card style scheme. Each shop would have a supply of cards and any cyclist could fill in a card which could include details such as 'name', 'make of bike' and post code. These details could then also be sent to the organiser to record numbers but also to the police to help identify bikes that may get stollen. Special events could be organised for members such as bikers breakfasts and it could be expanded to people who generally cycle to work in the locality too.

This topic comes up so regulalrly that some big organisation that aims to support the needs of cyclists (and especially touring cylists) should work with a bike light brand to come up with a solutioin and sell it in their on line shop!

Somebody PLEASE publish a full set of OS style 1:100,000 maps for the UK!

The narrowest sks full guards are round section - or they seem to be on my winter hack.

I took my fully ladened tourer on the train for the first time in September. The Virgin train was fine. Although the bike space has sky hooks they seemed fine for me to just lean it up against the side with the bags on. The bike space is on the coach with the quiet coach so it may be worth trying to book a seat on that with a low number to be close to the bike - not least so you don't have to walk the length of the train to find your seat.

The local train I used was OK to but then it was almost empty and I just got on and plonked the bike in the disabled area.

I would say the best thing to do is book early and go down to the station booking office to go through it with them there to make sure you get what you want and understand what all the tickiting is. My final leg was for a local train that didn't have bike booking but I was told I would be OK. You can also ask about times between trains. I think the computers will always find the quickest connection but you might be better asking for a bit more time if it's a multi platform station and you need to use lifts etc. I also used the internet to give me a good idea about the trains I wanted to use before going to book things - otherwise I think they would have put me on a train changing at Manchester just because it would have been a few minutes quicker than the no change one I wanted.

Also booking trains at quiet times is probably a good idea. I got a really early train that meant not many people were around and the guards/ staff could be more helpful than if there were hoards of commuters. It also meant I got a good days cycling straight off the train. Coming back I got late trains - again after a good days cycling. I should have booked even earlier and then I wouldn't have had to change at all.

I recently bought some silicone pads to go under the bar tape on my touring bike. When I came to fit my normal Pinerello cork it wasn't long enough to fit the new bar diameter. In the end I only used the bit of padding for the tops and had to really stretch the cork. Does anyone know of any bar cork that is longer for doing things like this?

pigman wrote:
yeah, and on a tangent to this, i read somewhere that chris hoy has been asked to host a rock and pop awards ceremony.
and the BBC (after many years of abandoning cyclesport) showed the world road champs. Its happening ..

Yes and moved the road race from it's advertised time for golf so I didn't get to see it. I had set it to record whilst away cycle touring.

I helped a fellow commuter today with pumping up their tyres. The tyre has a max of 75psi and are reasonably narrow - well not big MTB things - and 700c but I was fairly suprised to see that they have Schrader valves.

My collegue mentioned that the tyres were frequently deflated and I wondered if this might be because the Schrader valve dosn't hold the higher pressure of a road style tyre - any thoughts?

The 'Jizer' under degreasing and maintenance sounds quite good too - anyone tried it?

McVouty wrote:I'm not wedded to Campag but I like Ergo levers much better than Shimano's equivalent (all those cables sticking out...).

This might be wrong but I seem to remember that the Campag 10 speed ergo levers will work on shimano 8 speed cassette perfectly. With a tripple this should be fine for touring.

Some of the Cateye Single SHots seem good but I think I've just bought the latest version of your light (5 LEDs) and it seems plenty bright - I was able to ride the A7 near Longton in complet dark with it and it has a fair old life span escpecially using good rechargable batteries.

If you're getting a frame made to your ownn spec then think about getting stainless steel dropouts. No scratches, no rust at this vulnerable place and they look great. Make sure you get all the braze-ons and bosses you need - rack points , bottles (perhaps a third underneath), gear stops, cable stops , mudguard eyes, maybe even pump and spare spoke holders etc. Get the frame right and you can put everything else right later.

Hewitts are getting good reviews for their bikes and fitting service at teh moment - www.hewittbikefitting.co.uk

Good rims would be Rigida Sputik - my wheel builder told me how, when putting together a wheel with these, he only needed the odd tweek to true them due to the strength of the rim whilst with others he woud need to do a whole load of work.

COnsider a more touring oriented chainset rather than shimano/ campag. Maybe Stronglight or even better TA. Or go for a whole MTB drive train (but I don't think these have the same elegance!)

For the front light it depends what you're trying to achieve. If you just want to get something so others can see you try one of the new Cateye lights with an adjustable strap. you can just stick this round your right fork (taking care that the fixture dosn't rub the tyre). The light can be pointed down a bit so as not to dazzel too much. If you want to actually see your way on a dark unlit road then you may need to go for a bigger light and find a stronger fixing. tehre are a couple of threads knocking about about fixing lights with bar bags.

I'm not up with GPSs but you can set up Google Maps with your own info on them. Sustrans seems to be trying to put all their pot hole info onto one and it could be possible for CTC (or even somebody on this forum independently) to set up a map of cycle places that we could all add to. I don't know if this could then be placed into a GPS or not.

As example here is a map of my local Fairtrade outlets
Link

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